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What is a Yeast Infection (Candidiasis)? Yeast or candida is a fungus which lives in and around the body. At times it can grow and cause an infection called candidiasis or yeast infection. Generally, when people talk about yeast infections, they refer to vaginal candidiasis. However, this fungus can cause an ailment anywhere from head to toe and it can affect both genders. (1) Small amounts of this fungus are always present somewhere in or on the body, yet will only cause damage when defenses have been compromised. There are more than 20 kinds of yeast which can reside in humans. They’re generally found in the intestinal tract but can also live around mucous membranes and on the skin. (2) When a particular event jeopardizes the immune system, the yeast multiplies uncontrollably, causing an infection. The primary locations can include the mouth, throat, esophagus, skin or vagina. People who present a higher risk may include: those who regularly take antibiotics, are obese or suffer from diabetes. It is also more prevalent among pregnant women and those with an impaired immune system. (3) Yeast may also invade the bloodstream. This is called invasive candidiasis and can be life threatening if it reaches the heart or other vital organs. (4) Symptoms of different yeast infections are: When a yeast fungus begins to infect the skin, it will typically trigger a red skin rash in the area. This is an inflammatory response from immune cells present on the surface which will try to fight off the invasion. Itchiness is likely to occur in and around the area and can cause the rash to increase in size. It can occur anywhere, but it’s more commonly seen around skin folds or in moist, damp areas. Common locations include the buttocks, under the breasts and near the genitals. Yeast may also infect hair follicles (holes) and the small sweat glands. Upon infection the area will likely change to a pimple-like exterior, which might cause minor hair fall and discomfort. (6) White patches can usually indicate a yeast infection in the mouth. These may be seen on the inside of the cheeks, tongue, roof and near the throat. Yeast infections in the mouth are generally referred to as “thrush.” The affected is likely to have a cotton-like feeling even after brushing teeth. (7) Redness and Soreness If the white patches are scraped off or otherwise removed, the skin is likely to appear red and sore to touch. Some might perceive this as a burning or irritable sensation. (8) Change of Taste The affected may experience a change of taste while eating. Some might lose this sense to a limited degree or even completely until the infection subsides. This is likely to have adverse effects while eating and may cause discomfort or social anxiety on a daily basis. Pain might be encountered while swallowing which could be an indicator that the infection is moving to the throat and beyond. (9) Around the mouth, especially in the corners, skin might become very dry and is likely to crack. It could become difficult to open up wide as the area has become red and sore. (10) Pain is very prevalent during a yeast infection. Those affected are likely to encounter discomfort and pain especially during sexual intercourse or while urinating. (12) Women might experience a change in vaginal discharge. Discharge is fluid coming from the vagina. It acts as a natural defense against infections. It is typically a transparent or white colored liquid which is mostly odorless. (13) During an infection, the discharge is likely to change appearance to a green or yellow color, which may have a strong odor. The most prevalent type of yeast which infects humans is called candida albicans. This undergoes a transformation inside the body, where it will attach to the surface of a host cell and then begin to multiply. It creates a bond (biofilm) which glues the fungi together and enables them to hold on to the surface while growing. This type of yeast is typically found in the stomach or intestinal tract, but during illness or other hormonal imbalances it may spread to different areas and thereby cause infections. The yeast fungus will go through four stages of development. This transformation can take place either on the inside or on the skin surface. These fungi have an ability to form a robust exterior allowing them to survive diverse environments. (14) In the first stage, yeast adherences begin to gather at the surface of the cell after a specific event has started to compromise the immune system. This could be caused by various events which can cause hormonal balance, such as illness or taking certain medications like antibiotics. The yeast fungi are starting to multiply rapidly as the immune defenses begin to show significant impairments. The yeast has formed anchoring base cells which will now hook onto the host. The yeast cells are now maturing, growing longer and are developing new skill sets. They build traits or biofilms which sit outside the cell and prepare for the last stage. In the last stage, the yeast has successfully formed attributes which are then dispersed from the base and travel to invade other sites. In order to diagnose a yeast infection, doctors will typically begin by examining the area where they may recognize the fungus. However, further testing is done to determine a suitable treatment. (15) A sample is likely to be taken from the yeast which will be analyzed in a lab to identify the type. When a diagnosis is made, treatment will begin. Yeast infections are usually treated with antifungal medications. The doctor may prescribe this as either a topical cream or lotion, or as an oral pill. We’ve already established those who have a weak immune system have a significantly higher chance of developing a yeast infection. The likelihood of this fungus spreading even further and invading the bloodstream is very high. Once the yeast infection spreads to the blood, it can travel to distant sites such as the brain or heart, leading to disastrous effects. (18) The treatment will still revolve around antifungal drugs, although doses may vary and some may be ruled out if they’re considered more harmful than beneficial. What is a yeast infection (candidiasis)? It’s an infection caused by a yeast fungus which may occur anywhere in or on the body. What are the signs of a yeast infection (candidiasis)? Signs and symptoms depend on which type you have. They will generally appear as red rashes, with a tendency to grow. White patches might become apparent inside the mouth. If the infection involves the genital area, the affected will likely experience itching and pain while urinating or a change in vaginal discharge. How do you develop a yeast infection (candidiasis)? When the body’s defenses are impaired, the yeast will begin to multiply and infect the surrounding tissues, triggering symptoms. Women present a higher risk during pregnancy when hormonal imbalances can cause a growth spurt in the fungi. (19) How are you diagnosed with a yeast infection (candidiasis)? Doctors can generally identify a yeast infection by looking at it. Further testing such as blood tests and sample collection might be done to determine the specific type and the proper treatment. What is the best treatment of a yeast infection (candidiasis)? Treatment for all types of yeast infections involves some kind of antifungal medicine. These may help slow down the growth and ease symptoms. (20) What are the long term complications of a yeast infection (candidiasis)? If yeast infections occur often, this may be a sign of another condition. The fungus is usually treated quite easily, but if treatment isn’t completed the infection may return. (21) Is a yeast infection (candidiasis) considered a disability? A yeast infection is not considered a disability. Is there a cure for a yeast infection (candidiasis)? Yeast fungi will always be present somewhere around the body, but the infection can be eliminated with treatment. Is a yeast infection (candidiasis) life threatening? Yes, if the yeast comes through to the bloodstream, it can cause life threatening complications. It may show significant effects on the heart and brain or other vital organs. A yeast infection occurs when the body’s defenses or hormonal balances are thrown off course. It is caused by a substance called candida (yeast) that lives in the human body. Everyone is likely to have a small amount of these fungi in the stomach, but they can also live near mucous membranes, on the skin surface and the vagina. In certain conditions they can grow uncontrollably, causing infections. These are generally harmless and can be treated easily with antifungal medicines.
“Time is what keeps everything from happening at once,” wrote Ray Cummings in his 1922 science fiction novel “The Girl in the Golden Atom,” which sums up time’s function quite nicely. But how does time stop everything from happening at once? What mechanism drives time forward, but not backward? In a recent study published in the journal Physical Review Letters, a group of theoretical physicists re-investigate the “Arrow of Time” — a concept that describes the relentless forward march of time — and highlight a different way of looking at how time manifests itself over universal scales. Traditionally, time is described by the “past hypothesis” that assumes that any given system begins in a low entropy state and then, driven by thermodynamics, its entropy increases. In a nutshell: The past is low entropy and the future is high entropy, a concept known as thermodynamic time asymmetry. In our everyday experience, we can find many examples of increasing entropy, such as a gas filling a room or an ice cube melting. In these examples, an irreversible increase in entropy (and therefore disorder) is observed. If this is applied on a universal scale, it is presumed that the Big Bang spawned the Universe in a low entropy state — i.e. a state of minimum entropy. Over the aeons, as the Universe expanded and cooled, the entropy of this large-scale system has increased. Therefore, as the hypothesis goes, time is intrinsically linked with the degree of entropy, or disorder, in our Universe. But there are several problems with this idea. Just after the Big Bang, several lines of observational evidence point to a Big Bang environment that was a hot and extremely disordered mess of primordial particles. As the Universe matured and cooled, gravity took over and made the Universe more ordered and more complex — from the cooling clouds of gas, stars formed and planets evolved from gravitational collapse. Eventually, organic chemistry became possible, giving rise to life and humans that philosophize about time and space. On a Universal scale, therefore, “disorder” has effectively decreased, not increased as the “past hypothesis” presumes. This, argues co-investigator Flavio Mercati of the Perimeter Institute (PI) for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada, is an issue with how entropy is measured. As entropy is a physical quantity with dimensions (like energy and temperature), there needs to be an external reference frame so they can be measured against. “This can be done for subsystems of the universe because the rest of the universe sets these references for them, but the whole universe has, by definition, nothing exterior to it with respect to define these things,” Mercati wrote in an email to Discovery News. So if not entropy, what could be driving universal time forward? Complexity is a dimensionless quantity that, in its most basic form, describes how complex a system is. So, if one looks at our Universe, complexity is directly linked with time; as time progresses, the Universe becomes increasingly structured. “The question we seek to answer in our paper is: what set these systems in that very low-entropy state in first place? Our answer is: gravity, and its tendency to create order and structure (complexity) from chaos,” said Mercati. To test this idea, Mercati and his colleagues created basic computer models to simulate particles in a toy universe. They found that, no matter how the simulation was run, the universes’ complexity always increased, and never decreased, with time. From the Big Bang, the Universe started in its lowest-complexity state (the hot ‘soup’ of disordered particles and energy). Then, as the Universe cooled to a state that gravity began to take over, gases clumped together, stars formed and galaxies evolved. The Universe became inexorably more complex, and gravity is the driving force of this increase in complexity. “Every solution of the gravitational toy model we studied has this property of having somewhere in the middle a very homogeneous, chaotic and unstructured state, which looks very much like the plasma soup that constituted the universe at the time the Cosmic Microwave Background was created,” said Mercati. “Then in both time directions from that state gravity enhances the inhomogeneities and creates a lot of structure and order, in an irreversible way.” As the Universe matures, he added, the subsystems become isolated enough so that other forces set up the conditions for the ‘classical’ arrow of time to dominate in low-entropy subsystems. In these subsystems, such as daily life on Earth, entropy can take over, creating a “thermodynamical arrow of time.” Over Universal scales, our perception of time is driven by the continuous growth of complexity, but in these subsystems, entropy dominates. “The universe is a structure whose complexity is growing,” said Mercati in a PI press release. “The universe is made up of big galaxies separated by vast voids. In the distant past, they were more clumped together. Our conjecture is that our perception of time is the result of a law that determines an irreversible growth of complexity.” The next step in this research would be to look for observational evidence, something Mercati and his team are working on. “…we don’t know yet whether there is any (observational) support, but we know what kind of experiments have a chance of testing our idea. These are cosmological observations.” For now, he hasn’t revealed what kinds of cosmological observations will be investigated, only that they will detailed in an upcoming, and likely fascinating, paper. Originally published on Discovery News.
The question of whether there's water on the Moon has been a legitimate one for some time. 10 years ago the theory was officially rebuked. New data received from infrared and neutron spectroscopy are on their way to changing this. Initially, scientists posited that there were traces of water on the poles of Earth's natural satellite. The Apollo missions proved this theory to be wrong. When the samples of lunar granite came back, scientists found no traces of water or any substances containing salt. This put an end to the search for water on the Moon. But over the past 10 years, the situation has changed significantly. Analysis of volcanic glass obtained from the surface of the Moon has once again raised doubts about the presence of water or a hydrogen-containing substance on the satellite. It may in fact lie at its core. When scientists first used neutron spectroscopy they found mixed results. By using infrared they found the answers they were looking for. In the search for hydrogen substances, they measured the protons coming off of the lunar surface with the aid of CRaTer (Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation). It sits in orbit around the satellite. When cosmic rays reach the lunar surface they blast protons up from it. CRaTer detects these. Based on the model, scientists used a particle accelerator to imitate the effect that the cosmic rays have on hydrogen-containing material. It turns out that when there's hydrogen present, the total level of proton radioactivity decreases. In other words - if there's water around the lunar poles, scanning of these regions will show a significant drop in protons. But when looking at the Moon again, scientists made several strange findings. Proton radioactivity was in fact higher at the poles than on other parts of the satellite. At the same time, infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of substances containing hydrogen. The reason - unusual effects that had not been noticed thus far. The protons detected were emitted from substances coming from the very depths of the Moon. This allows for speculation that the water is located closer to the core of the satellite than its surface.
As its name suggests, a Huntington disease-like (HDL) syndrome is a condition that resembles Huntington disease. Researchers have described four HDL syndromes, designated Huntington disease-like 1 (HDL1) through Huntington disease-like 4 (HDL4). These progressive brain disorders are characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional problems, and loss of thinking ability. HDL syndromes occur in people with the characteristic features of Huntington disease who do not have a mutation in HD, the gene typically associated with that disorder. HDL1, HDL2, and HDL4 usually appear in early to mid-adulthood, although they can begin earlier in life. The first signs and symptoms of these conditions often include irritability, emotional problems, small involuntary movements, poor coordination, and trouble learning new information or making decisions. Many affected people develop involuntary jerking or twitching movements known as chorea. As the disease progresses, these abnormal movements become more pronounced. Affected individuals may develop problems with walking, speaking, and swallowing. People with these disorders also experience changes in personality and a decline in thinking and reasoning abilities. Individuals with an HDL syndrome can live for a few years to more than a decade after signs and symptoms begin. HDL3 begins much earlier in life than most of the other HDL syndromes (usually around age 3 or 4). Affected children experience a decline in thinking ability, difficulties with movement and speech, and seizures. Because HDL3 has a somewhat different pattern of signs and symptoms and a different pattern of inheritance, researchers are unsure whether it belongs in the same category as the other HDL syndromes. Overall, HDL syndromes are rare. They are much less common than Huntington disease, which affects an estimated 3 to 7 per 100,000 people of European ancestry. Of the four described HDL syndromes, HDL4 appears to be the most common. HDL2 is the second most common and occurs almost exclusively in people of African heritage (especially black South Africans). HDL1 has been reported in only one family. HDL3 has been found in two families, both of which were from Saudi Arabia. In about one percent of people with the characteristic features of Huntington disease, no mutation in the HD gene has been identified. Mutations in the PRNP, JPH3, and TBP genes have been found to cause the signs and symptoms in some of these individuals. HDL1 is caused by mutations in the PRNP gene, while HDL2 results from mutations in JPH3. Mutations in the TBP gene are responsible for HDL4 (also known as spinocerebellar ataxia type 17). The genetic cause of HDL3 is unknown. The PRNP, JPH3, and TBP genes provide instructions for making proteins that are important for normal brain function. The features of HDL syndromes result from a particular type of mutation in any one of these genes. This mutation increases the length of a repeated segment of DNA within the gene, which leads to the production of an abnormal PRNP, JPH3, or TBP protein. The abnormal protein can build up in nerve cells (neurons) and disrupt the normal functions of these cells. The dysfunction and eventual death of neurons in certain areas of the brain underlie the signs and symptoms of HDL syndromes. Other medical conditions and gene mutations may also cause signs and symptoms resembling Huntington disease. In some affected people, the cause of the disorder is never identified. HDL1, HDL2, and HDL4 are inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern, which means one copy of the altered gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the disorder. In most cases, an affected person inherits the mutation from one affected parent. As the mutation responsible for HDL2 or HDL4 is passed down from one generation to the next, the length of the repeated DNA segment may increase. A longer repeat segment is often associated with more severe signs and symptoms that appear earlier in life. This phenomenon is known as anticipation. HDL3 is probably inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations. The parents of an individual with an autosomal recessive condition each carry one copy of the mutated gene, but they do not show signs and symptoms of the condition. - Huntington disease-like syndromes - Huntington's disease-like syndromes - Huntington's disease phenocopies - Huntington's disease phenocopy syndromes
This image from the Hubble Space Telescope illustrates the rite of passage for clusters of developing stars: from their sheltered growth in a dark cloud of dust and gas, to their powerful debut as a grouping of young stars, to their settlement into adulthood. The text includes information about the process of star formation illustrated in the image. Included is an inquiry-based classroom activity that focuses on the image and text. This Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud illustrates the rite of passage for a cluster of developing stars: from its sheltered growth in a dark cloud of dust and gas, to its powerful debut as a grouping of young stars, to its settlement into adulthood. The text explains this process of star formation. Includes a classroom activity. Teachers can use this lithograph as: An engagement tool in an inquiry-based lesson. Have students study the image side of the lithograph. Ask them to write down any questions they have about the image. When the students are finished, their questions can be used in a variety of ways: A content reading tool. Have students read the back of the lithograph and then write a quiz for the class. An example of a variety of stellar populations. Use the inquiry-based classroom activity called "In Search of Stellar Populations" that is included with the PDF lithograph..
Instead of just spreading information, websites are also often used to retrieve information. This is most commonly done using so called CGI programs. These programs run on a web server. They get their input from the form elements on a web page, a section of the URL string and/or cookies on the client computer. The information they retrieve can for example be added to a database or be sent to an e-mail address. Finally, the CGI program will produce a new document, which will be sent to the browser on the client computer. Mostly this is a new web page, but it can also be an image or audio file. CGI can also be used to create server push documents. This means that the line between the server and client stays open and whenever new information is available, it gets sent to the client. An example of this is a photographic image of a site that changes every 30 seconds.
Natural hazards pose major risks to people and property: Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are the result of physical processes: The effects of, and responses to, a tectonic hazard vary between areas of contrasting levels of wealth: Management can reduce the effects of a tectonic hazard: Global atmospheric circulation helps to determine patterns of weather and climate: Tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons) develop as a result of particular physical conditions: Tropical storms have significant effects on people and the environment: The UK is affected by a number of weather hazards: Extreme weather events in the UK have impacts on human activity: An example of a recent extreme weather event in the UK to illustrate: • social, economic and environmental impacts • how management strategies can reduce risk. Evidence that weather is becoming more extreme in the UK. Climate change is the result of natural and human factors, and has a range of effects: Evidence for climate change from the beginning of the Quaternary period to the present day. Possible causes of climate change: • natural factors – orbital changes, volcanic activity and solar output • human factors – use of fossil fuels, agriculture and deforestation. Overview of the effects of climate change on people and the environment. Managing climate change involves both mitigation (reducing causes) and adaptation (responding to change): Managing climate change: • mitigation – alternative energy production, carbon capture, planting trees, international agreements • adaptation – change in agricultural systems, managing water supply, reducing risk from rising sea levels.
Scripture: 1 Samuel 24 Introductory Activity – Fabric Grab - Gather a variety of fabric scraps. Cut the scraps into squares. Cut an even number of squares (2, 4, or 6) for each fabric. Divide the fabric squares into two matching groups. Put one group of fabric squares in the middle of the game area. Give each child a fabric square. Guide the kids to make a circle around the fabric in the middle of the room. Tell them that on your signal they will move to the fabric and look for a matching square. When they find their matching squares, they should move to the sides of the game area. Repeat the game as time allows. Or form teams and create two piles of fabric to see which team matches all the squares first. Tell kids that in the Bible story today you will hear about someone who cut a piece of fabric. Live It Out – Life Point Quilt - Gather a variety of colored paper, markers, and tape. You could use colored masking tape or clear tape. - Cut the paper into squares and other straight-edged shapes. Talk about the Bible story and emphasize the Life Point. Talk about how David did the right thing, even during a hard time. Encourage kids to talk about times it is hard to do the right thing. Tell kids to write the words of the Life Point on paper shapes, one or two words per shape. Then they can tape the shapes together to make a patchwork design, like a quilt. Allow them to add other shapes to complete their quilts. Tell them that they can use the quilts as reminders to always do the right thing. Introductory Activity – What Do You Know? Group the kids into two or more teams. Give each team a piece of paper and a pencil. Tell teams that you will give a signal and they should list as many things about David as they can. Give the “go” signal. After 30-45 seconds, call “stop.” Ask one team to call off the things they listed, one at a time. If another team has that same fact, all teams should mark it off. Continue until all teams have listed what they named. Count the number of facts that each team has that no other team listed. The one with the most unique facts wins. Tell kids that you will be learning more about David today. Live It Out – Toss and Tell - Gather muffin pan, paper, and table tennis balls. - Cut paper circles to fit inside the cups of the muffin pan. On each circle, print a place (such as home, school, the mall, friend’s house, sport field, etc.). Insert the circles in the muffin pan; use tape to secure them. Set the muffin pan near a wall. Use an activity on the Activity Page or leader pack to review the Bible content and Life Point. Give a table tennis ball to a preteen and ask her to toss it into the muffin pan. Allow her three chances to get a ball in the muffin pan. If she does not, her turn is over. If she gets a ball in the pan, she can describe a situation in that place. The preteen behind her can tell how to do the right thing in that situation. Then it’s his turn to toss a ball in the pan. Emphasize that we should do the right thing, even when it is hard. Teaching Tips: Use two or three muffin pans, side by side, to create more targets. Repeat some of the places in the muffin cups instead of trying to think of so many different places. Use teams to play. One team tosses and tells the situations. The other team tells how to do the right thing. Then teams switch tasks.
This applet will graph a given function on an interval [a, b], display various graphs that arise in the numerical evaluation of integrals, and evaluate the associated sums.The graphing screen is large and you will have to move from this text screen to the graphing screen by means of the mouse while learning how to use the applet. After the applet window is loaded you will see: a graphing area at the top, left of the screen; a text area at the top, right, and three text fields labeledf(x), a b, and M at the bottom left. The default value of f(x) is sin(1/x). It is being graphed on the interval [1, 2]. The graph is constructed by plotting f(x) at M = 80 equally spaced x values in [a, b], and then connecting the 80 points (x, f(x)) by straight lines. Thef(x) field is where the function under consideration is to be entered. The usual syntax rules apply here: the variable has the name x; the carat, ^, is used for exponentiation; multiplication must be denoted by the symbol ; all the functions you would see in a ordinary calculus course sin(x), tan(x), exp(x), ln(x), etc may be used; function arguments must be included within a pair of parentheses. Further details on syntax are given below. The domain is any pair of real numbersa b with a < b. The entry M is assumed to be a positive integer. To start, click on the "graph f(x)" button; this produces the graph of the function. The function is graphed in black. The x-axis, and the two lines from the x-axis to the function at the end points appear in purple. Moving to the right, thePartition with N = text field specifies the number of subintervals in which to divide the interval [a, b]. The default value is 6. The subintervals all have the same length, (b -a)/N. Continuing, if you press the button labeled "right" the applet will display the 6 rectangles whose height is the value of the function at the right hand endpoint of each subinterval. The type, the integer N, and the numerical value of the associated riemann sum are printed in the text area. Analogous actions occur when left, mid-point, and random buttons are pressed. When the trapezoid button is pressed, the trapezoid rule is applied. It may be difficult to see the straight lines connecting the successive function lines. To confirm that straight lines are used replacef(x) by sin(x), a b by 0 3.14159, press "graph f(x)", reset N to 4, and then press "trapezoid" again. Pressing the "Simpson" button yields an approximation of the "area under the curve" by parabolas. Again, unless N is small, say N = 2 or N = 4, it will be difficult to distinguish the graph of f(x) from the graph oof the approximating polynomial. However, the numerical values of the trapezoidal sums and the simpson sums illustrate the relative accuracy of the simpson algorithm. Incidentally, in Simpson's method, the integer N must be an even integer. If N is odd when you click on the simpson button, the program will let you know. If you click on "Examples" at the top of the Riemann screen, and then click on Example1 the program will load the function f(x)= abs(x) + sqrt(x) + ln(1+x) + exp(x)+ arcsin(x/3). (It may be necessary to scroll across the text field to see all of them) The main point here is that the program the usual elementary functions (polynomials, the trigonometric functions, the absolute value function, the logarithm to the base e, the exponential function ex, and the inverse trigonometric functions) may be used in the program. The functions ln(x) must be defined on a positive domain; sqrt(x) must be defined for x >= 0. Exponents and Negative Domains Click on Examples\|Example2 , click on Example2, and then click on "graph f(x)". This graph illustrates, in part, how exponents are handled in the applet. First of all, an exponent must be an integer, a decimal, or a rational number. Functions of x are not allowed. (You can handle, say, xx, by entering it as exp(xln(x))). Second, if the domain consists of positive numbers there are no problems with the evaluation of the functions. If the domain contains negative numbers then two cases can occur: If (in case (b)) you are using the Netscape browser no graph will appear, but question remarks will appear on the left side of the graphing area. A brief description of the error can then be found by clicking on Netscape's menu entries. If you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, all imaginary numbers are graphed as +1. The program will produce error messages when some common errors are made. If you click on Examples\|Syntax1 and then click on "graph f(x)" an error message will appear on the graphing screen. It will say that the number of left parenthesis is not equal to the number of right ones. So correct the error (by erasing the extra parenthesis at the end of the definition of f(x)) and click again. You will get another error message: the 2x needs to have a multiplication sign between the 2 and the x. Insert one and click again. Another error: A multiplication sign is needed between a closing and opening parenthesis. Insert one. This time the program works. To continue click on Examples\|Syntax2 and then click on "graph f(x)". You will learn that you can enter on two distinct numbers for the domain. Erase the last "3" and click again. You will find you still don't have exactly two numbers. The problem this time is the space between the minus sign and the 1. Erase an click. A graph will appear.
When it comes to hacking climate change, the solutions tend to match the scale of the problem. Geo-engineers have proposed pumping tons of sulphur into the atmosphere (to deflect sunlight), fertilizing the ocean with millions of tons of lime (to improve its CO2 absorbing capacity), and planting trees across 2.5 billion acres of desert. Faced with planetary crisis, there's no space for thinking small. The question, however, is whether any these methods would actually work, and what side-effects there might be along the way. If the cure is worse than the disease, it might be better to focus on more conventional responses. A new study from Germany runs the rule over five possible solutions. Using a computer model to simulate many of the Earth's systems (oceans, vegetation, atmosphere), researchers at the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research, in Kiel, compared the positive and negative effects on the environment. All the solutions had been modeled individually before, but never using the same computer and emissions scenarios. The result? Even the most workable ideas for climate engineering don't offer much in the way of upside, but provide plenty of downside, the researchers say. In some cases, they may even exacerbate climate disorder. "Our simulations suggest that the potential for these types of climate engineering to make up for failed mitigation may be very limited," the paper, which is published in Nature Communications, says. Below, lead author David Keller, walks us through the five methods his team studied, and outlines what the possible consequences of each approach. The technical term for planting lots of trees to combat climate change is "afforestation." But whatever you call it, it doesn't seem to be very feasible as a large-scale measure. The research tested the idea of seeding vegetation all over the Sahara desert, in North Africa, and the Australian Outback, and the effect was minimal. "Even if you could plant trees in this whole area, they will take carbon up, but they won't take enough to have a large impact on temperature," Keller says. The trees would absorb some carbon, but also reduce the reflectiveness of the surface (the albedo effect) keeping more heat at land level. Artificial ocean upwelling, which was tested in a real-life experiment off Hawaii not long ago, is when you propel cold, nutrient-rich water from the bottom of the ocean to the top. The idea is to spur growth of plankton that suck in carbon and then sequester it below the surface when they die. The model showed it could reduce ocean temperatures, but that it would be dangerous if you stopped pumping. "If you stop it, the water gets warmer than if you did nothing at all, and it gets warmer very quickly," Keller says. "It's one of the methods that when started it, you wouldn't be able to stop, unless you dealt with the CO2 in the atmosphere." Cooling the ocean surface might also reduce evaporation and thus affect rainfall, he adds. By increasing the ocean's alkalinity, you can increase its capacity to absorb CO2 (and reverse the problem of acidification at the same time). The problem is you need a lot of lime to make a difference. "If you took every ship we had in world and loaded it up with this powder and continuously dumped it in the ocean, it would be effective in reducing carbon," Keller says, "but not enough to deal with all the CO2 that's being emitted. You would really have to increase the shipping capacity and you would have to increase [limestone] mining. It would be like grinding up the Alps and turning it into quicklime." Another idea to stimulate plankton growth is to fertilize an ocean that's limited in iron. The researchers focused on a scenario in the Southern Ocean, but found, while it could be logistically feasible, it wouldn't do much for CO2 absorption. "Even if we fertilize the ocean completely, which is probably possible with a big effort, we just can't get enough plankton growth because it's cold and dark most of the year, and you don't get much carbon take-up that way," Keller says. Solar radiation management (SRM), where you use mirrors or sulphur aerosols to block sunlight, is widely seen as the most feasible method among geo-engineers. Helping its cause is that we know aerosols work: when there's a big volcanic eruption, and tons of ash go into the atmosphere, temperatures tend to drop. The problem, says Keller, is that it's only a "Band-Aid." If you have to stop spraying sulphur, the problem would return. "You get really rapid warming because the CO2 is still there," he says. Moreover, SRM could also significantly affect rainfall patterns, perhaps "as much as climate change itself." There are other reasons to be skeptical about geo-engineering apart from the unpredictable processes these experiments might unleash. For one, governments would probably have to agree at a global level on any large-scale actions—something that is hard to see, as geo-engineering, like climate change, could benefit some countries and imperil others. Keller isn't completely dismissive. He thinks geo-engineering like SRM could be useful in some circumstances, in conjunction with reducing emissions. But he thinks the latter is much more important. "I think if someone tries these methods, we need to know what could happen—that these are the side-effects," he says. "Personally, though, I would prefer to see emissions reduced than doing geo-engineering." [Image: Trees via Shutterstock]
Proteus syndrome is an extremely rare but chronic, or long-term, condition. It causes an overgrowth of skin, bones, blood vessels, and fatty and connective tissue. These overgrowths usually aren’t cancerous. The overgrowths can be mild or severe, and they can affect any part of the body. The limbs, spine, and skull are most commonly affected. They typically aren’t apparent at birth, but become more noticeable by age 6 to 18 months. Left untreated, the overgrowths can lead to serious health and mobility issues. It’s estimated that fewer than 500 people worldwide have Proteus syndrome. Did you know? Proteus syndrome got its name from the Greek god Proteus, who would change his shape to elude capture. It’s also thought that Joseph Merrick, the so-called Elephant Man, had Proteus syndrome. Symptoms tend to vary greatly from one person to another and can include: - asymmetric overgrowths, such as one side of the body having longer limbs than the other - raised, rough skin lesions that may have a bumpy, grooved appearance - a curved spine, also called scoliosis - fatty overgrowths, often on the stomach, arms, and legs - noncancerous tumors, often found on the ovaries, and membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord - malformed blood vessels, which increase the risk of life-threatening blood clots - malformation of the central nervous system, which can cause mental disabilities, and features such as a long face and narrow head, droopy eyelids, and wide nostrils - thickened skin pads on the soles of the feet Proteus syndrome occurs during fetal development. It’s caused by what experts call a mutation, or permanent alteration, of the gene AKT1. The AKT1 gene helps regulate growth. No one really knows why this mutation occurs, but doctors suspect it’s random and not inherited. For this reason, Proteus syndrome isn’t a disease that is passed on from one generation to the next. The Proteus Syndrome Foundation emphasizes that this condition isn’t causes by something a parent did or didn’t do. Scientists have also discovered that the gene mutation is mosaic. That means it affects some cells in the body but not others. This helps to explain why one side of the body may be affected and not the other, and why the severity of symptoms can vary so greatly from one person to another. Diagnosis can be difficult. The condition is rare, and many doctors are unfamiliar it. The first step a doctor may take is to biopsy a tumor or tissue, and test the sample for the presence of a mutated AKT1 gene. If one is found, screening tests, such as X-rays, ultrasounds, and CT scans, may be used to look for internal masses. There’s no cure for Proteus syndrome. Treatment generally focuses on minimizing and managing symptoms. The condition affects many parts of the body, so your child may need treatment from several doctors, including the following: - pulmonologist (lung specialist) - orthopedist (bone doctor) - physical therapist Surgery to remove skin overgrowths and excess tissue may be recommended. Doctors may also suggest surgically removing growth plates in the bone to prevent excessive growth. Proteus syndrome can cause numerous complications. Some can be life-threatening. Your child may develop large masses. These can be disfiguring and lead to severe mobility issues. Tumors can compress organs and nerves, resulting in things like a collapsed lung and loss of sensation in a limb. Overgrowth of bone can also lead to loss of mobility. The growths can also cause neurological complications that may affect mental development, and lead to loss of vision and seizures. People with Proteus syndrome are more prone to deep vein thrombosis because it can affect blood vessels. Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that occurs in the body’s deep veins, usually in the leg. The clot can break free and travel throughout the body. If a clot becomes wedged in an artery of the lungs, called a pulmonary embolism, it can block blood flow and lead to death. Pulmonary embolism is a leading cause of death in people with Proteus syndrome. Your child will regularly be monitored for blood clots. Common symptoms of a pulmonary embolism are: - shortness of breath - chest pain - a cough that can sometimes bring up blood-streaked mucus Proteus syndrome is a very uncommon condition that can vary in severity. Without treatment, the condition will worsen over time. Treatment may include surgery and physical therapy. Your child will also be monitored for blood clots. The condition can affect quality of life, but people with Proteus syndrome can age normally with medical intervention and monitoring.
Circumstellar Disk Around Beta Pictoris These two Hubble Space Telescope visible-light views of the edge- on disk of dust around the star Beta Pictoris yield telltale evidence for the existence of planets, and possibly the gravitational tug of a companion brown dwarf or bypassing star. Both views reveal warps in the disk that might be caused by the gravitational pull of one or more unseen companions. Since its discovery, Beta Pictoris has long been considered one of the nearest examples of an extrasolar planetary system still forming. The "false color" images show gradations in the brightness of the disk, caused simply by the fact that the disk shines by reflected starlight, and so the farther the dust is from the central star, the fainter it is. In both views the bright glare of the central star is blocked by a black strip that divides the disk into left (east) and right (west) components. Because the disk is tilted nearly edge-on to Earth the images show a sharp, bright, straight ridge extending over the entire length of the disk.(in our solar system this feature is seen as zodiacal light, where sunlight is reflected by a concentration of dust in the ecliptic plane). The orbits of the planets of our solar system are added for scale. [TOP] - This Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 image shows the full extent of the disk, which spans 140 billion miles (1500 astronomical units) edge-to-edge. An unusual flaring at the top of the right side of the disk (the Southwest side of the disk) shows that dust has been pulled above the dense plane of the disk beyond what is observed in the left side. A gravitational perturbation by an unseen substellar- mass companion farther from the star than planets would be, or a tug from a bypassing star might cause this flaring. The image was taken on June 22, 1995. [BOTTOM] - An unprecedented detailed close-up view of the inner region of the disk taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph shows a warp in the disk. Though this warp was first seen by Hubble in 1995, the new images go closer to the star than ever before to about 1.4 billion miles (15 astronomical units) - a radius smaller than that of Uranus' orbit. These new details support the presence of one or more planets orbiting the star. The image was taken in September 1997. Bottom Credit: Sally Heap (GSFC/NASA)
Astronomers Measure Most Massive Black Hole Yet Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The black hole makes up 14 percent of its galaxy’s mass, rather than the usual 0.1 percent, according to the study published in the journal Nature. NGC 1277 is about 220 million light-years away from Earth, and is just ten percent the size and mass of our own Milky Way. Although it is a small galaxy, the black hole in its heart is more than 11 times as wide as Neptune’s orbit around the Sun. “This is a really oddball galaxy,” said team member Karl Gebhardt of The University of Texas at Austin. “It’s almost all black hole. This could be the first object in a new class of galaxy-black hole systems.” Ultimately, the researchers using the telescope are hoping to gain a better understanding of how black holes and galaxies form and grow together. “At the moment there are three completely different mechanisms that all claim to explain the link between black hole mass and host galaxies’ properties. We do not understand yet which of these theories is best,” said lead author Remco van den Bosch. Astronomers know the mass of fewer than 100 black holes in galaxies, but measuring these cosmic objects is difficult and time-consuming. The team developed the HET Massive Galaxy Survey to dwindle down the number of galaxies to follow up on. “When trying to understand anything, you always look at the extremes: the most massive and the least massive,” Gebhardt said. “We chose a very large sample of the most massive galaxies in the nearby universe,” to learn more about the relationship between black holes and their host galaxies. The team has studied 700 of their 800 galaxies with HET, and Gebhardt said the telescope works best when the galaxies are spread all across the sky. The astronomers wrote in the paper that they zeroed in on the top six most massive galaxies, and found that NGC 1277 had already been photographed by Hubble Space Telescope. This image helped to provide measurements of the galaxy’s brightness at different distances from its center. When the team combined HET data and various models run through a supercomputer, they saw that the black hole had a mass of 17 billion Suns. “The mass of this black hole is much higher than expected,” Gebhardt concluded. “It leads us to think that very massive galaxies have a different physical process in how their black holes grow.”
Guide To High Cholesterol High Cholesterol Levels - Definition and Diagnosis Cholesterol Is A Type Of Fat Cholesterol is a substance known as a lipid, a type of fat. Most of the body's supply of cholesterol is produced in the liver, but some is derived from food (eg. eggs and meat). In simple terms, there are two types of cholesterol: a 'good' type called high density lipoprotein (HDL) and a 'bad' type called low density lipoprotein (LDL). Triglyceride is another lipid, closely related to cholesterol, whose levels, like those of HDL and LDL, should also be monitored. High Cholesterol Levels A high level of cholesterol in the blood is a condition known as hypercholesterolemia. This is a form of hyperlipidemia (also known as lipemia, lipidemia, lipoidemia, hyperlipoidemia) which means simply: excess lipids in the bloodstream. The other type of hyperlipidemia, in addition to hypercholesterolemia, is called hypertriglyceridemia which means: excess levels of triglycerides in the blood. What Constitutes A High Cholesterol Count? Cholesterol levels in the blood (serum cholesterol) are most accurately measured by taking a blood sample after the patient has fasted for 12 hours. Optimum Serum Cholesterol For a middle-aged person, the optimal range of total cholesterol is 115-200 mg/dL (3-5.2 mmol/L). If total cholesterol exceeds 200 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L), the doctor is likely to take a close look at the patient's levels of HDL, LDL and triglycerides, since it is the proportion of LDL-cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride level which predicts the likelihood of adverse health consequences such as atherosclerosis. US Diagnosis Of High Cholesterol - Desirable: Less than 200 mg/dL UK Diagnosis Of High Cholesterol - Ideal level: less than 5mmol/l. High Cholesterol - Health Risk Assessment Note that the significance of a specific cholesterol count cannot be assessed without taking into account the ratio between good HDL and bad LDL cholesterol, the triglyceride count, and the presence/absence of other cardiovascular risks, such as smoking, diabetes, raised blood pressure (hypertension), and any likelihood of inherited or familial hypercholesterolemia due to a genetic defect. For example, it is possible for a patient to have a high level of "total" cholesterol yet still have a relatively low cardiovascular risk because of low LDL cholesterol, an absence of other lifestyle-risk factors or because their family history is free from coronary disease. On the other hand, hypertriglyceridemia (high levels of triglycerides) has been linked to atherosclerosis, even when cholesterol levels are normal. When Are HDL Cholesterol Levels Too High? In America, HDL is assessed as follows: - Less than 40 means you're at higher risk for heart disease. When Are LDL Cholesterol Levels Too High? In America, LDL is assessed as follows: - Less than 100 mg/dL (Optimal) When Are Triglyceride Levels Too High? In America, tryglyceride levels are assessed as follows: - Less than 150 mg/dL (Normal) Diagnosis Of High Cholesterol After fasting for 12 hours, during which only water should be consumed, a patient gives a blood sample which is then used to measure the level of cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride in the bloodstream. Typically cholesterol levels rise during pregnancy and drop significantly during serious illness. Evidence Of Vascular Disease If the cholesterol count is high, the doctor may seek evidence of cardiovascular disease by measuring the pulse, blood pressure, listening to the heart, and other large arteries, monitoring kidney function with a blood test and arranging an electrocardiogram (ECG). When to Have Your Cholesterol Count Checked? Ideally, men aged 35 and older and women aged 45 and older should have their cholesterol measured annually, although this regularity may vary according to your cholesterol level and what other health risk factors you have. © 2000-2013 Anne Collins. All rights reserved.
Complex Decisions Made Simple With Structure and Tools Structuring techniques are the foundation of decision making. They are to decision making what blueprints are to construction. There are a number of techniques that will quickly and easily improve the analysis of virtually any problem. This white paper introduces some of the simplest and most effective structuring techniques including sorting, sequencing, placement, decision trees, and ranking. Sorting is the most basic structuring technique. It involves grouping data into patterns of association. For example, grouping similar items on a grocery list is a technique to simplify finding them in a store. When working on a problem, we all tend to sort information in our heads. However, for the greatest clarity, recording the information on a list that can be viewed and rearranged is a better approach. It provides a visual perspective and a written record that can be edited, re-sorted, and augmented. Sorting contributes to the understanding of even the easiest of problems (such as shopping) and allows us to ask questions of the data, such as: Are there enough items needed from a different store in order to justify driving to that store? Sequencing is a form of sorting. With sequencing, events are put in chronological order to create a visual understanding of how events relate to each other temporally. There is a familiar logic to sequencing because humans tend to think chronologically. Newspaper and magazine articles report information in time sequence because it helps us to understand the relationships of events. The same is true for problem analysis. The objective of sequencing is to create a visual depiction of events and their relationships in time. From this display it is possible to see aspects of a problem that would otherwise remain invisible. For example, crimes are typically analyzed in order to understand the chain of events that occurred. Richard Neustadt and Ernest May coined the term placement in their highly informative book Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-Makers, The Free Press, 1986. Their structuring technique was a specialized form of a timeline, in which parallel events are arranged in parallel columns to illustrate relationships and implications between the events. Neustadt and May were primarily concerned with political decision making, but the technique can also be applied to common problem solving. Placement is an effort to illustrate relationships between events so as to imply cause and effect. This form of problem analysis is common in criminal investigations. The timing and location of events relating to a crime are compared with the timing and location of activities of a particular suspect. If the two overlap sufficiently, the police naturally assume a cause-and-effect relationship and therefore investigate or analyze further. A similar approach can be taken to analyzing the events associated with any problem. Various types of data relating to the problem are compared from a chronological perspective in order to determine if there are any patterns that suggest causations. Studying the causes and effects within a problem helps to validate or invalidate our gut reaction to a problem. Like other structuring techniques, it provides a valuable check on biases and mindsets that mislead our thinking.
Evolution in extreme environments has produced life forms with amazing abilities and traits. Beneath the waves, many creatures sport iridescent structures that rival what materials scientists can make in the laboratory. A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Santa Barbara, has now shown how giant clams use these structures to thrive, operating as exceedingly efficient, living greenhouses that grow symbiotic algae as a source of food. This understanding could have implications for alternative energy research, paving the way for new types of solar panels or improved reactors for growing biofuel. The study was led by Alison Sweeney, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, and Daniel Morse, professor emeritus in UCSB’s Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and Director of its Marine Biotechnology Center. The team also includes lead author Amanda Holt, a postdoctoral researcher formerly at UCSB and now at Penn, as well as Sanaz Vahidinia of NASA’s Ames Research Center and Yakir Luc Gagnon of Duke University. It was published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. “Many mollusks, like squid, octopuses, snails and cuttlefish,” Sweeney said, “have iridescent structures, but almost all use them for camouflage or for signaling to mates. We knew giant clams weren’t doing either of those things, so we wanted to know what they were using them for.” While the true purpose of these iridescent structures, cells known as iridocytes, was not known, the team had a strong hypothesis. Like neighboring coral, giant clams are home to symbiotic algae that grow within their flesh. These algae convert the abundant sunlight of the clams’ equatorial home into a source of nutrition but are not particularly efficient in the intense sunlight found on tropical reefs; sunlight at the latitude where these clams live is so intense that it can disrupt the algae’s photosynthesis, paradoxically reducing their ability to generate energy. The team members began their study hypothesizing that the clams’ iridocytes were being used to maximize the usefulness of the light that reaches the algae within their bodies. They were first confounded by the relationship between these iridescent structures and the single-celled plants, until they realized that they had an incomplete picture of their geometry. When they made more precise cross sections of the clams, they found that the algae were organized into pillars, with a layer of iridocytes at the top. “When we saw the complete picture, we understood that the pillars are oriented exactly the wrong way if you want to catch sunlight,” Sweeney said. “That’s where the iridocytes come into play.” The team relied on Amanda Holt and Sanaz Vahidinia to model exactly what was happening to the light once it passed through the iridocytes; the degree of disorder within these cells bore a resemblance to structures Vahidinia studies at NASA: the dust of Saturn’s rings. Their analysis suggested that the iridocytes would scatter many wavelengths of light in a cone-like distribution pointing deeper into the clam. Red and blue wavelengths, the most useful to the algae, spread the widest, impacting the sides of the pillars in which the single-celled plants were stacked. To test this model, the team constructed fiber optic probes with spherical tips the size of an individual alga. Threaded through a section of clam flesh alongside the native algae, this spherical probe was able to detect the angled light scattered by the iridocytes, whereas a flat-tipped probe, only able to sense light shining straight down, detected nothing. “We see that, at any vertical position within the clam tissue, the light comes in at just about the highest rate at which these algae can make use of photons most efficiently,” Sweeney said. “The entire system is scaled so the algae absorb light exactly at the rate where they are happiest.” “This provides a gentle, uniform illumination to the vertical pillars consisting of the millions of symbiotic algae that provide nutrients to their animal host by photosynthesis,” said Morse. “The combined effect of the deeper penetration of sunlight — reaching more algae that grow densely in the 3-dimensional volume of tissue — and the “step-down” reduction in light intensity — preventing the inhibition of photosynthesis from excessive irradiation — enables the host to support a much larger population of active algae producing food than possible without the reflective cells.” Mimicking the micron-scale structures within the clam’s iridocytes and algal pillars could lead to new approaches for boosting the efficiency of photovoltaic cells without having to precisely engineer structures on the nanoscale. Other alternative energy strategies might adopt lessons from the clams in a more direct way: current bioreactors are inefficient because they must constantly stir the algae to keep them exposed to light as they grow and take up more and more space. Adopting the geometry of the iridocytes and algal pillars within the clams would be a way of circumventing that issue. “The clam has to make every square inch count when it comes to efficiency,” Sweeney said. “Likewise, all of our alternatives are very expensive when it comes to surface area, so it makes sense to try to solve that problem the way evolution has.” Top Image: Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Santa Barbara, have now shown how giant clams use iridescent structures to thrive, operating as exceedingly efficient, living greenhouses that grow symbiotic algae as a source of food. This understanding could have implications for alternative energy research, paving the way for new types of solar panels or bioreactors. These structures, known as iridocytes, give the clams their spectacular color. Sunlight at the equator is too intense for their algae to be efficient; iridocytes help filter that light. Credit: Alison Sweeney
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition - n. A formal summary of those rights and liberties considered essential to a people or group of people: a consumer bill of rights. - n. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, added in 1791 to protect certain rights of citizens. - n. A declaration of certain rights of subjects, enacted by the English Parliament in 1689. from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License - n. A formal statement of the rights of a specified group of people from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English - n. a summary of rights and privileges claimed by a people. Such was the declaration presented by the Lords and Commons of England to the Prince and Princess of Orange in 1688, and enacted in Parliament after they became king and queen. In America, a bill or declaration of rights is prefixed to most of the constitutions of the several States. - n. a list of rights; a paper containing a declaration of rights, or the declaration itself. See under Bill. from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. - n. a statement of fundamental rights and privileges (especially the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution) Sorry, no etymologies found. Sorry, no example sentences found.
It's painful to watch your child struggle, especially if she doesn't have any friends. Striking a balance between allowing your child to solve the problem and too much intervention is a challenge. Learn what you can do to improve your child's social development. If she's old enough to be a friend, there are actions you can take to help. Factors including culture, peers, health, family dynamics and personality influence your child's ability to socialize and form friendships. Children learn a great deal by watching and listening to the adults around them. Think about your friendship style--act toward your friends and family the way you hope your child's friends will act toward him. Positive actions will help him recognize how to be a friend. In 1932, Mildred Paren coined the term parallel play, which refers to children playing side-by-side--but not together--with similar toys, according to "Child Development Reference." A young child needs to achieve specific developmental milestones before she's ready to make friends. Give her time to move through such important phases as parallel play, which provides the groundwork for developing friendship skills. Discuss with your child how his behavior can contribute to his struggle to make friends. For example, engage in a role play where you act as child who won't share. Act out the same role play as a child who will gladly share. Talk about which behavior is indicative of a good friend. Friendship and self-esteem are interrelated; lack of friends can make him feel out of sync with his peers and result in negative self-esteem. Be empathetic and honest when addressing any behavioral concerns. Remind your child that developing a friendship takes such core friendship values as time, commitment, patience, generosity, kindness, sensitivity and a willingness to give of himself. Making friends when you're the new kid is a challenge even if your son has healthy social skills. Reassure him this process takes time and give him a chance to make new friends before you intervene. It's often difficult to have an objective opinion of your child's social development. Ask someone you trust--such as your child's teacher, guidance, counselor, religious adviser or health care provider--her opinion regarding your child's social skills. If the feedback indicates a need for professional intervention, these same trusted professionals can act as your guide. To have a friend, your child must have the skills to be one. Speak openly with your daughter about her needs--you might learn her goal is one good friend. Not everyone is comfortable in big groups; provide support by understanding she may be most comfortable with a one-on-one relationship. Ask your child if there's a new skill or activity he would like to learn or a favorite pastime he'd like to share with a potential friend. Help him join a group that matches his interests and goals. Exposure to like-minded children can improve his friendship skills and broaden his horizons. Schools, religious groups and communities sponsor clubs, sports teams and organizations that attract kids with shared interests.
Blind mole rat, (subfamily Spalacinae), any of eight species of burrowing rodents living in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. Among the several rodents referred to as “mole rats” (see zokor), the blind mole rat is among the most molelike in form, having a furred, cylindrical body, short limbs, and protruding incisor teeth. The feet and claws are surprisingly small for such a highly specialized burrower. Blind mole rats appear eyeless and earless, as the functioning remnants of these structures are covered by fur and are therefore not visible. The tiny eyes are hidden beneath the skin, and the external ears are reduced to slight folds. Sensory bristles extending rearward from the flattened, padded nose toward the eyes give the head a keeled, wedgelike shape. Like the eyes and ears, the animal’s minute stub of a tail is not visible externally. Blind mole rats are medium-sized, weighing 100 to 570 grams (3.5 ounces to 1.3 pounds), with bodies about 13 to 35 cm (5.1 to 13.8 inches) long. The dense, soft fur may be pale to reddish brown or buff gray on the upperparts; underparts are grayish or buff brown. The front of the head is usually paler than the back and may exhibit white or yellow stripes, which can extend along the sides of the head or run down the middle of it from nose to forehead. Territorial and solitary, the blind mole rat excavates a network of burrows by digging with its incisors, pushing the loosened soil beneath its belly with its forefeet, and then kicking the pile behind itself with its hind feet. When enough soil has accumulated, it turns around to pack some against the tunnel wall with its tough snout and uses its head to bulldoze any excess debris through the tunnel and onto the surface. Resulting mounds indicate tunnels 10 to 25 cm below ground in which the rodent searches for food. Their diet consists primarily of roots, tubers, and bulbs, but occasionally the animal emerges during the night to forage for seeds and green plant parts. Within the tunnels, vertical passageways connect the shallow burrows to deeper corridors where separate chambers for nesting, food storage, and excreta are constructed. During the wet autumn and winter, females build large mounds containing chambers where mating occurs and the young are reared. Gestation takes about a month, and litter size is from one to five. Blind mole rats live in southeastern Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, and eastern North Africa near the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Some species also range eastward to the Caspian Sea. Found at elevations from plains below sea level to high mountain clearings, these rodents prefer sandy or loamy soils of steppes, hillsides, dry brush country, woodlands, meadows, pastures, orchards, and cultivated fields in areas that receive at least 10 cm of annual rainfall. They avoid sandy or hard clay deserts. There are two genera of blind mole rats: lesser, or Mediterranean, blind mole rats (three species in the genus Nannospalax) and greater, or Ukrainian, blind mole rats (five species in the genus Spalax). Together these genera constitute the subfamily Spalacinae of the mouse family (Muridae) within the order Rodentia. The African mole rats (genus Tachyorytes) and Central Asian mole rats are also members of the family Muridae but are not closely related, as they belong to different subfamilies. The evolutionary history of blind mole rats in the Mediterranean region is represented by fossils extending back 17 million to 19 million years to the Early Miocene Epoch (23.8 million to 16.4 million years ago).
An early-reader introduction to the Gobi Desert. The expository text introduces the Gobi Desert as “one of the wildest habitats on Earth.” Words in boldface are included in a backmatter glossary, and accompanying photographs help provide context clues for these words and others that might be unfamiliar to newly fluent readers. After identifying the desert as “the largest desert in Asia and the fifth largest in the world,” the text moves through its five regions, highlighting predator-and-prey relationships between animals that live in this harsh environment. Although the title’s reference to “Life” might make some readers look for information about flora or human life in the Gobi Desert, the book does very little to cover these areas. Perhaps more problematic is the frequent misalignment between text and photographs, which often introduce animal life without depicting the scenarios the text describes. For example, one passage reads, “A wolf nears a herd of khulan. Bark! The males yell and kick at it,” and the photo shows the donkeylike animals running, but there is no wolf present in the image. Later, desertification is described as a threat to unpictured “nearby cities,” and then text passes the buck to child readers, asking them, “What will you do to make a difference?” after imploring them to study science. Talk about harsh! An uneven geographic offering. (Informational early reader. 7-9)
\|Conservation status\|\|Least Concern\| Humans, or human beings, are classified by biologists as Homo sapiens, from the Latin homo meaning "man", and sapiens meaning "wise",. Modern humans, along with Cro-Magnon man, are more specifically classified as homo sapiens sapiens. Humans inhabit every continent including Antarctica, with a total population of over 7 billion as of 2012. A roughly consistent growth rate for human population over time suggests a population of merely a handful of human ancestors as of 5,000 or so years ago. Atheists seeking to disagree with the Bible have advocated a wide variety of other dates of origin, such as 130,000 years ago. - 1 Characteristics - 2 Tool use - 3 Social organization - 4 Longevity - 5 The Origins of Man according to Creationists - 6 The Origins of Man according to Evolutionary Biologists and Anthropologists - 7 The Origins of Man according to non-Abrahamic religions - 8 See also - 9 References Humans have great intellectual abilities such as abstract reasoning, language, and introspection. This mental capability, combined with a body suitable for standing erect such that their upper limbs are free to manipulating objects, allows humans to make far greater use of tools than any other species. The design of the larynx gives a physiological capacity for speech. Consciousness is of unknown source; speculations include being an emergent property of a complex brain and the mind existing independently of the body. Humans have more hair follicles than chimpanzees, one of the next most similar species, but shorter finer hair in most body areas makes this hard to see. Hair and skin color varies according to the amount of melanin, a pigment that helps protect skin from the sun. Originally an adaptation to climate, pigment variation is now found globally. Because humans are bipeds with opposable thumbs, they can create tools more skillfully than other species. Humans inhabit almost all areas of the planet, using technology to overcome inhospitable environments. They are the only species to deliberately control fire to cook food. Human thirst for knowledge and tool-building capacity has led to many ways of investigating and exploring the universe and culture. These include the scientific method, philosophy, art, and literature. Human self-expression has led to complex competitive and co-operative social groups. Some groups are based around abstract symbols or arbitrary land divisions associated with group history, others around perceived genetic or philosophical differences. Humans may belong to several groups simultaneously. Competition for resources plus greed leads to wars, and the human capacity for tool-building to improved technology with which to fight them. Humans in modern times have been known to live to ages of just over 100 years, although much greater ages have been recorded in the distant past. According to the Bible, pre-flood people sometimes lived for over 900 years. According to certain Creationist and Jewish views, God subsequently limited the lifespan of man to 120 years. (Genesis 6:3 and the lifespan of Moses in Deuteronomy 34:7 ), although other creationists believe that Genesis 6:3 is not referring to an age limit for humans but is actually God's notification to Noah of the preparatory timespan between God's commands to Noah to build the ark and the actual time of the flood and the destruction of the antediluvian civilization. Under this notion, God allowed 120 years for the entire Ark to be constructed prior to the annihilation of the wicked antediluvian world. Some creationists have postulated that the pre-flood earth had climatic conditions unlike those found today. The flood may have been the first rain on earth, while previous to the flood, water was received by a constant mist or fog that covered the land. This mist would have blocked out most ultraviolet radiation which would have dramatically reduced cell damage and greatly lengthened life span. This post-Flood climate change may also explain the apparent great extinction of dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and other creatures after the flood. However, most creationists have since dropped this idea. The oldest human ever authenticated in modern times was Jeanne Calment of France who lived 122 years and 164 days, while the oldest recorded human being to have lived was Methuselah, who lived 969 years. The Origins of Man according to Creationists - And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26-27) - And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7) The first man was Adam. - And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:15) The first woman, Eve, was made from one of his ribs. - And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (Genesis 2:22) Because of the sinful nature of man God sent a Great Flood which annihilated all the people on Earth except for the then 600 year old Noah and his family. All people alive today are descendants of Noah and his family. The Origins of Man according to Evolutionary Biologists and Anthropologists In more recent times evolutionary biologists and other scientists in the fields of biology and more specifically, anthropology, have postulated that humans have been around in anatomically modern form for approximately 130,000 years. One version of this theory maintains that Homo sapiens evolved from Homo ergaster or Homo erectus, and from other earlier primates. Humans' closest living relative is the chimpanzee. However, despite sharing 98.4% of their DNA sequence and a common ancestor six million years ago, the genetic difference between chimpanzees and humans is 10 times greater than between unrelated humans. Humans evolved on the African savannah during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Bipedalism was one of the first traits that our ancestors developed. This occurred around four million years ago. The recovered remains of "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) suggest to evolutionists that the Australopithecines had developed bipedalism before developing into Homo contrary to popular depictions of cavemen as not being fully bipedal, although the evidence for bipedalism is questioned. About 2.5 million years ago at the Plio-Pleistocene boundary the first Homo appeared. Homo habilus was believed to be the first hominid to use stone tools but it was later discovered that Paranthropus (aka the "robust Australopithicines") also used the same primitive stone technology known as Oldowan culture, as Homo habilus. Later in the Pleistocene, man took on a more modern appearance. Homo erectus was close to the same size as a modern human and had a brain capacity 70-80% of that of modern humans. Fully modern humans did not appear until around 200,000 years ago and then, according to one according to one version of the story, migrated out of Africa and replaced all other human populations throughout the world. Two other human species, Homo florensis and Homo neanderthalensis were contemporaries of modern man but both species are now extinct, possibly because of us. Speculative nature of evolutionary paradigm in relation to mankind's past Paleoanthropology is an interdisciplinary branch of anthropology that concerns itself with the origins of early humans and it examines and evaluates items such as fossils and artifacts. Dr. David Pilbeam is a paleoanthropologist who received his Ph.D. at Yale University and Dr. Pilbeam is presently Professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University and Curator of Paleontology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. In addition, Dr. Pilbeam served as an advisor for the Kenya government regarding the creation of an international institute for the study of human origins. Dr. Pilbeam wrote a review of Richard Leakey's book Origins in the journal American Scientist: \|“\|\|...perhaps generations of students of human evolution, including myself, have been flailing about in the dark; that our data base is too sparse, too slippery, for it to be able to mold our theories. Rather the theories are more statements about us and ideology than about the past. Paleoanthropology reveals more about how humans view themselves than it does about how humans came about. But that is heresy.\|\|”\| Dr. Pilbeam wrote the following regarding the theory of evolution and paleoanthropology: \|“\|\|I am also aware of the fact that, at least in my own subject of paleoanthropology, "theory" - heavily influenced by implicit ideas almost always dominates "data". ....Ideas that are totally unrelated to actual fossils have dominated theory building, which in turn strongly influence the way fossils are interpreted.\|\|”\| Evolutionist and Harvard professor Richard Lewontin wrote in 1995 that "Despite the excited and optimistic claims that have been made by some paleontologists, no fossil hominid species can be established as our direct ancestor...." In the September 2005 issue of National Geographic, Joel Achenbach asserted that human evolution is a "fact" but he also candidly admitted that the field of paleoanthropology "has again become a rather glorious mess." In the same National Geographic article Harvard paleoanthropologist Dan Lieberman states, "We're not doing a very good job of being honest about what we don't know...". The Origins of Man according to non-Abrahamic religions Myths about the creation of mankind are an important method by which anthropologists may discover more about the societies they are studying, as they show the important facets of human life to that culture. A list of creation myths in various cultures can be found at. Some notable myths are presented below. According to Hindus, humans were created from a part of the cut up body of Purusha. According to the Iroquois, humans came about fully formed in the Sky World before descending through a hole caused by the uprooting of a tree into a lower world, originally a sea, which the humans manipulated by sending creatures to dive to the sea bottom and bring up mud for the creation of earth on which they could dwell. Various creation myths exist in China, the most popular being the story of Nuwa. Nuwa was a lonely goddess, who one day looked in a pool and decided to create figures from mud based on her image in the water; creating many figures of grown ups, children, males and females (where the inspiration for males and children came from is not explained) and blowing on them to give them life (the idea here being that breath is the most important thing to all humans), Nuwa saw that the world became much livelier, and she appreciated it. She decided, too, that creating humans one-by-one was too slow, so she picked up a rope and whipped it into the mud, and many figures tumbled out, which she again blew on to give them life. This kind of creation of humans is common in cultures that have a strong pottery tradition. In the pre-modern Chinese scientific tradition, no creator is ascribed to creation - simply, one became two, two became three, and three generated all things in the universe, and this includes humans. - Online Etymology Dictionary - History of Homo sapiens (History World) - Alemseged Z, Coppens Y, Geraads D (2002). "Hominid cranium from Omo: Description and taxonomy of Omo-323-1976-896". Am J Phys Anthropol 117 (2): 103-12. - Guinness World Records 2006, p.20. - Genesis 5:27 - Encyclopedia Britannica (online): Paleoanthropology - Answers in Genesis, Those Fossils Are A Problem - Sean Pitman, M.D., Thoughts on Evolution From Scientists and Other Intellectuals - Brad Harrub, Ph.D., Bert Thompson, Ph.D., and Eric Lyons, M.Min., Human Evolution and the “Record of the Rocks” - Brad Harrub, Ph.D., The “Glorious Mess” of Human Origins - National Geographic (online edition), Joel Achenbach, PALEOANTHROPOLOGY, Out of Africa, Are we looking for bones in all the right places?
- runny nose - watery eyes/conjunctivitis - erythematous maculopapular rash - Koplik's spot (rash noticed in the inner cheek area) - ear infections - encephalitis (Infection of the brain) - subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) a rare degenerative central nervous disease characterized by behavioral and intellectual deterioration and seizures The only natural hosts of the measles are humans and is transmitted by direct contact with infectious oral droplets. Incubation period is from 8 to 12 days from exposure to onset of symptoms. There is a specific antibody test for measles IgM antibody to test for the infection. There is no specific treatment for measles, it is mostly symptomatic . The vaccine is most most effective in preventing this from occurring. Resource: cdc.gov and the redbook
Level: ECE, Primary, Junior, Middle, High School Grades: PreK and up \| Age: 2yrs and up \| Written by: Andrea Mulder-Slater [Andrea is one of the founders of KinderArt.com] Children can see what happens when you add water to dried beans. What You Need: What You Do: - a small clear jar - dried beans - a lightweight tray or plate - Fill your jar with the dried beans. - Add water to the jar until it reaches the top. - Cover the jar with the tray. - Leave the beans to sit in the water for a few hours, then go back and see what happened! - Your beans will have soaked up all the water and expanded... pushing the tray off of the jar! - Your seeds become very strong when wet (this is what helps them sprout and grow in the dirt in the garden. This content has been printed from:
CC.5.W.7 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. CC.3.W.8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories. CC.6.W.1.b Text Types and Purposes: Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text. Students research the rainforest and record facts about wildlife, natural resoures, and general ecology on the worksheet provided by Ms. Sandin. Then, students write an essay stating their opinion about the deforestation debate and backing it up with supporting details from their facts worksheet. Page created by Deanna Flynn, Western Hills Middle School librarian.
Edgar Allan Poe: an Author Unit This Edgar Allan Poe: an Author Unit lesson plan also includes: - Join to access all included materials Eighth graders study the life and writing of Edgar Allan Poe in this unit of work. 53 Views 166 Downloads - Activities & Projects - Graphics & Images - Handouts & References - Lab Resources - Learning Games - Lesson Plans - Primary Sources - Printables & Templates - Professional Documents - Study Guides - Graphic Organizers - Writing Prompts - Constructed Response Items - AP Test Preps - Lesson Planet Articles - Interactive Whiteboards - All Resource Types - Show All See similar resources: An Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe True!—Do not be nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous about showing this student-produced PowerPoint. The eyes of your pupils will be wide, wide open as events from the life of Edgar Allan Poe are detailed, and vocabulary and key facts... 6th - 9th English Language Arts Edgar Allan Poe Short Story WebQuest Introduce your class to Edgar Allan Poe with a series of mostly self-guided tasks and assignments. Class members follow the list of tasks, starting by watching a video with background information and ending with a compare-and-contrast... 6th - 8th English Language Arts CCSS: Designed Introduction to Edgar Allan Poe Before reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in your class, walk learners through this scavenger hunt that teaches them about Poe's life and works. Though the lesson is designed for 15:1 special education class, it could work in any... 8th Special Education & Programs Edgar Allan Poe Realty: Fun Trivia Quiz Often these Fun Trivia quizzes are low-quality and have questionable educational merit. However, this interactive online instructional activity provides a clever way to test understanding of setting in various Edgar Allan Poe stories. 8th - 10th English Language Arts Post-Reading Questions: "Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe If your class has finish reading Edgar Allan Poe's "Cask of Amontillado" here's a great post-reading worksheet. Whether used as a reading assessment, as the basis of group discussion, or for whole class response, the fact-based,... 7th - 9th English Language Arts
Writing learning objectives 1 \| page writing learning objectives this material was excerpted and adapted from the following web site. Northeastern ohio universities college of medicine, continuing medical education program writing clear learning objectives a clear learning objective states. Tips on writing course goals/learning outcomes and measurable learning objectives the goal is where we want to be the objectives are the steps needed. Writing behavioral learning objectives and assessments (from the american psychological association's standards and guidelines for continuing education. Don't make writing objectives tedious, trivial, time-consuming, or mechanical ensure that learning is focused clearly enough that both students and teacher. (see the innovative instructor post: writing course learning goals) next is to determine your learning objectives by writing explicit statements. Writing learning objectives: beginning with the end in mind: this presentation clearly explained the differences between learning objectives and learning. List of action verbs (pdf) – a starting point for writing learning objectives bloom's taxonomy – taxonomy created to categorize a continuum of educational. Effective learning objectives highlight expected student behavior as well as the specific conditions and standards of performance behavior - write learning. Ce activity presenters and instructors are responsible for generating certain information this includes the activity title, description, learning outcomes and. Would be your three take-home messages steps for writing an objective 1 write each objective beginning with the phrase “after participating in this session, . One of the challenges that instructors face is writing meaningful learning outcomes that effectively there are a number of formats for writing clear objectives. Learning objectives are guiding statements that benefit all people who interact with the content of write a statement describing the overall goal of your course. What makes a learning objective effective and measurable. Writing learning objectives the learning objective is a critical building block in the creation of an online, hybrid, or blended course it provides a foundation on. Fun-learning-objectives in case you were asleep, the previous two articles in this series discussed how to write learning objectives for your internal elearning. Science teachers should write learning objectives that communicate and describe intended learning outcomes objectives should be stated in terms of what the. A guide to writing learning objectives for teachers of psychology guy a boysen state university of new york at fredonia and mckendree university. Guidelines for writing learning objectives for continuing professional development (cpd) activities national association of school psychologists learning. Learning objectives identify what your students will be able to do after they complete your course it's not what you do in your course, it's what they can do. A learning objective is a statement that describes the knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes that participants will gain from the educational activity when developing . Assessment spring 2015 writing observable and measurable learning objectives eli collins-brown western michigan university, [email protected] wmich. Learn how to avoid common mistakes when writing learning objectives for effective lesson plans this helps students know what they are. This goal can be broken down into specific goals, or learning objectives, which a well-written learning objective is important, so let's review how to write them. A concise how-to process for developing specific and measurable course learning objectives intended as an introduction for new instructors or a reminder for. All successful online course developers know how to write learning objectives that ensure learners' outcome the great chance to learn their. Wondering how to create effective learning objectives for elearning check what elearning professionals should know about learning. How to write aia learning objectives first, write a detailed description of your program's content for example: event title: tour: right proper brew pub.
Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network,and celebrated in more than 193 countries each year. Earth Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April. In 1970, a senator from Wisconsin, USA, Gaylord Nelson first conceived of this day. The senator was worried about the rate of industrialisation and the careless attitude of everyone towards our environment. It was envisaged to promote the idea of ecology, to encourage respect for life on Earth, and highlight growing concerns about different kinds of pollution. Over 20 million Americans participated in events to mark the first Earth Day and it turned out to be so contagious that today, over a billion people from all over the globe celebrate Earth Day.
The World Health Organization defines sexual health as a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. Sexual health has been recognized as a key strategy in promoting overall health and well-being. In 2008 alone, several international documents were produced which assert the centrality of sexual health in public health promotion at the highest levels of public health strategies. The responsibility of the state has been made clear: to respond strategically and comprehensively to the large number of sexual health issues including: - Family Planning - Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) - Reproductive Health - Sexual Risk Behavior District Health Department #10’s Family Planning Program provides high quality reproductive health care to women, men, and teens at low or no-cost. Family Planning is a public health service that helps individuals and families plan for their desired family size and spacing of children or to prevent an undesired pregnancy. What Family Planning Services are Available? Family Planning Services are Voluntary, Confidential, and Affordable. STIs & HIV/AIDS Here are some eye-opening statistics from the CDC about STIs and HIV/AIDS: - More than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired every day worldwide. - Each year, there are an estimated 357 million new infections with 1 of 4 STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. - More than 500 million people are estimated to have genital infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV). - More than 290 million women have a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection1. - The majority of STIs have no symptoms or only mild symptoms that may not be recognized as an STI. - STIs such as HSV type 2 and syphilis can increase the risk of HIV acquisition. - Over 900 000 pregnant women were infected with syphilis resulting in approximately 350 000 adverse birth outcomes including stillbirth in 20122. - In some cases, STIs can have serious reproductive health consequences beyond the immediate impact of the infection itself (e.g., infertility or mother-to-child transmission) - Drug resistance, especially for gonorrhoea, is a major threat to reducing the impact of STIs worldwide. - HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 35 million lives so far. In 2016, 1.0 million people died from HIV-related causes globally. - There were approximately 36.7 million people living with HIV at the end of 2016 with 1.8 million people becoming newly infected in 2016 globally. - 54% of adults and 43% of children living with HIV are currently receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART). - Global ART coverage for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV is high at 76% . - The WHO African Region is the most affected region, with 25.6 million people living with HIV in 2016. The African region also accounts for almost two thirds of the global total of new HIV infections. - HIV infection is often diagnosed through rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), which detect the presence or absence of HIV antibodies. Most often these tests provide same-day test results, which are essential for same day diagnosis and early treatment and care. - Key populations are groups who are at increased risk of HIV irrespective of epidemic type or local context. They include: men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, people in prisons and other closed settings, sex workers and their clients, and transgender people. - Key populations often have legal and social issues related to their behaviours that increase vulnerability to HIV and reduce access to testing and treatment programmes. - In 2015, an estimated 44% of new infections occurred among key populations and their partners. - There is no cure for HIV infection. However, effective antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can control the virus and help prevent transmission so that people with HIV, and those at substantial risk, can enjoy healthy, long and productive lives. - It is estimated that currently only 70% of people with HIV know their status. The remaining 30% – or 7.5 million people – need to access HIV testing services. In 2016, 19.5 million people living with HIV were receiving ART globally. - Between 2000 and 2016, new HIV infections fell by 39%, and HIV-related deaths fell by one third with 13.1 million lives saved due to ART in the same period. This achievement was the result of great efforts by national HIV programmes supported by civil society and a range of development partners. At DHD#10 you can get confidential testing for STIs and HIV. Testing is available to anyone, including teens, at low or no-cost (cost is based on income). DHD#10 can bill your insurance to cover the cost of service as well. Services at DHD#10 are LGBTQ friendly. People with multiple sexual partners, those who think they may have been exposed, those who’ve had unprotected sex with a partner whose health status was unknown, or anyone who has symptoms of an STI, should definitely get tested. If you think you have an STI, first off, don’t panic. You should make an appointment to get tested right away and hold off on sexual activity until you get tested. To make an appointment call 888-217-3904, then select option #2. Upon result of your test, a nurse can discuss safe sex, treatment options, birth control, how to talk to your partner, and more. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! A woman’s reproductive system is a delicate and complex system in the body. It is important to take steps to protect it from infections and injury, and prevent problems—including some long-term health problems. Taking care of yourself and making healthy choices can help protect you and your loved ones. Protecting your reproductive system also means having control of your health, if and when, you become pregnant. Preconception health refers to the health of women and men during their reproductive years, which are the years they can have a child. It focuses on taking steps now to protect the health of a baby they might have sometime in the future, and staying healthy throughout life. Sexual Risk Behavior According to the CDC, many young people engage in sexual risk behaviors that can result in unintended health outcomes. For example, among U.S. high school students surveyed in 20151 - 41% had ever had sexual intercourse. - 30% had had sexual intercourse during the previous 3 months, and, of these - 43% did not use a condom the last time they had sex. - 14% did not use any method to prevent pregnancy. - 21% had drunk alcohol or used drugs before last sexual intercourse. - Only 10% of all students have ever been tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).* CDC data show that lesbian, gay, and bisexual high school students are at substantial risk for serious health outcomes DHD#10 – Sexual Health ASHA – Working Towards Sexual Health Promotion BeforePlay – Clinic Locator WHO – HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet WHO – STIs Fact Sheet WHO – Gender and Human Rights – Sexual Health CDC – Unintended Pregnancy Prevention CDC – Reproductive Health CDC – Sexual Risk Behaviors
How to Teach Your Child to Read with TIPS™ With TIPS, learning to read becomes a simple, straightforward process of decoding using simple phonics and blending. Why Read With TIPS? Before we explain how to teach your child to read with tips, let’s talk a bit about why this is so important in the first place. For decades, there have been two methods used in schools to teach kids to read: Phonics and Whole Language. But new research into how kids learn to read across the world led to the creation of a new system, with the potential to save thousands of hours of frustration for you and your child. How to Teach Your Child to Read with TIPS: Five Steps to Fluency Learning to read with TIPS is incredibly easy. These five steps describe everything you need to know to understand the fundamentals of the system. If you want to learn more, be sure to check out our free guide. Learn the Letters and TIPS The first step in the reading journey starts with letters and their sounds. Normally, this means learning the "A" in CAT and calling it a day. But what about the "A" in AIR? or SMALL? or TUNA? or FAR? With TIPS, your child learns every sound they need to read every word in English. But some letters and TIPS are a lot more important than others. So we also organize the TIPS into Levels, based on how often they are used in English. Blend Sounds into Words With TIPS, since there are no exceptions to pronunciation, every single word can be decoded with a simple sound-it-out process. Kids don't have to look ahead and guess the pattern, or memorize hundreds of sight words. Instead, children learn to decode words, moving from left to right and making the right sound for each letter as it appears in that particular word. Become a Rapid Decoder The first two steps give your child the building blocks, next comes mastery. Through practice, they will pick up speed at decoding words they haven't seen before and over time begin to memorize the patterns of sounds that exist in our language. Look at the E in ear, bear, earn, and heart. Unless you already know those words, it's not possible to decode them. But with TIPS, the visual cue is distinct, so your child can learn to decode these words. That means they get the answer right, and from each decoding take a baby step towards learning to read. They are, in fact, teaching themselves to read. Read at Speed on Sight Now we are really moving! Children at this step can rapidly decode any word they see. The words they have seen frequently become internalized as sight words, not just memorized. We begin reading more meaningful material, books that are written with short phrases and sentences. We focus on reading with automaticity of the high-frequency words, relying on the process of decoding to do the real teaching. Graduate and Read TIPS Free Every word that your child learns to read efficiently, on sight, with TIPS, will also be able to be read once the TIPS are removed. The last step of the process is taking the training wheels off, and letting children ride on their own. Getting Started Reading With TIPS™ Learning to read takes a world of content that you can use to surround your child, including books, worksheets, flash cards, and activities and lessons designed so that your child makes steady progress. TIPS Reading World TIPS Reading World is a digital game for you to play with your child. Guided by Athena, the game introduces your child to the system with fun characters and engaging gameplay. It is the perfect place to start when you are learning to read with TIPS. Download to play for free or click here learn more here. TIPS Readers are a series of texts organized by Reading Level. The TIPS system is structured so that children learn the most important fundamentals of reading up front, which are then constantly reinforced. The sequencing of the system is based on an algorithm that decoded the entire dictionary, mapping letters and their sounds together for the first time in the history of teaching English. (COMING SOON) TIPS Explorer Portal The TIPS Explorer Portal allows you, as a parent, to better understand how to teach with TIPS. It includes resources to track the progress of your child in Reading World, learn our TIPS letters and sounds, and create content for your children to read. (COMING SOON) TIPS Early Reader Pack The TIPS Early Reader Pack is a great way to introduce your child to phonics and blending, as well as the TIPS letters and their sounds. This deck includes 150 cards covering the first 10 levels of our reading system. Once mastered, this allows a child to decode 99% of the words they will need to read by Grade 5. (COMING SOON) The Science Behind TIPS TIPS is driven on critical advances in the science of reading, which looks across the globe at the fundamental drivers of learning to read. English is Uniquely Difficult English spelling is so complex that it is viewed in research as a true outlier to other alphabetic languages (Share 2008, Aro 2005). This complexity plays a direct role in the reading development of English-text readers, including slower reading-accuracy and phonemic awareness development (Galletly 2004). So It Takes Years Longer to Learn English speaking children learning Hebrew (a very regular language) read Hebrew with better accuracy in Grade 1 than English in Grade 5. (Geva & Siegel, 2000; Geva, Wade-Woolley, & Shany, 1993) Studies routinely show that English requires multiples of effort to learn over more regular and transparent languages. (Aro, 2003; Ellis et al 2004) Even when controlled for factors of intelligence and socioeconomic status, the English language’s orthography itself requires years of additional study to achieve competency (Galletly and Knight, 2004). Most Students Never Master It 65% of students in the US do not read at grade-level proficiency by 4th grade. This is proof that the existing methods, delivered through the existing channels, simply don't work for the majority of the country. (NAEP Report Card, 2019) The challenges imposed by English orthography fall disproportionately on the low-achieving students (Spencer & Hanley, 2003). The impact is severe, because when a student fails, the interventions we try are less effective than those to students in more transparent orthographies (Vellutino, 2000). A Better Path is Already Proven Similar to English, Hebrew is a language where the writing does not provide enough information to the reader to decode the sounds of each word. Hebrew is part of a family of languages written without vowels. To aid early readers, Hebrew has a “pointed” script used to indicate the appropriate vowel sounds in the word. This is just like what we are doing with our TIPS™. As students develop skills, the “points” are removed and children are able to read fluently. While the "pointed" method of teaching Hebrew has existed for roughly two thousand years, a comprehensive analog has never before been adopted or tested for the study of English. Pilot Study Results The pilot was conducted 4 or 5 days a week for 8 weeks as a component of after-school programming. Each session consisted of roughly 10-15 minutes of group practice followed by 3-5 minute one-on-one pull outs with each student. Analysis of the norms data for this assessment indicates a typical raw score improvement for a student between Jan-Feb and Mar-May of 8.34 (STD 1.8). Students in the pilot cohort gained an average of 24.35 (STD 5.3) in five weeks. To compare these figures, we can look at point gain per week of the norms data of .641 and compare this to point gain with the TIPS cohort of 5.87, showing 916% faster progress on this metric. How it Works By now you should know how to teach your child to read with TIPS, but if you still have questions, here is a great video that sums up this revolutionary new system that can get children reading faster, easier, and with more joy.
Page 1 of 4 Please PAUSE the "How to Draw a Seahorse" video after each step to draw at your own pace. For the first few steps, don't press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin. Step 1: Draw a circle as a guide for the first part of the seahorse's head. The circle doesn't have to be perfect. It's just a guide. Leave enough room at the bottom so you can draw the seahorse's body. Step 2: Draw an arc on the right side of the circle to complete the shape of the seahorse's head. Step 3: Draw a thin, long rectangle-like shape on the right side of the head as a guide for the seahorse's mouth. Step 4: Draw another circle under the head as a guide for the seahorse's body. This circle should be about twice the size as the first. Don't place it too low, otherwise the seahorse will be too long. Step 5: Draw two wavy lines that connect the head to the body to form the guide for the seahorse's neck.
Diphtheria is a life-threatening infection that spreads easily. The infection most commonly attacks the tonsils, throat, and nose. Diphtheria is caused specific bacteria. The infection spreads from person to person through contact with: - Droplets of moisture that are coughed or sneezed into the air by an infected person and breathed in by a non-infected person - Personal items, such as tissues or drinking glasses, that have been used by an infected person - Skin that is infected with diphtheria Factors that may increase your chance of diphtheria include: - Having never been immunized against diphtheria - Not having had a booster dose in the past 10 years - Having a compromised immune system Signs and symptoms of diphtheria usually begin 2 to 5 days after a person is infected. The most obvious sign of diphtheria is a gray covering on the back of the throat. The covering can detach and block the airway. If left untreated, the bacteria can produce a poison that spreads through the body causing damage to the heart, nerves, and kidneys. Not everyone who gets diphtheria shows signs of illness, though they may be able to infect others. - Sore throat and painful swallowing - Fever up to 103°F - Gray covering on the back of the throat - Cough, possibly a barking cough - Swollen glands in the neck - Difficulty breathing - Difficulty swallowing - Skin infection You will be asked about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done. Diphtheria will be suspected if the throat and tonsils are covered with a gray membrane. Your doctor may need to test to confirm the diagnosis. This can be done by collecting a swab for culture or a tissue sample. Diphtheria is a medical emergency that requires immediate care from your doctor. The sooner it is treated, the better the outcome will be. Talk with your doctor about the best treatment plan for you. If your doctor suspects diphtheria, your treatment will start right away, even before the lab results are returned. Treatment options include the following: - Antitoxin injection - Isolation and bedrest The vaccine for diphtheria is safe and is effective at preventing the disease. All children with few exceptions should receive the DTaP vaccine series. This protects against diphtheria, tetanus , and pertussis . A single dose of Tdap vaccine is recommended for children aged 11 years or older, even if they did not receive the DTaP. A booster should be given every 10 years after, or after exposure to tetanus if necessary. Despite the availability of vaccines to prevent diphtheria, cases are on the rise. If you or your child has not been fully vaccinated, talk to the doctor. There are catch-up schedules available. - Reviewer: David L. Horn, MD - Review Date: 05/2016 - - Update Date: 06/19/2014 -
Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by jasper. jasper Wonders, “What are hieroglyphs?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, jasper! Would you like to travel back in time to ancient Egypt? Would you find a mummy? Chat with the Pharoah? Help build a pyramid? That would be a great adventure! Before you go, be sure to brush up on hieroglyphs. What are hieroglyphs? They’re part of the ancient Egyptian writing system. You may have seen examples of hieroglyphs in movies or TV shows before. This system of writing is over 5,000 years old. It used pictures instead of letters like our modern alphabet. In ancient Egypt, the people who wrote with hieroglyphs were called scribes. Hieroglyphs took a long time to write. Imagine writing your next homework assignment using pictures! That’s why the scribes later came up with an easier form of writing called Demotic script. Over time, new scribes only used Demotic script. It was not long before no one knew how to write or even read the old hieroglyphs! This was a problem until 1799. That year, Napoleon’s army invaded Egypt. There, his troops found an ancient stone. It helped end the mystery of hieroglyphs. That stone is called the Rosetta Stone. It was named after the name of the area in which it was found. The stone had the same short story written on it in three types of writing. They were Greek, Demotic script, and hieroglyphs. Since scholars could read Greek and Demotic script, they could study the hieroglyphs to figure out how they worked. Jean-François Champollion completed the translation by the 1820s. Today, people can visit the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum in London. Experts learned that hieroglyphs were very complex. Even though it was made of pictures, the writing was more phonetic than symbolic. It was made up of three types of glyphs (symbols). Phonetic glyphs are like alphabet letters. Logographic glyphs represent prefixes, suffixes or short words. Determinative glyphs narrow down the meaning of phonetic and logographic glyphs. Do you think you could read hieroglyphs? Maybe you could learn them well enough to become a scribe! Just think of the fun you could have writing stories and secret messages in hieroglyphs. Give it a try—we can’t wait to see what you come up with. Standards: C3.D2.His.2, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.SL.1
What are Aflatoxins? Aflatoxins are toxic metabolites produced by certain fungi found on agricultural crops such as wheat, cereal grains, corn, peanuts, cottonseed, tree nuts, dried fruit, and some spices, such as chili and paprika Milk and milk products may also be contaminated when ruminant animals consume aflatoxin-contaminated feed. While most widespread in warm and humid regions of the world, aflatoxin-producing fungi can contaminate crops in the field, at harvest, and during storage—making them one of most widespread and dangerous mycotoxins. Commonly found in soil, hay and decaying vegetation, the main fungi that produce aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Different aflatoxin metabolites exist, including B1, B2, G1, G2, M1 and M2. Aflatoxins comprise one of the major groupings of mycotoxins. Like several other mycotoxins—deoxynivalenol (DON/vomitoxin), fumonisin, ochratoxin, T-2/HT-2 and zearalenone —aflatoxins pose risks to human food safety, as well as to animal feed and pet food. The prevalence and dangers of aflatoxins require farmers, grain mills, grain handlers and suppliers to remain well-informed and vigilant about aflatoxin testing and related mycotoxin risk management. What are the Harmful effects of Aflatoxins? Although naturally occurring, aflatoxins are considered to be some of the most carcinogenic substances known. Aflatoxins can cause serious liver damage in humans. Children are particularly affected by aflatoxin exposure, which can put them at risk of stunted growth, delayed development, liver damage, and liver cancer. Adults have a higher tolerance to aflatoxin exposure, but chronic low-level exposure to aflatoxins remains a risk. According to the FDA, the small amounts commonly consumed in the US pose little risk, but aflatoxin outbreaks have occurred in developing countries, such as Kenya, where high intakes of aflatoxin have been linked to liver cancer and have caused outbreaks of acute poisoning (aflatoxicosis). No animal species is immune. The susceptibility of individual animals to aflatoxins varies considerably depending on species, age, sex, and nutrition, but aflatoxins have been associated with various diseases in livestock and domestic animals throughout the world. The animals most at risk of having serious problems with aflatoxins are pigs, ducklings, and trout, while cattle are less at risk. In animals, aflatoxins cause liver damage, decreased milk and egg production, recurrent infection as a result of immunity suppression, and embryo toxicity. Aflatoxicosis in animals include gastrointestinal dysfunction, reduced reproduction, anemia, and jaundice. Because aflatoxins are regularly found in improperly stored staple commodities such as corn, wheat, cotton seed, millet, peanuts, rice, sorghum, sunflower seeds, and tree nuts, their exposure can be wide ranging. When contaminated food is processed, aflatoxins can enter the general food supply. Aflatoxins have been found in both pet and human foods, as well as in feedstocks for agricultural animals. Animals fed contaminated food can pass aflatoxin into eggs, milk products, and meat. Why should you test for Aflatoxin? Aflatoxins cause significant negative impacts in markets such as farms, feed, and grain mills. They reduce productivity, decrease yields, and depress quality. In addition, regulatory compliance calls for stringent aflatoxin detection. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) monitors crops for aflatoxin, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) routinely samples products to make sure they don’t exceed maximum allowable levels. Ultimately, it is the obligation of commodities sellers and food businesses to maintain standards of quality in their grains and other foodstuffs, making aflatoxin testing a necessary tool for farmers, grain mills and grain handlers. According to the UK’s Food Safety Act of 1990, “It is an offence under the Act for anyone to sell food which is not of the nature, substance or quality demanded by the customer. It is the responsibility of a food business to ensure that they have adequate food hygiene standards within their business.” Regulations and guidance in nations around the world exist to monitor and protect the human food and animal feed supply—which are enforced through fines, penalties, and recalls. These regulations set the limits regarding contaminants in commodities. They also detail the methods for control and compliance with food laws. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has in the past declared both human and pet food recalls as a precautionary measure to prevent exposure. Aflatoxins have received significant attention in the media, linking dog food to dogs’ liver illness and cancer deaths. In addition to food safety compliance, knowing how to test for aflatoxins with accuracy and consistency can help producers and suppliers ensure a premium product, resulting in more productive and profitable outcomes. Who Should Test for Aflatoxins? Farmers, grain mills and food processors can minimize the growth of aflatoxins by following good management practices, which include the reliable use of aflatoxin test kits at key points. To ensure product safety, grain handling and storage facilities must screen inbound grains. In order to guard against contamination, it is considered best practice to perform aflatoxin testing at every stage in the seed or grain supply chain. Certain environmental conditions in which aflatoxins flourish may call for more frequent aflatoxin analysis: - Sudden changes in weather - Extreme heat and drought before harvest - Moist, humid storage conditions - Grain elevators above 70% humidity Grains Tested for Aflatoxins Crops commonly tested for aflatoxin contamination include: corn, cottonseed, millet, wheat, peanuts, sorghum, DDGS, barley, rye, rice, soybeans, sunflower seeds, tree nuts, and oats. How to Test for Aflatoxins Three primary methods are available for mycotoxin analysis. The HPLC method for mycotoxin detection is time-consuming, and both HPLC and ELISA methods require expensive laboratory equipment. LFD testing strips are a simple, fast and cost-effective way to perform a mycotoxin test with quantitative or qualitative results. Only with proven and certified mycotoxin testing technology can users make objective, real-time decisions that meet regulation standards and mitigate the risks of lost productivity and health due to aflatoxin contamination.
Dentistry started many years ago in ancient Egypt. It was invented so as to help in health factors but as time went by people of Egypt started medical schools that taught dentistry and Egyptians developed a positive attitude towards dentistry. Ancient Egyptians started studying it as a profession and this contributed a lot in solving cases that were related to dental issues. Treatment of dental diseases was done using different tools such as bone saws, hard scales, chisels and other variety of dental tools. Other diseases included cavities and gums that were receding. Attrition, a type of dental disease was very common among the ancient Egyptians. According to historical findings, Egypt is regarded to having started dentistry. Ancient Egyptians had a common way of treating teeth especially the molars whereby they used strings to unite the molar teeth. Methods that were learned during the study of dentistry were always recorded so as to ease tooth treatment whenever necessary. What was recorded concerning teeth treatment also included how to cure wounds that were be found in the mouth. In spite of studies on how to cure teeth, it was also still complex to carry it out mainly because teeth treatment required much caution. During ancient Egypt, whenever one had a tooth problem, it was treated by pulling out the tooth with the problem or by drilling cavities. Carrying out this was something painful but ancient Egyptians had already come up with prescription for injuries. “Archaeologists have discovered mummies with crude metal bands around their teeth and believe that the bands were used, to create pressure to move around the teeth. It was also found that lost teeth were reattached by means of silver or gold wire to the neighboring teeth. But it is not completely proven, if these procedures were performed during the life of the patient or after death. Because Egyptians placed value on the appearance of the dead, to ensure they were sent off correctly to the afterlife.”
In this article we will discuss about the design of high voltage and low voltage atomic batteries with the help of suitable diagrams. Design of High Voltage Atomic Battery: Fig. 9.28 shows the schematic diagram of a high voltage atomic battery. It consists of an inner spherical electrode on the surface of which is deposited a powerful beta emitting (i.e., fast electrons) substance. This is surrounded by another spherical condenser and the inner surface of this condenser becomes negatively charged. This acts as the outside electrode and is properly insulated at the opening. The inner and, outer electrodes become the – ve and + ve terminals of the battery. Sr90 isotope can be used since its half-life is 28 years. These batteries perform independent of the temperature unlike the accumulators whose electrolyte freezes at low temperatures. These also supply a very steady constant potential. This has yet to be developed on a commercial scale. Design of Low Voltage Atomic Battery: Fig. 9.29 shows a low voltage battery. In this Sr90 (beta emitter) is deposited on the surface of a semiconductor (germanium or silicon) at one end and the other end is having a metallic collector. The semiconductor has the characteristic of undirectional current flow. The fast electrons pass through the semiconductor and strike the metallic disc at the other end and the two ends of the semiconductor become the – ve and + ve terminals of the battery. The power produced by this battery is a few microwatts at a potential difference of 1/10 volt. This power is sufficient to feed a small radio.
The Remotely Operated Vehicle dives during this expedition have been fascinating. Some of the creatures the experts have been observing seem otherworldly, even eerie. It is not unlikely that the brilliant H.R. Giger got his inspiration for the extraterrestrial monster in 1979’s Alien from the planktonic crustacean Phronima. Perhaps it is lucky that the Swiss artist did not think of Osedax when he designed the character, or the movie would have been even more terrifying. The Latin word “Os” means bone, while “Edax” means to devour. Osedax is a bone-eating worm. Dr. Greg Rouse is able to translate fascination and curiosity for such oceanic critters into knowledge and a deeper understanding of our planet’s most intimate dynamics. Osedax is a perfect example of how natural cycles can be subtle, yet indivisibly linked, because the way these animals take advantage of osseous matter is awe-inspiring. On any given day, a whale may reach the end of its life and sink to the depths of the ocean. Its bones will be stripped of the flesh by different kinds of predators, and the other remains will come to rest in the darkness of the deep sea. Experts used to think that whale bones would take decades to decompose, but that was before they knew of Osedax, an organism that we now know has existed on Earth for longer than whales, feasting on the bones of animals now extinct. “Some people were saying that Osedax is a specialist for whales, but I thought that there are other bones, and there have been fish bones for many millions of years,” says Dr. Greg Rouse, professor of Marine Biology in the Marine Biology Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “Whales are not very old, they have existed for about 50 million years. We estimated the age of Osedax with a molecular clock and some were much older, which means they were eating fish bones or extinct animals.” Dr. Rouse tested this finding by depositing some tuna and swordfish bones on the deep seafloor, and then waiting for six months. What he found demonstrated that Osedax is not a fussy eater. Today he knows that this highly ambitious organism will go through any kind of bone: whale, fish, cattle, poultry, turtles and possibly even human. In reality, the worms are not eating the bone, but feeding it to bacteria. Bone is mostly made up of a mesh of collagen which binds calcium and phosphate together. The worms secrete acid to dissolve the hard parts in order to, the experts suspect, take the collagen and use it to farm the bacteria. “We have not done the final experiments on the collagen, but we have conducted experiments that prove they make the acid. We know the worm is growing on bacteria,” explains Dr. Rouse. “There’s a special chemical signature from bacteria in the tissue of the worm – isotope examination tells us that the food of the worm must have come from the surface, like a whale, but via the bacteria.” The seafloor is a huge surface and the worms are not very big. On top of that, they are completely anchored to the bones. Therefore, finding their source of food is another incredible feature of these relentless animals. Every worm digging through a bone is a female spawning about 800 eggs per day, a floating army in search of new targets. Once an egg lands on top of a bone by chance, something amazing takes place. Humans have the chromosomes XX and XY, which determine the gender of every individual. Some animals, like turtles, get their gender from temperature: female if the weather is hot, male if it is cold (called environmental sex determination). Bone-eating worms take a completely different approach: “We think that if the larvae lands on a bone, it becomes a female, but eventually a bone will have several females growing in it, and the new larvae coming in have no room to land on the bone, and so they will become males through a hormone provided by the female,” explains Dr. Rouse. Basically, any egg that lands on a bone will become female, and any egg that lands on a female will become a male. The males are dwarfs and live on the female by the hundreds. Dr. Rouse’s team calls this a harem of males. They conducted an experiment where they left a bone in the water for six months: originally the bones had female worms and no males. After six months, every female was hosting an average of fifteen males. The female will spend her life eating bacteria and turning larvae into males so she can produce thousands of eggs, until the bone sustenance runs out. Initially, Dr. Rouse found two species of Osedax in California. Today he knows of twenty in that location, and of other species in Japan, Australia, Antarctica, Europe and Brazil. In 2017, he put down bones in Costa Rica – they revealed two of the species from California when he came back to get them in 2018. Now on this cruise the team has just recovered more bones. “We put some bones down three months ago and even after such a short time, they have Osedax,” he marvels. Whether or not these are a new species or one that is already known from further north will have to wait until testing results after the cruise. Dr. Rouse does not anticipate getting bored of these (or any other kind of tube worm) any time soon. After all, he literally wrote the book on them.
Cancer also known as a malignant tumor or malignant neoplasm, is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Not all tumors are cancerous; benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body. Possible signs and symptoms include: a new lump, abnormal bleeding, a prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements, among others. While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they may also occur due to other issues. There are over 100 different known cancers that affect humans. Ovarian cancer causes the leading death among the gynecologic cancers. Development of novel molecular targets are important for patients those who are tested positive with cancer. The various transcription methods are associated with the disease helps in maintenance of the stem cell characteristics and carcinogenesis. Even these promote the development of cancer. Patients or individuals with symptoms may experience pain in the lower abdomen, unexplained back pain, bleeding, weight gain or loss, loss of appetite, or abnormal periods. Scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further progress of science, usually by reporting novel research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past. Most journals are highly specialized, although some of the oldest journals publish articles and scientific papers across a wide range of scientific fields. Scientific journals contain articles that are peer reviewed, to ensure that articles meet the journal's standards of quality, and scientific validity. The publication of the results of research is an essential part of the scientific method. If they are describing experiments or calculations, they must supply enough details that an independent researcher could repeat the experiment or calculation to verify the results. Each such journal article becomes part of the permanent scientific record. Last date updated on March, 2021
GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 145 You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic: Some people think that in order to produce a happy society, it is necessary to ensure that there is only a small difference between the earnings of the richest and poorest. To what extent do you agree or disagree? Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words. Model Answer: [Agreement] Income disparity is a critical issue resonating across the globe. Many people deem that reducing the earnings difference between the wealthiest and most impoverished is the precondition for building a happy society, and I firmly agree with the notion. To commence with, happiness seems profoundly influenced by the wealth reference in a society. If most members of a society have a similar economic condition, they have better bonds and better understanding. For instance, US states wheres income disparity is lower have less violence and conflicts while confusion and frictions are higher in states where income and the social disparity is huge. Moreover, income disparity undermines the fairness of equal opportunity mechanism resulting in despair. In other words, income inequality makes it notoriously difficult to promote equality of opportunity. In fact, few privileged people can enter the workforce markedly better prepared than their counterparts. On the other hand, individuals with few assets find it much harder to access the first small steps towards larger opportunity, like a bank loan for starting a new business or pay for advanced education. However, this is not the case of mere envy that causes an unhappy society. It is an objection to income disparity based on the impacts of a few being better-off compared to others. All things considered, it seems reasonable to conclude that income levels should be balanced and fair so as to produce a contented society. Therefore, politicians ought to devise policy to promote a fair distribution of wealth in order to reduce the income gap between the richest and poorest.
Astronomy Day is April 28th, and now is the perfect time to sit in your backyard and look up at the stars! This holiday was originally designed to teach the public about astronomy, and it’s the perfect holiday to celebrate with your kids! If you don’t have a telescope at home, or you’re looking for an easier way to celebrate Astronomy Day, I highly suggest you add these books to your collection! These books would also work well for a space theme if you want to repurpose them for another lesson. Here are the best books for Astronomy Day for kids. This post contains affiliate links. It does not cost anything extra to purchase an item from one of these links. I receive a small monetary compensation with each purchase. Thank you for supporting Storybook Explorations with your purchase! Best Books for Astronomy Day for Kids - Space Atlas, Second Edition: Mapping the Universe and Beyond - Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide - The Usborne Book of Astronomy and Space - Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry - Stars and Planets: The Most Complete Guide to the Stars, Planets, Galaxies, and Solar System - The Hubble Cosmos: 25 Years of New Vistas in Space - The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide - Collins Stargazing: Beginners guide to astronomy - DK Eyewitness Books: Astronomy: Discover the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Science from Constellations to Moon - Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Night Sky: Find Adventure! Go Outside! Have Fun! Be a Backyard Stargazer - Turn Left At Orion: Hundreds of Night Sky Objects to See in a Home Telescope - The Astronomy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained - Astronomy for Kids: How to Explore Outer Space with Binoculars, a Telescope, or Just Your Eyes! - Cosmos: Possible Worlds - Star Finder!: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Night Sky - Space!: The Universe as You’ve Never Seen It Before - Space: A Visual Encyclopedia - What We See in the Stars: An Illustrated Tour of the Night Sky - Space Dictionary for Kids: The Everything Guide for Kids Who Love Space - The Everything Kids’ Astronomy Book: Blast into outer space with stellar facts, intergalactic trivia, and out-of-this-world puzzles Be sure to follow our boards on Pinterest for even more Storybook Explorations.
Rehabilitation is a crucial aspect of healthcare that aims to restore, improve, and maintain physical strength and mobility. It encompasses a wide range of medical and therapeutic interventions designed to help individuals recover from injuries, surgeries, or illnesses. As we delve into 10 rehabilitation facts, we will explore the diverse facets of rehabilitation, including its importance in enhancing quality of life, the role of various healthcare professionals in the rehabilitation process, and the latest advancements in rehabilitation techniques. Understanding these facts will not only shed light on the significance of rehabilitation in healthcare but also empower individuals to make informed decisions about their own or their loved ones’ rehabilitation journeys. Rehabilitation is an essential part of the recovery process. Rehabilitation plays a crucial role in helping individuals recover from various injuries, illnesses, and medical procedures. It encompasses a wide range of medical and therapeutic interventions aimed at restoring function and improving the overall quality of life for patients. Rehabilitation programs are tailored to individual needs. Each person’s condition and needs are unique, and rehabilitation programs are customized to address these specific requirements. Whether it’s physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, or a combination of these, the rehabilitation process is personalized to optimize the individual’s recovery. Rehabilitation promotes independence. One of the primary goals of rehabilitation is to enhance independence for individuals who have experienced illness or injury. Through targeted therapies and support, rehabilitation helps patients regain the ability to perform daily activities and tasks, fostering a sense of autonomy and self-sufficiency. Rehabilitation is not limited to physical therapy. While physical therapy is a significant component of rehabilitation, it also encompasses mental and emotional aspects. Psychological counseling, cognitive therapy, and emotional support are integral parts of the rehabilitation process, addressing the holistic needs of the individual. Rehabilitation aids in pain management. Effective rehabilitation programs incorporate pain management strategies to alleviate discomfort and improve the individual’s overall well-being. Through targeted exercises, therapies, and medical interventions, rehabilitation contributes to minimizing pain and enhancing comfort. Rehabilitation can prevent complications. By addressing the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of recovery, rehabilitation plays a vital role in preventing potential complications that may arise from prolonged immobility or reduced function. It focuses on proactive measures to minimize risks and enhance recovery outcomes. Rehabilitation can be performed in various settings. Rehabilitation programs can be conducted in diverse settings, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers, and even in the comfort of the individual’s home. The flexibility in delivery ensures that individuals can receive the necessary care based on their specific circumstances. Rehabilitation involves a multidisciplinary approach. Collaboration among healthcare professionals, including physicians, therapists, nurses, and other specialists, is integral to the rehabilitation process. This multidisciplinary approach ensures that all aspects of the individual’s recovery are comprehensively addressed. Rehabilitation requires commitment and consistency. Successful rehabilitation outcomes are often attributed to the individual’s dedication to the prescribed therapies and exercises. Consistent participation and adherence to the rehabilitation plan are essential for achieving optimal results. Rehabilitation empowers individuals to pursue their goals. Ultimately, rehabilitation empowers individuals to pursue their aspirations and engage in activities that are meaningful to them. By restoring function, enhancing mobility, and addressing emotional well-being, rehabilitation enables individuals to strive towards their desired quality of life. Rehabilitation is a vital aspect of healthcare that aims to restore individuals to their optimal physical, mental, and emotional well-being. By focusing on personalized treatment plans and holistic care, rehabilitation professionals can help patients regain independence and improve their overall quality of life. Understanding the importance of rehabilitation and its impact on recovery is crucial for both patients and their loved ones. With ongoing advancements in medical technology and therapeutic approaches, the field of rehabilitation continues to evolve, offering hope and support to countless individuals facing various health challenges. What is the primary goal of rehabilitation? The primary goal of rehabilitation is to help individuals recover from injury, illness, or surgery, and regain their highest level of functioning and independence. What types of professionals are involved in rehabilitation? Rehabilitation may involve a multidisciplinary team including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, psychologists, social workers, and other healthcare professionals. How long does rehabilitation typically last? The duration of rehabilitation varies based on individual needs and the nature of the condition. Some may require short-term rehabilitation, while others may benefit from long-term or ongoing support. What conditions can benefit from rehabilitation? Rehabilitation can benefit a wide range of conditions including musculoskeletal injuries, neurological disorders, cardiac conditions, pulmonary diseases, and mental health challenges. What role does exercise play in rehabilitation? Exercise is a fundamental component of rehabilitation, promoting strength, flexibility, cardiovascular health, and overall well-being. It can aid in restoring function and preventing future complications. Was this page helpful? Our commitment to delivering trustworthy and engaging content is at the heart of what we do. Each fact on our site is contributed by real users like you, bringing a wealth of diverse insights and information. To ensure the highest standards of accuracy and reliability, our dedicated editors meticulously review each submission. This process guarantees that the facts we share are not only fascinating but also credible. Trust in our commitment to quality and authenticity as you explore and learn with us.
You know that the little green padlock in our browser is a good thing and that encrypted messaging helps to keep your information safe, but how much do you truly understand about what encryption is, and how it works? What does it mean to ‘encrypt’ information? In the simplest terms, encryption is the process of taking a piece of information - often a message or communication of some kind - and encoding it in such a way that only authorised parties can understand it. Encryption doesn’t protect information, e.g. emails passing over the internet, from being intercepted, but it does mean that an unauthorised person will not be able to read or understand the information even if they have it in front of them. The most basic form of encryption is something that most of us will have played around with as children. Swapping letters for numbers using a straightforward alphabet chart is a form of encryption. (And not, as most people call it, a code, which in cryptology is a term with a specific, different, meaning.) Although easy to use, this form of encryption has one major drawback: both sender and recipient have to possess the same ‘key’ to be able to decrypt (and so read) the information. If we imagine the situation where I want to securely communicate with someone on the other side of the world, symmetric encryption would mean that I would need to send my recipient not only the encrypted message but also the key to decrypt it. Of course, if anyone intercepts both of those items while they are in transit, my message is no longer secure. Asymmetric, or public key, encryption In 1970, a British researcher - James Ellis - conceived the idea of public key encryption, where the sender of a message uses one ‘key’ to encrypt a piece of information which can only then be decrypted by the recipient using a different, but matching, key. Ellis’ colleagues Clifford Cocks and Malcolm Williamson went on to refine the concept, but as the three worked at the top-secret Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), their research was classified, and it was not until some years later that the idea of Public Key Encryption was made widely available. A one-way lock The essential concept can be illustrated quite simply. Imagine that you have a friend in another country, and that friend wants to send you a secure message which no other person can read while it is in transit. You could send them a sturdy metal box and a padlock with which they can seal their message inside. Assuming that you retain the only key, once your friend closes the box and locks the padlock they can send the message to you - inside the box - confident that it cannot be opened, and the information read, until it is in your possession. Primes and semi-primes Fortunately, encryption in practice doesn’t involve sending thousands of boxes and padlocks through the post! The reality of modern encryption (like the encryption which secures your connection with this website) is a myriad of ‘one-way’ mathematical functions. One-way functions are maths problems which are easy to solve in one direction, but (almost) impossible to answer in the other. The most well-known example of this concept involves prime and semi-prime numbers. A prime number, as you will likely remember from school, is a number which is divisible only by 1 and itself. The lesser-known semi-primes are numbers which are divisible only by 1, themselves, and a pair of prime numbers which can be multiplied to reach them. Any pair of prime numbers multiplied together will create a semi-prime (e.g. 3 x 5 = 15, prime x prime = semi-prime) and that piece of maths is quick and straightforward to do. However, give someone a semi-prime and ask them to work out which two prime numbers were multiplied to make it, and you’ll soon find that the only possible solution is trial and error. This system is the basis of modern encryption. The sender uses a ‘public key’, essentially consisting of the semi-prime number, to secure the information they would like to send. As long as this is a large enough semi-prime number (the best are in the trillions) to make guessing the ‘secret key’ (the pair of primes) which went into making it impractical, then only the recipient who holds the private key can decrypt and read the message. This surprisingly simple concept isn’t understood by many outside the worlds of mathematics and information security. However, it is vital to our modern world, securing bank transactions, health records, and everything in between. It is this lack of understanding which, in many ways, has led to the calls from some quarters to ‘compromise’ encryption in some way to prevent its use by bad actors. Maths, though, is maths, and now that the cat is out of the bag there is no way to put it back in, and stop you, and anyone else who wants to, benefitting from the security that encryption brings.
c. 1400, instruccioun, "action or process of teaching," from Old French instruccion (14c., Modern French instruction), from Latin instructionem (nominative instructio) "an array, arrangement," in Late Latin "teaching," from past participle stem of instruere "arrange, prepare, set in order; inform, teach," from in- "on" (from PIE root en "in") + struere "to pile, build" (from PIE streu-, extended form of root *stere- "to spread"). Teaching is the general word for the imparting of knowledge .... Instruction has the imparting of knowledge for its object, but emphasizes, more than teaching, the employment of orderly arrangement in the things taught. [Century Dictionary] Meaning "an authoritative direction telling someone what to do; a document giving such directions," is early 15c. Related: Instructions.
In this chapter, the machinery to deal with single particles is worked out, culminating in the vital solutions for the hydrogen atom and hydrogen molecular ion. The first section covers the harmonic oscillator. This vibrating system is a simple model for such systems as an atom in a trap, crystal vibrations, and electromagnetic waves. Next, before the hydrogen atom can be discussed, first the quantum mechanics of angular momentum needs to be covered. Just like you need angular momentum to solve the motion of a planet around the sun in classical physics, so do you need angular momentum for the motion of an electron around a nucleus in quantum mechanics. The eigenvalues of angular momentum and their quantum numbers are critically important for many other reasons besides the hydrogen atom. After angular momentum, the hydrogen atom can be discussed. The solution is messy, but fundamentally not much different from that of the particle in the pipe or the harmonic oscillator of the previous chapter. The hydrogen atom is the major step towards explaining heavier atoms and then chemical bonds. One rather unusual chemical bond can already be discussed in this chapter: that of a ionized hydrogen molecule. A hydrogen molecular ion has only one electron. But the hydrogen molecular ion cannot readily be solved exactly, even if the motion of the nuclei is ignored. So an approximate method will be used. Before this can be done, however, a problem must be addressed. The hydrogen molecular ion ground state is defined to be the state of lowest energy. But an approximate ground state is not an exact energy eigenfunction and has uncertain energy. So how should the termlowest energybe defined for the approximation? To answer that, before tackling the molecular ion, first systems with uncertainty in a variable of interest are discussed. Theexpectation valueof a variable will be defined to be the average of the eigenvalues, weighted by their probability. Thestandard deviationwill be defined as a measure of how much uncertainty there is to that expectation value. With a precise mathematical definition of uncertainty, the obvious next question is whether two different variables can be certain at the same time. Thecommutatorof the two operators will be introduced to answer it. That then allows the Heisenberg uncertainty relationship to be formulated. Not only can position and linear momentum not be certain at the same time; a specific equation can be written down for how big the uncertainty must be, at the very least. With the mathematical machinery of uncertainty defined, the hydrogen molecular ion is solved last.
Hans von Halban (1908-1964) was an Austrian physicist. Being of Jewish descent, Halban left Austria in 1935 to avoid persecution by the Nazi regime. He joined nuclear physicist Niels Bohr in Copenhagen, where he and Otto Frisch discovered that heavy water had very little neutron absorption compared to normal water. In 1937, he travelled to France and joined the research team of Dr. Frederic Joilot-Curie at the College de France. In 1939, the research group discovered the possibility of creating nuclear chain reactions, two months after the splitting of the atom. In 1940, with the occupation of Paris on the horizon, Halban and his comrade, Dr. Lew Kowarski, fled to England with their research and a large supply of heavy water that the research team had received from Norway. In England, Halban continued his research at Cambridge, while working on the construction of British atomic piles. He was later assigned to a position in Montreal, creating the joint Canadian-British-French atomic pile at the Chalk River nuclear center. For more information on Halban's research before and during the war, listen to Lew Kowarski's interview on Voices of the Manhattan Project. After the war, Halban returned to England and taught at Oxford University. He also led a team at the Clarendon Laboratory. In 1955, Halban returned to France to become a professor at the Sorbonne and to help direct the construction of a nuclear research laboratory just outside of Paris. That laboratory (the CEA Saclay laboratory) created the French nuclear bomb. Halban was in poor health during the last years of his life and died after a failed surgery in 1964.
The faint young Sun paradox describes the apparent contradiction between observations of liquid water early in the Earth's history and the astrophysical expectation that the Sun 's output would be only 70% as intense during that epoch as it is during the modern epoch. The issue was raised by astronomers Carl Sagan and George Mullen in 1972. Explanations of this paradox have taken into account greenhouse effects , astrophysical influences, or a combination of the two. Early solar output Early in the Earth's history , the Sun 's output would have been only 70% as intense during that epoch as it is during the modern epoch. In the then current environmental conditions, this solar output would have been insufficient to maintain a liquid ocean. Astronomers Carl Sagan and George Mullen pointed out in 1972 that this is contrary to the geological and paleontological evidence. According to the Standard Solar Model , stars similar to the Sun should gradually brighten over their main sequence lifetime. However, with the predicted ago and with concentrations the same as are current for the modern Earth, any liquid water exposed to the surface would freeze. However, the geological record shows a continually relatively warm surface in the full early of the Earth, with the exception of a cold phase, the , about 2.4 to 2.1 billion years ago. Water-related... Read More
Intro to Business March 26, 2004 Research Project: #5 Risk management is described- as "the process of evaluating the risks faced by a firm or an individual and then minimizing the costs involved with those risks (2001)". In other words, its how a business or an individual protects himself or herself from loss or injury that could occur. There are many types of risk management as there are many types of risks. Risk avoidance is taking measure to avoid obvious risks. For instance, when a bank closes, employees lock up all currency in a secure vault to avoid losses in the instance of robbery. Unfortunately, not all risks can be prevented this easily. Taking steps to minimize a risk that is unavoidable is called; risk reduction. Many companies use personal to analyze company procedures and then determine which risks can be reasonably reduced effectively. An example of this would be to have random drug tests given to the employees to ensure that they are not under the influence of anything that would endanger them on the job. Risk assumption means that a company accepts the fact that there are always going to be risks involved when running a business. In other words, a business takes responsibility for certain risks that occur because they understand that they cannot prevent everything. Generally, companies assume a risk when one or more of the following occur 1. The potential loss is too small to worry about at that time. 2. Effective risk management has reduced the risk. 3. Insurance coverage, if available, is too expensive. 4. There is no other way of protecting against a loss (2001). Large firms often use a particular form of risk assumption, which is called, self-assurance. It is a very...
The Mamluk dynasty existed from approximately 1250 to 1500 A.D.in what is modern Syria and Egypt. The Mamluks were slave soldiers who earned their freedom and became rulers of a dynasty which lasted 250 years. Their rulers were known for patronage of the arts, thus this was the most prolific and influential period for Islamic art. Mamluk metal ware is recognizable by the repeated cartouches and medallions and the chain patterns encircling the pieces. Copper and silver inlay into brass pieces is also commonly found. This particular vase was made in the 19th or early 20th century for trade to wealthy travelers who went "on tour" for extended periods of time, and liked to bring back "historical artifacts" Because of the demand and other influences, there was a revival of many types of Mameluke artifacts during this period of time.
The following sketch uses the Circuit Playground speaker to play a different tone for each pad when touched. Look in the takeAction() function and you will see a call to playTone() for each of the pads. The frequencies correspond to the basic musical notes. With this sketch loaded and running on the Circuit Playground, you should hear different tones played when a pad is touched. We can use alligator clips and some paper to create a little piano. On a 6"x4" index card or other piece of paper, draw something similar to the picture below. Now attach the alligator clips to the edge of the paper and the Circuit Playground as shown below. Once you've clipped the alligators, press the reset button on the Circuit Playground so it will re-calibrate the capacitive touch sensors To play a note, just touch the alligator clip on the edge of the paper. For example, in the picture below, E is being played. Try out the following sequence of notes. Do you recognize the tune? Here's a hint.
Sixty years ago, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Joshua Lederberg shocked the world with the first serious scientific paper detailing the feasibility of human cloning. Four decades later, a sheep named Dolly — the first large mammal ever cloned — brought his prediction a step closer to becoming a reality. Now the realization of Lederberg’s proposal seems quite plausible, even if the technology needed to artificially produce humans may not emerge for another few decades. Just as the domestication of crops and livestock triggered a revolution whose impact on society still reverberates today, cloning has the potential to fundamentally alter human culture. But will we learn the lessons of the last revolution quickly enough to apply them before the next one begins? Simply put, cloning is a form of reproduction whereby organisms make a copy of themselves. It is also the most common form of replication found in nature. But about a billion years ago, another, more elaborate method emerged: sexual reproduction. The fusion of half a male’s genome with the corresponding half of a female’s set off a chain reaction, giving birth to a brand new force of evolutionary change. Though the more complex reproductive machinery came with certain costs, they were far outweighed by the survival benefits gained. Species that rely on sexual reproduction, for example, have a richer variety of genetic variations and better protection against the accumulation of harmful mutations than do their cloning counterparts. But the very feature that has allowed sexual species to survive has come to be seen as a hindrance to tailoring the environment to mankind’s advantage. Since the agricultural revolution, humans have steered the genetic development of crops and livestock alike. Trait by trait, man has shaped the plants and animals around him over the course of some 500 human generations. By bypassing sexual reproduction altogether, artificial cloning promises to allow mankind to harness the laws of heredity within a single generation. Artificial cloning first arose in the early 1930s and was used primarily to grow simple animals such as amphibians. It took nearly half a century for scientists to build the technical expertise needed to clone bigger and more complex creatures such as sheep. Dolly’s birth was met with enthusiasm from the livestock industry, which had no difficulty envisioning the possibilities created by copying its top-performing animals at will. Desirable attributes could be retained, and the genetic fluctuations inherent to the process of sexual reproduction could be eliminated. Meanwhile, the medical field saw its own opportunities in Dolly’s success: Tissues and organs, for instance, could be grown to replace those in patients suffering from serious genetic defects or internally destructive diseases. Yet in spite of the substantial rhetorical and financial support for artificial cloning, the technique still has not advanced to the point of industrial use. Since Dolly’s birth in 1996, only a handful of other large mammals have been cloned — a success rate so low that the technique’s original inventor abandoned it nearly a decade ago after deciding it was too difficult to be feasible. But still the research continued: In November 2015, Chinese biotechnology firm Boyalife Group announced its plans to partner with South Korea’s Sooam Biotech Research Foundation to set up a vast commercial cattle-cloning operation. And Boyalife has aspirations to potentially move beyond simply cloning animals. Artificially replicating humans, however, is another animal entirely. In 2013, scientists managed to clone fetal cells to treat an infant suffering from a rare genetic disorder. The following year, another experiment replicated the results, this time cloning adult cells instead. Yet when it comes to cloning human subjects, there are myriad ethical considerations and legal preventions in place. Even without existing bans on implanting cloned human embryos into surrogate mothers, it could take at least a few decades for the approval of asexual human reproduction in clinical practice. At first glance, this may seem like a long period of time, but is it truly enough to prepare for the sweeping societal changes that human cloning is bound to effect? Adapting to a New Lifestyle For thousands of years, humans have tried to circumvent natural selection by breeding animals that best fit their economic interests. As early as 9000 B.C., humans had managed to domesticate sheep, thanks in part to their relative lack of aggression and manageable size. These characteristics, coupled with early sexual maturity and high rates of reproduction, made sheep easy to manage and herd throughout their lifespans. Man began to steadily distance himself from the lifestyle of his hunter-gatherer forefathers, and in many ways, human behavior began to mimic that of the very herds being raised. As humans selectively bred sheep — first to produce more milk and meat, then to produce a greater quality and quantity of wool — man himself began to remold his own culture to support his new, pastoral way of life. Likewise, humans will be forced to adapt their traditions and morals once again as technology upsets their lifestyles — this time, by disrupting their methods of reproduction. Contraceptives have already sparked debates about the roles of husband and wife within the family, while advances in endocrinology and plastic surgery have made changes in gender physically possible. Social, psychological and physiological definitions of gender no longer necessarily overlap. Nor do those of parenthood: In vitro fertilization and surrogacy have enabled same-sex couples to raise children, decoupling the act of sex from insemination and childbirth. Artificial cloning — or other techniques such as gene editing — could deliver the final blow, undoing a billion years of reproductive evolution. So far, what began as a way to perfect the animal world has had a relatively minimal impact on our own society; we are far removed from the animals whose end products are neatly stacked in our supermarket aisles. But once artificial cloning is applied to man, there is little chance that society will react quickly enough to craft a new set of moral norms to match the ever-evolving environment around it.
Scientific research has uncovered that potential life forms could be producing a colourless gas in the clouds of Venus 'unlike anything we've seen' before. Researchers from Cardiff University, MT and Cambridge University believe that ammonia is being produced in the clouds of the planet which would make it more habitable to alien life. According to scientists, MIT News says that researchers have identified 'a chemical pathway by which life could neutralise Venus’ acidic environment, creating a self-sustaining, habitable pocket in the clouds.' Although Venus is too hot to host life forms, there could likely be some form of life in its clouds. MIT News reports that the researchers modelled a set of chemical processes to show that if ammonia is present, the gas would set off a cascade of chemical reactions. This is said to neutralise surrounding droplets of sulphuric acid and could also explain most of the anomalies observed in Venus’ clouds. As for the source of ammonia itself, the authors propose that the most plausible explanation is of biological origin, rather than a nonbiological source such as lightning or volcanic eruptions. As they write in their study, the chemistry suggests that “life could be making its own environment on Venus.” “We know that life can grow in acid environments on Earth, but nothing as acid as the clouds of Venus were believed to be. But if something is making ammonia in the clouds, then that will neutralize some of the droplets, making them potentially more habitable,” said co-author of the study Dr William Bains, from Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy, The Independent has reported. “Ammonia shouldn’t be on Venus,” said study co-author Professor Sara Seager, from MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). “It has hydrogen attached to it, and there’s very little hydrogen around. Any gas that doesn’t belong in the context of its environment is automatically suspicious for being made by life.” Do you think aliens could exist in the clouds of Venus? Tell us in the comments. Some chemical signatures in the clouds had gone unexplained for decades: the presence of oxygen; non-spherical particles; and unexpected levels of water vapor and sulphur dioxide. Experts believed this could be explained by dust, however the amount was too large to have been minerals swept from Venus' surface to the clouds. “There are many other challenges for life to overcome if it is to live in the clouds of Venus,” said Bains. “There is almost no water there for a start, and all life that we know of needs water. But if life is there, then neutralizing the acid will make the clouds just a bit more habitable than we thought.” The chances of life being present on Venus is very small, Dr Bains said. The expert is sceptical that it is in fact aliens, but hasn't ruled it out completely. “Having said that, if there’s even a small chance there’s life there it will such an epoch-changing discover that it’s really worth following up”. Get the best stories about the things you love most curated by us and delivered to your inbox every day. Choose what you love here
The structure of the heart is shown in the diagram below: The structure is closely related to its function. Mammals have a double circulation, which means that the right hand side of the heart pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs in the pulmonary artery to pick up oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The oxygenated blood then returns to the left hand side of the heart in the pulmonary vein. From there the blood is pumped to the body in the aorta, eventually returning to the right hand side of the heart in the vena cava to start the cycle again. Since the right side pumps to the lungs which are situated close to the heart, the walls are much thinner than the left side which has to pump blood out of the heart to the body. The heart has 4 chambers; 2 on the right hand side (the left as you look at it in the screen) and 2 on the left. The top chamber on each side is called the atrium; the bottom is called the ventricle. The atria receive blood as it enters the heart and pumps it into the ventricles. The ventricles pump blood out of the heart. Due to this, the walls of the atria are much thinner than the walls of the ventricles. Inside the heart and at the base of the vessels that leave the heart are valves. These valves only open one way, which ensures that there is no backflow of blood. The valves are held open or closed by tendons (chordae tendinae or perhaps better known as heart strings), which are attached at the other end to the papillary muscles in the ventricle walls. The valves open to let blood through and then snap shut. This sound of the valves closing is the 'lub dub' sound of the heartbeat. The muscle of the heart is called cardiac muscle and is made of tightly connecting cells. This close contact allows rapid ion transport from cell to cell. This then allows smooth, efficient waves of depolarisation to produce contractions (and repolarisation to bring about relaxation), which pass through the heart. The tissue is said to be myogenic, i.e. it does not need electrical impulses from a nerve to make it contract. If the cardiac muscle is supplied with oxygen and nutrients (a task carried out by the coronary arteries which you can see running over the surface of the heart) it will continue to contract at a steady pace. Nerves supplying the heart, though they are not needed to start the contractions, can bring about an increase or decrease in the rate of contractions when appropriate. One cardiac cycle consists of the atria and then the ventricles contracting so that the blood that has entered the heart is pumped out. This occurs about 70 times every minute and is continuous. The periods of contraction are called systole. The periods of relaxation are called diastole. We shall start when the atria and ventricles are in diastole. Blood at a low pressure in the veins flows into the atria. This increases the pressure inside the empty atria as they fill. Some of the blood trickles through the open atrioventricular valves into the relaxed ventricles below. When the atria are full, they go into atrial systole, their walls contract and blood is pushed through the valves into the ventricles. The pressure in the atria is increased due to the contractions and the pressure is increasing in the ventricles as they fill with blood. When the atria contract, blood cannot flow back into the veins because the pressure of the blood pushes on the valves in the veins to shut them. After a short delay the ventricles contract from the apex (base) upwards. The pressure inside the ventricles increases due to the ventricular systole. As the pressure increases to a higher level than the pressure in the atria, blood pushes against the atrioventricular valves, shutting them (the first heart sound) and preventing backflow. The semilunar valves open under the pressure and blood leaves the heart. The ventricles relax - ventricular diastole - and the semilunar valves snap shut behind the blood (the second heart sound). To work out from a graph what stage of the cycle the heart is in, it is important to look at the relative pressure of the atria and ventricles. The heartbeat is initiated in a specialised area of muscle in the right atrium called the sinoatrial node (SAN) or the pacemaker. The SAN starts the waves of depolarisation, which results in contraction. The waves spread out over the 2 atrial walls so that they contract. There is a band of fibres between the atria and ventricles, which have a high electrical resistance so the waves cannot spread from the atria to the ventricles. There is an area, however, which does conduct in the septum, and the waves can pass from here through the ventricles. This specialised area is called the atrioventricular node (AVN) and will pass on the waves of depolarization after about 0.1s. It would be disastrous if the ventricles contracted at the same time so that is why there is a short period of delay before the ventricles contract. The AVN passes them on to the Purkinje (also called Purkyne) fibres in the inter-ventricular septum. The excitation is passed to the apex of the heart and then through the ventricle walls. This causes the ventricles to contract from the base upwards ensuring that the blood is forced up and out in the vessels leaving the heart. Regulation of the cardiac cycle by the heart by other factors The total amount of blood pumped by the heart in lone minute = cardiac output Cardiac output = stroke volume x number of beats per minute (Stroke volume is the volume pumped in one beat) Increasing the stroke volume therefore can increase cardiac output. A larger volume might enter the atria through the veins during exercise because the vessels become dilated to enable more blood to flow to the muscles to supply more oxygen and nutrients. The atria are stretched more than normal; the heart detects this and responds by beating faster and with more force. Increasing the number of beats per minute can also increase the cardiac output. The effect of hormones. This occurs when adrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla, flows in the blood and affects the SAN. The SAN is stimulated, works faster, increasing the heart rate. The effect of nervous stimulation. One nerve, the accelerator nerve, runs from the cardioacceleratory centre in the medulla of the brain to the SAN. Another, the vagus nerves, runs from the cardioinhibitory centre in the medulla of the brain to the SAN. These nerves are stimulated in various situations, e.g. during exercise, the accelerator nerve is stimulated. It releases noradrenaline at the SAN resulting in the heart rate increasing due to a decreased delay at the AVN and increasing the force of the contractions. If the vagus nerve is stimulated, acetylcholine is released at the SAN. The delay at the AVN increases and the cardiac output falls. Blood pressure also affects the cardiac output. Some blood vessels (e.g. the aorta and carotid arteries) have baroreceptors (also called stretch receptors) in their walls. These detect the pressure and send impulses to the cardiac centre in the medulla. If the pressure is too high: the cardioinhibitory centre is stimulated, impulses are sent down the vagus nerve, the heart rate is slowed and the pressure will fall. If the pressure is too low: the cardioacceleratory centre is stimulated, impulses are sent down the accelerator nerve, the heart rate is increased and the pressure will rise.
Math 4 Today, Grade 5 Math 4 Today for fifth grade provides 40 weeks of daily activities to strengthen math skills. Math 4 Today: Daily Skill Practice for fifth grade contains reproducible activities designed to help students learn these math skills and concepts: - multiplying and dividing - fractions and decimals The Math 4 Today book for fifth grade aligns with current state standards. Math 4 Today: Daily Skill Practice for fifth grade provides 40 weeks of learning activities for each day of the week. This math workbook for students only requires 10 minutes of review and practice each day, and it includes fluency activities, reproducible activities, and writing prompts. An assessment of the skills covered for the week is provided for the fifth day to help teachers easily monitor progress. The 4 Today series is a comprehensive, quick, and easy-to-use math workbook. The reproducible activities review essential skills during a four-day period. On the fifth day, an assessment with related skills is provided. Each week begins with a Fluency Blast section to provide students with repeated, daily practice for essential skills. The format and style of the 4 Today books provide excellent practice for standardized tests. The series also includes a fluency-tracking reproducible, a standards alignment chart, tips for fostering a school-to-home connection, and an answer key. No customer reviews for the moment. (16 other products in the same category)
The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly or moth is one of the most beguiling in the animal world. Both larva and adult are just stages in the life of a single animal, but are nonetheless completely separated in appearance, habitat and behaviour. The imagery associated with such change is inescapably beautiful, and as entrancing to a poet as it is to a biologist. According to popular belief, within the pupa, the caterpillar's body is completely overhauled, broken down into a form of soup and rebuilt into a winged adult. Richard Buckmister Fuller once said that "there is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly." Indeed, as the butterfly or moth quite literally flies off into a new world, it is tempting to think that there is no connection between its new life and its old existence as an eating machine. But not so. A new study has provided strong evidence that the larval and adult stages are not as disparate as they might seem. Adult tobacco hookworms - a species of moth - can remember things that it learned as a caterpillar, which means that despite the dramatic nature of metamorphosis, some elements of the young insect's nervous system remain intact through the process. Using some mild electric shocks, Douglas Blackiston from Georgetown University trained hookworm caterpillars (Manduca sexta) to avoid the scent of a simple organic chemical - ethyl acetate. The larvae were then placed in the bottom end of a Y-shaped tube, with the scent of ethyl acetate wafting down one arm and fresh air coming down the other. Sure enough, 78% of the trained caterpillars inched down the odour-free arm. As the caterpillar moulted their way through the larval stage, their aversion to ethyl acetate remained. Blackiston allowed them to pupate and emerge as full-grown moths, before testing them again, about a month after their initial 'electric' education. Bear in mind that a tobacco hornworm lives for about 30 to 50 days, so a month is very close to its entire lifespan. Amazingly, 77% of the adult moths also avoided the ethyl acetate-scented arm of the Y-shaped tube and the vast majority of these were the adult versions of the same larvae that had correctly learned the behaviour originally. Clearly, the larvae had learned to avoid the chemical and that memory carried over into adulthood. Even so, Blackiston was careful to rule out alternative explanations. For a start, ethyl acetate isn't naturally foul-smelling. It's actually rather reminiscent of pear drops and when larvae are exposed to it in the absence of electric shocks, neither they nor the adults they become learn to avoid it. Another possible explanation hinges on the fact that adults emerging from the pupa usually experience a similar milieu of smells to their caterpillar selves. This chemical legacy' could explain why adults and larvae react similarly to some odours. But when Blackiston applied ethyl acetate gel to the pupae of untrained caterpillars, the adults did not shrink away from the chemical. Nor did washing the pupae of trained caterpillars, to get rid of any lingering traces of ethyl acetate, have any effect. How and why? Blackiston was convinced that some aspect of the caterpillar' nervous system was carried over into adulthood. However, he also found that this only happened if caterpillars are trained at the last possible stage before they pupate - the 'fifth instar'. Any earlier, and the memories don't stick. The fruitfly Drosophila suggests why this might happen. In its brain, memories of smells are located in mushroom bodies, brain structures that consist of three lobes. The gamma lobe develops very early while the alpha and beta lobes develop just before the pupal stage. Blackiston thinks that long-lasting larval memories are writ into the alpha and beta lobes, whose neural networks are kept around while the rest of the caterpillar breaks down. If the larvae are too young, these areas haven't developed yet and any learned information is stored in the gamma lobe and lost when its connections are trimmed back in the pupa. But why bother? After all, the entire advantage of metamorphosis rests on the very different lifestyles and habitats of caterpillars and moths, which allow them to avoid competing with each other. Nonetheless, moths and butterflies must still return to the right sort of plant in order to lay their eggs and Blackiston suggests that their larva-hood memories may help them to do so. Images by Kugamazog and Xfigpower, from Wikipedia Reference: Blackiston, D.J., Silva Casey, E., Weiss, M.R., Healy, S. (2008). Retention of Memory through Metamorphosis: Can a Moth Remember What It Learned As a Caterpillar?. PLoS ONE, 3(3), e1736. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001736 This reminds me of the astonishing experiment in which one trains flatworms to change their normal light avoidance behaviour with a punishment/reward. These worms are ground up and fed to their untrained commrades...who then display the same behaviour without having to learn from scratch. Somehow the chemical signals can be 'eaten' and absorbed. This made quite an impression on me as a young biology student and contributed to my decision to pursue molecular biology research. I hope that young people reading this review by Ed Young on of the article on Caterpillar metamorphosis are similarly inspired. Thanks for the comment Geoffrey. I would however like to point readers to the following information on the flatworm experiment. You got to the response before I could Ed. Geoffrey, I can back up what he has already said by saying most of the "cannibalism" learning experiments are thought to have been confounded in either execution or interpretation. However, I have heard some exciting preliminary data from a flatworm lab looking at metamorphosis. Flatworms can regenerate really well, if you cut them in half the front portion grows a new tail and the back portion grows a new head (and in nature many species actually pull themselves in half to reproduce). What the lab has been looking at is whether a trained flatworm can remember information after regenerating. So far they have shown that if the head regenerates a tail, the worm remembers, not surprising since the "brain" is in the front end. But, what might be very exciting is that when the tail half regenerates a head, it may also remember the learned behavior. The work is very preliminary, but I thought it might be interesting to think about. There's a lot of experiments you could do on that front. Instead of cutting the worm in half at the center, or waist, why not cut it into right and left halves. If each side has half a brain, would they remember a learned task after regenerating? What could this tell us about the laterality of information storage? That. Is. Fascinating. Doug, thanks for popping by and chipping in your thoughts. We should really be allowed to cut more things in half for the good of scientific progress :-) The point is well made! Observer bias is the nemesis of scientific progress! The flatworm experiment is an example forcing observation to support an hypothesis. In the case the hypothesis...that complex behavioral patterns can be shared or triggered by simple molecules...has been born out by the body of research on nematodes. The neurological and biochemical circuits of these simple animals can be easily reprogrammed by feeding them regulatory small RNA. The ability to regulate gene expression in nematodes by this mechanism has allowed researchers to rapidly turn on and off gene expression contributing to our understanding of gene regulation in eukaryotes. So a hypothesis is not proved until it is repeatedly tested.. Nor is it disproved so easily. Let this be a lesson to those that would believe otherwise. Yes! We did this very experiment in high school biology class for our honors project. We trained avoidance of darkness by shocking worms when they crossed a barrier to dark. This avoidance behavior is opposite to the normal programming of the worm. After carefully resecting the animals one side derived from the original animal of the maintained the training 70% of the time. There was no statistically significant avoidance for regenerated untrained animals. It would be interesting to follow this up with modern technical approaches. Are these inherited wiring paths, chemical gradients that persist, or small molecule behavior triggers? One other note.. at about the same time the flatworm experiments were taking off, genetics began to show how complex organisms could be encoded in a single strand of DNA. In a bit of a stretch, it was suggested that the sequence of RNA could encode memory. Now we understand that the details of this hypothesis were naive. Rather, RNA can serve as a transmissible trigger that can turn off or on genetic and metabolic circuits triggering relatively complex outcomes. So it isn't possible for a human cannibal to learn a classmates term paper or for a mouse to learn a maze by eating the brain of another that has. But it is conceivable to transmit small signaling molecules between simpler animals that can activate or inhibit latent inherent pathways in another. how does caterpillars grow into a monarch butterfly.
How early education affects your child’s thinking and learning process? It’s such a rewarding feeling to see your preschool grow, develop his own personality, and gain his independence. However, you can’t really know if your toddler is capable of developing thinking and learning skills that are age appropriate. As the parent, you are your child’s role model and first teacher. To make sure they develop a wish to learn new things and develop new skills, you have to begin an “in-house” learning process early in their upbringing. Start encouraging deep thinking and learning at home Now that you acknowledge the importance of your toddler having both thinking and learning skills, move on to reinforcing those skills. Provide them with efficient, meaningful opportunities to perform activities that stimulate the brain, and reinforce feelings of independence and responsibility. Common activities you might want try are: - Allow your toddler to help out with common house chores, like sorting the laundry, folding clothes, and cleaning the house - Invest in fun, educational puzzles and play together - Encourage different forms of play, such as pretend play - Challenge your toddler with daily activities that compel him to make a decision, or find a solution Promote learning and thinking abilities at preschool The amount of time your toddler spends in preschool gives you the chance to help them develop thinking and learning skills in an environment that’s organized and more structured than the comfort of your home. Even though there’s lots of time for having fun at preschool, increasingly more pre-K programs abide by a very strict curriculum. To make sure your child is actually engaged in learning and thinking activities, you might want to: - Talk about the teacher helps your toddler develop thinking and learning abilities - Find out more about the actual activities your child is involved in. Ask them if they’re enjoyable and fun to do - Review projects and tasks the child must perform as homework, and offer to help - Open subjects about the time spent at preschool, and try to get a feel of their reactions Early cognitive development studies show that a young child’s brain has an astonishing capacity to learn fast and develop insightful learning skills. A lot of parents underestimate their child’s ability to think at deeper level, and understand sophisticated terms and phrases. Believe it or not, many are capable of communication intentions that only an adult could perform. Toddlers rely on the things they can learn from their parents. If you want your child to grow up an avid reader, you should be an avid reader yourself. It all begins in the house. The connection between a parent’s daily activities and lifestyle has a direct impact on the child’s perceptions. Sadly, not that many parents acknowledge that their offspring mimic almost every activity performed within the household. Toddlers have a natural-born instinct to learn Make-believe and role-playing games are preferred by toddlers starting from the age of 3. As they grow up and approach pre-school, their intrinsic need to learn more and do more skyrockets. But then again, today’s average parent is a busy individual who can barely find 1-2 hours a day to spend with the child. Most parents don’t get involved, meaning that the toddler might end up learning wrong things, and performing the wrong activities. The secret to helping your child develop the right set of skills is all about integrating yourself more into their daily life. In the first 3 years of life, you have to be there for them as their verbalized thinking and memory intensifies. Early education matters a lot because it’s a tipping point in the expansion and development of the toddler’s learning process. In most countries, pre-school begins at the age of 6. To make sure your child is on the right track, it might be best to appoint them a private tutor. Someone with experience can help instill a more pronounced sense of responsibility; especially if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands to spend with your child on a daily basis. The more involved you get in your toddler’s learning process at an early age, the better chances you have for them to grow up into a responsible teenager.
Tech moves fast! Stay ahead of the curve with Techopedia! Join nearly 200,000 subscribers who receive actionable tech insights from Techopedia. Ambient temperature is the air temperature of an environment or object. In computing, ambient temperature refers to the air temperature surrounding computing equipment. This measurement is crucial for equipment function and longevity, especially with regard to the microprocessor, which usually has its own cooling system. In PCs, this may be a simple fan but be more elaborate in computers and supercomputers with multiple processors. Ambient temperature plays a significant role in human performance, equipment, animals, chemical processes or any other activity where temperature is a relevant factor. The ambient temperature surrounding computer equipment should be between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, but the low end of this range is best when operating over extended periods of time or extending the life of the equipment. If the temperature is above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the cooling system may fail to maintain recommended operating temperatures.
Imagine trying to uncover the meaning behind all the words in the English language. Well, that’s what dictionaries are for, right? Not quite. According to Joshua Hartshorne, the director of MIT’s Games With Words, our current understanding of any word is simply based on its relationship with other words. That’s precisely the problem. To provide an analogy, imagine if you only recognized the color blue because you knew it wasn’t yellow, green, or red. You know it’s “lighter” than black but “darker” than white. You also know it’s similar to the color of the sky or ocean. But take these relationships away, and ask yourself–do you truly understand what blue is? This is essentially what Games With Words aspires to investigate in language—the intrinsic meaning of words. Hartshorne’s interdisciplinary team of psychologists, computer scientists, and linguists are trying to characterize what verbs mean. “Dictionaries notwithstanding, scientists really do not know very much about what words mean, and it is hard to program [computers] to know what the word means when you [yourself] actually do not know,” says Hartshorne. “Our best computer systems, like Google Translate and Siri, treat words as essentially meaningless symbols that need to be moved around.” One component of Games With Words is Verb Corner, which aims to uncover the meaning of verbs, a particularly challenging subset of language. Choose from 6 different games and scenarios that you can tackle. The more questions you answer, the more valuable the questions you have already answered become. This is because Games With Words uses cutting-edge analysis techniques to estimate your biases (everyone understands language differently!) and simultaneously identify difficult questions. So, the more data they have from each person, the better these analyses work. “Rather than try to work out the definition of a word all at once, we have broken the problem into a series of tasks. Each task has a fanciful backstory, […] but at its heart, each task is asking about a specific component of meaning that scientists suspect makes up one of the building blocks of verb meaning. In this, we are building on pioneering work by Ray Jackendoff, Steven Pinker, Beth Levin and many other linguists and psychologists.” Hartshorne recalls that back in 2006 when he started doing web-based experiments, collecting data from groups of hundreds of people was impressive. Nowadays, with existing technology, it’s possible to collect data from groups in the thousands if not tens of thousands. The ability to do this only adds value to studies like Games With Words. However, one of the biggest challenges is still scope. Because this is such a massive undertaking (there are lots and lots of words), the Games With Words staff needs all the help they can get from citizen scientists like you. (Yes you, dear reader!) “We realized very early that even with a small army, it would take us well past the ends of our careers to finish this project if we don’t attract enough citizen scientists.” The Games With Words team will be sharing the results of the project freely with scientists and the public alike, and they expect it to make a valuable contribution to linguistics, psychology, and computer science. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, GamesWithWords.org Although she holds dual bachelors’ degrees in International Studies and Spanish from the University of California Irvine, Lily Bui has long harbored a proclivity for the sciences. A daughter of an engineer and an accountant who also happen to be a photographer and musician, respectively, Lily grew up on the nexus between science and art. Lily has worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; served a year in AmeriCorps in Montgomery County, Maryland; worked for a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter in California; and performed across the U.S. as a touring musician. She currently works in public media at WGBH-TV and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX) in Boston, MA. In her spare time, she thinks of cheesy science puns (mostly to entertain herself). Follow @dangerbui.
A food allergen challenge is a procedure where small and incremental amounts of a particular food are fed to a person while under medical supervision, and monitored to determine if the food being tested causes an allergic reaction in the person. Most food allergen challenges involve a time period of about 2 to 3 hours to eat the required doses of food, followed by 2 hours of medical observation. Occasionally the food is given in one serving for rare types of food allergy, such as Food Protein Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome (FPIES). If an allergic reaction occurs, the challenge: - May take longer. - Is usually stopped and if necessary, treatment for the allergic reaction is given. - Is usually called 'positive' and the person is diagnosed as allergic to the food. If the challenge is completed without an allergic reaction: - It is called 'negative'. - The person will then be asked to regularly include the food in their diet. For more information see ASCIA Food allergen challenges FAQs Content updated May 2019
Transmission of Avian Influenza A Viruses Between Animals and People Influenza A viruses have infected many different animals, including ducks, chickens, pigs, whales, horses, and seals. However, certain subtypes of influenza A virus are specific to certain species, except for birds, which are hosts to all known subtypes of influenza A viruses. Currently circulating Influenza A subtypes in humans are H3N2 and H1N1 viruses. Examples of different influenza A virus subtypes that have infected animals to cause outbreaks include H1N1 and H3N2 virus infections of pigs, and H7N7 and H3N8 virus infections of horses. Influenza A viruses that typically infect and transmit among one animal species sometimes can cross over and cause illness in another species. For example, until 1998, only H1N1 viruses circulated widely in the U.S. pig population. However, in 1998, H3N2 viruses from humans were introduced into the pig population and caused widespread disease among pigs. More recently, H3N8 viruses from horses have crossed over and caused outbreaks in dogs. Avian influenza A viruses may be transmitted from animals to humans in two main ways: - Directly from birds or from avian influenza A virus-contaminated environments to people. - Through an intermediate host, such as a pig. Influenza A viruses have eight separate gene segments. The segmented genome allows influenza A viruses from different species to mix and create a new virus if influenza A viruses from two different species infect the same person or animal. For example, if a pig were infected with a human influenza A virus and an avian influenza A virus at the same time, the new replicating viruses could mix existing genetic information (reassortment) and produce a new influenza A virus that had most of the genes from the human virus, but a hemagglutinin gene and/or neuraminidase gene and other genes from the avian virus. The resulting new virus might then be able to infect humans and spread easily from person to person, but it would have surface proteins (hemagglutinin and/or neuraminidase) different than those currently found in influenza viruses that infect humans. This type of major change in the influenza A viruses is known as “antigenic shift.” Antigenic shift results when a new influenza A virus subtype to which most people have little or no immune protection infects humans. If this new influenza A virus causes illness in people and is transmitted easily from person to person in a sustained manner, an influenza pandemic can occur. It is possible that the process of genetic reassortment could occur in a person who is co-infected with an avian influenza A virus and a human influenza A virus. The genetic information in these viruses could reassort to create a new influenza A virus with a hemagglutinin gene from the avian virus and other genes from the human virus. Influenza A viruses with a hemagglutinin against which humans have little or no immunity that have reassorted with a human influenza virus are more likely to result in sustained human-to-human transmission and pose a major public health threat of pandemic influenza. Therefore, careful evaluation of influenza A viruses recovered from humans who are infected with avian influenza A viruses is very important to identify reassortment if it occurs. Although it is unusual for people to get influenza virus infections directly from animals, sporadic human infections and outbreaks caused by certain avian influenza A viruses and swine influenza A viruses have been reported.Top of Page - Page last reviewed: February 10, 2015 - Page last updated: December 10, 2015 - Content source:
Methylmalonic acidemia is a disorder, passed down through families, in which the body cannot break down certain proteins and fats. The result is a build up of a substance called methylmalonic acid in the blood. It is considered an inborn error of metabolism. The disease is usually diagnosed in the first year of life. It is an autosomal recessive disorder, which means the defective gene must be passed onto the child from both parents. About 1 in 25,000 - 48,000 babies are born with this condition. However, the actual rate may be higher, because a newborn may die before the condition is ever diagnosed. Methylmalonic acidemia affects boys and girls equally. The disease can cause seizures and stroke. Babies may appear normal at birth, but develop symptoms once they start eating more protein, which can cause the condition to get worse. Testing for methylmalonic acidemia is often done as part of a newborn screening exam. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends screening for this condition at birth because early detection and treatment has been shown to be beneficial. Tests that may be done to diagnose this condition include: Treatment consists of cobalamin and carnitine supplements and a low-protein diet. The child's diet must be carefully controlled. If supplements do not help, the doctor may also recommend a diet that avoids substances called isoleucine, threonine, methionine, and valine. Liver or kidney tranplantation (or both) have been shown to help some patients. These transplants provide the body with new cells that help breakdown methylmalonic acid normally. Patient may not survive their first attack. Seek immediate medical help if a child is having a seizure for the first time. See a pediatrician if your child has signs of failure-to-thrive or developmental delays. A low-protein maintenance diet can help to reduce the number of acidemia attacks. Persons with this condition should avoid those who are sick. Genetic counseling may be helpful for couples with a family history of this disorder who wish to have a baby.
Group Of MSU Scientists Solve Sunspot Phenomenon Three MSU Students were the first to discover the reason for the absence of sunspots between 2008 and 2010. They published their article in March 3rds ‘Nature’ magazine. The three members of the MSU team of scientists are Dibyendu Nandi, Andres Munoz-Jaramillo and Piet Martens. The team concluded that the sun’s interior hot plasma flow known as the ‘meridional circulation’ is a likely cause for the long lasting lack of sunspots. It is important in science to understand the behavior of the sun because it affects electronics in and outside of the Earths atmosphere. Evelyn Boswell – MSU News Service Sunspots normally have 11-year cycles. Sometimes sunspots are so abundant that they cover 1 percent of the sun’s surface. Sometimes they disappear. But the recent lull lasted twice as long as usual. The last time such a thing occurred was around 1913, Martens said. Before that, it happened in 1810. The discovery that the rare phenomenon, an extra-long “solar minimum,” coincides with unusually weak magnetic fields at the sun’s poles has drawn widespread attention, with NASA scheduling a teleconference to discuss it and journalists from around the world contacting team members for interviews. Understanding sunspots is important because solar activities influence space weather, which affects technology in space and on the Earth, Martens said.
Calculating the percentage of a given number is a very common math problem to solve. In this article, we'll cover how to calculate what 2% of 17 is, and give you step-by-step instructions so you can learn how to do it yourself as well. Looking for percentage worksheets? Click here to see all of our free percentages worksheets. There are only two steps you need to follow in order to find 2% of 17. We'll start by dividing the number, 17, by 100. We do this because percent means one part in every hundred, and since this is what we need to calculate in this problem, it's the first step in the process: At this point, we know that 1% of 17 is 0.17, because we just divided it by 100. I'm sure you've guessed now that all we need to do is multiply our result, 0.17, by the percentage we want to find, which is 2: (Note that we have rounded the final answer down to two decimal places) As you can see, the actual process of calculating 2 percent of 17 is incredibly simply and straightforward to do. We can now easily see that 2% of 17 is 0.34. Why Calculate the Percentage of a Number? Percentages are very useful to make calculations easier and to understand numbers and the differences between them. It's much simpler to work with and understand parts of 100 than it is to use fractions that often do not have an exact, non-recurring, decimal equivalent. Since a percentage is really just a fraction where the denominator is 100, comparisons are easier too. For working out the percentage of a number, like 2% of 17, we do these types of calculation all the time in real life. A few examples might be: - A customer trying to calculate how much a sale item costs in a store - A business looking to analyze their net and gross profit margins - Computer software will lets you know how long there is left in the installation Practice Percentage Worksheets Like most math problems, percentages is something that will get much easier for you the more you practice the problems and the more you practice, the more you understand. Whether you are a student, a parent, or a teacher, you can create your own percentage worksheets using our percentages worksheet generator. This completely free tool will let you create completely randomized, differentiated, percentage problems to help you with your learning and understanding of percentages. Practice Percentages of Numbers Using Examples If you want to continue learning about how to calculate the percentage of a number, take a look at the random calculations in the sidebar to the right of this blog post. We have listed some completely random percentage of a number examples that you can follow along with to help you work through a number of problems. Each article will show you, step-by-step, how to work out the percentage of the given number and will help students to really learn and understand this process. Calculate Another Percentage Difference Enter your numbers into the boxes below below and click "Calculate" to work out the percentage of the number.
Agroforestry is the deliberate incorporation of trees and other woody species of plants into other types of agricultural activities. By definition the use of woody species must result in the enhancement of either the biological productivity or the economic return of the system, or both. There are many types of agroforestry, which are usually defined by what type of agricultural activity is involved, but this can be a very broad definition and includes what we normally think of as agriculture (agroforestry), but also other combinations such as livestock production (sylvo-pastoral agroforestry) and even aquaculture (sylvo-aqua agroforestry). Even more complicated versions are possible such as agricultural systems that incorporate livestock, trees and aquaculture (sylvo-pastoral-aqua agroforestry). Classification of Agroforestry Systems In addition, agroforestry systems may be classified based on four interrelated criteria . This criterion refers to the composition and the spatial and temporal arrangement of the system. Adding woody species can greatly alter the horizontal and vertical arrangement of plants in a system, often increases the diversity of the system, and typically increases the length of time that the system is in use. This refers to the function of the woody component, (such as timber, fruit, fodder, etc). Typically, the inclusion of woody species increases the number of products generated by the system, but also includes functions such as the use of trees as windbreaks or to control soil erosion. This refers to the purpose of the system, usually broken down into subsistence, commercial, or intermediate. In addition, agroforestry may be promoted to meet specific social goals such as poverty alleviation (Social forestry) or to improve community access to resources on communal lands (Community forestry). This refers to the suitability of the agroforestry system for a given environment. Thus there are different types of agroforestry for tropical, temperate and arid environments which take into account the environmental, ecological, and biological conditions of each area. The Biological Basis of Agroforestry There are many ways in which agroforestry practices may enhance biological productivity. Soil fertility may be enhanced by planting nitrogen-fixing woody species between rows of crop plants. The foliage of many woody species may also be harvested to provide "green manure" for crop plants which provides nutrients, but also helps prevent soil erosion and water loss, and may help deter pests. Woody species also may be planted to provide shade for crop plants, to prevent soil erosion, or to act as windbreaks. All of these practices however may be summarized by saying that the addition of woody species to an agroecosystem has the potential to change both the physical structure of the ecosystem as well as the flow and retention of nutrients in the ecosystem. The Economic Basis of Agroforestry In addition to enhancing the biological productivity of agroecosystems, the addition of woody species often results in enhanced economic returns. The use of woody foliage as fodder may reduce the cost of feeding livestock, or may prevent the economic damage done by the loss of livestock during famine or drought. Usually, the woody species used in agroforestry themselves are valuable. Woody species may provide fruit, fiber, nuts, building and craft materials, medicines, timber, charcoal, and a host of other products which can be used on-farm or sold. Longer-growing tree species used in agroforestry are often used by farmers as a "bank account" which can provide cash income during years with bad harvests. As such, agroforestry practices not only diversify the economic products available to farmers, but may serve to increase economic security as well. Because agroforestry practices improve economic returns, agroforestry has long been seen as an ecologically and socially "friendly" means of sustainable development. In 1975, thre International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada commissioned a study (Bene et al., 1977) to identify forestry methods to improve land use in low-income tropical countries (Nair, 1993). One result of this study was the establishment in 1977 of what would become the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF). In addition to conducting research and pioneering new methods, since 1982, ICRAF has helped disseminate information through its journal Agroforestry Systems published by Springer Press. The Ecological Importance of Agroforestry Farmers typically adopt agroforestry practices because those practices increase productivity and provide economic benefits. But, agroforestry practices can also have significant ecological effects which many consider as, or more, important than the potential agricultural and economic benefits. The basis of these ecological benefits lies in the fact that including trees and other woody species in agroecosystems changes the structure, diversity, and functioning of these systems, making them more like natural ecosystems than traditional types of agriculture which do not include trees and other woody species. One of the best examples of how agroforestry changes the structure and function of agroecosystems may be seen by comparing two type of coffee cultivation commonly referred to as "shade coffee" and "sun coffee". Shade Coffee vs Sun Coffee For the last three hundred years, most coffee traded on the international market has been produced under the shade of trees, but starting in about the 1970's new types of coffee that could tolerate higher exposure to the sun were promoted throughout the tropics. This so-called "sun" coffee could be planted in higher densities because shade trees which took up space were no longer needed. Sun coffee was promoted in tropical countries as a means of economic development. But, to take advantage of the increased sunlight and higher planting densities, additional inputs of fertilizer were often needed to achieve sustained increases in productivity per hectare. So too, with the elimination of shade trees, there came a need for increased applications of pesticides to control insect pests that previously had been kept in check by birds and other predators that could be found in shade coffee plantations, but were not present at the same densities in sun coffee plantations. As long as farmers were willing and able to pay for fertilizer and pesticides, sun coffee was more productive than shade coffee. But, with the increased production of sun coffee the international coffee market was eventually flooded with coffee beans, effectively lowering the price paid to producers and making it harder for farmers to pay for external inputs. Most importantly, even though this sounds like an economic story, the real story is ecological. The inclusion of trees in shade coffee plantations helped maintain productivity without costly inputs by making the structure and function of the shade coffee plantations more like the surrounding natural ecosystems. Although productivity per hectare is lower, fewer external inputs are needed because nutrients are capable of cycling through the system at about the required rate for shade coffee to grow well. Also, shade coffee plantations have been shown to harbor more bird and arthropod species than sun coffee plantations. In turn, those bird and arthropod species help control pest species. Furthermore, the realization that shade coffee provides habitat for migratory birds has led to shade coffee being marketed in North America and Europe as "songbird friendly" coffee, for which consumers pay a premium price. In this way, "song-bird" coffee demonstrates the full range of biological, ecological, and economic benefits possible in agroforestry Agroforestry and Biodiversity Conservation Shade coffee is just one example of how agroforestry can enhance biodiversity. Studies of other agroforestry systems have shown similar results leading to the realization that agroforestry practices have a tremendously important role to play in the current battle to conserve global biodiversity. Worldwide, the greatest threat to biodiversity is the conversion of more or less undisturbed habitat into agroecosystems for human use. Much of the remaining undisturbed habitat exists in the tropical forests of South America and Southeast Asia which also contain the greater portion of global biodiversity. The promotion of agroforestry practices in South America and Southeast Asia may help to conserve that biodiversity in at least four ways. First, in many places in the tropics, agroforestry is more productive, affordable, and sustainable than other agricultural practices. Because it is more productive, both biologically and economically, farmers need less land to survive. Secondly, because agroforestry systems more closely mimic natural ecosystems, they typically harbor higher invertebrate and vertebrate biodiversity. Third, agroforestry practices have been shown to enhance habitat for bird and arthropod species that act as pollinators and as the natural enemies of pest species protecting these two very important ecosystem services. And finally, agroforestry practices may protect and enhance other ecosystem services such as erosion prevention and groundwater recharge, which in turn helps prevent the degradation and loss of surrounding habitat. Cacao Agroforestry and the Atlantic Forests of Brazil Perhaps the greatest success story so far concerning the role of agroforestry in conserving biodiversity is in the lowland tropical forests on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. These forests are both highly diverse and widely used for agriculture. As of 2006, about ???% of these forests have been converted into agriculture of one type or another. The region however also contains about ??? hectares of shade-grown cacao plantations; which function much like shade tree coffee plantations elsewhere in the tropics. Farmers in the region have successfully resisted converting their plantations to what could be called "sun-cacao" for many of the same reasons described above concerning the differences between sun- and shade-coffee. If it were not for these extensive shade-grown cacao plantations, the Atlantic forest ecosystems and the remaining rich biodiversity they harbor, would be almost completely lost. - ^Nair, 1993.
One of the phase in compilation is pre processor replacement. In C programming there are multiple pre processor directives. The common one are include and define. There could be other directives like pragma and others which are compiler supported ones and may not be supported in all the compilers. #include directive can be used to include the header files. If the header files are included <> brackets, the header file will be searched in the standard include paths mentioned as part of compilation with -I option. If the header files are used within double quotes “”, the current path will be used to search first before searching the standard paths. #define will replace all the tokens with the values defined for the token. Source: Interesting Facts about Macros and Preprocessors in C – GeeksforGeeks main() can be called with 0 or more arguments in C, while main(void) cannot be called with any arguments. In case of C++ both means main can be called only without parameters. Source: Difference between “int main()” and “int main(void)” in C/C++? – GeeksforGeeks Type int can store 4 bytes. Since it is not qualified with unsigned, 1 most significant bit will be used to indicate sign. 0 means positive and 1 means negative. Range : -2147483648 to 2147483648 Source: int (1 sign bit + 31 data bits) keyword in C – GeeksforGeeks A Computer Science portal for geeks. It contains well written, well thought and well explained computer science and programming articles, quizzes and practice/competitive programming/company interview Questions. Source: Is it fine to write “void main()” or “main()” in C/C++? – GeeksforGeeks
We may be what we eat, but our dietary choices also affect the health of the environment, and farmers’ back pockets. Energy and water use, native habitat cut down for crops and grazing, and emissions that exacerbate climate change, are just some of the profound effects agriculture has on Earth. And, there are more and more mouths to feed. Perversely, both starvation and obesity are severe health issues across the world. With agriculture confronted by economic and environmental uncertainties, society faces enormous challenges. But challenges also offer great opportunities. Drastically rethinking what we eat, and where and how food is produced, could help our health, the planet, and our farming businesses. That means eating fewer sheep and cows, and more kangaroos, feral animals, and insects. Australia’s rangelands – the drier regions of the country predominantly used for livestock and grazing – cover about 80% of the country. They are often in poor condition and economically unviable. In part, this is due to the fact we still farm many animals, mostly in ways that are unsuited to the Australian climate and environment. Hard-hoofed animals contribute to soil compaction and erosion, and have even been linked to the spread of the invasive cane toad. But the environmental impact of intensive stock farming extends much further. Continuing to farm using a European-derived, intensive system is a recipe for land degradation and environmental collapse, especially with the compounding impacts of climate change (severe weather events, more frequent and intense droughts, and fires). Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 4413 Past and current agricultural practices have also profoundly altered our environment. It may be impossible to restore these lands to their original condition, so we must learn to operate in the new environment we’ve created. More broadly, many experts have identified our meat consumption and intensive farming as a significant driver of global problems. To address these issues, we need a cultural shift away from intensive agriculture. The days of riding and relying on the sheep’s back, cattle’s hoof, or the more recent, and increasingly popular, chicken’s wing, may need to pass. Native wildlife and some feral animals tread more lightly on the environment than intensively produced livestock do, and thus provide more sustainable options for food production on Australia’s arid lands. Kangaroos and goats place one-third of the pressure on grazing lands compared with sheep. Eating more feral and native animals, and relying less on chicken, sheep, domestic pigs, and cattle would help meet ethical concerns too. Wild animals such as kangaroos are killed quickly, without the extended stress associated with industrialised farming, containment, and transportation to abattoirs. And by harvesting sometimes overabundant wild native animals (such as kangaroos) and feral species, we may be able to reduce their impacts on ecosystems, which include overgrazing and damage to waterways. An even greater leap would be to eat fewer four-limbed animals and more six-legged creatures. Insects are often high in protein and low in fat, and can be produced in large numbers, efficiently and quickly. They are already consumed in large numbers in some regions, including Asia. Evidence that a market for such a food revolution exists is that shops are already popping up selling mealworm flour, ant seasoning salt, and cricket protein powder, among other delicacies. Boom and bust Thanks to Australia’s variable climate, swinging between drought and flood, many farms are also tied to a boom-and-bust cycle of debt and credit. As the climate becomes increasingly unpredictable, this economic strategy must be detrimental to the farmers, and is shown by many farm buy-backs or sell-offs. It makes sense to use species that are naturally more resilient and able to respond to boom-and-bust cycles. Kangaroos and other species can forage on our ancient and typically nutrient-poor soils without the need for nutritional supplements (such as salt licks), and are physiologically more efficient at conserving water. This could lead to a more sustainable supply of food and income for farmers, without the dizzying economic highs but also without the inevitable prolonged and despairing lows. To be clear, we are not suggesting completely replacing livestock, but diversifying and tailoring enterprises to better suit Australia’s environment. To support more diverse agricultural enterprises we will need to overcome many obstacles, such as licences to hunt, what we’re comfortable consuming, and land use regulation. But we shouldn’t shy away from these challenges. There are tremendous opportunities for rural, regional and Indigenous communities, and indeed cities too. We need a more diverse mix of meat to adapt to the pressures of a growing population and climate change. Supermarket aisles that display beef, chicken, pork and lamb, alongside kangaroo, camel, deer, goat, and insects, could be just what the environmental, health and economic doctors ordered.
The cost of generating electricity is the largest component of electricity prices, but there are many others factors. Before you flip the switch, a lot has to happen. Electricity prices reflect the cost to build, finance, maintain, and operate power plants and the electricity grid (the complex system of power transmission and distribution lines). There are many other factors also. - Cost of Fuels: Fuel costs can vary, especially during periods of high demand. High electricity demand can increase demand for fuel, such as natural gas, which can result in higher prices for the fuel and, in turn, higher costs to generate electricity. - Power Plants: Each power plant has construction, maintenance, and operating costs. - Transmission and Distribution System: The electricity transmission and distribution systems that deliver electricity have maintenance costs, which include repairing damage to the systems from accidents or extreme weather conditions. - Weather Conditions: Rain and snow provide water for low-cost hydropower generation. Wind can provide low-cost electricity generation from wind turbines when wind speeds are favorable. However, extreme temperatures can increase the demand for electricity, especially for cooling, and demand can drive prices up. - Regulations: In some states, public service/utility commissions fully regulate prices, while other states have a combination of unregulated prices (for generators) and regulated prices (for transmission and distribution). - Seasons: The cost to supply electricity actually changes minute by minute. However, most consumers pay rates based on the seasonal cost of electricity. Changes in prices generally reflect variations in electricity demand, availability of generation sources, fuel costs, and power plant availability. Prices are usually highest in the summer when total demand is high because more expensive generation sources are added to meet the increased demand. - Location: Prices vary by locality because of the availability of power plants and fuels, local fuel costs, and pricing regulations - Type of Consumer: Electricity prices are usually highest for residential and commercial consumers because it costs more to distribute electricity to them. Industrial consumers use more electricity and can receive it at higher voltages, so supplying electricity to these customers is more efficient and less expensive. The price of electricity to industrial customers is generally close to the wholesale price of electricity.
AIPMT-NEET Biology Aspirants, read out the next AIPMT-NEET Biology Study material/ Notes of Binomial nomenclature. In this we will learn about rules of Binomial nomenclature important for AIPMT-NEET Biology. Free online notes for AIPMT-NEET. Biodiversity refers to the number and types of organisms present on earth. There is about 1.7 to 1.8 million species in the world, which are known to us and are described. - Species are said to be the group of similar or related individuals or organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring. - Species are the fundamental units of systematics and are the basis of classification. - New organisms are continuously being identified by researchers and there identification and nomenclature is done to standardize them. - Standardization of name of living organisms is necessary so that a particular organism is known by the same name all over the world and there is no confusion created by the local names, which varies from place to place. - So, Nomenclature is the process of giving a standard scientific name to the particular organism so that it is known by the same name all over the world. - Identification is the process of recognition of essential characters of the organism so the organism is described correctly and nomenclature is done accordingly. - For identification and scientific nomenclature of organisms, scientists have established certain rules, principles and criteria, which are acceptable to biologists all over the world. - For plants, these rules are set by International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). For animals, these rules are provided by International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) from 1901. Previously, it is named as International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature. - Scientific names ensure that each organism has only one name. - Description of any organism should enable the people (in any part of the world) to arrive at the same name. - Scientific name ensures that such a name has not been used for any other known organism. Binomial nomenclature was first used by Swedish naturalist Carl von Linne (Carolus Linnaeus). He listed all the known plants of that time in his book Species Plantarum (1753). Then in 1758, he published tenth edition of book naming Systema Naturae. In this book (Systema Naturae), he used binomial nomenclature for the first time. In Systema Naturae, Linnaeus listed 4,387 species of animals. - Before Linnaeus, Plato and his pupil Aristotle also used the binomial nomenclature, but their work did not get recognized. Linnaeus work was quickly adapted by biologists due to his prestige and influence. That’s why Linnaeus is called as Father of Taxonomy. So, any nomenclature published before 1758, i.e. before work of Linnaeus is not considered valid. - Binomial system of nomenclature consists of two components/two words for each name. These two words are Latin words. Two components of name are: Generic name and specific epithet, i.e. genus and species. - Latin language is used for nomenclature because it is a dead language and will not change over time. Universal rules of nomenclature are as follows: - Biological names are generally in Latin and written in italics. They are Latinized or derived from Latin irrespective of their origin. - First word in a biological name represents the genus while the second component denotes the species. - Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined, or printed in italics to indicate their Latin origin. - First word denoting the genus starts with a Capital letter, while that of species starts with a small letter. - Name of the author who described the species is also written (with year of publication of name)after the name of species, in complete official format. It is written in an abbreviated form. - If a species described in a given genus later gets transferred to another genus, then name of the author of the original species, is enclosed in parentheses. Let’s take up an example of mango: The scientific name of mango is written as Mangifera indica. - In this Mangifera represents the genus while indica, is a particular species, or a specific epithet. - Written in italics as it is printed. - Genus starts with Capital letter and species with small letter. - Mangifera indica Linn. It indicates that this species was first described by Linnaeus. - Mountain Lion: binomial nomenclature is Puma concolor (Linnaeus) indicates that Linnaeus originally classified and named this species. He classified it in the genus Felis, but it was later reclassified in the genus Puma. NOTE: Recently 4 new frog species are discovered in India from Western Ghats (UNESCO World Heritage site & one of the biggest biodiversity hotspot) by Indian scientist “SD Biju (Frogman of India)” and team. These species are listed as smallest known frogs in the world, ranging between 12.2- 15.4 mm. - Trinomial Nomenclature: includes 3 components in name. Genus, species and sub-species. Cabbage is Brassica oleracea var. capitata.
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- Landfill. This is the most practiced method in the world. More often, landfills are old mining areas and abandoned quarries. It is considered to be the most cost effective way of disposing waste. The wastes are layered into thin spreads, compacted then covered with a layer of earth and more layers are added over time. - Integrated disposal. Primarily used for municipal waste. The process involves the minimizing of the materials, separating and collecting, then reusing and recycling non organic segment. Organic materials are used for energy and fertilizer. - Incineration. Sometimes referred to as ‘thermal treatment’, this method involves burning of the trash. This method is used to transform waste into gas, steam, heat and ash. - Water decomposition. The process involves the removal of the organic materials and decomposes them at high temperature and pressure. - Recycling. This means taking some of the waste materials and transforming them into new useful products. - Plasma gasification. This consists of heating the disposed waste to over 10,000 degrees converting these wastes into - Storage tank (may be a combination of existing heating systems) - Expansion tank - Solar station with pump - Solar fluid - Mounting hardware and Solar PV cells are made up of layers of materials that are semi conductive just silicon. The moment light strikes the PV panels, the cells creates electric fields in all layers. The stronger the sun rays are the more electricity is generated. During cloudy days, lesser amount of electricity is produced. The following are advantages you get from Solar PV: - Homeowners can reduce electric bills. Sunlight is always available and it is free. Once the initial installation is paid for, you can enjoy reduced electricity costs. - Homeowners can get paid by generating more electricity than they used. In the U.S. and certain countries in Europe, government supports the Feed-In Tariff s. This is when users of renewable energy sources are paid whenever they generate electricity from sources like the wind power or solar panels. - Renewable energy sources help save the environment. Electricity from sunlight supports green movement. It does not emit carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants. Cogeneration sometimes referred to as CHP (Combined Heat and Power) or energy recycling is an efficient and cost-effective method of capturing heat lost during the production of electricity and converting it into th Cogeneration Benefits Cogeneration systems are up to 80% more efficient than that of the traditional power plants, which is normally around 30%. These gains of efficiency result in cost savings, as less fuel is needed to be consumed to produce the same amount of useful energy. In addition, results of cogeneration also include reduced air pollution, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, increased power reliability and reduced grid congestion. Today, Con Edison operates seven cogeneration plants to approximately 100,000 buildings in Manhattan, the largest steam district in the U.S. The steam distribution system is the reason for the steaming manholes often seen in New York City. The European Union generates 11% of its electricity using cogeneration and energy savings in Member States ranges between 2% to 60%. Europe has the three countries with the worlds’ most intensive cogeneration economies, which are Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland. In response to the growing energy need, the US Department of Energy maintains an aggressive goal of cogeneration or CHP to comprise 20% of the US generation capacity by the year 2030. Typical Methods of Cogeneration Include Gas Turbines, which are essentially jet engines that drive turbo generators. Multi-stage heat recovery steam generators use heat to produce steam and even hot water as the exhaust gradually loses its temperature. Diesel Engines are very similar to the gas turbine. The diesel drives a generator for economical electricity production and then the hot exhaust can produce steam to drive another electrical generator or to provide heat for process operations as either steam or hot water. In either case, the main goal in either case is to effectively extract every BTU of cheap car insurance heat that would exceed normal atmospheric temperature in the final effluent stream of gas and cause it to produce electricity or usable heat such as hot water. Other Forms of Cogeneration Landfill Gas Cogeneration is a great solution because the emissions of a damaging pollutant are avoided and electricity can be generated from a free fuel. Landfill gas contains approximately 50% methane and Waste to Energy Cogeneration is an excellent energy model. A waste to energy plant has been launched in Lahti, Finland. It converts municipal waste into heat and power through the large-scale use of waste gasification, gas cleaning and high-efficiency combustion. It has a capacity of 250,000 tons of waste per year and can generate 90 MW of heat and 50 MW of electricity. This system will partially replace a coal-fired plant and will make a substantial reduction of landfill disposal in the region. Cogeneration in Jamaica The country’s only utility company on the Island of Jamaica is already using cogeneration on a small scale. The electric company plans to use this method of energy source especially in the sugar, manufacturing and tourism industries. In addition, the country also uses solar powered streetlights in the 14 parishes. Jamaica has one operating wind turbine contributing to the grid and uses bio mass energy to primarily burn bagasses to produce steam in the sugar industry. In this world of increasing energy requirements, cogeneration whether by diesel, gas turbines, landfill gas and waste to energy can only be a good solution not only in the United States, the European Union, but also in Small Island Developing States such as Jamaica and Haiti. Officials in Haiti might ought to take a good look at the potential of waste to energy cogeneration for its most pressing needs of both power generation and of excessive municipal waste. Photo Credit: ell brown Britain’s policies encouraging renewable-energy use will prevent the country from suffering an electricity crisis leading to blackouts toward the end of the decade, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said. The U.K. will build more than 30 gigawatts of power generation capacity by the end of 2016, two-thirds of it in solar, wind and biomass and the rest largely fired by natural gas, according to forecasts from the research company. That will help the nation cope with closing 19 gigawatts of fossil- fuel and nuclear power stations over this decade. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government may avoid power shortages that blighted the U.K. during World War II and the 1970s, requiring industry to scale back operations and leaving millions of homes in the dark. “The U.K. is embarking on an historic shift in its electricity supply, and commentators and critics have continually raised the specter of the lights going out once again,” said Michael Liebreich, chief executive officer of New Energy Finance. “Our analysis shows that, barring unforeseen circumstances, it is not going to happen.” U.K. utilities need to spend as much as 200 billion pounds ($320 billion) to replace aging power plants and upgrade the electricity grid by 2020, according to the regulator Ofgem. About a third of Britain’s fossil-fuel power stations are due to close in the next three years to meet European Union rules on emissions, including plants run by RWE AG (RWE), EON AG and SSE Plc. Dash for Gas RWE and Electricite de France SA are due to switch on new gas-fueled power stations this year, and in total 11 gigawatts of gas plants may be built through 2016, according to New Energy Finance. The research company predicts 2 gigawatts of biomass plants, about 11 gigawatts of wind and 8 gigawatts of solar power will be installed in the five years through 2016. While the intermittent nature of wind and solar power means the new capacity won’t fully offset the smaller capacity of fossil-fuel and nuclear plants that are being retired, a decline in domestic usage and industrial output following the recession means U.K. power demand may not return to the peak levels of 2005 within the next two decades, New Energy Finance said. Britain’s oldest reactor at Oldbury, southwest England, closes today. Other atomic plants may shut in the next decade as they reach the end of their working lives. Cameron on Feb. 17 signed a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, paving the way for the construction of a new generation of power stations in the U.K. The British premier took office saying he wanted his government to be the “greenest” ever. EDF, in partnership with Centrica Plc (CNA), is among six utilities planning to build atomic stations in Britain. While EDF plans to have its first new plant up and running in 2018, that timeframe may slip, said Brian Potskowski, a power analyst at New Energy Finance. “The long lead times for building new nuclear plants and uncertainty over how they will be subsidized means that the recent agreement between the U.K. and France on nuclear cooperation has little impact on whether the lights stay on in the 2015 to 2020 time-frame,” Potkowski said. Morales, Alex & Airlie, Catherine (29 February, 2012) U.K. Renewables Push Will Prevent Power Crisis, New Energy Says. Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/86hwlew ScienceDaily (Feb. 28, 2012) — The invention of a long-lasting incandescent light bulb in the 19th century spurred on the second wave of the industrial revolution, illuminating homes, extending leisure time and bringing us to the point today where many millions of people use a whole range of devices from mood lighting to audiovisual media centers, microwave ovens to fast-freeze ice makers, and allergy-reducing vacuum cleaners to high-speed broadband connected computers in their homes without a second thought. However, the waves of the industrialization of the west have merely lapped at the shores of undeveloped regions and it is estimated that about a quarter of the world’s population, particularly those in rural parts of the developing world do not have access to electricity in their homes. Indeed, four-fifths of those without domestic electricity live in rural or on the urban margins. In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion is even more startling where just 8% of the rural population has access to electricity. Those in the developing countries are thus keen to electrify and need stable sources of power to stimulate development and improve their standard of living. The developed world is gradually recognizing the environmental costs of widespread electricity use, yet has neither the right nor the authority to deprive the developing nations of power. There is a need, therefore, to provide 100% off-grid zero-energy solutions that require little or no government involvement and are low maintenance. This would allow the developing world to wade into the technology the developed world enjoys without making the same woefully polluting mistakes regarding unsustainable power generation that are now a global problem. Benedict Ilozor and Mohammed Kama of the Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, USA, suggest that renewable energy is a viable option for electrical power in developing and emerging nations. Writing in the inaugural issue of the African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, they point out that in most of these nations, the demand for energy far exceeds the generating capacity. They suggests that a rapid response to this huge demand that is informed by social, political, economic, climatic and environmental factors must be put in place so that renewable, sustainable energy supply can be identified. The researchers have undertaken a case study of Nigeria in West Africa, which is perhaps representative of the situation prevalent in most developing and emerging nations. They suggest that cost is the limiting factor and that communities and governments would be unable to subsidize neither the one-time installation costs nor the ongoing maintenance however low, for most renewable energy solutions. It is, they say up to the private sector and commercial banks, and perhaps charitable organizations, to fund the installation of wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable energy systems so that wealth-generating development can take place and standards of living raised quickly. They posit the idea of a renewable energy mortgage that would be paid back as the specific region developed and grew economically. There are many approaches to solar power, for instance, that could be implemented by individual households or small communities for domestic electricity as well as on a larger scale, while geothermal systems could be run to provide the power for cooling. Inderscience Publishers (2012, February 28). Developing sustainable power. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 29, 2012, from http://tinyurl.com/83lt25u
TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION BY USING STUDENTS TEAM ACHIEVEMENT DIVISION (STAD) TECHNIQUE TO THE NINTH GRADE STUDENTS OF SMP NEGERI 2 BATURAJA English is one of the important languages that is used all over the world whether as the first, second or foreign language. English as one of the subjects is taught from elementary school to university in Indonesia. English teaching covers four skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. All these components are taught in integrated ways. At schools in Indonesia, English subject aimed at developing communication competence in oral and written form (Depdikbud, 2004:6). This means the students have progress in listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is very important for the students to be able to read. By reading, the students’ can acquire valuable information that can improve their thinking to generate: ideas and solve problems (Wood, 1995:5 in Nurtina, 2004:1). For instance by having the reading ability, the students can increase their knowledge, do assignment, make notes, write letters, and many other things. Saleh (1997:41) adds that reading is the skill which they may often use and is retained the longest. It concerns not only with assigning the English sounds to the written words, but also with the understanding of what is written. The students may have problems in understanding passages. It is the teachers responsible to minimize the students’ failures bay using the appropriate technique in teaching reading so that the students can understand what they read in target language. By applying appropriate teaching technique in teaching and learning process, the writer hopes can improve the student reading comprehension achievement. The application of Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) is one of the teaching techniques that can be done in teaching reading comprehension. This technique makes the students tow work together to learn and responsible for their team mates as well as their own (Slavin, 1994). 2. Problem of the Study To make the problem clear, the writer will present the limitation of the problems and the formulation of the problems. 2.1 Limitation of the Problems The limitation of the problem that will be investigated in this study is that the text that will be used in this study entitled “Public Services” which will be taken from the students’ text book on page 75. 2.2 Formulation of the Problems The formulation of the problem is “Is it effective teaching reading comprehension by using students team achievement (STAD) technique to the ninth grade students of SMP Negeri 3 Baturaja? 3. The Objective of the Study Based on the problem of this study, the main objective of this study is to find out whether or not teaching reading comprehension by using students’ team achievement (STAD) technique is effective? 4. The Significance of the Study The writer hopes that this study would give the beneficial contributions to the writer herself, for the students, for the teacher of English, and for the other researchers. (1) For the Writer Herself By conducting this study, it would increase the writer’s own knowledge on how the reading comprehension is taught to the students and how to measure the students’ achievement on their reading activity. (2) For the Students By conducting this study, it would give the students some inputs so they could have reading comprehension activity well, and also would give them motivation to study English especially in learning reading comprehension. (3) For the teachers of English, the writer hopes the result of this study would be useful at least for giving information to the teachers in teaching the students reading comprehension by using STAD and to get some experiences in conduction this study.. (4) For the Other Researchers, it would give information about the teaching reading comprehension that there is another technique which is by using students’ team achievement (STAD) so that they could improve it for the future.
What is a pacemaker insertion? A pacemaker insertion is the implantation of a small electronic device in the chest (just below the collarbone) to help regulate electrical problems with the heart. When a problem develops, such as a slow heart rate, a pacemaker may be recommended to ensure that the heartbeat does not slow to a dangerously low rate. The heart's electrical conduction system The heart is basically a pump made up of muscle tissue that is stimulated by electrical currents, which normally follow a specific circuit within the heart. This normal electrical circuit begins in the sinus or sinoatrial (SA) node, which is a small mass of specialized tissue located in the right atrium (upper chamber) of the heart. The SA node generates an electrical stimulus at 60 to 100 times per minute (for adults) under normal conditions; this electrical impulse from the SA node starts the heartbeat. The electrical impulse travels from the SA node to the atrioventricular (AV) node in the bottom of the right atrium. From there the impulse continues down an electrical conduction pathway called the Bundle of His and then on through the "His-Purkinje" system into the ventricles (lower chambers) of the heart. When the electrical stimulus occurs it causes the muscle to contract and pump blood to the rest of the body. This process of electrical stimulation followed by muscle contraction is what makes the heart beat. A pacemaker may be needed when problems occur with the electrical conduction system of the heart. When the timing of the electrical stimulation of the heart to the heart muscle and the subsequent response of the heart's pumping chambers is altered, a pacemaker may help. What is a pacemaker? A pacemaker is a life-saving medical device composed of three parts: a pulse generator, one or more leads, and an electrode on each lead. A pacemaker signals the heart to beat when the heartbeat is too slow or irregular. A pulse generator is a small metal case that contains electronic circuitry with a small computer and a battery that regulate the impulses sent to the heart. The lead (or leads) is an insulated wire that is connected to the pulse generator on one end, with the other end placed inside one of the heart's chambers. The lead is almost always placed so that it runs through a large vein in the chest leading directly to the heart. The electrode on the end of a lead touches the heart wall. The lead delivers the electrical impulses to the heart. It also senses the heart's electrical activity and relays this information back to the pulse generator. Pacemaker leads may be positioned in the atrium (upper chamber) or ventricle (lower chamber) or both, depending on the medical condition. If the heart's rate is slower than the programmed limit, an electrical impulse is sent through the lead to the electrode and causes the heart to beat at a faster rate. When the heart beats at a rate faster than the programmed limit, the pacemaker generally monitors the heart rate and will not pace. Modern pacemakers are programmed to work on demand only, so they do not compete with natural heartbeats. Generally, no electrical impulses will be sent to the heart unless the heart's natural rate falls below the pacemaker's lower limit. A newer type of pacemaker, called a biventricular pacemaker, is currently used in the treatment of specific types of heart failure. Sometimes in heart failure, the two ventricles do not pump in a normal manner. Ventricular dyschrony is a common term used to describe this abnormal pumping pattern. When this happens, less blood is pumped by the heart. A biventricular pacemaker paces both ventricles at the same time, increasing the amount of blood pumped by the heart. This type of treatment is called cardiac resynchronization therapy or CRT. After a pacemaker insertion, regularly scheduled appointments will be made to ensure the pacemaker is functioning properly. The doctor uses a special computer, called a programmer, to review the pacemaker's activity and adjust the settings when needed.
The 1870 census commenced on June 1, 1870, and was taken under the provisions of the census act of May 23, 1850. 12 The Secretary of Interior appointed General Francis A. Walker Superintendent of the Ninth Census on February 7, 1870. Although the 1870 Census was under the 1850 act, a new bill approved on May 6, 1870, made the following changes: - The marshals were to submit the returns from “schedule 1” (free inhabitants) to the Census Office by September 10, 1870. All other schedules were to be submitted by October 1, 1870. - The 1850 law authorizing penalties for refusing to reply to the inquiries was expanded to apply to all inquiries made by enumerators. Redesigned schedules used for 1870 and the omission of a “slave” schedule made possible several additional inquiries as follows: - General Population Schedule. This schedule collected data from the entire population of the United States. - Mortality. This schedule collected data on persons who died during the year. In addition to the 1860 inquiries, inquiries were modified to include Schedule 1’s additions to collect data on parentage and to differentiate between Chinese and American Indians. Inquiries concerning “free or slave” status and “number of days ill” were discontinued. - Agriculture. The 1860 inquiries were used with additional requests for (1) acreage of woodland, (2) production of Spring and Winter wheat, (3) livestock sold for slaughter, (4) total tons of hemp produced, (5) total wages paid, (6) gallons of milk sold, (7) value of forest products, and (8) estimated value of all farm productions. - Products of Industry. Using the 1860 schedule as a basis, additional information was requested on (1) motive power and machinery, (2)12 Although a Congressional committee stated that the 1860 Census had been “the most complete census that any Nation has ever had,” it was recognized that the 1850 act was inadequate to meet the changing conditions in which the 1870 Census would need to be conducted. A special committee of the U.S. House of Representatives (Second Session, Forty-First Congress) investigated and reported on the need for a new census act. The committee’s report was submitted as a bill on January 18, 1870. This bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, but defeated in the Senate, compelling the use of the 1850 Census act. 13 General Walker was one of several “experts” participating in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee deliberations on the 1870 Census. Prior to being appointed Superintendent of the Ninth Census, Walker was Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, which then was an agency within the Treasury Department. - Social Statistics. The 1860 schedule was modified to incorporate the questions on (1) bonded and other debt of counties, cities, towns, and townships, parishes, and boroughs, (2) pauperism and crime by race (“native black” and “native white”); (3) number of church organizations and church buildings; (4) number of teachers and students; (5) kinds of schools, libraries, and taxes, by type. The 1870 enumeration was completed on August 23, 1871. The work of compiling the census data, a portion of which was tallied using a machine invented by Charles W. Seaton, was completed in 1872. The 1870 census covered the following states: - Arizona Territory - Colorado Territory - Dakota Territory - District of Columbia - Idaho Territory - Indian Territory* - Montana Territory - New Hampshire - New Jersey - New Mexico Territory - New York - North Carolina - Rhode Island - South Carolina - Utah Territory - Washington Territory - West Virginia - Wyoming Territory Schedules for some counties are missing. * The Indian Territory, which contained the present day Oklahoma, was enumerated only for those Non-American settlers. The information will be found at the end of the Arkansas Information Found Within the 1870 Census - Name of each person. - Name of the county, parish, township, town, or city where the family resides - Color (Race) - Whether married in the last year - Profession, occupation, or trade of each person over 15 years of age - Value of Real Estate - Value of Personal Estate - Whether deaf, blind, dumb, insane, idiotic, pauper, or criminal - Whether able to speak or speak English - Whether the person attended school within the previous year - Identified foreign birth of father and mother - Whether able to read or write - Identified male citizens whose right to vote was revoked for reasons other then rebellion or other crime. Genealogy Strategy for the 1870 Census Due to it’s early nature the 1870 census provides the littlest of “meat” for the genealogist as it only names the head of the household and provides a range of ages for all other occupants of the house . The content of the census directly indicates the name of the head of household, and the location of the family, but indirectly can be used to direct future research. - Location of the Household As in all census, the location of the household at the time the census was taken becomes a valuable tool for further research allowing you to concentrate on records of that time period in that particular location. The 1870 census will provide you the district, township, and county of your ancestor. - Establishing the Composition of a Family Individual names are provided. No relationships were given in the census, instructions were provided to the census taker as to which order to enumerate a household. “The names are to be written, beginning with the father and mother; or if either, or both, be dead, begin with some other ostensible head of the family; to be followed, as far as practicable, with the name of the oldest child residing at home, then the next oldest, and so on to the youngest, then the other inmates, lodgers and borders, laborers, domestics, and servants.” - Age of Inhabitants The 1870 census (column 13) indicates the month in which the person was born, if born “within the year,” that is between June 1, 1869 and May 31, 1870. While not an exact age, the fact that you’re provided the year each person is born will assist you in finding birth records. - African American Research After the Civil War, slaves were “freed” throughout the South. Researching your African American ancestry after since 1870 is much easier through use of the census. There were a total of 4,835,562 coloreds enumerated in the 1870 census of the United States3. - Tracking the Migration The 1870 census provides the birthplace of each individual. Along with the age of each individual this can enable the genealogist to track the location of the family at different years in the past. The instructions provided to the enumerators requested that they provide the initials or name of the state, or country of each person enumerated. Some enumerators would provide an even further breakdown, such as county or township, especially when the birth occurred in the state of the enumeration. The occupation of each male family member over 15 is recorded. Indication of a farmer would point to further searching of Schedule 4, agricultural census. A mention of a profession would indicate possible search of a professional directory. Clergy were enumerated as well under occupation, and the genealogist should search within the records of the denomination indicated. - Real Estate An indication of real estate value might point to land or tax records. - Personal Estate The personal value of an individuals estate is likely to err on the side of less, rather then more. It is highly likely that the person being enumerated was unlikely to provide a true net worth as they were afraid of being taxed on the amount given. - At School An indication of being at school within a household might point to local school records. An indication of insane within a household might point to guardianship or institutional records.1 The indication of a persons enumeration as a convict is rare, unless the census actually finds them in the jail at the time of the census. Furthermore, a person in jail, may be listed twice, if his home was in a different district. Instructions given to the enumerator was to ask, or use their own knowledge and county records as a source, in identifying those who had been a “criminal” within the past year. - Native American Research The identity of an Indian in the 1870 census is helped by the identification of Indians as (I) in column 6. - Children of Immigrants The 1870 census is the first to identify those children of foreign born parents (columns 11 + 12). Researchers can use this information to look for further immigration records. Individuals of foreign birth who are eligible to vote, also indicates citizenship, and researchers should look to naturalization and court records for possible further leads. 1870 Census Forms - Free 1870 Census Form for your Research - Source: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Study 00003: Historical Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: U.S., 1790-1970. Anne Arbor: ICPSR.
For most microbes, the human body is a very favourable environment because it is warm, shielded from the extremities, and provides a constant source of sustenance. Hence, humans tend to get sick because they are prone to infections that can either be contagious, fatal or both. But today, the mortality rate has decreased and life expectancy has shot up due to the advancements in science and technology. Learn more about human health, and the diseases that affect us by exploring Class 12 Biology Chapter 8 Revision Notes – Human Health and Diseases right here at BYJU’s. Class 12 Chapter 8 Biology Revision Notes
And That's What It's All About Lesson 2 of 15 Objective: SWBAT identify objects/things that can be moved and how they are put into motion. Setting the Stage The students will gather in a circle on the carpet. I will start the lesson with a whole group song/dance of the Hokey Pokey. After the song, I will lead a whole group discussion about how are bodies moved and why did they move. The students will then be teamed up and explore the school looking for items that are in motion. They will record their findings in their science notebooks and use their findings to participate in a class discussion. To end the lesson, the students will have to draw an object that another student shared (not their own) and illustrate how it moves. NOTE: Our district in transitioning to the NGSS. Although we are implementing some of the units this year, I am still required to teach units that have now been assigned to other grade levels. This unit is one of those units that has been affected by the shifts in grade levels. I continue to teach this unit because it focuses on the National Science Standard (K-4) B. "As students describe and manipulate objects by pushing or pulling, throwing, dropping, and rolling, they also begin to focus on the the position and movement of objects." It is important that students understand that "the position and motion of an object can be changed by pushing or pulling. The size of the change is related to the strength of the push or pull." Establishing this knowledge base will prepare them for 3rd grade when the NGSS requires them to apply concepts of force and motion into their learning (3-PS2). Engage: The Hokey Pokey I start the lesson by having the students gather on the carpet and face the Smartboard. At this point, I don't want to mention the idea of push or pull but rather wait until after the activity. "During the dance part of this activity, your body was moving all over. Sometimes your body parts would go in and sometimes they would go out. What caused this?" I want to get to the idea that they had to push or pull a body part in or out of the circle. I put the words push and pull on the Vocab Chart that I create for this unit. I also use the students to come up with a definition for each word. I want them to come up with the definition because it will have more meaning if it is developed with them. If I was to just tell them with no discussion or with out investing their time into the definition, it would have less meaning. I pass out each students science notebook before I start this section of the lesson. "We are going to go on an observation walk around the school both inside and outside. Your job will be to observe and record any action that you observe. You will write it down or draw a picture of it in your science notebook. I don't want you to worry about spelling but rather try your best with it. I am more interested in what you noticed." Note: If your students need examples, give them a few ideas. Examples may include: dishes being washed, keys on keyboard being struck, someone mopping, ball bouncing, someone walking, etc. "I want you to each grab a clipboard and pencil and find a partner to work with. As we are walking around you can "whisper talk" to your partner about things you see and how you might record for observations. Before we begin, let's use our Science Notebook Anchor Chart to set up today's notebook entry." I have the group fill out the date and focus on their notebook page. This is still a new process and I will continue to help them with this for the 1st half of the year. Science Practice 2 expects students to make observations to collect data that can be used to make comparisons. In this scenario, the students are being introduced to this goal by noting a variety of actions and then determining what type of force caused the action. As we return to the classroom, I have the students bring a chair to the carpet and have them create a circle. They bring their science notebooks with them. "I would like to ask you to share some of the movements that you saw during our observation walk. Who would like to share some of their observations?" I allow for all students to share 1 or 2 things. It is ok if some are repeated. After the students have all shared, I lead the following conversation. "All of the actions that you have observed were caused by a push or a pull or a combination of a push and pull. I would like you to look back through your observations and identify what caused the action. You can label them push, pull, or push/pull." Science Practice 1 expects students to ask or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation. In this case I am developing this concept by asking students to look at their observations and and label how force is being used to create a motion. "I would now like you to partner up with someone other than the person you worked with on our observation walk. I want you to share what your observed motions were and what caused them. Go ahead and find a spot in the room where you can quietly share your observations with each other." I give the students 5 or 6 minutes to Partner Share and then have them rejoin the circle. Vermont Agency of Education expects students to demonstrate their understanding of Force by: Investigating and identifying how pushing or pulling moves or does not move an object (S1-2:21). "Before we finish today's lesson, I would like you to go to the next page in your science notebook. I want you to write down one action that your partner described to you and explain if the action needs a push, pull, or push and pull to happen. You can draw a picture and/or use words." I am intentionally asking them to report out on what their partner discussed because I want the students to understand that they need to listen and learn from their classmates. Being that this is early in the year, I use this approach to establish a sense of accountability. At the same time, it allows them to also connect to the focus of the lesson. As I look back at today's science notebook entries, I use the Looking At Student Observations Day 1 checklist to evaluate who students are doing with creating entries in their science notebook, using diagrams and/or words to describe their learning, and if they can incorporate the learning of others into their own work. I am also looking to see what level of understanding students exhibit in regards to a force being applied to an object and how it changes the movement of the object.
Discharge from the eye can be caused by several conditions. Many people will wake to find a mild accumulation of debris in the nasal regions of their eyelids. In most instances this is simply due to a collection of tear components that gather during sleep. More concern should arise when new or excessive amounts of mucus is present. Mucus discharge that occurs along with changes in vision or eye pain requires evaluation to determine the underlying cause. Video of the Day Excessive amounts of green mucus in the eye can indicate an ocular infection. Bacterial eye infections often present with a thick, green discharge, along with redness and eye pain. Bacterial eye infections require timely treatment with antibiotics to prevent permanent visual problems. Antibiotics are not necessary for all eye infections, and bacterial resistance can occur with overuse. Eye infections caused by viruses do not respond to antibiotics and therefore eye doctors may utilize other treatment methods. Most people fear the dreaded "pink eye" diagnosis, but often this term simply means that the infection is contagious and in many cases it will resolve without treatment like a common cold. However, all eye infections should be evaluated by an eye doctor to determine the correct diagnosis and treatment. Allergies may be the instigating factor for eye mucus or discharge. Allergic reactions can occur as a result of exposure to animals or seasonal allergens. Medications can cause these reactions, and some individuals are sensitive to particular chemicals and other materials. Ocular allergy sufferers often report a stringy type of discharge that is usually clear or white in color. Itching is the most common symptom associated with allergies. Never rub to relieve allergy itching because this will worsen the condition. Swelling of the eyelids and conjunctiva can be present during an allergic reaction. Prescription allergy eye drops are very effective in alleviating these signs and symptoms. Over the counter allergy eye drops are available, and preservative-free artificial tears can also help. Try closing the eye and applying a cold compress to the eyelids as well. Dry Eye Syndrome The American Optometric Association defines dry eye as a condition in which there are insufficient tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tear film abnormalities associated with dry eye can result in symptoms of discharge, debris along the eyelids, and watering from the eye. Common complaints with dry eye syndrome are eyes that feel scratchy, gritty or sandy. Several over the counter eye lubricants are available for use to enhance the natural tears and minimize these symptoms. Environmental factors such as wind and dust can aggravate this condition, along with prolonged visual use of computers and electronic devices. The use of wrap-around sunglasses, humidifiers and redirecting fans and vents away from the eyes will diminish these environmental effects.
This activity is taught to help students realize just how relevant Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold really is! There is a four slide PowerPoint with a handout that features the same information if you feel more comfortable giving out a handout. In this activity, students are instructed to divide into groups and analyze a human trafficking article to present to their classmates. Each group member will have a role within the group and a part to present to their classmates. They were even able to read about an incident that took place right in their own hometown! When students read about an actual human trafficking incident in the news, they realize this crime is not limited to impoverished countries but actually happens in the United States. The English II EOC mandates that students read informational texts in conjunction to and with literature. This lesson will give students free rein to read, analyze, question, and present material to their classmates to educate one another on the different types of human trafficking crimes. Students are able to practice reading skills as well as learn more about a topic that is becoming more and more necessary to This is one of my favorite lessons in the Patricia McCormick Sold Unit. Human trafficking is not a well-known crime. Help spread the word! This product is also included in Patricia McCormick’s Sold Common Core Aligned Curriculum Unit. To purchase for $15.99 CLICK HERE!
Dr Noakes, Reader in Modern History is an expert on women and war and a social and cultural historian whose work focuses on the experience and memory of the Second World War. She explained how underground stations became shelters: “In the years before the Second World War the outbreak of any future conflict was imagined as apocalyptic, with wave upon wave of enemy aircraft bombing cities until they were utterly destroyed or their inhabitants sued for peace. “Campaigns in Britain for deep air raid shelters had been largely unsuccessful, and when the Blitz on London began in earnest in September 1940 most people would go to an Anderson shelter in the garden - if they had one - or one of the brick-built street shelters that had been erected in the poorer districts where gardens were rare. “The government initially refused to open the Underground stations as shelters as they had done during the much smaller air raids of the First World War, owing to a fear that, once below ground, people would refuse to come out and also a belief that dispersal of the population was safer than concentration, as the casualties if a large Underground shelter was hit, could be catastrophic. “On the 8 September 1940 thousands gathered outside Liverpool Street station, demanding entrance, and eventually the doors were thrown open and they were let in. From then on, sheltering in the Underground was tolerated if not encouraged: people would queue with their bedding outside the stations for much of the day to ensure a spot on the platform. Eventually 15 miles of platforms and tunnels were used and on one night a record 155,000 people used the Underground as a shelter. “Lord Horder was appointed to investigate the conditions in shelters, which were often overcrowded, uncomfortable and unsanitary, and in October 1940 the London Passenger Transport Board agreed bunks could be built as long as they didn't obstruct passengers. “Gradually conditions improved and some shelters had entertainment, health care and canteens. Although the shelters were underground, and so offered some respite from the noise of bombs and anti-aircraft shells, they were not always safe. “Balham in South London was hit on the 14 October 1940 and 66 people killed. Some drowned when a water main and sewer burst. On 13 October 1940 16 were killed at Bounds Green and on 11 January 1941 Bank station was hit with 56 killed. The worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, came after the Blitz at Bethnal Green station, when 173 people were crushed to death on the stairs down to the station during an air raid.” The author of several publications including War and the British and Women in the British Army, Dr Noakes is Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories and is a member of the Understanding Conflict: Forms and Legacies of Violence Research Cluster . She is Course Leader for the MA in Cultural History, Memory and Identity. A public talk on 3 November introduces the audience to memories of the First World War at the outbreak of the Second World War, held at The Keep, which houses collections of the East Sussex Record Office, in Woollards Way, Brighton.
- Subject: Mathematics - AS: 91028 - Level: 1 - Credits: 4 Mathematics 1.3 Investigate relationships between tables, equations and graphs e.g. Find a rule for calculating the total number of boxes in each diagram, if the number of boxes in the bottom layer is known. Draw up a table to show the number of boxes in the bottom layer and the total number of boxes in each diagram. Calculate the differences between the terms. \|No. of boxes in bottom layer (n)\|\|1\|\|2\|\|3\|\|4\|\|5\| \|Total no. of boxes (t)\|\|1\|\|3\|\|6\|\|10\| First difference 2 3 4 Second difference 1 1 Let the number of boxes in the bottom layer be n and the total number of boxes be t. Because the second differences are the constant (they are all equal to 1), the rule in this example will be a quadratic expression. The rule will be in the form: t = an² + bn + c – where a, b, and c are constants to be found. Now when n=1, t=1 so 1 = a + b + c -------- (1) When n=2, t=3 so 3 = 4a + 2b + c -------- (2) When n=3, t=6 so 6 = 9a + 3b + c -------- (3) Subtract equation (1) from equation (2) to eliminate c: 2 = 3a + b -------- (4) Subtract equation (2) from equation (3) to eliminate c: 3 = 5a + b -------- (5) This now gives two equations in a and b. Solve these simultaneously to find a and b. Subtract equation (4) from equation (5): 1 = 2a Substitute this value for a in equation (4) to find b = Substitute these values for a and b into equation (1) to find c = 0. Write a = , b = and c = 0 into the rule. Hence the rule for this pattern is t = n² + n This method may be shortened by remembering that a+b+c = first term 3a+b = first difference 2a = second difference For example for the pattern 10, 18, 28,..... The equation goes an² + bn + c 10 18 28 a+b+c = 10 3a+b = 8 2a = 2 Therefore a = 1, b = 5 and c = 4. Equation is n²+5n+4
Every Child in Focus—African American History Month In February, National PTA’s Every Child in Focus campaign centers on African American History Month. Using the PTA National Standard for Family-School Partnerships, we will explore ways PTAs can welcome and support African-American families in the school community. We have created information and resources on the unique challenges African-American children face and ways PTAs can better support African-American families in achieving student success. How Your PTA Can Better Support African-American Children - Check out our State of the African-American Child article and special message from Marian Wright Edelman—founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund—which stress the importance of focusing more time, energy and funding to the challenges that the African-American child faces every day. - Read our PTA One Voice Blog for PTA Success Stories and additional resources. You can also share your blog! We want to hear local and state PTA success stories on supporting children with special needs, how do you promote an environment that is welcoming to all children and parents. Use our blog share tool to tell us your story. - Share the Parents' Guides to Student Success. These standards provide clear, consistent expectations for what students should be learning at each grade in order to be prepared for college and career. - In 2012, there were more than 10.2 million Non-Hispanic Black children under age 18 living in the United States or 14% of the U.S. child population. - Approximately 40% of Non-Hispanic Black children under age 18 live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. - In 2009-2010, 34% of Non-Hispanic Black high school students were not graduating on time. - In 2009-2011, 51% of Non-Hispanic Black children ages 3 to 4 were not attending preschool. - In 2011, 87% of 8th Non-Hispanic Black 8th graders scored below proficient in math level. - In 2011, 84% of Non-Hispanic Black 4th graders scored below proficient in reading level. - Statistics from the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Special Education Programs for Fall 2008 show that although African Americans represented just 15% of all students, they represented 21% of students in the special education category of specific learning disabilities, 29% in the category of emotional disturbance, and 31% in the category of mental retardation. - African-American students without disabilities are more than three times as likely as their white peers without disabilities to be expelled or suspended. - Although African-American students represent 15% of students in the CRDC, they make up 35% of students suspended once, 44% of those suspended more than once, and 36% of students expelled. - More than 50% of students involved in school-related arrests or referred to law enforcement are Hispanic or African-American. Ways to Engage African American Families About Every Child in Focus National PTA’s Every Child in Focus is a campaign centered on strengthening family engagement in schools by celebrating important cultural distinctions and achievements, while highlighting solutions to potential educational issues. Each month, National PTA will spotlight the educational issues surrounding a particular group, highlight their accomplishments and focus on ways to foster Family-School Partnerships. Follow our Every Child in Focus Calendar for materials to help families and PTAs learn more about each group.
There is no simple answer to what causes type 2 diabetes. While eating sugar, for example, doesn't cause diabetes, eating large amounts of sugar and other rich, fatty foods, can cause weight gain. Most people who develop diabetes are overweight. Scientists do not fully understand why obesity increases someone's chances of developing diabetes, but they believe obesity is a major factor leading to type 2 diabetes. Current research should help explain why the disorder occurs and why obesity is such an important risk factor. A major cause of diabetes is insulin resistance. Scientists are still searching for the causes of insulin resistance, but they have identified two possibilities. The first could be a defect in insulin receptors on cells. Like an appliance that needs to be plugged into an electrical outlet, insulin has to bind to a receptor to function. Several things can go wrong with receptors. There may not be enough receptors for insulin to bind to, or a defect in the receptors may prevent insulin from binding. A second possible cause involves the process that occurs after insulin plugs into the receptor. Insulin may bind to the receptor, but the cells don't read the signal to metabolize the sugar. Scientists are studying cells to see why this might happen. Points to Remember In people with type 2 diabetes, insulin doesn't lower blood sugar, a condition called insulin Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes. This answer should not be considered medical advice...This answer should not be considered medical advice and should not take the place of a doctor’s visit. Please see the bottom of the page for more information or visit our Terms and Conditions. Thanks for your feedback. 25 of 26 found this helpful
Hinduism is mankind's oldest living religious tradition, which has practiced since time immemorial. One English missionary in India, comparing Hinduism with other world civilisations long since dead, paid tribute to its endurance “...but Hinduism lives on. Age has not decayed it, rivals have not destroyed it." The term ‘Hindu’ is related to the word Sindhu – the name of a river, which is known in English as the river Indus. Because of the difficulty in pronunciation by the Persians the river Sindhu became the river ‘Hindu’. And the inhabitants living across the river ‘Hindu’ became Hindus and the land became to be known as Hindustan. Hence, the major religion of India (Latin derivative of Hindu), became to be known as Hinduism. Hinduism became an umbrella description for the multitude of religious ideas in the Indian sub-continent. Some of these ideas adhere closely to the original Vedic tradition, while over the years many have incorporated local influences with regional, linguistic and doctrinal variations. The proliferation of Hindu denominations fall within three main groups: Vaishnavaism, worship of Krishna and His incarnations; Shaivism, worship of Shiva; and the Shaktas who worship Kali. The all-embracing nature of Hinduism often appears confusing for the Western mind, but despite external variety, much philosophy is common for all Hindus. A notable feature of Hinduism, referred to as Sanatana Dharma (the eternal religion) or Vedic Dharma (pertaining to the Vedas), is that it does not originate from one prophet or teacher. The earliest record of Hindu teaching is found in the Vedas (c. 3000 B.C.), but many authorities claim that Hinduism is as old as the universe, being based upon eternal truths, which have no mortal source. Other great religions - Jainism, Buddhism, and more recently Sikhism - appeared from the Vedic tradition.
The objective of manding is for your child to be able to request a desired item by using approximations, signs, gestures, and words, PECS and or electronic communication device. What to do I’m using a train as my example item and I’m using sign language as your child’s way of communication. - Sit at the table or on the floor with your child. - Put the train in front of your child. - Engage your child by saying your child’s name or touching your child’s arm. - Hold up the item and say “What do you want?” - Perfect outcome: your child signs “train”, you hand your child the train. Praise! - Not so perfect outcome: your child just grabs the train. - You take the train from your child, making the statement “you want the train and sign train”, then put the train back in front of your child and ask “What do you want?” Prompt your child to sign “train”. Hand your child the train. Take the train away, put it in front of your child again and say again “What do you want?” your child sign train. You give your child the train. Praise! OR your child grabs the train again. Then making the statement “you want the train and sign train”, then put the train back in front of your child and ask “What do you want?” Prompt your child to sign “train”. Hand your child the train. Take the train away, put it in front of your child again and say again “What do you want?” This might go on for a while. Your child is learning the very basics of communication and it should be your focus in the very beginning of ABA therapy. Repeat the steps above as often as needed. Set yourself a limit of how many times you will let your child try without success and then move on to the next item on the list. I’d say around 15 times. Once your child has mastered the desired item, have your child do something completely different and then come back to step 4 to make sure your child really got it. Manding is a very basic program and should be the first program you work on when you start ABA therapy. It teaches your child the very basic of communication: requesting a desired item. It will give your child the basic tool for letting your know what he/she wants. It will be hard in the beginning because your child might not understand the concept of manding yet but once your child understands the basics it will improve your lives a great deal. Hang in there and don’t give up! Your child will get there. If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact us. Items you need -books -your child’s favorite toys -your child’s favorite snack/drink -your child’s favorite food your child’s favorite lovey -any kind of toy –
It happened again! Newspapers, news channels, radio programs and social media were on fire last month with reports of an asteroid that was discovered and going to pass close to Earth only twenty-one days later! PHOTOS: This is Why Some Asteroids Act Like Comets The asteroid, or as it turns out the extinct cometary nucleus, became known as "Spooky" -- officially 2015 TB145 -- when it transpired that its closest approach was on Halloween. What grabbed the attention of journalists was the lack of notice we received before the visitor rattled passed us at nearly 80,000 miles per hour (36,000 meters per second). The question on everyone's lips seems to be: why did we not find it earlier? The simple and quick answer is that asteroids, and comets to a lesser degree, are pretty difficult to spot. Apart from the fact they are generally small, they are also usually quite dark too. In the case of our friend "Spooky," it is believed to be no larger than 600 meters across with an albedo (reflectivity) of 0.06. To put that into context, the albedo of a classroom blackboard is roughly the same. Now imagine a 600 meter-wide blackboard flying through space at 36,000 meters per second; by anyone's standard, that's going to be pretty tricky to detect. Thankfully, there are organizations and armies of amateur astronomers around the world on the lookout for these unexpected visitors. NEWS: Spooky Comet Gets Some Radar Love There are at least seven observatory systems that are fully automated, scouring our skies every night on the lookout for rogue objects. LINEAR (Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research program) and the Catalina Sky Survey are the most well known, chalking up thousands of near-Earth object discoveries and a whole host of comets. The rebooted NASA space telescope NEOWISE is also on the lookout in space, spotting these hard-to-see objects in infrared light. The method that all of the automated systems, and indeed amateur astronomers, utilize to detect these dark near-Earth objects (or NEOs) is to analyse star fields for objects that should not be there. Then, once an object is discovered, it's a case of taking more observations as that object moves through the sky to calculate its orbit. To understand this, imagine taking a photograph of a tennis ball as it flies through the air. A sharp picture will reveal its position accurately but will give you no clue as to its speed or direction. To do this, we need more pictures over a period of time. It is the same with a speeding asteroid; first you need to discover it and then observe it to work out its orbit. Once its orbital characteristics are known, its orbital path can be forecast, and astronomers can begin to calculate that object's level of risk. PHOTOS: Top 10 Ways to Stop an Asteroid Often the media gets wind of an asteroid discovery before its orbit is understood, or sometimes, as was the case with "Spooky," we simply don't get much notice -- regardless, 2015 TB145 flew safely past Earth at a distance of around 300,000 miles, just beyond the orbit of the moon. There are now 13,280 known NEOs just like "Spooky," which are defined as objects that have entered Earth's orbital neighborhood and therefore put the Earth at risk of a collision some time in the future. But it is the NEOs that we don't know about that pose the real threat. As far as they are concerned, all we can do is keep our eyes peeled and hope that the biggest NEOs have already been discovered.
Skull, Vertebral collumn, Thoracic cage. Forms the long axis of the skeleton. Which bones belong to appendicular skeleton: Bones of the upper and lower limbs, shoulder, and pelvic girdle that attach limbs to the axial skeleton. Define Amphaiarthrosis Joints: Slightly moveable joints, such as bones in the vertebral Define Diarthrosis Joints: Any freely movable joint, such as the shoulder and hip joints Define Synarthrosis Joints: Permits very little or no movement under normal conditions. Gomphosis are found in the sockets of the teeth. Synostoses are where two bones fuse together. Define Synovial Joint? Most moveable joints; all are diarthroses. All synovial joints have these common features: 1) Articular Cartilage 2) Joint Cavity (synovial cavity) 3) Articular Capsule 4) Synovial fluid 5) Reinforcing Ligaments 6) Nerves and Vessels Examples of each of the 6 types of synovial joints: 1) Plane Joints - 2) Hinge Joints - 3) Pivot Joint - 4) Condyloid Joint 5) Saddle Joints 6) Ball and Socket Joint 1) Plane Joints - Intertarsal and intercarpal joints 2) Hinge Joints - Elbow joint, ankle joint 3) Pivot Joint - Proximal Radioulnar Joint 4) Condyloid Joint - Knuckle, wrist joints. 5) Saddle Joints - Ball of the thumb 6) Ball and Socket Joint - Shoulder and Hip joints. 1. Medial Rotation 2. Lateral Rotation What is the function of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum. The special type of smooth endoplasmic reticulum found in smooth and striated muscle fibers whose function is to store and release calcium ions. What is a T Tubule It is a deep invagination of the sarcolemma, which is the plasma membrane, only found in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells. These invaginations allow depolarization of the membrane to quickly penetrate to the interior of the cell. What are synaptic vesicles: They store various neurotransmitters that are released at the synapse. Receptors in Motor Endplate A neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the synapse or junction of the axon terminal of a motoneuron with the motor end plate, Z line disc The line formed where actin filaments attach between two sarcomeres. Organelles in skeletal muscle that are long rod shaped and are in the sarcoplasm. They are cylinders. The filaments of myofibrils constructed from proteins, Define muscle fascicles: A fascicle is a bundle of skeletal muscle fibers surrounded by perimysium, a type of connective tissue. is a sheath of connective tissue that groups individual muscle fibers (anywhere between 10 to 100 or more) into bundles or fascicles. Is a layer of connective tissue that ensheaths a muscle fiber and is composed mostly from reticular fibers. is a layer of connective tissue which ensheaths the entire muscle. Function of RBC's Carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues around your body. As a secondary function, they are also a key player in getting waste carbon dioxide from your tissues to your lungs, Function of Neutrophils: Destroy bacteria. 60% of all WBC's Function of Eosiniphils: Play a roll in allergic reations and parasites. 1-4% of all WBC's Function of Basophils: Weak phagocytes. Direct later stages of parasitic infections. 0.5% of all WBC's Function of Monocytes: Macrophages. Particles of debris, foreign cells. 4 - 8 % of all WBC's. Function of Lymphocytes: Fight infectious organizms. Responses produce antigens.
In November 2013, astronomers made a startling announcement: The Milky Way galaxy hosts at least 8.8 billion stars with planets the size of Earth. Those planets, the researchers said after studying NASA's Kepler data, revolve around their suns in a so-called Goldilocks zone. That zone is where life, as we know it, can exist. "Just in our Milky Way galaxy alone, that's 8.8 billion throws of the biological dice," said Geoff Marcy, one of the study's authors [source: Borenstein]. The Kepler telescope, which experienced technical problems in summer 2013, was gazing at a thin slice of the Milky Way to see how many Earth-like planets might be out there. The astronomers then did some math homework and extrapolated that figure to the rest of the galaxy. The next step is to see if these Earth-like planets have atmospheres. The right kind of atmosphere is a good indication that life might exist on the planet's surface [source: Borenstein]. That finding is just one of many scientific discoveries that made headlines in 2013. Wait until you hear the other 10.
Malcolm X And The Black Panthers History Essay The Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s brought about the desegregation of schools, the dissolution of Jim Crow laws and consequently equal citizenship of blacks and minorities. This paper centers on the role played by Malcolm X and the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement and whether or not their individual actions affected the goals of the movement. In analyzing the actions of Malcolm X and those of the Black Panthers, conclusions can be made on whether they played a momentous role in the promotion of Black Nationalism at the time and if these actions of advocating Black Nationalism helped the goals of the movement. To determine this, the role the Nation of Islam played in developing the ideals and radical tactics of Malcolm X and how the involvement of the Black Panthers in the Black Power movement affected their tactics and goals will be examined. In the 1950s the African- American Civil Rights movement began attempting to outlaw racial discrimination against African Americans. There were several civil rights leaders that rose to lead in the fight to restoring suffrage in Southern states. Martin Luther King Jr. was giving his famous speech “I have a Dream” and leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person and was arrested and W.E.B Du Bois became the head of the NAACP. Malcolm X, on the other hand, had a different approach to the fight against African American discrimination. In the mid 1940's, Malcolm X along with a group of associates in Boston began a series of burglaries targeting the residences of wealthy white families. Malcolm X, along with a white women whom he had been consorting off and on for years and a couple of other friends, formed an interracial burglary ring which they operated out of an apartment in Harvard Square. Malcolm X was eventually caught trying to recover stolen jewelry from a pawn shop. The store owner turned evidence over to the state and Malcolm received a ten year sentence at the age of 20. The time he spent in prison changed him as a man when he encountered the Nation of Islam and joined as one of their members. After his parole in 1952, Malcolm X became the Nation of Islam’s leader and chief spokesman. The Nation of Islam believed in a back to Africa approach in which they wanted to exile all African Americans form the white man because as long as they white man was in existence, the African Americans could not prosper. After tension with Elijah Muhammad, the head of the Nation of Islam, Malcolm left the Nation and became a Sunni Muslim. Malcolm X pushed for a Black Nationalist movement rather than silent protest or sit ins. Although they were both widely know civil rights activists, the views of Malcolm X and those of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. differed greatly, mainly in the fact that Dr. King used non-violent protest. One of his most famous acts of nonviolent protests was the Montgomery Bus Boycott in which African Americans and several civil rights leaders including Dr. King refused to use the Montgomery bus system because of the discrimination shown by the buses. Along with all the civil rights activists, several civil rights groups arouse such as the Black Panther Party.The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966. They aroused four in several people along with hope, misunderstanding, pride, and vilification. They wanted to end robbery by the white man of the Black Community and immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.. All these civil rights activists and groups show the change being brought about at the time and how African Americans were fighting to have equal rights. For such investigation, two sources contributed immensely to the research. The first source is the book In Search of the Black Panther Party by Jama Lazerow and Yohuru R. Williams. Jama Lazerow is a professor of history with specialties in early American social and labor history, African-American history, and post-World War II America and teaches “Black Power and the Black Panther Party” at Brandeis University. Dr. Yohuru R. Williams is an associate professor in African American history at Fairfield University and coeditor of the book In Search of the Black Panther Party. The book In Search of the Black Panther Party gives an in-depth analysis on the Black Panther Party and the events that transpired during the Black Power movement and also has interviews with former Black Panthers about certain topics. The purpose of this book is to analyze the actions of the Black Panthers during the 1960s and 1970s and also analyzes the Black Panther Party itself. Some value this book had was the interviews with former Black Panthers because it helped in understanding what the Black Panthers wanted and made it more reliable than other sources. On the other hand, a limitation of In Search of the Black Panther Party was even though the book had some interviews with members of the Black Panther Party, the entire book itself was not published by the Black Panther Party. Another source by author Michael Eric Dyson titled Making Malcolm: the Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X contributed immensely. Michael Eric Dyson is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University and a widely know scholar. The purpose of Making Malcolm: the Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X is to analyze selected writings by and about Malcolm X, compare Malcolm to such figures as Martin Luther King and Louis Farrakhan, and discuss his influence on young African American males. This helped to gather background information on Malcolm X and compare his actions to other civil rights leaders at the time. The value in the book was that it gave writings from Malcolm X which helps compare his own writings and his own beliefs about the civil rights movement and other civil rights leaders. The limitations of the book were the author limits himself to only analyzing the actions of Malcolm X which made him stand out as a great leader and civil rights activists and does not analyze Malcolm X as a whole including his side that opposes the author’s argument. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s was an era in which African Americans stood up for their rights and demanded to be judged not by the color of their skin but by the contents of their heart. Since the early birth of America, racism has been its biggest shadow that has subverted the countries fullest potential and destroyed countless dreams as well as lives but yet America has failed to acknowledge this deficiency. Many believe it was Malcolm X who finally had redefined the discourse of race in America. Malcolm X stressed that the issue was not civil rights but human rights. He believed that Blacks were victims of a system of domination and exploitation that was national, structural, and most importantly intentional. Many view Malcolm X as one of the greatest civil rights leaders of all times because he would “tell it like it is.” Although many critics praise the actions of Malcolm X and his ability to unite the Black community, others believe differently. Some characterize Malcolm as a “bold, outspoken, ignorant man of no occupation after he gave up pimping, gambling, and dope selling to follow Mr. Muhammad.” Others view Malcolm X as a traitor to Blacks and even to America itself. The Black Panther Party was also widely known across the Nation and even in different parts of the Globe. They were made famous by their Black Power movement and concept of self defense. The Black Panthers were not afraid to use force when necessary and would easily fend off any attacking man of any color. This ideal made the Black Panthers feared, many believed the Black Panthers was just a gang of radicals who carried around guns and caused havoc every where they went . Even though the rules of the party clearly stated to no guns should be used unless it is of vital importance, the Black Panthers always carried firearms to any meetings or riots and they were not afraid to use them. They believed that Blacks must seclude themselves from the white man since it would be the only way they could live in peace. This belief advocated their “back to Africa” approach in which they stressed that all blacks return to Africa to live amongst themselves and without the presence of the white man. The party saw the white man as the devil and all this contributed to the BPP idea of Black Nationalism. They wanted Blacks to unite to overcome the white man and too finally have black self-determination and no longer rely on white society and along with their vision of Black Nationalism they were able to destablish racial hierarchies. These two forces in the fight for freedom during the civil rights movement, although some believe differently, played a crucial role in the outcome of the movement. Both Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party united the black man and gave them a sense of belonging. They both increased Black Nationalism in the U.S. at the time, which contributed to Blacks uniting in masses to fight for a cause which can only be won in unity. Both were well known and although many may question them by accusing Malcolm X of being a fraud, and the Black Panther Party as being a gang, they were still able to let the white man know of their presence and how they were not going to stop until they reached their goal. The goals of the BPP were simple; they wanted full employment for Blacks, an end to robbery by the white man of the Black community and most importantly they wanted freedom. When the civil rights movement was complete the Blacks had achieved their goal of freedom as well as having more jobs than before. The Black Panthers were able to achieve several of their goals which accounts for their success as a civil right organization. It was through the institution of Black Nationalism, and the advocating of self-defense that Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party were able to influence the outcome of the Civil Rights movement. The Black Panther Party used Malcolm X’s ideas to impact the outcomes of the movement and have a lasting effect. Their impact was much greater than Malcolm X’s due to the short span of time that he was involved in the movement that stemmed from his assassination in 1968. By using Malcolm X’s ideas of Black Nationalism, and self defense and expanding upon them, the Black Panther Party was able to rally up minority groups and fight for the common cause of gaining independence, and equality from the whites. It was through this newfound unity, and ideology that blacks were able to rise up and succeed. If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have the essay published on the UK Essays website then please click on the link below to request removal:
Incoming Solar Radiation Impacts By Various Weather Cycles The above image looks at the month of March for the three cycles known as Normal Phase, El-Nino, and La-Nina. The data was recorded for the city of Austin Texas. Remember this is just data for one month during these cycles. Normal: During this cycle incoming solar activity was upwards to 60% efficient for the month, producing enough solar energy that only 40% of the month would have not had strong incoming radiation. EL-Nino: This phase provided the area with an extended number of upwards to 66% efficient for the month, while only 34% of the month would have not produced strong incoming radiation. This supports EL-Nino being a warm cycle also by the results of more solar energy being released towards the earth. LA-Nina: Known for being colder than normal during the winter months, La-Nina only had an efficiency rate of 56%, while 44% of the month would have been not as strong of incoming radiation. Which supports the colder aspect during the winter months.
An increase in atmospheric pressure raises the boiling point of a liquid by raising the vapor pressure of the water above the liquid. This increases the amount of thermal energy needed to increase the vapor pressure of the water to match, raising the boiling point. Conversely, a reduction in atmospheric pressure, such as that caused by an increase in altitude, lowers the boiling point proportionately.Continue Reading The vapor pressure of a liquid determines how quickly molecules leave the liquid state and convert to gas. Under normal circumstances, the vapor pressure of water is low, resulting in few molecules leaving the liquid via evaporation. Heating the liquid increases the kinetic energy of the molecules and also increases the vapor pressure of the liquid. Once the vapor pressure equals or surpasses the vapor pressure of the outside atmosphere, the water converts to gas rapidly. Pressure cookers take advantage of this phenomena. Normally, boiling water cannot cook food to more than 212 degrees Fahrenheit, as that is the boiling point of water under one atmosphere. By raising the pressure inside the vessel, however, a pressure cooker increases that temperature, allowing food to cook much faster. High-altitude cooking and baking recipes take into account the lowered pressure and lowered boiling points at elevation and adjust cooking times accordingly.Learn more about States of Matter
Amazingly, scientists have recovered DNA from several Neanderthals and compared it to modern DNA. The differences are small but intriguing. What can we learn from the DNA about our early relatives? New DNA technology has allowed scientists to peer into the past by mapping the DNA of so-called cavemen. And they have found some noticeable differences. So, what do those differences really mean—are those early people somehow less “human” than we are? Before we can answer that question, we first need to understand two related issues. What can DNA tell us about the differences among people? And how does the biblical account of human origins shed light on these differences? The ability to map DNA is an amazing feat, considering the DNA is thousands of years old! Many ancient human remains are found in equatorial regions where heat and humidity have destroyed the DNA. However, remains of the Neanderthals and another group of humans discovered in a cave in southern Siberia, the Denisovans, have been found in cold, dry, protected areas that better preserved the DNA. When the first draft of Neanderthal DNA was published, the researchers concluded that it is 99.7% identical to modern human DNA. They also found that approximately 1–4% of DNA specific to Neanderthals can also be found in modern Eurasians. This led them to conclude that a very small number of Neanderthals mixed with early modern humans and produced children. Neanderthals had a wide geographic distribution in Eurasia, from Spain to southern Siberia, and from Germany to the Middle East, so it is not surprising that more of their DNA is found in modern Eurasians as opposed to other populations, such as Africans.1 To date, approximately eighty genes have been shown to differ between Neanderthals and modern humans.2 These genes produce proteins that govern a wide range of functions such as metabolism (how we burn food), the growth of the skull, and skin shade. Further study of these genes may help us understand how Neanderthals were different and perhaps why they died out. For instance, one gene produces a protein involved in skin and hair color. Rare variants of this gene among modern humans lead to pale skin and red hair. The Neanderthal gene has a variation so far unknown in humans today. It is likely that this variant led to pale skin and red hair in Neanderthals.3 If this is so, Neanderthals would have been able to absorb more sunlight than if they had darker skin. This would have been useful in producing enough vitamin D to live healthy lives in the northern regions. Denisovan DNA is also similar to DNA in modern humans. Approximately 4–6% of DNA that is specific to Denisovans can also be found in modern Melanesians (those who live in the islands northeast of Australia).4 As with the Neanderthals, this indicates that very few Denisovans mixed with and produced offspring with early modern humans—at least with those in Southeast Asia.5 Both Neanderthals and Denisovans do have small-scale differences with modern humans. Before the first draft of Neanderthal DNA, they were sometimes considered to be different human species or subspecies. But this is an arbitrary, manmade designation since two modern chimps of the same species will have more DNA variation than Neanderthals or Denisovans have to modern humans. In light of the genetic evidence, Neanderthals and Denisovans are fully human and should be classified as Homo sapiens. Many difficulties must be overcome to accurately sequence ancient DNA. Sequencing DNA involves determining the correct order of the individual components (bases) that comprise the DNA. Contamination and degradation are two of the biggest obstacles.6 Contamination comes both from bacteria found in the fossil (which can sometimes account for more than 90% of the DNA found!) and from bacteria transferred through handling by modern humans. Degradation occurs when the DNA is “chopped up” and certain DNA components are modified by chemical reactions. Fortunately, scientists have developed techniques that greatly limit the danger of contamination and degradation altering the actual human DNA sequence, so their impact is usually negligible. Another issue involves the limited number of ancient individuals with viable DNA. For example, there are only two known fossil remains for Denisovans from a single cave. At the most they represent two individuals. Compare that to the thousands of modern humans whose DNA has been sequenced. A small sampling of an ancient population may not truly reflect the full range of variety in that particular group. The Neanderthal samples, in contrast, come from over a dozen different individuals at sites on different continents, so they are much more likely to represent the population as a whole. It is also important to acknowledge the many evolutionary assumptions that are made when comparing the DNA sequence of ancient individuals to modern humans.7 For example, a common human-chimp ancestor was assumed. One paper stated, “To estimate the DNA sequence divergence . . . between the genomes of Neanderthals and the reference human genome sequence . . . [we used] an inferred genome sequence of the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees as a reference to avoid potential biases.”1 Apparently the authors of the paper don’t consider assumed human-chimp ancestry as a bias, but it is! Creation scientists are actively studying methods to avoid these biases so that more valid comparisons can be made. Genetics has clearly established that Neanderthals and Denisovans were fully human. Any physical differences should be viewed as nothing more than variations that can occur within the human race descended from Adam and Eve. For a time, these descendants all lived together at the Tower of Babel. Following the post-Babel migration and late into the Ice Age, differing human populations began to appear in the fossil record, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. The next questions for creationists are how and why these differences appeared.8 How is much easier to answer than why! One possibility is that environmental pressures, such as the Ice Age, “selected” for or against traits within the range of human genetic diversity. (In other words, those that had a particular combination of characteristics survived in that environment, and others did not.) This may have led to the specific set of features found in Neanderthal people. Many animals following the Flood and during the Ice Age experienced an explosion of variations that allowed them to live and function well in new environments. This could also have been true for humans. Other possibilities include genetic effects seen mainly in small populations. Small populations would have been typical for a period of time following the breakup of the human population at Babel, as people were separated based on language. The groups that left Babel would have begun with only a few reproducing individuals and not interbred initially with other groups. A phenomenon known as genetic drift can cause certain genetic variations to become “fixed.” If the population is small, everyone with certain variations can die, without passing them down, and the survivors pass down just one variation to future generations. If no people are moving in or out of the population, characteristics like the pronounced brow ridge or the robust body form in Neanderthals can become dominant. Another possible impact of the Babel breakup is the founder effect. The founders of each group leaving Babel might simply have differed from one another. Certain traits in one group might have been unknown among the founders of any other group. Those traits would then be unique to each group. Rather than being fixed by genetic drift, the Neanderthal’s pronounced brow ridge or robust body form may have been found among the founders of only one group after they left Babel. Those people may have migrated intentionally to places where they were most comfortable (similar to human behavior today). As time passed, the different groups would have migrated, as humans have always done. People who had the traits of modern humans possibly interbred, at times, with the other groups, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. Yet there seems to have been a sudden loss, or a dilution, of the characteristics possessed by those other groups. The genetic makeup of modern humans became dominant. Inbreeding can have disastrous effects on small populations by amplifying defective genes. Maybe this is why Neanderthals and Denisovans eventually became extinct. We don’t know. Why this happened is still a mystery. What is not a mystery is that so-called cavemen, including Neanderthals and Denisovans, were fully human. They were among the descendants of the people scattered at the Tower of Babel—made in God’s image to bring Him glory. Help keep these daily articles coming. Support AiG. If you decide you want to keep Answers coming, simply pay your invoice for just $24 and receive four issues (a full year) more. If not, write “cancel” across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless! Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. New subscribers only. No gift subscriptions. Offer valid in U.S. only. Building a Biblical Worldview ISSN: 1937-9056 \| © 2014 Answers in Genesis
One reason why the fruit fly has been a favorite model organism for genetics research is that it has only 4 chromosomes, and in some tissue like the salivary gland the chromosomal DNA is replicated many times without cell division, leading to giant chromosomes, large and thick. In addition, those giant, amplified, chromosomes have a distinct banding pattern, somewhat like laser tags, that help distinguish one chromosome from another, and they identify even specific regions within chromosomes. The pattern is thought to result from the complex folding of chromatin within the chromosome. In contrast, human chromosomes are many (43 pairs) and small, and do not have a banding pattern. But in the 1960’s, in an experiment in which chromosomes removed from a cell and splayed on a microscope slide were treated with a protein-digesting enzyme (trypsin), suddenly a banding pattern emerged. This was hardly expected, but very welcomed because now specific human chromosomes and chromosome regions could be readily recognized. The discovery of the banding pattern of chromosomes was one of the lynchpins in working through the first discovery of the genetic cause of cancer in humans, the first “miracle drug” for the treatment of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, and the ongoing revolution in personalized medicine. This discovery involved the observation that patients with CML often had an unusual looking chromosome in their leukemic cells. It became known as the Philadelphia chromosome, for the city in which the observation was made. By observing the banding pattern of that unusual chromosome, Janet Rowley, a young geneticist at the University of Chicago, was able to conclude that the Philadelphia chromosome was actually comprised of a portion of chromosome 22, and portion of chromosome. The two chromosomes had apparently each broken and the broken pieces were rejoined incorrectly, like a piece of a hot dog joining on it broken end to the broken end of a piece of sausage. The joining point, it turned out – after several years of research – brought together two pieces of unrelated genes, one a regulatory fragment, the other a coding region for a gene for tyrosine kinase, and the two together resulted in a gene that was no longer regulated, belting out a continuous supply of the enzyme, whether needed or not. Tyrosine kinase proved to be a stimulant for driving the cell division cycle, leading to cancerous growth. Once the gene was discovered it took 50 years before the remarkably specific drug, Gleevec, entered the market, changing the prospects for leukemia patients from grim to hopeful. The full history of this remarkable story has been published in an appropriately named book, The Philadelphia Chromosome, by Jessica Wapner. A terrific review of the book appeared in Science magazine on June 21, and I attach it here. In the same issue Janet Rowley gives a really interesting personal perspective of this great scientific and medical success story. The book review and perspective together offer us a rich picture as a prelude to reading the book. 1. Review of The Philadelphia Chromosome From Science 2013 342:1412. Aditi Nadkarni –Tracing a Translocation’s Impact The reviewer is at the Department of Biology, 1009 Silver Center, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, New York, NY 10003-6688, USA. E-mail: [email protected] The Philadelphia Chromosome A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level by Jessica Wapner The Experiment, New York, 2013. 327 pp. $25.95. ISBN 9781615190676. Most of us love an underdog’s success story. Jessica Wapner’s The Philadelphia Chromosome includes several such stories. Wapner, a freelance science writer, describes the path from the first description of a chromosomal abnormality in cancer cells to the successful deployment of a gene-targeted medicine against what had previously been a lethal leukemia. Along the way, she pays homage to various scientific underdogs: a graduate student who spent 10-hour days peering through a microscope for the sheer love of observation; a postdoctoral fellow who risked “the judgment and ridicule of [his] peers” in negating the findings of a world-famous scientist; a junior researcher who doggedly pursued a goal dismissed as unfeasible; a physician who urged a drug company to set aside commercialism for a cure; and, most important, a patient brought back from the brink of death by a new cancer drug. Wapner aptly compares the investigators to “a hundred painters applying brushes to a canvas at some time or another over twenty-five years, driven only by curiosity and, sometimes, a vague hope that their work might eventually be relevant to human cancer.” Without knowing what the end result would look like, she notes, they ended up creating a “scientific masterpiece.” A half century ago, a diagnosis of cancer was devastating because it meant death was likely imminent. Most available treatments were ineffective and often put patients through immense suffering before they succumbed to their disease. One such cancer was chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), which rendered patients sallow as it rapidly poisoned their immune systems, flooding them with abnormal white blood cells. The survival rate was a mere 14%, and most patients died within six years. In 1960, Peter Nowell and his graduate student David Hungerford noticed a genetic abnormality in a chromosome of CML patients (1), a discovery that eventually led to the idea that rogue genes could be a cause of cancer. The genetic abnormality, the Philadelphia chromosome, would become the first genetic defect identified as a direct culprit in cancer initiation. Wapner’s narrative begins with the discovery of the Philadelphia chromosome and continues through the 30 years that it took to develop a drug that successfully targeted this genetic abnormality, thus turning a once fatal disease into a manageable condition that can be treated with a pill. Today, 12 years after the drug, imatinib mesylate (Gleevec), entered the market, the survival rate of CML patients is 95.2%. Told in the manner of a thriller with a dash of history, The Philadelphia Chromosome describes the events that went into the “rational design” of that pharmaceutical treatment for CML. In the early 1970s, geneticist Janet Rowley, using recently developed chromosome banding techniques, observed that the lopped-off head of the Philadelphia chromosome in CML patients had somehow perched onto another chromosome. Going against established views about cancer, Rowley argued that this chromosomal translocation could be the cause of the cancer. Her finding opened the door to the discovery of the cancer-causing oncogene affected by this change in CML patients. It took several years and the concerted efforts of many researchers to uncover the precise mechanism by which the translocated Philadelphia chromosome causes the brakes to fail on a runaway kinase, resulting in uncontrolled cell division—a hallmark of cancer. The discovery of this culprit oncogene, as Wapner describes, ultimately revealed the relation between the Philadelphia chromosome and CML and presented the kinase as a target for therapy. A specific kinase inhibitor could bind to and stop the uncontrolled kinase in its tracks, “[l]ike a gloved hand fitting perfectly over a mouth to block the next breath.” Much of the second half of the book focuses on the frantic struggle to get the life-saving drug to patients. Here Brian Druker, a clinical oncologist turned researcher, emerges as a hero through his inspiring commitment to patients and his unyielding determination to save people from the clutches of a fierce disease. Reading Wapner’s account suggests that while the scientists involved in the discovery and development of Gleevec were underdogs in their field, the drug was somewhat of a stepchild for the company. “There were too few patients with CML to make developing this new drug worthwhile for the company.” In short, the drug would not profit the company as much as one that targeted some disease affecting a larger population. This problem of market-driven policy remains a subject of debate. Drug companies are often criticized for shifting their research focus to diseases with a higher incidence to ensure that they have a larger demand for their products. The author covers a lot of ground in describing the politics of science and dissecting the inner workings of a pharmaceutical company’s drug development process. She withholds judgment, instead providing two sides of the story: In one, a physician coaxes a drug company focused on commercial interest to think about patients. In the other, a drug company, bombarded with sudden demand from the market, rushes to complete the toxicity studies required for Food and Drug Administration clearance. Wapner also describes the impact of the CML community’s 1999 online petition urging increased production of the drug for clinical trials. In the last chapter, Wapner surveys the current landscape of cancer research, noting hurdles to continued progress such as difficulties in sequencing tumors and the unintended effects of technology transfer agreements on collaborations. She also mentions the pressing issues of poverty, limited access to medical care, and ever-rising drug prices that patients face. In her concluding comments she notes that although targeted drugs have changed cancer treatment and “medicine as a whole,” their failure “to transform other cancers into tolerable chronic conditions has generated skepticism about the future of the approach.” As a young cancer researcher, I especially appreciate Wapner’s mention of the current abysmal funding situation—which does not reward new or risky ideas and is extremely stingy in supporting those early in their careers. She points out that in 2010, less than 4% of the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s R01 funding went to scientists under age 36. On the contrary, in the 1960s and 1970s (when many of the discoveries described in the book occurred), being a young scientist with novel ideas was an asset. Some key contributions to the Philadelphia chromosome story, as the author notes, came from young researchers given the freedom to pursue their own ideas. Support for such freedom of thought and creativity is now hard to come by in academic bioscience. Wapner’s use of analogies to describe difficult scientific concepts makes her narrative accessible to lay readers. Still, the jargon in some portions that detail experimental hurdles may overwhelm those lacking firsthand experience in the laboratory. Nonetheless, I appreciate that her artful storytelling does not dilute the complexity of the science or sensationalize the subject. By recounting personal stories of the researchers and patients, Wapner helps readers identify with the story. The Philadelphia Chromosome offers powerful testimony on what the cancer research and pharmaceutical fields are capable of when academic scientists, physicians, and drug companies work together. PERSPECTIVE by Janet D. Rowley (Science 2013 342:1412) Forty years ago, a chromosomal translocation was discovered to cause leukemia and revealed cancer as a genetic disease.It was dubbed the Philadelphia chro-mosome, named after the city where the abnormal chromosome was first described in 1960 (1). Peter Nowell, of the University of Pennsylvania, and David Hungerford, at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, had taken a close look at patients with chronic myeloid leuke-mia (CML) and found that regardless of sex, they had a very small chromosome. It was a turning point in cancer biology, the beginning of a story that would draw new attention to chromosome abnormalities as a cause of cancer, a phenomenon that still influences our under-standing of the disease. To appreciate the importance of the discovery of Nowell and Hungerford, it is necessary to understand the state of biomedical science in the 1950s. The prevailing view from studies of experimentally induced cancer was that chromosome abnormalities were the result of genomic instability in cancer cells, not the cause. It was assumed that loss of DNA from the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome (originally thought to be a deletion in chromosome 21) included genes that regulate cell growth, thereby leading to unrestrained proliferation of leukocytes. The situation was complicated because some patients with CML lacked the Ph chromosome and surprisingly, they had a shorter survival than did those with a Ph chromosome (2). Nonetheless, the presence of the Ph chromosome became an important diagnostic tool in hematology, and it appeared to be the exception to the established view that chromosome changes were variable and irrelevant in cancer. The situation changed dramatically in the 1970s when several new staining techniques revealed chromosomes with unique banding patterns (transverse stripes) that allowed them to be distinguished individually and precisely ( 3, 4). Having learned a banding technique at Oxford University, I returned to the University of Chicago to apply the method to chromosome samples from leukemia patients. Among these patients were two with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), where banding revealed that a piece of chromosome 8 had broken off and joined chromosome 21. This was the first recurring chromosomal translocation [t(8;21)] to be identified (5) . Were chromosomal changes consistent in other leukemias? It was already known that CML patients in terminal blast crisis showed a gain in middle-size chromosomes; these, I discovered, all turned out to be chromosome 8. What was even more startling was that chromosome 9 had an extra piece of material whose stain-ing resembled that of the missing piece of the Ph chromosome (by then, known to be chromosome 22). This suggested that the Ph chromosome could be the result of a translocation involving the swapped ends of chromosome 9 and chromosome 22. Leukemia cells from the same patients in the chronic phase of CML showed the same (9;22) translocation, whereas non-leukemia cells from their peripheral blood had a normal karyotype. It seemed quite likely that the Ph chromosome was an acquired translocation, a finding I reported 40 years ago (6). There the matter stood for a decade. In the meantime, Herbert Abelson had isolated a virus that induced B cell leukemia. The ”Abelson” virus could transform normal murine lymphocytes and fibroblasts, and the causative viral factor was a protein with tyrosine kinase activity (v-Abl). The human counterpart of the Abelson viral gene, ABL,was mapped to chromosome 9 (7). Moreover, the only additional DNA found in the Ph chromosome was from chromosome 9 (8).The laborious task of cloning the chromosomal breakpoint in CML revealed that the ABL gene on chromosome 9 was translocated into part of a gene called the breakpoint cluster region (BCR) in chromosome 22, creating a BCR-ABL gene fusion (9, 11). The only previously cloned translocation breakpoints, namely the t(8;14) in Burkitt lymphoma (B cells), had involved an onco-gene called MYC(the human counterpart of the viral oncogene v-myc), and the immuno-globulin gene on chromosome 14 (12,13).The discovery that oncogenes were involved in translocation breakpoints proved to be a remarkable validation of virology and of cytogenetics, fields that were struggling to show their relevance to human cancer. That CML involved the human oncogene ABL was welcome corroboration. Additional translocations were found to involve oncogenes as well, a few of which encoded tyrosine kinases like ABL; others involved genes that activate transcription factors that function in cell growth, differentiation, and even cell death. It was fortuitous that at the same time, drug companies were developing tyrosine kinase inhibitors. From this focus emerged imatinib (marketed as Gleevec), the compound eventually approved in 2001 to treat CML (and later, for other cancers). Like all tyrosine kinase inhibitors, imatinib prevents the protein (BCR-ABL, in the case of CML) from phosphorylating proteins that promote cancer development (14). This pharmaceutical breakthrough came almost 50 years after the discovery of the Ph chromosome. Imatinib changed CML from a disease with a 3- to 5-year average life span to one where patients have an almost normal life expectancy, especially with the advent of new second- and third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. These later drugs, especially ponatinib, have been designed to be effective despite mutations in the activation domain of the ABL protein. Whereas translocations were first identified in leukemias, lymphomas, and sarcomas, they are now cropping up in many common epithelial tumors, prostate cancer, and lung cancer, among others. Next-generation sequencing of leukemias and solid tumors has revealed a host of translocations (often small deletions or inversions) (15), some of which involve genes that are targets of drugs already approved for therapy of other conditions. It took only a few years from the discovery of the EML4-ALK translocation in lung cancer to the development of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor crizotinib (16), indicating that the discovery of new translocations may be more rapidly translatable to drug discovery. Although data on the occurrence and types of new translocations, based on karyotype analysis, are more frequently reported for hematologic cancers (75%) than for solid cancers (mainly epithelial) (25%), the proportion of malignancies that have recurring chromosomal translocations is the same in both. Moreover, the genes involved have the same function in both cases (17). Thus, translocations are remarkably similar in function, though not necessarily in their frequency in individual cancers. It is likely that next-generation sequencing will reveal a much higher incidence of gene fusions in solid tumors. But this method is a two-edged sword. It has identified numerous chromosomal translocations and deletions, but which of these lead to altered gene function and which are inconsequential? It will be difficult to distinguish them in the future without characterizing RNA from the tumors. A goal of personalized medicine is to identify virtually all of the targetable genetic and epigenetic abnormalities in a patient’s tumor through next-generation sequencing and other technologies. To evolve targeted treatments for cancer, we also need a more sophisticated understanding of tumor-specific antigens and chromatin modifications, for example. There likely will be many surprises along the way, and paradigms will be discarded. Nevertheless, the goal will always be the same – to treat disease and benefit the patient. 1. P. C. Nowell, D. A. Hungerford, Science132, 1497 (1960). 2. J. Whang-Peng et al., Blood 32, 755 (1968). 3. T. Caspersson et al., Exp. Cell Res. 60, 315 (1970). 4. A. T. Sumner et al., Nat. New Biol. 232, 31 (1971).5. J. D. Rowley, Ann. Genet. 16, 109 (1973). 6. J. D. Rowley, Nature 243, 290 (1973). 7. N. Heisterkamp et al., Nature 299, 747 (1982). 8. A. de Klein et al., Nature 300, 765 (1982). 9. N. Heisterkamp et al., Nature 306, 239 (1983). 10. J. Groffen et al ., Cell 36, 93 (1984). 11. E. Shtivelman et al., Nature 315, 550 (1985). 12. R. Dalla-Favera et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 6497 (1982). 13. R. Taub et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 7837 (1982). 14. B. J. Druker et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 344, 1031 (2001). 15. B. Vogelstein et al., Science 339, 1546 (2013). 16. A. T. Shaw et al Lancet Oncol. 12, 1004 (2011). 17. F. Mitelman et al., Nat. Rev. Cancer 7, 233 (2007).
The third largest moon of Saturn called Enceladus is now believed to be one of several icy “water worlds” in our solar system, according to NASA researchers. Enceladus has more than 100 individual cryovolcanoes (active geysers), which eject organic materials, and water beyond the frozen surface of the moon. Most of the cryovolcanoes are in the southern polar region. Now with the careful analysis of more than seven years’ worth of data from the NASA’s Cassini mission, researchers believe that the moon’s slight wobble, is because outer ice shell is not frozen solid to its interior. This suggests there must be a global ocean beneath its icy shell. Researchers from Cornell University, and SETI say the findings imply the fine spray of water vapor Cassini has been observing is coming from fractures near the moon’s south pole. This vapor comes from a vast liquid water reservoir. The research has been presented in a paper published in the journal Icarus. In previous analysis of Cassini data, it had suggested the presence of a lens shaped body of water at the moon’s South Polar Region. However, gravity data collected during the spacecraft’s close pass over the South Polar Region supports the idea that the sea might be global. Now this has been confirmed by using an independent line of evidence based on Cassini’s images. Lead author of the paper, Peter Thomas, a Cassini imaging team member at Cornell University, New York, said: “This was a hard problem that required years of observations, and calculations involving a diverse collection of disciplines — but we are confident we finally got it right.” Watch footage showing Saturn’s moon Enceladus and its warm global ocean: As a result, they found Enceladus has a tiny, but measurable wobble as it orbits Saturn. Because the icy moon is not perfectly spherical — and because it goes slightly faster, and slower during different portions of its orbit around Saturn — the giant planet subtly rocks Enceladus back, and forth as it rotates, NASA said. The team combined their measurement of the wobble, called a libration, with different models for how Enceladus might be arranged on the inside, including ones in which the moon was frozen from surface to core, NASA added. Matthew Tiscareno, co-author of the paper said: “If the surface, and core were rigidly connected, the core would provide so much dead-weight the wobble would be far smaller than we observe it to be. This proves that there must be a global layer of liquid separating the surface from the core.” Watch a NASA video of the global ocean on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus: Co-author Carolyn Porco said: “This is a major step beyond what we understood about this moon before, and it demonstrates the kind of deep-dive discoveries we can make with long-lived orbiter missions to other planets, Cassini has been exemplary in this regard.” The story of Enceladus has been a great triumph of Cassini’s long mission at Saturn. The moon’s icy plume was first detected in early 2005, which were then followed up with more discoveries about the material that was coming from warm fractures near its South Pole. In 2014, news spread of strong evidence suggesting a regional sea but in 2015 the results suggested there was hydrothermal activity taking place on the ocean floor. It was not until October 28 when Cassini is scheduled to make a close flyby of Enceladus. This mission will be the closest yet, diving through the moon’s active plume of icy material. Cassini will pass just 30 miles (49 kilometers) above the moon’s surface.
Opportunities to use vision should be incorporated into your child’s everyday life. For example, you might use a red bowl or plate for each meal. Adding a red ribbon to a bottle for younger children works well. You could also place a red object on or near the diaper changing table, car seat or wheelchair. The key is to place opportunities for the child to see throughout their daily routine. It becomes easier and easier for kids with cortical visual impairment (CVI) to see these objects as they become familiar with them. It can also be helpful to keep one familiar object with your child throughout the day. This allows the child to learn to recognize the object in different environments. Furthermore, children with CVI may tire easily when engaged in visual tasks, which is another reason to keep vision sessions short and frequent throughout the day. In order to maximize your child’s ability to use vision throughout the day it is important to provide spaces that are free of distractions and visual clutter. Learning to see can be very taxing and difficult for a child with CVI. If the environment is too visually complex or contains competing sensory input it can be difficult for the child to focus on visual clues. You can reduce visual clutter by providing an all black background against which the shiny, bright, highly saturated colored objects can be placed. Try to eliminate noise to give your child the ability to simply focus on seeing. Because latency is a common characteristic of CVI, children often need a lot of time to respond visually. When presenting an object remember that you may need to wait several minutes before seeing a response. This is especially true of unfamiliar objects. When we first started working with Little Bear he would look at objects for only a second at a time before looking away. What was important was that he would return to the object repeatedly. It’s key to keep it simple when introducing objects to CVI children. Initially, objects should be only one highly saturated color, like fire engine red. Moving objects are easier to see, and shiny objects can approximate movement. For many children with CVI the use of light is also helpful. For example, shining a flashlight on the target object can draw a child’s attention to it. Over time, you can introduce two familiar colors at the same time, then simple patterns with those colors and so forth. It is also important to remember that it will be much easier for your child to see if your child is properly positioned. This means giving a child as much support as possible. For example, a child who has to work to hold up his or her head will be less able to focus on using his or her vision. Little Bear seems to use his vision best when lying on his back or being held in a sitting position. Learn as much as you can about CVI. There is not a lot written for caregivers or families, but there are books and papers written for academics, ophthalmologists and vision specialists. A book we recommend is Cortical Visual Impairment: An Approach to Assessment and Intervention by Christine Roman-Lantzy. There is also an online class offered by Gordon Dutton, M.D., a pediatric ophthalmologist from Glasgow, Scotland. The American Printing House for the Blind offers research papers on CVI. For links to these and other resources, check out our CVI resources page. We recommend you find a vision specialist who is familiar with CVI. Often this can be accomplished through Early Intervention, your school system or your local government programs. Regular visits to provide information, education and further intervention ideas are very helpful. For specific suggestions on helping your child with CVI, visit our Tips & Ideas page.
NASA has created a global snapshot of the world's forests using satellites and LIDAR, a laser technology that measures the height of forest canopy using pulses of light. This map took seven years and 250 million pulses to create. This project goes beyond the desire to map the height of Earth's forested areas — the height and distribution of Earth's forests could offer further clues into forests' abilities to absorb the carbon that humans produce: Humans release about 7 billion tons of carbon annually, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide. Of that, 3 billion tons end up in the atmosphere and 2 billion tons in the ocean. It's unclear where the last two billion tons of carbon go, though scientists suspect forests capture and store much of it as biomass through photosynthesis. There are hints that young forests absorb more carbon than older ones, as do wetter ones, and that large amounts of carbon end up in certain types of soil. But ecologists have only begun to pin down the details as they try to figure out whether the planet can continue to soak up so much of our annual carbon emissions and whether it will continue to do so as climate changes. "What we really want is a map of above-ground biomass, and the height map helps get us there," said Richard Houghton, an expert in terrestrial ecosystem science and the deputy director of the Woods Hole Research Center. Furthermore, the maps could aid researchers in determining the spread of forest fires. Colorado State's Michael Lefsky presented these results in the publication Geophysical Research Letters; you can read the full details and view massive versions of the above maps at NASA.
Lesson Plan: Music from Tuck Everlasting Subject Area: Music Grade Level: 5-6th Amount of time needed: 45-50 min Objective/purpose: Students will be able to notice changes in music during film productions. They will understand why different rhythms, tones, or volumes are used to make a scene more appealing. My Personal Stake: This lesson is important, because it makes us conscience of why specific music is used in certain scenes in a movie. This can help us better understand movies, and the way they affect our emotions. This can also give us a better understanding of movie production. · Possibly a soundtrack (would make it easier) to the movie Tuck Everlasting. · A stereo/speakers to play the songs. Introduction/connecting to students: Why do film makers use music in their movies? How can music affect our emotions during a movie? · Start the class out by asking the introduction questions (listed above). · Once the students have had an opportunity to say what they wanted, then I’ll explain that today we’re going to be listening to some of the music from Tuck Everlasting. · Next, one of the songs from the movie will be played while students are prompted to “listen closely.” · After each song is played students will be asked several questions, and given the opportunity to discuss in small groups (2 or 3 people, divided up however suitable.) o How did the song make you feel? o What are some emotions that the music brought up? o What scene do you think this song could have come from? o Are there other scenes that this song could have worked for? In another movie? · This same procedure will follow for the rest of the music. Closure: The students will be given the opportunity to complete a short writing assignment (1/2 page) to be turned in the next day. The question posed will be: Is there a song/songs that you would find suitable for Tuck Everlasting? Why do you feel that these songs are suitable? Assessment: Students will be given points for completing the writing assignment.
Defining family and community While a family is commonly thought of as a group of people who are related through blood or marriage, there is an enormous amount of variation and diversity in the way in which families are structured and function. Like every individual, every family is unique. Family can refer to a large extended network of people, which may be spread across countries, or to a small number of people residing in the same dwelling. Family structures and traditions also differ widely across different cultures. However, a theme common across the many perceptions of what family means is the understanding that a family looks after its members. Family can therefore be defined in terms of functions. Some of the core functions of a family are the exchange of love, affection and companionship; day-to-day nurture and care; economic security; a sense of identity and belonging; and guidance on commonly held social values. Care and guidance functions take place within the family across the life cycle, beginning with parents (and sometimes grandparents) caring for children, and ending with children caring for parents. There is the day-to-day care of the household, whereby members contribute to the provision of food and clothing for one another, and to maintaining the family's physical environment. There is the more intensive care involved in looking after young children, or family members with short or longer term illnesses or disabilities. The emotional care and psychological support provided by families is also fundamental to individual wellbeing. The care needs of a family are often highly age related. For families with children, young infants need 24 hour care each day, formal childcare may be needed to supplement parental care for toddlers, and older children need support in their pursuit of both formal and wider education. For families with older people, caring revolves around whether these older family members have disabilities, what types of disabilities these are, and the extent to which they restrict activity. While a family's primary function is to care for its members, families can be vulnerable to varying degrees of dysfunction. Individual families may be able to care for their members to differing levels of success, at different times in their life cycle. The level to which families are able to fulfil the role of caring for family members is a major focus of statistics in this area of concern. THE FAMILY COUNTING UNIT Although composed of individuals, the family can be seen as an entity in its own right, because family members have a sense of obligation toward one another and perform functions of care and support that are intimately binding. The wellbeing of the family per se is therefore of interest, and can be usefully measured using a family counting unit. The ABS family counting unit is currently based on people who are both related and co-resident. This is still predominantly the group that is most significant to an individual, and is also the family group targeted by key family support services. However, there may be important caring connections that lie outside this definition. For example, some people (e.g. children or older parents) may be financially dependent on relatives they are not living with, or be predominantly cared for by those relatives. These connections are often difficult to clearly and consistently identify, but information about them can usefully supplement data based on the standard counting unit. The important caring relationships surrounding children whose parents live separately may also need to be identified through tailored question modules rather than through the standard family counting unit. (Further definition and discussion of the family counting unit are provided later on in this chapter in the 'Frameworks' section). The term 'community' also refers to an inter-connected group of people who can influence one another's wellbeing - however, an individual's community is usually considered to be broader than the people with whom they live or have immediate family ties. Communities are commonly thought of as being groups of people living within particular geographical areas, such as cities or rural towns and their surrounding areas, but there is no particular geographic criteria that are widely used to set limits in defining a community. Indeed, the choice of area depends on the focus of interest and can vary in scale from the global to the neighbourhood level. The use of geographical areas to help define communities recognises that people are connected by the habitat in which they live (both the natural and built environments) and that they often have common concerns about the quality of their habitats (e.g. the quality of the environment, the range of services available in the area, and so on). A commonly used and apt way of choosing areas that define communities is to choose those that accord with areas of governance. Thus, in Australia, people in particular Local Government Areas (LGAs) or States and Territories, and those that form the population at large, may all be seen as communities, not only because the people in these areas have a common area of residence but because they share regulations, laws, rights and obligations relating to a wide range of matters. There are other connections between people which are not geographically based but which indicate the existence of communities. These include connections relating to shared values, traditions and lifestyles. Thus, people with a shared culture or heritage such as groups of Indigenous people, people belonging to religious groups, or groups of people born in particular countries who maintain associations with each other, are often viewed as belonging to a community. Communities may also be defined in terms of people with a shared set of interests or activities, for example, 'school communities' or 'arts communities'. Notwithstanding the many possible connections between people that may be used to define communities, there is an important sense that the wellbeing of the members of a community is influenced by their connections to others. Like the family, a community may be an important source of support and care for individuals, and individuals can gain a sense of identity and security from belonging to a community. The organisations and institutions surrounding and supporting a community (e.g. political, business, educational, religious, welfare and other institutions) provide work and education opportunities, infrastructures for health care and leisure pursuits, the opportunity for companionship, and also provide a means for delivering guidance on, and shaping, social values. Statistics about the community are most often needed to inform debate and policy centred on the capacity of the community at large to care for members, and on how that capacity can be improved. There are various levels of community within the social environment. Although there are not always clear cut boundaries between these, some basic groupings, which align with the transaction model of communities presented in Chapter 1, are described below. Some community care functions are so important to social wellbeing they have become institutionalised. For instance, health care is provided through hospitals, and education through schools and universities, the criminal justice system protects citizens and ensures the predominance of law and order, and the cultural life of the nation is preserved and promoted through heritage and other cultural institutions. It has become a core obligation of governments to provide and maintain these institutions. Governments also have an obligation to assist people to gain sufficient income, and achieve this in part through promoting labour market activity which can provide people with employment opportunities. This level of community and government activity can be broadly described as formal, and is covered by the areas of social concern that are the subjects of the following chapters of this book. There is also a non-institutional, but still highly organised, or formal, network of support and care supplied by groups and organisations such as charitable bodies, clubs, community associations, support groups and businesses. These groups may operate in conjunction with the institutions mentioned above, but are not usually essential to them. Parents and citizens associations operate within schools but are separate, self-funded bodies; charitable organisations cooperate with government relief programs but are independently run. Such groups make an enormous collective contribution to society, through supporting schools, nursing homes, young people, people with disabilities, older people, families and communities. There are also many community transactions that are not planned or organised but occur within the society on a daily basis and contribute to support and care functions in ways that are significant but difficult to quantify. Day-to-day interactions between people in a community build relationships that mean people are more willing to assist each other in times of need (e.g. interactions between neighbours or between retailers in local shopping centres and their customers). More significant relationships may be built between work mates, or people using the same childcare or medical facilities. Interactions such as these can also build networks that assist individuals to gain information or make other connections of value to them. Libraries and other public places can be important meeting places; for example, shopping malls can be central to the social networks within which young people operate. There is increasing awareness of the importance of this level of community activity and a number of ways in which these interactions can be measured. These measures link closely with emerging interest in social capital and how it can be defined, constructed, repaired and maintained. This page last updated 31 July 2006
\|A portrait of Raoul Wallenberg as a young man.\| Raoul Wallenberg was born on August 4th of 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden. His family was very wealthy and well-known; mostly bankers, politicians, ambassadors, and diplomats. Raoul’s father, Raoul Oscar Wallenberg, died three months before Raoul’s birth. His grandfather, Gustav Wallenberg, was put in charge of Raoul’s education. He was meant to carry on the family trade as a banker, but Raoul was much more interested in architecture and trade. He went to study at the University of Michigan, and graduated in 1931, majoring in architecture. Five years after graduating, Wallenberg took a trip to Palestine, which is modern-day Israel. When he arrived in Haifa, he finally began noticing the Jews that had escaped Hitler’s Germany. He heard their stories of oppression and persecution and, being a partial Jew and a highly principled person, had empathy for their plight. In 1939, the Nazis started expanding into the greater part of Europe. The allies began to unite, and Sweden pronounced itself as a neutral nation. The signs of war were beginning to rage through Europe, and the oppression of the Jews was growing worse. Their situation was becoming desperate. \| A Schutz Pass issued by Wallenberg.\| In 1944, Raoul Wallenberg began to get involved. He knew how unjust the inhumanity of the Nazis was, and remembered the stories of the Jews from Haifa. So he began to issue his Schutz Passes. Schutz Passes were fake identification papers that stated that the person possessing them was under the protection of the Swedish government and could not be harmed. In this way, Wallenberg used the Nazis’ love of paperwork and order as a manner of saving more Jews. By the end of the war, he had issued about 15,000 passes and saved 15,000 lives with the Schutz Passes alone. In July of 1944, Wallenberg began to acknowledge that Schutz Passes could not save all the Jews in Hungary, so he created Swedish Safe Houses. Safe Houses were special havens that offered shelter for Hungarian Jews and were protected by the Swedish flag. \| The Swedish flag.\| In December of 1944, Wallenberg learned that 70,000 Jews in the Budapest Central Ghetto were going to be slaughtered. He sent a message to General August Schmidthuber (the only person who could stop the massacre) clearly stating that if the carnage ever happened, he would make sure that Schmidthuber was tried for war crimes at the end of the war. This frightened the general, so the mass execution was cancelled and 70,000 Jews were saved within a few weeks. The Hungarian Arrow Cross arose in 1944. The Arrow Cross was the Hungarian Nazi organization. They caused even more terror than the Nazis, and sent over 400,000 Jews off to concentration camps. This prompted Wallenberg to save over 100,000 lives by using bribery and threats. For example, he used his good relationship with Baroness Elizabeth "Liesel" Kemeny to influence her husband into keeping the Schutz passes valid. In 1945, Adolph Eichmann’s death marches began. Death marches stretched over lengths of 200 kilometers. Of the 58,000 people sent on death marches, almost 20,000 died. Raoul Wallenberg managed to save some people in the death marches by giving them Schutz passes, or supplying them with food, blankets, and medical supplies. Then, later on January 17th, 1945, Wallenberg disappeared. He had been going to visit the Soviet Military Headquarters, but he and his driver, Vilmos Langfelder, never returned. The Soviets claim that Wallenberg died of a heart attack in 1947 to this day, even though prison sightings provide evidence to the contrary. Finally, in May of 1945, the war ended. But another soon began; the Cold War. There was no actual fighting during the Cold War. It was a war of words and ideas; the United States and the Soviets compared the sizes of their missiles and threatened each other. No actual fighting ever occurred. In the 1940’s until 1972, there were many prison sightings of Wallenberg. This contradicted the Soviet government's statement that Wallenberg had a heart attack, but it could never be proved that Wallenberg had actually been sighted. In 1981, Wallenberg became the third individual to become an Honorary U.S. Citizen, along with Marquis de Lafayette and Winston Churchill. And that is the end of Raoul Wallenberg’s story. But we are all left to wonder; is he dead or alive? Were the Soviets telling the truth, or lying? The questions go on and on. We will never know the answers to most of them. But whatever the answers of the questions may be, Wallenberg is still on our minds. \|Honoring Raoul Wallenberg at Yad-Vashem in Israel.\|
My science fair project is on how prisms separate light. What is light made of? At its most fundamental, light is made of photons, which are one of the basic particles which make up the universe. Our universe has two kinds of particles: "matter" particles, namely quarks and leptons, and "force carrier" particles (photons, gluons and vector bosons). For a friendly and thorough introduction to these particles, see The Particle Adventure. Mostly - such as when we see something with our eyes - we're interacting with vast numbers of photons at one time. In those cases, we're dealing not with individual photons but with their behavior as a whole. Think of the beautiful, wave-like movements of a huge school of fish. Generally, you watch the overall pattern and don't pay attention to what any one fish is doing. It's the same with a "school" of photons. Mathematically, we treat it just like a wave. As a wave, light has a wavelength (the distance from one wave crest to the next). Light we can see (visible light) has a wavelength that ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers (nm for short). A nanometer is one billionth of one meter. (Here's an exercise - calculate your height in nanometers). The shortest visible wavelength is blue (400 nm) and the longest visible one is red (700 nm). The other colors fall in between just like in a rainbow. When light shines through a prism, the glass changes the behavior of each light wave according to the wave's wavelength. This property of glass is known as its refractive index. The prism changes the direction the light is traveling. Shorter (blue) wavelengths bend more than longer (red) ones do. As a result, what goes in as ordinary white light comes out separated into a spectrum of different colors. That's because white light is really all those wavelengths mixed together. To shed more light on this subject (sorry, I couldn't resist), check out your local library. There are many interesting, not to mention colorful, books available for all ages. Carl Zorn, Detector Scientist (Other answers by Carl Zorn)
An Introduction to Storage Terminology and Concepts in Linux Linux has robust systems and tooling to manage hardware devices, including storage drives. In this article we'll cover, at a high level, how Linux represents these devices and how raw storage is made into usable space on the server. What is Block Storage? Block storage is another name for what the Linux kernel calls a block device. A block device is a piece of hardware that can be used to store data, like a traditional spinning hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), flash memory stick, etc. It is called a block device because the kernel interfaces with the hardware by referencing fixed-size blocks, or chunks of space. So basically, block storage is what you think of as regular disk storage on a computer. Once it is set up, it basically acts as an extension of the current filesystem tree, and you can write to or read information from the drive seamlessly. What are Disk Partitions? Disk partitions are a way of breaking up a storage drive into smaller usable units. A partition is a section of a storage drive that can be treated in much the same way as a drive itself. Partitioning allows you to segment the available space and use each partition for a different purpose. This gives the user a lot of flexibility allowing them to potentially segment their installation for easy upgrading, multiple operating systems, swap space, or specialized filesystems. While disks can be formatted and used without partitioning, some operating systems expect to find a partition table, even if there is only a single partition written to the disk. It is generally recommended to partition new drives for greater flexibility down the road. MBR vs GPT When partitioning a disk, it is important to know what partitioning format will be used. This generally comes down to a choice between MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table). MBR is the traditional partitioning system, which has been in use for over 30 years. Because of its age, it has some serious limitations. For instance, it cannot be used for disks over 2TB in size, and can only have a maximum of four primary partitions. Because of this, the fourth partition is typically set up as an "extended partition", in which "logical partitions" can be created. This allows you to subdivide the last partition to effectively allow additional partitions. GPT is a more modern partitioning scheme that attempts to resolve some of the issues inherent with MBR. Systems running GPT can have many more partitions per disk. This is usually only limited by the restrictions imposed by the operating system itself. Additionally, the disk size limitation does not exist with GPT and the partition table information is available in multiple locations to guard against corruption. GPT can also write a "protective MBR" which tells MBR-only tools that the disk is being used. In most cases, GPT is the better choice unless your operating system or tooling prevent you from using it. Formatting and Filesystems While the Linux kernel can recognize a raw disk, the drive cannot be used as-is. To use it, it must be formatted. Formatting is the process of writing a filesystem to the disk and preparing it for file operations. A filesystem is the system that structures data and controls how information is written to and retrieved from the underlying disk. Without a filesystem, you could not use the storage device for any file-related operations. There are many different filesystem formats, each with trade-offs across a number of different dimensions, including operating system support. On a basic level, they all present the user with a similar representation of the disk, but the features that each supports and the mechanisms used to enable user and maintenance operations can be very different. Some of the more popular filesystems for Linux are: - Ext4: The most popular default filesystem is Ext4, or the fourth version of the extended filesystem. The Ext4 filesystem is journaled, backwards compatible with legacy systems, incredibly stable, and has mature support and tooling. It is a good choice if you have no specialized needs. - XFS: XFS specializes in performance and large data files. It formats quickly and has good throughput characteristics when handling large files and when working with large disks. It also has live snapshotting features. XFS uses metadata journaling as opposed to journaling both the metadata and data. This leads to fast performance, but can potentially lead to data corruption in the event of an abrupt power loss. - Btrfs: Btrfs is modern, feature-rich copy-on-write filesystem. This architecture allows for some volume management functionality to be integrated within the filesystem layer, including snapshots, cloning, volumes, etc. Btrfs still runs into some problems when dealing with full disks. There is some debate over its readiness for production workloads and many system administrators are waiting for the filesystem to reach greater maturity. How Linux Manages Storage Devices Device Files in /dev In Linux, almost everything is represented by a file. This includes hardware like storage drives, which are represented on the system as files in the /dev directory. Typically, files representing storage devices start with hd followed by a letter. For instance, the first drive on a server is usually something like Partitions on these drives also have files within /dev, represented by appending the partition number to the end of the drive name. For example, the first partition on the drive from the previous example would be /dev/hd* device files represent the traditional way to refer to drives and partitions, there is a significant disadvantage of in using these values by themselves. The Linux kernel decides which device gets which name on each boot, so this can lead to confusing scenarios where your devices change device nodes. To work around this issue, the /dev/disk directory contains subdirectories corresponding with different, more persistent ways to identify disks and partitions on the system. These contain symbolic links that are created at boot back to the correct /dev/[sh]da* files. The links are named according to the directory's identifying trait (for example, by partition label in for the /dev/disk/by-partlabel directory). These links will always point to the correct devices, so they can be used as static identifiers for storage spaces. Some or all of the following subdirectories may exist under by-label: Most filesystems have a labeling mechanism that allows the assignment of arbitrary user-specified names for a disk or partition. This directory consists of links that named after these user-supplied labels. by-uuid: UUIDs, or universally unique identifiers, are a long, unique string of letters and numbers that can be used as an ID for a storage resource. These are generally not very human-readable, but are pretty much guaranteed to be unique, even across systems. As such, it might be a good idea to use UUIDs to reference storage that may migrate between systems, since naming collisions are less likely. by-partuuid: GPT tables offer their own set of labels and UUIDs, which can also be used for identification. This functions in much the same way as the previous two directories, but uses GPT-specific identifiers. by-id: This directory contains links generated by the hardware's own serial numbers and the hardware they are attached to. This is not entirely persistent, because the way that the device is connected to the system may change its by-id, this directory relies on the storage devices connection to the system itself. The links here are constructed using the system's interpretation of the hardware used to access the device. This has the same drawbacks as by-idas connecting a device to a different port can alter this value. by-uuid are the best options for persistent identification of specific devices. by-idcategorization to be reliably persistent on this platform. This is the preferred method of referring to DigitalOcean volumes as it is both persistent, and predictable on first boot. Mounting Block Devices The device file within /dev are used to communicate with the Kernel driver for the device in question. However, a more helpful abstraction is needed in order to treat the device as a segment of available space. In Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, the entire system, regardless of how many physical devices are involved, is represented by a single unified file tree. As such, when a filesystem on a drive or partition is to be used, it must be hooked into the existing tree. Mounting is the process of attaching a formatted partition or drive to a directory within the Linux filesystem. The drive's contents can then be accessed from that directory. Drives are almost always mounted on dedicated empty directories (mounting on a non-empty directory means that the directory's usual contents will be inaccessible until the drive is unmounted). There are many different mounting options that can be set to alter the behavior of the mounted device. For example, the drive can be mounted in read-only mode to ensure that its contents won't be altered. The Filesystem Hierarchy Standard recommends using /mnt or a subdirectory under it for temporarily mounted filesystems. If this matches your use case, this is probably the best place to mount it. It makes no recommendations on where to mount more permanent storage, so you can choose whichever scheme you'd like. In many cases, /mnt subdirectories are used for more permanent storage as well. Making Mounts Permanent with /etc/fstab Linux systems look at a file called /etc/fstab (filesystem table) to determine which filesystems to mount during the boot process. Filesystems that do not have an entry in this file will not be automatically mounted (the exception being those defined by systemd .mount unit files, although these are not common at the moment). /etc/fstab file is fairly simple. Each line represents a different filesystem that should be mounted. This line specifies the block device, the mount point to attach it to, the format of the drive, and the mount options, as well as a few other pieces of information. More Complex Storage Management While most simple use cases do not need additional management structures, more performance, redundancy, or flexibility can be obtained by more complex management paradigms. What is RAID? RAID stands for redundant array of independent disks. RAID is a storage management and virtualization technology that allows you to group drives together and manage them as a single unit with additional capabilities. The characteristics of a RAID array depend on its RAID level, which basically defines how the disks in the array relate to each other. The level chosen has an impact on the performance and redundancy of the set. Some of the more common levels are: - RAID 0: This level indicates drive striping. This means that as data is written to the array, it is split up and distributed among the disks in the set. This offers a performance boost as multiple disks can be written to or read from simultaneously. The downside is that a single drive failure can lose all of the data in the entire array, since no one disk contains enough information about the contents to rebuild. - RAID 1: RAID 1 is basically drive mirroring. Anything written to a RAID 1 array is written to multiple disks. The main advantage is data redundancy, which allows data to survive hard drive lose in either side of the mirror. Because multiple drives contain the same data, usable capacity is reduced half. - RAID 5: RAID 5 stripes data across multiple drives, similar to RAID 0. However, this level also implements a distributed parity across the drives. This basically means that if drive fails, the remaining drives can rebuild the array using the parity information shared between them. The parity information is enough to rebuild any one disk, meaning the array can survive any one disk loss. The parity information reduces the available space in the array by the capacity of one disk. - RAID 6: RAID 6 has the same properties as RAID 5, but provides double parity. This means that RAID 6 arrays can withstand the loss of any 2 drives. The capacity of the array is again affected by the parity amount, meaning that the usable capacity is reduced by two disks worth of space. - RAID 10: RAID 10 is a combination of levels 1 and 0. First, two sets of mirrored arrays are made. Then, data is striped across them. This creates an array that has some redundancy characteristics while providing good performance. This requires quite a few drives however, and the total capacity is half of the combined disk space. What is LVM? LVM, or Logical Volume Management, is a system that abstracts the physical characteristics of the underlying storage devices in order to provide increased flexibility and power. LVM allows you to create groups of physical devices and manage it as if it were one single block of space. You can then segment the space as needed into logical volumes, which function as partitions. LVM is implemented on top of regular partitions, and works around many of the limitations inherent with classical partitions. For instance, using LVM volumes, you can easily expand partitions, create partitions that span multiple drives, take live snapshots of partitions, and moving volumes to different physical disks. LVM can be used in conjunction with RAID to provide flexible management with traditional RAID performance characteristics. Where To Go Next? If you have a new storage device that you wish to use in your Linux system, this article will guide you through the basic process of partitioning, formatting, and mounting your new filesystem. This should be sufficient for most use cases where you are mainly concerned with adding additional capacity. To learn how to perform basic storage administration tasks, check out this article.
Helping teens deal with stigmas associated with mental illness Adolescence can be a lonely time under the best circumstances, and teenagers living with mental illness can find themselves even more isolated. Parents and schools can have enormous influence in either protecting against or magnifying stigmas young people encounter because of their illness, according to researchers. In one of the first studies of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 with mental illness and taking medications, researchers from Case Western Reserve University Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences found that at least 90 percent of the study’s participants reported experiencing some form of stigma associated with their illness. Moreover, they reported feelings of shame, secrecy and limited social interaction. Individuals—both young and old—with mental illnesses suffer from public and self-stigmas. Much is known about the stigmas endured by adults, and researchers wanted to compare the experience of adolescents. They were concerned about how youth internalized public discrimination, or stereotyping of their illnesses, and if these stigmas experienced at a young age might impact individuals as adults. Parents can play a positive or negative role in helping their child cope with stigmas, researchers found. Those who embrace their children and accept the illness as part of the child’s being help their children overcome stigmas, according to Derrick Kranke, the lead author of the article "Stigma Experience Among Adolescents Taking Psychiatric Medications." On the other hand, parents can contribute to a youth's feeling of being different. Researchers also found that the school environment can have negative impacts on young people if they feel ostracized by their peers and teachers. Kranke, a former elementary school teacher and postdoctoral scholar at the Mandel School, says the study's information aided researchers in building a model to demonstrate how stigma impacts young people. Educators and social workers can design interventions to break the cycle in schools and help students accept their illnesses and become integrated into the school environment.
These late Pleistocene migrations coincided with the end of the earth's most recent period of glaciations (Ice Ages). The accumulation of vast amounts of ice in the glaciers resulted in punctuated drops in the sea level of up to 100m allowing easier access to the previously uninhabited continents. When the Homo Sapiens left Africa they are believed to have migrated east toward India and then south east along the coast of Asia until they reached Australia between 45,000 to 42,000 years ago (O'Connella & Allen 2004). At that time, due to the much lower sea level, most of martime Southeast Asia formed one land mass - known as the lost continent of Sunda. Following the coastal route southeast they would have reached the channel between Sunda and Sahul (present day Australia and New Guinea). This channel, between the Sahul and Sunda (known as the Wallace Line) must have been traversed by the technologically more advanced Homo Sapiens whereas the earlier Homo Erectus never traversed it (O'Connella & Allen 2004). It is presumed that they used rafts of some sort to traverse the channel. The close chronological coincidence of the arrival of humans capable of hunting megafauna and the P ...Show more
There are 21 species in 5 genera in the family Cheirogaleidae. As with most Malagasy mammals, recent research has resulted in the naming of several new species in recent years. These are the smallest lemur species and are all arboreal, nocturnal, and social. They are all similar in ecology, with relatively restricted ranges and some variation in diets. (Groves, 1989; Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Thorington and Anderson, 1984; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Dwarf and mouse lemurs are found in forested habitats of different types, including evergreen, deciduous, and scrub forests. Mouse lemurs (Microcebus) are also found in suburban and agricultural areas. Dwarf and mouse lemurs rest during the day in tree hollows or rounded leaf nests in Microcebus and Mirza species. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Dwarf and mouse lemurs are the smallest lemurs, from 12 to 27 cm in length and 30 (Microcebus berthae) to 460 g (Phaner furcifer). Pygmy, or Berthe's, mouse lemurs (Microcebus berthae) are the smallest primates. Cheirogaleids have gray or brown dorsal pelage and lighter, creamy or yellowish pelage on their ventral surfaces. Some species have bold markings on their faces, such as eye rings or nose stripes. The fur is often thick and woolly. In general species in eastern Madagascar (more mesic forests) have reddish or brown fur and species in western Madagascar (more arid forests) have grayish fur. Dwarf and mouse lemurs are characterized by unusually long tails, ranging from about the length of the body to roughly half again as long; large, thin, and membranous ears; and well developed facial and carpal vibrissae. They have large, forward-facing eyes, reflecting their nocturnal lifestyle, compact bodies, and long, delicate fingers with rounded tips. In many species males are slightly larger than females. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Their hind feet have elongated calcaneus and navicular bones. As with other strepsirhines, they have a distinctive " toilet claw" on the second digit of their hind feet. Their thumb (pollex) is not as conspicuously separated from the other digits as in lemurs; and the third and fourth digits of both feet are similar in length. (Feldhamer, et al., 1999; Groves, 1989; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Szalay and Dodson, 1979; Thorington and Anderson, 1984; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Cranially, dwarf and mouse lemurs are defined by details of their cranial circulation and bullae. The frontal and palatal bones contact the orbit in most cheirogaleids. They have the typical strepsirhine tooth comb made up of lower incisors and canines, and their dental formula is 2/2, 1/1, 3/3, 3/3 = 36. In contrast to lemurs, their upper incisors are elongate. Hypocones are small are absent on the upper molars. (Feldhamer, et al., 1999; Groves, 1989; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Szalay and Dodson, 1979; Thorington and Anderson, 1984; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Some species are generally found in monogamous family groups (Cheirogaleus, Phaner, Mirza). Microcebus species occur in multi-male, multi-female social groups in which males pursue females when they are in estrous. Males use mating calls during the time of breeding. Females can have multiple male mates and give birth to litters with multiple paternity as a result. Females have distinct estrous cycles. In some species the vagina is sealed with a membrane when the female is not in estrous. A vaginal plug forms after copulation in some species. Estrous is signaled by swelling of the vulva. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Dwarf and mouse lemurs breed seasonally, generally during the wet season from October to March. Smaller species can have multiple litters in a year, each with 2 to 3 young, larger species give birth to single offspring. Gestation is from 2 to 3 months and the young are cared for in a nest. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Females nurse their young regularly throughout the day, making it necessary for them to return to the nest throughout their nighttime foraging period. (Martin, 2003) Dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus) have been recorded living up to 23.2 years old and fork-marked lemurs (Phaner furcifer) have been recorded living up to 25 years in captivity. Longevity in the wild has not been well documented and is likely to be shorter than captive lifespans. Dwarf and mouse lemurs are all nocturnal and arboreal. They generally forage on their own, but roost during the day in small social groups and re-connect with other members of their social groups periodically throughout the night. Social organization varies among species, with some species (Microcebus, for example) being found in multi-male, multi-female groups and others (Cheirogaleus, for example) occurring in monogamous family units. Multi-male, multi-female groups are relatively loosely structured, with individuals having overlapping home ranges. Species that occur in relatively monogamous family units may cooperate to defend territories. Smaller species may become torpid occasionally and their body temperatures are labile, lowering when they sleep and rising when active. Fat is stored in the tail during rainy seasons to help individuals make it through dry seasons or times of torpor. Cheirogaleus species in arid habitats may aestivate for up to 6 months. Cheirogaleids get around with bipedal leaps and quadrupedal locomotion on branches. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Individuals in social groups communicate with each other through scent marking and vocalizations. Scent marking involves leaving urine, feces, and gland secretions on trees and branches. Vocalizations include contact calls, alarm calls, and territorial defense calls, most are relatively high pitched sounds. (Martin, 2003) Dwarf and mouse lemurs are generally omnivorous, eating fruits, insects, nectars, plant gums, and occasionally leaves and small vertebrates. Some species specialize on portions of that diet. For example, Cheirogaleus species eat mainly fruit and Phaner species specialize on plant gums and have a well-developed tooth comb in the lower jaw for this purpose. Most species forage mainly on the small branches of trees and shrubs below 10 m high, but they also forage on tree trunks, especially Phaner species, which have sharp claws on their digits to allow clinging to vertical surfaces. Phaner species also have an enlarged caecum to help them digest plant gums. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983; Vaughan, et al., 2000) Predators of cheirogaleids are not reported in the literature, but are likely to include nocturnal predators, such as snakes (Serpentes), owls (Strigiformes), and fossas (Cryptoprocta ferox). They are nocturnal, cryptically colored, arboreal, and agile, all helping to decrease their vulnerability to predators. (Vaughan, et al., 2000) Through their frugivory, cheirogaleids may help to disperse seeds. They also impact insect populations through predation. Dwarf and mouse lemurs are too small to be hunted for food to a great extent. They may help to disperse seeds in forests and control insect pests to some extent. (Martin, 2003; Nowak and Paradiso, 1983) There are no adverse effects of dwarf and mouse lemurs on humans. Most dwarf and mouse lemur species are considered "data deficient" by the IUCN, primarily because many species are newly named and poorly understood. Of the 29 species recognized by the IUCN, 14 species are data deficient, 7 are least concern, 1 is near threatened, 2 are vulnerable, and 4 are endangered. Species considered least concern are still considered potentially vulnerable to habitat destruction and populations are thought to be in decline. Smaller species tend to be more common and widespread, larger species tend to have fragmentary distributions and are less common, therefore more threatened. Previously, all lemurs were considered endangered, so they are all listed on Appendix I of CITES. (IUCN, 2009; Martin, 2003) There are no Cheirogaleidae fossils, although they are known from subfossil deposits on Madagascar. An Eocene fossil genus from Pakistan, Bugtilemur, is considered part of Cheirogaleidae. (Martin, 2003) Tanya Dewey (author), Animal Diversity Web. Phil Myers (author), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar. uses sound to communicate living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture. young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching. Referring to an animal that lives in trees; tree-climbing. 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 having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect. 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. having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature. animals that live only on an island or set of islands. 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 one mate at a time. 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. active during the night an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females. rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal. Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream). communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons. breeding is confined to a particular season remains in the same area reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female associates with others of its species; forms social groups. living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns. uses touch to communicate Living on the ground. defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south. uses sight to communicate reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female. Feldhamer, G., L. Drickamer, S. Vessey, J. Merritt. 1999. Adaptation, Diversity, and Ecology. Boston: WCB McGraw-Hill. Groves, C. 1989. A Theory of Human and Primate Evolution. Oxford: Oxford Science Publications, Clarendon Press. IUCN, 2009. "IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species" (On-line). Accessed July 27, 2009 at http://www.iucnredlist.org/. Martin, R. 2003. Dwarf lemurs and mouse lemurs (Cheirogaleidae). Pp. 35-45 in M Hutchins, A Evans, J Jackson, D Kleiman, J Murphy, D Thoney, eds. Grzimek Animal Life Encyclopedia, Vol. 14, 2nd Edition. Detroit: Gale Group. Nowak, R., J. Paradiso. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World, Fourth edition. Baltimore, London: John Hopkins University Press. Szalay, F., E. Dodson. 1979. Evolutionary History of the Primates. New York: Academic Press. Thorington, R., S. Anderson. 1984. Primates. Pp. 187-216 in S Anderson, J Jones, eds. Orders and Families of Recent Mammals of the World. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Vaughan, T., J. Ryan, N. Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy, Fourth Edition. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. de Magalhães, J. 2009. "The animal ageing and longevity database" (On-line). Accessed July 27, 2009 at http://genomics.senescence.info.

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