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Women in the Aztec Empire enjoyed a lot of rights and freedoms but since the Aztec Empire was a military empire, their role was nonetheless subordinate to men. Before the Aztec Empire emerged as a military empire, the relationship between men and women was mostly egalitarian but this kept changing as the emphasis increased on warfare. Women were not allowed any role in the military but they had doors of various other professions open to them. There were certain customs and traditions which they were expected to follow. But the women continued to play their part in the public life of the Aztec Empire and their role in religion also remained constant. Marriage customs of the Aztec society were very different from modern times. In Aztec society, a man would ask for the hand of a woman through the city council instead of going directly to the woman’s family. The council determined if the man and women were suitable for each other. After determining the compatibility, the council would delegate the task of informing the woman’s family and other formalities would be the responsibility of a woman elder. Traditionally, Aztec men could only marry women from within their own clan. Although Aztec men could take multiple wives, the status of the first wife always remained higher in society and it was also she who had the right of a proper marriage ceremony. The family of the Aztec woman could take her back to their home if they discovered that her husband was not treating her well. There were certain taboos and customs associated with pregnancy and child birth in Aztec society. For instance, it was forbidden for a pregnant Aztec woman to view the eclipse since it was thought that doing so could result in her giving birth to a monster. Further, eclipses were thought to cause miscarriages. Women were also forbidden from having excessive sexual intercourse during pregnancy as it could result in her giving birth to sickly baby. Other things that were forbidden to a pregnant woman included excessively hot sweat baths and the lifting heavy objects etc. Childbirth was considered an honour for Aztec women and her status became similar to the status of ordinary men when they became warriors. Therefore if an Aztec woman died during the childbirth, her status was elevated to that of a goddess. During the childbirth, Aztec women would be nursed by a midwife. The midwife led the prayers during the childbirth to the goddess of childbirth called Tlazolteotl. Different mechanisms were used to ease the pain of a woman giving birth, this included placing a warm stone on her belly and giving her sedatives made of herbs. When the child was finally born, the midwife uttered battle chants praising the bravery of the mother who had been successful through the ordeal. The main sphere of activity for an Aztec woman was her home and she was expected to take care of the household chores. This included various household activities such as spinning and weaving thread from cotton, taking care of the household pets, and cooking etc. An ordinary household loom strapped to the back and placed in the lap was used to weave cloth. Aztec women would sometimes pay a visit to the local market to sell the extra cloth, vegetables, or other goods from their home. One of the primary tasks for Aztec women was to grind maize into flour. This was the staple food of the Aztec people and was considered scared. Aztec women would also take care of the younger children at home and look after their initial education and upbringing. While the main responsibility of Aztec women was to take care of the home, there was not any serious restriction on their taking part in public life, although they could not have any role in the military which was considered an exclusively male role. In the public sphere, Aztec women had opportunities to join various professions such as priesthood, doctor, sorceress, and others. In the profession of medicine, they had developed some ingenious ways of restoring health which many historians think were better than the European methods of that time. One of the most important professions for Aztec women was of midwife since this was an exclusive domain of the Aztec Women. Women also became professional weavers and worked as craftswomen, elaborate images of professional Aztec craftswomen have been found on Aztec codices. Additionally, Aztec women could also become prostitutes and courtesans since there were not any particular taboos attached with these professions. Aztec women had an important role in Aztec religion and mythology. There were many goddesses in Aztec religion including one of the most important and powerful goddesses called Cihuacoatl. She was the goddess of earth as well as the supporter of women who died during childbirth. In Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl gave birth to the sun everyday which sustained life on earth. On the other hand, she swallowed the sun every night, thus also giving birth to death. Other important goddesses in the Aztec religion included Chalchiuhtlicue who was the goddess of lakes and rivers, Chicomecoatl the goddess of maize, Mayahuel the goddess of Maguey (Aztec Plants), and Huixtocihuatl the goddess of salt. Aztec temples included both male and female priests and thus the role of women in Aztec religion remained important. Women in Aztec society had a lot of rights and privileges during the initial stages of the kingdom but as Aztec society became more of a military empire, the status of women became subordinate to that of men. Nonetheless, women continued to enjoy certain rights such as taking part in various professions, even though their primary domain of activity remained as a home-keeper. Women were not allowed to take part in the military but Aztec women from the nobility could hold high administrative positions within government. Traditionally, Aztec women had their marriages arranged by the city council and elders of the clan. In religion, Aztec women had a high standing and a variety of goddesses were highly revered by the Aztec people.
here's your free music download American Radio History: The First Hundred Years by Alex Cosper The story of wireless radio communication began before the turn of the twentieth century inventor Nikola Tesla, who worked for Westinghouse. Subsequent experimental transmission of Morse code over the airwaves is often credited to Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi. After years of controversy, in 1943 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Tesla held the original patent for the invention of radio, not Marconi. Tesla is also credited as the inventor of alternating current. Between the 1900s and the 1920s radio was used by the military, engineers and hobbyists. In San Jose an engineer named Doc Herrold was perhaps the first person to ever accomplish a radio transmission featuring the human voice as early as 1909. The three primary companies responsible for developing radio technology after its invention were Westinghouse, General Electric and AT&T. Marconi had owned an American and British company and GE purchased the American company, renaming it Radio Corporation of America (RCA), whose purpose was to market the radio receivers made by both GE and Westinghouse. AT&T made radio transmitters. Radio became commercial beginning in 1920 with KDKA in Pittsburgh, broadcasting the Presidential election returns. The station was owned by defense contractor and commercial electric giant Westinghouse. Radio began to grow as a commercial medium in the 1920s and became very much a part of everyday lifestyle trough the Great Depression years. Radio was eclipsed by television in the 1950s, but the advent of affordable transistor pocket radio, affordable to the teen market, gave radio a new life. FM radio began to gain significant audiences in the late 1960s and had completely taken over mainstream music by the early 1980s. The Telecom Act of 1996 transformed radio into big business, although its heyday seemed to culminate in the 1990s as the next decade offered a wider range of choices for the consumer through new media, overshadowing radio. For a deeper look at American Radio History visit Playlist Research.
Vermont Votes for Kids: A project of the Vermont Secretary of State Grades 9-12, Teacher Materials for Lesson 10: Participation is the Cornerstone of Democracy The very word "democracy" supports the theme above. Broken apart, it means "the people" (Greek: Demos) "rule" (cracy). We have tried in our Constitution to avoid "plutocracy" (ruled by the rich), "autocracy" (rule by a leader's whim, not the law), and "aristocracy" (rule by a privileged few). The essential role of the DEMOS (citizens) in our democracy might warrant closer examination. This lesson will help students confront what others before us have said about this theme. It would be helpful if you can provide each student with a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights for reference. Small pocket books with both are often available for free by contacting your Congressman, the League of Women Voters or other such interested organizations. These items are also often found in the back of history texts. You may find the Declaration online at http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/declaration_transcript.html, and the Bill of Rights at http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/bill_of_rights_transcript.html The following passage and quotes (1-4) are offered as a way to engage students in an examination of their critical and assumed role in the democratic process. They may be used as class discussions and/or as writing assignments. 1. "...governments are instituted [created] among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." (Declaration of Independence) Students could be asked to answer some or all of these questions: \|A.\|\|Explain, with examples, the ways that citizens have the ability to express their consent (or dissent) to decisions and actions made by governmental leaders at the school, town, county, state, and national levels.\| \|B.\|\|What are the key words in this passage from the Declaration of Independence?\| \|C.\|\|Who are the governed of whom the Declaration of Independence speaks?\| \|D.\|\|What is the relationship between "just powers" and "consent of the governed?"\| \|E.\|\|Offer and defend the explanation of why the authors of the Declaration of Independence chose to include the passage.\| \|F.\|\|What message is there in these words for each new generation to apply?\| 2. "There is no happiness without liberty, no liberty without self-government..." (The Federalist Papers, introduction by Clinton Rossiter) Clinton Rossiter wrote these words in support of the creation of a political experiment, our nation. Support the view with examples, analogies, or evidence. Students should be asked to divide into three teams, one to defend Rossiter's view, the other to disagree with it, another to act as a jury to decide which made the better case. The following questions can be assigned to be included as points to address in the above debate, assigned for writing, or for small group discussion and report findings to the class: \|A.\|\|Do you agree with Clinton Rossiter? Can citizens be just as happy without liberty? Can liberty exist without self-government?\| \|B.\|\|What might the connection be between liberty and self-government or between happiness and self-government? Can you cite any examples when loss of self-government resulted in a loss of liberty?\| \|C.\|\|Does self-government mean you will always be happy with governmental decisions? What is your reasoning? What is the solution if you are unhappy?\| 3. "The cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy." (President Woodrow Wilson) Students can be asked to write these answers individually (at home or in class) and then in class, break the students into three groups and assign one question set to each group to pool individual responses into a group answer. Each group should elect a spokesperson to present its findings to the class. \|A.\|\|At first glance this may seem contradictory, a sort of paradox, but look closely: what could President Wilson have meant when he said this?\| \|B.\|\|How does this view correlate with the Declaration of Independence passage and the quote by Rossiter?\| \|C.\|\|Our democracy provides certain tools (means) to correct the problems it creates. For example: the right to petition the government for change in Amendment One; the right to run for Congress in Article One of the Constitution. What are at least two other tools in our democracy for implementing change in our leaders and laws? Be sure to look at the Amendments and at presidential powers in Article Two.\| \|D.\|\|Like any tools, these need someone to utilize them for there to be any results. In the vision of the authors of the Declaration of Independence and framers of our Constitution and government, who are the workers that use the tools?\| 4. "The science of government is my duty to study...that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy." (President Thomas Jefferson) This activity is suitable for working in groups of two, three, or individually: \|A.\|\|Compare or contrast quotation four with views expressed in numbers one, two, and three. Does President Jefferson support or contradict the other views? Explain your reasoning.\| \|B.\|\|What would President Jefferson say to citizens who leave "politics" to others?\| \|C.\|\|He raises the word "duty;" what duty is he implying for all citizens? List all the duties you think should be assumed by each citizen and explain?\| Vermont Secretary of State http://www.vermontvotesforkids.com
Physical Science: Session 1 A Closer Look: Is the Moon Matter? How Do We Know the Moon is Made of Matter? In the video we define matter as "having weight and taking up space." Certainly the Moon seems to take up space — it appears in the sky every night, sometimes blocking our view of the stars, other planets, and even the sun during an eclipse. But how do we know that it has weight? In the video, we define weight as the measurement of the Earth’s pull on a particular piece of matter. To be more precise, in physics the measure of the amount of stuff in matter is called its mass, which is a quantity independent of whether the matter is on Earth or not. Anything that has mass exerts a pull, or the force we call “gravity,” on other things that have mass. On Earth, we call the measurement of this pull on a particular piece of matter weight. Since the Moon clearly isn’t on Earth, the question becomes, How do we know if the Moon has mass? Since antiquity people have observed the moon reliably in the sky, never seeming to fly out of its orbit. This fact provides a clue that there might be some pulling going on. Newton’s third law — for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction — describes the relationship. If the Earth is pulling the Moon, the Moon is also pulling on the Earth with an equal force and in the opposite direction. So, if the Earth is pulling on the Moon, and the Moon is also pulling back on the Earth, then they both have mass and both take up space, and so by definition are made of matter. Now that we know that the moon is made of matter and has mass, how could we actually determine how much mass? You may remember that during the Apollo missions in the 1970s, the Command and Service Module, with one astronaut remaining on board, was in orbit around the Moon for a couple of Earth days. By carefully recording the motion of the CSM as it passed close to the Moon, it was possible to determine the strength of the Moon's pull on the CSM, which results from its mass. This is the closest we can come to actually weighing the Moon! It turns out that the Moon contains about 1/80 of the mass of the Earth. If we scale the weight of the Earth to that of an elephant (11,000 pounds), the Moon would weigh as much as the average person (about 140 pounds). Interestingly, the Moon’s matter is almost all solid, with just a small amount of carbon and hydrogen gases, and no liquid. \|prev: session 1 intro\|
Around this time every year, professionals and amateurs anxiously wait as the sea ice (i.e., frozen ocean water) in the Northern Hemisphere reaches its minimum extent for the year. This usually occurs around the second week of September. As the winter season picks up, sea ice then becomes more extensive as the Arctic becomes shaded from incoming sunlight. Several decades ago, Arctic sea-ice cover was thought to be in such a near-steady seasonal cycle, reaching an area of roughly 15 million square kilometers each March, and retreating to 7-8 square kilometers each September. However, during the last few decades there has been a downward trend in the amount of sea ice that survives during the summer months. This year, Arctic sea ice extent hit a record low, and did so a few weeks before the melting season usually ends. The typical month-to-month pattern, as well as the steady downward trend, is shown in the following figure. The blue and orange lines show the annual cycle of sea ice extent for 2011 and 2007, respectively. The red line shows the 2012 sea ice pattern up until the time of this post. The black and brown lines show the “average” conditions for the 1980 and 1990 decades. There is a noticeable decline in sea ice extent in all months, but especially so during the warm season. August and September are especially interesting months since several models show that the Arctic ocean could become nearly ice-free during the summer within just a few decades as global warming continues. Thus, these months will define the transition from perennial to seasonal ice cover in the Arctic. This is important for a number of reasons. Sea ice is a major component of polar ecosystems. Plants and animals at all trophic levels use sea ice as their habitat. Moreover, such rapid decline already has changed the extent of human activity in the Arctic (including shipping, military presence, oil, gas and mineral exploitation, and fisheries). The long-term reduction in overall Northern Hemisphere sea ice extent is true for most individual regions as well, including Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay/Labrador, the Greenland Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Canadian Archipelago, and others. This decline has been attended by a transition towards a thinner, younger ice cover (as opposed to predominately multi-year ice which survives for two or more years). Thinner ice in spring fosters a stronger summer ice-reflectivity “feedback loop” through earlier formation of open water areas. This reflectivity feedback, also known as the “ice-albedo feedback”, operates because ice/snow is more reflective than darker ocean or melt water. Thus, if something happens to make the Arctic warmer, one would expect reduced ice cover, which would then decreases the amount of sunlight that is reflected away. More solar energy is absorbed by the oceans, which then exacerbates the warming or melting. Without this feedback, the amplitude of the seasonal cycle in ice extent (the change from February or March through September) would be smaller than is observed. But it’s also important on the longer timescales as well, reinforcing the influence of greenhouse gases, and at least partially responsible for the fact that Polar Regions tend to warm faster than the global average in observations and in future simulations of greenhouse-induced climate change (I have less confidence than others in the scientific community that it is the predominant mechanism involved behind this so-called “Arctic amplification,” but it is at least a key regional driver of the future Arctic climate). There is a clear seasonal structure in this feedback. Increased absorption of sunlight in open waters in summer impact the survival of the summer sea ice, but there is very little temperature amplification (compared to lower latitudes) in the summer, since much of the energy is deposited into melt or evaporation. However, this extra energy gained by the ocean must be released back to the atmosphere before sea forms in the autumn and winter. This leads to a shorter ice growth season and higher autumn air temperatures. Much of the Arctic winter sea ice retreat is thus not ice that has melted; this sea ice never froze. The evolution of albedo, or reflectivity, during a typical year is shown below. Higher albedo values on the vertical axis indicate more energy reflected away, while lower values indicate more energy absorbed. The next figure shows the evolution of temperature anomalies by year and month, based on the JRA-25 atmospheric reanalysis, a product of the Japan Meteorological Agency. The anomalies are the difference between the temperatures at whatever time you are looking at and the average of the period 1979–2010. You can visually see a trend toward warming temperature, as well as greater warming in the spring and autumn months. The causes of the strong decrease in Arctic sea ice extent are complex. No one has successfully explained the strong trend with just natural variability alone. There is a thermodynamic forcing component that is linked to increases in greenhouse gases and warming temperatures. However, natural variability is large in the Arctic, and warming “pre-conditions” the ice toward less extensive and thinner conditions. This ice can then be exposed to storms that are readily capable of exporting large amount of ice, which will then be fated to melt away. For example, a big player in the 2007 sea ice minimum (now second lowest on record) was an unusually high sea level pressure over the Beaufort Sea and Canada Basin, and anomalously low pressure over eastern Siberia (called a summer Arctic Dipole pattern). This led to strong southerly winds and warm temperatures, transporting ice away from the coasts of Siberia and Alaska, and from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic. Such patterns have been observed before however, so without the extensive thin, first-year ice, the atmospheric pattern would not have produced such a radical reduction in observed sea ice extent. The dramatic 2012 ice loss observed so far was at least aided by a cyclone that helped break up ice. Thus, “weather” will still be superimposed on a ever-steepening downward trend in Arctic sea ice.
The p-value and the significance level significance comes down to the relationship between two crucial quantities, the p-value and the significance level (alpha) we can call a result statistically significant when p alpha let’s consider what each of these quantities represents p-value: this is calculated after you obtain your results. The connotation 'statistical significance' takes into account the number of samples as well level of confidence in making a conclusion based on these samples the level of confidence is typically denoted as 1-alpha (1 minus alpha), where alpha is basically the chance that the reported conclusion will incorrect. I can understand the relationship between the significance level of a test, p(type ii error) do not us the p-hat or x-bar (statistics) values in place of the. The relationship between confidence intervals and significance testing. Type i and ii errors and significance levels type i error rejecting the null hypothesis when it is in fact true is called a type i error many people decide, before. Statistical significance, & effect size if you plan to use inferential statistics (eg, t-tests, anova, etc) to analyze your evaluation results, you should. So, if your significance level is 005, the corresponding confidence level is 95% if the p value is less than your significance (alpha) level, the hypothesis test is statistically significant if the confidence interval does not contain the null hypothesis value, the results are statistically significant. The relationship between effect size and statistical significance is discussed and the use of confidence intervals for the latter outlined some advantages and. Answer as the p-value is much less than 005, we reject the null hypothesis that β = 0hence there is a significant relationship between the variables in the linear regression model of the data set faithful note. There is, however, an exact correspondence between the t-test of difference between two means and the confidence interval for the difference between the two means if the confidence interval for the difference between two means contains zero, a t-test for that difference would fail to reject null at the same level of confidence likewise if the. What is the difference between confidence intervals and hypothesis testing (some discussion ensues about this statistical significance without any mention of or. The confidence level tells you how sure you can be and is expressed as a percentage the 95% confidence level means you can be 95% certain the 99% confidence level means you can be 99% certain α (alpha) is called the significance level, and is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true. Is there a relationship between confidence intervals and two-tailed hypothesis tests let c be the level of confidence used to construct a confidence interval from sample data let %u03b1 be the level of significance for a two-tailed hypothesis test the following statement applies to hypothesis tests of the mean. Sample size calculator terms: confidence interval & confidence level the confidence interval (also called margin of error) is the plus-or-minus figure usually reported in newspaper or television opinion poll results for example, if you use a confidence interval of 4 and 47% percent of your sample picks an answer you can be sure that if you. What is the relationship between levels of confidence and statistical significance what are the major differences between practical and statistical significance what is more important for the researcher to be concerned about in a study, type i or type ii errors why basic help starts at : $20 note: the price above is for the [. Significance is a statistical term that tells how sure you are that a difference or relationship exists to say that a significant difference or relationship exists. Choosing the levels of significance chapter 8 3/19/12 lecture 18 - xuanyao he 1 two-sided hypothesis testing and confidence intervals • a two-sided significance. This lesson explores the basic principle of statistical significance and why it is important to understand when performing nearly any statistical test. Significance of correlations values the table below lists the correlation values that are significant at 4 significance levels and specified degrees of freedom to perform a 1-tailed test, simply use the values in the list for example, the 95% significance level correlation value for 40 years is listed under the 950 column for 40 degrees of. What is the relationship between levels of confidence and statistical significance what are the major differences between practical and statistical significance. Since zero is lower than 200, it is rejected as a plausible value and a test of the null hypothesis that there is no difference between means is significant it turns out that the p value is 00057 there is a similar relationship between the 99% confidence interval and significance at the 001 level. Significance testing refers to the use of statistical techniques that are used to determine whether the sample drawn from a population is actually from the population or if by the chance factor usually, statistical significance is determined by the set alpha level, which is conventionally set at 05. The significance level α is the threshold for p below which the experimenter assumes the null hypothesis is false, and something else is going on this means α is also the probability of mistakenly rejecting the null hypothesis, if the null hypothesis is true sometimes researchers talk about the confidence level γ = (1 − α) instead this is. Best answer: level of confidence: defined as a parameter (usually called alpha) how likely the interval is to contain the parameter is determined by the confidence level or confidence coefficient statistical significance: defined as a result. The connotation 'statistical significance' takes into account the number of samples as well level of confidence in making a conclusion based on these samples. The most common choice for a statistical significance level is 05, which means that the probability of a relationship due to random chance is below 5 percent the significance level helps a researcher determine whether to reject the null hypothesis, the hypothesis that states there is no relationship between the variables. A relationship is more significant if the relationship is stronger or the sample size is larger (or both) weak relationships are significant only in large samples in sociology the level of significance we usually employ as a divide between significant and non-significant findings is 05 (for smaller samples 10. Since the observed data are random samples from the true population, the confidence interval obtained from the data is also random if a corresponding hypothesis test is performed, the confidence level is the complement of the level of significance for example, a 95% confidence interval reflects a significance level of 005. Research rundowns quantitative methods significance testing (t-tests) in this review, we’ll look at significance testing, using mostly the t. Statistical literacy guide confidence intervals and statistical significance : last updated: june 2009 author: ross young & paul bolton : this guide outlines the related concepts of confidence intervals and statistical significance and gives examples of the standard way that both are calculated or tested. Thus, in the long run, for a test with level of significance of 005 = 1/20, a true null hypothesis will be rejected one out of every 20 times p-values the other number that is part of a test of significance is a p-valuea p-value is also a probability, but it comes from a different source than alphaevery test statistic has a corresponding probability. This may or may not be true, as statistical data analyses are always subject to error if the level of confidence is high, a result is less likely to be statistically significant, especially if it is unfounded if the level of confidence is low, a result is more likely to be statistically significant but at the cost of being a false positive. Statistical significance level tells you about the probability of claiming based on sample data that 2 (or more) groups are different (or correlated) when they really aren't finally, note that setting the statistical significance level, or alpha, has a direct impact on the calcuation of a confidence interval lowering alpha from 05 to 01, for.
September 22 usually marks the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. It's the day when the earth is perfectly angled sideways to the sun and so day and night are of equal length. Well, sort of. We'll set the record straight on this and four other facts about the day that kicks off fall. 1. It's Not a Day-Long Thing. Although the autumnal equinox is observed, maybe even celebrated, all day on Sept. 22, it's really just a moment in time — to be exact it's when the sun crosses the celestial equator, an imaginary line in the sky above Earth's equator. Normally, Earth orbits tilted on its axis by 23.5 degrees. But at this precise instant, its rotational axis is neither tilting toward nor away from the sun. For 2018, that takes place at 9:54 p.m. EDT or 1:54 UTC. After this time, the sun will start rising later and setting earlier for those in the Northern Hemisphere. Those living in the Southern Hemisphere will see the opposite. In fact, people in the Southern Hemisphere refer to Sept. 22 as the spring equinox, a signal that the days will start getting longer. 2. Day and Night are Not Exactly Equal. The word "equinox" comes from the Latin words aequus (meaning "equal") and nox (meaning "night") but day and night are not exactly 12 hours each on Sept. 22. Due to the refraction of sunlight (i.e. bending of the sun's light rays), the sun will appear to be above the horizon in some places when it's actually still below it. Also, those who live far from the equator will have slightly longer days because the sun takes longer to rise and set from their vantage point. On the days close to the equinox, the sun might be visible for between 12 hours and 6 minutes and 12 hours and 16 minutes, depending on latitude. On Sept. 22, 2018, the sun will rise at 6:55 a.m. EDT and set at 7:06 p.m., giving nine extra minutes of daylight. 3. The Equinox Date Can Vary. Although the autumnal equinox is generally Sept. 22 or 23, occasionally it falls on Sept. 21 or 24. That's because the calendar used in the West (the Gregorian calendar) defines a year as 365 days, or the length of time it takes for Earth to orbit the sun. In actuality, Earth takes 365.25 days to go around the sun. So, this means that the September equinox will be six hours later than it was the year before. (The inclusion of leap years sort of resets the date.) In 2092 and 2096, the autumnal equinox will be on Sept. 21. The last time it was on this date was 1000 C.E.! You can see the exact dates of the autumnal and spring equinoxes as well as the summer and winter solstices through 2025 at this U.S. Naval Observatory link. 4. The Equinox Brings on the Northern Lights You know those beautiful displays of light in the night sky called the aurora borealis? Well, the equinox signals the start of the time you can see them, continuing all the way through the end of October. Here's why: Auroras are caused by the interaction of solar winds with Earth's magnetic field. The solar winds are particles of plasma escaping from the sun and into space. Disturbances in Earth's magnetic field (called geomagnetic storms) are strongest in the spring and fall, compared to summer and winter. The particles that slam into Earth's magnetic field collide with atoms of oxygen, nitrogen and other elements in the air. These particles eventually release photons of different wavelengths and therefore different colors. 5. It's a Cause for Celebration There are several celebrations associated with the fall equinox. For instance, there's the neopagan festival of Mabon, a harvest festival to celebrate the gathering of crops and the bounty of the earth. In China and other Asian countries, they celebrate the moon festival, which is always held in mid-September, around the time of the harvest moon. The harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. Last editorial update on Sep 10, 2018 04:10:56 pm.
Statistics related to asthma and allergies: According to the latest information available from the American Lung Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): - Approximately 23 million people in the US have been diagnosed with asthma, with at least 6.8 million of them children under the age of 18. - Asthma is one of the leading, serious, chronic illness among children in the US. - Asthma accounts for 13 million absences from school each year. - Asthma is the third-ranking cause of childhood hospitalizations under the age of 15. - Allergies affect more than 50 million people in the US. - Pollen allergy (hay fever or allergic rhinitis) affects nearly 8.6 percent of adults in the US (18.7 million people), not including those with asthma. - Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the US. - Urticaria (hives; raised areas of reddened skin that become itchy) and angioedema (swelling of throat tissues) together affect approximately 10 percent to 20 percent of the US population at some time in their lives. - Chronic sinusitis, most often caused by allergies, affects nearly 37 million people in the US.
A peek into heritage and nature In ancient times, forts were considered as an ideal defence system. Forts that have survived today are representative of the engineering talent and strategic defence of ancient India.Today it is one of the wonders of the bygone era. Scholar Kautilya, popularly known as Chanakya the renowned author of his Sanskrit Arthsastra ancient Indian treatise on statecraft and Military strategy has classified forts into following types - Giridurga ( Hill fort ) , Jaladurga ( water fort ) , Shiladurga ( Rock fort ) and Vanadurga ( Forest fort ). Among the hill forts, Jamalabad is a hilltop Giridurga fortification in Jamalabad Village near Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada ( DK ) District of Karnataka. It is located in the Kudremukh range of hills. The fort lies at an altitude of 1700 ft. The fort was formerly called Narasimha Ghada, which refers to the granite hill on which the fort is built. It is also referred locally as Jamalagadda or Gadayikallu. Originally a mud fort existed on the hilltop. The fort was reconstructed over the ruins of an older structure by Tippu Sultan in 1794 and named after his beloved mother, Jamal Bee. Tippu Sultan kept the fort in his possession for over 50 years.Though a local chieftain called Thimmappa Nayaka took possession of fort for a short period. The fort was captured by the British in 1799 during the 4th Mysore War. As per legend, those who are not favorable to Tippu were hurled down this fort to their death.The fort is inaccessible other than via a narrow path, with around 1876 steps to the fort that are cut out of the granite hill and lead all the way to the top with the help of french engineers.This strategy would mean that through a narrow passage small but well-armed group could indefinitely block a much larger force from entering the fort. Inside the fort, there is only one tank to store water. Remains of a single cannon lie at the top The fort is accessible via a narrow path with about 1800 steps cut out of the granite hill. Inside the fort, there is a tank to store rain water. Remains of a single cannon lie at the top. Nothing much of the fortifications remain but hints of the fort wall with parapets are visible. This hillock fort has one room at the top. There is also an unmanned microwave repeater station on top of the hill.The Summit afford superb views of the surrounding landscape with paddy fields ,temples plantations , water bodies and the Kudremukh range of western ghats. Note : Since it is a Heritage Protected Monument under ASI , one is not allowed to venture into fort without permission. And stay inside atop is prohibited.
Restriction endonucleases (REases) recognize specific nucleotide sequences in double-stranded DNA and generally cleave both strands. Some sequence-specific endonucleases, however, cleave only one of the strands. These endonucleases are known as nicking endonucleases (NEases). At NEB, we have been developing nicking endonucleases through the discovery of naturally occurring enzymes, as well as genetic engineering of existing restriction enzymes. Double-stranded cleavage usually results from binding of the two half sites of a palindromic sequence by a homodimeric REase (e.g. Type IIP REases). Within the homodimer, each monomer makes a cut on one of the strands such that both strands of the DNA are cleaved. Strand-specific nicking, however, is achievable only when the recognition sequences are asymmetric. In addition, some of the REases that recognize asymmetric sequences are heterodimeric. Thus, one can envision that manipulating the catalytic activity of individual monomers or the dimerization state of restriction endonucleases that recognize asymmetric sequences can result in nicking endonucleases. That is how NEB scientists developed the strand-specific NEases Nb.BbvCI and Nt.AlwI. BbvCI is a heterodimeric Type IIS REase. It recognizes the 7 base-pair asymmetric sequence CCTCAGC and cleaves the DNA at (CC↓TCAGC† and CCTCA↑GC) [CCTCAGC (-5/-2)]. It was discovered that each of the two subunits (R1 and R2) contains its own catalytic site. Each of these subunits cleaves the bottom and the top strands of the target sequence, respectively (1). To utilize this property, cleavage-deficient mutants of each subunit were engineered. Heterodimers of functional R1 and cleavage-deficient R2 reconstitute a nicking endonuclease that cleaves only the bottom strand (Nb.BbvCI), whereas functional R2 and cleavage-deficient R1 reconstitute Nt.BbvCI, which cleaves the top strand only (2). The nicking enzyme Nt.AlwI (GGATCNNNN↓) was also successfully engineered to cleave only the top strand of the AlwI target sequence [GGATC(4/5)] (3). This NEase was created by swapping the dimerization domain of AlwI with a non-functional dimerization domain of the natural NEase, Nt.BstNBI, such that the resulting chimeric enzyme, Nt.AlwI, is rendered monomeric. Other nicking enzyme engineering projects are less straightforward. Screening libraries of random mutants has enabled us to isolate variants of restriction endonucleases that nick one of the strands specifically (4,5). The engineered enzymes obtained are the bottomstrand specific Nb.BsmI (GAATG↑C) from BsmI [GAATGC(1/-1)] and top-strand specific Nt.SapI (GCTCTTCN↓) from SapI [GCTCTTC(1/4)] (4). Nicking variants have also been generated from BsaI [GGTCTC(1/5)], BsmBI [CGTCTC(1/5)], and BsmAI [GTCTC(1/5)] (5). In addition to protein engineering, we are also developing products from natural nicking endonucleases. Nt.BstNBI (GAGTCNNNN↓) is a naturally occurring thermostable NEase cloned from Bacillus stereothermophilus (6). Nt.CviPII (↓CCD), originally identified in a Chlorella virus isolate as a frequent DNA nickase that recognizes 3-base target sequences (7), is also under development at NEB. Some nicking endonucleases were discovered quite unexpectedly. Nb.BsrDI (GCAATG↑) is the large subunit of BsrDI [GCAATG(2/0)], a thermostable heterodimeric enzyme identified in Bacillus stearothermophilus. The large subunit was found to be a bottom-strand specific NEase when cloned separately in E. coli (Xu, unpublished observations). A similar observation has been made in BtsI where the large subunit makes a strand-specific nick at the target sequence (Zhu and Xu, unpublished results). The top-strand cleavage activity of BfiI [ACTGGG(5/4)] has also been reported to be inhibited at low pH, resulting in a bottom-strand specific nicking enzyme (8). The uses of nicking endonucleases are still being explored. NEases can generate nicked or gapped duplex DNA for studies of DNA mismatch repair and for diagnostic applications. The long overhangs that nicking enzymes make can be used in DNA fragment assembly. Nt.BbvCI has been used to generate long and non-complementary overhangs when used with XbaI in the USER* cloning protocol from NEB. Nicking endonucleases are also useful for isothermal DNA amplifications, which rely on the production of site-specific nicks. Isothermal DNA amplification using Nt.BstNBI in concert with Vent (exo–) DNA Polymerase (NEB #M0257) (EXPAR) has been reported for detection of a specific DNA sequence in a sample (9). Another isothermal DNA amplification technique has also been described using the 3-base cutter Nt.CviPII and Bst DNA Polymerase I [Nicking Endonuclease Mediated- DNA Amplification (NEMDA)] (7). Frequent cutting NEases can generate short partial duplex DNA fragments from genomic DNA. These fragments can be used for cloning or used as probes for hybridization-based applications. Nicking endonucleases are simple to use. Since the nicks generated by 6- or 7- base NEases do not fragment DNA, their activities are monitored by conversion of supercoiled plasmids to open circles. Alternatively, substrates with nicking sites close enough on opposite strands to create a doublestranded cut can be used instead. Alternatively, REBASE offers a comprehensive database of enzyme properties and useful resources of restriction-modification systems. REBASE also includes citations of all relevant literature as well as links to resources such as structural data and genomic sequences when they are available. † Down-arrows (↓) indicate cleavage at the top strand; up-arrows (↑) indicate cleavage at the bottom strand. - Bellamy, S.R.W. et al. (2005) J. Mol. Biol. 345, 641–653. - Heiter, D.F., Lunnen, K.D. and Wilson, G.G. (2005) J. Mol. Biol. 348, 631–640. - Xu, Y. et al. (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 12990–12995. - Samuelson, J.C., Zhu, Z. and Xu, S.Y. (2004) Nucl. Acids Res. 32, 3661–3671. - Zhu, Z. et al. (2004) J. Mol. Biol. 337, 573–583. - Morgan, R.D. et al. (2000) Biol. Chem. 381, 1123–1125. - Chan, S.H. et al. (2004) Nucl. Acids Res. 32, 6187–6199. - Sasnauskas, G. et al. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 6410–6415. - Van Ness, J. et al. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 4504–4509. By Siu-hong Chan, Ph.D. and Shuang-yong Xu, Ph.D., New England Biolabs, Inc.
Eighth grade science is an introduction to physical science. Topics include volume and mass, mass changes in a closed system, characteristic properties, and solubility. In this laboratory-based class, students further refine their application of the scientific method and improve their ability to observe and record; to make and refine hypotheses; and to design, run, and write up lab-based inquiries. In an eagerly anticipated final project students use the skills, theories, and techniques learned throughout the year to separate “sludge,” a mixture of numerous solids, liquids, and gases. The year ends with the formulation of the atomic theory of matter. It is a smooth transition to the high school science program as 9th grade picks up where we left off on the atom and the nature of bonding. Students are expected to be thoroughly engaged in inquiry, curious, respectful and invested in their learning.
St. Martin Parish HistoryWelcome to St. Martin Parish, located in South Louisiana. The People \| “A Cultural Gumbo” Acadiana, the historically French region of Southwest Louisiana, is best known for its Cajun culture. The word Cajun comes from a regional English pronunciation of “Acadian”. Exiled from their homeland on the Atlantic Coast of Canada by British forces, some 3,000 Acadians found refuge in Louisiana in the late 1700’s. After a hundred years of contact with Louisianians of European, African, and indigenous descent, “Cajun” became a blanket term for working class, French-speaking whites. Today’s Cajuns, or Cadiens as they call themselves in French, are found in all walks of life: they are farmers and governors, oil workers and educators. It can be said that Acadiana was born when 200 members of the Acadian resistance settled around present-day St. Martinville in 1765. They referred to South Louisiana as La Nouvelle Acadie, or New Acadia. On the land where the city of St. Martinville now stands, they met a handful of enslaved Africans who were homesteading and tending cattle for French landowners. The settlement was known as Les Poste des Attakapas, for the indigenous Attakapas people who once hunted here and now occupied outlying lands. Spanish-speaking Malaga settlers and refugees fleeing the French Revolution soon followed, as well as Creole families from New Orleans and Mobile and some Anglo-American families. With the increased need for labor came more slaves from Louisiana or other states as well as from West Africa. A large number of Anglo-American slaves from Virginia and elsewhere on the East Coast were sold to local buyers between 1830 and 1850. The city’s antebellum population grew to include a number of gens de couleur libre, or free people of color. By the 1880s, a large influx of Italian merchants, German wheat farmers seeking a place in the rice industry, and Irish workers working for the railroad, formed a cultural amalgam of diverse groups. Today, the founding cultures, Acadian, African, French, Italian, and Spanish, have maintained their cultural identities while blending together to form a savory “cultural gumbo”. “Joie de vivre” (joy of living) is de rigeur in St. Martin Parish. The pleasure-loving nature of the region manifests itself in festivals, dancing, and food. What better way to enjoy a serving of cultural gumbo? Visitors are transported to a place like no other they will ever experience. The history, cuisine, hospitality, and music of the founding cultures are alive and well and eagerly await you in St. Martin Parish.
Modelling and simulation is just one of the fields that bioprinting has given a boost to. Researchers often create artificial test models to see how biological systems interact with each other, from cell tissue to medicines. Now, researchers in Vienna are taking modelling even further by reproducing the placental barrier to investigate prenatal functions, and especially, the permeability of its membrane when passing crucial substances from mother to child. The researchers at TU Wien developed a femtosecond laser-based 3D printing process that produces hydrogel membranes directly within microfluidic chips. They then populated these membranes with placenta cells and studied the material exchanges as though they were between mother and child. It is opening up new insights into processes such as glucose exchange and barrier permeability. “The transport of substances through biological membranes plays an important role in various areas of medicine”, says Prof. Aleksandr Ovsianikov of the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at TU Wien. “These include the blood-brain barrier, ingestion of food in the stomach and intestine, and also the placenta.” Studying the Placental Barrier Studying the placental barrier has a lot of applications in the world of biotech and medicine. Most crucially, it allows biologists to study the interactions in the womb in cases where the mother may have diseases. As a result, they can better predict the effects of various ailments such as diabetes and possibly develop means to counteract the effects or at least advise new mothers accordingly. The chip, as can be seen above, consists of two areas: one represents the fetus, the other the mother. They used the 3D printing process to produce the membrane that divides them. As one would expect, their 3D printer can work with resolutions within the micrometre range. “Based on the model of the natural placenta, we produce a surface with small, curved villi. The placenta cells can then colonise it, creating a barrier very similar to the natural placenta.” Said Professor Ovsianikov. Initial tests show that the artificial placenta behaves in a similar manner to its natural counterpart. It allows small molecules to pass through, while holding back the larger ones. In effect, it acts like a collander for potentially harmful molecules. The model can also allow researchers to investigate important aspects of nutrient transport from the mother to the fetus. Microfluidics and chip-based organ research has opened up a lot of avnues for new research. It allows for medical professionals to measure the isolated features of organs and the interactions that alter their behavior. Researchers can also glean insight on disease patters and cure rates using these chips. All featured images courtesy of TU Wien, retrieved via technologynetworks website.
The Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata) – also known as Musky Duck or Barbary Duck – is a large, hardy perching duck Most people are curious about them; some dislike them for their messiness, aggression and odd appearance, while others appreciate them for their intelligence, friendly and trusting personality and their distinctive appearance. For these reason alone, Muscovies are increasingly kept as backyard pets and even exhibition birds. The origin of the Muscovy’s name is unknown. It is not from Moscow; and even though it is commercially known as “Barbary Duck,” it is also not native to Barbary. Ducks or Geese? Many believe that Muscovies are more geese than ducks – in fact, often they are referred to as “Muscovie Geese” for the following reasons: - Muscovy ducks don’t quack as is typical of other duck species and are generally quiet. - Their eggs take longer to hatch than other duck eggs—35 days. Unlike all other breeds of ducks. - All domesticated ducks originate from the Mallard, with the exception of the Muscovy which has distinct origins in South America. - Muscovy Ducks usually live for 7-8 years; however they can live up to 20 years or more if they have access to good nutrition and don’t fall victim to an accident or predation. - The males can be very aggressive towards other birds. They are often observed in fights, using their claws, wings and beaks. They will chase away other males and pursue unwilling females in order to forcibly mate with them. The dominant male may even force himself on other males, particularly when the females are busy brooding eggs or raising their ducklings. This being said, they are generally quite friendly with people. - Muscovies communicate with one another by wagging their tails and raising and lowering their heads at one another. - Unlike other ducks, Muscovies don’t swim much as their oil glands are quite under-developed compared to other duck species. However, they still fly (low flight mostly), swim and walk fairly well. - Unlike most domestic waterfowl, Muscovies will often fly up into trees to roost. - Muscovies graze like geese. Muscovies are native to Mexico, Central and South America – but they originated in Brazil. This non-migratory (resident) species normally inhabits forested swamps, lakes and streams. At night, they often roost in trees. Some domesticated muscovies have escaped into the wild and now breed outside their native range, including in Western Europe and the United States. They are particularly well known in the town of Ely in Cambridgeshire. The most distinctive feature of the muscovy ducks is the featherless, bright “lumpy” red mask around their eyes and above the beak, which is larger in the male. Muscovies have a “crest” on the top of their heads that they can raise at will. Males will raise this crest to fend off other males or he raises his crest to impress the females. The male is easily identified by his face mask alone – but also by his generally larger size – in fact, the adult male is usually twice the size of the female. The female’s appearance is generally more slender than that of the male. The adult males can weigh up to 10-15 lbs (4.5 6.8 kg). The male measures, on average, 31 inches or 79 cm. Most of the females are 5-7 pounds (2.3 – 3.1 kg) but can, in rare instances, reach up to 10 lbs (4.5 kg). The female measures about 23.6 inches or 60 cm Colouration The original colour of the Muscovy is glossy blackish/brown and white, and most of them still are that colour – with varying degrees of white, black or brown (“pieds”). Some of them are very light coloured (mostly white), while others are mostly black/brown. The black / dark brown patches have an attractive iridescence to them that can only be seen in the right light conditions. Many other quite exotic colours have occurred – mostly in domesticated breeds, such as blue, blue and white, chocolate, chocolate and white, lavender and calico. Dark coloured muscovies have brown eyes. Whites, lilacs and blues usually have grey eyes. They have webbed feet and strong sharp claws for grabbing tree branches and roosting. Their tail is fairly short, flat and wide.. Juvenile muscovies are as cute as can be. Most of them are variably yellow and brown; a few are all yellow and others all brown. They lack the bumpy face masks of the adults and have a more slender appearance. They are very curious and friendly and will readily approach people looking for food (a somewhat trained response, as many people will gladly feed them to get a close-up look of them). They are mostly seen following their mother as she is foraging for food. Calls / Vocalizations Muscovies have very different vocalizations from other ducks. Male Muscovies have a dry hissing call – often “wagging” their tail and fluffing up the feathers on their crown at the same time. The female’s make quiet trilling “pip” sounds. It is reminiscent to a flute quickly alternating between the notes F and G. The major benefit associated with having these ducks in urban areas is that they help keep insect populations down, such as mosquitoes, roaches, flies, spiders (including poisonous ones) and even ants. They will basically eat any bug they can find. Muscovies also eat maggots and mosquito larva in the water, thus making a huge difference when it comes to insect control. They catch bugs flying around and those they find on the ground or under rocks. Muscovies are efficient weed eaters. But on the downside, they will also go for your vegetables and fruits — so those need to be protected. Muscovies eat all the excess food laying around that would otherwise attract mice and rats. Both males and females reach reproductive maturity when they are about one year old; although at that young age, they have not yet necessarily attained their full body mass. This species, like the Mallard, does not form stable pairs. Forced intercourse has been observed in feral populations. Popular males are often seen with up to four females – potentially the entire female population in the group; while the remaining males “hang out” in bachelor groups. However, the female may also mate with other males. The hen lays a clutch of 8-10 white eggs and communal nests may contain up to 21 eggs. The nest is usually situated in a tree hole or hollow, which are incubated for 34 – 36 days, as opposed to 28 days in other duck breeds. Muscovy hens can produce up to three clutches a year. The mother duck will keep her brood of ducklings together to protect them from predators. The eggs and ducklings are preyed upon by raccoons, large turtles, birds of prey, large fish and snakes. Ducklings can fly within 5 – 8 weeks. Their feathers develop very fast. Nesting is facilitated by the use of nest boxes. They will readily accept a wide range of nesting boxes, from large wood duck-like boxes with 6″ to 8″ diameter entrance holes to igloo-shaped half barrels, to l’ by 2′ ground nest boxes with either side or end-entry holes, to naturally occuring hollow trees and stumps. If Muscovies are mated to other domestic breeds, they produce young that are commonly known as Mulard Ducks (“mule ducks”) – in reference to their sterility. Male hybrids produce abnormal sperm and are, therefore, mostly sterile; however, about one out of every thirty male is able to produce young. The females are always sterile. The Muscovy Duck had probably been domesticated for centuries by South American Indigenous cultures at the time of its introduction to European colonialists. The Domestic Muscovy duck is descended from the wild Muscovy Duck. While the majority of its ancestors were also wild Muscovy Ducks, the males of two other wild species also contributed their genepool. Muscovy Ducks as pets are very popular because raising them is inexpensive and less time consuming. Muscovy ducks don’t generally like to be over handled by humans (unless they were raised by them); however, they can grow very confiding. Muscovies are less prone to illnesses as compared to other ducks. As Muscovy Ducks lay large clutches and can be encouraged to produce up to three clutches of offspring a year, the selective breeding regimes of the South American Indian cultures were successful in producing dramatically larger domestic muscovy with unusual colouration making individuals recognizable. This is critical in the development of domestic breeds. At some point, Europeans and/or their Asian neighbours either inadvertently or purposely hybridized the now critically endangered White Winged Wood Duck to their domestic Muscovy Ducks. The White Winged Wood Duck is much closer related to the Muscovy Duck than the Comb Duck. Fertile male offspring were bred back into the domestic Muscovy Duck gene pool in high enough numbers to introduce a number of new traits into the populations of founders that reached African and European Shores. All the photographs on this page were taken in our garden on Isleham Marina, where a pair of male Muscovy ducks live. They are wild but come and visit every day for a feed. There were three until recently, but sadly `Albus’ our white Muscovy recently passed away (March 2013) .
A lazy eye is when the eye and the brain aren’t working together properly so that the vision in one of the eyes is poor. The affected eye usually looks fine physically, but it isn’t being used as much because the brain is favouring the other eye. The eye that isn’t being used properly may be called a ‘lazy eye’. It's thought that up to three in 100 children have a lazy eye. A lazy eye usually begins in childhood, during a key phase when your child's vision is still developing and his or her brain is learning to understand the information coming from the eyes. This process is usually complete by age eight. A lazy eye is a problem with the development of vision by your child's brain rather than a disease or condition affecting the eye itself. When your child looks at an object, each eye picks up an image. This information is sent to the brain and turned into one image. The images from each eye provide slightly different information about the object, which enables your child to judge depth (the ability to determine the distance between objects). If your child has a problem with the images from one eye, for example if the visual image from one eye is somehow too different to that from the other, because the eyes aren't both facing the same direction or the image is blurred, then a lazy eye could develop. When this happens, the brain starts to ignore the poor image and uses just the image from the other eye. If your child’s brain only takes in the visual information from one eye, he or she will have a reduced ability to judge depth. This may not be an immediate concern but it could mean your child has problems reading, doing some sports and, in later life, may make certain careers impossible, for example becoming a pilot. Also, relying on vision in one eye alone could lead to serious sight problems if vision in the other eye is affected later in life. Often, your child will have no obvious symptoms of having a lazy eye and won’t know that one eye is working better than the other. Even if your child does notice a difference, he or she may not be able to explain that his or her vision differs in each eye. If your child is young, it may be easier to notice that he or she has a lazy eye by covering one eye at a time. It’s likely that when the eye that is working well is covered your child will try to push the cover away. If your child is older, he or she may mention having problems seeing with one eye. For some children who have a lazy eye, you may be able to notice that their eyes look different to each other. One eye may look in a different direction to the other (a squint), one eye may be cloudy (from a cataract for example) or one eyelid may be drooping and covering part of that eye (a ptosis). These physical eye problems could cause a lazy eye to develop and will need to be treated before your child can be treated for a lazy eye. These symptoms aren’t always caused by a lazy eye, but if your child has them, see your GP. If a problem with the vision in one eye is left untreated, it can lead to a permanent loss of vision in that eye. A squint can also develop and your child’s ability to judge depth may be affected (this may lead to your child being unable to do certain occupations later in life). However, lazy eye does not cause complete blindness and your child will still be able to get around obstacles when using his or her affected eye. Occasionally the development of vision in both eyes will be affected. Vision development continues until about age eight – after this it is much more difficult to treat a lazy eye and correct your child’s vision. Underlying causes of a lazy eye may occasionally lead to more serious health problems. Therefore, if you think your child may have a lazy eye, it’s important to see your GP. The visual information from one of your child's eyes may be ignored by the brain as a result of the following eye conditions. If your GP thinks your child may have problems with his or her vision, he or she will refer your child to an orthoptist or an ophthalmologist. An orthoptist is a health professional who specialises in eye movement problems such as squints, lazy eyes and double vision. An ophthalmologist is a doctor who specialises in eye health, including eye surgery. An orthoptist will carry out routine assessments using specialised techniques to determine whether your child is at the right stage of visual development. Often orthoptists do screening before children start school to identify those who might otherwise go untreated. An ophthalmologist will carry out a detailed examination of your child's eyes to exclude any other causes of poor vision. If the ophthalmologist thinks that your child has a lazy eye or is at high risk of developing one, it may be necessary to monitor your child for several years. Even if your child has previously had an eyesight check, it's still worth seeking advice if you have any concerns about his or her vision. It's important to get treatment for your child's visual problems as early as possible. After about the age of eight, treatment may not be effective. The success of treatment for your child's lazy eye will depend on what is causing it, his or her age, level of vision at diagnosis and how carefully your child sticks to the treatment plan. Your child may only need to wear a pair of glasses (or sometimes contact lenses). These will correct the blurring caused by long- or short-sightedness in the affected eye, or help to stop your child's eyes from squinting. It's important to try to ensure that your child wears his or her glasses as instructed by your orthoptist or ophthalmologist and to report back any problems. More involved treatment aims to force the affected (lazy) eye to start working again. This is done by covering or blurring the vision in your child's other eye using either a patch (occlusion) or, less frequently, eye drops and ointments (penalisation). Occasionally, your child may be prescribed glasses or contact lenses to blur the vision in his or her other eye. Your child may need to wear the eye patch for several hours a day over many weeks or months, or use eye drops or ointments for several days at a time. There is a risk that the other eye may become lazy if it’s covered up too much or for too long. Your orthoptist or ophthalmologist will monitor your child's progress carefully and adjust treatment accordingly, but it's important to follow his or her advice and instructions, and to report back any concerns. Getting your child to wear a patch over his or her better eye can be hard work. If the treatment proves too difficult, talk to your orthoptist or ophthalmologist about other options. Any conditions found to be causing your child's visual problems will also be treated or monitored by your ophthalmologist. The length of time for which your child will need to wear an eye patch to prevent a lazy eye developing further will vary. The time needed to treat a lazy eye using an eye patch depends on several factors. First, the age at which your child's visual problems developed and how old he or she was when diagnosed can determine how long he or she will need to wear an eye patch. Generally, the younger your child is, the sooner he or she will respond to treatment and the better the outcome of this will be. The severity of the lazy eye and how good your child's vision is will affect how long he or she will need an eye patch. The better your child's vision is, the quicker treatment will start to work. The cause of a visual problem can also affect how well treatment works. If your child's lazy eye is caused by unequal vision in each eye because of problems such as long-sightedness, short-sightedness or astigmatism (where the cornea at the front of the eye isn’t perfectly curved), it will usually take longer for treatment to be effective than if it’s caused by a squint. Finally, the biggest factor affecting the length and success of treatment is how strictly the treatment plan is followed. It’s very important that your child carefully follows the treatment plan from the orthoptist. Research has shown that the more closely the treatment plan is followed, the sooner the lazy eye starts to work again and the more vision is saved. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's lazy eye, talk to your child's optometrist. No, it isn't possible for a child to grow out of a lazy eye. If left untreated, your child may never be able to see properly out of the affected eye. Up to the age of six, your child's eyesight is very sensitive. Any changes to the balance of vision through their eyes can interrupt the healthy development process. If a physical visual problem is left untreated, vision in the affected eye can be permanently damaged or lost. This is usually irreversible by the age of eight. If you suspect that your child has a lazy eye, it's very important to get treatment as soon as possible. Regular eye checks with an optometrist will ensure that any problems are picked up and treated early. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's lazy eye, talk to your GP or optometrist. Yes, it’s possible for lazy eye to recur in children who have already been treated for the problem. This usually only happens before a child is eight, after which time there will be little change in vision. The earlier your child is treated the more chance there is of his or her sight being completely corrected. However, it’s possible that your child’s lazy eye may come back until after his or her visual system has fully developed (about age eight). Your child may find he or she has less clear vision even after his or her vision is completely developed. Your child’s optometrist will recommend the best treatment. It’s important that any underlying causes of the lazy eye are treated before any use of a patch or drops begins. This may mean your child needs to wear glasses or contact lenses to correct long- or short-sightedness. If your child has any cataracts, these will need to be removed and if his or her eyelid droops and covers part of the eye (ptosis), this will need to be corrected. Your child will then be encouraged to use the lazy eye by putting a patch over the good eye or by using drops in the good eye. These blur the vision in that eye and make the lazy eye work harder. Your child’s optometrist may recommend that your child continues with maintenance treatment until he or she is about 10 to try to prevent the lazy eye coming back again. This may involve part-time patching, or full- or part-time use of drops to blur vision in the good eye. If you have any questions or concerns about a lazy eye, talk to your child's optometrist or GP. He or she will refer you to either an orthoptist or ophthalmologist for further investigation.
Tropical forests have been downed before! In the west of Thailand are many forests on the border with Myanmar. They used to be continuous, impenetrable and rich in biodiversity. Now, parts remain where the "original" forest has survived complete with flora and fauna. 2 reserves in particular present us with the largest conservation area in Mainland Southeast Asia and is one of Thailand's least accessible and least disturbed forest areas. he surprise is that within 150 years these trees and this ecosystem has regrown after destruction possibly more than once. What people have assumed about the millions of years that some forests have survived is incorrect. People were not organised enough to destroy vast acreages in the past, as they do now. The culprit is the strongest of tropical hurricanes or typhoons. The clue came from a study of regeneration in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (This Sanctuary combines beautifully with its neighbour, Thung Yai Naresuan to form a World Heritage Site). No small Afzelia xylocarpa trees were discovered despite the many large mature 30m specimens around. Tree rings do exist in tropical trees, despite the common misconception, but dry season rings are clear in this species. Peak years appeared during the study, during which almost all the 160 year-olds had grown, close to each other, followed by another - about 60 years ago. This indication of large scale disturbance was puzzling. The rapid growth spurt in certain rings also showed that light was plentiful. Now how could that have happened? The forest that surrounded the 160-yeaar-old trees was also composed of similar taller and therefore older specimens. This shows another third generation of trees preceded the 160yo trees. The supposed hurricane is presumed to have hit twice during the time studied. Severe fires, sparked by lightning, may well have followed the destruction because of thee large amount of dead wood left. So, as Mart Vlam of Waiblingen University in the Netherlands has stated, "This seemingly untouched forest has actually undergone severe disruptions in the recent past." Mart publishes with his 4 colleagues from the University of Melbourne and the Thai National Parks Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok in Forestry Ecology and Management. The endangered trees themselves are valuable for medicine, for lumber as "pod mahogany", and as makha beads, Their forte is to support the divers tropical forest, dominated by even taller dipterocarps and full also of legumes like the Afzelia Tiger, elephant, 120 other mammals and many other species abound in this protected environment. The woodpeckers have an extraordinary 22 species present, hopefully not affecting the endangered tree! Unique species associations occur in this remnant of a unique biome - the dry tropical forest. The outstandingly-beautiful rufous-cheeked hornbill, Aceros nipalensis, the great banteng, Bos javanicus , or the mall-clawed otter, Aonyx cinerea , represent some of the icons of the now not-so-ancient jungle we used to dream of. They are still there! However, 28 animal species are internationally threatened, with poaching a major problem. As a refuge for many of these species in the dry Pleistocene glaciations, biodiversity is possibly unmatched here. The problem posed by this revelation on loss of trees due to hurricanes is how did delicate niches survive for these plants and animals? Obviously the vast expanse of forest could explain this, but now we have to consider preventing Thai logging concessions over the nearby border with Myanmar and empowering the many local tribal peoples. They are surely the guardians of this rich resource, and ideally-placed to benefit from new research and tourism benefits.
Fatigue is one of the most common problems for cancer patients. Fatigue is complex, and has biological, psychological, and behavioral causes. Fatigue is difficult to describe and people with cancer may express it in different ways, describing this symptom as feeling tired, weak, sad, bored, exhausted, depressed, having no energy, or being unable to concentrate. Health professionals may use terms such as asthenia, fatigue, lassitude, prostration, exercise intolerance, lack of energy, and weakness to describe fatigue. Fatigue can last a few weeks or even for several months Fatigue can become a very important issue in the life of a person with cancer. It may affect how you feel about yourself, your daily activities, your relationships with others, and whether you can continue with your cancer treatment. People receiving some types of cancer treatments may miss work, withdraw from friends, need more sleep, and, in some cases, may not be able to perform any physical activities because of fatigue. Understanding fatigue and its causes is important in determining effective treatment and in helping you cope. Who Gets Fatigue? Fatigue is a common problem in people who: - have cancer. Fatigue may be one of the cancer symptoms that brings people to the doctor - have had surgery. Almost everyone has some fatigue after surgery. Many things can cause this: blood loss, bed rest or decreased activity, medicines, and sadness due to diagnosis of cancer. - are being treated with chemotherapy - are being treated with radiation therapy - are being treated with biological therapy (immunotherapy) - have anemia. Anemia is a low number of red blood cells available to carry oxygen to our tissues and cells. - have weight loss and/or loss of appetite - have had their normal metabolism and/or hormone levels disrupted - emotional distress - are not getting enough sleep or whose quality of sleep has been reduced - have pain - have an infection - have poor nutrition. Fatigue often occurs when the body needs more energy than the amount being supplied from your diet. In people with cancer, 3 major factors may be involved: a change in the body's ability to process food normally, an increased need by the body for energy (due to tumor growth, infection, fever, or problems with breathing), and a decrease in the amount of food eaten (due to lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or bowel obstruction). - are having extreme emotions, beliefs, attitudes, and reactions to stress - are taking certain medications Most of the treatments for fatigue in cancer patients are for treating symptoms and providing emotional support because the causes of fatigue that are specifically related to cancer have not been determined. Some of these symptom-related treatments may include adjusting the dosages of pain medications, administering red blood cell transfusions or blood cell growth factors, diet supplementation with iron and vitamins, and antidepressant or psychostimulant medications. Although fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of cancer treatments, few medications are effective in treating it. Your health care provider may prescribe medication in low doses that may help you if you are depressed, unresponsive, tired, distracted, or weak. These drugs (psychostimulants) can give a sense of well-being, decrease fatigue, and increase appetite. They are also helpful in reversing the sedating effects of morphine, and they work quickly. However, these drugs can also cause sleeplessness, euphoria, and mood changes. High doses and long-term use may cause loss of appetite, nightmares, sleeplessness, euphoria, paranoid behavior, and possible heart problems. Your treatment team will monitor your blood counts by taking blood samples when you return to clinic. If anemia is contributing to your fatigue, a transfusion or medication may help. What Else Can I Do? Sometimes fatigue cannot be treated. Being flexible, planning, and understanding what is happening to you may make it easier for you to deal with your fatigue. There are things you can do to make it more tolerable: - Keep a journal or log of your daily activities, noting when your fatigue is less and when it is greatest. This way you can adjust your time and plan for activities when you know you can better tolerate them. - Use your energy for the things that are most important to you. To schedule important daily activities during times of less fatigue, and cancel unimportant activities that cause stress. - Balance rest periods with activity through the day. - Get some exercise - stretch, walk, do yoga, swim. A few minutes of exercise several times a day will help you maintain your muscle strength and feel more alert. People with cancer who exercise may have more physical energy, improved appetite, improved ability to function, improved quality of life, improved outlook, improved sense of well being, enhanced sense of commitment, and improved ability to meet the challenges of cancer and cancer treatment. - Practicing good sleep habits such as not lying down at times other than for sleep, taking short naps for no longer than one hour, and limiting distracting noise (TV, radio) during sleep. These actions may improve sleep and allow more activity during the day. - Share household and family activities. Your responsibility is to ask for help. - Join a support group. Somehow it makes things better to hear that others have the same problem with fatigue. Talking with others can help you cope with your feelings; family members may also benefit from joining a group.
COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, commonly consists of chronic obstructive bronchitis and emphysema. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library reports that about 12 million people in the United States have COPD and in 2003, COPD caused 122,000 deaths. The most common cause of COPD is smoking tobacco products. The measurement of arterial blood gases, called the ABG test, is an indicator of pulmonary function and can be used in conjunction with other breathing tests and chest X-rays to diagnose COPD. Oxygen is an arterial blood gas and is required by all cells of the body for metabolism. Oxygen is breathed in through the lungs, where it dissolves into blood. Once in the blood, oxygen is bound to the protein, hemoglobin inside red blood cells. The red blood cells move through vessels and transport oxygen to all tissues of the body. A decrease in airflow in the lungs, caused by COPD may reduce the level of oxygen in the blood. During metabolism, carbon dioxide is released as a waste product and must be removed from the body. Carbon dioxide is absorbed into the blood stream from tissues and primarily transported in the blood as bicarbonate. The amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the blood correlates to blood acidity, also known as pH. Carbon dioxide is released from the blood into the alveolar air sacs in the lung and expelled from the airways. The process of moving oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide out is called gas exchange. A person with COPD may exhibit increased levels of carbon dioxide, bicarbonate and blood pH. An article on MedLine Plus reports that normal respiratory function is indicated by a partial pressure of oxygen that is between 75 and 100 millimeters of mercury, or mmHg, a partial pressure of carbon dioxide between 35 and 35 mmHg, a pH between 7.35 and 7.45, and a bicarbonate concentration of 22-26 milliequivalents per liter. A person with COPD may have an increased pH and partial pressure of carbon dioxide because not enough carbon dioxide is being exchanged in the lungs. People with COPD may also display low levels of dissolved oxygen and oxygen saturation. Oxygen saturation is a measurement of how much oxygen is bound to hemoglobin and is expressed as a percentage. Oxygen saturation less than 94 percent indicates a decrease in respiratory function.
Garden with Insight v1.0 Help: Soil patch next day functions: allocate nutrients to plants Allocation of nitrogen and phosphorus to plants in a soil patch works in much the same way as allocation of water: each plant declares a N and P demand, then the soil patch divides up the available nutrients according to demand among all plants in the patch. Nitrogen demand by each plant works by the potential-actual method. The optimal nitrogen uptake for the day is calculated from an S curve of optimal nitrogen concentration over the life of the plant (as determined by heat unit index). The shape of the S curve is determined by plant parameters. Next the N demand is reduced to account for the amount of nitrate in the layer and the amount of water taken up from the layer. Because the plant takes up most of its nitrogen passively in the water solution, N uptake is limited by water uptake. (Actually, plant roots also actively take up nitrogen by pumping ions out of the root that replace the nitrate ions in solution, but we do not simulate that smaller portion of N uptake here.) For leguminous plants (like peas and beans), an adjustment is made to N demand for nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation is simulated simply as a fraction of the daily nitrogen demand. The fraction of N demand met by fixation increases with the presence of soil conditions that promote the growth of the symbiotic bacteria: soil water (more is better, up to a point), heat unit index (midrange is best -- seedlings haven't established the symbiosis yet, and old plants are senescing), and available nitrate (as more is available in the soil, less is fixed). Any nitrogen fixation reduces the plant's N demand, though it cannot exceed it. This means that nitrogen-fixing plants cannot add nitrogen to To start the calculation of phosphorus demand, the optimal P uptake is calculated in the same way as the optimal N uptake. Because phosphorus is more closely associated with the mineral phase than is nitrogen, the supply of P available to the plant in each soil layer depends not on water uptake but on the root biomass in each layer and on the amount of labile P available. The plant's P uptake in response to the amount of labile P available is determined by an S curve. Finally the plant attempts to compensate for inadequate P availability in some layers by increasing the demand in other layers. Once the N and P demands have been calculated for each plant, the soil patch partitions its available nitrate and labile P to the plants on the basis of their demands. Plants add the N and P taken up to the total N and P in their live biomass. The soil patch subtracts the N and P taken up from its nitrate and labile P pools. After this is finished the plants check to see if their "optimal N uptake" and "optimal P uptake" options are turned on. If so, each plant sets its N and/or P uptake to the optimal amount calculated as the first estimate of demand. Plants that reset their uptake for an optimal setting do not tell the soil patch about this, because that would deplete the soil patch and cause other changes in the soil. calculation of water allocation to plants
Sometimes scientists work in a lab, under carefully coordinated conditions finely tuned to elicit certain reactions from whatever they’re studying. Sometimes, they work in the field, under whatever circumstances nature serves up when they happen to be outside, observing, measuring, recording, and sweating or shivering, depending on the day. Ecologists are interested in how the natural world works – lab experiments can fill in the details, but they (by definition) don’t include all of the variables that are actually at play in the real world. Field observations can flesh out the big picture, but without control over environmental dynamics, researchers often can’t be sure which factors are responsible for observed changes. One way to balance the strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches is to move the lab outside – which is just what two researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology did when they wanted to investigate the way nutrients and plant-eating ducks affect aquatic vegetation, as reported recently in the journal Oecologia. The scientists combined the benefits of a controlled setting – they used 20 man-made ponds in their experiment, all the same size, shape, and depth – with the advantages of working in a natural system: they filled the ponds with lake water and exposed them to the daily rhythms of weather and sunlight by working outside. The researchers fertilized half of the experimental ponds with extra nutrients, and introduced ducks – which eat mainly plants, though they also consume insects – to half of each type of pond (fertilized and unfertilized). By the end of the experiment, the fertilized ponds with ducks had 50% less plant material than the fertilized ponds without ducks, but in the unfertilized ponds, the ducks didn’t appear to have eaten any of the aquatic plants. The scientists suspect that this may have been due to plant nutrient levels – the plants in the fertilized ponds contained more nutrients than the ones in the unfertilized ponds, which could have made them more appetizing to the ducks. The fertilized ponds also developed a different plant community than the unfertilized ponds – perhaps the most prevalent plant in the fertilized ponds simply tasted better, from the ducks’ perspective, than the plant that came to dominate the unfertilized ponds. “In our study,” the scientists write, “the effect of plant species and pond nutrient status cannot by fully separated and the relative importance of plant species and plant nutrient concentrations in determining grazing pressure thus remains to be investigated in more detail.” Therein lies the challenge of experiments conducted in natural settings – when all factors cannot be controlled, it’s difficult to tease apart which ones are most important. Field and lab studies both have advantages and drawbacks, but, luckily for science, not the same ones – fieldwork and lab work are two sides of the same coin, complementary tools that scientists can use to puzzle out the mysteries of the natural world.
Hypothenar hammer syndrome is a condition of the hand in which the blood flow to the fingers is reduced. Hypothenar refers to the group of muscles that control the movement of the little finger. Some of these muscles make up the fleshy edge of the palm (hypothenar eminence). It occurs when workers repeatedly use the palm of the hand (especially the hypothenar eminence) as a hammer to grind, push, and twist hard objects in either work or recreational activities. These activities can damage certain blood vessels of the hand, especially the ulnar artery. This artery goes through the fleshy area of the palm and supplies blood to the fingers. When the ulnar artery is damaged there is a reduction in the flow of blood to the fingers. Sometimes a single significant episode can cause the syndrome. Workers at risk Hypothenar hammer syndrome typically occurs in men with an average age of 40 years. Workers at risk include landscapers, bricklayers, auto mechanics, metal workers, lathe operators, miners, and machinists. Workers who use vibrating tools are also at risk. This syndrome can also be caused from sports activities such as karate, basketball, baseball, mountain biking, golf, tennis, hockey, handball, volleyball, badminton, breakdancing, drumming, and weight lifting. The symptoms of hypothenar hammer syndrome are a pain at the hypothenar eminence and ring finger, pins and needles (paresthesia), loss of feeling, and difficulty holding heavy objects in the affected hand. The fingers become sensitive to cold and change colour. Because this syndrome is relatively uncommon and unrecognized, the diagnosis is often missed or delayed. The diagnosis is based on symptoms, medical history and job history, and then confirmed with tests showing the obstruction of the blood vessels. Treatment and prevention Treating hypothenar hammer syndrome begins by avoiding those activities that caused the syndrome in the first place. Other treatments may include smoking cessation (smoking negatively affects blood circulation), the use of padded protective gloves, and avoiding the cold. Certain drugs will help to restore the blood flow. For some cases surgery may be necessary. Be aware of the causes and symptoms of this syndrome. Some steps you can take to prevent hypothenar hammer syndrome are: - Focus on improving work practices. - Avoid using the palm of the hand as a hammer to pound, push or twist hard objects. - Don’t grip tools such as impact wrenches, pliers, scissors and even vehicle gearshifts too tightly. - Switch tasks regularly or rest your hands. - Use padded protective gloves to avoid the excessive trauma to the heel of the hand while working or participating in activities that put pressure on the palm. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) promotes the total well-being – physical, psychosocial and mental health – of workers in Canada by providing information, training, education and management systems and solutions that support health and safety programs and the prevention of injury and illness.
by Supriya Kumar Some 1.2 billion people—almost one fifth of the world—live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage. The situation is only expected to worsen as population growth, climate change, investment and management shortfalls, and inefficient use of existing resources restrict the amount of water available to people. It is estimated that by 2025 fully 1.8 billion people will live in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, with almost half of the world living in conditions of water stress. Water scarcity has several definitions. Physical scarcity occurs when there is not enough water to meet demand; its symptoms include severe environmental degradation, declining groundwater, and unequal water distribution. Economic water scarcity occurs when there is a lack of investment and proper management to meet the demand of people who do not have the financial means to use existing water sources; the symptoms in this case normally include poor infrastructure. Large parts of Africa suffer from economic water scarcity. To measure water scarcity, hydrologists compare the size of a population with the amount of available water. According to the United Nations, an area is said to be experiencing water stress when annual water supplies fall below 1,700 cubic meters per person. A region is said to face water scarcity when supplies fall below 1,000 cubic meters per person, and absolute water scarcity is when supplies drop below 500 cubic meters a year. Regionally, nearly all Arab countries are considered water-scarce, with consumption of water significantly exceeding total renewable supplies. The region has less than 500 cubic meters of renewable water resources available per person annually. About 66 percent of Africa is arid or semiarid, and more than 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than 1,000 cubic meters of water resources each. Although the Asia-Pacific region is home to almost 60 percent of the world’s population, it only has 36 percent of global water resources. In 2009, the region had 2,970 cubic meters of water resources per person. Although this is not a sign of water scarcity, it is still less than half of the world’s average of 6,236 annual cubic meters. Parts of northern China, India, and Pakistan suffer from both physical and economic scarcity. In comparison, the average amount of water available per person in Latin America is about 7,200 cubic meters, although it is only 2,466 cubic meters in the Caribbean. North America and Europe, in contrast, are well endowed with renewable water resources. Canada and the United States have about 85,310 and 9,888 cubic meters of water resources per person, respectively, while Europe has almost 4,741 cubic meters. People in these regions also consume a considerable amount of “virtual water”—water that is used in the production of goods, especially agricultural products such as grain, which can then be traded. According to UN Water, each person in North America and Europe (excluding former Soviet Union countries) consumes at least 3 cubic meters per day of virtual water in imported food, compared with 1.4 cubic meters per day in Asia and 1.1 cubic meters per day in Africa. Water resources face many pressures, including population growth, increased urbanization and overconsumption, lack of proper management, and the looming threat of climate change. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Water, global water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. World population is predicted to grow from 7 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050, putting a strain on water resources to meet increased food, energy, and industrial demands. At the global level, 70 percent of water withdrawals are for the agricultural sector, 11 percent are to meet municipal demands, and 19 percent are for industrial needs. These numbers, however, are distorted by the few countries that have very high water withdrawals, such as China, India, and the United States. Agriculture is one the most water-intensive sectors, currently accounting for more than 90 percent of consumptive use. Agricultural water withdrawal accounts for 44 percent of total water withdrawal among members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), but this rises to more than 60 percent within the eight OECD countries that rely heavily on irrigated agriculture. In the four transitional economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, agriculture accounts for 74 percent of water withdrawals, but this ranges from 20 percent in the Russia to 87 percent in India. Water use in agriculture is often inefficient, which has led to the overexploitation of groundwater resources as well as the depletion of the natural flow of major rivers, such as the Ganges in India and the Yellow River in China. Around 54 percent of the total area available for irrigation is irrigated with surface water, 5 percent with groundwater, and 41 percent with a combination of both sources. But when both sources are used together, less than 15 percent of it is surface water, which has led to a doubling of the global depletion of groundwater resources in the last 50 years. The Ganges, Indus, and Yellow River basins in Asia have already reached high levels of water crowding and suffer from sever water shortage due to overuse. Policymakers must introduce a variety of measures to address global water scarcity. One important initiative is to support small-scale farmers. Much of the public investment in agricultural water management has focused on large-scale irrigation systems. But supporting smallholder farmers, who in general operate without large infrastructure such as dams, canals, and distribution devices, can decrease the amount of water used in the agricultural sector. This support must be accompanied by smart subsidies. In India, for example, many farmers who receive free electricity all day are experiencing groundwater depletion due to overpumping. To address this issue, policymakers in the state of Gujarat reduced the amount of time that farmers could pump water to eight hours on a pre-announced schedule that meets peak demand but also reduces total water usage. Farmers can also use water more efficiently by taking a number of steps, including growing a diverse array of crops suited to local conditions, especially in drought-prone regions; practicing agroforestry to build strong root systems and reduce soil erosion; maintaining healthy soils, either by applying organic fertilizer or growing cover crops to retain soil moisture; and adopting irrigation systems like “drip” lines that deliver water directly to plants’ roots. Rice farmers, for example, can adopt the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which not only increases crop yields but uses 20–50 percent less water than conventional rice production. SRI is an innovative method of increasing the productivity of irrigated rice with very simple adjustments to traditional techniques. It involves transplanting younger seedlings into a field with wider spacing in a square pattern, irrigating to keep the roots moist and aerated instead of flooding fields, and increasing organic matter in the soil with compost and manure. While the growing world population is increasing the pressure on land and water resources, economic growth and individual wealth are shifting people from predominantly starch-based diets to meat and dairy, which require more water. Producing 1 kilogram of rice, for example, requires about 3,500 liters of water, while 1 kilogram of beef needs some 15,000 liters. This dietary shift has had the greatest impact on water consumption over the past 30 years and is likely to continue well into the middle of this century, according to FAO. Water challenges are compounded by the fact that agriculture competes with other uses, including hydropower. All forms of energy require water at some stage of their life cycle, which includes production, conversion, distribution, and use. Energy and electricity consumption are likely to increase over the next 25 years in all regions, with the majority of this increase occurring in non-OECD countries. This will have direct implications for the water resources needed to supply this energy. It is anticipated that water requirements for energy production will increase by 11.2 percent by 2050 if the current mix of energy sources is maintained. Under a scenario that assumes increasing energy efficiency of consumption modes, the World Energy Council estimates that water requirements for energy production could decrease by 2.9 percent by 2050. Luckily, there are also technical solutions to more-efficient water use in the energy sector. For example, brackish water, mine pool water, or domestic wastewater and dry cooling techniques have been used for cooling power plants. Research is also ongoing into the water efficiency of biofuels, the energy efficiency of desalination, and the reduction of evaporation from reservoirs. Climate change will also affect global water resources at varying levels. Reductions in river runoff and aquifer recharge are expected in the Mediterranean basin and in the semiarid areas of the Americas, Australia, and southern Africa, affecting water availability in regions that are already water-stressed. In Asia—in particular, in countries such as Pakistan—the large areas of irrigated land that rely on snowmelt and high mountain glaciers for water will be affected by changes in runoff patterns, while highly populated deltas are at risk from a combination of reduced inflows, increased salinity, and rising sea levels. And rising temperatures will translate into increased crop water demand everywhere. To combat the effects of climate change, efforts must be made to follow an integrated water resource management approach on a global scale. This involves water management that recognizes the holistic nature of the water cycle and the importance of managing trade-offs within it, that emphasizes the importance of effective institutions, and that is inherently adaptive. (Tables, diagrams and reference notes for this report are online at Vital Signs)
Solutions for Chapter 24 Problem 71E Colors are represented in terms of three primaries, designated as, and. The fractional amount of each primary is given by the chromaticity coordinates, and. The sum of chromaticity coordinates is 1. The following is the standard chromaticity diagram adopted in 1931. The heavy line shows the saturated colors. Inward from this line, the saturation decreases and becomes pure white at the point indicated, Here,, and .
Learn something new every day More Info... by email Photochromism is a reversible change of color, specifically a process that describes a change of color in the presence of ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) light. This phenomenon is commonly seen in transitional lenses, which are the kinds of eyeglass lenses that turn dark in outdoor sunlight and become clear in indoor light. A photochromic substance exhibits color change under the presence of certain kinds of light, for example, the UV sunlight that activates transitional lenses. The phenomenon occurs due to the absorption characteristics of molecular material in response to wavelength radiation. Different materials may respond with their own characteristic transmission spectra that transform in the presence of light variations. An accurate understanding of the phenomenon was first discovered by German Jewish organic chemist Dr. Willi Marckwald (1864–1950), who also went by the name of Willy Markwald, in 1899 and labeled phototropy until the 1950s. He is also credited with the discovery of Radium F, an isotope of Pierre and Marie Curie's polonium, during his tenure at the University of Berlin. Although the photochromic phenomenon had been observed by others as early as 1867, Marckwald determined it factually in his study of the behavior of benzo-1-naphthyrodine and tetrachloro-1,2-keto-naphthalenone under light. Simply put, a chemical compound exposed to light transforms into another chemical compound. In the absence of light, it transforms back to the original compound. These are labeled as forward and back reactions. Color shifts can occur in organic and artificial compounds and also take place in nature. Reversibility is a key criterion in naming this process, although irreversible photochromism can occur if materials undergo a permanent color change with exposure to ultraviolet radiation. This, however, falls under the umbrella of photochemistry. Numerous photochromic molecules are categorized into several classes; these may include spiropyrans, diarylethenes, and photochromic quinones, among others. Inorganic photochromics may include silver, silver chloride, and zinc halides. Silver chloride is the compound typically used in the manufacture of photochromic lenses. Other applications of photochromism are found in supra-molar chemistry, to indicate molecular transitions by observing characteristic photochromic shifts. Three-dimensional optical data storage employs photochromism in order to create memory disks capable of holding a terabyte of data, or essentially 1,000 gigabytes. Many products use this alteration to create attractive features for toys, textiles, and cosmetics. Observation of photochromic bands in certain portions of the light spectrum permits nondestructive monitoring of light-related processes and transitions. Nanotechnology relies on photochromism in the production of thin films. The effect can correlate with coloration responses on the surface area of a film, which may be used in any number of optical or material thin-film applications; for example, uses include production of semiconductors, filters, and other technical surface treatments. Usually, photochromic systems are based on unimolecular reactions occurring between two states with notably different absorption spectra. The process is often a reversible shift of thermal radiation, or heat, as well as visible spectral light. Applying this phenomenon to consumer products as well as industrial technologies involves tying these natural molecular changes to desirable light transmissions and absorptions for a multitude of desirable effects. Energy band engineering of products and technologies is greatly enhanced by these color-sensitive modifications between light, materials, and elements.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a blood disorder that is passed down through families. About 70,000 Americans and millions around the world are affected by the condition. Red blood cells carry a protein called hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. People with SCD have an abnormal form of hemoglobin that causes red blood cells to become crescent (or sickle) shaped instead of being round. A gene necessary to produce a type of hemoglobin called fetal hemoglobin is turned off. Because of this irregular shape, sickle cells cannot move through blood vessels easily, and they slow blood flow to limbs and organs. This blockage causes pain and organ damage, and it can lead to infection. Fetal hemoglobin is thought to prevent cells from becoming sickle-shaped and blocking blood flow. Currently, no widely available cure exists for SCD. The investigators are developing a drug that can turn the fetal hemoglobin gene back on, allowing the body to produce this type of hemoglobin again. The drug could become a new treatment for SCD. SCD (a β-globinopathy) results from the homozygous inheritance of an abnormal β-globin gene. The γ-globin gene is necessary for fetal hemoglobin (HbF) production; this gene is silenced during the latter stages of fetal development concurrent with activation of the β-globin gene. A number of scientific, epidemiologic and clinical observations have indicated that increased levels of HbF improve the natural history of SCD and other β-globinopathies by substituting for, or interfering with, the abnormal β-globin gene product. Therefore, a major translational and clinical objective in the preceding 30 years has been to develop effective pharmacologic reversing agents of γ-globin gene silencing. One result of these efforts is the use of hydroxyurea in SCD. However, hydroxyurea only has limited efficacy. A large body of pre-clinical and clinical evidence indicates that the non-patented cytidine analogue decitabine could be a more effective reactivator of HbF production. Supply, appropriate formulation and toxicology studies of decitabine through BrIDGs will allow important trials in SCD and β-thalassemia to proceed. Yogen Saunthararajah, M.D. Public Health Impact Clinical and epidemiologic observations supported by laboratory studies demonstrating the ability of HbF to interfere with sickle hemoglobin polymerization and prevent sickling — and our understanding of SCD pathophysiology — indicate that effective HbF reactivation remains a worthwhile strategy to treat SCD. Decitabine offers the possibility of even greater and more widespread benefit than the current standard of care, possibly with a similar or better toxicity profile. The investigator successfully filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the Food and Drug Administration using BrIDGs data and initiated clinical testing. - Synthesis of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) material - Pharmacokinetic/absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (PK/ADME) studies - IND-directed toxicology Subchronic Oral Toxicity Study of Decitabine in Combination with Tetrahydrouridine in CD-1 Mice • International Journal of Toxicology • Mar. 17, 2014 Increased CDA Expression/Activity in Males Contributes to Decreased Cytidine Analog Half-Life and Likely Contributes to Worse Outcomes with 5-azacytidine or Decitabine Therapy • Clinical Cancer Research • Feb. 15, 2013 Effects of Tetrahydrouridine on Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Oral Decitabine • Blood • Feb. 2, 2012
A Answers (1) Each element of blood performs a special function in the body. The main elements of blood include two types of cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all other body tissues. In the tissues, these cells pick up carbon dioxide that is carried back to the lungs to be released from the body. White blood cells are one of the body’s defenses against disease. Some of these cells travel throughout the body and destroy bacteria, some produce antibodies against bacteria and viruses, and others help fight malignant diseases. Platelets are blood elements that lead to the formation of blood clots in response to injury.Plasma is a yellowish fluid composed of about 92 percent water and 7 percent vital proteins, such as albumin, gamma globulin, anti-hemophilic factor, and other clotting factors. The remainder consists of mineral salts, sugars, fats, hormones, and vitamins. Red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets account for about 45 percent of the volume of blood in the body. The remaining 55 percent is plasma. Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.
Children perform a play they have written about different attitudes to Scots they have encountered. Matthew Fitt talks about their confidence in performing in Scots after their time at Scots Scuil. The children perform a riddle poem, song and rap they have created. The children, their tutors, families and teachers reflect on what the children have experienced at Scots Scuil. Some parents talk about their changed attitudes to Scots and how they will encourage their children to speak it. This clip could be used in class to demonstrate effective performance, clear speech and how performance can improve confidence. It can also be used to demonstrate how a powerful performance can have elements of humour whilst including a moral message. Discuss how attitudes to using Scots language have changed after the performance.
What is DNA? DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, and it is the carrier of genetic information within a cell. A molecule of DNA consists of two chains that are wrapped around each other. The chains twist to form a double helix in shape. Each chain is made up of repeating subunits called nucleotides that are held together by chemical bonds. There are four different types of nucleotides in DNA, and they differ from one another by the type of base that is present: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). A base on one of the chains that makes up DNA is chemically bonded to a base on the other chain. This bonding holds the two chains together. Additionally, there are base pairing rules that determine which bases can bond with each other. Adenine and thymine form base pairs that are held together by two bonds, while cytosine and guanine form base pairs that are held together by three bonds. Bases that bond together are known as complementary. How DNA Encodes for Proteins: 1. Transcription: DNA to mRNA During transcription, DNA is converted to messenger RNA (mRNA) by an enzyme called RNA polymerase. RNA is a molecule that is chemically similar to DNA, and also contains repeating nucleotide subunits. However, the “bases” of RNA differ from those of DNA in that thymine (T) is replaced by uracil (U) in RNA. DNA and RNA bases are also held together by chemical bonds and have specific base pairing rules. In DNA/RNA base pairing, adenine (A) pairs with uracil (U), and cytosine (C) pairs with guanine (G). The conversion of DNA to mRNA occurs when an RNA polymerase makes a complementary mRNA copy of a DNA “template” sequence. Once the mRNA molecule has been synthesized, specific chemical modifications must be made that enable the mRNA to be translated into protein. During translation, mRNA is converted to protein. A group of three mRNA nucleotides encodes for a specific amino acid and is called a codon. Each mRNA corresponds to a specific amino acid sequence and forms the resultant protein. Two codons, called start and stop codons, signal the beginning and end of translation. The final protein product is formed after the stop codon has been reached. A table called the genetic code can be referred to in order to see which codons encode for which specific amino acids. Several of the codons end up encoding for the same amino acid, a process that is referred to as redundancy in the genetic code. CLICK HERE to learn more about nucleotides and bases
Aluminum is found in Row 2, Group 13 of the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how the chemical elements are related to each other. Elements in the same column usually have similar chemical properties. The first element in this group is boron. However, boron is very different from all other members of the family. Therefore, group 13 is known as the aluminum family. Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust, falling behind oxygen and silicon. It is the most abundant metal. It is somewhat surprising, then, that aluminum was not discovered until relatively late in human history. Aluminum occurs naturally only in compounds, never as a pure metal. Removing aluminum from its compounds is quite difficult. An inexpensive method for producing pure aluminum was not developed until 1886. Group 13 (IIIA) Today, aluminum is the most widely used metal in the world after iron. It is used in the manufacture of automobiles, packaging materials, electrical equipment, machinery, and building construction. Aluminum is also ideal for beer and soft drink cans and foil because it can be melted and reused, or recycled. Discovery and naming Aluminum was named for one its most important compounds, alum. Alum is a compound of potassium, aluminum, sulfur, and oxygen. The chemical name is potassium aluminum sulfate, KAl(SO 4 ) 2 . No one is sure when alum was first used by humans. The ancient Greeks and Romans were familiar with the compound alum. It was mined in early Greece where it was sold to the Turks. The Turks used the compound to make a beautiful dye known as Turkey red. Records indicate that the Romans were using alum as early as the first century B.C. These early people used alum as an astringent and as a mordant. An astringent is a chemical that causes skin to pull together. Sprinkling alum over a cut causes the skin to close over the cut and start its healing. A mordant is used in dyeing cloth. Few natural dyes stick directly to cloth. A mordant bonds to the cloth and the dye bonds to the mordant. Over time, chemists gradually began to realize that alum might contain a new element. In the mid-1700s, German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf (1709-82) claimed to have found a new "earth" called alumina in alum. But he was unable to remove a pure metal from alum. The first person to accomplish that task was Danish chemist and physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851). Oersted heated a combination of alumina and potassium amalgam. An amalgam is an alloy of a metal and mercury. In this reaction, Oersted produced an aluminum amalgam—aluminum metal in combination with mercury. He was unable, however, to separate the aluminum from the mercury. Today, aluminum is the most widely used metal in the world after iron. Pure aluminum metal was finally produced in 1827 by German chemist Friedrich Wöhler (1800-82). Wöhler used a method perfected by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), who succeeded in isolating several elements during his life-time. (See sidebar on Davy in the entry.) Wöhler heated a mixture of aluminum chloride and potassium metal. Being more active, the potassium replaces the aluminum, as shown by The pure aluminum can then be collected as a gray powder, which must be melted to produce the shiny aluminum that is most familiar to consumers. After Wöhler's work, it was possible, but very expensive, to produce pure aluminum. It cost so much that there were almost no commercial uses for it. A number of chemists realized how important it was to find a less expensive way to prepare aluminum. In 1883, Russian chemist V. A. Tyurin found a less expensive way to produce pure aluminum. He passed an electric current through a molten (melted) mixture of cryolite and sodium chloride (ordinary table salt). Cryolite is sodium aluminum fluoride (Na 3 AlF 6 ). Over the next few years, similar methods for isolating aluminum were developed by other chemists in Europe. The most dramatic breakthrough in aluminum research was made by a college student in the United States. Charles Martin Hall (1863-1914) was a student at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, when he became interested in the problem of producing aluminum. Using homemade equipment in a woodshed behind his home, he achieved success by passing an electric current through a molten mixture of cryolite and aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ). Hall's method was far cheaper than any previous method. After his discovery, the price of aluminum fell from about $20/kg ($10/lb) to less than $1/kg (about $.40/lb). Hall's research changed aluminum from a semi-precious metal to one that could be used for many everyday products. What's in a name? In North America, aluminum is spelled with one i and is pronounced uh-LOO-min-um. Elsewhere in the world, a second i is added—making it aluminium—and the word is pronounced al-yoo-MIN-ee-um. Aluminum is a silver-like metal with a slightly bluish tint. It has a melting point of 660°C (1,220°F) and a boiling point of 2,327-2,450°C (4,221-4,442°F). The density is 2.708 grams per cubic centimeter. Aluminum is both ductile and malleable. Ductile means capable of being pulled into thin wires. Malleable means capable of being hammered into thin sheets. Aluminum is an excellent conductor of electricity. Silver and copper are better conductors than aluminum but are much more expensive. Engineers are looking for ways to use aluminum more often in electrical equipment because of its lower costs. Aluminum has one interesting and very useful property. In moist air, it combines slowly with oxygen to form aluminum oxide: The aluminum oxide forms a very thin, whitish coating on the aluminum metal. The coating prevents the metal from reacting further with oxygen and protects the metal from further corrosion (rusting). It is easy to see the aluminum oxide on aluminum outdoor furniture and unpainted house siding. Aluminum is a fairly active metal. It reacts with many hot acids. It also reacts with alkalis. An alkali is a chemical with properties opposite those of an acid. Sodium hydroxide (common lye) and limewater are examples of alkalis. It is unusual for an element to react with both acids and alkalis. Such elements are said to be amphoteric. Aluminum also reacts quickly with hot water. In powdered form, it catches fire quickly when exposed to a flame. Aluminum: Precious metal? B efore chemists developed inexpensive ways to produce pure aluminum, it was considered a somewhat precious metal. In fact, in 1855, a bar of pure aluminum metal was displayed at the Paris Exposition. It was placed next to the French crown jewels! Aluminum is an excellent conductor of electricity. Occurrence in nature The abundance of aluminum in the Earth's crust is estimated to be about 8.8 percent. It occurs in many different minerals. Bauxite, a complicated mixture of compounds consisting of aluminum, oxygen, and other elements, is the primary commercial source for aluminum. Large reserves of bauxite are found in Australia, Brazil, Guinea, Jamaica, Russia, and the United States. The largest producer of aluminum metal is the United States; states that produce the most aluminum are Montana, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Only one naturally occurring isotope of aluminum exists, aluminum-27. Isotopes are two or more forms of an element. Isotopes differ from each other according to their mass number. The number written to the right of the element's name is the mass number. The mass number represents the number of protons plus neutrons in the nucleus of an atom of the element. The number of protons determines the element, but the number of neutrons in the atom of any one element can vary. Each variation is an isotope. Aluminum has six radioactive isotopes. A radioactive isotope gives off either energy or subatomic particles in order to reduce the atomic mass and become stable. When the emission produces a change in the number of protons, the atom is no longer the same element. The particles and energy emitted from the nucleus are called radiation. The process of decaying from one element into another is known as radioactive decay. No radioactive isotope of aluminum has any commercial use. Aluminum production is a two-step process. First, aluminum oxide is separated from bauxite by the Bayer process. In this process, bauxite is mixed with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which dissolves the aluminum oxide. The other compounds in bauxite are left behind. The aluminum oxide is then treated with a process similar to the Hall method. There is not enough natural cryolite to make all the aluminum needed, so synthetic (artificial) cryolite is manufactured for this purpose. The chemical reaction is the same with synthetic cryolite as with natural cryolite. About 21 Aluminum is used as pure metal, in alloys, and in a variety of compounds. An alloy is made by melting and then mixing two or more metals. The mixture has properties different from those of the individual metals. Aluminum alloys are classified in numbered series according to the other elements they contain. The 1000 classification is reserved for alloys of nearly pure aluminum metal. They tend to be less strong than other alloys of aluminum, however. These metals are used in the structural parts of buildings, as decorative trim, in chemical equipment, and as heat reflectors. The 2000 series are alloys of copper and aluminum. They are very strong, are corrosion (rust) resistant, and can be The 3000 series is made up of alloys of aluminum and manganese. These alloys are not as strong as the 2000 series, but they also have good machinability. Alloys in this series are used for cooking utensils, storage tanks, aluminum furniture, highway signs, and roofing. Alloys in the 4000 series contain silicon. They have low melting points and are used to make solders and to add gray coloring to metal. Solders are low-melting alloys used to join two metals to each other. The 5000, 6000, and 7000 series include alloys consisting of magnesium, both magnesium and silicon, and zinc, respectively. These are used in ship and boat production, parts for cranes and gun mounts, bridges, structural parts in buildings, automobile parts, and aircraft components. The largest single use of aluminum is in the transportation industry (28 percent). Car and truck manufacturers like aluminum Twenty-three percent of all aluminum produced finds its way into packaging. Aluminum foil, beer and soft drink cans, paint tubes, and containers for home products such as aerosol sprays are all made from aluminum. Fourteen percent of all aluminum goes into building and construction. Windows and door frames, screens, roofing, and siding, as well as the construction of mobile homes and structural parts of buildings rely on aluminum. The remaining 35 percent of aluminum goes into a staggering range of products, including electrical wires and appliances, automobile engines, heating and cooling systems, bridges, vacuum cleaners, kitchen utensils, garden furniture, heavy machinery, and specialized chemical equipment. A relatively small amount of aluminum is used to make a large variety of aluminum compounds. These include: aluminum ammonium sulfate (Al(NH 4 )(SO 4 ) 2 ): mordant, water purification and sewage treatment, paper production, food additive, leather tanning aluminum borate (Al 2 O 3 B 2 O 3 ): production of glass and ceramics aluminum borohydride (Al(BH 4 ) 3 : additive in jet fuels aluminum chloride (AlCl 3 ): paint manufacture, antiperspirant, petroleum refining, production of synthetic rubber aluminum fluorosilicate (Al 2 (SiF 6 ) 3 ): production of synthetic gemstones, glass, and ceramics aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH) 3 ): antacid, mordant, water purification, manufacture of glass and ceramics, waterproofing of fabrics aluminum phosphate (AlPO 4 ): manufacture of glass, ceramics, pulp and paper products, cosmetics, paints and varnishes, and in making dental cement aluminum sulfate, or alum (Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ): manufacture of paper, mordant, fire extinguisher system, water purification and sewage treatment, food additive, fireproofing and fire retardant, and leather tanning Aluminum has no known function in the human body. There is some debate, however, as to its possible health effects. In the 1980s, some health scientists became concerned that aluminum might be associated with Alzheimer's disease. This is a condition that most commonly affects older people, leading to forgetfulness and loss of mental skills. It is still not clear whether aluminum plays any part in Alzheimer's disease. Some authorities believe that breathing aluminum dust may also cause health problems. It may cause a pneumonia-like condition currently called aluminosis. Again, there is not enough evidence to support this view.
This past month, Arizona and Nevada were flooded by monsoon rains, with Phoenix recording 3.3 inches of rain in just seven hours, a record for the city. This led to flash floods in there and in Nevada, causing much road damage as detailed in the video below: Everyone knows rain in the desert is rare - that is what defines a desert. However, when the rare rains do come, the ground is frequently so inhospitable to water that flooding results, and the water quickly rushes away back to rivers and streams toward the ocean. We are unable to use the water for irrigation purposes, and the vegetation that would be able to use it is frequently swept away. Is there a way to harvest this rainfall, all while slowly flash flooding? We know trees slow the speed which rainfall reaches the ground with their leaves force the water to slowly percolate down to the ground. Also, trees planted along waterways (called riparian buffers) serve as physical barriers to water rushing into already swollen streams. Tree roots also loosen the soil, allowing compacted desert earth (called hardpan) to accept water rather than running it off like glass. So, clearly planting more trees in the desert would be a valid way to help with flood control. However, trees don't easily get established in the desert. As mentioned, most rainfall comes in a very short period in the desert, and the ground does not absorb it. This process is explained in the video below. So, trees (and other plants) need a stored source of water to continue living after the monsoon-like rains disappear. For this purpose, a device called the Groasis Waterboxx was invented. The Groasis Waterboxx is a self-refilling water battery for trees, a dew and rain collector that stores water and slowly releases it to the roots of a growing plant. The principles of the Waterboxx are explained below. Since the Waterboxx can be completely refilled with just 4 inches of rain, once yearly monsoons can provide much of the water a tree needs. In fact, the Waterboxx had an 88-99% success rate sustaining young trees for one year in the Sahara desert planting trial. After the tree grows and gets almost too large for the Waterboxx, the Waterboxx can be removed and reused for other trees for up to ten years. The Waterboxx planted tree will have deep roots that reach underground capillary water, allowing it to survive the periods between rains without dying. The deep roots also prevent the tree from being washed away during stores, a serious problem with store bought trees with shallow roots. Dew Harvest LLC was started because we saw the incredible value of the Waterboxx, and we hoped to encourage its use in the United States. We believe huge numbers of trees could be established with this device, storing carbon, mitigating floods, providing food for wildlife and profit and enjoyment to landowners. Learn more about the Waterboxx, or buy the Waterboxx here.
Presentation on theme: "By: Justin Cruz The topic I will be speaking about today will be The Ocean. I will speak about the importance of the ocean and why we need to keep it."— Presentation transcript: The topic I will be speaking about today will be The Ocean. I will speak about the importance of the ocean and why we need to keep it safe from pollution. Also, I will talk about life in the ocean and science and geography related to the ocean. I Hope you Enjoy! The ocean does not only consist of fish, but many other wondrous species such as plankton, invertebrates, crustaceans, mammals and even plant life. Each of these miraculous species each play a part in the ocean and the environment. There are 3 types of ocean life in which all species belong to. The 3 types are the Plankton, the Nekton, and the Benthos. Each type of life is categorized by physical abilities and locations they are found. Although ocean life is abundant it is drastically depleting. Plankton levels especially is reducing substantially. The ecosystem revolves around every type of life and land. The ocean life is a large part of the ecosystem. There are 6 major chief oceans world-wide. They are the North and South-Pacific, North and South- Atlantic, Arctic Ocean, and Indian Ocean. The entire ocean is also divided into 3 parts. The Sunlight zone, the Twilight Zone, and Midnight Zone. 75% of the earth is covered in Ocean. Oceans and seas are different. Seas are generally smaller then an ocean and partially enclosed by land. Ocean water is compromised of many scientific elements. Ocean water is not actually blue but appears so because of the reflection of the sky and carbon bonding in the water. Every mineral in the earth’s crust can be found in Ocean water. Ocean currents are formed by and affected by wind, salinity, heat, topography, and earth rotation. We rely on the ocean so much every day from the things it contributes. The ocean contributes energy, food, a source of fresh water, oxygen, a scientific resource, allows trade, and is a home to millions of different species. Without the ocean our economy, industries and ecosystem would drastically change. Overfishing is quickly taking over life in our oceans due to ocean pollution. Here is a graph of overfishing statistics. Ocean Pollution is a huge problem that can drastically affect the environment. Major sources are, toxic waste, plastic debris, lawn chemicals, and oil spills. Ocean pollution can affect human health as well by entering our seafood. If we continue to pollute the Ocean, we will destroy all of it’s life, and would be taking away all it’s benefits. Can you name that fish? I will give a brief description of each creature. You must answer each as fast as you can. There will be 9 questions, 3 questions will be fairly easy, another 3 will be a bit more challenging and the last 3 will consist of only pictures and no hints. To make this interesting, for every question you answer correctly you will get…….. I am a very popular type of seafood. I am born in freshwater but I somehow manage to make it to saltwater areas. You can easily find me in Puget Sound. I am most commonly an orange or gray color. Who am I? I tend to dwell in shallow areas or holes and crevices. Some people think me as an electric animal but only some species of me are like that. I am flat and sometimes transparent but I am a actually just a fish. Who am I?
The Earth Moves: The Crust in Action Help the Earth is spinning too fast!! How is crust formed? Divergent Boundary Crust is formed at mid-oceanic ridges. As the lava is extruded from the mantle it is rapidly cooled by the surrounding oceanic water, which slowly moves away from the ridge as more lava emerges. Three ways to destroy crust! Subduction Zone Oceanic and Continental crust subduction zone. The ocean crust is being destroyed as it is pushed back into the mantle. ANCIENT CRUST How to destroy crust #2! Subduction Zone #2 Continental and Continental crust subduction zone. One continental crust is being forced under the other. This is what has formed many mountain ranges. The force of the two crusts pushing together pushes up the mountain range. Of course the crust being forced into the mantle is destroyed. Destroying Crust #3 Subduction Zone #3 Oceanic crust to Oceanic crust. One crust is pushing the other down into the mantle. Where this is happening, you often get an arc of volcanic islands as is illustrated on the picture. ANCIENT CRUST What causes the movement? Convection Currents The cells of superheated rock begin to rise in a column and cannot fall in the same place as it is rising, which creates the circular movement known as convection currents. This current occurs in the mantle and moves the relatively small crust. How do we know it convects? All things that we have heated eventual convect and start that circular motion called a convection current. You can test this at home with the supervision of an adult. Take a pan of water and heat it to boiling. Place a small amount of rice into the boiling liquid and watch it sink and rise in a circular motion. Do plates move in other ways? Faulting When plates move side by side and rub their edges together, we refer to the area as a fault line or fault. This is one way in which a fault can manifest when it causes an earthquake. The earthquake is caused by the sudden release of pressure. This slip causes the shaking and destruction. Perhaps the most famous of faults in the United States is the San Andreas Fault in southern California. Moving Plate make Earthquakes!! This movement against each other builds up pressure and eventually is released in a jerking motion as the rock spurs holding it together break. How do we detect earthquakes? We use a tool known as a seismograph. Because a magnet moving inside a coil creates a current within the coil, the movement of the ground during an earthquake can be converted into an electrical signal. This signal could then be used to modify the projection of light onto photographic paper, or to move a needle across paper and trace out the wiggles of the Earth's shaking. To Review!!!!!!!!!!! How and where is crust formed? At mid-oceanic ridges, where lava is forced up and rapidly cooled by the ocean, pushing older crust further away from the rift valley. Crust is destroyed at what zone? The Subduction Zone What three types of crustal interaction take place in those subduction zones? Oceanic to Oceanic, Oceanic to Continental, and Continental to Continental. What is the current called which moves the plates? Convection current What other ways do plates move? Faulting What causes earthquakes? The building of pressure between the plates.
BY DR EMILY BALDWIN Posted: 06 March, 2009 NASA’s Kepler mission to seek out other Earth-like planets is on the launch pad and ready for liftoff from Cape Canaveral tonight. Kepler’s goal is to seek out the first Earth-sized planets orbiting stars in habitable zones, where liquid water could prevail on their surfaces. Of the 342 extrasolar planets discovered to date, the majority are gas giants, with very few rocky planets, let alone Earth-sized planets. “This mission attempts to answer a question that is as old as time itself: are other planets like ours out there?” says Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “It’s not just a science question, it’s a basic human question.” A scientist inspects Kepler's primary mirror. Image: NASA and Ball Aerospace. The spacecraft will launch on a Delta II rocket, and after sixty-two minutes will separate from the rocket and arrive in its final Earth-trailing orbit around the Sun, an orbit similar to that of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. After a commissioning period of roughly two months, Kepler will begin its three and a half year job of surveying over 100,000 stars in the region of sky near the Cygnus and Lyra constellations, using its 95 megapixel camera. “We will monitor a wide range of stars; from small cool ones, where planets must circle closely to stay warm, to stars bigger and hotter than the Sun, where planets must stay well clear to avoid being roasted,” says William Borucki, science principal investigator for the mission at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “Everything about the mission is optimized to find Earth-size planets with the potential for life, to help us answer the question: are Earths bountiful or is our planet unique?” Kepler will find planets by looking for periodic dips in starlight as the planet transits in front of its parent star. “Trying to detect Jupiter-size planets crossing in front of their stars is like trying to measure the effect of a mosquito flying by a car’s headlight,” says Fanson. “Finding Earth-sized planets is like trying to detect a very tiny flea in that same headlight.” Kepler will search in this region of the Milky Way for Earth-like planets. Each rectangle represents a CCD element of Kepler's photometer. Image: Carter Roberts/Eastbay Astronomical Society. If the mission does find Earth-size planets in the habitable zones of stars, it should find them first around stars that are smaller than our Sun because the habitable zone is closer for small stars. In this scenario, a planet would take less time to complete one lap of the star and therefore would take less time for Kepler to find and for other ground-telescopes to confirm its existence. Any Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zones of stars like our Sun - the true Earth analogues - would take at least three years to be confirmed. “In part, learning about other Earths -- the frequency of them, the environment on them, the stability of the environment on other Earths, their habitability over the eons -- is going to teach us about our own Earth, how fragile and special it might be,” says astronomy professor Geoff Marcy at Berkeley and a Kepler scientific advisor. “We learn a little bit about home, ironically, by studying the stars.” But even finding planets outside of a star's habitable zone will be of interest, since collating an inventory of all extrasolar, Earth-like planets in Kepler’s field of view will help provide clues to the commonality of terrestrial planets. The mission has two launch opportunities from 10:49 to 10:52 p.m EST and 11:13 to 11:16 p.m EST (corresponding to the early hours of Saturday morning in the UK). For mission updates tonight and over the weekend, stay tuned to http://spaceflightnow.com HOME \| NEWS ARCHIVE \| MAGAZINE \| SOLAR SYSTEM \| SKY CHART \| RESOURCES \| STORE \| SPACEFLIGHT NOW © 2014 Pole Star Publications Ltd.
Science Fair Ideas Ways to find a science fair project idea 1. Look at lists of science categories and pick one that you are interested in, then narrow that down to a project. (example, say you pick psychology, then narrow it to the differences between boys and girls, then to a topic like "Do boys remember boy-type pictures (footballs) better than girl-type pictures (flowers)?" (Two lists of categories attached) 2. Use your experiences Remember a time you noticed something and thought "I wonder how that works?" or "I wonder what would happen if..." then turn that into a project. Check the school library for books on science projects. Browse and look at book titles, then look inside the ones that look interesting to you. Also thumb through encyclopedias and magazines. Good magazines for ideas are: National Geographic, Discover, Omni, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Mother Earth News, High Technology, Prevention, and Garbage. Perhaps go to the downtown Library. 3. Think about current events. Look at the newspaper. People are hungry in Africa because of droughts - a project on growing plants without much rain, which types grow ok with little water? Or the ozone hole over Antartica - how can we reduce ozone? -a project on nonaerosol ways to spray things. Or oil spills. how can we clean them up? -a project on how to clean oil out of water 4. Watch commercials on TV. Test their claims. Does that anti-perspirant really stop wetness better than other ones? What are the real differences between Barbie and imitation Barbie dolls? Can kids tell the difference between coke and pepsi if they don't know which they are drinking? Take these ideas and add something of your own, for example, change Are dogs colorblind? to Are cats colorblind? Or look at another of the 5 senses of dogs and test their sense of taste... Try putting different words in these blanks... What is the effect of ____________ on _______________? detergent ------- germination of seeds temperature--------the volume of air How/to what extent does the _____________________ affect ___________________? humidity----------growth of fungi color of a material------------its absorption of heat fertilizer -------------the growth of plants Which/what __________________ (verb) __________________? detergent----------- makes --------- --the most bubbles Return to Science Fair Primer.
Lack of detail and weak verbs are the two writing shortcomings I see most often in student writing. Here is a game to improve both of them. Take seven index cards and cut each in half to form smaller, squarer cards. Write one part of speech on each card (noun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition and pronoun). Repeat on the remaining cards. Shuffle and place face down on a table or desk in front of a student. Put a pile of pennies (or BINGO markers or poker chips) near the deck of cards. The goal of the game is accumulate ten pennies before your opponent does. Now on a piece of notebook paper, write a simple, blah sentence such as “My dog eats food.” Ask the student to pick a card. Suppose she picks “verb.” Ask the student to cross out the verb “eats” and in its place to write another verb. If the student writes “likes,” tell her that “likes” is another “blah” verb, so she can take one penny and start her own pile with that. Explain that a more specific verb would have earned her two pennies. She might say, “Well, wait a minute,” and she might think of a better verb. She might say “devours.” Praise her choice and ask her to take another penny for a total of two. Now it is your turn. Pick a card. Suppose it says “adjective.” Think out loud so the student can hear you think. “I could use ‘hot’ to describe the food, or I could think of another word. My dog devours hot food. One penny. Hm. How about My dog devours meaty food. Two pennies.” You take two pennies. And so you go back and forth until someone earns ten pennies. For older students, add more words to the cards, such as “infinitive, gerund, and subordinate conjunction.” The best sentences to use are ones the student has already written. Take student sentences from submitted work. If you play this game before the student turns in a final draft of a paragraph or an essay, allow him or her time to improve the sentences. If you are working with a class, you can write the sentence on the overhead projector or white board and allow students to work in groups to suggest alternate words. One group competes against another. When students are familiar with the game, you might come up with a symbol—such as a purple circle around a word—to identify words which could benefit from being more detailed or more specific. When you return student writing, allow students time to improve the words circled in purple. What do students learn from this game? - How to choose specific verbs. - How to add details. - How much better their writing sounds when they choose specific verbs and add details. - How to identify various parts of speech. - That you design cool learning activities. Anytime you can turn learning into a game, students jump on board.
Rain, sleet, or snow... learning about precipitation is much more fun when kids engage in hands-on activities. Whether it's splashing in a puddle after a spring rain shower or building a snowman in the backyard, kids love to interact with the world around them, and their curiosity about Mother Nature can lead to some extremely rewarding lessons. 1. Begninning With the Basics Understanding precipitation begins with the water cycle. What better way to learn about how weather works than to create your own water cycle? It's easier than you might think. You just need a large plastic bowl, pitcher, sheet of clear plastic wrap, ceramic coffee mug, large rubber band and of course, some water. Put the bowl in a sunny place and use the pitcher of water to fill it up about one-quarter of the way. Gently place the mug in the middle of the bowl and cover the bowl with the plastic wrap. Make sure it is stretched tight and put the rubber band around the rim of the bowl to hold the plastic in place. Now just sit back and watch what happens. A mist will form that will eventually turn into water droplets. This activity covers the stages of the water cycle -- evaporation, condensation and precipitation -- in a simplified but still effective way. 2. Make a Rain Gauge You can make a rain gauge out of items around the house. Use an ice pop stick, soup can and ruler. It is as simple as that. Place the can outside on a rainy day and let the fun begin. To make sure that your homemade rain gauge doesn't tip over, you can put the can into a bucket of sand. When the weather clears, use the ice pop stick to mark the depth of the rain in the can. Measure the mark with a ruler. You can make this activity even more educational by making simple predictions before actually measuring the rain. 3. Snow and Tell Completing an art project on a cold winter afternoon is often entertaining, but it can also be a learning opportunity for your child. All you need are some pieces of white paper and a pair of kid-friendly scissors. Tell your child to fold the paper into a small square. Next, have him cut the paper in random shapes along the folds. When he opens the paper, he will find a truly special piece of art. Take this moment and explain that all snowflakes are just as unique as his and that no two are alike. 4. Read All About It Snuggling up with a good book on a cold rainy day is a something that any child would love, so why not use that as a teachable moment? Books like "Rain" by Marion Dane Bauer and "White Snow, Bright Snow" by Alvin R. Tresselt provide vivid illustrations and easy-to-understand vocabulary about precipitation to share with your child. - George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Psychology evolving into a science is a result of individuals and their theories more than successive steps. As our reading states, people have been informally observing human behavior and philosophizing about it for thousands of years (University of Phoenix, 2013). In contrast, psychology’s history as a science dates back only about 130 years. Wilhelm Wundt, the “father of psychology,” set up a laboratory in 1879 to study conscious experience. By insisting on systematic observation and measurement, he got psychology off to a good start. Wundt’s ideas were carried to the United States by Edward Titchener who called Wundt’s ideas structuralism and tried to analyze the structure of mental life into basic “elements” or “building blocks” (University of Phoenix, 2013). After Titchener, one of the first philosophies developed was Functionalism by American scholar William James. James helped establish the field as a separate discipline. The functionalists admired Charles Darwin, who deduced that creatures evolve in ways that favor survival. Functionalism spurred the rise of industrial/organizational psychology, the study of people at work (University of Phoenix, 2013). Functionalism and structuralism were soon challenged by behaviorism, the study of observable behavior. Behaviorist John B. Watson believed that introspection is unscientific precisely because there is no way to settle disagreements between observers. These observations were objective because they did not involve introspecting on subjective experience (University of Phoenix, 2013). The best-known behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, believed that our actions are controlled by rewards and punishments. As a “radical behaviorist,” Skinner also believed that mental events, such as thinking, are not needed to explain behavior. Radical behaviorists have been criticized for ignoring the role that thinking plays in our lives. However, many criticisms have been answered by cognitive behaviorism, a view that combines cognition (thinking) and conditioning to explain behavior (University of Phoenix, 2013). Psychoanalytic Psychology grew as American Psychology grew more scientific. An Austrian doctor named Sigmund Freud was developing radically different ideas that opened new horizons in art, literature, and history, as well as psychology. Freud believed that mental life is like an iceberg: Only a small part is exposed to view. He called the area of the mind that lays outside of personal awareness the unconscious. According to Freud, our behavior is deeply influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses, and desires—especially those concerning sex and aggression (University of Phoenix, 2013). Humanism or humanistic psychology is a view that focuses on subjective human experience. Humanistic psychologists are interested in human potentials, ideals, and problems. Humanists stressed free will, our ability to make voluntary choices. Humanists believe that people can freely choose to live more creative, meaningful, and satisfying lives (University of Phoenix, 2013). Explaining Human Behavior Scientific observation is the most powerful way to critically answer questions about behavior. Answering psychological questions often begins with a careful description of behavior. Description, or naming and classifying, is typically based on making a detailed record of scientific observations (University of Phoenix, 2013). Useful knowledge begins with accurate description, but descriptions fail to answer the important “why” questions. We have met psychology’s second goal when we can explain an event. That is, understanding usually means we can state the causes of a behavior. Psychology’s third goal, prediction, is the ability to forecast behavior accurately (University of Phoenix, 2013). Description, explanation, and prediction in psychology seem reasonable, and are a form of control. To a psychologist, control simply refers to the ability to alter the conditions that affect behavior. Clearly, psychological control must be used wisely and humanely. In summary, psychology’s goals are a natural outgrowth of our desire to understand behavior. To understand behavior, we must learn the nature of the behavior, why does it occur, determine if we can forecast it and learn what conditions affect it (University of Phoenix, 2013). Nature vs. Nurture According to Charles Darwin, the principles of natural selection (Physical features that help plants and animals adapt to their environments) are retained in evolution. This had led to popular discussion about nature vs. nurture as it relates to the relative importance of an individual’s innate qualities as compared to an individual’s personal experiences (University of Phoenix, 2013). With so much experience and research available the argument itself has become somewhat antiquated. Individuals can be influenced by either. Just how much influence is determined by the input of parents, friends or the environment. DNA can of course be contributed to the size and strength given of a particular individual. What the individual then does with their physicality is steered by parents, peers and personal commitment. University of Phoenix. (2013). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, BEH225 website.
Five Things You Should Know The Geologists' Corner Photos and Timelines Secrets of the Snake River Plain Revealed A Photo Essay by Bill Bonnichsen (Bio) The Snake River Plain is a recent chapter of Idaho's geological story. It started about 16 million years ago, just after the major pulse of Columbia River basalt volcanism. The first part of Snake River Plain development was not even in the Snake River Plain, but in the Owyhee Plateau area where Idaho, Oregon and Nevada meet. There, massive volcanism commenced as the Yellowstone hot spot began to develop. As time passed and North America moved southwestward, the hot spot cut a swath across southern Idaho and into the northwest corner of Wyoming, where the most recent massive volcanism occurred, less than a million years ago. During the continent's trip over the hot spot, an adjacent zone developed as the Earth's crust was pulled apart, forming a large topographic depression. This became the western Snake River Plain, and for a long time it held a giant lake, which geologists have named Lake Idaho. Two fundamental types of volcanism were involved in the formation of the Owyhee Plateau and the Snake River Plain, as the wave of volcanism swept across southern Idaho. The first was the eruption of rhyolite from magmas with the same composition as granite, being rich in silica and alkali elements. These magmas mainly were materials melted out of the Earth's crust, so its no wonder they have a granitic composition. The other type of volcanism was the eruption of basalt. These magmas came from deeper in the Earth, from the region geologists call the mantle, and were hotter than the rhyolite magmas. Basalt is much richer in iron and magnesium and poorer in silica than rhyolite. Besides the volcanism, the deposition of sediments in the western Snake River Plain during the existence of Lake Idaho, and the cutting of canyons after it had drained were two major events occurring as the Snake River Plain landscape evolved. The final episode impacting the landscape along the Snake River was the Bonneville Flood. When Utah's Lake Bonneville overflowed about 17,500 years ago, the deluge swept along the course of the river and modified the landscape in many interesting ways in its wake. This photo essay [click on the thumbnails for larger images] should give a bit of flavor and add a few more details to these various major facets of the Snake River Plain's evolution: the volcanism, Lake Idaho, canyon cutting and the Bonneville Flood. Blackrock Escarpment: Several welded tuff layers are magnificently exposed in this 1500-foot-high cliff in Bruneau Canyon near the Nevada border. Each layer is rhyolite that erupted explosively from the Bruneau-Jarbidge region, an early active portion of the Yellowstone hot spot. The layers range from 12.7 million years old at the base of the sequence to 10.3 million at the top. They make up the Cougar Point tuff, a volcanic unit widely distributed along the margins of the central Snake River Plain. In a geologic instant some of these enormous explosions erupted many hundreds of cubic miles of rhyolite magma as tiny molten particles that sped across the land buoyed up by hot gasses, blanketing areas more that 100 miles across. Welded tuff layers like these are believed to lie beneath much of the Snake River Plain and Owyhee Plateau. Balanced Rock Rhyolite: There are many rhyolite lava flows, like the 8-million-year-old Balanced Rock flow near Castleford, within the Snake River Plain and Owyhee Plateau. Most are younger than the huge welded tuff layers, but are older than most of the basalt flows. These lavas form from rhyolite magmas with very low gas contents that just oozed out of the earth rather than erupting explosively. Low gas contents make rhyolite magmas very viscous, so they form flows that may be hundreds of feet thick and take years to cool. As they cool, prominent vertical fractures form in their interiors which, when exposed in canyon walls, typically guide the development of large vertical pillars. Basal Vitrophyre: Due to its chemical makeup rhyolite magma not only is viscous but also is slow to crystallize when cooled. This leads to the situation seen at the base of most rhyolite bodies, both welded tuff layers and rhyolite lava flows, where the most rapidly cooled bottom material didn't have a chance to crystallize, but remained in a glassy state. This glassy form of rhyolite, called vitrophyre by geologists, is black in color, in sharp contrast to more slowly cooled interior parts of rhyolite sheets that did crystallize and which typically are brown to red in color. Thus, even with the strong color contrast, both parts of a unit, like the one in this photo, formed at the same time from the same magma batch. Shoshone Falls: This beautiful waterfall on the Snake River is carved into the upper part of the 6-million-year-old Shoshone Falls rhyolite lava flow. A nearby drill hole indicates the flow to be about 600 feet thick. This waterfall will be sustained for a long time because rhyolite is very hard and resistant to erosion, in contrast to the overlying, thin and pervasively jointed basalt flows from which blocks readily are broken out by natural processes. Shoshone Falls likely was developed into its present form during the Bonneville Flood, about 17,500 years ago, and has not changed much since then. Buck Mountain Volcano: About 11.6 million years ago this small rhyolite volcano, in the Owyhee Mountains south of Homedale, was built during one of the eruptions that led to the formation of the Jump Creek rhyolite. In this view one is looking into the volcano's crater area. A small rhyolite lava flow was extruded from the volcano, whereas the volcano's slopes are an accumulation of small blobs of spatter that coalesced into the original conical form. When only small volumes of rhyolitic magma are erupted small volcanoes like Buck Mountain are built, whereas large volumes of rhyolitic magma typically erupt through long fissures along which the surface subsides to form calderas. China Hat Dome: China Hat, a geologically young landmark near Soda Springs in the Blackfoot lava field, stands nearly 1000 feet high and is 1.4 miles long. It formed during a small rhyolite eruption only about 57,000 years ago, and is the largest of three domes lined up above a buried fissure that fed magma to the surface. The rhyolite magma was so viscous it couldn't flow away from the vent; it just accumulated in a big pile. Since the volcanic activity in the Blackfoot lava field was so recent, the area is of considerable interest for geothermal energy. Domes similar to China Hat are a common type of volcanic landform that are built where small batches of viscous magma erupt. Bruneau Canyon: Bruneau Canyon is about 800 feet deep and only a few hundred feet wider at this scenic viewpoint south of Bruneau. The river rapidly cut down through many layers of basalt, ranging from 7 or 8 million years old at the bottom to 4 or 5 million years old at the canyon rim, as Lake Idaho drained away and afterwards. Once the lake was drained, the river's base level became much lower; previously the high lake level had prevented the river from cutting down through the basalt. Basaltic Tuff: About a million years ago, just after Lake Idaho had drained away, the near-lake region may have been swampy and certainly had a high groundwater table. When basalt magma rose into this wet environment, as happened many places in the western Snake River Plain, large amounts of steam formed and erupted explosively, blowing out fragments of the basalt magma and the surrounding lake sediments. Such explosions are called phreatomagmatic eruptions; from them are deposited colorful layers of tuff like the ones illustrated from along the Snake River near Grand View. Also shown is the end of a thin basalt flow that was deposited during the phreatomagmatic eruptions. The thinness of this flow shows the basalt lava was very fluid, in contrast to the extreme stiffness of rhyolite lavas that permit only very thick flows to form. Pillow Basalt: When a basalt flow runs into a lake or river it commonly breaks up into small blobs of lava, typically from a few inches to a few feet across, which cool rapidly into partly glassy basalt. Geologists call these rounded lava blobs pillows. The pillow basalt layer shown in the photo is in the Jerome Golf Course basalt flow, exposed at the Snake River Canyon rim a few miles downstream from Perrine Bridge. These pillows were formed tens of thousands of years ago when the basalt flow, which was spreading northward, ran into the Snake River. Clearly this happened before the river had eroded its canyon, since the layer of pillows is at the canyon rim. Pillow basalts occur at many other places in the Snake River Plain, especially where Lake Idaho once stood. Glenns Ferry Formation: Layers of sand, interbedded with silt and sometimes gravel, commonly are deposited near the margins of large lakes, such as Lake Idaho. In this photo, taken a few miles south of Bruneau, the near-shore deposits of Lake Idaho are part of the Glenns Ferry formation. These sediments were deposited in the lake during the latter part of its existence, from about 6 to 2 million years ago. The curious elongate structures sticking out of the sand layer in the middle of the photo are concretions, in which the sand has been cemented by minerals from the groundwater. The elongation of these concretions likely indicates the direction water was flowing through the sand. Chalk Hills Formation: Typically, at locations far from shore out in the middle of large lakes, silt and clay, as well as volcanic ash that falls from the sky, are deposited in fairly uniform layers. Such is the case for the sediments shown in this photo of a locality south of Oreana. These layers are part of the Chalk Hills formation and were deposited during the earlier part of Lake Idaho's existence, probably between about 10 and 6 million years ago. The rocks in the photo's foreground are at the top of a 10- to12-million-year-old rhyolite lava flow, from which the sediments were eroded after the lake was drained. Teepee Rocks: These hoodoos, which resemble a row of teepees or an assembly of giant garden gnomes, are carved in a thick layer of volcanic ash known as the tuff of Ibex Peak exposed along Trapper Creek, southwest of Oakley. This ash accumulation, which in places is hundreds of feet thick, collected in a lake system along the Idaho-Utah border area between about 17 and 10 million years ago. The ash came from numerous large caldera-forming rhyolite eruptions at various places in the Owyhee Plateau and Snake River Plain in the early stages of the development of the Yellowstone hot spot. The holes in the teepees are the result of freeze/thaw action and wind erosion. Plunge Pools: During the Bonneville Flood large volumes of water poured into Snake River Canyon in the area upstream from the city of Twin Falls, eroding out and enlarging the canyon in the process. In this photo taken at the canyon rim near Dierkes Lake, one can see little plunge pools that were excavated in the basalt by water falling over the canyon rim, and tearing out blocks of basalt in the process. The pools now are spring-fed because irrigation has led to a shallow water table in that area. Melon Gravel: During the Bonneville Flood, blocks of basalt, some larger than 10 feet across, bounced along the bottom of the flood channel, continually bumping into one another. The blocks became partially rounded in the process, and when guided by the flood into areas where the water velocity was lower, accumulated into large bars, similar to gravel bars in normal rivers, but of a much larger scale. These partly rounded boulders, located in a field near Hagerman, are a good example of the Melon Gravel, which is the name geologists have used for these flood deposits. This bar contains basalt boulders from many different basalt flows exposed upstream in the walls of Snake River Canyon.
No. 57: May-Jun 1988 Translation of the Introduction of an article from Science et Vie: "One has always held that the calcareous concretions in caves are the work of water and the chemical constituents of the rock. Surprise! The true workers in the kingdom of darkness are living organisms." It's all true. All the references we have state unequivocally that stalactites and stalagmites are created by dripping water that is charged with minerals, calcium carbonate in particular. That stalactites contain crystals of calcite is not denied in the Science et Vie article. Indeed, an electron micro scope photograph shows them clearly; but it also shows that a web of mineralized bacteria is also an intergral part of the stalactite's structure. Laboratory simulations have shown that microorganisms take an active role in the process of mineralization. (Dupont, George; "Et Si les Stalactites Etaient Vivantes?" Science et Vie, p. 86, August 1987. Cr. C. Mauge.) Besides being a surprising adjustment of our ideas about stalactite growth, the recognition that microorganisms may play an active role in the subterranean world stimulates two new questions: (1) Can we believe any longer that stalactite size is a measure of age, as is often claimed? (2) Is the immense network of known caves (some as long as 500 kilometers) the consequence only of chemical actions? It turns out that the earth beneath our feet is not so solid after all. Some 40,000 caves are known in the United States alone. There are thought to be ten times that number that have no surface openings and therefore escape spelunking census takers. And besides caves big enough for humans to crawl into, there exists an immensely greater continuum of cracks, crevices, channels, and pores which circulate air, water, and chemicals in solution. This "crevicular structure" may be continuous for thousands of miles, possibly around the world. Furthermore, it is filled with life forms of great variety, usually blind, and usually related to creatures of the light. A recent article in American Scientist focuses on the evolution of the larger forms of subterranean life, especially the amphipods. Interestingly enough, it doesn't even mention micro-organisms. (Holsinger, John R.; "Troglogbites: The Evolution of Cave-Dwelling Organisms," (American Scientist, 76:147, 1988.) Comment. We have juxtaposed these two articles because together they underscore the great extent of the crevicular domain, the "kingdom of the darkness" of the French article, and also the fact that this crevicular realm teems with life forms, some of which are involved in its construction. Science Frontiers Sourcebook Project Reviewed in:
\|MadSci Network: Physics\| Well this is a complicated question and I would refer you to any college level physics book, but here is the short of it... Gamma and x-rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum and as such have no mass or charge. The interaction between the rays and other materials is at the atomic level, by that I mean that as these rays pass near the electron clouds of other atoms they may (or may not) give (tranfer) some (or all) of their energy to a lucky electron of that atom. The electron is then offered more energy that it would otherwise have and is sent off in motion and thus "stripped" from the parent atom (this is called ionization). The interaction of an x or gamma ray is by indirectly transfering some of it's energy to these electrons which is a function of the probability that the ray will come close enough to tranfer the energy. So it is a probability relationship. The higher the probability the higher the chance of transfer of energy. So why lead?? Well it's not just lead that can stop (shield) x or gamma rays. It is a function of how many targets (atoms) you give it a chance to interact with. So the higher the target materials density (atoms/area) the higher the probability the tranfer of energy will take place. The most common high density material is... Lead!! We also use Uranium and Tungstun. Both have densities greater that lead and thus shield better because they create a higher probability the ray will indirecty interact. Hope this helps Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Physics.
U.S History I Honors Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In the light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820’s and the 1830’s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians’ view of themselves? Patrons and devotees of Andrew Jackson believed themselves to be the guardians of the Constitution and the common people, as well as taking credit for an increase in universal male suffrage during the 1820’s and 1830’s. However, the issues of slavery, states rights, women’s rights, the removal of the Native Americans and the national bank recharter and veto proposed many challenges than the Jacksonians could fruitfully handle. Jackson only protected the Constitution’s content when it benefited himself or ran parallel to his ideas of government. He thought that he was the highest branch of the US government, even though the Constitution explains how all branches are equal. Instead of being the guardians, the Jacksonian Democrats were more of the beneficiaries of political democracy. Jacksonian Democrats considered themselves the guardians of individual liberty, but they should have really called themselves the guardians of the individual liberty for white American men. Jackson was notorious for his open dislike of the Native American population in the United States. In 1830, he ignored Supreme Court rulings that recognized the Indians’ rights to stay in the land they had settled centuries before the first settlers came, and forced them to migrate on the “Trail of Tears” through the Indian Removal Act. This made entire families move with all the belongings they could carry, as captured in Document G, from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838. Moreover, Jackson also discriminated against women. He discouraged the up-and-coming Women’s Rights movement and supported the Cult of Domesticity, also known... Please join StudyMode to read the full document
Drawing districts for political benefits is an unequal application of the law to every resident of the state. Gerrymandering of political boundaries is used to gain a benefit for a specific political party, group of voters or individual legislator, to the detriment and harm of every other party, group or opposing candidate. The Fair Vote 2K Initiative eliminates this unfair and unequal treatment under the law by requiring a simple and logical method of creating electoral districts automatically. The U.S. Constitution established a decennial census to provide an equal distribution of tax burden among the states and to ensure equal access to the federal government in the House of Representatives. Without the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, states (with more than one Representative) were left to design districts without restriction. One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Governor of Massachusetts, Eldridge Gerry, gained notoriety for drawing districts that benefited his supporters. One of his more outlandish districts was shaped like a salamander and the practice took on the name of "gerrymandering". Even after the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, equity and fairness were only applied to those gerrymandering episodes motivated by racial discrimination. At the beginning of every decade, the Census Bureau releases population counts for the entire nation. The total count is divided into the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and each state is apportioned a number of seats (no less than one) that they may fill. After the 1990 census, California was allocated 52 seats and given the responsibility of creating electoral districts to provide for the direct election of each member. Districts must be "substantially equal" in population and comply with a host of other court guidelines. The "one person, one vote" rule has been well established in Supreme Court rulings, but there has been no challenge to district lines based on the unequal consequences of specific boundaries, except as they apply to race. Since the establishment of district boundaries is a state legislative issue, it is subject to all the political manipulations of individual legislators and governors. The objective is to gain the maximum political advantage, putting the parties and individual legislators at odds over district lines. Since all legislators considering the matter are incumbents, their first priority is to ensure re-election. With the aid of party registration records, previous voting history and the other demographic data provided by the Census Bureau, the majority of legislators jumble census tracts back and forth to create a majority of "safe" seats for their associates. If the majority party in the legislature also holds the governor's seat, they can nearly assure their dominance in the state for the subsequent decade. If the legislative power is divided, the contest usually ends in a court battle with little or no objective guidelines for resolution of disputes. In either case, millions of legislative hours and taxpayer dollars are spent to settle the political conflicts. The Fair Vote 2K methodology can be implemented on a single personal computer in a few hours, making the process fast, inexpensive and totally transparent. Since the explicit objective of gerrymandering is to create real political gains and loses, it is an inherently unequal application of the law for every resident of a state. Over three decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court found equality of population an essential element of electoral districting. Since then, it has discarded historic county boundaries, arguments against unequal representation in legislative bodies, and has ruled that lines may not discriminate on the basis of race. On the basis of equal protection, the Court has found that racially segregated public facilities, even if comparable, are not equal. However, it has not yet applied that protection to the political consequences of unequal treatment. People ought to be granted an equal measure of political power when they cast their votes for state or federal representatives. This is accomplished in the Fair Vote 2K Initiative by eliminating any other factors than raw population in the drafting of electoral boundaries. The Geometric Criteria Legislators, academics and interested organizations have considered a variety of criteria to ensure fairness in the drafting of boundaries. Contiguity is the simple assertion that districts should be whole pieces. Electors are at least adjacent to each other, rather than being in twor or more remote areas, linked only by a district number. Although contiguity has been stretched by connections which are nearly preposterous, all districts are whole pieces. Compactness is a criteria which exceeds wholeness and aims toward a vague sense of community. Both geometric criteria are automatic consequences of the Fair Vote 2K Initiative methodology. The "Policentric" Criteria Some proposed criteria have a political ("policentric") objective. Maintaining county, city and geographic bounds within electoral districts aims to secure the common interests of certain distinct populations. The political objectives are to preserve the influence of existing rural, urban, suburban, commercial or farming interests. The Supreme Court has ruled that county boundaries cannot be an impediment to equality of population, but the political objectives for smaller interest units can still have a legal impact on district formation. When transportation and communication were confined by distance, the geographic factors may have had some merit. Since the tracts defined by the census conform with county boundaries and major geographic features, they are reflected in the Fair Vote 2K methodology, but only as an incidental consequence of existing tract boundaries. The "Ethocentric" Criteria Criteria have been proposed that aim at satisfying every interest at the expense of any other factors. Ethocentric (interest-defined) and ethnocentric (racially-definded) criteria are equally insupportable. The premise is that this or that party, political subdivision or interest group (any ethos) should have a directly proportional influence on legislative activities. Implementing such a criteria is fraught with multiple complications, depending on the interest. Even the simplest aspect of party affiliation could only be implemented by abandoning contiguity, compactness and the basic concepts of district representation. To accumulate all members of a small minority party into a single district to ensure legislative representation would be a Herculean task, beyond any bounds of reason and probably in conflict with Supreme Court criteria. Moreover, the correspondence between geographic places and the variability of ethocentric interests over the subsequent decade would destroy the intended purpose in a very short time. Attempting to suit districting to any special interest objective would be even more complex and fruitless than attempting to implement all the policentric objectives. The District Seed The proposal in the Fair Vote 2K Initiative discards all policentric and ethocentric elements in favor of the simple geometric criteria based solely on raw population. A census tract in an extreme corner of the state is selected as the seed for the first and all subsequent districts of a particular type. To avoid residual tracts in remote locations, the starting point is dictated by the geometric shape of the state. For California's crescent shape, a starting point in the Southwest would probably leave residual tracts in the Northeastern corner, hundreds of miles away from the residual tracts in the Northeastern corner of the Southern portion of the state. Other starting points may be suitable, but following the habit of reading from left to right and top to bottom, the most convenient starting point is the Northwest corner of the state. The starting point has little impact on the consequent size and shape of the districts, due to the consistent method of consolidating the actual districts. The Accumulator Method From the district seed, the closest tracts are accumulated until the population threshold has been met. The procedure is purely mathematical, based on a simple distance measurement from the seed tract to other close tracts. Because tract boundaries tend to be irregular, the measurement is made from the center point of the district to the center point of the adjacent census tracts. As each close tract is added to the district, population is accumulated and the center point (centroid) of the district is re-calculated for comparison against the next adjacent tracts. Once the population quota is met, the district boundaries are complete. Following the same Northwest to Southeast sequence, the next seed tract is selected and the closest adjacent tracts are again accumulated. This process is repeated until all district boundaries have been established. The Population Count Prior to performing the seeding and accumulation of districts, the average population for any particular district type is calculated. For the California State Assembly, the total population of the state is divided by the number of seats (80) to determine the average district population. As the accumulator method proceeds, the resulting population is compared against the average to determine when the individual district is complete. Since there are 3,721 census tracts in California (1990) , each State Assembly District is composed of about 45 tracts. Although tracts vary in population, there would be no impediment to achieving a one percent gross variation limit for the population of each district. Mathematically, the district is complete when the population exceeds 99.5% of the average population. Some districts will be slightly above the average and some slightly below, but the method achieves the "substantially equal" population requirement better than any other method. The Fair Vote 2K Initiative Text sets a maximum gross variation of one percent from the average for all districts of a particular type. The Nesting Method The three types of State Districts are the Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization. The number of seats for each group is set in the State Constitution at 80, 40 and 4 respectively. Therefore, once the districts are established for the most populous type, the others can be created by nesting pairs or sets of twenty to create districts of the other two types. In the 1990 apportionment, State Senate Districts were compounded in pairs from the State Assembly Districts for the first time. The Fair Vote 2K Initiative sets this method as a fixed feature of state districting. Congressional districts are apportioned by the same method as the state districts. The number of seats allocated to California will increase from the current 52 members if the state has a larger proportion of the national population (likely, according to estimates) than it did in 1990. The Fair Vote 2K Initiative would only require two runs of the method, one for State Assembly and one for Congressional representatives. The Numeric Sequence The familiar method of numbering the districts from the Northern to the Southern points of the state is altered to conform with the seed scan method to allow concurrent numbering of districts from the Northwest to Southeast. Although it is of no relevance to representation, the familiarity of the numbering method is historically and logically comfortable. Analysis will be conducted to determine what the likely results of the Fair Vote 2K Initiative will be in comparison with the current districting, using 1990 census figures. Maps will be prepared using the new method to allow individuals to see the effects that might result. Most important for political purposes, the likely outcome of elections under the new method will be compared to the actual history of the various elections during the past decade. Of course, these will be pure surmise, because the political dynamics would be entirely different. Assuming that the previous efforts at gerrymandering had the goal of establishing safe seats (party registration above 55%) for legislators or parties that would not otherwise have existed, it may be safe to assume that the new method would result in larger number of competitive districts (majority party registration below 50%). This could have resulted in shorter terms for many legislators than would otherwise have occurred. However, the method could just as likely create a few extremely safe seats (party registration above 65%) with a larger proportion of competitive districts. The Court Challenge As is the tradition for California Initiatives, adopting the Fair Vote 2K Initiative will likely result in lawsuits challenging its (federal) constitutionality. The only imaginable grounds are that the automated system deprived some (minority) group of Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the burden is to prove that this was the intent of the method. Since no racial or ethnic factors are allowed to be considered and the process is purely automatic based on population, it's difficult to even suggest any malicious intent. A review of Supreme Court decisions suggests that such a challenge could result in an affirmation of the new method as a guideline for all states to follow. From this perspective, a legal challenge may be a welcome bonus to adoption of the Fair Vote 2K Initiative. The Emotive Factors There is no doubt that some electoral groups will be injured by a fair apportionment. Those who derive some benefit from gerrymandering, whether it be the seniority standing of their existing representative or the secure status of safe seats, will be anxious to prevent any diminution of their power. The only strategy that makes sense is to focus on those districts which would lose their special standing and appeal to their self-interest for better-than-fair representation. The only problem with this strategy is that a large proportion of the voters in any preferential district may oppose the character of the representation they currently receive. Even a safe district has a large opposing minority. The marginal benefits of a preferred district appeal are outweighed by the stronger minority desire for electoral opportunity. Competitive districts that receive less-than-fair representation would surely oppose the benefits that might be enjoyed by the fewer number of preferred districts. The best that opponents might hope for is the emotional appeal of individual legislators who might lose their jobs. However, the argument is frivolous, since any method of re-districting would leave some legislators (simply by virtue of residence location) in jeopardy. The Party Factors When the analysis is complete, there may be a significant benefit to one party or another from implementing the new method. Therefore, one party or another might hesitate to support the Fair Vote 2K Initiative. However, the other party (or parties) would acquire an equally forceful motive to support the change. Legislators of either party who enjoy safe seats and seniority would likley oppose any change, but an even larger number of potential competitors would support the opportunities with equal fervor. The competing interests are likely to be about equally balanced, if not inclined toward support. If one party or the other holds a strong position prior to the year 2000 elections, holding a legislative majority or occupying the governor's chair, they might be inclined to favor maintenance of the gerrymandering power for their party. However, the outcome of the year 2000 elections will not be known, since they will occur at the same time as the vote on the Fair Vote 2K Initiative (November, 2000). Therefore, the inclination might be to support the fair method as a hedge against the outcome of the election. Even though the gubernatorial outcome will be determined in 1998 and remain secure through the year 2000 election, the status of the legislature may not be so definite. Above and beyond the party interests, there is a decided inclination of Californians to adopt "good government" plans which result in more electoral fairness for all participants. Since the probable effect of the Initiative could be shorter terms for the occupants of newly competitive districts, the favorable sentiments of the voters toward term limits could bolster fair vote reform. There are many minority parties and organizations anxious to support a fair and equitable redistribution of political power. Similar comparisons could be made to the California Civil Rights Initiative, banning all ethnic, sexual and racial preference in state activities. The Fair Vote 2K Coalition will likely be built on the voters who recognize that the current system of apportionment is unfair and needs reform. The National Agenda The Fair Vote 2K Initiative amends the California Constitution, representing the next and final step toward a full implementation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Even proposing such a change for California could produce similar movements in other states throughout the nation. The Supreme Court has made it clear that the right of suffrage is denied by debasement or dilution of a citizen's vote in a federal election. On constitutional grounds, the Fair Vote 2K methodology could be imposed on other states with the old fashioned policy of gerrymandering political power. "Separate but equal" is not equal. Deferential benefits for any one voter or representative automatically diminish the electoral power of all others. Gerrymandering of political boundaries denies the equal protection of the law for every resident of the state. The Fair Vote 2K Initiative eliminates this unfair and unequal treatment under the law by requiring a simple and logical method of creating electoral districts automatically.
NASA’s operation IceBridge monitors ice shelf Getz, which assesses the implications of climate change on Earth. This is a picture of ice shelf Getz, located in the Western part of Antarctica. Observation of the glacier are carried out as part of operation IceBridge, NASA has held for eight years. As the researchers say, ghetts is one of those glaciers, experiencing the greatest impact of climate change, leading to melting of the glacier. The photo was taken November 5, 2016 aboard a NASA research aircraft. The image shows the ice in the process of separating from the main part of the glacier that is due to it melting.
The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills. This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence. To learn more about how to use Reading Like a Historian lessons, watch these videos about how teachers use these materials in their classrooms.
The term bill has several uses according to the context. The most common meaning is linked to paper money: that is, to the document printed by the authorities that is used as a legal means of payment. For example: “To buy this car you will need many bills”, “Yesterday they gave me a fake ten peso bill”, “I don’t have a single bill: I don’t know how to buy food”. This concept, in this sense, is the bill . It is the fiat money (based on trust) issued by the monetary authority of a country. These notes were created to replace or complement metallic coins, which are difficult to move and store in large quantities. According to DigoPaul, the first bill s were created in the 7th century in China. It was only in the 17th century that they were adopted on the European continent, and in the following century they spread throughout the world. In the same way that it happened and continues to happen with metal coins, which were made in gold or silver in their time, banknotes also suffered the inevitable counterfeiting by those who do not want to obtain their own money by legal and fair means. With paper, counterfeiting proliferated and became easier, partly because it cost much less than metal coins. In order to prevent counterfeiting or at least control it to minimize its spread, banks have been implementing various security measures for several decades, which have evolved over time to deal with the ingenious tactics of counterfeiters. It should be mentioned that marking the banknotes or altering their shape can also result in a penalty. Currently, banknotes are made with elongated cotton fibers to achieve a paper that is very difficult to imitate; In addition, they apply printing techniques in several layers, and thus obtain watermarks, invisible ink and holograms, which allow to distinguish a counterfeit from a legitimate one. Let’s see below some of these measures in detail: * Watermark: it is also called a watermark and consists of the printing of one or more images that are formed from different levels of thickness on the paper. In order to appreciate a watermark, it is necessary to look at the bill against the light; * Whitener: to avoid counterfeiting with common paper, this technique is based on the use of paper without optical brighteners for part of the bill or for its entire surface. To detect it, it must be observed using an ultraviolet lamp; * Reliefs: these can be seen by passing your fingers over the banknote; * Optically variable ink: This material changes color according to the angle at which the light falls. Apart from cotton, it is common for paper money to be made from textile fibers such as linen. Some countries make them in polymer to increase their resistance, adding a small transparent layer to them only a few millimeters thick, something that is especially difficult for less experienced criminals with few resources to counterfeit. This technique is applied in Mexico, Australia, Paraguay, Brazil, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Chile and New Zealand. The concept of a ticket is also used to name the paper that grants the right to use a means of transport or to enter a venue and the ticket that documents participation in a lottery or raffle: “My parents gave me a plane ticket to get to know Paris ”, “ Tomorrow I’m going to buy the train ticket ”, “ Where is the ticket? The raffle will take place in a few minutes… ”.
Normal atmospheric conditions on left. Oxygen rich flask on right. When thinking about the steel wool lab it is important to think very logically and trust your observations. If your lab technique was good, and you didn't knock off too many crumbs from the steel wool ball, your experiment should have gained mass. How is this possible? Remember chemically combustion is combining with oxygen (O2 molecules). So instead of simply having iron atoms, we know have iron oxide molecules. Oxygen has mass, so if we didn't lose any iron, the experiment has to gain mass. Fe + O2 ==> ___________? + energy release (That gives off the glow. Fire is not an element!) Under atmospheric conditions where oxygen is present in excess, the stable form of iron is Fe3+ ion. So the reaction becomes: Fe + O2 ==> Fe+3O-2 + energy Now just finish the criss-cross for the proper compound formula and then balance the equation. Remember no subscript on the iron, and oxygen is a diatomic molecule. You can do it on your own!
World War II began on this day seventy years ago when the Nazis invaded Poland. The fate of Poland was actually set a few days before when Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide the country between them. Communism and fascism are variations of the same totalitarian idea. It really wasn’t as surprising that they could get together as it seemed at the time. But the roots of the war go back much deeper. We can start with the Treaty of Versailles, which was really unworkable. But nothing is inevitable in history. Had the economies not stagnated and the depression not hit, maybe Germany could have worked out its problems. Another root of the war was Germany itself. The constitution of the Wiemar Republic was a model of democracy in theory, but its proportional representation, among other things, made it unstable and allowed demagogues like Hitler to leverage power. A world at war still was not inevitable. During the 1930s, craven politicians in the great democracies appeased Hitler. They feared war so much that they made war more likely and made the devastation more terrible when it came. The simple argument against appeasement is that you just cannot appease dictators. They always demand more. But there is a more deeper one that is implicit but sometimes overlooked. Let’s use the Hitler example. He was “appeased” several times. Each time it made him hungry for more AND gave him more power to demand more. Germany could not have launched an aggressive war unless it secured its flanks. Imagine if there had been no Anschluss with Austria. Could Hitler have counted on security there? Or what is Czechoslovakia had remained intact? Czechoslovakia had formidable industry and the Sudety Mountains provided defensible terrain. The great democracies just gave that away. First they gave away the mountains (the Sudetenland) in the ostensible name of minority rights. Then they gave away the rest to buy peace. In all these cases, Hitler not only eliminated a threat; he also absorbed the power and got stronger. The Nazi Germany that launched the war in 1939 was a country on steroids. It had gobbled up Austria and Czechoslovakia, secured Memel, rebuilt and remilitarized. Critics say the democracies could not have gone to war with Germany earlier, but then they were forced to go to war with a more powerful Germany later, a Germany they had accepted and passively helped build. Had they resisted earlier they would have faced a weaker Germany. Hitler might have backed down short of war and he might have fallen from power if prevented from expanding. We judge the power muscular Germany of 1939 and forget that this monster was transformed from a weakling of only six years earlier with the collaboration of peace-loving leaders in the great democracies. History is the sum of choices. It is not inevitable and it is not over. We cannot do experiments. We never know what would have happened in different situations. Maybe if the British and French had acted early, maybe it would have meant war earlier, which they probably could have won easier, but then we would be talking about how their belligerence provoked a needless war of choice. More likely, their courage and resolve would have prevented or at least mitigated the conflict. We Americans were largely out of the equation – by choice. We thought we could just ignore the rest of the world and mind our own business. We were not active appeasers, but we were certainly appeaser enablers. It has been seventy years since the war began and sixty three years since it ended. We like to gnash our teeth about how bad the world is today, but it is a lot better than it was back in 1939. We have avoided another worldwide conflagration since that time. The depression did not return. The world became more prosperous, tolerant, democratic and connected. Maybe we did learn something from history and a post-war group of wise men build alliances like NATO and various institutions that preserved the peace, or at least prevented the big war, not through wishful thinking, such as espoused by the League of Nations, but through strength and sometimes blood. The lesson that history teaches over and over is that peace does not preserve itself. Peace is not the natural state of mankind and freedom has been rare thorough human history. War cannot be banished from the earth. It can be managed and controlled for long periods of time, but only if we recognize its reality and we are willing to pay the price. Freedom can be enjoyed ultimately only by those strong and resolute enough to defend it. The price of liberty truly is eternal vigilance. This is not a pleasant thought, but it is one to keep in mind. Other approaches are not as successful. Experience shows that excessive search for peace ironically lead to war and those able to defend themselves often do not need to. On July 24, 1929, the world outlawed war. This was the Kellogg-Briand Pact. It passed the U.S. Senate by a margin of 85-1. On September 30, 1938, Neville Chamberlain declared that the Munich Treaty with Hitler was “peace for our time.” Less than a year later … well it didn’t work out the way they hoped.
- Original article - Open Access A cultural comparison of Persian and English short stories regarding the use of emotive words: implications for teaching English to Iranian young learners Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education volume 5, Article number: 7 (2020) Using a contrastive analysis approach, this study aimed to study emotive words (EWs) in Persian and English short stories for children. It actually tries to find the similarities and differences between the two languages in terms of using emotive words based on different types and tokens of emotions introduced by Wierzbicka (Emotions across cultures: Diversity and universality, 1999) and Devon (The origin of emotions, 2006). Additionally, it sought to investigate the impact of teaching emotive narratives on the learners’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions. To fulfill this objective, 20 short stories with similar length and level of difficulty were randomly selected, 10 in English and l0 in Persian, and 35 lines of each story were investigated to identify and classify their EWs based on the two models employed for classification. To examine the extent of similarities and differences between the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories, a Chi-square test was run. The results revealed that there was not a significant difference between the two groups of stories in terms of emotion tokens; however, a significant difference was found between the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories concerning different types of emotion. In the second phase of the study, emotive short stories were explicitly taught to a sample of 25 EFL learners; a DCT was utilized as the pre-test and post-test to find if learners’ practical knowledge would improve in the wake of this intervention. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the practical understanding of the participants after being exposed to the instruction of emotive narratives. The results also demonstrated that literature-based activities containing emotional cues could improve young learners’ practical knowledge required for controlling their emotions. Language is used as a medium to express one’s feelings and ideas. Considering emotional lexicons and investigating different ways of expressing emotions in different words can help users of different styles to have a better understanding of each other in their communication. Research on emotions significantly developed over recent years. New ideas from cognitive linguistics, corpus-based, and cultural studies, as well as findings in the first and second language acquisition, experimental psychology, and language evolution, have shed considerable light on the nature of feelings and emotions. There have been several attempts to pin down and classify emotion categories properly. Pekrun (2014) identifies four groups of academic emotions that are especially relevant to students’ learning. Achievement emotions are related to achievement activities and success and failure resulting from these activities; for example, enjoyment of learning, hope and pride related to success, and anxiety, and shame related to the failure. Epistemic emotions are emotions triggered by cognitive problems, such as surprise about a new task; curiosity, confusion, and frustration about obstacles; and delight when the problem is solved (Violetta-Irene, 2015). Topic emotions pertain to the topics presented in lessons. Examples are empathy with the fate of one of the characters portrayed in a novel, anxiety, and disgust when dealing with medical issues, or enjoyment of a painting discussed in an art course. The last group of emotions is social emotions related to teachers and peers in the classroom, such as love, sympathy, compassion, admiration, contempt, envy, anger, or social anxiety. These emotions are especially crucial in teacher/student interaction and group learning (Sarıca & Usluel, 2016). The relationship between language and emotions can be viewed from two angles. Bamberg (1997) identifies two kinds of relationships between language and emotions. He believes that language, in a broad sense, can be viewed as being done [performed] “emotive.” Considering this point, it is assumed that people, at least on occasions, “have” emotions, and that “being emotional” gains its agency, impacting in a variety of ways on the communicative situation (Stern, 2017). In this view, language and emotion are two concurrent, parallel systems in use, and their relationship that exists in that one system (emotions) impacts on the performance of the other (language). Both of them share their functionality in the communicative process between people (Rowley, 2015). Wierzbicka (1997) assumes that all languages have a common core and this common core is innate, being saved by a prelinguistic “readiness for meaning,” and this common core is used as a kind of mini-language for saying whatever people want to say. We can see that a door loading outside the literature has already opened. Although this common core can only be identified and understood via language, it is in an important sense, language-independent: an innate conceptual system determines it, and it is independent of every peculiarity in the structure of all individual languages (p. 24). Moreover, Wierzbicka (1999) proposed six groups based on the general themes, and each of them linked with some aspects of the cognitive scenarios which underlie the emotion concepts included in a given group. They are as follows: “Something good happened” and related ideas. This concept assures people that one feels something good because something good happened to oneself. Several English words that imply this concept are words such as joy, happiness, contended, pleased and pleasure, delight, relief, excitement, and hope. “Something bad happened” and related concepts. There are many emotional terms associated with the cognitive scenarios in which something terrible happened or is happening. In this concept, it divided into two broad categories; real event (past or present) and hypothetical event (necessarily, future). The first group included in this concept and the second included in the next idea (theory 3). It could be represented by terms such as sadness, unhappiness, distress, sorrow, grief, despair, disappointment, and frustration. “Something bad can/will happen,” and related concepts expressed by such words as fear and afraid; fright; terrified, petrified and horrified; dread; alarmed; panic; anxiety; nervous; worry; concern; and apprehension. “I don’t want something like this to happen” and related concepts. Sometimes a “bad thing” happens, and we do not want it to happen not because we think it is as “something bad” but only because it is contrary to our will. It seems like a protest against something that has already happened and opposition to any future repeats. The concept includes words such as anger, indignation, fury, rage, outrage, appalled, and shocked. “Thinking about other people.” Many emotional terms are related to scenarios that involve what someone’s thinking about others/ someone else. The feelings can be “good” or “bad,” and the critical point here is that the soul is not always aligned in vale with the soul. This concept includes envy and jealousy, pity and self-pity, compassion, schadenfreude, gratitude, admiration and self-admiration, and contempt. “Thinking about ourselves.” The focus of this idea is the experiencer since it is more likely as a self-assessment emotion. The idea shares what people think either “good” or “bad” about ourselves (the experiencer), and it can be described by words such as shame, embarrassment, pride, remorse, and guilt. Some aspects of the cognitive scenarios underlying the emotion concepts of a given group linked with these themes. Moreover, Devon (2006) introduces five tokens of emotions: conceptions, sensations, reflexes, involuntary expressions, and voluntary expressions. Notions, impressions, reflexes, and spontaneous feelings are biological adaptations that transmit to the next generation through reproduction and they are universal to the species. Voluntary feelings are cultural adaptations which sent to the next generation through interaction; they vary by culture. Conceptions are positive or negative mental effects that are triggered by conclusions and direct behavior. Maternal love is a positive effect triggered by the conclusion “my child is happy”. Maternal grief is a negative effect triggered by the outcome “my child is dead.” Conceptions can also be triggered by imagining an outcome. So maternal pain can be triggered by imagining the conclusion “my child is dead. “. Wierzbicka (1994, 1999) has implemented this method of semantic analysis in emotion words as well, claiming that Natural Semantic Metalanguage model is a stabilizing factor in this respect across cultures and languages (Cited in Kitis, 2009). As Pekrun (2014) states: “To understand the emotions better, it is important to know that emotions have both universal features and individual uniqueness. For example, when students enjoy a lesson, this is a pleasant experience for students around the world. However, the contents, intensity, duration, and frequency of classroom enjoyment can differ between students and may even be unique to an individual student”. (p.59). Holoborodko (2013) believes that although there are universal basic emotions, there are several other emotions that are culture-specific. The existence of culture-specific emotion words (that reveal in translation) attests to this fact. Also, the universality of emotions is a relative notion, because by considering the complex taxonomy of emotions, and the different semantic fields of emotion words that seem to be direct equivalents, it aims to find that what appear to be universal emotion words, prove to label somewhat different notions in two languages. Emotion words can also describe (or name) the emotions that they care about. Words like anger and angry, joy and happiness, sadness and depressed are assumed to be used in such a way. It should be noted that “under certain circumstances, vivid emotion terms can also ‘express’ particular emotions. An example is ‘I love you!’ where the descriptive emotion word love uses both to describe and express the feeling of love (Kovecses, 2007, p. 2). Murali Krishna and Sandhya (2015) stated that short stories seem to be the most suitable choice for enhancing all four skills. Most of the students are in the position to comprehend the content and improve their vocabulary competency, as there is an easy flow of language in short stories. Short stories cover a wide range of fields such as language, arts, social studies and social issues, science and technology, plants and animals, etc. Any branch of knowledge can be dealt through short stories in more flexible ways. Short stories play an important role in shifting learning model to acquisition model. So, pedagogists advocate the incorporation of short stories in the syllabus. Moreover, Tarakçıoğlu and Tunçarslan (2018) believed that games, songs, art-craft activities and short stories have proved to be practical instruments for very young learners; especially, short stories are great tools to teach vocabulary as words are best acquired in a meaningful context. They claimed that that children can remember more vocabulary items than the others if they learned them in a meaningful and enjoyable short story-based context. Emotion-related terms have another large group. Every time we talk about our emotions, we use images, especially metaphors and metonymies. The phenomena of these two kinds of the image seem to have always been essential for the human conceptualization of emotions. It defines the aspect of metaphor based on the notions of similarity or comparison between the literal and the figurative meaning of an expression. They call metaphorizing a way of thinking about things (Hall, 2017; Lichtman, 2018). Mubarak Pathan (2012) also alluded to the potential advantage of stories in helping learners realize how their emotional equilibrium can be formed by reading stories. Kohan and Pourkalhor (2013) found stories to be credible tools that can be used to inspire learners, alleviate their insecurity and stimulate their imaginative and analytical minds in school. Selecting the right stories related to learner criteria was the obstacle for teachers in the process of creating credible resources based on the level of language skills of learners (Benediktsdóttir, 2016). Guber (2017) stated that if teachers are interested in changing self-regulating behaviors of learners, they would pay close attention to the implementation of reading stories in classrooms. According to Hall (2017), learners learn how to solve their various problems by themselves and control their feelings by observing the consequences of character acts. Numerous studies have documented the significant impacts of story reading on emotional, social, and psychological development (Durante, 2014; Lichtman, 2018; Sarıca & Usluel, 2016). Learners will find other solutions in stories on how to cope with emotions as a prominent feature of personality that can sometimes hinder them from a better life. Learning about controlling emotions might be one of the offshoots of teaching English in schools. Because of this, recent focus has been paid to the idea of control of desire and behavior, apart from life satisfaction, expectation, inspiration, etc. (Canli & Lesch, 2017). Psychologists tend to find emotions as potential barriers for people who make good choices and foucsing on tasks, even as they earned some recognition in the early 1900s (Fried, 2011). It is interesting to note that short stories can be a a unique tool for emotion research. Roopnarine and Dede Yildirim (2018) have correctly observed this method, claiming that short stories are unavoidable outlets for presenting a biomarker through which feelings can be perceived in a lifetime sense (Lu & Wang, 2012). Short stories depict instances of human emotion such as pleasure, excitement, strife, depression, etc. by constructing a dynamic situation. In other words, the storytelling form heightens the interrelationship between text and meaning surrounding emotions. As a result, Oatley (2002) believes that reading narrative fiction is a deep emotional experience. As such, passions and short stories seem to be closely entangled. Specifically, short stories place the audience in situations of real happiness, sorrow, terror, and other emotional states described by expressive verbs that express sensations delicately. The stories are specifically used to maximize and convey the joy and interest of their audiences (Marsh, 2013). Stories can be seen from a socio-cultural perspective as “devices to help and maintain the culture and traditions” (Babaii & Yazdanpanah, 2010, p. 5). Focusing on the contributory influence of emotions in social interactions and their impact on human attitudes and decision-making processes, Damasio (2004) points to the relevance of regulatory mechanisms and their role in behavior regulation (Nozen, Kalajahi, Abdullah, & Jabbarzadeh, 2017). Furthermore, literature is the media of teaching and learning an authentic language. The language of literature is well-organized and wealthy with beautiful choices of words. Style generally represents literature. The recent historical positions regarding the use of research in English language teaching, and the inclusion of literary texts may foster the development of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and critical thinking skills. Literature deals with things that are exotic and includes little if any, stupid things (Kohan & Pourkalhor, 2013; Maley, 1989). Motivation is one of the elements which can drive the learners to go ahead. Motivation mainly achieved when students exposed to what they really enjoy. Experience shows that students are highly motivated when they are exposed to literary texts for language learning purposes. A poetry lesson, for example, can involve students emotionally and prove enjoyable. So a portion of our syllabus can comprise some pieces of literature. (as cited in Huda, 2012). Due to its authenticity, research can develop sociolinguistic and pragmatic knowledge as manifested in communicative competence models (Erkaya, 2005). Sociolinguistic and Pragmatic competence are two of the main components of the communicative competence models. Hence, special attention is needed to be directed to this component. Literature, due to its authenticity, equipped with sociolinguistic and pragmatic information. These two features are more related to “appropriateness” in a language which can be found only in a contextualized language such as literary texts (Durante, 2014; Shazu, 2014). Quite in line with the principles of CLT (Ceylan, 2016; Van, 2009), literature is rich with many authentic tokens of language for the development of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills (Belcher & Hirvela, 2000). For writing purposes, literature shows to set a good ground for writing practice. For speaking purposes, the events in a poem, novel, or short story can be associated with the learners’ own experience in real life. Such a practice paves the way for hot topics for discussion in language classes. For listening purposes, the learners can be exposed to the audio versions of the poems, short stories, or novels. For reading purposes, as above- mentioned, novels and poetry can provide useful opportunities for extensive and intensive reading. Also, it is good for practicing reading subskills, including skimming, scanning, and finding the main ideas. Literature is not only facilitative for language learning purposes in general, but it can also accelerate language learning in content-based instruction (Khatib, 2012; Shang, 2006). Reading literary texts foster emotional intelligence (Ghosn, 2002). Daniel T Goleman is the pioneer in EQ. He believes that IQ and even multiple intelligences did not cater for this aspect of human intelligence. EQ is specifically related to the human ability to control and manage their emotions and feelings in difficult situations. Literature indicates that students are trying to find new ways to view the world around them by constructing meaning from the text. Research indeed has a definite place in the ESL curriculum and teaching language. In this light, research regarded as a beneficial medium in language teaching. In sum, motivation, authenticity, cultural/ intercultural awareness, globalization, intensive/ extensive reading practice, sociolinguistic/pragmatic knowledge, grammar, vocabulary knowledge, language skills, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking are the payoffs’ list of using literature in FL/SL classes (Khatib, Rezaei, & Derakhshan, 2011). As an example of an empirical study on emotion and language, Sah (2011), in a survey of the relationship between emotion expressions and knowledge of story structure, investigated developmental differences in Mandarin-speaking children’s use of emotion expressions in narratives and their relatedness to the narrators’ understanding of story structure. The data yield age-related differences in the use of emotional expressions. More importantly, the narrators’ emotional expressions seemed to respond to different hierarchical levels in the story structure. In particular, the five-year-old’s emotional expressions mostly triggered by local, immediate situations. Most nine-year-olds emotional expressions were motivated by domestic circumstances, while few of them considered both local and universal story structure. The adults’ attribution of emotion, however, was triggered by both local situations and the global story plotline, which served to enhance narrative coherence. Besides, the five-year-olds’ attribution of emotion mostly focused on one character in the story. In contrast, the adults’ attribution involved several aspects, which suggested that the adults possessed better expertise in perspective-taking. The data indicated that the use of emotion expressions may disclose narrators’ knowledge of story structure and reflect their expertise to maintain narrative coherence. In another study, Bagasheva-Koleva (2015) analyzed the emotional language in some Russian fairy tales, and the ways it projected into Bulgarian and English translated versions. They actually aimed to explore the linguistic ways in which the emotional expression in Russian fairy tales can be altered or transformed into Bulgarian and English, as well as to argue that in English, unlike Russian and Bulgarian, fairy tales are presented more as literary texts rather than as a source of emotional lexis. Furthermore, Ponterotto (2014), in a paper, reported an investigation into the role of motion verbs in representing emotional states using a cross-linguistic observation of English and Italian. The study selected the emotion “happiness” for inspection and presented empirical data that revealed the metaphorical extension of movement constructions to conceptualize emotions. It posited a “conceptual metaphor framework”, which can account for the use of verbs encoding manner of physical movement to imagine a cognitive/psychological state of emotion. Subjects in both cultures efficiently produced numerous descriptors for the changes encoded in the motion verbs and indicated the emotional state that, in their opinion, the verbs evoked. Besides, Gendron, Lindquist, Barsalou, and Barrett (2012) conducted a study to examine whether a perceiver unknowingly contributed to emotion perception with emotion word knowledge. They presented two studies that together supported a role for emotion concepts in the formation of visual percepts of emotion. They found that perceptual priming of emotional faces (e.g., a scowling look) disrupted when the accessibility of a relevant emotion word (e.g., anger) temporarily reduced, demonstrating that the same look was encoded differently when a word was accessible versus when it was not. The findings established that emotion words provide an important (although often unrecognized) context in emotion perception. In similar research, Shao, Yu, and Ji (2013) examined the relationship between EFL students’ EI and writing achievement via emotional short stories on 68 non-English major first-year students in a university in China. Results revealed that students in the experimental group scored significantly higher than those in the control group on TEIQue-ASF and writing in the post-tests. In yet another study, Shiriyan and Nejadansari (2014) evaluated the effect of literature-based activities on Iranian English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ EL. They also tried to investigate the relationship between students’ EI, and the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of their L2 oral productions. The results indicated that literature-based activities had a positive effect on EFL learners’ EI. Additionally, results showed that all of the three measures of fluency, complexity, and accuracy had a significant positive correlation with learners’ EI scores. The findings suggested language professionals and educational administrators include programs such as literature-based learning activities to promote learners’ EI. Finally, Farina, Albanese, and Pons (2007) investigated the influence of pragmatic abilities on children’s emotion understanding. By using different tests in groups of 4–7-year-old children, he tried to assess children’s lexical and syntactic knowledge, their pragmatic competences, and their emotional understanding. The results showed that children who are good at making plausible inferences and understanding of syntactic rules and structures are also good at comprehending others’ emotions. So, pragmatic aspects play a crucial role in promoting emotion comprehension, showing that syntactic and lexical competences alone are not sufficient to explain the importance of communication for emotion comprehension. Pragmatic seems to play a vital role in promoting the most complex aspects of emotion, reading mixed and moral feelings, and mental regulation of emotions. This study sought to answer the following questions: Q1. Are emotive words used differently in terms of the emotion types in Persian and English short stories for children? Q2. Are emotive words used differently in terms of the emotion tokens in Persian and English short stories for children? Q3. Do emotive narratives improve young learners’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions in L2 contexts? Based on the above research questions, the following hypotheses formulated: H01: There is no significant difference in the frequency of emotive words used in Persian and English short stories for children concerning the emotion types. H02: There is no significant difference in the frequency of emotive words used in Persian and English short stories for children concerning the emotion tokens. H03: Instruction of emotive narratives does not improve young learners’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions in L2 contexts. The method of this study consisted of two steps. The first step, which called for a cross-cultural comparison process, involved a contrastive analysis based on Wierzbicka’s six types of emotions and also Devon’s five tokens of emotions. In this step, a descriptive design utilized to investigate the application of emotive words in English and Persian texts to find out if there were any significant differences between Persian and English short stories concerning their use of emotive expressions. In contrastive analysis studies, a comparison between L1 and L2 is based on a linguistic model which is called “tertium comprationis.” It is the mediator, according to which the contrast is accomplished. Therefore, to compare emotive words in the two languages, the two models mentioned above for classifying emotive words were used as the tertium comprationis in this study. The second step was an experimental project in which a pragmatic study applied by the use of a DCT to find out if young learners’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions improved by being taught emotive words through short stories. Thus, to find the answer to the third research question, 25 students studying English as a second language in an institute in Isfahan were selected as the participants of this study. Selected students were studying English during the summer, and they were at the intermediate level of proficiency. They were chosen from among 41 students in three different classes and were taught by a teacher during a full term, lasting 20 sessions, 30 min each. A non-probability convenience sampling method used in this study, which refers to a technique that allows the researcher to select the intended participants from the population. It is characterized by the subjective judgment of the researcher rather than random sampling. The selected group was the best available group for the study because the age range and level of their proficiency were suitable. All the participants were female students, and their ages ranged between 10 and 15. This age range was selected intentionally because the study aimed to investigate changes in practical knowledge in young learners, and the material of the study consisted of short stories written for children, so adult learners were not under investigation. The teacher of the classroom was also another participant in the study. She was 26 years old and had 3 years of practical experience in teaching English. Also, the first researcher participated in the survey as the scorer. A selection of short stories as the corpus and a DCT containing 20 multiple-choice situations were the primary materials and instruments of the study. To be more precise, 20 short stories written for children in English and Persian selected as the corpus of the research (l0 English and 10 Persian short stories). It was preferable to choose stories with a significant number of emotive words. The length of the stories was also crucial for the researcher because some stories were concise, containing only two or three paragraphs. Care was taken to ensure that the selected stories in both languages were similar in length and topic. Therefore, for the study to be applicable, l0 out of 20 short stories with the same range (10–20 paragraphs) were selected randomly in each language. From each tale, 35 lines were chosen, and therefore, for each language 350 routes, each line containing approximately 15–20 words, were studied. Selected stories also used as the teaching material of this study. In the selection of such texts as the corpus of the study, care was considered to select texts in English and Persian, which were original texts in the sense that translated texts be avoided. It was also important to choose stories with an intermediate or pre-intermediate level of difficulty. It hoped that this selection could render more generalizable and reliable results. English stories were famous and selected from online sources such as Short Story of the Day, American Literature, Kidsgen, and Bed Time Stories for Children. Persian stories were chosen from storybooks written by Iranian writers and were among famous stories. Accordingly, the following English and Persian short stories selected for the study: l. The City Mouse and the Country Mouse by Gosh, 2. Little Red Riding Hood by L. Guenther, 3. The Velveteen Rabbit by M. Williams, 4. The Frog Prince by Grimm, 5. Six Bears Get in a Pickle by G. Dioxide, 6. Another Monday Morning by G. Dioxide, 7. The Ugly Duckling by H. Ch. Anderson, 8. Jack and the Beanstalk by Grimm, 9. The Bad Girl by W. K. Clifford, and l0. The Selfish Giant by O. Wilde 11. حسنی و ماجراهای بی بی خاتون از میرزایی، 12. تاج جزیره از دلپسند، 13. جوجه های ناز و ملوس پر حنا از شعبانی، 14. ماهی و مرغ ماهیخوار از خلیلی، 15. داستان روباه و خروس از خلیلی, ، 16. کدوی قله قله زن از لنگرودی، 17. شنگول، منگول و حبه انگور از لنگرودی، 18. عروسی خاله سوسکه از خلیلی، 19. دوتا عروس، دوتا داماد از رحماندوست، و 20. گردن بند عجیب از آبروی. To find the answer to the third research question, a multiple-choice DCT prepared. It was a modified version of Zupan, Neumann, Babbage, and Willer’s questionnaire (Zupan, Neumarm, Babbage, & Willer, 2015), which used to measure emotion inference from stories. The questions which had been written based on stories changed into real situations adjusted for children. It consisted of 20 cases in which students asked to choose the state of emotion they feel. One of the answers was the target emotion, and the other three alternatives were distractors. This DCT prepared to use as both the pre-test and the post-test. The modified DCT was different from the standard practice in which the respondents provide responses in written form. In this study, a structured DCT was utilized to make sure the precise type of emotion related to the targeted situation was provided by the participants, thus enhancing objectivity and reducing the possibility of inappropriate responses. The validity of the DCT was established based on specialists’ opinion, and the reliability measured by KR-21 formula and was equal to 0.78. Twenty short stories with similar length and level of difficulty were selected randomly out of 40 stories written for children, l0 in English and 10 in Persian. Thirty five lines of each story were chosen randomly, and emotive words were identified. Then, emotive words were classified based on Wierzbicka’s six types of emotions. Thus, emotion words that illustrated happiness, excitement, hope, etc. marked as l (i.e., type 1). Consequently, other emotion words also marked as 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 according to the kind of emotion they carried. At the next stage, the same emotive words which were marked by numbers l-6 were classified based on Devon’s tokens of emotions and marked by letters a, b, c, d, and e according to the token of emotion they belonged to. Therefore, each emotive word was marked by a number, and a letter, for example, “anxious” was marked by “3c,” indicating it belonged to type 3 and token c. To answer to the third research question, 25 students studying English as their second language selected as the participants of this study; these selected students asked to take the DCT test as a pre-test. They attended the classroom for 3 days a week during a full term (about 45 days), and every session lasted about 30 min. Selected short stories taught by the teacher with the focus on different emotive words in the stories. The list of emotive words was highlighted (through input enhancement) and written on the board, whereas their meanings explained through the text. Synonyms, opposites, and follow-up exercises related to these words also given to the students. After 20 thirty-minute sessions of teaching and working on stories, students asked to retake the DCT, this time as the post-test. DCT tests given a score ranging from 0 to 20, assigning one point to each question. This procedure aimed to find out if learners’ practical knowledge of understanding and controlling emotions would improve by teaching them the emotive words through short stories. To answer the research questions, several descriptive and inferential statistics used. To investigate the first and second research questions, and to examine whether using emotive words differed in English and Persian short stories in terms of different types and tokens or not, Chi-square tests run at .05 level of significance. To explore the third research question and to investigate any improvement in the participants’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions after the instruction of emotive narratives, the results of pre-test and post-test DCT scores compared through a paired-samples t-Test. At last, it is worth mentioning that all data analysis procedures conducted through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software program, version 25. To provide an overall evaluation of the EWs frequencies used in different English and Persian short stories for children, the descriptive statistics presented as in Table 1 below. Table 2 shows the frequencies and percentages of different types of EWs used in Persian and English short stories in the form of a Cross Tab. As Table 2 shows in both Persian and English short stories, the percentage of using each type of EWs obtained through dividing the frequency of EWs used to express that type of emotion by the total number of EWs used in short stories. According to the above table, in both languages, the minimum frequency of using EWs belonged to emotion type six or the category of “thinking about ourselves.” The maximum frequency of EWs in English stories used to describe the first type of emotion called “something good happened”; however, in Persian stories, the writers used the most frequency of EWs to express the second type of emotion called “something bad happened.” Results mentioned above, are shown graphically in Fig. 2 below. As illustrated in Fig. 2, the most frequently EWs in English short stories used to express type one, type five, and two of emotions respectively; however, the most widely EWs in Persian short stories used to express type two, type one, and type five of emotions respectively. The first research question of the study intended to examine how the emotive words differ across Persian and English short stories for children in terms of different emotion types. To address this research question, a Chi-square test run at .05 level of significance. The results of running this test reported in Table 3 below. As presented in the above table, based on the Chi-square test results, there was a statistically significant association between the emotion types and the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories; that is, English and Persian writers used different frequencies of EWS to express different types of emotion (p < .05). Accordingly, the first null hypothesis of the study rejected. Table 4 displays the frequencies and percentages of EWs used in Persian and English short stories for different tokens of emotion. According to the above table, it can be argued that in both Persian and English languages, the maximum frequency of using EWs belonged to the category of “sensations,” and the minimum frequency of EWs belonged to the type of “voluntary expressions.” The second research question of the study intended to examine how the emotive words differed across Persian and English short stories for children in terms of different emotion tokens. To address this research question, another Chi-square test conducted at .05 level of significance. The results of running this test reported in Table 5 below. As presented in the above table, the p-value of the test (.312) was higher than the significance level in this study (p > .05). Thus, it could be inferred that there was no statistically significant association between emotion tokens and the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories; that is, in both English and Persian short stories, the writers used different tokens of EWs almost equally. Accordingly, the second null hypothesis of the study was confirmed. To provide an overall evaluation of the participants’ DCT scores before and after the treatment, the paired-samples t-test conducted on the pretest and posttest DCT scores of the participants. The results presented in Table 6 below. As shown in Table 6, the posttest means score (M = 13.88) was more than the pretest mean scores (M = 11 .84). This clearly showed that the instruction of emotive narratives affected the participants’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions. The p-value under the Sig. column in this table shows that this change/improvement in the scores of the participants from pretest to posttest was of statistical significance (p < .05). To reveal the magnitude of the intervention’s effect, the author calculated the eta squared, which showed to be .29. This is a large effect size, which means that 29% of the variance in DCT scores may be attributed to the treatment. Accordingly, it could be concluded that the observed improvement in the participants’ DCT scores was not due to chance variation, and the change could be attributed to the given treatment of the study; consequently, the third null hypothesis of the study rejected. The first question in this study sought to determine if emotive words are used differently in terms of the emotion types in Persian and English short stories for children. It hypothesized that there is no significant difference in the frequency of emotive words used in Persian and English short stories for children concerning the emotion types. The results obtained for this question revealed that there was a statistically significant association between the emotion types and the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories. In other words, English and Persian writers used different frequencies of EWs to express different types of emotion and, therefore, the first null hypothesis was rejected. It was observed that in both languages, the minimum frequency of using EWs belonged to emotion type six or the category of “thinking about ourselves.” The maximum frequency of EWs in English stories used to describe the first type of emotion called “something good happened”; however, in Persian stories, the writers used the highest frequency of EWs to express the second type of emotion called “something bad happened.” The reason behind this difference might be due to cultural tendency of Persian writers to depict a fight against an evil character to teach children to fight against injustice and cruelty. Persian stories usually start with unpleasant conditions and difficulties that a hero faces and ends with joy and happiness. Therefore, a large part of the story involves describing the evils or bad characters, and the difficult situations for the heroes or good characters. This cultural and moral factor is less prominent in English short stories. Type one (something good happened), type five (thinking about others), and type two of emotions (something terrible happened) respectively, were the most frequent types of EWs in English short stories; however, most EWs in Persian short stories used to express type two, type one, and type five of emotions respectively. These findings are in agreement with Shaver, Murdaya, and Fraley’s (2001) findings, which showed that different cultures make different tine-grinned distinctions and emphasize different subordinate-level emotion concepts. These findings also support Pavlenko’s study (2002a, b), on the connection between emotions and the body, who supported Wierzbicka’s claims suggesting that the reading of the body is not a culture-free and language-free experience, but is shaped by cultural, social, and linguistic forces, as well as by individual differences. They are also in line with Mosavartaheri (2014), who suggested that Persian and English writers use emotive verbs differently. Her study showed that the Persian writers used emotive verbs much more frequently than their English counterparts. However, the difference between them was not statistically significant. The second research question aimed to investigate whether emotive words used differently in terms of the emotion tokens in Persian and English short stories for children. So, it was hypothesized that there is no significant difference in the frequency of emotive words used in Persian and English short stories for children concerning the emotion tokens. The results revealed that there was no statistically significant association between emotion tokens and the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories; that is, in both English and Persian short stories, the writers equally used different tokens of EWs in the same order. So, the second null hypothesis confirmed. Moreover, the results showed that in both Persian and English languages, the maximum frequency of using EWs belonged to the category of “sensations,” and the minimum frequency of EWs belonged to the category of “voluntary expressions.” In both English and Persian short stories, the EWs used to express sensations, conceptions, reflexes, involuntary expressions, and voluntary expressions respectively 1n a descending order. These findings support the idea of Shaver, Schwartz, Krison, and O'Connor (1987), who stated that emotion categories added in most languages in a relatively similar generalized sequence. They are also in line with Abbasvandi and Maghsoudi (2013) that claimed English and Persian people appeared to have very similar ideas about their bodies and seemed to see themselves as undergoing the same physiological processes (in their study in case of anger). They also suggested that English and Persian people responded physiologically to specific situations in the same ways. They seem to share specific physiological processes for emotions. The findings of the current study are also consistent with those of Moradi and Mashak (2014) who investigated the universality of emotion conceptual metaphors. Moradi and Mashak (2014) suggested that, in spite of some minor differences in conceptualizing anger relating to the degree of conventionality, the two languages shared the most conceptual metaphors in producing anger metaphors. The present study suggests that English and Persian people share not only the conceptual metaphors of anger but also share the theoretical and mental distribution of all other kinds of emotions. These results also match those observed in Shaver et al. (2001) who found at the superordinate and primary levels, the Indonesian emotion hierarchy was remarkably similar to the American hierarchy and that the gross structure of representations of the emotion domain is identical worldwide, perhaps for biological reasons. This study also confirms Holoborodko (2013), who believes that there are universal basic emotions. Still, there are also several culture-specific emotions and found that what appears to be comprehensive emotion words prove to label somewhat different notions in two languages. The third research question of the study aimed to seek whether emotive narratives improve young learners’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions in the L2 context or not. The third null hypothesis of the study based on this research question was that instruction of emotive narratives does not improve young learners’ practical knowledge of controlling emotions in the L2 context. The results of this study indicated that there was a significant difference between the participants in terms of practical knowledge of controlling emotions, before implementing the treatment and after that. In other words, participants’ improvement in DCT scores illustrates that teaching emotive words through narratives can improve learners’ pragmatic knowledge of controlling emotions. In this study, the set deception instructed readers to either associate with the character and imagine being that person, or to be distant spectators of sympathy. The findings were in comparison to what the psychodynamic model would predict. Subjects had more frequent and stronger emotional reactions to the Emotional texts in the sympathetic spectator condition. This shows that when provided with aesthetic distance, readers can more freely explore their own emotional responses. The existing study built upon the theory mentioned by Kivisto (2011) that adults psychopathology is interrelated to several contextual and developmental issues; specifically, the family context prepares adolescents for emotion regulation, temperamental and biologically determined capabilities to deal with the stimulus that causes stress and negative feeling. Studies have attempted to investigate how learners determine when and how they feel emotions and how they express them and identify emotions that are continuously helpful or have to be controlled in multiple phases. Scholars believe that emotion control is rooted in the psychological roots and can influence learners ‘success (Gumora & Arsenio, 2002). However, the results from this research are consistent with those stated by Al-Mahrooqi and Sultana (2008) who studied the role of short stories in promoting integrated language skills and competencies. They proclaimed literature (story reading or telling) to be central to the sense of English language learning and learners will benefit from reading the well-known stories objectively, emotionally, and intellectually. These results match those observed in earlier studies. They support Gendron et al. (2012), who established that emotion words provide an important (although often unrecognized) context in emotion perception. They are also in line with Abdolrezapour and Tavakoli's (2011) investigation of the relationship between EI and EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension by some literature activities. Their results indicated that teaching with an emphasis on the emotional content of words led to more significant progress in reading comprehension and higher scores on the EI test. These results are consistent with those of Shiriyan and Nejadansari (2014), who suggested that literature-based activities had a positive effect on EFL learners’ EI. Moreover, the findings of this study are congruent with Pounds’ (2008) study, who dealt with the representation of emotion in fairy tales and showed that fairy tales could communicate emotive content in a way that may contribute to children’s emotive development. They are also in agreement with Ghosn (2002) and Khatib et al. (2011), who suggested that reading literary texts foster emotional intelligence because literature deals with affection, feeling, emotion, and so is an excellent source to nurture emotional intelligence. Rouhani (2008) reported the improvement of emotional intelligence in the cognitive-affective reading-based course and concluded that young learners could learn much about their feelings when they read literary excerpts that depict characters with a tendency to experience specific emotions. He suggested that by using different techniques in literature-based reading courses such as brainstorming, journal writing, peer-discussion, cooperative learning, self-assessment, and creative writing, language learners learn to perceive emotions. Besides, language learners be able to differentiate between emotions and the subsequent need to take appropriate action in response to negative affect which could be a deterrent to language learning. Consequently, the results of the present study support the findings of his research. Additionally, the finding of the present study is, to some extent, in line with Rahimi Domakani, Mirzaei, and Zeraatpisheh (2014), who found that pragmatic development and performance intricately linked to learner affections, subjectivity, and emotions. As a whole, the current study complements and contributes to the present body of research by further confirming the high power of literature-based activities on learners’ emotional intelligence in general and ability and knowledge of controlling emotions in particular. This study intended to examine whether there is any difference between English and Persian short stories in terms of different types and tokens of emotions. It also aimed to examine if teaching emotive words to young Iranian learners can improve their practical knowledge of controlling emotions. Through collecting and analyzing data, the following findings emerged: There was a statistically significant association between the emotion types and the frequency of EWs used in English and Persian short stories; that is, English and Persian writers used different frequencies of EWs to express different types of emotion. Also, there was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of emotive words used in Persian and English short stories for children concerning the emotion tokens; that is, in both English and Persian short stories, the writers equally used different tokens of EWs in the same order. There was a significant difference between the participants in terms of practical knowledge of controlling emotions before implementing the treatment and after that; that is, instruction of emotive narratives improves young learners’ practical experience of controlling emotions in an L2 context. Based on what discussed earlier, the concluding remarks are as follows: Although the human emotional system is mainly innate and universal, people’s emotional lives are shaped, to a large extent, by their culture. Different cultures can create different subordinate- level psychological concepts. In this study, it seems that cultural and individual differences have created a different distribution of emotion types across the two languages. Certain fundamental concepts of emotions in any language motivated by universal aspects of feeling firmly grounded in human biology and general cognition, such as maternal love, state of feeling lonely, or pleasing taste. Different languages have the same mental and conceptual mapping of emotions. It seems that Devon’s emotion tokens reflect this kind of mapping, and this is probably the reason for existing an identical distribution of emotion tokens in the two languages under the study. Literature-based activities containing emotional cues can improve young learners’ perception of different emotions, and also, make them aware of their feelings as well as others’ state of excitement. Consequently, their ability to understand and control emotions will be improved. Short stories have numerous advantages for EFL teachers and learners. And if chosen and used carefully, they will profoundly change the entire process of teaching and learning foreign language, making it not only convenient, but also pleasurable and rewarding to pursue. Because of such advantages, rooted in the use of short stories, scholars like Ceylan (2016) claim that we use something much larger and more important than language teaching itself when using stories in language teaching. And that is why academics like Lichtman (2018) propose the story-driven learning of the foreign language. These strong arguments are not only linguistic but also include socio-cultural, social, cognitive, visual and personal reasons for the use of short stories, for effective teaching and learning of foreign language such as English. Such multifaceted pedagogical benefits of using short stories, together with the reasons in their favor and their consequences in the sense of EFL, are discussed in the following sections of the article, from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. Moreover, using short stories can be more useful than any other learning source to improve language skills because stories help stimulate the acquisition process. They offer realistic explanations for understanding new language. According to Khatib (2012), since the stories and other literary materials contain vocabulary intended for native speakers. They will serve as a model for language learners to familiarize themselves with the various forms and conventions in that language. Stories may be the tool for improving the overall language skills of the students. They can also introduce EFL learners to a wide variety of styles as literature uses and utilizes the language tools both thoroughly and skillfully. Short-stories also help to improve EFL learners ‘communication skills. The use of short-stories, inforeign language teaching, according to Bretz, provides ‘a springboard forthe development of critical thinking and aesthetic appreciation’. Another eminent advocate of the use of short-stories in ELT, for developing language skills, Mubarak Pathan (2013) believes that stories canprovide the teaching and learning material which is motivating,authenticand has great educational value. These material, also improves interpretative abilities of EFL learners in foreign language classrooms and enhances their language knowledge. This use of short stories can also allow the study of foreign language enjoyable by bringing a bit of flavor and anticipation to a classroom. Other linguistic benefits, of the use of shortstories in EFL classroom, include- the simplicity of sentence structures and vocabulary used in context. Stories often command the interest of the reader more effectively and can play a very important role in arousing affection and appreciation for reading among EFL learners; which is very crucial for improving reading skills in the foreign language sense, as EFL learners often hate this language skill. In such situations where EFL learners hate reading, short stories will easily lend themselves to catching and retaining EFL learners ‘attention spans and grow the love of reading among EFL learners. These facets of inspiration, incorporated in the tales, can thus lead to the mastery of EFL learners over not only reading, but also over other essential language skills such as listening, communicating and writing. Therefore, it can be said that incorporating short stories into the program can help EFL students become well-rounded professionals and human beings because short stories impart more than the survival skills in the target language. 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Looking at the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy in Infrared Credit Hubble: NASA, ESA, & D. Q. Wang (U Mass Amherst); Credit Spitzer: NASA, JPL & S Stolovy (SSC/Caltech) Birth of the Earth BlogMass Vortex Theory The givens of Mass Vortex Theory are: a nebula (or part of a nebula), 10 big pockets of iron atoms (iron and other metal atoms), and a black hole. Atoms from the nebula pack in more densely around the pockets of metal atoms. We’ll call these dense regions protoplanets. When the black hole becomes present, it acts like a big sink-hole. The nebula starts to go down the drain which creates a kind of whirling vortex. At some point, a protoplanet has too much mass and momentum to remain in the curved path of the Parent Vortex, and it moves radially out of the Vortex (as covered in a previous post). Like a baseball pitcher using his fingers to spin a baseball, the streaming gases of the Vortex act like fingers around the protoplanet to spin it as it exits the Parent Vortex. Thus, the protoplanet transitions into an orbit around the Vortex’s center-of-mass with spin. The further away a planet is from the center singularity, the less curvature the Vortex has. With less curvature, the pinwheel arm of the Vortex has more time to drag the planet and create a faster spin. This effect is the reason that planets further away from the center of the Solar System spin more quickly. The iron atoms in the nucleus of a protoplanet had microscopic magnetic domains (a known property of iron). Given the low temperature of the Vortex gases and protoplanets, these domains would line up in a single direction to make a big magnetic field (known physics for iron with a temperature less than the Curie temperature). Then, when the protoplanet starts to spin, the magnetic domains move. This causes the magnetic field to vary in such a way that it produces an electric field. [A changing magnetic field produces a changing electric field and a changing electric field produces a magnetic field according to known physics: Maxwell’s Equations]. The electric field is experienced by the non-metal atoms around the magnetic material in the central area. Craters at the north and south pole of a planet provide evidence of how the layers of a planet form in the presence of an electric field. (Pictures are offered in the book, The Birth of the Earth, of craters on Mercury, Mars, and Neptune.) The new electric field causes atoms to line up in a way that overcomes the forces keeping them apart. They bond to form molecules. This rapidly reduces the space between atoms by 10^9. This rapid formation of molecules and minerals in combination with gravity results in rapid compacting of material around the iron atoms. This causes the iron atoms to compact around the center also. A lot of heat is generated in this process. The layered Earth as we know it reflects the results that we would expect from this process. Did you know that granite has a higher melting point than the rock in the mantle below? But according to the current standard theory (Sun First Theory), granite is supposed to result from the cooling off period after the whole protoplanet was a hot melted sphere from collisions of rocky objects. The rapid formation of molecules and minerals in combination with gravity results in rapid compacting of material around the iron atoms, forming a spherical shape. The iron atoms at the center of the rocky sphere become a solid core. The heat from this phenomenon: - melts the outer shell of metal around the central core - melts the rocky material around the liquid metal - creates steam between layers - creates steam that rises from the planet as a whole The following appear to be discrepancies between current theory and observed behavior. See if you agree. This kind of discrepancy points to the need for a new theory.1 Let “Sun-First Theory” be the label for the current academically-accepted theory of solar-system formation. 1. Fictitious process going from initial ingredients to protoplanet to planet. Vesta is a large asteroid in the Asteroid Belt which was recently investigated by the DAWN space probe. Given that Vesta does not get larger over time, then how did any of the planets get larger via the means specified by Sun-First Theory? NASA has identified Vesta as a protoplanet.2,3 And a protoplanet is supposed to be a cosmic body that is in the process of becoming a planet. According to Sun-First Theory, the sun forms first, then as left-over material rotating in a disk around the sun gets cooler, very small bits of rocky material become present; then rocks collide to form larger astronomical objects.4 There is a known issue in going from rocks that are a few centimeters to a few meters, because the rocks are apt to collide and bounce apart (elastic collisions) rather than stick together.4 With all the material orbiting the sun in the disk with its initial angular momentum, how did the required large number of collisions occur at all? The material in the asteroid belt models the conditions that Sun-First Theory conjectures for the time when boulder-sized rocks rotate in a disk around the sun. The rocky objects in the asteroid belt have different sizes and orbit around the sun in the disk area of the ecliptic (a plane coincident with the Sun’s equator) between Mars and Jupiter. [See image above.] What we find is that the initial angular momentum is conserved and the space between rocks is preserved so that there is no means to cause the rocks to aggregate into larger and larger units. This observed behavior is at odds with the behavior specified by Sun-First Theory for growing a planet. *The diagram above “shows a bird’s eye view of our asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars (red) and Jupiter (purple). NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, will see hundreds of thousands of asteroids with diameters larger than 3 kilometers (1.9 miles). The green dots represent populations of asteroids – yellow illustrates the populations WISE is expected to see.” —NASA 2. Presence of a planet that is too close to its star. Kepler 78B is a planet in a different solar system (an exoplanet). According to Sun-First Theory, it would have had to form within its star in order to have its current orbit. From Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2013-25: “Kepler-78b is a planet that shouldn’t exist. This scorching lava world circles its star every eight and a half hours at a distance of less than one million miles – one of the tightest known orbits. According to current theories of planet formation, it couldn’t have formed so close to its star, nor could it have moved there.” Two different teams have confirmed the presence of 78B with its properties.5 I hope this shows that there are problems for Sun-First Theory due to observations of actual phenomena. Additional issues/problems are raised in the book, The Birth of the Earth. We will visit in coming posts how observed phenomena are best explained by Mass Vortex Theory, including Kepler-78b. 1 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn; published by The University of Chicago, 1962, 1970 2 “Huge Asteroid Vesta Actually an Ancient Protoplanet” by Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer, May 10, 2012 [http://www.space.com/15630-asteroid-vesta-protoplanet-dawn-spacecraft.html] and other online articles. 3 “Mystery World Baffles Astronomers” Release No.: 2013-25; October 30, 2013 https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=36264 accessed 6/16/2015 “The asteroid Vesta is unique: Unlike all other minor planets, that orbit the Sun within the main belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, Vesta has a differentiated inner structure: A crust of cooled lava covers a rocky mantle and a core made of iron and nickel – quite similar to the terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Scientists therefore believe this onion-like built asteroid to be a protoplanet, a relic from an early phase of planet formation more than four and half billion years ago. All other protoplanets either accumulated to form planets or broke apart due to violent collisions.” 4 Why Geology Matters by Doug MacDougall; published by University of California Press, 2011. 5 News: “Exoplanet is built like Earth but much, much hotter” by Elizabeth Gibney; 30 October 2013 http://www.nature.com/news/exoplanet-is-built-like-earth-but-much-much-hotter-1.14058; Nature doi:10.1038/nature.2013.14058 accessed 6/16/2015
A Thyristor and an SCR (silicon controlled rectifier) are essentially synonymous. A thyristor is a solid- state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating P- and N-type materials. It acts exclusively as a bistables witch, conducting when the gate receives a current trigger, and continuing to conduct while the voltage across the device is not reversed (forward-biased). A three-lead thyristor is designed to control the larger current of its two leads by combining that current with the smaller current of its other lead, known as its control lead. In contrast, a two-lead thyristor is designed to switch on if the potential difference (breakdown voltage) between its leads is sufficiently large. Because thyristors can control a relatively large amount of power and voltage with a small device, they find wide application in control of electric power, ranging from light dimmers and electric motor speed control to high-voltage direct-current power transmission. Thyristors may be used in power-switching circuits, relay-replacement circuits, inverter circuits, oscillator circuits, level-detector circuits, chopper circuits, light-dimming circuits, low-cost timer circuits, logic circuits, speed-control circuits, and phase- control circuits.
Now, three decades later, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is finally about to launch, and Dang has scored some of its first observing time — in a research area that didn’t even exist when it was being designed.Dang, an astrophysicist and graduate student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, will be using the telescope, known as Webb for short, to stare at a planet beyond the Solar System. The long-awaited Webb — a partnership involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) — is slated to lift off from a launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, no earlier than 22 December.If everything goes to plan, Webb will remake astronomy by peering at cosmic phenomena such as the most distant galaxies ever seen, the atmospheres of far-off planets and the hearts of star-forming regions swaddled in dust. Roughly 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, which has transformed our understanding of the cosmos over the past 31 years, Webb will reveal previously hidden aspects of the Universe.The Webb telescope will spend hundreds of hours surveying this patch of sky, seen here in an image from the Hubble Space Telescope that captures 7,500 galaxies, some more than 13 billion years old.Credit: NASA, ESA, Rogier Windhorst (ASU), S. Just this year, the telescope has been enveloped in controversy over whether it ought to remain named after James Webb, who headed NASA in the 1960s when a NASA employee was fired on suspicion of being gay.The first glimmers of what would become Webb arose at a workshop at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1989. It was the year before the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, and scientists were already thinking about how to follow up that transformative observatory. What ultimately emerged were plans for a space telescope with a 6.5-metre-wide primary mirror, nearly three times the size of Hubble’s, and made up of 18 hexagonal segments.Now, 32 years after its conception, Webb is finally sitting at the spaceport in Kourou in preparation for launch. It is destined for a point in space 1.5 million kilometres from Earth — too far away for astronauts to visit and fix the telescope if something goes wrong. Hubble required an after-launch repair in 1993, when astronauts used the space shuttle to get to the Earth-orbiting observatory and install corrective optics for its primary mirror, which had been improperly ground.If it launches successfully, Webb will probe the cosmos in the near- to mid-infrared wavelengths, most of which are longer than Hubble can see. That means Webb can study light that has travelled from faraway galaxies and been stretched to redder wavelengths by the expansion of the Universe. Webb will also be able to study dust that enshrouds star-forming regions as well as the gas between the stars, both of which are not as visible at shorter wavelengths. But Webb’s enormous mirror and suite of sensitive instruments (see ‘New eye in the sky’) mean that its discoveries will surpass those of any previous infrared space telescope, scientists say.Because it can spot faint red objects, Webb is primed to observe some of the first stars and galaxies to form after the Big Bang created the Universe 13.8 billion years ago.One large study will look at a region of sky that is the size of three full Moons, aiming to capture half a million galaxies in it. This survey, known as COSMOS-Webb, builds on an ongoing project that has used nearly every major ground- and space-based telescope to study the same patch of sky, which lies along the celestial equator and can be seen from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Webb will look at this field for more than 200 hours, making it the biggest project for the observatory’s first year of science and creating a rich data set for astronomers to mine for discoveries. This epoch, known as the cosmic reionization era, set the stage for today’s galaxies to evolve.By observing these extremely distant astronomical objects, scientists can answer questions such as how the first stars assembled into galaxies and how those galaxies evolved over time. Getting a better picture of galaxy formation in the early Universe will help astronomers to understand how the modern cosmos came to be. Mariska Kriek, an astronomer at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, plans to use Webb to study distant galaxies that are no longer forming stars. Those data, in turn, will help Kriek to unravel the mystery of how and why these galaxies stopped forming stars at some point in their history, unlike galaxies that did not stop3. “This is really what James Webb is going to open up.”.When not looking at stars and galaxies, Webb will spend a lot of its time scrutinizing planets, particularly some of the thousands that have been discovered beyond the Solar System. In its first year, Webb will study some of the most famous exoplanets, including the seven Earth-sized worlds that orbit the star TRAPPIST-1.The repeated delays in developing and building Webb actually worked to the benefit of exoplanet scientists, says Néstor Espinoza, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute. At one point, Webb was scheduled to launch in 2011, but astronomers didn’t confirm the first atmosphere around an exoplanet until 20054,5. Hammel and others plan to use the telescope to study the upper atmospheres of the ice giants Neptune and Uranus, the chemical make-ups of which are best seen in the infrared. Earlier this year, the controversy over the telescope’s naming broke out; NASA announced in October that it had no plans to change the name, following a historical investigation into James Webb’s actions.If and when Webb finally lifts off, which is always a risky procedure, the telescope faces a carefully choreographed six-month sequence of events that starts with unfolding and deploying the sunshield, then unfolding and deploying the primary and secondary mirrors. The telescope will begin cooling down as it travels towards its final orbit around the gravitationally stable point in space known as L2, or the second Lagrange point. By June 2022, if all goes well, Webb will finally be ready for science. Astronomers in Europe will get at least 15%of the observing time, and ones in Canada will have at least 5%, for their space agencies’ contributions to Webb.After many years of waiting, astronomers are more than ready for Webb to pick up the baton of discovery from Hubble. 12 hours ago 13 hours ago 13 hours ago 14 hours ago Get monthly updates and free resources. CONNECT WITH US
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by the British at the end of the French and Indian War to appease Native Americans by checking the encroachment of European settlers on their lands. People also ask What was the main purpose of the proclamation of 1763? What did the proclamtion of 1763 accomplish? Why were the colonists angered by the proclamation of 1763? What did the proclamation of 1763 not allow? The royal proclamation of 1763 did much to dampen that celebration. The proclamation, in effect, closed off the frontier to colonial expansion. The King and his council presented the proclamation as a measure to calm the fears of the Indians, who felt that the colonists would drive them from their lands as they expanded westward. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Proclamation forbade all settlements west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains, which was delineated as an Indian Reserve. Exclusion from the vast region of Trans-Appalachia created discontent between Britain and colonial land speculators and potential settlers. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 [ushistory.org] 9a. The Royal Proclamation - October 7, 1763. BY THE KlNG. A PROCLAMATION. GEORGE R. Whereas We have taken into Our Royal Consideration the extensive and valuable Acquisitions in America, secured to our Crown by the late Definitive Treaty of Peace, concluded at Paris. the 10th Day of February last; and being desirous that all Our loving Subjects, as well of our Kingdom as of our Colonies in America, may avail themselves with all convenient Speed, of the great Benefits and Advantages which must ... Proclamation of 1763, proclamation declared by the British crown at the end of the French and Indian War in North America, mainly intended to conciliate the Native Americans by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada. Jun 06, 2019 · The Proclamation Line of 1763 was a British-produced boundary marked in the Appalachian Mountains at the Eastern Continental Divide. Decreed on October 7, 1763, the Proclamation Line prohibited Anglo-American colonists from settling on lands acquired from the French following the French and Indian War. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was a measure passed by King George III that forbade British subjects from buying land or settling on land west of the Appalachian Mountains. It gave Britain a monopoly on trading with Native Americans and also voided all land titles previously acquired for property west of the Appalachian Mountains. - Historical Background - Provisions of The Proclamation - Enforcing The Proclamation - Legacy of The Proclamation The French and Indian War, which was fought between 1754 and 1763, comprised the Seven Years’ War of 1756 to 1763. The war was fought between the British American colonies and the New France Colonies, with both sides getting support from the military units of their respective parent countries, Great Britain and France. Great Britain defeated the French in the war, giving it control over all of eastern North America. The Seven Years’ War came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, the French ceded ownership of all of continental North America, including all of Canada. The Spanish took charge of all the French territories west of the Mississippi. The Spanish and the British also took over some of the French islands in the Caribbean. However, some of the small islands that were used by fishermen were left to the British. Some of the Native Americans had who had supported the French during the war soon became uneasy with the British rule. Shortly after the... The Proclamation of 1763 had several provisions besides controlling the colonial expansion. Chief among the provisions was the management of the new colonies inherited from the French during the Seven Years’ War. To manage the colonies, the British established a government for four areas, namely Quebec, Granada, East, and West Florida. The Native Americans that had a close association with the French were dismayed to discover that they were now under the British. Their good relationship with the French was cut short and they could no longer get gifts from them as they had been used to. The British hoped that through the Proclamation, they would win the natives and help to prevent any future hostility. The proclamation defined the jurisdictional limit of the conquered territory. The province of Quebec was carved from Canada colony of New France. The Northeast territory on Labrador coast was included in Newfound Colony. The proclamation led to the creation of a boundary line which is... Despite the opposition from the Native Americans and their allies, the British were able to enforce the proclamation. They stopped the settlers who were crossing the Proclamation line and forcibly removed others. In some instances, the Redcoats from Fort Pitt burnt the houses of some of the natives and escorted them back to the Proclamation Line. However, some colonialists disregarded the proclamation without fearing the consequence. In 1768, the boundary line was moved westward by the British following the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. Some of the lands given up following the treaty include the present day New York, Tennessee, and Kentucky, among other places. The Proclamation formed the basis for governing the indigenous land in British North America. It forms the basis of land claims by the indigenous people of Canada. Through the Proclamation, the indigenous people have certain rights to the land they occupy. Some have considered the Proclamation as a fundamental document for land claims by the First Nation and self-government. However, some have viewed it as a temporary promise made to the native people and were only meant to appease the natives who were becoming increasingly hostile to the settlers who were encroaching on their land. The natives had been viewed as a threat to the British. Some historians have also argued that through the Proclamation, the British wanted to assure the natives that they needed not to fear anything from the colonialist but at the same time increasing their influence in the area. Although the Proclamation was meant to be temporary, its immense economic benefits prompted the British to keep it until the e... - John Misachi - North America at The End of The Seven Years' War - The British Attempt to Enforce The Proclamation - The American Colonists Rebel Most native tribes had allied with the French during the conflict, and they soon found themselves dissatisfied by British rule. In May 1763, just a few months after the formal conclusion of the Seven Years’ War, a pan-tribal confederacy led by Ottawa chief Pontiac rose up in rebellion. His warriors attacked a dozen British forts, capturing eight of them, and raided numerous frontier settlements. Hundreds died in the process. In response, the British handed out smallpox-infected blankets to Pontiac’s followers. Moreover, a gang of whites known as the Paxton Boys massacred 20 defenseless Native Americans who had nothing to do with the fighting. In an attempt to prevent similar incidents from occurring, King George IIIissued his royal decree. Acknowledging that “great frauds and abuses have been committed,” the proclamation furthermore prohibited settlers from buying tribal territory. Instead, only the crown could now make such purchases. “We shall avoid many future quarrels with the s... The British made a perfunctory effort to enforce the proclamation, periodically stopping settlers as they headed west and forcibly removing others. On one occasion, redcoats from Fort Pitt in present-day Pittsburgh even burned the huts of some nearby pioneers and escorted them back across the boundary. For the most part, though, colonists disregarded the proclamation without fear of punishment. Some wanted only enough land for themselves and their families, whereas others were speculators looking to make a hefty profit down the road. George Washington, for one, wrote to his agent in 1767 in support of illegally buying as much Native American land as possible. The Proclamation of 1763 will soon be revoked, Washington explained, because—“this I say between ourselves”—it was only meant “as a temporary expedient to quiet the minds of the Indians.” Other famous speculators included Patrick Henry, best known for his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, and Henry Laurens, who later s... Ultimately, the new acquisitions failed to quiet colonial discontent with the Proclamation of 1763. And though it would be later overshadowed by other complaints against the British, such as the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the so-called Intolerable Acts and the Boston Massacre, it remained enough of a concern that the Declaration of Independencecriticized King George III for “raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.” By winning their freedom from the British in 1783, the Americans rendered the proclamation moot. But it has lived on to this day in Canada, where it forms the legal basis for native land rights. “We must recall the intent that brought all our ancestors together so many years ago,” Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, national chief of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations, said at a 250th anniversary event in 2013, “and ensure that [we live up] to the promises in the treaties and other agreements that stem from the foundation of the royal proclamation.” R... - Jesse Greenspan
(Phys.org) —Mountain forests in the Alps react very differently but noticeably to a warmer climate. Even if the target of limiting the Earth's average temperature increase to 2 degrees were met, this would already prove too much of a challenge for some mountain forests. This is the result of computer simulations by researchers at ETH Zurich. For this reason, the scientists are proposing adaptation measures. In densely populated Europe, mountain forests are not only areas of recreation for tourists and the local population. Above all, these ecosystems provide essential services for people and for nature. They provide wood, bind the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, absorb precipitation and form natural protective walls against rockfall, avalanches and other natural hazards. Under the leadership of Harald Bugmann, Professor of Forest Ecology at ETH Zurich, researchers have used computer models to examine the extent to which, and speed at which, services derived from mountain forests are projected to change when the climate heats up. For the first time, climate scenarios were used that show how climate change would affect Switzerland if it were possible to restrict global warming to an increase of 2 degrees above pre-industrial conditions by the year 2100. Different valleys, different results The researchers used different climate scenarios to simulate the development of mountain forest ecosystems in two very different Swiss mountain valleys: the development of the dry inner-alpine Saas valley in Upper Valais with an elevation range extending from 600 metres to 4,390 metres above sea level, and of the Dischma valley in the Grisons, which is cooler and damper and has an elevation range of 1,500 to 2,800 metres above sea level. The researchers used three forest models to evaluate a total of five ecosystem services along elevation transects. With the simulations, they examined the impact of the climate scenarios on the following key services derived from mountain forests: the storing of carbon, the influence of vegetation on runoff, the diversity of the forest, wood production and the protective functions the forests provide against avalanches and rockfall. The climate scenarios used in the simulations are based on non-intervention or low-intervention measures and on a stabilisation scenario. The latter involves halving the current level of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050 and meeting the international climate policy objective of curtailing the increase to 2 degrees compared with pre-industrial values by 2100. In addition, a further scenario was used which includes larger monthly fluctuations – for example in precipitation – and thus allows the impact of short-term variability to be examined. Unlike the three other scenarios, this scenario is not based on the mean values of what are referred to as "ensembles" (several model calculations), but on a single regional climate model. Impact on protective function The simulations show that certain ecosystem services are reasonably robust to moderate climate change. For example, this applies to the storing of carbon in vegetation biomass at the level of the entire valleys. By contrast, the impact on other services is clear for both valleys, but very different in each case. The Saas valley, which is already dry today, is worst affected. According to the models, its ecosystems will exhibit strong changes even under the 2 degree scenario. "An increase in the global average temperature by more than two degrees would have far-reaching and serious consequences", says Harald Bugmann. According to Bugmann, the extent of the impact would depend on the current climatic and ecological situation, and on the topography of the valleys. In both the Saas and Dischma valleys, the protective functions that forests provide against rockfall and avalanches would decrease more sharply at low and intermediate elevations depending on the scenario, but would increase at elevations above 2,000 metres above sea level, where higher temperatures would promote forest growth. Depending on the climate scenario, however, in the Saas valley this would just be a temporary trend that would reverse again over time with increasing dryness. "With our study, we are examining for the first time what an average global warming of two degrees Celsius and more would mean for forest ecosystem services at a regional level", says Ché Elkin, first author of the study and senior research associate to Harald Bugmann. The researchers acknowledge that the complexity of the mountain forest ecosystems makes it difficult to forecast precisely how the vegetation would react to climate change. The results of the simulation are subject to uncertainty and have to be interpreted with caution, they say. However, because even a 2 degree target does not safeguard the current services derived from forest ecosystems in mountain areas, the researchers are of the opinion that adaptation measures are needed, particularly in the parts of the Alps that are already dry. "For example, forest management and thinning at low altitudes could help alleviate drought; but we also have to consider changing species composition, to the extent of bringing in drought-tolerant species that are currently foreign to the region", says Bugmann. Explore further: Forests could flip from sink to source of CO2: study Elkin C et al.: A 2°C warmer world is not safe for ecosystem services in the European Alps. Global Change Biology (2013), doi: 10.1111/gcb.12156
The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills. This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence. To learn more about how to use Reading Like a Historian lessons, watch these videos about how teachers use these materials in their classrooms.
sorts the elements of list into reverse canonical order. sorts using the ordering function p. - ReverseSort by default orders integers and rational and approximate real numbers by their numerical values, sorting from largest to smallest. - ReverseSort gives the same result as reversing Sort except it does not reverse ties. - ReverseSort[list,p] applies the function p to pairs of elements in list to determine whether they are in order. The default function p is Order. - ReverseSort can be used on expressions with any head, not only List. Examplesopen allclose all Sort a list of integers in reverse order: Reverse-sort an expression with any head: ReverseSort works with associations: Use an ordering function as second argument: Properties & Relations (4) ReverseSort gives the same result as reversing Sort except it does not reverse ties: NumericalOrder treats 3 and 3.`10 as a tie: Both ReverseSort and Sort do not reorder ties: Therefore, those two results are not the reverse of one another: ReverseSort with an ordering function p is equivalent to Sort with the reverse ordering function: The reverse ordering for LessEqual is provided by Greater: For ordering functions returning -1, 0, 1, the reverse ordering is obtained composing with Minus: ReverseSort orders a list of pairs of numbers by decreasing the first element: Use ReverseSortBy to select which element is sorted in decreasing order: Wolfram Research (2017), ReverseSort, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ReverseSort.html. Wolfram Language. 2017. "ReverseSort." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ReverseSort.html. Wolfram Language. (2017). ReverseSort. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ReverseSort.html
Period: Late Jurassic Order, Suborder, Family: Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Camptosauridae Location: North America, Europe Length: 17 feet (5 meters) Few plant-eating dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic were small. Camptosaurus was an exception; it reached an adult weight of no more than 1,000 pounds. This slender, graceful ornithischian stood around five feet tall at the hips. Some paleontologists compare Camptosaurus with a deer in today's forests. Camptosaurus browsed on low vegetation. The chisellike teeth on the sides of its jaws were strong and well suited for crushing tough plants. Instead of front teeth for nipping, the fronts of both jaws were covered with a beak. The strong, agile rear legs were made for running. It needed to be able to escape from an Allosaurus that could easily overpower even the largest Camptosaurus. Its front legs were small but strong and were used for slow movement during feeding and grubbing around in the brush. It fed with its short front legs on the ground, and the tall hips and rounded curve of the tail gave Camptosaurus a curved or bent profile. This is why it got its name, which means "bent reptile." This early herbivore is probably close to the ancestry of the family Iguanodontidae of the Cretaceous, which included the enormous Iguanodon and giant hadrosaurs such as Parasaurolophus and Maiasaura. Like its descendants, Camptosaurus lived in herds, which gave it protection from predators.
The power of personal stories cannot be denied. Reading biographies helps to provide a human face and a context to ideas, history and concepts outside of students' personal experience. Unfortunately, biographies are a rarely used resource in the classroom except when introduced as part of genre studies. The variety of biography styles available including popular, historical, children's, literary, reference, fictional, and even graphic editions also make the genre perfect for multiple learning styles and reading preferences. Three Ways To Use Biographies In The Classroom Use in STEM lessons to supplement textbooks Use biographies to lend context to the history of ideas, concepts and advancements in subjects that are more traditionally taught from textbooks. STEM subjects are a perfect example. Biographies about scientists, mathematicians or those that work in technological fields can help students that are not engaged or struggling in these subjects find a new access point to the subjects. For students who are doing well, reading biographical accounts add important historical and intellectual context to the lesson and even act as further inspiration. Biographies help students find themselves represented in the context of a subject in a way textbooks do not. This is especially true of students of color and those from underrepresented backgrounds and cultures. ISBN:9781614802723 In this title, examine the life of imaginative biotechnology inventor and health care pioneer Hayat Sindi. Readers will enjoy digging into Sindi's personal story, beginning with her childhood in Saudi Arabia and her innocent lie to leave and study science and medicine in London. Students can trace Sindi's success, from her education at King's College to her innovations at Cambridge University, Harvard University, and Diagnostics for All. Engaging text and photos offer insight on topics such as how biotechnology can be used for environmental and health care applications. While a timeline, glossary, and index supplement the text, an entertaining science activity allows readers their own hands-on experience based on the science that inspired this woman's groundbreaking career. Stephanie Macceca ISBN: 9780743905909 George Washington Carver was born a slave, but he became an important scientist and teacher. He experimented with soil and became famous for his work as a botanist. He used peanuts and other plants to make new products. Before Carver's research, plants were only used for food and clothing. His creative approach to agriculture taught people that plants could be used to make many products, like rubber, ink, fuel, and paper, to name a few. Bring History To Life "Biography and autobiography provide initial entry to the study of periods of time and of places with which there may be little familiarity.... Students also like them because they are more readable, less like work, and more pleasurable to learn history from than by textbooks alone. Biographies bring life to history." Yale National Initiative to Strengthen Public Schools Especially when taught from a textbook, the role of history in influencing and shaping the present is not an easy concept for many students. Without ways to connect the past to a student's life many of the lessons from history are lost and social studies turns into nothing more than a memorization of rote facts that have no bearing or relation to today. Biographies again are the perfect solution. Biographies let students read about and experience the past in a very personal way; helping them to connect the past more easily with the present. Have a look at the earlier Big Universe blog post, Making a Connection to History for a President's Day lesson plan that uses the biographies of past presidents. Stories to Tell: Student Autobiographies as writing exercises and tools of expression Have students write their own biographies. This works really well at the beginning of the year. Having children write short biographies is not only a good way to gauge their level of writing skills but the stories they share allow the teacher a glimpse into the personal history of the students. Biographies also help the students learn about each other and can expose children to cultures, ideas and families that are different from their own. With older students who already have practice writing sequential and traditional narrative pieces, try using technology like Big Universe's writing platform to create personal stories, Incorporating a digital component into the writing exercise will also have students using information in a new ways and help teachers incorporate multiple common core standards into one lesson. Bobbie Aloian (author) I can write a book about my life In this book, children will learn how to write an autobiography, a biography of a family member who has influenced their lives, a memoir of an event or special occasion, or even a creative journal on their possible future lives. Children will learn how to interview people and write and recite narratives. They will learn more about themselves through their wonderful stories. Biographies are an amazing genre of literature that is valuable resource in teaching. No matter the topic, biographies about the major thinkers, scholars and participants involved help to give the subject a human face. These personal stories provide another access point to the theories, numbers, statistics and facts in whatever subject is being taught and help students gain additional levels of understanding to the material. Whether teaching children about the past, introducing new ideas and concepts in the STEM curriculum or helping students discover themselves; biographies are an amazing resource for the classroom. Common Core Connections Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person). (Reading) With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. (Writing) Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure (Writing) eThemes- Writing: Biographies Biography Reading & Writing Unit Grade 5: 40 Detailed Lessons with CCSS Yale University Inspire, Reach and Teach through Biography Writer's Workshop: The Biographical Sketch
- Finley Junior High - (708) 636-2000 x4403 Test scheduled for February or Early March This is a study guide for the Constitution Test. Before using this study guide, you should first glance at the U.S. Constitution (begins on p. 219-241) and read Chapter 8 (begins on p. 203) in your textbook. Chapter 8 discusses the Constitution and structure of our government. This chapter will explain many of the things that are in this study guide. The Illinois Constitution will be covered upon completion of the U.S Constitution. If you have any questions at any time, feel free to ask. There are practice tests on line! • The U.S. has a representative democracy, which consists of representatives elected by the citizens. • Government is the power or authority that rules a country. • Laws are rules of conduct that citizens must follow. The most important job of the government is to provide laws. Our nation consists of people from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities, and races. The phrase “E Pluribus Unum” means “out of many, one" • There are two different ways to become a U.S. citizen: 1) birth- someone is born in the U.S. or on American soil 2) naturalization- someone that goes through the five year process to become a naturalized citizen • The U.S. has one of the oldest forms of democracy in the world. • A census is taken every 10 years… 2020, 2030, 2040 … years ending with a 0. • Popular sovereignty (a self-governing land) is the idea that people should have the right to rule themselves • Only Congress has the power to declare war, but the President can order troops to go places and commands the armed forces, Commander in Chief. • Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was approved on July 4, 1776. • The Articles of Confederation was our first Constitution. Think of it as a first draft. It was considered too weak to properly outline the rules of the new country (Did not allow for taxation) • James Madison wrote the constitution. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution.” The different levels of government (from highest to lowest) are: 1) National or Federal (located in Washington D.C.) 2) State (located in Springfield, Illinois) 3) County (we live in Cook County) 4) City/village (Chicago Ridge) 5) School (Finley Jr High) • The Constitutional Convention, held in Philadelphia in 1787, was originally called to revise the Articles of Confederation. George Washington was chosen to preside over the Constitutional Convention. When it became clear that the Articles had too many weaknesses to be revised, the delegates decided to write a new constitution for the country. The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 and ratified in ratified it on June 21, 1788. The three parts to the Constitution are: 1) Preamble (Introduction) 2) 7 Articles 3) 27 Amendments (changes) Article I- Explains the Powers of the Legislative Branch of Government (Congress) Article II- Explains the Powers of the Executive Branch of Government (President and Vice President) Article III- Explains the Powers of the Judicial Branch of Government (Supreme, Appellate, District courts) Article IV- Explains how the States are to work together (unity) Article V- Explains how the Constitution can be Amended Article VI- Explains that the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land Article VI- Explains how the Constitution was Ratified • The first ten amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. The three branches of government are: 1) Legislative-Congress=House of Representatives and the Senate (makes the laws) 2) Executive-President and Vice President (carries out the laws) 3) Judicial- Supreme, Appellate, District(interprets the laws; makes sure the laws are fair and just) The Legislative Branch • The legislative branch (Congress) has two houses. Congress makes the laws. The houses are called the House of Representatives and the Senate. Only Congress can Declare War. • There are 435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives. Each state is allowed a certain amount of representatives based on its population. The Constitution guarantees that each state will have at least ONE representative. Illinois has 18 representatives. • The census, or a count of the people, happens every ten years. The census determines how many representatives a state will have. House of Representatives (435 members): The requirements to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives are: 1) 25 years old 2) a U.S. citizen for 7 years 3) a resident of the state in which elected • U.S. Representatives serve 2 year terms and there is no limit on the number of terms they can serve. • The leader of the House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the House. The Speaker is currently Paul Ryan • There are 19 Congressional districts in Illinois, we live in the 3rd , and our U.S. Representative is Dan Lipinski The powers of the House of Reps. are: 1) start impeachment process 2) start appropriations bills (how tax dollars are spent) 3) select the President if no candidate has a majority in the electoral college Senate (100 members): • There are 100 members in the Senate. Each state sends two individuals to the U.S. Senate. • U.S. Senators serve 6 year terms and there is no limit on the number of terms they can serve. • The requirements to be a member of the U.S. Senate are: 1) 30 years old 2) U.S. citizen for 9 years 3) Resident of the state in which elected • The official leader of the Senate is the Vice-President. The Vice-President only casts a vote in the Senate if there is a tie. The day-to-day leader of the Senate is called the President Pro Tempore. The President Pro Tempore is currently Orrin Hatch. • Our two senators from Illinois are Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth The powers of the Senate are: 1) Serves as the jury in the impeachment trial 2) Approve presidential treaties 3) Approves presidential appointments (who the president appoints to the Cabinet, Supreme Court, etc.) 4) Selects the Vice-President if no candidate has a majority in the Electoral College The Executive Branch • The president is chosen by the Electoral College (538 people selected by each party). The president is NOT chosen by the Popular Vote • The President is the chief executive & Commander in Chief. The executive branch carries out laws. • The requirements to be President are: 1) 35 years old 2) Born in the U.S. 3) a resident of the U.S. for 14 years • The President serves a term of 4 years and can serve no more than 2 terms (10 years possible). The president can do three things with a bill (Legislation before it becomes a Law): 1) sign 2) veto 3) pocket veto • Congress can override a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses. (290 in the House of Representatives and 67 in the Senate (This is called a Super Majority) If something happens to the President, there is an order of succession stated in the Constitution. The order of succession is as follows (XXV Amendment): 1) President- Donald Trump 2) Vice-President- Mike Pence 3) Speaker of the House- Paul Ryan 4) President Pro Tempore- Orrin Hatch 5) Secretary of State- To be determined • The President has the power to grant pardons (forgive one of a crime/no punishment), reprieves (an order to delay a person’s punishment), or amnesty (similar to a pardon, but applies to a group of people rather than an individual). • The President can make a treaty with another country, but the Senate must approve it. • The President can make executive orders- an order from the President having the force of a law created in Congress. • The President may appoint people to his Cabinet (a group of department heads, Vice-President, and other officials). The Senate must approve these nominations. The role of the Cabinet is to advise the President. • The Cabinet is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. Washington decided to have a Cabinet during his presidency. • There are currently 15 executive departments (Department of State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health & Human Services, Housing & Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security). Know there are 15. • All of the department heads are called secretary. For example, the head of the Department of Defense is called the “Secretary of Defense.” The current Secretary of Defense is Rex Tillerson. The exception to this is the Department of Justice. The head of the Department of Justice is called the Attorney General. The current Attorney General is Jeff Sessions. • The National Security Council aids the President in life and death decisions about US safety. The Judicial Branch • The job of the judicial branch is to interpret laws. The three levels of federal courts (from highest to lowest) are: 2) Appellate or court of appeals (apply to a higher court for a reversal of the decision of a lower court.) 3) District (circuit) Local • Most of the work of federal courts takes place in the district courts. District Courts are the only federal courts that have jury trials. • There is no appeal once a case reaches the Supreme Court! • The two types of court cases are: 1) Criminal (Amendment VI-cases in which juries decide whether people have committed crimes) 2) Civil (Amendment VII-cases in which two sides disagree over an issue; usually for money, property, injuries, or damages) • U.S. Supreme Court justices are appointed by the President, approved by the Senate, and serve for life. • There are a total of nine U.S. Supreme Court justices (1 Chief Justice and 8 Associate Justices). In the Constitution, there are no requirements to be on the U.S. Supreme Court. • The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is John Roberts. • The first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice was Sandra Day O’Connor and Thurgood Marshall was first African American Supreme Court Justice. • Judicial Review is the power to review any law to see if it agrees with the Constitution • A subpoena is a court order, which requires someone to appear in court. • A Marshal is the individual who is responsible for arresting suspects, delivering defendants to court, and serving subpoenas. • A Magistrate is the individual who is responsible for issuing court orders and determining whether there is enough evidence to bring a case to trial. (Grand Jury) How a Bill becomes a Law 1. A bill may be introduced in either the Senate or House of Representatives by a member. 2. It is referred to a committee for a hearing. The committee studies the bill and may hold public hearings on it. It can then pass, be rejected or no action taken on the bill (The Bill dies). 3. The committee report on the passed bill is read in open session of the House or Senate, and the bill is then referred to the Rules Committee. 4. The Rules Committee can either place the bill on the second reading of the calendar for debate before the entire body, or take no action. 5. At the second reading, a bill is subject to debate and amendment before being placed on the third reading calendar for final passage. 6. After passing one house, the bill goes through the same procedure in the other house. 7. When the bill is accepted in both houses, it is signed by the respective leaders and sent to the president. The president signs the bill into law or may veto all or part of it. If Congress is in session and the president fails to sign the bill, it becomes law without his signature. If Congress is not in session, it is a pocket veto. 8. All tax bills for raising revenue (money) shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 9. The President can make executive orders- an order from the President having the force of a law created in Congress. When the bill is sent to the President, he can do three things with it: 1. Sign (approve it) 2. Veto (reject it) 3. Pocket Veto (Wait) Congress can override (defeat) a presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate debate (Discuss) on their versions of the bill. Senators sometimes engage in a delay tactic known as filibuster. One or more senators may kill a bill by talking until the bill's sponsor withdraws it. The only way to prevent a filibuster is to take a vote on whether or not to have cloture. Cloture limits a senator to one hour of debate. After a bill has been debated in the House of Reps. or the Senate, it is brought to a vote. There are three ways to vote: 1. Voice Vote 2. Standing vote 3. Roll-call vote Amendments to the US Constitution Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) and Amendments 11-27 Amendment I Religion, Assembly, Press, Petition, Speech (1791) R.A.P.P.S. Amendment II Right to Bear Arms (1791) Amendment III No Quartering of Troops (1791) Amendment IV Illegal Search and Seizure (1791) Amendment V Grand Jury, No Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process (1791) Amendment VI Criminal Prosecutions - Jury Trial, Right to Confront your accuser and to an Attorney (1791) Amendment VII Guarantees the right to a jury trial in Civil cases - Jury Trial (1791) Amendment VIII NO Excess Bail or Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment (1791) Amendment IX Guarantees individual rights-unwritten rights cannot be taken away Non-Enumerated Rights (1791) Amendment X Any right not given to the national government is a state right Rights Reserved to States (1791) Amendment XI Suits against a State (1795) Amendment XII Revised the way the President and Vice President are election (1804) Amendment XIII Abolition of Slavery (1865) Amendment XIV Privileges and Immunities, Due Process, Equal Protection, Apportionment of Representatives, Civil War Disqualification and Debt (1868) Amendment XV Rights Not to Be Denied Based on Race (1870) Amendment XVI Income Tax (1913) Amendment XVII Direct Election of Senators (1913) Amendment XVIII Prohibition of Alcohol (1919) Amendment XIX Women's Right to Vote (1920) Amendment XX Presidential Term and Succession (1933) Amendment XXI Repeal of Prohibition (1933) Amendment XXII Two Term Limit on President (1951) Amendment XXIII Presidential Vote in D.C. (1961) Amendment XXIV No Poll Tax (1964) Amendment XXV Presidential Succession (1967) Amendment XXVI Right to Vote at Age 18 (1971) Amendment XXVII Delays Congressional pay raises until next term (1992) United States Flag • The U.S. flag first originated during the American Revolution. • The blue field on the flag is called the union. • There are seven red stripes and six white stripes on the flag. These stripes represent the original 13 colonies. • The flag has 50 stars which represent the states. • The two proper ways to destroy the flag are to burn or bury it. 1. checks and balances- a system where each branch can limit the power of another branch 2. census- a count of the people 3. veto- to reject 4. representative democracy- a democracy in which citizens elect others to govern 5. quota- a numerical limit 6. national government- highest level of government in the US 7. treaty- a formal agreement with another country 8. laws- rules of conduct 9. appropriation- money 10. pardon- presidential order to free someone from punishment 11. slander- saying something false about someone to harm their reputation 12. treason- giving military secrets to enemies
\|Seti I is considered to be one of the greatest of pharoahs and warriors, and was also the father of another very notable pharoah, Rameses II (or Rameses the Great). Seti ruled in the 19th Dynasty, several generations after Tutankhamen. Surviving accounts of Seti’s exploits tell us that he was highly successful at protecting Egypt from such invaders as the marauding armies of neighboring Libya. Seti was also known to have extended his powers beyond the boundaries of Egypt as far east as modern-day Syria.\| \|Tutankhamen, known to many as King Tut, was probably just a boy when he was crowned pharoah in the 18th Dynasty. He was still a teenager when he died of unknown causes and was entombed in the Egyptian Valley of Kings. Although Tutankhamen was not one of the more distinguished or important pharoahs in his own time, he has a very special place in ours.\| \|Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. Over the next several years, Carter’s expedition carefully uncoverd the riches within, including the gold mask above. A number of mysterious deaths that followed the opening of the tomb set off wild rumors of a mummy’s curse. Today, Tut is known to countless people the world over, in part because his is the only pharoah’s tomb ever discovered intact. Tut’s burial site had somehow escaped pillaging by grave robbers for over 3000 years. His mummy and its magnificent solid gold sarcophagus, along with wall paintings, furniture, weapons, games and other artifacts have survived to the present, giving us a unique glimpse at the trappings of an ancient pharoah. Over time almost all Egyptians who could afford to became mummies when they died — a total of about 70 million mummies in 3,000 years. By the 4th century AD, many Egyptians had become Christians and no longer believed that mummification was necessary for life after death. Eventually, the Egyptians gave up the art and science of making mummies. Continue reading Mummies of Ancient Egypt:Who Were the Mummies? 3 When you think of a mummy what comes to mind? Most of us usually picture an Egyptian mummy wrapped in bandages and buried deep inside a pyramid. While the Egyptian ones are the most famous, mummies have been found in many places throughout the world, from Greenland to China to the Andes Mountains of South America. Continue reading Ancient Egypt Mummies 1
Once kids begin to notice the impact that money has on nearly everything that happens around them, it’s time to introduce economics for kids. It’s as important as learning about social groups, family dynamics, and ecosystems, because economics affects these relationships as well as others around the world. We’ve talked about answering kids’ questions about money. We’ve talked about how kids can be educated to be responsible and make wise decisions about money. We’ve even talked about the ways in which a kid can make money. But forget all that. There are some issues that are a little broader than just basic financial education. As your kids grow, they may want to gather more knowledge about money and how it works. Simplifying Economics for Kids In short, your kids may want to know about economics. But how do you teach your kids about advanced notions such as society, wealth, production, or consumption? How do you simplify economics for kids? Well, the answer to this is to relate it to things that the kid already understand. Thus, we need to transpose notions involving economy at a nationwide or global level, to a smaller scale. And this scale, more often than not, is the kids’ own home. So how do we explain economics for kids? Well, in the actual science, researchers talk seriously about the differences between what different peoples want, how they can acquire their needs, and which of these needs are actually paramount to their existence. Obviously I’m oversimplifying. But the basic principles are there. Therefore, we’ve decided to start with the basics: Explaining Needs and Wants Economics for Kids One of the first things that kids need to understand about economics is that it’s not only a question of money. More complex concepts enter the arena. Two of these ideas are those of need and want. The basic concept is that a need is something that a person requires in order to survive, while a want is not necessary. Demonstrating the Difference Between Needs and Wants To explain these two concepts better, give your kid examples. Pick up things that he uses in his daily life. The first example, obviously, should be that of water. Ask your child about it. Is it a need or a want? The answer should be obvious to you, but don’t be surprised if the child doesn’t answer the same at first. After all, you’re the tutor and he’s the student. You should continue the lesson with a random toy, or something that is most definitely a want. After a few examples, your child should have gotten the basic principle of the equation by now, and will answer accordingly. However, when you get the feeling that he’s understood what you’re trying to say, give the kid a more complicated question. For example: what is cake? Or what is juice? Are these two basic things needs or wants? Of course – they’re wants, but could be easily confused for needs. At the end of this small lesson, make a larger list – either on the computer or on a piece of paper – of other intriguing things that are somewhere in between the two. You can also add services to spice it up a bit. See what your kid will answer. If you feel like one of the answers is strange, ask for an explanation. Be prepared as kids can surprise you with their smarts. Explaining Services and Goods Economics for Kids This one is another big and important part of economics. And it’s relatively easier to understand than the previous one. Services are things that are offered to people by other people. They’re immaterial things such as teaching, waiting tables at a restaurant, or just about anything that involves another person. Goods are (mostly) the things we’ve already talked about. These are material things that can be consumed or used. Make it fun: you can eat an apple, you can wear a tie, but you can’t eat teaching, or wear it. It’s as simple as that. A Simple Activity to Demonstrate Goods and Services As with the previous category, make a list divided in two sections. The examples in the beginning should be easy to define. The latter ones shouldn’t be as easy. A good idea is to mix the profession with the goods that the respective profession deals with: vegetables vs. farming, books vs. bookkeeping, or even a football vs coaching a football team. Finally, the child should understand that both goods and services cost money. So, if he wants to open a football team, he’s going to need money to pay for all the incredibly important members of the staff and their services. To this extent, it’s probably for the best if you limit that to a basic vinyl football. Explaining Opportunity Cost for Kids This one is a little more complicated. Why? Because opportunity cost is not necessarily represented by something material. To make your kid understand this basic concept of economics, you have to make sure you yourself first understand what it means. Opportunity cost is, basically, the opportunities you give up in favor of doing other stuff. Now, to transpose this into a concept in economics for kids, you’ll need to think like a kid. Demonstrating Opportunity Cost Ask your kid what he wants to do tomorrow. Depending on his or her answers, see if some of the activities clearly overlap. Or better yet: use school. Ask the kid: “What would you rather be doing instead of going to school?” The answer to this should be overwhelming. Now explain to your kid that playing video games represents the opportunity cost that going to school implies. Now, you may use the school example only and only if you’re ready for the next question: “Why do I need to go to school?” That’s one of the most common questions that kids lock their parents with. Don’t hesitate, as it will show that you don’t really care about school. As with the previous two, give the kid a list of activities that he has to choose from. Ask the child which of each set of activities he would prefer, and then have the kid indicate the opportunity cost for that one. So, from a group of playing football, playing video games, going out with friends, and watching a movie at the cinema, your child may choose going to the movies because a specific movie is out. Economics for kids is not an easy subject to teach in your home. But as your child grows up, these concepts may prove key to his understanding of money. Remember that these lessons alone will not make your kid a billionaire. If you want your children to have a better chance at financial prosperity, browse through our bigger guide to kids and money. We hope that this article has enlightened not only your kids, but you as well. Please feel free to suggest interesting topics to us – we’re sure to give it a try!
A Brief History of Ideas About Forces In about 350 BC the Greek philosopher Aristotle stated without proof fall faster than light objects. Aristotle also believed that objects will only continue to move as long as forces act on them. To many people this appears to be true because because friction is a hidden force than many people ignore. It wasn't until Galileo did some experiments in motion and moving bodies that real advances were made. In 1589 he investigated balls rolling down an inclined plane. He showed that forces cause a change in an objects motion. In practice this force is often friction, often appearing as air resistance, as when an object is thrown through the air. Galileo demonstrated Aristotle to be wrong in thinking that heavier objects fall faster by dropping balls of different weight from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa. Both objects hit the ground at the same time. Robert Hooke showed in 1657 that a feather and a coin fall at the same rate in a vacuum. It was Isaac Newton though that caused a revolution in physics iby putting forward a comprehensive theory of forces and motion, in 1687, so that all things on Earth and in Heavan moved according to the same laws of physics. He showed that all changes in motion were caused by unbalanced forces acting on a body, and expressed acceleration in terms of these with the equation Newton's ideas seemed to work perfectly, and contributed greatly to the industrial revolution in Britain. It wasn't until Einstein published his theories of relativity in 1905 and 1916 that Newton's theories had to be modified. Even then, they work so well that they are used to calculate orbits of satellites and routes for spacecraft. Einstein showed that the presence of matter and energy curved space and time. Light continues to travel in straight lines through space, but because space is curved, so effectively is the path followed by light. Other strange predictions of Einstein's theories are that the mass of a moving body increases as the speed of light is approached, and that it is possible for spacetime to be so curved as to close in on itself, creating a 'black hole' from which nothing can escape.
Science - 3rd Grade Standard 5 Objective 1 Group activities help students understand the role of the sun as the source of heat and light for living things on Earth. They will also understand the role of friction in creating heat. Race Some Beads Cold, Colder, Coldest, by Michael Dahl (Animal Extremes Series); Children Library Resources Item #GK923763 Experiments with Heat, by Salvatore Tocci (A True Books Series); ISBN 0-516-22510-3 The Magic School Bus in the Arctic, by Joanna Cole; ISBN 0-590-18724-4 Temperature, by Brenda Walpole (Measure Up With Science); ISBN 0-8368-1363-4 Temperature, by Navin Sullivan; ISBN 918-0-7614-2322-5 Polar Bears, by Ann O. Squire (A True Books Series); ISBN 0-516-25473-1 Polar Bears, by Julia Barnes (100 Facts About Predators); ISBN 0-8368-4038-0 Polar Bears, by Timothy Levi Biel (Zoobooks); ISBN 0-88682-414-1 Heat, Bill Nye the Science Guy Series Three, (Disney Educational Productions) Library Video Company VHS DN2226, DVD DW0577 Heat, The Way Things Work Video Series, by David Magaulay (Schlessinger Media) Library Video Company VHS DK7849, DVD DV6014 Animal Adaptations, (Discovery Channel School Series) Teacher's Media Company VHS TBRR-354074 Something that is hot, like a hot drink, feels very different from something cold, like ice cream. Both sensations are caused by the same thing: heat. The difference is that the cold object contains less heat than the hot ones. Our bodies make heat from our food. We also get heat from the Sun and from burning fuels. The heat of an object is measured using temperature. A thermometer measures temperature. Many students have the misconception that a coat or glove can produce heat. Heat is the flow of energy from hotter to cooler objects. Coats and gloves help stop the flow of energy and trap, or hold the heat. Insulators are materials that block the flow of heat, so warm things tend to stay warm while cold items stay cool longer. Good insulators are plastic, feathers, air, and materials that hold air. Heat conductors are materials that allow the flow of heat energy to move easily from one source to another. Good conductors are solid materials such as metals. The body of a polar bear is made for living in its harsh, cold environment. Among land animals, the polar bear is the largest predator in the world, with an average male measuring about 8 feet long and weighing between 800 to 1300 pounds. Large bodies usually hold heat much better than smaller ones. But the bear's large body also has extra layers of protection against the cold. Although a polar bear looks white, its skin is black, and its hair has no color at all. Its thick coat is really two layers of fur: a waterproof undercoat of short hair and a layer of guard hair 6 inches in length. Each hair is really a hollow tube that you can see right through. Some of the sunlight bounces off the hair, making the bear appear white; but most of the sun's rays pass through the hollow hairs and are trapped by the bear's black skin. Underneath this fur coat, the polar bear has a layer of fat that can be 4 inches thick. The polar bear can survive even when the outside temperature drops to -70 degrees F because this fat and layers of fur act as insulators, trapping its body heat. 1. Use science process and thinking skills. 3. Understand science concepts and principles. 4. Communicate effectively using science language and reasoning. Invitation to Learn Pass the Penny Heat is the flow of energy from hotter to cooler objects. Temperature is a measure of how much heat energy an object has. Prior to this activity, mark a penny with a small, flat dot of fingernail polish. Provide each group of 4 or 5 students with a small cloth bag containing 5 pennies. Have a member of the group remove the marked penny and hold it for approximately 10 seconds in their closed fist. Quickly pass the penny on to the next group member, allowing them to hold the penny for about 10 seconds. Continue this process until the penny has gone around the group once or twice. (You may notice that the penny has become warm). Replace this penny quickly with the others in the bag and shake them up. Ask a volunteer to reach into the bag and pull out the marked penny. How could they recognize which penny to choose? Why did this penny feel different than the others? What was the penny's heat source? What causes the temperature change of the penny? You might also try this activity by allowing the marked penny to lie in direct sunlight (or under a heat lamp) for 30 seconds, and repeat the activity. Were the results similar? Race Some Beads This activity will demonstrate how well some materials conduct heat. What happened to the temperature of the water in the open jar? Where did the heat go? What has insulated the water in the closed inner jar? Heat does not pass easily through the insulated jar, the cork, and the air in the large jar. Water in the open jar loses heat more quickly. A Thermos flask keeps drinks hot or cold. It is made using two containers with a tight lid, like your heat store. The inner container has shiny sides and a double wall with a "vacuum" or empty space inside. It is so difficult for heat to leave or enter the flask that its contents stay hot, or remain cold, for a long time. Curriculum Extensions/Adaptations/ Integration 4 correct, complete, detailed 3 mostly correct & complete, fairly detailed 2 partially correct & complete, lacks some detail 1 incorrect, incomplete, missing important detail 0 no attempt Tomlinson, C.A. (1999) The Differentiated Classroom, Responding to the Needs of All Learners pp7-8. Differentiated classrooms feel right to students who learn in different ways and at different rates and who bring to school different talents and interests. More significantly, such classrooms work better for a full range of students than do one-size-fits-all settings. Teachers in differentiated classrooms are more in touch with their students and approach teaching more as an art than as a mechanical exercise. Kesidou, S. & Roseman, J. E., (2002), How Well Do Middle School Science Programs Measure Up? Findings from Project 2061's Curriculum Review. Programs rarely provided students with a sense of purpose for the units of study. This program took account of student's beliefs that interfere with learning. It modeled the use of scientific knowledge so that students could apply what they learned in everyday situations. Floden, R. A., Buchmann, M., and J. Schwille, J., (1987). "Breaking with Everyday Experiences" Teachers College Record 88, p. 263. Representations of the subject need to take into account what learners are already likely to know and understand about the subject matter as well as the experiences and knowledge they bring with them from their environment.
In the past, this was possible only at much lower temperatures, typically in the microkelvin range. The coupling of nuclei and electrons creates a new state of matter whereby a nuclear spin order arises at a much higher temperature. Helical order: The spins of the electrons and nuclei (red arrows) take the form of a helix rotating along the axis of the quantum wire. The blue ribbon is a guide to the eye for the helix. Illustration: B. Braunecker, P. Simon, and D. Loss, Phys. Rev. B 80, 165119 (2009) The results are consistent with a theoretical model developed in Basel a few years ago, as reported by the researchers in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters. The researchers, led by Professor Dominik Zumbühl from the University of Basel’s Department of Physics, used quantum wires made from the semiconductor gallium arsenide. These are one-dimensional structures in which the electrons can move in only one spatial direction. At temperatures above 10 kelvin, the quantum wires exhibited universal, quantized conductance, suggesting that the electron spins were not ordered. However, when the researchers used liquid helium to cool the wires to a temperature below 100 millikelvin (0.1 kelvin), the electronic measurements showed a drop in conductance by a factor of two, which would suggest a collective orientation of the electron spin. This state also remained constant when the researchers cooled the sample to even lower temperatures, down to 10 millikelvin.Electron-nuclear spin coupling The reason why nuclear spin order is possible already at 0.1 kelvin is that the nuclei of the gallium and arsenic atoms in these quantum wires couple to the electrons, which themselves act back on the nuclear spins, which again interact with the electrons, and so on. This feedback mechanism strongly amplifies the interaction between the magnetic moments, thus creating the combined nuclear and electron spin magnetism. This order is further stabilized by the fact that the electrons in such quantum wires have strong mutual interactions, bumping into each other like railcars on a single track. The work of the Basel physicists opens up new avenues for mitigating these disruptive nuclear spin fluctuations: with the nuclear spin order achieved in the experiment, it may be possible to generate much more stable units of information in the quantum wires. In addition, the nuclear spins can be controlled with electronic fields, which was not previously possible. By applying a voltage, the electrons are expelled from the semiconductor, which dissolves the electron-nucleus coupling and the helical order.International research partnership The research was co-funded by the European Research Council, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Basel Center for Quantum Computing and Quantum Coherence (Basel QC2 Center), the Swiss Nanoscience Institute and the NCCR Quantum Science & Technology (QSIT).Original Citations Reto Caluori \| Universität Basel Astronomers release most complete ultraviolet-light survey of nearby galaxies 18.05.2018 \| NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center A quantum entanglement between two physically separated ultra-cold atomic clouds 17.05.2018 \| University of the Basque Country So-called quantum many-body scars allow quantum systems to stay out of equilibrium much longer, explaining experiment \| Study published in Nature Physics Recently, researchers from Harvard and MIT succeeded in trapping a record 53 atoms and individually controlling their quantum state, realizing what is called a... The historic first detection of gravitational waves from colliding black holes far outside our galaxy opened a new window to understanding the universe. A... A team led by Austrian experimental physicist Rainer Blatt has succeeded in characterizing the quantum entanglement of two spatially separated atoms by observing their light emission. This fundamental demonstration could lead to the development of highly sensitive optical gradiometers for the precise measurement of the gravitational field or the earth's magnetic field. The age of quantum technology has long been heralded. Decades of research into the quantum world have led to the development of methods that make it possible... Cardiovascular tissue engineering aims to treat heart disease with prostheses that grow and regenerate. Now, researchers from the University of Zurich, the Technical University Eindhoven and the Charité Berlin have successfully implanted regenerative heart valves, designed with the aid of computer simulations, into sheep for the first time. Producing living tissue or organs based on human cells is one of the main research fields in regenerative medicine. Tissue engineering, which involves growing... A team of scientists of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg investigated optically-induced superconductivity in the alkali-doped fulleride K3C60under high external pressures. This study allowed, on one hand, to uniquely assess the nature of the transient state as a superconducting phase. In addition, it unveiled the possibility to induce superconductivity in K3C60 at temperatures far above the -170 degrees Celsius hypothesized previously, and rather all the way to room temperature. The paper by Cantaluppi et al has been published in Nature Physics. Unlike ordinary metals, superconductors have the unique capability of transporting electrical currents without any loss. Nowadays, their technological... 02.05.2018 \| Event News 13.04.2018 \| Event News 12.04.2018 \| Event News 18.05.2018 \| Power and Electrical Engineering 18.05.2018 \| Information Technology 18.05.2018 \| Information Technology
Blood clotting occurs due to a complex process of coagulation that heals a bleeding blood vessel with at clot. Blood platelets and plasma protein fibrinogen are vital to the blood clotting process. People can suffer from various blood clotting disorders such as formation of blood clots due to excessive blood clotting. The PT or Prothrombin Time Blood Test is done before any surgery to check a patient's bleeding and clotting factors. PTT or Partial Thromboplastin Time Blood Test checks for a clotting disorder. Blood clots can form in the heart or legs or brain or even in the lungs. These clots can travel through the blood vessels and hamper the flow of blood. This can lead to damage in the organs. Blood clot in the veins of the arm or legs can lead to DVT or Deep Venous Thrombosis. Pulmonary embolism is a condition where a blood clot travels to the lungs. Blood clots during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or pre eclampsia. Bleeding disorders can occur due to severe liver disease. Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder. Bleeding disorders can also be a side effect of medicines. Afibrinogenemia is an inherited blood disorder that is caused due to a recessive gene. Congenital Afibrinogenemia is caused due to deficiency of fibrinogen protein that is essential for blood clotting. Afibrinogenemia is tested by checking for PT (Prothrombin time), blood clotting time, fibrinogen level and bleeding time. Symptoms of afibrinogenemia include abnormal bleeding in Gastrointestinal tract, nose, joints and bruises. Intracranial bleeding (bleeding in the brain) is a situation that can be fatal to the patient. A person suffering from Afibrinogenemia can be given blood plasma before any surgery or to treat excessive bleeding situations. Care should be taken to ensure that the patient is vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Such patients are likely to from blood clots (thrombosis). Doctors prescribe medicines for varied reasons, to cure an ailment, to prevent or stop an infection, to ease symptoms, to reduce risks etc. But if there is one particular group of medicines where there is a need for rigorous monitoring regime when taken, it is blood thinners. Not without a reason. Though approved by the FDA, if not handled properly, prolonged use of blood thinners can be unsafe. Need for Blood thinners Blood thinners reduce the ability of the blood to clot. Blood thinners belong to a class of drugs called anticoagulants. Immediately after an injury, a scrape or a cut, the blood coagulates and seals the wound, forming a scab to protect from infection. The blood clots formed will be naturally dissolved in the body after the injury is healed. Here blood clotting is a saver and is essential for the body. The mechanism is regarded as dangerous when blood clots form in the blood stream without an obvious injury and if the blood clot fails to dissolve naturally after the injury heals. The situation poses great risks as it can block circulation; the blood clot can travel to the arteries or veins in the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and limbs. This in turn can lead to life-threatening conditions such as heart attack, stroke, damage body's organs and in extreme cases result in loss of life. An updated (February 2014) American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guideline recommends people with an irregular heartbeat to take blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke. As per doctor's prescription, every year around 2 million people take blood thinner medications every day. It is strongly recommended that blood thinner be taken only under medical supervision. New vs. old blood thinners Warfarin was introduced sixty years ago. It is regarded as the oldest anticoagulant blood thinner medication. For decades, Warfarin was the only blood thinner available to lower risks of stroke. There are new additions. A recent study has showed that new blood thinners might be more effective than older medications. Detailed studies comparing Warfarin with the new addition state the following: Types of blood thinners It is chemical formulations that contribute to preventing clotting in various ways. Broadly blood thinner medications are classified into anticoagulant and anti platelet blood thinners. Anticoagulant blood thinners Anticoagulant blood thinner medications help decrease the tendency of blood clot formation. There are two ways to decrease the formation of blood clots in the body. Anticoagulants can interfere with platelets or block the body's production of clotting substances. Anticoagulant blood thinners are prescribed for people who have had a condition caused by a blood clot or are at risk of developing one. Anticoagulant blood thinners are usually given by mouth. In some cases anticoagulants are given intravenously or by injecting them just under the skin (subcutaneously). Warfarin: Warfarin is the generic drug. In the US, Warfarin is sold under the brand names Coumadin and Jantoven. Doctors prescribe Warfarin for two reasons, to prevent the formation of harmful blood clots or treat an existing blood clot. Some conditions for which Warfarin is prescribed include: Patients prescribed Warfarin ought to know how Warfarin works. Knowing helps limit the intake of vitamin K rich foods like dark green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, turnip greens, green peas etc. At any time, the blood needs certain proteins to clot. These proteins are made in the liver. To enable the liver in the process, Vitamin K is required. When Warfarin is administered, it reduces the liver's ability to use Vitamin K. Warfarin and Vitamin K work against each other. Thus, the formation of blood clot becomes harder. The interaction between Warfarin and Vitamin K explains the need to partake a diet that is constant in Vitamin K while on Warfarin. The dosage of Warfarin may vary from person to person. A blood test may be recommended to determine the dosage. This blood test, Prothrombin Time or International Normalized Ratio is required to monitor the body's response to Warfarin. Based on test results, Warfarin dose will be determined. Side effects of Warfarin Warfarin or Heparin, a common side effect of any anticoagulant medication is the risk of excessive bleeding. As these medicines prolong or lengthen or makes blood clot formation harder, it increases the time for formation of blood clots. If the time taken is too long, there is a possibility of excessive bleeding. There are other symptoms to look out for which are more common with Warfarin. Patients on Warfarin should immediately seek medical attention for any these common Warfarin side effects. Women who take Warfarin should contact health care provider if they experience heavy or increased bleeding during menstruation or any other bleeding from the vagina. Irrespective of the gender, some patients may experience rashes, diarrhea, nausea, hair loss while on Warfarin. These are not common side effects but are termed as additional side effects of Warfarin. Doctors do advice patients to seek help if the patient is involved in a major accident, experiences a significant blow to the head and finds it difficult to stop bleeding, if any. As Warfarin can interact with many other medicines, so do inform the doctor about all the medications being taken. Warfarin during pregnancy: Warfarin should be avoided during pregnancy and women with certain health conditions like high blood pressure, ulcer in the digestive tract should not take Warfarin as it can lead to severe health complications. Long terms risks of using Warfarin: Extensive research on prolonged use of Warfarin suggests that the risk increases with age. The patient is at risk of serious or even fatal bleeding including internal bleeding. In particular the risks are: Heparin: Heparin is the generic name. In US, Heparin is available under the brand names Lipohepin, liquaemin and Panheparin. Heparin decreases the clotting ability of the blood and also prevents existing clots from getting larger. Thereby, the normal body systems dissolve the clots that are already formed. Heparin is usually administered as an injection. Heparin can be injected subcutaneously or as an intravenous infusion. The advantage of IV is that it can be turned off quickly for safety reasons. Heparin is prescribed for conditions such as: It helps to know how heparin works. Heparin ensures that an anti-clotting protein which is present in the body works better, thus decreasing the clotting ability of the blood. Available in different strengths, the doctor must prescribe the strength depending on the purpose for which it is prescribed. During the course of treatment, the doctor may increase or decrease the dosage. Side effects of heparin A unique possible side effect of Heparin is that several weeks after stopping the injection, bleeding episodes may occur. If the patient notices bruising or unusual bleeding such as a nosebleed, blood in the urine or stools, black or tarry stools or any other bleeding that doesn't cease, contact your healthcare provider. Besides the common side effects of anticoagulant medications, Heparin's other side effects are visible at that point where the solution is injected. Herparin during pregnancy: FDA category for Heparin is C meaning there isn't established information that proves whether Heparin affects the fetus. It is best for pregnant women as well as breast-feeding mothers to use Heparin only if the medicine is prescribed by the doctor. Long term risks of using Heparin Prolonged use of Heparin particularly in the elderly may cause osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become weak and may break easily. Antiplatelet blood thinners Antiplatelet blood thinner medications work to prevent the platelets (small cells in the blood) from clumping together to form a blood clot. This happens by inhibiting the production of thromboxane, a chemical that signals other platelets to come together. By inhibiting the production of thromboxane, platelets cease to come together to form the blood clot. Thromboxane's role is helpful for a normal healthy individual who has suffered a wound. It acts as a self-sealing material. But, in the case of a stroke survivor, thromboxane's ability to bind and form a blood clot is potentially life-threatening. Hence, the need to use an antiplatelet blood thinner which are usually available in the form of tablets only. Doctors prescribe antiplatelet Aspirin to patients who have had a stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack) so as to reduce the risk of having another stroke. This is possible with Aspirin as it interferes with the blood's clotting action. The dosage varies from patient to patient and is largely guided by the patient's health condition. Though Aspirin is available OTC (over the counter), doctors recommend low doses of Aspirin for patients with the following medical history. Aspirin is prescribed to patients who are considered to be at risk of having heart attack or stroke. Anyone with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetic and smoke aggressively are regarded to be at risk of having heart attack or stroke. Side effect of Aspirin Most common side effect of taking low doses of Aspirin (100 mg dose) is heartburn and stomach upset. Seldom has there been a very serious side effect related to taking Aspirin as a blood thinner medication. However it is best to be aware of possible serious side effects such as bruising/bleeding, difficulty hearing, ringing in the ears, and change in urine amount, persistent or severe nausea /vomiting, unexplained tiredness, dizziness, dark urine, yellowing of eyes or skin. Aspirin during pregnancy The FDA has not assigned formally a pregnancy category. Aspirin is not recommended for use during pregnancy and while breast-feeding as it excretes into breast milk in small amounts. Other antiplatelet blood thinners Besides Aspirin, other antiplatelet medicines that are prescribed to prevent the platelets from sticking together include the following. Doctors prescribe a specific antiplatelet blood thinner taking into account the specific health condition and relative effectiveness of the blood thinner medicine. New drugs are continually added to the list with FDA approval. Long term risks of using Aspirin Daily use of aspirin can have serious side effects including internal bleeding. Prolonged use of aspirin at higher doses (> 500 mg) can cause stomach ulcers, and can also prolonged bleeding. Enter your health or medical queries in our Artificial Intelligence powered Application here. Our Natural Language Navigational engine knows that words form only the outer superficial layer. The real meaning of the words are deduced from the collection of words, their proximity to each other and the context. Diseases, Symptoms, Tests and Treatment arranged in alphabetical order: Bibliography / Reference Collection of Pages - Last revised Date: September 30, 2023
The combination of all 3 writing systems in a sentence makes it easier for you to separate words. With Hiragana being mainly grammar structures and some very easy and common words, most of the time you can identify Kanji and katakana as words, and have the hiragana with grammatical meaning separate the strings of kanji, as if the hiragana itself was the spacer. I don’t know if it made much sense. Here’s an easy example. Kotoshi, kuruma de madoriddo he ikimashita. This would literally translate to: This year, by car, to madrid, (I) went However, you shouldn’t read it like that. I really don’t know how to teach how to read it, it’s something that comes with time, but it’s like you keep reading and storing information, and then, when the sentence ends, everything makes sense in your head. This is one of the reasons why Japanese is so difficult to translate to English. We see two kanjis at first, then a coma. This provides spacing. In this case, when you state a temporal information (“this year” in this case) you don’t need to add any hiragana to declare its function, although you could as far as I know. Then we have another kanji: the one for car. After this kanji, we have the hiragana which is pronounced “de”, which means that the car is an instrument you used. It also helps separating it from the next piece of information. Following is the katakana string that means Madrid (the city of Madrid). Next to Madrid, is the hiragana pronounced “he”, although in this situation it is pronounced just “e”. It means that Madrid is the place that there’s gonna be movement towards, it’s almost telling you that something is going there. Once again, the hiragana separates the katakana string from the next kanji, which would be the verb. Finally, we have the kanji for “to go”, followed by a string of hiragana that is basically the verb conjugation in formal, past and affirmative. I might have explained too much grammar, but that’s not the point, the bottom line is the following: As you can see, while hiragana are the gramatical core of the language, they also do this function of separating words. Still, you can find some very fucked up sentences with amazingly long kanji strings that you have to decrypt, but those will most likely be used only to represent complex vocabulary. Translators are shit when it comes down to Japanese. They’ll only somehow work if you input info in kanji, and for that, you should use a kanji dictionary to check that all the kanjis you are using are the ones intended and you don’t end up mixing up god and hair, which have the same pronunciation but different kanji. Recognizing radicals is something that really comes with experience, but is one of the easier things after a bit. One of the methods to learn kanji is to learn the simple kanji that are also used as radicals before the full kanji with many radicals, even if the basic one aren’t used. An example would be this kanji 曜. It looks horrible at first sight, but if first you’ve learned that the part of the left is just like 日 (sun, day…) the two things on top are just like the katakana ヨ and the thing at the bottom, ⾫, is a small bird, when you come across this kanji you don’t see it as an abomination, but rather like a sum of things that you’ve already learned. Of course, 日 and ヨ are one of the first things you learn, but ⾫ on the other hand is rarely used outside its radical form, so you would only learn from this if you follow the method I described at the beginning of the paragraph. Otherwise, you’ll just learn over time that this part of the kanji is used in other kanji and, therefore, it is a radical. Well, this is true for pretty much everything. If you want to learn something to a certain level of expertise, you’re gonna need to commit strongly at some point. This is especially true for kanji though, as you need to burn them into your name if you want to remember them during the rest of your life. This means drawing them several times, using them in sentences or reading them often. Nonetheless, don’t feel overwhelmed by the initial shock of seeing text walls of unreadable information. I’m sure that if you follow along that book you’ll get the basics just right. However, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone expert in the language to talk to since people normally get things slightly wrong (nothing catastrophic though) when learning by themselves.
Hi. Tape Op is made possible by our advertisers. Please support them by clicking on their ads. Introduction to Digital Audio A Basic Overview of Digital Audio Your ears are analog devices that convert sound waves into mechanical pulses the brain can understand. Your computer is a binary device, which means that it can only understand messages described in ones and zeros. In order to convert an analog signal to a digital signal, a converter executes several operations. The main objective of the converter is to sample a piece of the incoming analog signal (kind of like nibbling on a slice of cake), and then the conversion of each sample into a 16-bit binary description The standard sampling rate for digital audio onto musical CDs is 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, a rate that was standardized early on by a fellow named Nyquist. Mr. Nyquist determined that sample rates needed to be twice that of the highest frequency people can hear. As most people can hear up to 20 kHz, it was decided that the sample rate should be 44.1 kHz, which would give you a frequency response up to 22 kHz - a little beyond what most human beings can hear. The entire range of usual human hearing is 20 Hz - 20 kHz, with 20 Hz being the lowest frequency people can usually hear (ex: rap records try to utilize these low frequencies). 20 kHz is the highest frequency you can hear (think of a dentist's drill). Electrically, an analog audio signal looks like wavy lines on an oscilloscope (which is a device electronic technichians use to test audio equipment). When you use a hard disc audio recorder on your computer, the program will represent audio waves in this manner: The converter looks at the amplitude (the distance above or below the centerline of an audio signal’s waveform) of the incoming signal 44,100 times per second! The amplitude is then described using 16 digits (always a combination of zeros and ones: binary code). This 16-digit number is called a word. A stream of words is then recorded onto your hard drive, and is then converted back into analog audio by the program you are using to edit your audio. In other words, every audio file on the computer is just series of ones and zeros grouped into 16-bit words. These audio files are referred to as uncompressed digital audio. The most popular file formats for uncompressed digital audio are: WAVs (Windows Audio Volume - a Windows native file format); AIFFs (Audio Interchange File Format - the Macintosh version of a WAV); and SDIIs (Sound Designer II - a proprietary file format used by Digidesign for their suite of programs, including Pro Tools, Sound Designer and AVID). Recording audio onto your hard disc is easy with the right tools, but the file size is huge. It is estimated that one minute of stereo audio at 16-bit 44.1 kHz has a file size of about 10.5 megabytes. This may not seem like a lot of space if you have a 27 gig hard drive, but let’s looks at it the way the internet sees it: With a modem speed of 28.8 kbps, each meg of information takes about 35 seconds to download. Hence, a 3 minute music sample will take about 18 minutes to download - not a very efficient way of transmitting data! For this reason, several companies have developed various methods of reducing audio file sizes so that reasonable quality can be maintained while file sizes are reduced dramatically. As we learned, several companies have developed methods of reducing the size of a 16- bit 44.1 kHz audio file into a more manageable size for internet distribution. Methods of reducing audio file sizes are known as a codec, which is short for compression/decompression. Remember that WAVs and AIFFs are uncompressed audio. Applying a codec to an uncompressed audio file will yield a compressed file that is smaller in size, yet (hopefully) maintains the sonic integrity of the original file. You might be familiar with WinZip or Stuff It. These programs compress computer data into smaller files that can be emailed or distributed in less time over the internet. Codecs determine what information is unnecessary and throws it away. As a result, the file size is smaller. We learned that stereo audio is about 10.5 megs per minute. Mono audio files will be half that size of stereo audio files since stereo is actually a combination of two mono files! A codec works in this way, but it does its magic by reducing bit resolution rates (16 to 8 to 4 bits) and reducing sample rates (44.1 k to 32kto22kto11k). Bit resolution is an important component for the fidelity of an audio file. Each reduction in bit resolution results in a less accurate description of the amplitude of each sample. For example, if I asked you to measure a wall using only full sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper, you would be able to give me a number (say 10 sheets) that will represent the height of the wall. When you get to that last sheet of paper, you might find that the wall is actually 9.5 sheets high, but the criteria is to describe the height using whole sheets of paper, so you opt for saying 10 sheets. This is equivalent to 8-bit resolution. Now remeasure that wall with index cards. You will find that you can get much closer to describing the actual height of the wall because your measuring unit is smaller. This is equivalent to 16-bit resolution. Sample rate reduction affects the frequency response of your audio file. Remember Nyquist? The sample rate needs to be twice the highest frequency you plan to encode, and 44.1 kHz is the standard for CD Quality audio. This means that the upper limit on the high end is 22.05 kHz, which is beyond what most people can hear. 32 k will give you a high end limit of 16 k, which is just below what the average person can hear (of course, we lose high end response abilities as we age). This sort of reduction in high end is almost undetectable to the average listener. A 22 k sampling rate will limit the high end to about 11 k. Cymbals on a drum set live in the 10 k range, so you can see that we are still at an acceptable frequency response (maybe slightly dull), but this will be perceived as good quality by the majority of listeners. Also notice that the sampling frequency is now half of it's original 44.1 - therefore, the file size is also half as large. Each reduction of these parameters yields a smaller file size but at the cost of fidelity. The race in this field is to provide a small file size with excellent audio quality, which is no small task, indeed. There are two types of delivery modes for the internet: Download and Streaming. Every platform can be "downloaded" - you can post or send a WAV or AIFF to anyone via e.mail. Of course, the result of downloading a WAV or AIFF is massive connect times on the internet because the files are so big, so the person you send such a file to may not be too happy about it but it can be done. Some genius somewhere realized that they would be donned the King/Queen of internet Delivery if audio files could be reduced in size yet perfect audio quality was left intact. The most common form of downloadable audio delivery is mp3. This codec analyzes audio information and translate it in a compression scheme of 5:1, with almost no detectable loss of fidelity. This means, for instance, that a 3 minute music sample that was originally 33 megs could become 6.3 megs or smaller. This is accomplished through the use of variable sample rates, variable bit rates, and perceptual coding. To explain perceptual coding, let's look at a typical song; the music begins the vocals come in and possibly the music continues by itself at the end of the piece. When the voice comes in, the music drops down in level and is at times masked by the voice itself. Codecs analyze these waveforms and give the most bits to the voice (which is up front) and less bits to the music (in the background). There is no need to encode the music in full fidelity since it is covered by the voice most of the time. Streaming media is the ability to see or hear content on demand from a web site. This is a hot field in the internet world! The main players of streaming technology are Apple's QuickTime, Real Network's Real Media, and Microsoft's Media Player. These three companies have led the march to provide high quality media streams at the lowest bit rate possible. At one time, each company's player would only play their own files, but these days most players able to decode all the other formats. Isn't direct competition grand? This article was made possible by Spot Taxi. www.spottaxi.com uses the internet to traffic radio commercials using mp2 technology.
The Kirland's Warbler breeds in northern central Michigan, in an area that is about 100 miles long and 60 miles wide. It is also a neotropical migrant, spending the winter in the Bahamas. The Kirtland's warbler nests in groves of young Jack pines (Pinus banksiana) ranging in height from 5 to 18 feet. They also seek out areas with ground cover composed of blueberries, bearberry, or sweetfern. These warblers also require a very specific soil type, the Grayling Sands, which is important because they nest on the ground and their nests would be flooded if rain water did not drain away quickly. For this reason, nearly 90% of these birds breed in the drainage area of a single stream. Their winter habitat in the the Bahamas consists of low scrub. During the night they retreat to higher shrubs to roost. Nests are constructed in late May, followed by the laying of eggs in late May to mid-June. The number of eggs per clutch ranges from 3 to 6. In the rare event that a pair has a second clutch, fewer eggs will be laid than in the first. The female incubates the eggs for approximately 14 days before hatching occurs. During the incubation period, defense and care of the nest are predominantly the responsibilty of the female; however, the male will bring food to her. After the eggs hatch, both parents tend to the needs of the altricial young. The young gain weight rapidly during the first five days after hatching, doubling their weight every two days. During the last three days in the nest, their growth rate decreases and their energy is directed towards providing their own body warmth, plumage development,and heightened physical activity. The young leave the nest 9-10 days after hatching. During the fledging period, the brood is divided in half, each parent taking care of select offspring. The post juvenile molt occurs approximately one month after fledging. Males are the first to arrive at the nesting grounds in the spring, and they begin singing immediately. Females soon follow with late arriving males. Each male usually returns to the territory that he occupied the previous year; however, this true of females. Males aggressively defend their territories against other males, but territories are usually in close proximity to those of neighboring males, indicating a tendency towards loose colonialism. This species feeds primarily on insects; however, it is known to sample an array of other food materials including pine needles, grasses, and bluberries. Food is gathered by gleaning and flycatching on the wing. The warbler's endangered species status has affected the ability of private landowners to develop property containing warbler habitat. The Kirtland's Warbler has been the focus of much attention over the last 25 years because of its rarity and need for a very specific habitat. Natural forest fires were the original providers of such habitat, but the advance of white settlers resulted in the clearing of much of Michigan's natural forests. At first, the warbler benefited from such clearing; however, so did the Brown-Headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). The Cowbird had a major impact on the warbler as a nest parasite. Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and leave the rearing of their young to these hosts. Cowbird young usually develop much faster than the young of the host species and are thus able to out-compete the hosts' young for food resources. Many of the hosts' young die as a result. Recognition of the effects of this phenomena on the Kirtland's Warbler in the early 1970's lead to a program of killing Cowbirds in the warbler's range. This program, coupled with the management of breeding grounds by way of controlled burns, has significantly aided the warbler. However, the Kirtland's Warbler seems to be faced with other problems that effect it during migration or during its time in the Bahamas. As a result, the breeding population in Michigan has not changed significantly recently from spring to spring. Ethan Kane (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico. living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America. uses sound to communicate having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. uses smells or other chemicals to communicate animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds. forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality. offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes). having the capacity to move from one place to another. the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic. reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body. reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female uses touch to communicate A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia. A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome. A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands. uses sight to communicate Harrison, Hal H. 1984. Wood Warbler's World. Simon and Schuster, New York. pp. 172-178. Mayfield, Harold. 1960. The Kirland's warbler. Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield Hills, MI. pp. 18, 19, 44, 45, 53, 54, 80, 84, 87, 89, 91, 100, 106, 107, 110, 123, 124. Peterson, Roger Tory. 1980. A Field Guide to the Birds East of the Rockies. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. pp. 234-235. Schreiber, Rudolf L., Anthony W. Diamond, Roger Tory Peterson, and Walter Cronkite. 1989. Save the Birds. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. pp. 190- 191. Mayfield, H. F. 1992. Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandi). Birds of North America, 19:1-16.
(Last Updated on : 04/09/2013) Vedas have been considered as the first and the oldest scriptural texts of Classical Indian philosophy from time immemorial. Till today their verses are recited at prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions. Schools of Indian philosophy which cite the Vedas as their scriptural authority are classified as 'orthodox' (astika). Two other Indian philosophies, Buddhism , did not accept the authority of the Vedas and evolved into separate religions. In Indian philosophy these groups are referred to as 'heterodox' or 'non-Vedic' (nastika) schools. Astika, a technical term used in Hinduism to refer to a person or philosophical school that believes in the existence of God. The term Astika is sometimes loosely translated as 'theist' and Nastika as 'atheist'. There are six schools of thought within Hinduism addressed as the Shat (Astik) Darshana, meaning viewpoint. Within the Astika schools of Hindu philosophy, the Samkhya and the early Mimamsa School did not accept a God in their respective systems. In Indian philosophy, three schools of thought are commonly referred to as Nastikas namely Jainism, Buddhism and Carvaka for rejecting the doctrine of Vedas. Nastika refers to the non-belief of Vedas rather than non-belief of God. However, all these schools also rejected a notion of creationist god and so the word Nastik became strongly associated with them. Carvaka, an atheistic school of Indian philosophy, traces its origins to 600 BCE. It was a hedonistic school of thought, advocating that there is no afterlife. Carvaka philosophy appears to have died out some time after 1400 CE. Buddhism and Jainism also have their origins before 300 BCE but are opposite of Carvaka because they are not hedonistic. There are just some shifts and turns in the classical Indian concept of reason in philosophy. Recognising reason is one of the main instruments of all philosophers, as the rational principles are said to drive classical Indian philosophy. Veda signifies wisdom or knowledge or it can be termed as the sacred knowledge, holy learning, and the scriptures of the Hindus. They are compiled in complex metres and filled with various sophisticated plays on the sounds of words. They are compiled in a language (Sanskrit), which is filled with synonyms indicating a long and rich development. Above all it has an entire mysticism of sound, mantra and the Divine Word. Vedic texts are often categorised into four classes: the Samhitas , and Upanishads. The Samhitas are collections of hymns, mantras, and chants. There are four Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Sama Veda , Yajur Veda , and Atharva Veda. Firstly, the oldest, the Rig Veda , is a collection of 1028 Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to Rigvedic deities. The Rigveda was composed roughly between 1700-1100 BCE (the early Vedic period) in the Punjab (Sapta Sindhu) region of the Indian subcontinent. It was preserved in India over centuries by oral tradition alone and was probably not put in writing until Late Antiquity or even the early Middle Ages. Secondly, the Yajur Veda or the 'Veda of sacrificial prayers' also contains verses, largely borrowed from the Rig Veda. This Veda was compiled to apply to the entire sacrificial rite, not merely the Soma offering. There are two recensions of this Veda known as the 'Black' and 'White' Yajur Veda. The White Yajur Veda contains only the verses and sayings necessary for the sacrifice, while explanations exist in a separate work; the Black incorporates explanations and directions in the work itself, often immediately following the verses. Thirdly, the Sama Veda or "Veda of chants" or Knowledge of melodies, consists of 1549 stanzas, taken entirely (except 78) from the Rig-Veda. The name of this Veda is from the Sanskrit word saman which means a metrical hymn or song of praise. Including repetitions of the Rig Veda verses, there are a total of 1875 verses numbered in the Sama-Veda recensions published by Griffith. Fourthly, the Atharva Veda or "Knowledge of the Fire Priests" has 760 hymns, and about one-sixth of the hymns are in common with the Rig-Veda. An atharvan was a priest who worshipped fire and Soma. It was compiled around 900 BCE, although some of its material may go back to the time of the Rig Veda. Some parts of this Veda are considered to be much older than the Rig Veda too, but there is no evidence of the same. The Atharvana-Veda is preserved in two editions, the Paippalada and Saunaka. It consists chiefly of spells and incantations, concerned with protection against demons and disaster, spells for the healing of diseases, for long life, etc. The Brahmanas are prose texts with prescriptions for carrying out sacrificial rituals. They also carry comments on the meaning of the rituals. Each of the Brahmanas is associated with one of the Samhitas. The Brahmanas may either form separate texts or can be partly integrated into the text of the Samhitas. They are part of the Hindu Shruti and are composed in Vedic Sanskrit. They are essentially commentaries of the Vedas, explaining Vedic ritual. The earliest Brahmanas may have been written several centuries earlier, contemporary to the Krishna Yajur Veda commentary prose, but they have only survived in fragments. The Aranyakas or forest books are the concluding part of the Brahmanas and the Hindu Sruti, and they contain further interpretations of rituals and other materials. This contrasts with the Grhya Sutras , treatises intended for domestic life. The Aranyakas discuss philosophy and sacrifice. They are believed to have originated with the various mystical ascetic groups that developed in post-Vedic India. The Upanishads are theological and philosophical works. They are mystic or spiritual interpretations of the Vedas, and are considered their putative end and essence, and thus known as Vedanta (the end of the Vedas). The Upanishads were composed over several centuries. The oldest, such as the Brihadaranyaka, also being the longest, and Chandogya Upanishads, have been dated to around the eighth century BC. The philosophical edifice of Indian religion viz., Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism is built on the foundation laid by the Upanishads. The Sanskrit term Upanishad originates from upa- (near), ni- (down) and sad (to sit), that is referring to sitting down near a spiritual teacher (guru) in order to receive instruction in the Guru-shishya tradition. The term thus emphasises the esoteric nature of the texts, not intended for public teaching, but restricted to the confidentiality of personal instruction. According to tradition, there were over two hundred Upanishads, but the philosopher and commentator Shankara only composed commentaries to eleven of them. The Muktika Upanishad lists 108 Upanishads. In 1656, at the order of Dara Shikoh , the Upanishads were translated from Sanskrit into Persian. From 1802 to 1804 Abraham-Hyacinth Anquetil Du Perron published a Latin translation (2 volumes) from the Persian of the Oupnek'hat or Upanishada. It is an interesting mixture of Latin, Greek, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. Philosophy of Upanishads The Upanishads have a universal feel that has led to the explanation of One Brahman and the inner Atman (Self). The Upanishads are summed up in one phrase - "Tat Tvam Asi", (Thou Art That) by the Advaita Vedanta and they believe that in the end, the ultimate, formless, inconceivable Brahman is the same as the soul, Atman. One only has to realise it through discrimination. The Upanishads also contain the first and most definitive explications of aum or Om as the divine word, the cosmic vibration that underlies all existence and contains multiple trinities of being and principles subsumed into its one self. Buddhist and Jain Atomic Theories Buddhist and Jain scholars, as well as later Hindu scholars offered their own approaches to scientific reasoning. Both the Jains and the Buddhists correctly speculated that a potential for the desired effect must also be present in the cause or causal agent. (For instance, only a mango seed could produce a mango tree because only the mango seed incorporated the potential of developing into a mango tree.) Like the Vaisheshikas, the Jainas perceived atoms as infinitely small. But the Jainas went a step further by positing that the union of atoms required opposite qualities in the combining atoms - as is true in the case of electrovalent bonding.
Participation in sports creates character, builds character, and reveals character. When children participate in formal or informal sporting activities at early ages, the focus is usually on fun. Most coaches and parents are not expecting a six-year-old to be very good at soccer. I can tell you from personal experience that a soccer game among six-year-olds is not exciting. But it is cute. The players look incongruent in their uniforms, and the soccer ball that they’re kicking in errant directions is bigger than their heads. In most cases, these opportunities that children have to play on a team at an early age are saturated with praise from parents on the sidelines, and kind feedback from coaches, who are volunteers with no “skin in the game.” These are not cut-throat matches, and everyone gets a chance to play. In some cases, no one even keeps score. Most six-year-olds on a team are at similar heights, weights, and levels of ability. Attempts are made to create a low-risk environment for each child to try out different positions, strategies and methods of playing. There is positive reinforcement given for trying, not just succeeding, with a lot of value placed on “doing your best.” In the field of education, this kind of learning environment is called scaffolding. Scaffolding happens when you take a child at her current level of ability, and then you guide her through the effort of attempting something that is just above that level. With scaffolding, coaches, educators, and parents are looking to increase the chances that a child will succeed, but also want the success that she achieves to feel like an actual accomplishment. If your child already knows how to add 2+2, you can give him a math problem that asks him to add 2 and 2 together. He will succeed in getting the answer, but he will not likely feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. If, however, you see that your child has mastered the addition of single digits, you can guide him toward understanding how adding a single digit number to a double digit number is only slightly more complicated than what he already knows. When he successfully answers the problem 21+4, he can feel proud of himself. The pride that your child can have when she solves a math problem that requires a new set of skills is psychologically similar to the pride she can feel when she learns how to kick the soccer ball with the side of her foot, or pass the ball between two cones. A good coach will start with cones that are wide enough for everyone to be able to kick a ball between, and then gradually make the spacing between the cones narrower. When a young child believes that she can accomplish the task at hand, even if it is slightly challenging, she is motivated to try hard to succeed. Early participation in sports is related to perceptions of self-competence, which is related to higher levels of motivation, which is in turn related to a greater desire to continue participating. This pattern seems to work in almost any area of life. If you try something, and find that you are good at it, you are more motivated to try to get better. As you get even better, your interest in and liking of the activity will increase. Competence is a foundational need. The more opportunities you have to play in a low risk environment, where winning is less important than fun, exercise and social contact, the more likely you are to continue participating. As a consequence, you are bound to get better. In a time where child obesity rates are disturbingly high, especially in Michigan, providing your child with early level physical activity is a great gift you can give, which can very well lead to a lifetime of health, physical activity, social competence, and well-being. Take your child outside and get him moving around. While you’re at it, move around with her. There’s no lower risk environment than playing with your child, and the benefits to both of you are outstanding.
Creating a world where compassion and kindness are the basis of our thoughts and practice Compassion Matters, a project from The Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion, aims to create a kinder and happier society by showing our children what compassion is and by inspiring them to lead compassionate lives. We achieve this by sharing our compassion and ethics curriculum with schools and education charities. Our learning resources equip children to gain a foundational understanding and to think critically about ethical issues. Through deepening their knowledge of what it means to be human, the experiences and challenges of life, children can build skills to support their resilience and long term wellbeing. We are focused on supporting children to understand that compassion and related concepts, such as courage, justice and happiness, are the key not only to a happier, more harmonious society but also to individual well-being. Sample our first module We are delighted to share our first module to interested schools, organisations and individuals. Compassion in Education Find out more about the foundation of the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion and His Holiness' mission to see compassion and related values taught in every school.
What is a volcanic island? A volcanic island is an island, or mass of land isolated by water on all sides, formed by volcanic eruption instead of by continental plate shift. When a volcano erupts, it emits red-hot magma, which is termed lava as it exits the crust. This lava cools as it enters its new environment; in the ocean, the lava cools faster, making the sloping sides of the volcano more contained and more dense than the flowing lava on the sides of a land surface volcano. This lava cools and forms hard rock, which slowly grows in size as the volcano continues to erupt. Sometimes, the volcano can seal itself off by erupting too slowly; the lava solidifies into rock and the weak crustal area where the volcano erupts is plugged or strengthened. In this case, the volcano continues to erupt, with the volcanic shaft increasing in height as lava builds up the volcanic cone. Eventually, the volcano breaches sea level, and starts to erupt into the air; the lava from this eruption continues to slide down into the ocean, cooling and creating a solid mass. Over time, the mass becomes larger and larger, and accrues different minerals from ocean activity. Some of this material erodes and gains biological content, becoming fertile soil; birds and sea creatures add to this biological content, and eventually the volcanic island is able to support plant and animal life. A good example of a volcanic island is Hawaii, which is composed of several volcanoes that merged their lava output; some of the volcanoes in Hawaii are still active, adding to their island landmass to this day. check Approved by eNotes Editorial
Problem Solving: A Psychological Perspective Problems are a part of life. They make the human existence exciting and challenging. Without problems, the world will be tremendously boring. No one will strive hard; there will be nothing to look forward to, and nothing to challenge human strength and resilience. Problems, though, bring with them stresses and worries, which further hinder the person from arriving at a solution. How to recognize a problem There are cues that are helpful for a person (or others close to him/her) to realize that things are not really okay and that the person is faced with worries. The cues are: - There is an initial state where we can observe some actions that can potentially divert a positive goal outcome into a negative one. - There could be a goal state that is different from the initial state and which the person wishes to achieve. - The actions that are necessary to convert the initial state into the goal state are not immediately obvious. How to solve it Many spend a great deal of time solving or attempting to solve problems, but not everyone goes through it successfully. Problem solving is not always easy, as there are too many factors to consider while arriving at the solution. There are the people to deal with, because responses differ with different personalities. The second consideration is the timing. Problem solving strategies are not always 100% effective at any given time. Finally, the person’s open-mindedness, because this will mirror how well the person handles the actions set inside for the solution. Often, people end up worsening the problem or involve others who are not supposed to be included or affected. There may also be times in a person’s life when he/she is unable to tackle life issues, say after a bereavement or a traumatic event or when depressed. Some people have difficulty making decisions because they suffer from anxiety. Psychologists, who study how people work on their problems, break down problem solving into a series of stages or mental processes. While there are many types of mental distress and their gravity also differs, it is considered that people more or less follow a similar pattern in solving problems. This pattern can be described using George Polya’s method. In his bestselling book, “How to Solve It,” Polya, a Hungarian mathematician, puts forth four steps for problem solving: - Understanding the problem - Devising a plan - Carrying out the plan - Looking back These four steps are universal. While Polya methods have their basis in maths, the steps can be used to solve any problem – not just mathematical ones, but also life issues. Understanding the problem Polya’s first stage is all about understanding the problem. From a psychological standpoint, we can say that this is all about arriving at the root cause of the problem. This is done by encoding the problem in the working memory. The problem solver listens or analyses the problem, translating it into statements such as, “My problem is… this happened because… and I want to find out…” Since the working memory depends on the memory itself, the only probable concern that might be posed is the incapability of remembering the rest of the problem that can lead to solution errors. Looking closely into this stage, this is one very important step to finding out what possible best solution there is. From a psychological point of view, understanding what is troubling an individual serves as a key to the right path towards eliminating the stressor. Devising a plan The person searches the long term memory for cues on probable answers or solutions for the problem. The information in the long term memory may be from previously encountered events or personal experiences that can help formulate a solution. It is essential here to decipher carefully which information is useful in making a plan of action. Not all solutions of similar experiences are helpful or effective in solving a new “headache”. This is because every experience is unique, no matter how similar the situations are. People involved in a particular event or phenomenon are very relevant factors to be considered on the actions to be undertaken. Everyone is unique; therefore, responses to a particular situation may also differ. Now, to come up with a plan is very important, as this will serve as a guide to what actions are needed to be done. While solving a problem, never rush to a decision, as this often leads to chaos or to further dilemma. Psychologists generally encourage their patients to come up with a plan of action to deal with the situation. Carrying out the plan Looking back at the previous stages, the individual encodes and searches the memory to be able to come up with a possible answer. Now, in this stage, the person executes everything that has been contemplated upon in the previous stages. If this stage has only a few steps and that plan is worked out in detail, then this can be completed fast with just a few or no errors at all. However, if this stage involves many vague plans, then the problem solving may take a long time and will become prone to error. Hence, it is essential to analyse the problem thoroughly and come up with an effective plan before carrying it out, so as to avoid a solution?fail. Polya also suggests breaking a problem into small steps. If you are faced with a big task, break it into several small tasks, taking one problem at a time. Similarly, if you are working against time when on a deadline, keep on working and you are sure to complete it; whereas if you give into anxiety and worry about whether you will finish on time, you will end up making mistakes and consequently lose time too. This stage is related to evaluating the results. The problem solver compares the solution with how problems are presented in the working memory. The problem solver assesses the outcome carefully as to whether the action undertaken has really been successful or not. In this stage, the issue may be solved or unsolved. Furthermore, regret may also surface during this stage, especially when what has been planned has not been followed through. Nonetheless, this stage is essential and has many advantages. The evaluation result may be used as a basis for future circumstances, especially to similar problems. Success and failure are made known early, so unsuccessful problem solving strategies are remedied as early as possible. When to seek help The stages presented above are not necessarily planned. When a person encounters a problem or a dilemma, he or she unconsciously goes through these stages just to eliminate whatever there is that bothers him or her or causes the uneasiness and stress. In reality, problem solving is a skill that is very necessary for one to be able to get out or redeem oneself from a crisis. All the same, most of the time, a person follows through the stages that we discussed. Thus, whenever an individual attempts to solve a problem, the processes that are involved in each stage remain the key to a successful resolution. However, when a person is unable to settle his or her problems because of unresolved psychological or emotional issues, then it is best that he or she take the time to heal first. The person can turn to friends and family for support or can seek help from a professional. If you are looking for help, whether for yourself or for a loved one, our psychologists can assist in exploring underlying issues through therapy. Please visit our practitioners’ page to find out more, or call (03) 9820-5577 for an appointment or to make enquiries. - When to Visit a Psychologist - Dealing with Stress - Stress at Work - Trauma Counselling - Top 5 Things to Do to Support a Family Member with Depression - Coping with Loss and Grief - Grief and Recovery
By OBA I DONATUS, CNN Updated 1034 GMT (1834 HKT) February 21, 2020The 46,000-year-old specimen was identified as a horned lark. (CNN)Scientists studying the remarkably well-preserved remains of an Ice Age bird have identified the specimen as a horned lark.Buried and frozen in permafrost near the village of Belaya Gora in north-eastern Siberia, the bird was discovered by local fossil ivory hunters, who passed it on to a team of experts, including Nicolas Dussex and Love Dalén from the Swedish Museum of Natural History, for testing.Radiocarbon dating revealed the bird lived around 46,000 years ago, and genetic analysis identified it as a horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), according to a paper published Friday in the journal Communications Biology.Dalén told CNN that research showed the bird may be an ancestor to two subspecies of lark alive today, one in northern Russia and the other on the Mongolian steppe.”This finding implies that the climatic changes that took place at the end of the last Ice Age led to formation of new subspecies,” he said.The bird was found in north-eastern Siberia at a site which also contained other frozen specimens.The preservation of the bird is explained in large part by the cold of the permafrost, explained Dussex, but this specimen is in extraordinarily good condition.”The fact that such a small and fragile specimen was near intact also suggests that dirt/mud must have been deposited gradually, or at least that the ground was relatively stable so that the bird’s carcass was preserved in a state very close to its time of death,” said Dussex.The next stage of research involves sequencing the bird’s entire genome, said Dalén, which will reveal more about its relationship to present day subspecies and estimate the rate of evolutionary change in larks. Is it a dog or is it a wolf? 18,000-year-old frozen puppy leaves scientists baffledScientists working in the area have also found carcasses and body parts from other animals such as wolves, mammoths and wooly rhinos.Dussex described such findings as “priceless” as they allow researchers to retrieve DNA and sometimes RNA, a nucleic acid present in all living cells.”This in turn will open new opportunities to study the evolution of ice age fauna and understand their responses to climate change over the past 50-10 thousands of years ago,” added Dussex.The horned lark was discovered at the same site as an 18,000-year-old frozen puppy, which Dalén and Dussex are also studying.Using carbon dating on the creature’s rib bone, experts were able to confirm that the specimen had been frozen for around 18,000 years, but extensive DNA tests have so far been unable to show whether the animal was a dog or a wolf.Scientists can normally tell the difference relatively easy, and researchers hope that further tests on the remains will provide more insight into exactly when dogs were domesticated.
by Josie Baudier Offering varied types of assessments allows learners to express expertise and mastery in different ways. Summative assessments shift the focus of learning from practice, in formative assessments, to mastery of the course goals. These types of assessments usually follow numerous opportunities for students to practice what they have learned in class through low-to mid-stakes assignments (formative assessments) supported by instructor feedback. In summative assessment, students should be ready to show proof of learning of the course goals. Examples of summative assessment include exams, papers, projects, or portfolios. Although summative assessments are a critical component in a course, it is also important to support student learning through formative assessments and frequent feedback. For example, Weimer (2013) points out that providing feedback through the semester on writing will prepare students better for expectations on final papers or projects. By giving ungraded feedback on parts or drafts of a final summative event, students are more likely to meet the thresholds of the course goal established by the instructor. Formative assessments give students feedback which, in turn, supports their ability to show proof of learning on a summative assessment. Weimer’s (2013) focus on learner-centered experiences reminds instructors that a balance needs to be established between grades and assessments. The focus should be on learning processes and assessments should measure “critical thinking, logical reasoning, and the ability to synthesize and evaluate” (Weimer, 2013, p. 169). In order to demonstrate these skills, consider some of the following types of summative assessments and how to use them effectively in a course. Davis (2009) provides a few general strategies for using examinations. Some of these are listed here with explanations: 1. Begin constructing an exam by focusing on learning outcomes Align the type of exam and/or type of question to the learning outcomes and learning objectives (McKeachie, 2011). 2. View testing as an opportunity to understand students’ intellectual progress For new learners in their first or second year, consider frequent testing events. As student develop skills, tests can become less systematic and more about “integration and analysis” of concepts (McKeachie, 2011, p. 84). Tests should begin about three or four weeks into a semester and should represent the type learning expected for the semester. Tests administered earlier in the semester may be used more for “motivational and diagnostic than evaluative” purposes (McKeachie, 2011, p. 83). 3. Create questions that test skills other than recall Many exams are constructed with multiple choice questions as the main mechanism to prove learning. While these tests can be useful, it can be difficult to write multiple choice questions that measure the upper levels of cognition. The upper levels in the cognitive domain in Bloom’s Taxonomy include: analyzing, evaluating, creating (Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R., et al, 2001. Adding short answer or essay questions may help to satisfy the need to test for more sophisticated knowledge acquisition or critical thinking skills. 4. Take precautions to avoid cheating One way to reduce academic dishonesty is to lessen the anxiety of graded exams. Offering multiple and varied types of assessments allows students to prove mastery of content in different expressions. This approach reduces student anxiety when they only have a limited number of grading opportunities (McKeachie, 2011). Another way to reduce cheating is to create a safe space for students to ask questions and clarify misconceptions. Developing trust and rapport with students will create a welcoming environment (McKeachie, 2011) and, therefore, students feel like they can get feedback on their learning progress. 5. Encourage reflection If students are struggling, the instructor can talk with them about how they are studying. Introduce exam wrappers or metacognitive reflection activities to help students diagnose why they may or may not have been successful (Ambrose et al., 2010). By reflecting on their learning processes, exam preparation, and establishing ways of studying that should improve their learning, students will begin to feel in control of their learning. Alternative summative assessments Students can benefit from expressing their learning through papers, projects, or portfolios. Offering varied types of assessments allows learners to express expertise and mastery in different ways. McKeachie (2011) suggests a few different activities or assignments: 1. Graphic representation of concepts Through concept maps or graphic organizers, student can learn to organize their thoughts and the content of course. Having students create the schema or connections by using a mapping tool helps to move the information from short-term to long-term memory. Building these connections is key to success in developing “flexible and effective knowledge organization” (Ambrose et al., 2010, p.65). These representations can be used as a summative evaluation or to create a project or paper. 2. Annotated bibliographies Annotated bibliographies can be used for students to frame a research paper or they can be used by an entire class to improve their writing on particular topics (McKeachie, 2011). Adding an annotated bibliography to a group project or presentation helps students divide up the focus of group projects and also ground their thoughts in research. A portfolio is used to collect and highlight work from a student over a specific period of time. Students compose papers, exams, documents, or favorite content from a course throughout the semester in order to show evidence of learning. Students can use this to show their progress of learning, to solicit feedback during the process, or to simply explain their own development with certain content. In this way, a portfolio approach can be helpful to the students as well as instructors (McKeachie, 2011; Davis, 2009). Consider offering students a range of summative assessments which provide different ways for students to demonstrate their mastery of the course objectives. Students will benefit from variety in their assessments by being motivated to show evidence of learning beyond the traditional midterm and final exam format. Alternative assessments may allow for student to process and make connections to the content. When using a traditional exam for assessment be sure to consider the strategies for aligning questions and varying the types of questions. There are several ways for students to prove their learning and show evidence of it. These options will enhance the learner-centeredness and student motivation in a course. Ambrose, S., Bridges, M., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M., Norman, M. (2010). How learning works: 7 research-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Anderson, L.W. (Ed.), Krathwohl, D.R. (Ed.), Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, an assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Complete edition). New York: Longman. Davis, B. G. (2009). Tools for teaching (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Svinicki, M. & McKeachie, W. (2011). McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-centered teaching: Five key changes to practice (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Activity descriptions for teaching geoscientific thinking If you would like to add to this collection by contributing an activity, please fill out the Activity Submission Form or the Activity Supplement Form if you wish to supplement an activity you have previously submitted. Grade Levelshowing only High School (9-12) Show all Grade Level Results 1 - 4 of 4 matches Interpreting the Geologic History of Canyon de Chelly Holly Godsey, University of Utah The is a two part lesson designed to given in-service teacher an experience in field geology. The lesson is designed by Canyon de Chelly, AZ but can be used anywhere there are outcrops of two or more rock types. Reasons for the Seasons Jeff Thomas, Central Connecticut State University The inquiry method and meteorological and astronomical online data can be used to elicit the inconsistencies of students' naïve ideas about the "real" reasons for the seasons. The first phase of this two-part investigation uses online meteorological data to identify factors that might explain differences of seasonal temperatures among cities These factors are used to hypothesize why differences of seasonal temperatures occur among cities. During the second phase, the variables and hypotheses that were previously identified in part one are used to design and conduct an inquiry-oriented investigation. Astronomical data is used as part of the investigation to "test" students' hypotheses conclusions are drawn then communicated. My Geologic Address: Locating Oneself in Geologic Time and Process Kip Ault, Lewis and Clark College Students locate their homes on local, regional, and global scale geologic maps. They build up an "address" describing their location in geological terms based on the features of the maps, from local bedrock to regional and global tectonic features. Exploring Earth Systems Science: The Interactive GLOBE Earth System Poster Amy Ellwein, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
Presentation on theme: "Hash Functions A hash function takes data of arbitrary size and returns a value in a fixed range. If you compute the hash of the same data at different."— Presentation transcript: Hash Functions A hash function takes data of arbitrary size and returns a value in a fixed range. If you compute the hash of the same data at different times, you should get the same answer – if not then the data has been modified. Properties of a hash function A hash function h acts on data x and returns a value h(x). The hash function should have these 4 essential properties: 1.Given x it should be easy to compute h(x). 2.The input x can be of arbitrary length. 3.Given a value y, it should be hard to find an x such that h(x) = y. 4.It is hard to find two different inputs x 1 and x 2 such that h(x 1 ) = h(x 2 ). Why are these important? 1.To make computations fast and efficient. 2.So that any message can be hashed. 3.To prevent a message being replaced with another with the same hash value. 4.To prevent the sender claiming to have sent x 2 when in fact the message was x 1. The Secure Hash Algorithm SHA-1 1.Arbitrary length input is divided into blocks of 512 bits. The last block is padded to make 448 bits and the rest of the block is used to give the length of the input before padding. 2.Each 512 bit block is split into 16 32-bit words denoted by w(0), w(1),….,w(15). 3.These are expanded into 80 words w(0),…,w(79) 4.Initially 5 32-bit words h 0,….,h 4 are given particular values. 5.For each 512-bit block, SHA-1 operates on w(0),…..,w(79) and h 0,….,h 4 using shifts, bitstring operations (and, or) and modular arithmetic mod 2 32 to produce new values of h 0,….,h 4. 6.These new value of h 0,….,h 4 form the initial data for the next block which is expanded and operated on as above to produce the next values of h 0,….,h 4. 7.This process of generating new values of h 0,….,h 4 continues until all of the 512 bit blocks has been processed. 8.The final set of values h 0,….,h 4 are then concatenated to form a 160 bit value which is the output of the hash function. SHA-1 and digital signatures Instead of sending and signing a message m, Bob can hash m to get SHA(m) and then encrypt SHA(m) using his private key to get a signature s. Bob then sends the pair (m,s) to Alice. On receiving the message, Alice –decrypts s using Bobs public key –hashes m to get SHA(m) If these two values are the same then the message is authenticated. SHA-1 and Certificates X.509 Standard Bob generates a document containing his relevant information and presents himself with this document to the CA. The CA confirm Bobs identity. The CA hash the document using SHA-1 and encrypt it using their own private key. This is the certificate. If Alice wants to communicate with Bob she looks up his public key document and certificate. She will use the public key of the CA to decrypt the certificate. She will hash the document using SHA-1 If these two items are the same then she knows that she can safely communicate with Bob using the public key since the CA has verified his identity.
Adrien Semin develops mathematical models to describe the propagation of sound waves. He is postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mathematics, Technische Universität Berlin. »If nature could be written in equations, there would be no more surprises« Why do we need mathematical models to study natural phenomena? Modelling and simulations are often less time-consuming and expensive than real experiments. And in some cases, it would simply not be feasible to conduct a real experiment and make observations. For example, if we wanted to understand the aerodynamics of an aeroplane in flight, it would be very difficult to see or measure air behaviour in a real experiment. The same applies to sound waves, which is what I am trying to model. I am working on a Navier–Stokes equation that describes acoustic waves in the presence of fluids. My goal is to understand how waves are propagated at different length scales. I'll give you an example: if we have a turbine chamber which is one metre long with small holes of one millimetre in diameter, there will be perturbations near these small holes. But they will not happen in the same way on a larger scale, if the holes are ten times that size, for example. The patterns will be different. Our idea is to derive a mathematical model that fits both scales. What about wave type? Does it make a difference in simulations? When mathematicians think about wave propagation, it makes no difference whether we are talking about water waves, sound waves, or light waves. The theoretical models, the geometry, and even our observations can vary, but the mathematics behind them always stays the same. So the techniques we use to develop the model also remain relatively constant. How close do models come to real phenomena? Not especially close, I would have to say. To describe a complex physical phenomenon like the flow of water in a turbine chamber, we have to break it up into a series of different mathematical problems. We start with simplified equations that only include a limited number of parameters, for example the size of the turbine chamber. We cannot create a complete model that accounts for all possible parameters of the phenomenon we are studying. That would be mathematically impossible. Our models can offer little more than approximations. This is fine, as long as we apply a given model within our explicit range of parameters. However, we will start to have problems when we try to transfer a model to a new set of parameters. Reality is far too complex to be described in mathematical terms. On the other hand, if nature could be written in equations, there would be no more surprises. That would make my job as a scientist far less exciting. This page will not be updated after the end of the fellowship.
Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is a protein that is produced by cells throughout the body and is associated with the activation of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell that plays a role in the immune response to infections. Conditions that trigger the immune system, such as an infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB), may cause increased amounts of ADA to be produced in the areas where the bacteria are present. This test measures the amount of adenosine deaminase present in pleural fluid in order to help diagnose a tuberculosis infection of the pleurae. Pleurae are membranes that cover the chest cavity and the outside of each lung. Small amounts of pleural fluid are continuously produced to lubricate the movement of the lungs against these membranes and the membranes against each other during inhalation and exhalation. A variety of conditions and diseases, including infection, can cause inflammation of the pleurae (pleurisy or pleuritis) and can lead to excessive pleural fluid accumulation (pleural effusion). Tuberculosis occurs most commonly in the lungs, and it can spread into the pleurae, causing symptoms such as chest pain, chronic cough, and shortness of breath. Since these symptoms may also be seen with a variety of other conditions, it is important to determine the cause as rapidly as possible in order to properly treat the affected person. Detecting mycobacteria in pleural fluid can be difficult because there may be a large volume of fluid and very low numbers of bacteria present. The ADA test is not as accurate as a culture for diagnosing TB, however results will be available much quicker so it can be used as an additional test to help determine whether tuberculosis is the likely source of a person's symptoms. How is the sample collected for testing? A sample of pleural fluid is collected by a doctor with a syringe and needle using a procedure called thoracentesis. Rarely, other body fluid samples, such as peritoneal or CSF, are collected using procedures specific to the fluid type. Is any test preparation needed to ensure the quality of the sample? No test preparation is needed. How is it used? The adenosine deaminase (ADA) test is not a diagnostic test, but it may be used along with other tests such as pleural fluid analysis, acid-fast bacillus (AFB) smear and culture, and/or tuberculosis molecular testing to help determine whether a person has a Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (tuberculosis or TB) of the lining of the lungs (pleurae). It may also be used to aid the diagnosis of TB meningitis. A culture is considered the "gold standard" for diagnosing tuberculosis and guiding treatment, but it may take several days to weeks to complete. Molecular testing and the AFB smear are rapid tests, but they require that a sufficient number of microorganisms be present in the fluid to detect them. Pleural fluid presents a unique problem with detecting M. tuberculosis because there may be a large volume of fluid with a very low number of bacteria present. Though the ADA test is not definitive, it is a rapid test and may be elevated even when there are few bacteria present. ADA results may be used to help guide treatment initially until results from a culture are available. The ADA test is used as an additional test to help rule in or rule out tuberculosis in pleural fluid. Rarely, it may be requested to detect tuberculosis in other body fluids, such as peritoneal fluid or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). When is it requested? An ADA test may be requested when a person has an accumulation of pleural fluid and symptoms that suggest a M. tuberculosis infection. Signs and symptoms of tuberculosis (TB) affecting the lungs may include: - Chronic cough, sometimes with bloody sputum - Fever, chills - Night sweats - Unexplained weight loss - Chest pain This test may be requested as one of several tests to help rule in or rule out TB as the cause of a person's symptoms, especially if the individual falls into a high risk group, such as: - People with close contact with someone who has active infectious TB - Immigrants from areas of the world where the incidence of TB is high - Children younger than 5 years old who have a positive TB screening test - People who work with or are part of groups with high rates of infection, such as the homeless, IV drug users or confined populations, such as hospitalised patients, prisoners, and residents of nursing homes - People with weakened immune systems such as: - Those with HIV/AIDS - Those with chronic underlying conditions, including diabetes and kidney disease - Organ transplant recipients and others on immunosuppressant drugs - Pregnant women - The elderly Testing may be requested when a doctor wants to determine whether a person likely has tuberculosis, in advance of other test results, in order to initiate treatment. What does the test result mean? If adenosine deaminase (ADA) is markedly elevated in pleural fluid in a person with symptoms that suggest tuberculosis, then it is likely that the person tested has a M. tuberculosis infection in their pleurae. This is especially true when there is a high prevalence of tuberculosis in the geographic region where a person lives. When there is a low prevalence of tuberculosis in a region, then a person may have tuberculosis or may have an ADA result that is elevated for another reason, such as cancer (particularly lymphomas), pulmonary embolus, sarcoidosis, or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These other diagnoses are more likely if the ADA result is only mildly or moderately elevated. A person with a low ADA result is unlikely to have tuberculosis in their pleurae. This does not rule out having the infection in other parts of their body. Is there anything else I should know? The ADA test cannot positively identify M. tuberculosis as the cause of a person's symptoms, and the test results cannot be used to determine if the person has drug-resistant tuberculosis. Can my doctor diagnose tuberculosis without testing my pleural fluid? The doctor cannot diagnose tuberculosis in the pleural space without testing the pleural fluid. If the infection is present in your lungs, then sputum may be collected, or if meningitis is suspected, CSF would be tested. Should everyone with suspected tuberculosis have an ADA test performed? The ADA test is primarily performed when tuberculosis is suspected in the pleurae, and it is not routinely available in all laboratories. It will be performed when a doctor determines that it will be useful and timely in helping to diagnose or rule out tuberculosis. Can my blood be tested for ADA? Yes, and it sometimes is, but it is done for another purpose and not to detect tuberculosis. The blood may be tested to help identify ADA deficiency, which is a very rare inherited disorder causing severe immunodeficiency in children. What is ADA deficiency? ADA is an enzyme that converts one by-product into another byproduct. The first substance is toxic to lymphocytes and must be inactivated by ADA. With ADA deficiency, a rare inherited condition, the body makes insufficient ADA. This leads to the build up of the toxic by-product and can cause severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). Infants with this condition have seriously compromised immune systems and may not survive without bone marrow transplantation.
The delicate adults of the Drab Looper are greyish-brown in colour and have a silky appearance, but this 'sheen' is lost with age (3). The caterpillars reach 1.3 cm in length, they have a brown head and a grey-pink body with variable black markings, pink warts and an orange or yellow stripe along each side (4). The common name 'looper' refers to the caterpillar, which characteristically arches its body as it moves (5). The Drab Looper is usually single-brooded and the adults fly in May and June. Sometimes a second brood is produced, the adults of which fly in August. Eggs are laid in June (4), the caterpillars are present from July to early September, and the overwintering stage is the pupa(1), which occurs below the soil surface (4). The adults emerge the following year in May and June (4) and can be seen flying in sunshine (1). This moth is found in two main areas in the UK, one extends from Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, reaching north to Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The other area focuses on Hampshire, and includes south Wiltshire, West Sussex and Berkshire. The species has been lost from many woods in Somerset, Kent and South Wales, but persists in isolated colonies in these areas. Since the 1940s it has been totally lost from Oxfordshire and the area extending east to Bedfordshire and Essex. Elsewhere, the species has been recorded from most central and southern European countries (2). This species is found in recently felled or coppiced woodland where the larval foodplant wood spurge Euphorbia amygdaloides is found. The caterpillars show a preference for plants growing in full sun (2). This species has suffered as a result of changes in forestry practices including the decline in traditional coppice management in woodlands, and the replacement of small-scale rotational felling with large plantations of trees of the same age, particularly conifers (2). The Drab Looper is a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP). The Species Action Plan aims to maintain the current range of this moth and establish a regular monitoring scheme. Many of the existing colonies occur within Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) (2). Coppicing is a traditional form of woodland management in which trees are cut close to the base of the trunk. Re-growth occurs in the form of many thin poles. Coppiced woodlands are cut in this way on rotation, producing a mosaic of different stages of re-growth. Of the stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce. Stage in an insect's development when huge changes occur, which reorganise the larval form into the adult form. In butterflies the pupa is also called a chrysalis. (also known as 'univoltine'). Insect life cycle that takes 12 months to be complete, and involves a single generation. The egg, larva, pupa or adult over winters as a dormant stage. Embed this Arkive thumbnail link ("portlet") by copying and pasting the code below.
Starting from the behavior of small flames in the laboratory, a team of researchers has gained new insights into the titanic forces that drive Type Ia supernova explosions. These stellar explosions are important tools for studying the evolution of the universe, so a better understanding of how they behave would help answer some of the fundamental questions in astronomy. Type Ia supernovae form when a white dwarf star -- the left-over cinder of a star like our Sun -- accumulates so much mass from a companion star that it reignites its collapsed stellar furnace and detonates, briefly outshining all other stars in its host galaxy. Because these stellar explosions have a characteristic brightness, astronomers use them to calculate cosmic distances. (It was by studying Type Ia supernovae that two independent research teams determined that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating, earning them the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics). To better understand the complex conditions driving this type of supernova, the researchers performed new 3-D calculations of the turbulence that is thought to push a slow-burning flame past its limits, causing a rapid detonation -- the so-called deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT). How this transition might occur is hotly debated, and these calculations provide insights into what is happening at the moment when the white dwarf star makes this spectacular transition to supernova. "Turbulence properties inferred from these simulations provides insight into the DDT process, if it occurs," said Aaron Jackson, currently an NRC Research Associate working in the Laboratory for Computational Physics and Fluid Dynamics at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. At the time of this research, Jackson was a graduate student at Stony Brook University on Long Island, New York. Jackson and his colleagues Dean Townsley from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, and Alan Calder also of Stony Brook, presented their data at the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) meeting in Baltimore, Nov. 20-22, 2011. While the deflagration-detonation transition mechanism is still not well understood, a prevailing hypothesis in the astrophysics community is that if turbulence is intense enough, DDT will occur. Extreme turbulent intensities inferred in the white dwarf from the researchers' simulations suggest DDT is likely, but the lack of knowledge about the process allows a large range of outcomes from the explosion. Matching simulations to observed supernovae can identify likely conditions for DDT. "There are a few options for how to simulate how they [supernovae] might work, each of which has different advantages and disadvantages," said Townsley. "Our goal is to provide a more realistic simulation of how a given supernova scenario will perform, but that is a long-term goal and involves many different improvements that are still in progress." The researchers speculate that this better understanding of the physical underpinnings of the explosion mechanism will give us more confidence in using Type Ia supernovae as standard candles, and may yield more precise distance estimates. Cite This Page:
Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Spain in 1474, the illegitimate son of a nobleman. In 1519, Pizarro joined an expedition to settle Panama, where he gained a reputation as a valiant and successful soldier. He became a relatively wealthy middle-aged man, but when he heard rumors of a treasure-laden, indigenous civilization south of Panama, he began work on an expedition. His first expedition in 1524 was unsuccessful, but on their second trip in 1526, they found a raft filled with gold and jewels. The third expedition led Pizarro's army into the mainland of South America, eventually destroying the Inca civilization forever. Diego de Almagro: Diego de Almagro was born in 1475, and eventually became one of Pizarro's original partners in his 1524 expedition. For the next ten years, Almagro was a loyal partner and fellow soldier with Pizarro as they conquered the Inca empire. For the most part, Almagro led a very difficult life. For example, he lost his eye in a small battle on their first expedition. Regardless, Almagro was famous for his toughness and brutality. Almagro quickly gained power by the hand of the King of Spain, and was instructed to lead a new expedition in present-day Chile. After finding nothing, He led his group back to Cuzco where he had been living, only to begin a war with Pizarro. Almagro's army was defeated, and he was executed in July of 1538. Sebastian de Benalcazar: Born in 1479, Sebastian joined Christopher Columbus on his third voyage at the young age of 19. After spending several years serving in Nicaragua, he joined Pizarro in 1532 in his conquest of Peru. He rose through the ranks as a governor of the Popayan province after returning from Spain in 1541. Benalcazar also organized several unauthorized expeditions into modern-day Colombia, only to eventually flee to avoid being arrested by Pizarro's men who had become suspect of his actions. He aided groups of people against the rule of de Almagro and Gonzalo Pizarro, something he was eventually tried and convicted of. Benalcazar died of fever shortly after being convicted. LINKS TO SPANISH ACCOUNTS: Cortes' Second Letter to the King Pedro Pizarro's Relacion Del Descubrimiento Y Conquista De Los Reinos Del Peru Pedro Sancho, An Account of the Conquest of Peru Back to the top Back to the Homepage
In the 1970s, scientists and engineers imagined a world where information could be exchanged worldwide in the blink of an eye—and used their ingenuity to make it a reality. The 21st-century world now extends into online space, a rich environment of communication, information and entertainment that anyone can access with a computer, tablet or phone. But to reach that world we had to solve a problem—how to get computers to communicate directly with each other. The first networks connected machines in the same building, then the same city, then the same country. In 1973, for the first time, a data network spanned the Atlantic Ocean. Within a few years, engineers designed software that allowed different networks to communicate with one another, and the internet was born. Computers come in from the cold Driven by the Cold War, the US and USSR had built rival supercomputers, the biggest and fastest calculators in the world. Designed to simulate explosions, crack codes and consolidate surveillance data, they were difficult to use, unconnected to other machines, vulnerable to attack and accessible to only a few people. It made sense to build them into a network so that the power of their processing could be shared. From 1957 IBM built the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE), a system designed to coordinate defence against Soviet attack from the air. Working on the interface between machines and their human operators on this project was a computer engineer and psychologist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), J C R Licklider. In the early 1960s he moved to head the computer division at the US government's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), set up in the wake of the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik. Beyond the immediate military applications, he believed that the role of computers in society could be transformed if they were combined into networks, and encouraged his colleagues to take the idea forward. Expanding the network The result was ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet, initiated in 1967 and operational two years later. In these early days it was largely seen as a tool for academic engineers and computer scientists, linking departments at the University of California at Los Angeles, the Stanford Research Institute, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. By 1972 the network had grown to include over 30 institutions, encompassing government offices and businesses as well as universities, and stretching from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic. As well as sharing data, the network also made it easier for scientists to communicate with each other through email, which became one of its most popular applications. A transatlantic data exchange The success of the network depended on a new technology called 'packet switching', the idea behind which originated independently on either side of the Atlantic. Donald Davies, manager of the Advanced Computer Techniques Project at the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL), proposed a network that would enable businesses to exchange data across the country. He coined the term 'packet switching' to describe a method of transmitting the data efficiently by breaking it into smaller units, which would travel independently by the next available route before being recombined to pass on to their destinations. At the same time Paul Baran, working at the Rand Corporation in the US, designed a communications system for the US military that transmitted data via a network with multiple nodes. The idea was that if enemy attackers knocked out one or more nodes, the system as a whole would have the resilience to continue transmitting. He also suggested splitting the data in the smaller units, which he called 'message blocks'. On 25 July 1973, a computer at University College London (UCL) sent 'packets' of digital information to another in California. Led by Peter Kirstein at the Institute for Computer Science, UCL, this was ARPANET's first transatlantic link. It ran from London to Norway via cable, then on to the Seismic Data Analysis Centre (SDAC) in Virginia via satellite link, and finally across the US network to the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California. The ARPANET team had originally identified NPL as its first London link, but it was deemed politically unacceptable, in the context of developing relationships within Europe, for a British government research laboratory to connect directly with the US Department of Defense. The universal language of computers A problem arose very quickly as other organisations set up their own networks, which were incompatible with ARPANET and each other. What was needed was a universal language that allowed information to pass between networks, and indeed between any two networked computers, regardless of their hardware and software. The answer came with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Inter-network Protocol (IP) developed in the mid-1970s by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf for ARPA. Known collectively as TCP/IP, the protocols require every computer in a network to have a unique address, known as its IP address, and include services and applications to make interconnection possible. Less than a decade after the first computers began operating, a single 'inter-network'—or internet—provided a universal highway for computers to communicate. See all objects on display in Information Age: Web at the Science Museum
A new study has shown that healthy boreal forests are important for a healthy and thriving fish population in lakes. One of the study’s authors was Michael Arts (PhD), an expert on using lipid-based biochemical tracers (e.g., fatty acids) to assess how organisms respond to stress and also to reveal how food webs function. He is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Ryerson University in Toronto, OntarioListen The research was published this month in Nature Communications. Using carbon tracing, the team was able to establish a clear link between the size and condition of fish and the degree of forestation around the lake and it’s watershed. They found that water runoff from forested areas cantained nutrients that were deposited around the point where streams entered a lake. Those nutrients fed bacteria, which fed zooplankton which continued up the food chain to fish. They found the more heavily forested an area was, the healthier the fish and fish population. In fact, using the carbon tracing, they found in heavily forested areas that up to 66% of some fishes biomass could be traced back to origins on the land, and not from their aquatic environment. Professor Arts says this study shows that in order to protect freshwater ecosystems, one must also take into account the activities on land around that water system. He points out freshwater fishing is vital in many areas of the world, and that preservation of surrounding forest areas will enable that fish resource to be viable and sustainable.
What is an example of a linear function's real life real-life examples of linear equations include what is an example of a function's real life situation. Learn about linear equations that contain two variables, and how these can be represented by graphical lines and tables of values. Well, the definition of a system of linear equations is: any equation that can be written in the form ax + by = c the system of equations is a set of equations. Time-saving online video explanation on how to solve systems of equations explanation of systems of equations and how to interpret system of equation graphs. Writing a system of equations you now have two linear equations based on this one problem writing systems of equations that represents the charges by:. Elementary linear algebra 7th edition answers to chapter 1 - systems of linear equations - 11 introduction to systems of linear equations . Question 1 simplify the expressionexpressing the answer as a power of 5 2 points question 2 determine the number of solutions for the systemand impossible to. Solving linear equations essay research paper academic writing service. A summary of solving systems of linear equations by substitution in 's systems of equations learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of systems. Writing linear equations using the slope-intercept form systems of linear equations and inequalities mathplanet is licensed by. Solving problems using linear equations - papers and resumes at most attractive prices order a 100% authentic, non-plagiarized essay you could only dream about in.Second, linear algebra is the study of linear sets using systems of linear equations to solve unknowns was formalized other efforts from. Holt algebra 3 4 compare ratios and linear systems of linear equations, write essay in english the equations solving systems of the process essays for use a. System of linear equations solver and calculator ipad reviews at solving systems of linear equations with matrices system solver and calculator for solving systems of. Me 309 –numerical analysis of engineering systems 1 problem definition of solving simultaneous nonlinear algebraic equations linear algebraic equations:. Chaotic behavior of the logistic equation - abstract chaotic systems are solve a linear equations, in this essay i am going to. Government purchase (ecr) overview students will create equations for three different scenarios using the same variables solve-systems-of-two-linear-equations. Lesson summary(graphing systems) a system of equations is defined as two or more equations that use the same variables the solution to these equations, if. Systems of linear equations assignment help a system of linear equations is a finite collection of linear equations involving the same write my essay write. Get the lowdown on the breakdown of topics in systems of linear equations here let us make it easier for you by simplifying things. The purpose of this report is to investigate systems of linear equations where the systems' constants have mathematical patterns the first system to. Linear parent functions, here's how equivalent systems of equations work 6 great resources to help you learn algebra learn something new every day. Real-life examples of linear equations include distance and rate problems, pricing problems, calculating dimensions and mixing different percentages of solutions one. Multi-step linear inequalities 4 questions practice test your understanding of linear equations and inequalities with these 9 questions start test about this. Essay buy online uk systems of equations homework help please do my homework for me college essay question what will you contribute. Another way of solving a linear system is to use the elimination method in the elimination method you either add or subtract the equations to get an equation in one. With all this talk about finding solution sets for systems of linear equations, you might be ready to begin learning how to find these solution sets yourself. Solving word problems using systems of linear equations - diversify the way you fulfill your homework with our appreciated service opt for the service, and our. Math 244 linear analysis i 4 units prerequisite matrices and systems of linear equations 6 essay examinations, quizzes and. For example, the framework of linear equations is used to produce some engel curve analysis software such as in-car navigation “tom tom” systems.Download 2018. Term Papers.
This document includes over 20 words per chapter from Jhumpa Lahiri's, The Namesake, that students need to know. I have also listed their page numbers. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
Describe some of the moral developments of Huck throughout the novel. In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the central character, Huck, a prepubescent boy that has escaped captivity from his abusive father goes through several moral dilemmas as he attempts to run away. The most significant moral dilemma involves Huck's relationship with a runaway slave named Jim that had been the property of the Widow Douglas whom for a time had taken care of Huck. To Huck, there was no greater insult than to be called an abolitionist, and by helping Jim escape to freedom, Huck thinks that he is a terrible person. Huck's friendship with Jim grows over time and Huck is torn between his feelings for Jim, and the property rights of the Widow. On two occasions in the novel, Huck has the opportunity to turn Jim in but does not do so and tells himself that he may in fact go to hell for being a bad person. Ironically, most readers agree with Huck's decision to help Jim, but Huck thinks that what he is doing as wrong and that he may suffer dire consequences as a result. Also, the evolution of Huck's perception of Jim is an interesting development. In the beginning of their "flight" together, Huck plays practical jokes on Jim, and treats him with a degree of disrespect, but as the two continue their journey, Huck feels bad about his treatment of Jim, and begins to see Jim as a person. Interestingly enough, Jim becomes a critical character in the big and Twain's sense of morality. At the end of the novel, Huck and Tom Sawyer are attempting to free Jim from captivity again, and Tom is shot. Jim, knowing what the consequences of being caught are, stays with tom until help arrives. Jim risks his own safety and freedom to help the young boy, thus becoming the central moral figure.
Diagnosis of osteoarthritis is based on a series of multiple tests. Doctors often begin by discussing a patient's family history and symptoms. A physical examination usually follows. The doctor checks the patient's reflexes and general health, including muscle strength. The doctor will also examine bothersome joints and observe the patient's ability to walk, bend, and carry out activities of daily living that involve the joints. Other diagnostic tests include: X-rays. Doctors take x-rays to see how much joint damage has been done. X-rays of the affected joint can show cartilage loss, bone damage, and bone spurs. Unfortunately, x-rays cannot show early osteoarthritis damage before much cartilage loss has taken place. Magnetic resonance image (MRI). MRI's provide high-resolution computerized images of internal body tissues. This procedure uses a strong magnet that passes a force through the body to create these images. Doctors often use MRI tests if the patient experiences joint pain, if x-ray findings are minimal, and if tests suggest damage to other joint tissues such as a ligament. Other tests. The doctor may order blood tests to rule out other causes of symptoms. He or she may also order a joint aspiration, which involves drawing fluid from the joint through a needle and examining the fluid under a microscope. It usually is not difficult to tell if a patient has osteoarthritis. It is more difficult to tell if the disease is causing the patient's symptoms. Osteoarthritis is so common-especially in older people-that symptoms seemingly caused by the disease actually may be due to other medical conditions, such as many rheumatologic conditions. The doctor will try to find out what is causing the symptoms by ruling out other disorders and identifying conditions that may make the symptoms worse.
Quantum entanglement has been called "spooky action at a distance" by Einstein and has often been called spooky or weird since then. Recently two diamonds, big enough to see with your eye, were observed to have entangled quantum mechanical states. This is the first time solid objects at room temperature have been measured to be in an entangled state!1-4 It’s a big deal! Read on to learn about quantum weirdness, entanglement, and this experiment. Figure 1. (a) Experimental equipment used to measure entangled diamonds. (b) Diamond used in experiment. On the atomic scale physicists use quantum mechanics to describe the physical properties of objects and predict outcomes of measurements. Quantum mechanics was created because the classical ways of describing things, which includes Newton’s laws, were failing when applied to very small things like atoms. Quantum mechanics is excellent in predicting and describing so many observable phenomena on the atomic scale. It hasn’t failed yet! Unfortunately, it has some strange things built into it that make even experts in the field ponder its weirdness. Many of the founders of quantum mechanics were unhappy with it. You may have heard about some of the weirdness that results from a quantum mechanical approach. The not weird, but important Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle: You can never know exactly where something is and how fast it is going at any instant because the act of measuring causes the object’s speed or location to be altered. This holds true for all systems of variables related to each other in a special way. Frequency and time are examples of related variables, and the energy of a state in quantum mechanics is directly related to the frequency, so energy and time are related too. Superposition of States and Schödinger's Cat: Place a cat in a closed box with a lethal substance in a very breakable container. Describe the state of the cat without taking any measurement. Quantum mechanics describes the cat as dead and alive simultaneously! The description of the cat’s state before it is measured is said to be in a superposition of states. It is the act of measurement that forces the cat to be in a single state, hopefully alive! You may want to look at this short video of the effect created by Kwiat's research group at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen (EPR) Paradox and Entanglement: This originated as a thought experiment designed to point out some of the concerns of quantum mechanics. Think about one system with its very own "wave function" that describes its physical state. Then consider transforming this single system to two systems located apart from each other. These two systems don't have two identical wave functions. Instead the two systems share the original wave function, and are connected, or entangled even over very, very, long distances. An example of this might be one particle decaying into two new particles, or an atom with extra internal energy emitting that energy in the form of a packet of light energy (photon). The two new objects can travel in any old direction as long as they travel in such a way that the sum of their momenta (mass times velocity) is the same as the initial object’s momentum, and the sum of their energies (plus any that may have went into the surroundings) is the same as the energy of the initial object. If one of the objects interacts with something else, then things change. For the entanglement to last they can’t interact with anything else as they move very, very far away from each other. Measure the velocity of one object, and the other object’s velocity is known with certainty before even measuring it. This entanglement between objects allows you to sometimes make better measurements than if the objects were not entangled. If you measure the velocity of the first particle and the location of the second particle you can know the velocity and location of each particle. Entanglement may be considered as not being able to determine the exact physical origin causing the outcome of a measurement, so you always have to describe the state before the measurement as a superposition of possible states, like Schrödinger's Cat. For example if you have a single packet of light energy (photon) go through a 50-50 beam splitter (partially reflective glass), the photon has a 50% chance of reflecting off the beam splitter and a 50% chance of going through the beam splitter. The photon after the beam splitter is an entangled state described by a superposition of the photon going through and reflecting off of the beam splitter. If a detector is set up on each pathway, then only one of the detectors will register a photon, and it is impossible to predict which one. The measurement "collapses" the photon wave function into one of the two possibilities at random on each trial of the experiment. You cannot learn from this measurement whether the photon is in an entangled state or not, just as you cannot know whether the cat was in a superposition state before you learned whether it was alive or dead. If, however, a second beam splitter is set up to recombine the two paths, and a detector measures the photon after the two paths have been combined, then the photon will always end up going the same way out of the second beam splitter. This is a signature that they are entangled, and provides proof of entanglement. This is just what has been done with these two macroscopic diamonds! The big deal about entangling two diamonds In quantum mechanics this connection between entangled states can easily be disrupted by the many other interactions from the many other objects around. Designing an experiment to measure entanglement isn’t the easiest, but certainly is possible and has been done a number of times. The big deal is that it’s never before been done with solid objects at room temperature. The Ultrafast Quantum Optics Group at the University of Oxford set up two diamonds near each other (15 cm apart) on a lab table (Figure 1a), and did not change any other environmental condition (like temperature or pressure). Diamonds are made of carbon atoms arranged in a special way. The research group selected a strong laser pulse with a frequency just right for being absorbed by a carbon atom in a diamond, and through another process (Raman scattering) results in a slightly lower frequency photon (packet of light energy) being emitted and an increase in one of the diamond’s vibrational energy states. The slightly lower frequency light emitted is said to be red-shifted. The extra internal vibrational energy is quickly distributed over the carbon atoms in diamonds because of the way the carbon atoms are placed (lattice structure) to make a diamond. The laser pulse was sent through a 50-50 beam splitter toward the two diamonds so both diamonds were simultaneously pumped with light (50% going toward the first diamond, 50% going toward the second diamond). If energy is absorbed from the laser pulse, the diamond’s vibrational state would increase, and red-shifted (lower frequency) light energy would be emitted. This red-shifted light provides evidence that a vibrational state exists in the diamond. They combined the red-shifted light from both possible paths and measured it with a detector (Fig 3a). By measuring exactly one red-shifted photon (packet of light energy) they were able to infer that the two diamonds should be entangled: they know that one of the diamonds has extra vibrational energy (and emitted the photon), but they can’t tell which one. \|Figure 3.(a) Generating an entangled state: A single laser pulse pump beam goes through a 50-50 beam splitter and simultaneously pumps the top diamond and the bottom diamond. Energy is absorbed from the pump pulse by the diamond(s), causing an increase in internal vibrational energy and the emission of red-shifted light (lower frequency than the pump beam). The red-shifted light from the two paths is combined and measured. (b) Verifying entanglement: A probe laser pulse (different from the pump pulse) goes through the 50-50 beam splitter and simultaneously probes the top diamond and the bottom diamond. When it reaches a diamond it causes the diamond to give up its extra vibrational energy and emit light with a higher frequency (blue-shifted) than the probe field. The blue-shifted light from the two paths is combined and measured. Image credits: Ian Walmsley’s Ultrafast quantum optics and optical metrology lab at the University of Oxford To verify the entangled state the researchers decided to probe the increased vibrational energy state of the diamonds. To do this they would have to send a laser probe beam to the diamonds before the diamonds transferred their vibrational energy to the environment, before the diamonds have a chance to decohere. The increased vibrational energy state of a diamond is short lived. A diamond crystal will give up its energy to its surroundings in the average time of 7 picoseconds or 7 trillionths of a second. Scientists call this the average decay time or lifetime of the increased energy state. Seven trillionths of a second was not a problem for this ultrafast optical lab! They were able to probe this vibrational state by sending a second, ultrafast, laser probe pulse within about 0.35 picoseconds (0.35 trillionths of a second) from the initial laser pulse. When the probe laser pulse reaches a diamond in an increased vibrational state, it causes the diamond to emit its extra energy resulting in a decreased vibrational energy state of the diamond, and the emission of a photon with a higher frequency than the probe. The higher frequency photon is said to be blue-shifted. Both possible paths of the blue-shifted light are combined and measured (Fig 3b). There is no way to know which diamond the red and blue shifted light came from, which means the diamonds must be described as sharing a vibrational state. The information from the measurements of the red-shifted and blue-shifted light provides a lower limit on the entanglement of the vibrational states of the two diamonds. If the red-shifted and blue-shifted photons are entangled, then the vibrational states of the diamond are entangled by at least the same amount. The coincident count of the two types of photons were measured and found to be highly correlated, indicating highly correlated vibrational energy states of the two diamonds. By analyzing their results to see how related these two measurements were, they found entanglement between the diamonds to be 0.85, where perfect entanglement is equal to 1.00!1 This means that when describing the two diamonds' vibrational energy, they must be described as sharing a single quantum of vibrational energy. Future research and applications Quantum entanglement is used in quantum communication, quantum teleportation, quantum computing, and quantum cryptography. The results of this experiment demonstrating entanglement may be used for further tests on the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, and will have implications for the applications listed above that utilize entanglement. References, resources, and links 1. Lee, K.C. et al. Entangling Macroscopic Diamonds at Room Temperature, Science 334, 1253 (2011). 2. Duan, L-M. Quantum Correlation Between Distant Diamonds, Science, 334, 1213 (2011). 3. Matson, J. Quantum Entanglement Links 2 Diamonds, Scientific American, Dec 2011. 4. Walmsley, I. and Nunn, J., Entang-bling, 2Phyiscs, 25 December 2011 5. Ian Walmsley, Clarendon Laboratory, Dept. of Physics, University of Oxford, UK 6. Betz, Eric. Quantum Migration
Clicking on each exhibition will go to the Gallery Page. from the Goryeo (918-1392) and Joseon (1392-1897) periods, tracing the events, conflicts, and achievements that marked the two most significant periods of Korea’s Exhibition Scale 4,401.59㎡ - Division of Unified Silla - In the late stages of Unified Silla (676-935 CE), the kingdom was divided into the three kingdoms of Silla, Hubaekje (“Later Baekje”), and Hugoguryeo (“Later Goguryeo”), known as the Later Three Kingdoms. Then, in 936 CE (the 19th year of the rule of King Taejo), Goryeo (918-1392) unified the Later Three Kingdoms, launching the second unified dynasty in Korean history. Over the next 200 years, into the 12th century, the Goryeo Dynasty developed a brilliant aristocratic system, as well as a unique celadon culture. - The Goryeo government system was akin to an empire, with the leader known as the “Son of Heaven,” or emperor. The royal family was called the imperial family, and any order from the emperor was considered an imperial or royal order. Although Goryeo glorified and rendered tribute to the Song Dynasty, the Kitan, and the Jin Dynasty, such practices were mere formalities dictated by foreign policies of the time. Goryeo people considered themselves to be part of a state founded by the “Son of Heaven” because of their abundant pride at having unified the Later Three Kingdoms and their recognition that the Goryeo Dynasty was a global center in the emerging international order of the era.
*The contents of this handout are for educational purposes only and are not intended for diagnosis or treatment. If you or someone you know is experiencing any of the symptoms listed in this handout, you should consult with your local physician or health care provider. This handout is copyright protected and no photographs or text may be copied or reproduced without written permission from the authors/photographers. If this information is helpful to you, please consider making a tax-free donation so that we can help others. 4. River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) 6. Guinea Worm Disease (Dracunculiasis) 7. Hepatitis B 8. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) (Also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever) “Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of flukes (worms) from the Schistosoma genus. It is the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease following malaria. Areas most commonly found include Asia, Africa and South America in bodies of water that contain freshwater snails that harbor the parasite. An estimated 200 million people in 74 countries are infected with the disease — 100 million in Africa alone. Although the number of deaths associated with Schistosomiasis is low, it can become a chronic illness, causing internal damage to organs and impairing the growth and cognitive development of children and weakening the bodies’ resistance to other infections. Urinary infestation has been associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer in adults. Method of Transmission: “The parasite Schistosoma is transmitted through freshwater sources, such as ponds, dams, and rivers. During its larval stage, the parasite emerges from infected snails and swims in water until it can penetrate the skin of people in contact with the water. Once in the body, the larvae develop into adult male and female parasites, which pair and live together in human blood vessels for years. The female parasites release thousands of spiny eggs, some of which are passed out in the urine (in the case of urinary schistosomiasis) or feces (in the case of intestinal schistosomiasis), but some eggs remain trapped in body tissues. When infected people urinate or defecate in a community water source, the eggs are immediately released. The eggs hatch and infect freshwater snails, which then become the intermediate hosts. Inside the snails, the parasites develop and multiply; they are now able to re-enter the skin, infecting new victims and continuing the cycle.” “Within days after becoming infected, you may develop a rash or itchy skin. Fever, chills, cough, and muscle aches can begin within 1-2 months of infection. Most people have no symptoms at this early phase of infection. Eggs travel to the liver or pass into the intestine or bladder, causing inflammation or scarring. Children who are repeatedly infected can develop anemia, malnutrition, and learning difficulties. After years of infection, the parasite can also damage the liver, intestines, lungs, and bladder. Rarely, eggs are found in the brain or spinal cord and can cause seizures, paralysis, or spinal cord inflammation. Worms have also been found in the lungs. Symptoms of schistosomiasis are caused by the body’s reaction to the eggs produced by worms, not by the worms themselves. Symptoms associated with urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis are caused by the eggs that remain trapped in body tissues. In the case of urinary schistosomiasis, the trapped eggs tear and scar the tissues of the bladder, ureters, and kidneys. Bladder cancer is common in advanced cases of the disease. In intestinal schistosomiasis, the disease develops more slowly. Symptoms include progressive enlargement of the liver, lungs, and spleen; intestinal damage due to fibrotic lesions around lodged eggs; and hypertension of the abdominal blood vessels. Bleeding from these vessels leads to blood in stools. The disease seriously weakens its victims and, in some cases, impairs the function of organs such as the spleen and kidneys. Death resulting from the disease is mostly due to bladder cancer associated with urinary schistosomiasis and to bleeding from varicose veins in the esophagus associated with intestinal schistosomiasis.” Patients sometimes exhibit no symptoms at all.” Symptoms for Schistosomiasis include: Skin rash Fever Itchy skin Chills Cough Muscle aches Hives No symptoms Enlarged liver Liver tenderness Symptoms of eggs in spinal cord: Seizures Paralysis Spinal cord inflammation Diarrhea Blood in stool Anemia Dysentery Hepatosplenomegaly – (Enlargement of the liver and spleen). Bladder infection symptoms: Cystitis- (inflammation of the bladder or urethra) Bladder stones” CDC recommendations for the treatment of schistosomiasis is a dose of 20 mg/kg, of the drug praziquantel (Biltricide ®) given in two oral doses 6-8 hours apart. Carter Center Foundation web site-http://www.cartercenter.org accesssed 5/29/09. CDC website-http://www.cdc.gov accessed 5/29/09 http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com accessed 5/29/09 Schistosome dermatitis, or “swimmers itch” occurs when skin is penetrated by a free-swimming, fork-tailed infective cercaria. US Federal Government public domain image archive. Source: CDC. Adults of Schistosoma mansoni. Unlike the flukes, adult schistosomes have the sexes separate, with the female residing in a gynecophoral canal within the male. Male worms are robust, tuberculate and measure 6-12 mm in length. Females are longer (7-17 mm in length) and slender. Adult S. mansoni reside in the venous plexuses of the colon and lower ileum and in the portal system of the liver of their host. The thin female resides in the gynecophoral canal of the thicker male. Note the tuberculate exterior of the male in Figure B. (source CDC website) Schistosomiasis Lifecycle: (Source CDC) Strongyloidiasis is an infection caused by the parasite Strongyloides stercoralis. Although found in the southern United States, Strongyloides is mainly found in the tropics. It is common in Africa, including Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Method of Transmission: Infection occurs when your skin comes in contact with soil that contains Strongyloides. The parasite penetrates the skin and migrates to the lungs; then it travels up to the mouth and is swallowed into the intestinal tract. Once there, it matures and lays eggs. The resulting worms and eggs are then passed in the stool and can infect other persons via soil, or can re-infect the same person. This re-infection of the original host can cause infections that last for many years. Many infected persons have no symptoms. Among persons who do have symptoms, the most common are abdominal pain, diarrhea, and rash. Less commonly, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, cough, or breathing problems can result. Because the infection can persist, a person can have symptoms on and off for many years. Several drugs can be used to treat Strongyloides. A drug called albendazole, taken twice a day for three days, is the treatment we recommend for the Lost Boys and Girls. Albendazole is safe, but may cause some side effects, including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. Rarely, it can cause abnormal blood tests involving the liver and blood cells. Lastly, someone infected with both Strongyloides and another parasite called cysticercosis may have a seizure if they take albendazole; infection with both of these parasites in someone from Sudan is unusual. All of these side effects would be rare with only three days of treatments. This treatment cures most persons infected with this disease. Pregnant women should not take albendazole. It is difficult to tell if a person has been cured after taking albendazole. If a person’s immune system became weakened later in life (for example, through an organ transplant, chemotherapy, or taking other drugs that weaken the immune system), ensuring the disease had been cured would be important. Cure could be confirmed by a repeat blood test, done at least six months after the treatment. Alternatively, a person can be treated with a different drug called ivermectin, which cures some persons not cured by albendazole. Why treatment is important if you have strongyloidiasis? If at any time an infected person’s immune system becomes weak (for example, through an organ transplant, chemotherapy, or other drugs that weaken the immune system), the infection can become fatal. Thus, it is important to treat this infection any time a person is diagnosed with it, even if they have no symptoms. “ Source: CDC website http://www.cdc.gov accessed 6/9/09 Strongyloids Life Cycle: (Source CDC) The Strongyloides life cycle is more complex than that of most nematodes with its alternation between free-living and parasitic cycles, and its potential for autoinfection and multiplication within the host. Two types of cycles exist: Free-living cycle: The rhabditiform larvae passed in the stool (see “Parasitic cycle” below) can either molt twice and become infective filariform larvae (direct development) or molt four times and become free living adult males and females that mate and produce eggs from which rhabditiform larvae hatch . The latter in turn can either develop into a new generation of free-living adults (as represented in ), or into infective filariform larvae . The filariform larvae penetrate the human host skin to initiate the parasitic cycle (see below) . Parasitic cycle: Filariform larvae in contaminated soil penetrate the human skin , and are transported to the lungs where they penetrate the alveolar spaces; they are carried through the bronchial tree to the pharynx, are swallowed and then reach the small intestine . In the small intestine they molt twice and become adult female worms . The females live threaded in the epithelium of the small intestine and by parthenogenesis produce eggs , which yield rhabditiform larvae. The rhabditiform larvae can either be passed in the stool (see “Free-living cycle” above), or can cause autoinfection . In autoinfection, the rhabditiform larvae become infective filariform larvae, which can penetrate either the intestinal mucosa (internal autoinfection) or the skin of the perianal area (external autoinfection); in either case, the filariform larvae may follow the previously described route, being carried successively to the lungs, the bronchial tree, the pharynx, and the small intestine where they mature into adults; or they may disseminate widely in the body. To date, occurrence of autoinfection in humans with helminthic infections is recognized only in Strongyloides stercoralis and Capillaria philippinensis infections. In the case of Strongyloides, autoinfection may explain the possibility of persistent infections for many years in persons who have not been in an endemic area and of hyperinfections in immunodepressed individuals. Tropical and subtropical areas, but cases also occur in temperate areas (including the South of the United States). More frequently found in rural areas, institutional settings, and lower socioeconomic groups. 1 “Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite.” It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Sudan.” 2“Each year, malaria kills more than 1 million people, mostly children, with 350-500 million cases reported worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of all cases of malaria—a preventable disease—are in Africa, where one child in 10 dies before the age of five. Malaria most affects people who live, work, and sleep in unscreened houses where mosquitoes can easily enter through open eaves and windows… Anemia and learning impairments are also associated with the disease. Pregnant women, their unborn children, and infants are particularly vulnerable to malaria, which is a major cause of maternal mortality and low birth weight.” 1 “Anyone who goes to a malaria-risk country should take precautions against contracting malaria. During the last several years that you have spent in the United States, you have lost any malaria immunity that you might have had while living in your native country. Without frequent exposure to malaria parasites, your immune system has lost its ability to fight malaria. You are now as much at risk as someone who was born in the United States (a “non-immune” person). Please consult with your health-care provider or a travel clinic about precautions to take against malaria (preventive drugs and protection against mosquito bites) and against other diseases. To allow enough time for the drugs to become effective and for a pharmacy to prepare any special doses of medicine (especially doses for children and infants), visit your health care provider 4-6 weeks before travel. There is currently no malaria vaccine approved for human use. Ways to avoid infection include: Fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death. Any traveler who becomes ill with a fever or flu-like illness while traveling, and up to 1 year after returning home should immediately seek professional medical care. Method of Transmission: Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten. Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery (“congenital” malaria). Malaria is not spread from person to person like a cold or the flu, and it cannot be sexually transmitted. You cannot get malaria from casual contact with malaria-infected people, such as sitting next to someone who has malaria. The surest way for you and your health-care provider to know whether you have malaria is to have a diagnostic test where a drop of your blood is examined under the microscope for the presence of malaria parasites. If you are sick and there is any suspicion of malaria (for example, if you have recently traveled in a malaria-risk area) the test should be performed without delay. Determination of the infecting Plasmodium species for treatment purposes is important for three main reasons: P. falciparum infections can cause rapidly progressive severe illness or death while the non-falciparum ( P. vivax, P. ovale, or P. malariae) species rarely cause severe manifestations; P. vivax and P. ovale infections require treatment for the hypnozoite forms that remain dormant in the liver and can cause a relapsing infection; and P. falciparum and P. vivax species have different drug resistance patterns in differing geographic regions. For P. falciparum infections, the urgent initiation of appropriate therapy is especially critical. The second factor affecting treatment is the clinical status of the patient. Patients diagnosed with malaria are generally categorized as having either uncomplicated or severe malaria. Patients diagnosed with uncomplicated malaria can be effectively treated with oral antimalarials. However, patients who have one or more of the following clinical criteria (impaired consciousness/coma, severe normocytic anemia, renal failure, pulmonary edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome, circulatory shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, spontaneous bleeding, acidosis, hemoglobinuria, jaundice, repeated generalized convulsions, and/or parasitemia of > 5%) are considered to have manifestations of more severe disease and should be treated aggressively with parenteral antimalarial therapy. Finally, knowledge of the geographic area where the infection was acquired provides information on the likelihood of drug resistance of the infecting parasite and enables the treating clinician to choose an appropriate drug or drug combination and treatment course. If the diagnosis of malaria is suspected and cannot be confirmed, or if the diagnosis of malaria is confirmed but species determination is not possible, antimalarial treatment effective against P. falciparum must be initiated immediately.” (Image provided by CDC) 1 CDC web site-www.cdc.gov accessed 5/29/09 2 Carter Center Website -www.cartercenter.org accessed 5/27/09 Life Cycle: (Source CDC) The malaria parasite life cycle involves two hosts. During a blood meal, a malaria-infected female Anopheles mosquito inoculates sporozoites into the human host. Sporozoites infect liver cells and mature into schizonts , which rupture and release merozoites . (Of note, in P. vivax and P. ovale a dormant stage [hypnozoites] can persist in the liver and cause relapses by invading the bloodstream weeks, or even years later.) After this initial replication in the liver (exo-erythrocytic schizogony ), the parasites undergo asexual multiplication in the erythrocytes (erythrocytic schizogony ). Merozoites infect red blood cells . The ring stage trophozoites mature into schizonts, which rupture releasing merozoites . Some parasites differentiate into sexual erythrocytic stages (gametocytes) . Blood stage parasites are responsible for the clinical manifestations of the disease. The gametocytes, male (microgametocytes) and female (macrogametocytes), are ingested by an Anopheles mosquito during a blood meal . The parasites’ multiplication in the mosquito is known as the sporogonic cycle . While in the mosquito’s mid-gut, the microgametes penetrate the macrogametes generating zygotes . The zygotes in turn become motile and elongated (ookinetes) which invade the midgut wall of the mosquito where they develop into oocysts . The oocysts grow, rupture, and release sporozoites , which make their way to the mosquito’s salivary glands. Inoculation of the sporozoites into a new human host perpetuates the malaria life cycle. Malaria Life Cycle:(Source CDC) 4. River Blindness Onchocerciasis is a parasitic disease that is transmitted by the bites of small black flies, which breed in rapidly flowing streams and rivers. Method of Transmission: “To contract river blindness, a person typically must be bitten hundreds of times by infected black flies, since only a small percentage of the flies carry the infection. Therefore, the disease is not common among travelers or visitors to endemic countries. It is in fact the poorest of the poor who cannot protect themselves or escape from the black flies who are at greatest risk. It is estimated that in some river blindness areas of the world such as Ethiopia, men, women, and children are bitten by these flies as many as 20,000 times each year. Larvae enter the body through the fly bites and eventually mature into adult worms. The offspring of the worms, called microfilariae, swarm under the skin where they can infect black flies when they bite. The microfilariae irritate the skin and cause intense itching, skin discoloration, and rashes. If the microfilariae enter the eyes, they cause inflammation and irritation, which can cause diminished vision and potential blindness. The disruption of family life and education resulting from the disease directly impacts local economies and long-term development.” Black flies bite during the day. The best prevention is to avoid infective bites of the black fly by: “Infected persons may be without symptoms. Those with symptoms will usually have one or more of the three manifestations: skin rash, eye lesions, and/or subcutaneous bumps under the skin. The most serious manifestation consists of lesions in the eye that can progress to blindness. The normal incubation period of onchocerciasis ranges from nine to 24 months after the bite of an infected black fly. Each female worm can reproduce millions of microfilariae during her lifetime. Worms can live for 10-15 years.” 1”Studies in the 1980s showed that the drug Mectizan®, made by Merck & Co. Inc., could effectively and safely treat and prevent river blindness by killing the microfilariae in the human body. With the use of Mectizan and health education, experts have concluded that it is possible to completely eliminate river blindness from the Western Hemisphere where it occurs. In Africa, the strategy is to control river blindness with one treatment per year. However, in 2006, areas in Sudan and Uganda began a twice-per-year treatment elimination strategy modeled after the successful Onchocerciasis Elimination Program of the Americas approach. Health education and the distribution of Mectizan have not only prevented millions from contracting river blindness but also have saved multitudes of communities from near extinction. People who once abandoned fertile land near rivers to avoid being bitten have returned to their land and revived their local economy.” ”The CDC recommends Ivermectin administered as an oral dose of 150 micrograms per kilogram (maximum 12 mg) every 6-12 months. The drug should probably not be given to pregnant women or children under 5 years. Ivermectin does not kill the adult parasites, but reduce the numbers of microfilariae in skin so the disease does not progress. There is neither a vaccine nor recommended drug available to prevent onchocerciasis.” 1.Carter Center website –www.cartercenter.org 2. CDC web site –http://www.cdc.gov -accessed 5/29/09 A patient infected suffering from river blindness. This elderly man shows nodules, skin changes and blindness, all manifestations of the River Blindness Life Cycle: (Source Carter Center) Trachoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. It is caused by infection with Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria, making it both treatable and preventable. Trachoma affects the poorest of the poor – people marginalized and neglected in developing countries who are already struggling to survive. Method of Transmission: Young children bear the heaviest burden of trachoma infections and are the main source of infection for other people. Transmission takes place when the bacteria move from the eyes of young children to the eyes of an uninfected person through several different ways: flies, touching eyes, mothers’ shawls, bed sheets, pillows, and towels. Transmitting trachoma through flies, faces, and feces: The fly that transmits trachoma, Musca sorbens, breeds in feces, especially in human feces lying in the shade on the soil surface. Where Musca sorbens is present in trachoma-endemic areas, steps to minimize fly-eye contact and reduce breeding opportunities by disposing of feces properly are taken. Transmitting trachoma through touching eyes: Children touch their faces and rub their eyes much more frequently than adults do. Children usually touch their faces when they are irritated by dirt, dust, and flies. All of the Carter Center’s trachoma control programs promote good hygiene practices including hand and face washing. Transmitting trachoma through shawls, bed sheets, pillows, towels Mothers like to keep their children’s faces clean by wiping them. In most countries, the mother uses her own clothes to do this. The bacteria that cause trachoma are often present in the discharge from the eyes and nose and can be spread to another child like this. Additionally, because children in a household often share the same bed, bed sheets and pillows may become infectious agents if a child with active trachoma uses them. Sharing face-washing cloths or towels can also lead to transmission of trachoma. This may contribute to high levels of infection in a family or even within a school or other group of people who share washing facilities. Treatment: The SAFE Strategy To combat trachoma, the World Health Organization has endorsed an integrated strategy known as SAFE: Surgery for people at immediate risk of blindness Antibiotic therapy (Zithromax) to treat individual active cases and reduce the community reservoir of infection Facial cleanliness and improved hygiene to Environmental improvements to make living conditions better so that the environment no longer facilitates the maintenance and transmission of trachoma. S – Surgery Surgery reverses the in-turned eyelashes of people with severe trachoma. Lid surgery is a fairly simple procedure that can be offered in the community or at health centers. Offering community-based surgery is the best way to encourage people suffering with trichiasis to seek help. Lid surgery takes away the pain of lashes scraping against the eyes and prevents further damage, but does not restore sight that was already lost. A – Antibiotics Antibiotics are used to treat active trachoma and reduce infection in a community. Antibiotics may be given on a case-by-case basis or in mass drug administration to the community. The World Health Organization currently recommends mass drug administration if the prevalence of active trachoma among children aged 1 to 9 years exceeds 10 percent. Pfizer Inc. generously donates millions of doses of the antibiotic Zithromax ® for trachoma control. F – Facial cleanliness Dirty faces are associated with active trachoma. Children with dirty faces are more likely to transmit trachoma if they have an active infection or to get trachoma if they are not infected. Discharge from the eyes and nose attracts flies that can bring the infection or carry it to other people. Wiping or rubbing dirty eyes with cloths, bed sheets, or a mother’s shawl can contribute to the transmission of trachoma. With support from the Carter Center Trachoma Control Program, communities are educated on the importance of clean faces. E – Environmental improvement Trachoma persists where people live in poverty with crowded living conditions and without water, sanitation, and proper waste disposal. Transmission of trachoma occurs where these conditions exist and should be expected to return after antibiotic treatment if the conditions are not changed. Improvements like construction of household pit latrines and hand-dug wells will bring about sustainable elimination of trachoma. These four components form the foundation of the effort to eliminate blinding trachoma. All four components must be present for a trachoma control program to be successful. That is, equal attention must be given to providing surgery, antibiotics, hygiene promotion, and environmental improvements. Source: The Carter Center web site- http://www.cartercenter.org “Fly-eye contact is an opportunity for trachoma transmission. Construction of pit latrines reduces breeding opportunities for the fly population.” Carter Center Photo: Jim Zingeser Photo credit: Carter Center/ L. Gubb “The latrines are comprised of simple pits 2 to 4 meters deep, with a cement slab laid over it, and a traditionally built superstructure. The Carter Center-assisted Trachoma Control Program has built more than 720,000 latrines in six countries to help prevent the spread of blinding trachoma.” Trachoma Life Cycle: (Source Carter Center) 6. Guinea Worm Disease Guinea worm disease, often known as the “fiery serpent,” has existed since ancient times and is more than 3,000 years old. It has even been found in calcified Egyptian mummies. Many believe the symbol of medicine, often interpreted as a snake wrapped around a stick, may be a Guinea worm. The presence of Guinea worm disease is an indicator of extreme poverty, including the absence of safe drinking water, in a community. Entire communities suffer, not just the individuals afflicted with Guinea worm disease. Victims are totally incapacitated as a worm emerges from their body. Children cannot attend school. Farmers cannot farm. Communities suffer food shortages when their residents are unable to work. In southeastern Nigeria, rice farmers in a single county lost $20 million in just one year due to outbreaks of Guinea worm disease. Method of Transmission: Guinea worm disease is contracted when a person drinks stagnant water that is contaminated with microscopic water fleas carrying infective larvae. Inside a person’s body, the larvae grow for a year, becoming thin thread-like worms, up to 3-feet-long. These worms create agonizingly painful blisters in the skin, through which they slowly exit the body. People with emerging worms must not bathe or step in sources of drinking water, because a worm will release hundreds of thousands of eggs, or larvae, into the water. Water fleas then eat the larvae, and people who drink unfiltered water from the pond become infected — continuing the life cycle of the parasite. One year after the larvae are ingested, a worm up to 1 meter long emerges through a blister in the victim’s skin, causing fever, nausea, and other symptoms. There is no vaccine or medicine to treat or prevent Guinea worm disease. Infected people won’t even realize they have it until a year after drinking contaminated water, when they will develop blisters as the worm begins to emerge. Once that happens, a local health worker or the patient will wrap the live worm around a piece of gauze, extracting it from the body little by little. The long, painful process often takes up to one month. Humans are a Guinea worm’s only host, so spread of the disease can be controlled by identifying all cases and modifying human behavior to prevent it from recurring. Once all human cases are eliminated, the disease will be eradicated. Today, cases of Guinea worm disease are down more than 99% since 1986, making it poised to be the next disease after smallpox to be eradicated. It will be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without vaccines or medicines. The only other “active” eradication campaign is against polio. Source- The Carter Center Foundation- http://www.cartercenter.org – accessed June 9 2009 “A and B: The female guinea worm induces a painful blister (A); after rupture of the blister, the worm emerges as a whitish filament (B) in the center of a painful ulcer which is often secondarily infected.” (Image Source: CarterCenter Foundation) C Guinea worm is typically removed by rolling it on a stick or other object Guinea Worm Life Cycle: (Source Carter Center) 7. Hepatitis B “Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. Toxins, certain drugs, some diseases, heavy alcohol use, and bacterial and viral infections can all cause hepatitis. Hepatitis is also the name of a family of viral infections that affect the liver. Hepatitis B is a serious contagious disease that can result in long-term health problems, including liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer, or even death. Approximately 2,000–4,000 people die every year from hepatitis B-related liver disease. It ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness. It results from infection with the hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B can be either “acute” or “chronic.” Acute hepatitis B virus infection is a short-term illness that occurs within the first 6 months after someone is exposed to the hepatitis B virus. Acute infection can — but does not always — lead to chronic infection. Chronic hepatitis B virus infection is a long-term illness that occurs when the hepatitis B virus remains in a person’s body. The most common types of hepatitis in the United States are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Hepatitis A, B and C are diseases caused by three different viruses. Although each can cause similar symptoms, they have different modes of transmission and can affect the liver differently. Method of Transmission: Hepatitis B is spread when blood, semen, or other body fluid infected with the hepatitis B virus enters the body of a person who is not infected. People can become infected with the virus during activities such as: Hepatitis B virus can survive outside the body at least 7 days. During that time, the virus can still cause infection if it enters the body of a person who is not infected. The best way to prevent hepatitis B is by getting vaccinated. The hepatitis B vaccine is safe and effective and is usually given as 3-4 shots over a 6-month period. Although a majority of adults develop symptoms from acute hepatitis B virus infection, many young children do not. Adults and children over the age of 5 years are more likely to have symptoms. Seventy percent of adults will develop symptoms from the infection. On average, symptoms appear 90 days (or 3 months) after exposure, but they can appear any time between 6 weeks and 6 months after exposure. Symptoms of acute hepatitis B, if they appear, can include: Symptoms of Chronic Hepatitis B: Some people have ongoing symptoms similar to acute hepatitis B, but most individuals with chronic hepatitis B remain symptom free for as long as 20 or 30 years. About 15%–25% of people with chronic hepatitis B develop serious liver conditions, such as cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) or liver cancer. Even as the liver becomes diseased, some people still do not have symptoms, although certain blood tests for liver function might begin to show some abnormalities. There is no medication available to treat acute hepatitis B. During this short-term infection, doctors usually recommend rest, adequate nutrition, and fluids, although some people may need to be hospitalized. People with chronic hepatitis B virus infection should seek the care or consultation of a doctor with experience treating hepatitis B. This can include some internists or family medicine practitioners, as well as specialists such as infectious disease physicians, gastroenterologists, or hepatologists (liver specialists). People with chronic hepatitis B should be monitored regularly for signs of liver disease and evaluated for possible treatment. Several medications have been approved for hepatitis B treatment, and new drugs are in development. However, not every person with chronic hepatitis B needs to be on medication, and the drugs may cause side effects in some patients. People with hepatitis B should avoid alcohol because it can cause additional liver damage. They also should check with a health professional before taking any prescription pills, supplements, or over-the-counter medications, as these can potentially damage the liver. If you are concerned that you might have been exposed to the hepatitis B virus, call your health professional or your health department. If a person who has been exposed to hepatitis B virus gets the hepatitis B vaccine and/or a shot called “HBIG” (hepatitis B immune globulin) within 24 hours, hepatitis B infection may be prevented.” Source: CDC website -http://www.cdc.gov- accessed 6/15/09 8. Helicobacter pylori Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a spiral-shaped bacterium that is found in the gastric mucous layer or adherent to the epithelial lining of the stomach. H. pylori causes more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. Before 1982, when this bacterium was discovered, spicy food, acid, stress, and lifestyle were considered the major causes of ulcers. The majority of patients were given long-term medications, such as H2 blockers, and more recently, proton pump inhibitors, without a chance for permanent cure. These medications relieve ulcer-related symptoms, heal gastric mucosal inflammation, and may heal the ulcer, but they do NOT treat the infection. When acid suppression is removed, the majority of ulcers, particularly those caused by H. pylori, recur. Since we now know that most ulcers are caused by H. pylori, appropriate antibiotic regimens can successfully eradicate the infection in most patients, with complete resolution of mucosal inflammation and a minimal chance for recurrence of ulcers. Method of Transmission: It is not known how H. pylori is transmitted or why some patients become symptomatic while others do not. The bacteria are most likely spread from person to person through fecal-oral or oral-oral routes. Possible environmental reservoirs include contaminated water sources.” Contamination via contaminated endoscopes has been documented but can be prevented by proper cleaning of equipment. “Since the source of H. pylori is not yet known, recommendations for avoiding infection have not been made. In general, it is always wise for persons to eat food that has been properly prepared, to wash hands thoroughly, and to drink water from a source that is known to be clean and safe. Most persons who are infected with H. pylori never suffer any symptoms related to the infection; however, H. pylori cause chronic active, chronic persistent and atrophic gastritis in adults and children. Infection with H. pylori also causes duodenal and gastric ulcers. Infected persons have a 2- to 6-fold increased risk of developing gastric cancer and mucosal associated- lymphoid-type (MALT) lymphoma compared with their uninfected counterparts. The role of H. pylori in non-ulcer dyspepsia remains unclear. The most common ulcer symptom is: Less common ulcer symptoms include: ‘Antibiotic medications are used to treat H. pylori infection. Doctors typically prescribe a combination of medications, with the hope that this strategy will help keep H. pylori from developing a resistance to one particular medication. You’ll likely take two antibiotic medications for 14 days. Medications that reduce acid in your stomach may help enhance the effectiveness of antibiotics. Acid-reducing medications may also help alleviate symptoms and promote healing. Your doctor may recommend that you undergo testing for H. pylori several weeks after your treatment. A follow-up breath or stool test may confirm that the H. pylori bacterium is no longer present in your body and treatment was successful. Or follow-up testing may show that treatment was unsuccessful. In that case, you may undergo treatment again, receiving a different combination of antibiotic medications.” 1. CDC web site: http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/cdcynergy_training/content/activeinformation/resources/Fact_Sheet.pdf accessed 6/15/09 2. Mayoclinic.com- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/h-pylori/DS00958/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs accessed 6/12/09 Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan is a registered 501 C-3 Foundation EIN #59-3808251
Blanket bogs are the most celebrated of Ireland’s peatlands. The habitat is very well developed in the country. We have two types of blanket bogs – Atlantic Blanket Bog and Mountain Blanket Bog. Atlantic blanket bogs cover the landscape of the west coast from sea level to an altitude of 200m. Here, rainfall is 1,200mm per year and the acid peat substrate ranges from 2 to 7m deep. Atlantic blanket bog vegetation has a characteristic grassy appearance due to the occurrence of purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) and black bog rush (Schoenus nigricans). Patterned surfaces of pools, flat and sloped areas, flushes and swallow holes are important features of blanket bogs. Mountain blanket bogs occur on relatively flat terrain in the mountain ranges above 200m altitude. Here rainfall is high and evaporation is low. Mountain blanket bogs are rain fed and their peat is acidic. The vegetation is characterised by the presence of ericoid shrubs and in particular ling heather (Calluna vulgaris), crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) and bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). Natural drains, lakes and flushes are features of mountain blanket bogs. Formation of Blanket Bogs Blanket bog formation in the mountains and lowlands of the west of Ireland started at the end of the last glaciation, 10,000 years ago. Initially peat formation was confined to shallow lakes and wet hollows. Over time an infilling sequence from open water to fen and acid peat occurred to form the blanket bog habitat we find today. Later, acid peat spread out to form a blanket covering huge areas of poorly drained land. While some spread may have taken place as early as 7,000 years ago, many areas were not engulfed until 4,000 years ago when the climate became wetter. Heavy rainfall caused minerals such as iron to be washed out or leached from the surface layers of the soil, a process know as paludifacation. These were deposited lower down where they formed an impermeable layer known as an iron pan. Water cannot move down through such a layer and the soil surface became waterlogged as a result. Under these conditions the accumulation and spread of peat was made possible. Distribution of Blanket Bogs in Ireland Atlantic Blanket Bogs are found in low-lying coastal plains and valleys in mountainous areas of western counties, below 200m O.D. They are particularly well developed in counties Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Clare and Sligo Mountain Blanket Bogs occur on relatively flat terrain in the higher Irish mountains above 200m O.D. and are more widely distributed than Atlantic blanket bogs. Atlantic blanket bogs and mountain blanket bogs are the most extensive of the Irish peatland types and originally covered an area of 774,360ha. Blanket Bog Structure and Hydrology Blanket bog occurs on flat or sloping land with poor surface drainage, in cool, wet, oceanic climates. Moore et al. (1984) describe blanket bogs as a “complex unity combining flushed and ombrotrophic peatland types which occupy a variety of geomorphological positions and which become inextricably linked in an interdependent, but floristically and hydrologically diverse, series”. If the climate is sufficiently cool and wet, basins, plateaux and gentle slopes come to be swamped by peat, formed from acid vegetation. Peatland formed by the terrestrialisation of basins or the paludification of plateau and gentle slopes at different places in the same landscape, eventually coalesce to form a blanket bog complex. Therefore blanket bogs are complexes which combine several congruent and hydrologically inter-related peatland sites into a continuous peatland system. Within the complex, the underlying peat varies considerably in depth and humification, according especially to the angle of the slope and the degree of waterlogging. Morphologically the blanket bog peat body is diplotelmic in profile as in raised bogs. It is divided into two distinctive hydrological layers, the acrotelm and the catotelm. Importance of Blanket Bogs Blanket bogs are valuable wetlands, not wastelands. There are a number of scientific, economic, cultural and moral reasons for conserving blanket bogs. - Only a small amount of blanket bog exists in the world. Ireland possesses 8% of the world’s blanket bog and is the most important country in Europe for this type of habitat. - Blanket bog landscapes provide a refuge for a rich biodiversity of species including several rare plants, birds and invertebrate species. - Blanket bogs are commonly used as rough grazing land for sheep and cattle, grouse shooting, deer stalking and fishing. - Blanket bogs preserve prehistoric farming landscapes beneath the peat as well as a diverse range of artefacts within the peat mass. - The patterns of pools on the flatter areas of blanket bog is of particular conservation significance. The pools support a specialised range of mosses (especially species of Sphagnum) and plants and they provide essential feeding habitats for wetland birds. - Within their peat layers, blanket bogs preserve a record of their own growth and development and on a larger scale, they provide insights into regional vegetation change, climate change, atmospheric pollution and act as chronometers for other events such as volcanic eruptions. - Blanket bogs accumulate and store millions of tonnes of carbon and have a vital function in controlling the green house gases that cause climate change. - Blanket bogs contain in excess of 90% water and act as vast water reservoirs. They have a vital role to play in the management of water within river catchments. - Blanket bogs and their utilisation for recreation can have positive benefits on the health of people. Conservation Status of Irish Blanket Bogs Under the EU Habitats Directive the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) are obliged to complete a report every 7 years on the condition of designated habitats. The assessments carried out in 2006 and 2013 found that no peatland type of priority importance in Ireland is in good conservation status. Blanket bogs were given a BAD assessment in these reports due to the loss of their area, structure and function. The drivers of the loss of blanket bogs include reclamation, peat extraction, afforestation, over grazing, drainage, burning, erosion and landslides. Extent and Utilisation of Blanket Bog Originally 908,117ha of blanket bog covered the island of Ireland. Although blanket bogs originally covered more than 774,367ha of the land surface in the Republic of Ireland (Hammond Peatland Map 1979), hand cutting over 400 years, the introduction of large-scale, mechanised turf extraction, afforestation programmes, intensification of agriculture and land reclamation have seriously depleted the area of blanket bog suitable for conservation. IPCC monitors the status of the resource on an on going basis. Our assessment of 2009 was published in Ireland’s Peatland Conservation Action Plan 2020. This found that only 28% (216,599ha) of the blanket peatland resource remains in a relatively intact condition in the Republic of Ireland. Traditional cutting of the bogs for turbary is having a serious impact on blanket bogs. 36% of the blanket bogs have been cutaway by this process. Peat is still being cut privately. Grazing pressure on blanket bogs although particularly severe during the last century mainly by cattle did not result in degradation of this habitat. Sheep replaced cattle as the principal grazing animal with the introduction of EU farming subsidies in the 1980’s and have caused severe erosion and complete loss of sites. Overgrazing has led to erosion and habitat loss of 7% of the area of blanket bog since 1980 and in 2000 a further 7% was deemed threatened by this activity. Large-scale afforestation schemes have had a huge impact on blanket bogs with planting on 28% of the original area within the Republic of Ireland. EU and Government incentives introduced since the mid 1990’s have resulted in an interest in wind energy developments which seriously degrade the integrity of mountain blanket bogs. Another cause of blanket bog degradation is the colonisation of the habitat by invasive alien species such as Rhododendron ponticum and Pinus contorta. Blanket Bog Campaign 2016/2017 In 2016 IPCC mounted a two year campaign to shift the national focus to blanket bogs and bridge the significant policy gap that exist in relation to their protection. The campaign aims to engage in lobbying and advocacy to ensure that blanket bogs are highlighted as a national issue. The first step was to set up an online survey to assess what damage and threats currently face blanket bog. This involved a step into citizen science as we asked users to fill in our survey and tell us of their experience while visiting such sites. This allowed us to analyse which issues were causing the most pressure to this precious habitat and allowed us to emphasise these in meetings with key Government officials. Take for example Slieve Tooey/Tormore Island/Loughros Beg Bay SAC in Co. Donegal which was used as a case study to highlight the variety of uses currently found on blanket bog. The survey provided evidence of a wide range of threats including the use of quad bikes for herding sheep on sensitive bogland habitat, extensive turf cutting and footing using machinery, drainage, peat erosion, grazing by sheep, installation of telecommunication towers, bee keeping and walking. Please follow this link to the blanket bog campaign. Text, Photographs and Images © Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Bog of Allen Nature Centre, Lullymore, Rathangan, Co. Kildare R51 V293. Email: [email protected]; Tel: +353-45-860133.
The NRCS uses a nine step planning process whenever it begins a project. The purpose of the steps is to develop and implement plans that protect, conserve, and enhance natural resources within a social and economic perspective. Step 1: Identify Planners take into account the current issues of the clientsâ€™ area and as planning continues, other problems and opportunities may be identified. Step 2: Determine Objectives A conservationist guides the process so that it includes the clientsâ€™ needs, values, resources used, and on-site and off-site ecological protection. Step 3: Inventory Resources An inventory of local resources is collected. (soil, water, animals, social and economical) Step 4: Analyze Resource Data After taking inventory, the resource data is studied to better understand the natural resource conditions. Step 5: Formulate Alternatives During this step multiple alternatives are considered to provide the client with the chance to consider several possibilities. Step 6: Evaluate Alternatives After planning alternate solutions, their effectiveness is determined in addressing the clientâ€™s current problem. Step 7: Making Decisions The landowner chooses which project or plan will work best for their situation. The planner prepares the documentation. Step 8: Implement the Plan The landowner carries out the conservation treatments that make up the planned conservation system. Step 9: Evaluate the Plan Follow up with the client is performed to evaluate operation and maintenance needs.
Dear EarthTalk: Why are wildfires on the increase and what can be done to stop them from happening? -- Sandy Heffran, Albuquerque, NM There’s no question that wildfires are on the increase across the American West and other fire-prone regions of the world, and most environmental leaders agree that global warming is largely to blame. In a recent study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers from the University of Utah analyzed a database of large wildfires in the western U.S. between 1984 and 2011 and found a significant increase in the number of large fires and/or the area covered by the blazes. From Nebraska to California, the number of large wildfires increased sevenfold per year over the study period, with the total area burned increasing by 90,000 acres a year on average. Wildfires are on the rise across the American West and other “Wildfire trends in the West are clear: There are more large fires burning now than at any time in the past 40 years and the total area burned each year has also increased,” says Alyson Kenward of the nonprofit Climate Central. “Over the same span, average spring and summer temperatures across 11 Western states have increased by more than 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, contributing to the higher fire risks.” What worries Kenward and others is that the latest climate model projections show temperatures rising an additional two to four degrees Fahrenheit over the next few decades (and as much as eight degrees by 2100). According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the hotter temperatures we are already experiencing increase fire risks for several reasons. For one, drier, hotter conditions increase evaporation rates and encourage desertification. Also, as snowpacks melt earlier and summer temperatures rise to new heights, the length of the “fire season” is extending. Meanwhile, warming-induced insect infestations and other problems are ravaging many forests, turning once teeming ecosystems into tinderboxes. And the increased frequency of lightning as thunder storms become more severe only exacerbates the situation. Not everyone agrees that global warming is causing the increase in wildfires. Professor David B. South of Auburn University points the finger at forest management and fire suppression practices over the last century that have allowed “fuels” to build up on forest floors, making the fires that do get started that much harder to quell or contain. “Policymakers who halt active forest management and kill ‘green’ harvesting jobs in favor of a ‘hands-off’ approach contribute to the buildup of fuels in the forest,” South told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in May 2014. “This eventually increases the risk of catastrophic wildfires,” he said, adding that blaming carbon dioxide emissions for increased fire risk would be “simply unscientific.” Regardless of who is right, we can all help reduce or prevent wildfires. According to Smokey Bear, the federal government’s mascot for wildfire prevention since the 1940s, those of us living in or visiting fire-prone areas should take extra precautions when burning anything outdoors. The campfire safety page of Smokey Bear’s website outlines how to build and extinguish campfires properly to minimize wildfire risks, and provides lots of other relevant tips on how to stay vigilant. You can also help reduce the risk of wildfire by reducing your carbon footprint (drive and fly less, plant trees) and speaking up for legislation and other actions that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CONTACTS: NWF, www.nwf.org; Climate Central, www.climatecentral.org; Smokey Bear, www.smokeybear.com. EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: [email protected].
Hiccups for Elephants Extension Activities - Grades: PreK–K, 1–2 About this book WHAT A CHARACTER! (Reading—Fantasy vs. Reality) Discuss which animal in the story children liked best. Have children give examples from the book of why they chose this animal. Then ask children to discuss the way the illustrator portrayed this animal. Would the animal behave this way in real life? Why or why not? Ask children to point out the elements in the story that could not happen in real life.
Some of the most obvious impacts of airplanes are increases in the speed of travel, drastic changes in warfare methods, commercial impacts and the development of aeronautics, explains TeenInk. However, other impacts of air travel are much more subtle, including the jobs created by construction of airplanes and the commercial flight industry, changes in perception of the world, environmental damages and noise pollution.Continue Reading The most obvious impact of the airplane is the drastic reduction in travel time. A car journey that normally takes 6 hours takes about 80 minutes by plane. With the airplane, trips that before were only possible by boat could by taken by plane. Airplanes also drastically changed military tactics. Not only are armed aircraft and bombing planes important parts of military strategy, airplanes have also enabled armies to transport soldiers and supplies, as well as spy on enemies. In addition, the technology for flight on earth directly led to the possibility of traveling in space. There are also many commercial impacts of air travel. Airplanes make transporting supplies and products to remote places much easier. They also create an industry unto themselves, by requiring people to build and fly them and even more people to man the airports used by airplanes. There are also many environmental impacts of airplanes. Most notable is pollution, both of the air and of the land from runoff of fuel, oil and grease spilled during maintenance. In addition, airplanes introduce noise pollution when they fly.Learn more about Inventions
New research in Nature Communications showing how tiny creatures drifted across the ocean before falling to the seafloor and being fossilised has the potential to improve our understanding of past climates. The research published in Nature Communications has identified which planktic foraminifera gathered up in core samples from the ocean floor, drifted thousands of kilometres and which species barely moved at all. The research will help scientists to more accurate distinguish which fossils most accurately reflect ocean and temperature states in the locaiton where they were found. "This research will help scientists improve the study of past climates because they will be able to look at a species of foraminifera and the core location to very quickly get a sense of how site-specific that particular proxy measure is," said Dr Van Sebille, lead-author of the study and a climate scientist at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science at UNSW Australia. "In a way it will give us a good indication of whether the creature we are looking at to get our past-temperature estimates was a bit of a globetrotter or a stay at home type." For many decades, deriving past temperatures from the shells of creatures living tens of thousands of years ago has been key to understanding climates of the past. However, interpreting the records has never been easy. This is the reason that many studies have very large margins of error when they use ocean sediments as a way of establishing past temperatures. It also explains why there is a greater focus on the trend of these results over the actual temperature. "The older the proxy, the wider the margin of error. This is because ocean currents can change, tectonic plates move and there is even variation in which level of the ocean various plankton can be found," said Dr Scussolini, a contributing author and climate scientist at VU University, Amsterdam. "This research allows us for the first time to grasp the margins of error caused by drift and also opens an entirely new dimension for the interpretation of the deep-sea climate data." The international team used state-of-the-art computer models and analysis on fossil shells to investigate the impact of oceanic drift. In extreme cases the variation in temperature between where the fossilised shell was found and where it came from could be up to 3°C. In other cases for specific plankton and in areas of the ocean where currents were particularly slow, the variation in temperature was negligible. As a result, the team is now working on creating a tool, so fellow researchers can easily estimate how large the impact of drift for the location is likely to be. This tool will also be extended to other species of plankton. "Our results highlight the importance of the ocean currents in transporting anything that floats," said Dr Van Sebille. "By picking apart this variation we can add another level of certainty to estimates of past temperatures, opening a door that may help us discover what future climate change may bring to our planet."
About the Map The animated map shows the Yellow-rumped Warbler’s predicted distribution and relative abundance across all 52 weeks of the year. The animation illustrates the migratory movements of each species as its populations travel across North America. The brighter the color, the higher the expected count of the species on a standardized eBird count. The data used to generate this animation were produced using a statistical model to predict the relative abundance of the population at specific times and locations by relating observations of birds from eBird to local environmental features derived from NASA remote sensing data. Please note that because these maps represent models of predicted abundance, they are shown to illustrate broad patterns of connectivity across regions and are not intended to accurately depict local distributions in any given week. As more and more eBird data become available, the accuracy of these predictive models will improve. About Yellow-rumped Warbler Abundance and Distribution The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most abundant birds in North America, connecting almost every part of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico during its annual cycle. The northern and eastern population (“Myrtle Warbler”) breeds throughout the boreal forest of Alaska and Canada, migrating east and south to spend the winter primarily in the southeastern U.S.—small numbers reach eastern Mexico and the Caribbean, especially during cold northern winters. The western population (“Audubon’s Warbler”) breeds in coniferous forests of the western U.S. and southwestern Canada and winters in the southwestern U.S. and in the highlands of central and western Mexico. Yellow-rumped Warblers are tolerant of disturbed habitats; eastern populations have been stable or increasing, whereas western populations have shown a steady decline since 1970. More about Yellow-rumped Warbler at All About Birds.
From its beginnings in the seventh century, Islam was spread by means of its practitioners' violent conquest of non-Muslim lands. For more than a millennium (from 638 to 1683), these conquests expanded Islam's empire over vast territories in Africa, Europe, and Asia. During that period, the conquered "infidels" (non-Muslims) -- who each possessed their own unique religion, culture, and language -- constituted a significant majority of the population of the newly Islamized lands. As early as the eighth century, a formal set of rules was created to govern the relationships between the conquering Muslims and the defeated infidels. The framework of these regulations is known as "dhimmitude," a term connoting the lowly legal and social status of Jews and Christians who are subjected to Islamic rule. Dhimmi was the name applied by the Arab-Muslim conquerors to the indigenous non-Muslim populations that surrendered by a treaty (dhimma) to Muslim domination. A non-Muslim community that is forced to accept dhimmitude is condemned to live in a system that will protect it from violent jihad on only one condition: if it is completely subservient to a Muslim master. In return for that subservience, the community is granted limited rights, although dhimmis could be capriciously subjected to such depredations as mass slavery, abductions, and deportations. According to Dr. Mitchell G. Bard, director of the Jewish Virtual Library: “Dhimmis were excluded from public office and armed service, and were forbidden to bear arms. They were not allowed to ride horses or camels, to build synagogues or churches taller than mosques, to construct houses higher than those of Muslims, or to drink wine in public. They were not allowed to pray or mourn in loud voices as that might offend the Muslims. The dhimmi had to show public deference toward Muslims, always yielding them the center of the road. The dhimmi was not allowed to give evidence in court against a Muslim, and his oath was unacceptable in an Islamic court. To defend himself the dhimmi would have to purchase Muslim witnesses at great expense. This left the dhimmi with little legal recourse when harmed by a Muslim. Dhimmis were also forced to wear distinctive clothing. In the ninth century, for example, Baghdad's Caliph al-Mutawakkil designated a yellow badge for Jews, setting a precedent that would be followed centuries later.” Dhimmitude was abolished from the Islamic world during the 19th and 20th centuries under European military pressure, or by direct European colonization. But it has recently made a resurgence -- along with jihad itself -- as a consequence of the Islamic wars in Sudan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Algeria, and Israel. Moreover, non-Muslim minorities suffer severe discrimination in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, and countries that apply or recognize the shari’a law. Ultimately, dhimmitude is an outgrowth of the fact that Muslims consider themselves to be in a perpetual state of war with their non-Muslim neighbors.
- Horizontal flukes. - Hind limbs vestigial. - No external ears. - Very little hair in adults. - No external genitalia, withdrawn into slits. - Thick layer of blubber. - No sweat or oil glands. Life History of Cetaceans - Open mouth wide, take in large quantity of water, strain out food. e.g. Humpback Whale, corrals krill in a bubble net. - Swimming through water, mouth partly open. Water comes in through gap at front of mouth, strained through baleen, and out the sides of the mouth. e.g. Right Whales, Sei Whales. - Using suction of tongue against palate to draw water in and opposite movement to force water out. e.g. Gray Whales. - How much food? Blue Whale needs 1.5 million Cal/day for Basal metabolic rate (during fattening for winter 3 million). 1 lb. of krill = 400 Cal, so 4 tons per day are needed. Fastest of the large whales is the Fin Whale, bursts up to 32 mph. - Gestation is as little as 10 months for some of the dolphins, up to 15 months for - Much larger compared to mother than in other mammals, 40% in Harbor Porpoises. - Born tail first, able to swim immediately. - Pair of teats concealed in slits, milk very rich in fat. - Weight gain very rapid, dolphin may double length and 7X its weight in first year. - Most whales calve only every 2-3 years, dolphins 1-2 (usually 2) years. - Blubber with few blood vessels. - Countercurrent system in blood circulation. - Low surface to volume ratio. - Decreased respiration rates. - Most larger whales migrate poleward in the summer and toward the equator in winter, calving often in wintering grounds. - Some migrate to stay in warmer waters with abundant food year around. e.g. right whale. - Small whales, dolphins and porpoises do not migrate. - Gray whale is a common migrant past the California coast, Humpback is less common. Breaching & Beaching - Some breach some do not. - No good answer as to why they beach. - Historically hunted for baleen and oil. - IWC banned factory ship whaling in 1979, some nations are not members though and still capture some whales. - Some species have been drastically reduced in numbers. e.g. Gray Whale now extinct in - Many dolphins and porpoises are drowned after becoming entangled in nets. - Great Blue Whale is the largest. Spend summers from Central Cal to AK. - Humpback Whale: Rarely sighted off Cal coast in Summer. - Gray Whale: Dec-Jan is best time to sight them off Cal. - Sperm Whales: pelagic, deep waters off CA during winter. - Killer Whales: Worldwide, can be seen in CA, Prey upon other whales. - Pacific White-sided Dolphin: All along CA, commonly used in shows. - Harbor Porpoise: Commonly found in bays, river mouths and shallow inshore waters. Small Order Carnivora (The Pinnipeds) - Pinnipeds used to be recognized as an order, now not used. - All limbs form flippers. - Body covered with hair. - Feed on fish and other marine animals. - Come to land to rest and give birth to young. - 3 Families: Odobenidae (Walrus), Otariidae (Eared Seals), Phocidae (True Seals). Comparison of seal families: \|\|long, hairless or partially haired, claws away from flipper edge \|\|shorts, hairy, claws on \|\|large, can be rotated \|\|intermediate, cannot be rotated under body. \|\|external in a scrotum. \|\|separate outside body cavity in the hypodermal layer of skin. \|\|Splashing back and forth figure eight motion with back of body, fore limbs for control \|\|extend head and neck for steering and use a sort of breast stroke Life History of Pinnipeds - Varied diets among all the different species. - Little is known about how they capture prey. - Many eat stones or pebbles. - Twinning is rare. - Pupping interval 1 or more years. - Mating occurs during a very short breeding season. - Gestation is 10-12 months. - Milk very rich in fat, little liquid. - Lungs collapse from 25-70 m and force air into poorly vascularized cartilaginous - tissue (keeps nitrogen from getting into blood too much). - More blood volume than most other mammals. - High concentration of RBCs in blood and muscle. - Heart rate drops from 120 down to 4-6! - Northern Elephant Seals have been recorded diving to 1600 m for ca. 80 min. - Have been extensively exploited in the past. - Not currently hunted. - Many species making a comeback. Order Carnivora Family Mustelidae (Otters) - Only marine mammal without blubber. - Very thick and fine fur. - Historically they were hunted, southern form almost wiped out. - Eat shellfish and sea urchins. - Also eat fish. - Prevent urchin barrens in kelp beds and thus encourage greater fish production. - Compete with humans for shellfish, demise of Abalone fisheries in some parts of CA might be partly due to otters. - Male mates with female in water by grasping her head and jaws (including nose) in - his mouth while she is floating on her back. - Gestation is 8 months. - Single pup, born on land or water. - Swims on stomach from 4-5 up to 10 months, swim on back at that point. - Pupping every 1-almost 2 years. - Pups fully independent at 6 months. Back to the BIOL 331 Syllabus
Tales of Troubles The “Troubles” of the late twentieth-century continues a legacy of Irish rebelliousness that stretches back hundreds of years into the past. There have been sporadic Irish rebellions between the date of the Norman invasion of the Irish lands in the twelfth century and the twentieth century Northern Irish Troubles. David Beresford’s Ten Men Dead: the story of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, and John Conway’s Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life, show the historical legacy of Irish rebelliousness culminating in the Irish Troubles of the late twentieth century. Ten Men Dead focuses on the 217-day Irish hunger strike that occurred between March 1and October 3, 1981, after ten Irish nationalist prisoners had starved themselves to death in protest against Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the British government (Beresford 324). Beresford tells the stories of the IRA and INLA men who went on hunger strike through the many letters written by prisoners in Long Kesh Prison. He especially draws from the letters written by IRA leader McFarlane to a Sinn Fein official known as Liam Og. Beresford also uses family members of the hunger strikers as primary sources to give readers a sense of being in the hospital room with the protesters on their deathbeds. Beresford's display of the men’s last moments allow a detailed look at the deterioration caused by starvation and shows the resolve and determination of the hunger strikers and their families. Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life, follows the experiences of Conroy, a reporter working for the Chicago Daily News and the Alicia Patterson Foundation from the late 1970s to the early-to-mid 1980s (viii). In his book, Conroy dives right into the war between the Protestants and Catholics of Belfast. He reports on the movements of the police, military, Protestant paramilitary groups and the IRA, INLA and other Catholic paramilitary groups. While Beresford comments on events within the prison during the hunger strike, Conroy reports on the city of Belfast’s response to the deaths of the men. A Brief Irish History Conroy begins his book by attempting to trace the origin of the Troubles through Irish history. Conroy says that five historical periods are important for understanding the Northern Irish Troubles: “the seventeenth-century plantation of Ulster and the upheaval that followed; the formation of the Orange Order in the 1790s; the 1916 Easter Rising and the partition of Ireland; the growth of the civil rights movement in the late1960s; and the state’s slide into violence after August 1969” (Belfast Diary 19). These events placed Protestants politically above Catholics and led to Catholic responses, such as the civil rights movements and rebellion. The plantation of Ulster that Conroy mentions as the first historical period occurred after the Nine-Years War, beginning in 1593 and ending in 1602. Hugh O’Neil, a man skilled in both diplomacy and battle, led the Gaelic north of Ireland into rebellion. His loss of the Nine-Years War, and his subsequent flight from Ireland, left the northern lands open to the English. The English decided to subdue the Irish with the 1610 Articles of Plantation. Conroy informs the reader that, “The Articles of Plantation were designed to displace the rebellious Irish by confiscating their land, giving it to loyal Englishmen and Scots, and confining the native Irish to less fertile lands” (Belfast Diary 19). The plantation in Ulster drastically changed the attitude and make-up of the region. According to Conroy, Ulster, a stronghold of Gaelic Catholics and the ancient seat of Irish High-Kings, was ushered by the English government into the hands of Protestant settlers who built fortifications to defend their newly acquired land against the Irish that had been forced from their homes (Conroy Belfast Diary 19). Bands of Catholic Gaelic-Irish warriors of the seventeenth century, known as Wood Kerns, like the IRA and other Catholic paramilitary groups during the 20th century, fought the Protestant residents in Ireland, which they perceived as invaders. The plantation of Ulster was followed by the arrival of Oliver Cromwell after the English civil war in the mid-seventeenth century. Conroy notes: “Oliver Cromwell arrived in 1649, and in Drogheda killed 2,000 Catholic men, women, and children, and in Wexford 2,000 more” (Belfast Diary 20). Cromwell subdued Ireland in under a year and expanded policies of plantation over the whole of Ireland. Catholics throughout Ireland were pushed to the least fertile parts of the island. The Orange Order, the second historical period on Conroy’s list, is a brotherhood that pays homage to William of Orange, who defeated the Stuart King, James II. Conroy says that the Protestant Dutchman, William of Orange, arrived in England to take the throne in 1688 with the support of the English Parliament. Two years later, he defeated the ruling monarch, James II, at the Battle of the Boyne. In remembrance of King William and his victory over the Catholics, Ulster Protestants created the Orange Order in 1795 and hold a parade every July twelfth in celebration. (Belfast Diary 20). The divisions between the north and the south of Ireland could already be seen in William’s Glorious Revolution. The Catholic south of Ireland largely supported King James II, but many Protestant northern cities in Ireland resisted James and supported William. The Easter Rising of 1916, the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960’s, and the escalating violence in 1969 go hand-in-hand. Irish Catholics continued fighting for political equality as they had since Ireland was treated like a plantation in the seventeenth century. By the time World War I began in 1914, the members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) wanted independence from the United Kingdom. In the middle of the Great War, the extreme Irish nationalists made their move. Conroy says, “In Dublin on Easter Monday of that year, a group of about 1,000 men took over several strategically placed buildings, including the General Post Office, and proclaimed a Provisional Government of the Irish Republic” (Belfast Diary 21). After the rebellion was subdued and the leaders began to be executed by the British government, the Irish public, which had not supported the rebels, became furious with the British. Sinn Fein, previously a peaceful party, allied itself with the IRB and won “72 of 105 Irish seats in the British Parliament” in 1918 (Belfast Diary 21). By 1921, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had emerged from out of the IRB. After a guerilla war with a police force fresh from the trenches of WWI, a treaty was signed that created the Irish Free State. Modern-day Northern Ireland was left within the United Kingdom, but the majority of Ireland was given British Dominion status. The Catholics in the North of Ireland were stripped of many of the political powers and human rights granted to them by men such as Daniel O’Connell and Charles Parnell. The Protestant northern Irish government “gerrymandered election districts” to assure their control over their area of the land (Conroy Belfast Diary 24). This sparked a new wave of Catholic efforts for civil rights reform, which led to increased tensions between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Conroy notes that by 1967 Catholics were protesting for an end to government abuse, such as gerrymandering and anti-terrorist laws, and they wanted the B-Specials, a police force responsible for the Catholics, dissolved (Belfast Diary 26). The more Catholics fought for rights and equality, the more Protestants resisted Catholics and their demands. Humanizing the Fighters By 1981, the IRA was still fighting the British. Those caught in Northern Ireland were jailed in the Long Kesh Prison, also known as the Maze. Cardinal O’Fiach visited the prisoners and commented, “I was shocked by the inhuman conditions prevailing in H-Block 3, 4 and 5, where over 300 prisoners are incarcerated. One would hardly allow an animal to remain in such conditions… the remains of rotten food and human excreta scattered around the walls were almost unbearable” (Beresford Ten Men Dead 139). Ten hunger strikers of Long Kesh, Bobby Sands, Frank Hughes, Raymond McCreesh, Patsy Ohara, Kevin Lynch, Tom McElwee, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kieran Doherty and Michael Devline systematically starved themselves to death in protest in efforts to obtain political status. The British, under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the ‘Iron Lady,’ steadfastly pointed out that “The solution does not lie in our hands. It lies with the hunger strikers themselves, their families and advisers” (Beresford Ten Men Dead 148). Thatcher was verbally assaulted by the Irish-Americans Ted Kennedy, Daniel Moynihan, Tip O’Neill and Hugh Carey, known as the ‘Four Horsemen,’ in their statement that accused Thatcher of “inflexibility” and asking for her to solve the “unnecessary crisis” (Beresford Ten Men Dead 148). Thatcher argued, as David Beresford indicates in Ten Men Dead, that families of the hunger strikers did have power to end the strike. Yet to do this they had to go against their loved one’s wishes and undercut the hunger strikers’ cause. Many families suffered the agony of watching their kin starve to death, but others decided the fight was not worth sacrificing a son or husband. David Beresford illustrates these dramatic moments in Ten Men Dead. The prisoners’ hunger strike began to fall apart when wives and mothers began taking their husbands and sons off the strike once the strikers deteriorated to the point of a coma. After Paddy Quinn became delirious, his mother told the wives of the other hunger strikers that she was “’ taking him off,’” but the mother of Kevin Lynch responded, “I gave Kevin my promise and I’ll not be breaking it” (Beresford Ten Men Dead 275). Paddy Quinn was ultimately taken off the hunger strike by his mother, but the majority of the families of the hunger strikers let the strike continue. Many families were swayed by the statements of the hunger strikers, like Patsy O’Hara, who said, “’I’m sorry Mammy we didn’t win. Let the fight go on’” (Beresford Ten Men Dead 163). David Beresford describes many of the mothers of the hunger strikers as having “a will as steely as that of Mrs. Thatcher” (Ten Men Dead 155). By October 3, the hunger strike was ended. During the process multiple hunger strikers were elected as Sinn Fein members of Parliament. When Bobby Sands was elected as a Member of Parliament before his death, Beresford notes, “It undermined the entire shaky edifice of British policy in northern Ireland, which had been so painfully constructed on the hypothesis that blame for the ‘Troubles’ could be placed on a small gang of thugs and hoodlums who enjoyed no community support” (Ten Men Dead 85). The Irish were willing to show their frustration with the British government through political means, just like they showed their frustration after the Easter Rising by supporting Sinn Fein. The Irish have been in constant rebellion with Britain and have been fighting amongst themselves for hundreds of years. The tensions between Catholic-Protestant relations date back to the war between William of Orange and James II. The Anglo-Irish tensions can be traced back to the Norman invasion of Ireland. As John Conroy’s landlady says in Belfast Diary, “’The Troubles’ have been a way of life for millions of people for hundreds of years” (19). Feature image via Fribbler

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