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Jumbo screens along Front Range highways have warned drivers a dozen times so far this year about high levels of ozone. But there’s another way to tell if the invisible gas, also known as smog, is in the air: Check your garden. That’s what researchers in Boulder are doing. They planted experimental public gardens outside the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Mesa Laboratory and at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Museum of Natural History. Post-doctoral scientists Danica Lombardozzi of NCAR and Kateryna Lapina of CU are already harvesting results. “So far the snap beans at the NCAR site are showing signs of distress,” says Lombardozzi. The snap bean plants have developed brown spots on their leaves indicating damage from exposure to harmful ozone, she says. The snap beans, milkweed and other plants in the garden will become more severely damaged this summer if pollution levels rise. The gardens are open to the public so that observers can see for themselves what’s happening. Ozone is an invisible gas that forms when pollution reacts with the summer sun. The alerts mean people should drive less and wait until the temperature drops to fill up their gas tanks and mow their lawns. In addition to plant health, human health can be affected by ozone. It can cause itchy eyes, exacerbate asthma and lead to what the American Lung Association in Colorado describes as a sort of “sunburn” in the lungs. “Ozone irritates and inflames the respiratory system at levels frequently found across the nation during the summer months,” according to a publication by the Lung Association. “Breathing ozone may lead to: shortness of breath, chest pain, inflammation of the lung lining, wheezing and coughing, increased risk of asthma attacks, need for medical treatment and for hospitalization for people with lung diseases, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.” Ozone alerts typically peak in the summer and more are expected in August, says Meg Alderton, a spokeswoman for the Regional Air Quality Council's OzoneAware.org campaign. Last year, 32 ozone alerts were issued through August, she says. Lombardozzi plans to join researchers in Rocky Mountain National Park later this summer to search for signs of ozone damage to plants there. Scientists have already identified ozone damage to coneflowers, part of an effort to understand how pollution affects the nation’s public lands. “People are surprised to hear that there is ozone there,” Lonbardozzi says. “They think of it as a pure place that’s not touched by pollution. It turns out that isn’t the case.”
Animal Behavior/Sensory Biology - 1 Sensory Biology - 2 Sensory Stimuli - 3 Sensory Modalities - 4 Sensory Receptors - 5 Sensory Processing - 6 Sensory Perception - 7 Example: Vision Behavior requires that an animal obtains information about its environment. Thus, to understand behavior we need to understand how organisms perceive their environment (i.e., sensory systems biology, sensory biology). By understanding how your senses gather information, we gain a better and more thorough understanding of their behavior. Common research questions in sensory biology focus on: - What is the stimulus (modality of information)? Is it mechanical, chemical, etc. - How does the sensory system encode the stimulus? Sensory filtering, transformation, transduction, amplification - Where is this information processed? Neural anatomy, network connections, etc. A stimulus is any form of energy pattern that can be detected and registered by the senses. Its Dynamic range is the ratio between the highest and lowest values of a stimulus intensity, such as for sound or light. A signal is the physical coding of information (e.g., a message) capable of transmission through environment. Sensory processing includes all central acts of information processing, which link the initial stages of sensory reception with the creation of a subjective sensory precept. Sensation is the neuronal activity resulting from the transduction of stimulus energy into electrical activity (also Sensory processing). A sensory cue is a statistic or signal from sensory input that measures the state of some property of the world that the perceiver is interested in. Sensory systems allow us to form internal representations of our surrounding world, by transducing stimulus energy into trains of neural signals which are conveyed along specific neural pathways. Consider the following example using Jelly Beans. Hawaiian punch and Cherry flavored beans have the same color. Visual information about jelly beans is incomplete. By blocking your nose while eating a jelly bean, you prevent smell from providing information. Taste does not allow you to determine which bean is punch and which is cherry. With olfactory information added, this decision becomes easy. If you allow air to flow through your nose while you taste the jelly beans, the cinnamon bean activates your trigeminal system providing critical information independent of taste and smell. - Reception the ability of a cell to respond when matter or a specific form of energy acts upon a <Sensory Receptor>: A cell endowed with the ability to absorb a specific kind of stimulus energy. Stimulus filtering (also stimulus tuning): A receptors responds only to a narrow cocktail of (physical) characteristics. - Sensory Transduction chain of physiological reactions which convert sensory input into electrical impulses. This process translates the amount of stimulus energy into changes in membrane permeability (e.g., opening sodium channels towards the production of an action potential). Initial receptor responses are often graded and proportional to the strength of the input signal (e.g. membrane permeability of stretch receptors to ions is proportional to the force applied to the receptor). - Amplification when weak sensory inputs are intensified - Transmission as input signals are conveyed to the nervous system. The intensity of the graded response determines the frequency of generated action potentials. The rapid depolarisation and hyper-polarisation of an all-or-nothing action potential spike is fairly uniform in amplitude and duration (< 2 msec). Frequency code: Information transfer based on the rate of action potentials of up to 500AP/s for intense stimuli. Sensory receptors may be neurons who themselves project axons to the CNS or non-neuronal receptors which activate neurons via synaptic (i.e., neurotransmitter) signals - Integration: Processing of information begins as soon as stimuli are received (e.g. Sensory adaptation). Summation of multiple graded responses influences frequency of action potentials. The signal's Signal-to-noise ratio refers to the power of a particular signal relative to the level of background noise. There are three main forms of Stimulus Energy that can alter cellular processes and thereby activate sensory systems. A stimulus may be on for some time as a steady-state stimulus or may come on and go off again shortly afterwards as a transient stimulus. (particle movement - near field, pressure waves - far field, compressional vs. transverse waves): Hearing, Vestibular, Touch (via hair cells in cochlea, statocyst, or semicircular canals) via hair cells in acoustic, equilibrium and lateral-line systems are responsible for the transduction process from cilia that respond to shearing forces and end with processes that depolarize the cell membrane of afferent neurons. Stimulus specificity is provided through Accessory Structures (e.g. tectal mebrane, statolith, and cupula). Touch: routing response in babies, lordosis, grooming. Sound and Vibration: mechanoreception, proprioreceptors, sound window, transmission in water vs. air, boundaries (surface waves), complex content (frequency modulation, amplitude modulation), Example: bird and whale songs, human speech, echolocation in bats and whales, long-distance communication in elephants and whales. Movement of particles: Example: spiders (waves): Light, Heat, Electrical, Magnetic (e.g., Phototransduction, heat sensors). Radiant Heat: thermoreception, Example: Detection of prey in rattlesnakes; Electric Fields: electroreception, Examples: Detection of prey in sharks, communication in electric fish; Light: perception of absolute light levels, color balance, polarization, Examples: fireflies (particle movement): Olfaction/Pheromones/Taste (via chemical receptors trigeminal, taste, smell Odor: chemoreception, pheromones species-specific odor cues (priming, releasing), Example: silk moths One of the many ways in which organisms can communicate with each other is through the use of pheromones. An organism generates and emits these hormonal chemicals in order to relay a message to another member of the same species. Ants and bees demonstrate two prominent examples of pheromone usage, which acknowledges their incredible capability to organize the behaviors of the whole colony. Ants produce numerous different pheromones, each with its own distinct purpose. Ants secrete pheromones to attract mates, to signal danger to the colony, or to give directions about a location. Other pheromones act as deterrents keeping out unwanted ants from foreign colonies or preying insectivores. Still other pheromones communicate ants to congregate. This explains how assiduous ants exercise remarkable cooperation in building a colony. Pheromones maintain the cohesiveness and organization of the complex ant communities. Certain types, such as alarm pheromones, produce a “releaser effect”, which induces a quick response and may be used to tell other ants to evacuate a dangerous area such as an approaching lawnmower. For example, when a spider approaches an ant will release alarm pheromones that alert all the other ants. Ants may also discharge alarm pheromones as a result from being diverted from their work, e.g. heavy human steps. Releaser pheromones are also used to mark territory. As the chemical deposited dries, it signals to other species members of the territory’s occupant. Other pheromones create a “primer effect” that entices other ants for actions. Such pheromones are useful in mating rituals and only affect ants of the opposite sex. Primer pheromones can send signals to the endocrine system, to make appropriate changes, for instance ovulation required for successful mating. Biologist E.O. Wilson discovered in the 1960’s that the organic chemical for each pheromone varies tremendously depending on what signal it entails. Ants taste and smell a substance that evaporates off the chemical laid down by another ant. Wilson observed in slow motion films that ants do this by moving their antennae from side to side. For example, alarm pheromones are discharged into the air, and expand in a circle of smell. Ants can determine the concentration of the pheromone, and thus determine the proximity of the source of danger. Bees are also well known for communicating through the use of pheromones. Like ants, bees have a variety of purposes associated with the pheromones, such as marking and behavior. Honeybees release chemical signals for marking food sources, marking their hive, in scenting potential hive sites, and in assembling swarms for flight. Although each hive has a particular scent, different colonies can be easily integrated during times when honey flow is heavy since the colony’s odor is inundated with the scent of nectar. Virgin queen bees emit a behavioral pheromone released with their feces. When the new queen feels threatened by the workers she uses this pheromone as a repellent. Another widely identified chemical signal in bees is the Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP). This pheromone ensures that the queen is the only reproductive female in the hive by compromising the reproductive systems of worker bees. It also provides an attractant signal to the drones. Table summarizes the types of information encoded by different stimulus energies. Some types of stimuli are better suited for some types of information. It is important to consider limits to information, communication, or stimulus use. In this table a + indicate how well that stimulus functions for that information. \|Signal, Sensory Chanel\|\|Summary\| \|odor molecules - smell, taste, olfactory and gustatory chemoreceptors\|\|works in both dark and light scenarios, long and short distance, travels around or through obstacles, persists, efficient production, slow, little directionality, cannot be turned off quickly, presence/absence (low complexity), low resolution\| \|compressional waves - hearing, mechanoreceptors\|\|dark/light, complex content, fast at short distances, slow at long distances, resolution (frequency dependent), may travel far and around obstacles (low frequency), attenuates quickly (high frequency), directionality\| \|substrate vibration - mechanoreceptors, proprioreceptors\|\|dark/light, complex content (frequency modulation, amplitude modulation), fast at short distances, slow at long distances, resolution (frequency dependent), travels far/around obstacles, directionality\| \|movement of particles - wind, mechanoreceptors\|\|dark/light, short-range only, directionality\| \|touch, proprioreceptors\|\|dark/light, contact necessary, complex content (perception of size, shape, texture, movement across skin)\| \|electric fields - active and passive electroreception, electroreceptors\|\|dark/light, short range, spatial resolution, travels around and through most objects\| \|light energy - vision, photoreceptors\|\|light necessary, direct line of sight, immediate and precise localisation, fine resolution, complex content, visual displays,\| \|thermal energy - detection of radiant heat, infrared vision thermoreceptors\|\|dark/light, short range, does not travel around and through objects, spatial resolution\| Somatic sensation (touch) Electroreception refers to the biological ability to sense electrical impulses. As water is a better conductor than air, electroreception is more common in aquatic creatures. Individuals utilize this sense to locate living organisms as sources of electrical energy. Species specific differences in sensory reception. Human perception utilizes 5 sensory modalities: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Receptors are classified based on the source of the stimulus. Interoreceptors convey information from within the organism; Proprioreceptors report on the spatial position of body parts relative to one another; Exteroreceptors obtain information about the outside. Subcategories of the latter include Somatoreceptors that capture events on the body's surface and Teloreceptors which monitor stimuli at a distance fro the body. Sensory selectivity: refers to the subset of stimuli, which an animal detects and responds to; the Umwelt: Sensory World. Subjective set of stimuli to which an animal is responsive in a given motivational state. Each species has evolved responses only to those stimuli that prove relevant. It is this simpler world that actually falls within the animal's perception at any particular moment. (Jakob von Uexküll). <Psychophysics>: uses behavioral assays to establish sensory abilities of organisms. Sensory receptors are able to respond to a particular stimulus energy (i.e., sensory modality) and transduce it into neural impulses. Neuronal tuning describes a neuron's property to selectively represent a particular kind of sensory information. For example, an auditory system neuron which responds best to the sound of particular frequency is said to be tuned to that frequency. In the visual system, neurons are tuned to particular objects, for example edges of a particular orientation. The receptor's dynamic range refers to the stimulus intensities which a given sensory receptor is able to represent in quantitative fashion. At its operating point the stimulus elicits a 50% response. Tonic receptors respond with a constant rate of firing as long as stimulus is applied (e.g., pain). In contrast, phasic receptors produce a burst of activity during the onset of the stimulus but quickly reduce their firing rate if the stimulus is maintained (e.g., odor, touch, & temperature). With sensory adaptation, the organism ceases to pay attention to a constant stimuli. The adequate stimulus for a particular receptor is the one that requires the least amount of energy to activate the receptor. - Hair Cells: Hair cells are sensory receptors that transduce physical forces into changes in electrical activity. Their name derives from a bundle of cilia on the apical surface of the cell. Embedded bundles of cross-linked actin filaments are anchored to the top of the cell membrane, where they control ion currents across a set of channels. Shearing of the tuft of cilia towards one side or the other, changes the conductance of ions across a set of stretch-activated ion channels (i.e., tip links). - Stretch receptors (MRO): The muscle receptor organ spans the joint between two adjacent abdominal segments in crayfish. These are sensory organs that provide information about posture and movement of the individual. Each MRO has a thin muscle fiber that runs in parallel to a muscle bundle used by the animal to maintain the position of its abdomen. When the muscles contract or are stretched they cause the MRO to change its firing pattern, providing information to the nervous system regarding the relative position of the abdominal segments. There are two kinds of MROs. Tonic MROs respond to chronic stretch with continuous firing and habituate slowly. Phasic MROs respond to rapid changes in posture, but habituate quickly when the posture is maintained for more than a few moments. - Light-sensitive neurons: rods (B/W) and cones (color) in the mammalian retina contain dense stacks of membrane with large numbers of light-sensitive pigments. The latter consist of a protein (opsin) and a bound chromophore (retinal). Retinal is able to capture photons, induce a conformational change in opsin, and thereby activate a G protein coupled second messenger cascade. - Electroreceptors: Electric fish, Sharks, Platypus: Some animal possess specialized sensory cells that enable them to detect changes in the electromagnetic field around them. These organs can be used by predators to locate prey by the electrical activity of their nervous systems and muscles, or in some cases as a means of communication (when coupled with the ability to produce pulses of electricity as seen in some electric fish). - Thermoreceptors: Snakes: Some snakes hunt their prey using body heat. Heat travels through the the atmosphere as infra-red (long wavelength) electromagnetic radiation, and is detected by cells sensitive to changes in temperature. The receptive field of a sensory neuron is the specific region of a sensory surface (e.g., area on the retina) that, when stimulated, causes a change in activity of a neuron. The spatial organisation of receptors within a sensory surface is generally maintained throughout processing in the form of somatotopic maps. For example, sensory information maintains its structure (i.e. sensory information on the hand remains next to sensory information on the arm) throughout the spinal cord and brain. Logical gates can be created by driving an action potential in the postsynaptic cell only if e.g., multiple input sources are active concurrently (i.e., spatial summation) - Coincidence detection: Activity in any presynaptic neuron alone is usually not sufficient to produce and action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. Summation of synaptic inputs can occur, however, when a neuron receives multiple exitatory inputs in short order. Spatial summation allows a cell to fire if two inputs are active at the very same time. The window of opportunity during which concurrent events must occur depends on the time constant of the neuronal membrane. For coincidence detectors the time constant must be short; if the cell works as a temporal integrator, it must be long. When localizing a stimulus source, systems for the discrimination of left vs. right are often based on two sub-systems. These are often mirror-images of each other and located to the left and the right of the midline (i.e., Omega neurons in crickets). They are tightly coupled through lateral inhibition, where activation of one side automatically shuts off its contralateral (i.e., opposite side) opponent. Such a design is uniquely able to allow resolution of extremely small time differences in when a sound signal arrives at the ear facing the source than in the one facing away. - Contrast enhancement: Lateral Inhibition: Multiple units with similar characteristics are wired to inhibit each other's activity. The unit that fires first/strongest will prevent all others from firing. (e.g., Discrimination of left vs. right in auditory signals using a pair of Omega neurons in crickets). - Measure time-delay between two inputs: Delay Lines: Action potentials (AP) travel along axons at a defined speed. They thus take longer to arrive at the target the further the AP needs to travel. Multiple neurons with similar characteristics are laid out in a longitudinal array. They receive input from two sources one fed in from one side of the array, the other from the other side. Acting as coincidence detectors they respond best when the signals on both inputs match. Each member of the array is most sensitive to a particular time difference. (e.g., Spatial localization of auditory signals in the laminaro nucleus of Owls). Sensory perception is the interpretation of sensory signals within the CNS where it produces an internal representation of electrical activity from sensory organs. Specificity of sensory impulses derives from transmission via labelled lines, perception for a particular modality depends on which part of the brain receives the signals. Most human senses have very high dynamic range. A human is capable of hearing (and usefully discerning) anything from a quiet murmur in a soundproofed room to the sound of the loudest heavy metal concert. Such a difference can exceed 100 dB which represents a factor of 100,000 in amplitude and a factor 10,000,000,000 in power. We can see objects in starlight or in bright sunlight, even though on a moonless night objects receive 1/1,000,000,000 of the illumination they would on a bright sunny day: that is a dynamic range of 90 dB. A human cannot perform these feats of perception at both extremes of the scale at the same time as the eyes take time to adjust the dynamic range to different light levels. Vision depends on the transduction and decoding of electromagnetic stimulus energies. Photons allow ... Vertebrate Eye The resolution of the retina varies between different regions. A sensitive, b/w, high resolution central region (i.e., fovea) is surrounded by a peripheral field with poor resolution and color reception. No photoreceptors are present at the location (i.e., blind spot)) where ganglion cell axons leave the eyeball to project to the brain via the optic nerve. Systems for the processing of visual information extract features from the visual field at multiple hierarchical levels. The photoreceptor cells in the retina detect points of light (image). The retinal ganglion cells respond to point contrast (form and color). The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) provides a first rapid analysis of high-contrast, black and white features. The primary visual cortex (V1) provides a slower but more in-depth analysis with an emphasis on linear contrast, color, depth, object vs. background motion. Retinal receptor cells (i.e., cones for color and rods for black and white) feed into bipolar on or off cells in the retina. Retinal ganglion neurons and LGN Neurons have center-surround characteristics and thus respond to spots of light of a particular size and in specific places of the visual field. Their receptive fields are circular and monocular. Many axons cross to the opposite side as they project towards the lateral geniculate nucleus and the primary visual cortex. At these stages, binocular information is brought together as information from the corresponding visual fields from the two eyes projects to neighboring places. The visual cortex is arranged in multiple horizontal layers with outer layers focused on the processing of simpler features. Most neurons respond best to oriented bar stimulus, sensitive to motion, monocular or binocular. As the information proceeds further into the structure, features at increasing levels of abstraction are analyzed. Vertical columns across these layers primarily respond to input from one specific eye and respond to a particular feature orientation. Simple cells respond best to bars of given orientation at given location within receptive field. These oriented edge detection neurons feed their output into motion-sensitive neurons. Complex cells are less sensitive to stimulus position within the receptive field and more sensitive to stimulus motion. Hypercomplex cells respond like complex cells, but feature in addition an inhibitory region at one end. Some neurons at the highest-level receptive fields are quite specific i.e. a neuron that only responds to faces, faces with particular expressions, or belonging to one particular individual (i.e., grandmother neuron). Flicker-fusion frequency, the lateral geniculate body and dyslexia The visual parts of the brain strive for hypotheses about the contents of the outside world working in essence with an image of rather poor quality and thereby is able to produce our rich everyday visual experience
The immense size and varied landscape of Kazakhstan exclude the possibility of a unified prehistoric culture covering the whole area. The Bronze Age Andronovo culture (2nd millennium BCE) spread over much of Kazakhstan; it was followed by periods dominated by nomads, producers of the “animal art” later identified with the Scythians. One can only speculate concerning the ethnic or linguistic identities of these populations; whether or not they were Turkic, they cannot be directly linked with the Kazakhs. In the course of centuries, various parts of present-day Kazakhstan were incorporated into different empires. During the empire of the Mongols (13th–14th centuries CE), most of the territory was part of the ulus (“polity”) of Chagatai. About 1465, under the leadership of Karay and Jani Beg, some 200,000 dissatisfied subjects of the Uzbek khan Abūʾl-Khayr (Abū al-Khayr) moved into Mughulistān, whose khan, Esen Bogha (Buga), settled them between the Chu and Talas rivers. These separatist Uzbeks became known as Kazakh (“Independent” or “Vagabond”) Uzbeks, and over time a significant differentiation developed between them and the nonseparatist Uzbeks in their respective ways of life: that of the Kazakhs was more nomadic, that of the Uzbeks more sedentary. During the late 15th century and throughout the 16th century, the Kazakhs were able to consolidate a nomadic empire stretching across the steppes east of the Caspian and north of the Aral Sea as far as the upper Irtysh River and the western approaches to the Altai Mountains. Under Burunduk Khan (ruled 1488–1509) and Kasym Khan (1509–18), the Kazakhs were the masters of virtually the entire steppe region, reportedly able to bring 200,000 horsemen into the field and feared by all their neighbours. The prevailing view is that the rule of Kasym Khan marked the beginning of an independent Kazakh polity. Under his rule Kazakh power extended from what is now southeastern Kazakhstan to the Ural Mountains. Under the successive rule of three of the sons of Kasym Khan (1518–38), however, there was a partial weakening of the khan’s authority, accompanied by a trend, later to become more pronounced, for the khanate to disintegrate into three separate “hordes.” These were, from east to west, the Great Horde, in present-day southeastern Kazakhstan north of the Tien Shan; the Middle Horde, in the central steppe region east of the Aral Sea; and the Little Horde, between the Aral Sea and the Ural River. In each horde the authority of the khan tended to be curtailed by the power exercised by tribal chieftains, known as sultans, and perhaps even more by the beys and batyrs (the heads of the clans that were the components of each tribe). Nominally, the khans commanded a formidable force of mounted warriors, but, in reality, they depended on the loyalty of the beys and batyrs. The last son of Kasym Khan to rule the Kazakh steppes, Ḥaqq Naẓar (1538–80), overcame these obstacles and, having succeeded in reuniting the three hordes, embarked upon systematic raids into Transoxania, a trend that continued under his immediate successors down to the reign of Tevkkel Khan (1586–98), who even temporarily occupied Samarkand. By the beginning of the 17th century, the fragmentation halted by Kasym Khan resumed and became endemic; Kazakh central power was weak or nonexistent amidst a plethora of petty rulers. From the 1680s to the 1770s the Kazakhs were involved in a series of wars with the Oyrats, a federation of four western Mongol tribes, among which the Dzungars were particularly aggressive. In 1681–84 the Dzungars, led by Dgaʾ-ldan (Galdan), launched a devastating attack against the Great Horde. The unification by Teüke Khan (1680–1718) of the three hordes brought a temporary reversal in the fortunes of war, and in 1711–12 a Kazakh counteroffensive penetrated deep into Dzungar territory. Teüke’s achievements were not limited to war; he also was responsible for the creation of a Kazakh law code, an amalgam of Kazakh customary and Islamic laws. In 1723 Dgaʾ-ldan’s successor, Cevang Rabtan, was again on the attack. Aided by Swedish officers who had been Russian prisoners at the Battle of Poltava (1709) and found their way to these distant parts, the Dzungars launched a devastating invasion of the eastern Kazakh lands. The memory of this national catastrophe, the “Great Disaster,” has never faded among the Kazakhs. The next and last Dzungar invasion hit the Middle Horde, but—thanks to the skills of that horde’s khan, Abūʾl-Khayr (1718–49), who managed to forge a temporary all-Kazakh alliance—it was less devastating. The elimination of the Dzungar threat came in the form of Chinese (Manchu) intervention; in 1757–58 the Qianlong emperor launched two major campaigns, in the course of which the Dzungars were, for all practical purposes, exterminated and their land incorporated into China. For a time, Ablai Khan of the Middle Horde had shrewdly chosen not to take sides in the Dzungar-Chinese conflict. But, once the scores were settled, Ablai found it prudent to offer his submission to the Qianlong emperor. Then, in 1771, Ablai was confirmed as ruler by both the Chinese and the Russians. As a result of the collapse of Dzungar power, the Chinese inherited a vast territory that extended to Lake Balkhash and beyond, far into the Kazakh steppes. The brunt of the Dzungar wars was carried by the Great Horde; the Middle and Little hordes fared better, partly because they moved westward toward Russian-held territories. In 1730 Abūʾl Khayr, khan of the Little Horde, swore allegiance to the Russian empress Anna. The reverses experienced by the Kazakhs at the hands of the Dzungars undoubtedly retarded the emergence of a unified Kazakh state and further depressed the prevailing level of Kazakh cultural life. They also rendered the Kazakhs even less able to resist the encroachments of Russia from the north. The advance onto the Kazakh steppe began with the construction of a line of forts—Omsk in 1716, Semipalatinsk in 1718, Ust-Kamenogorsk in 1719, and Orsk in 1735—which was then steadily advanced southward. The Russian advance into Kazakh territory was slow and seldom violent but ineluctable; it made full use of Kazakh internal divisions and dissensions but was, in its essence, the typical encroachment of sedentary agriculturalists into the lands of nomads. Russian occupation of the Kazakh steppe would prove essential for the conquest of Muslim Central Asia. Some Kazakhs believed that the Russian presence might at least provide some security against Dzungar raids, and in 1731 the Little Horde accepted Russian protection, followed by the Middle Horde in 1740 and by part of the Great Horde in 1742, although its effect upon the Dzungars was to prove minimal. Finally, after a series of ineffectual Kazakh uprisings of which the most extensive was that of Batyr Srym in 1792–97, Russia resolved to suppress such autonomy as the Kazakh khans still possessed. In 1822 the khanate of the Middle Horde was abolished, in 1824 the Little Horde, and in 1848 the Great Horde. Because of Kazakhstan’s incorporation into Russia, modern ideas found a more fertile ground among the Kazakhs than in the semi-independent Uzbek khanates. Russian schooling brought these ideas into Kazakh life, and Russian-formed intellectuals such as Chokan Valikanov and Abay Kūnanbay-ulï adapted them to specific Kazakh needs and created a secular culture unparalleled in other parts of Asian Russia. The Kazakhs were onlookers rather than participants in the Russian Civil War that followed the fall of the tsarist regime in 1917. A Kazakh provisional government formed by the ephemeral Alash Orda political party existed only in name. In 1919–20 the Bolsheviks’ Red Army defeated White Russian forces in the region and occupied Kazakhstan. On Aug. 26, 1920, the Soviet government established the Kirgiz Autonomous Republic, which in 1925 changed its name to the Kazakh A.S.S.R. From 1927 the Soviet government pursued a vigorous policy of transforming the Kazakh nomads into a settled population and of colonizing the region with Russians and Ukrainians. Despite their nomadic rural existence, the Kazakhs were the most literate and dynamic indigenous people in Central Asia. But the collectivization brutally imposed by the Soviet regime resulted in a shocking decrease in the Kazakh population: between 1926 and 1939 the number of Kazakhs in the Soviet Union fell by about one-fifth. More than 1.5 million died during this period, the majority from starvation and related diseases, others as a result of violence. Thousands of Kazakhs fled to China, but less than one-fourth survived the journey; about 300,000 fled to Uzbekistan and 44,000 to Turkmenistan. Kazakhstan formally became a constituent (union) republic of the Soviet Union on Dec. 5, 1936. During the first secretaryship of Nikita Khrushchev, the role of Kazakhstan within the Soviet Union increased dramatically. The Virgin and Idle Lands program launched in 1953 opened up the vast grasslands of northern Kazakhstan to wheat farming by Slavic settlers, a program that, over the course of several decades, led to an ecological disaster (see Aral Sea). Kazakhstan’s significance in the Soviet period also increased through the location on its territory of the main Soviet space-launch centre and a substantial part of the Soviet Union’s nuclear weaponry and the sites associated with nuclear testing. For a quarter of a century Kazakh politics were dominated by Dinmukhamed Kunayev, first secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan from 1959 to 1986. The only Kazakh ever to become a member of the Soviet Politburo, Kunayev proved to be a masterful Soviet politician. Realizing that Kazakhs constituted a minority of Kazakhstan’s population, he looked with equal care after the needs of both Russians and Kazakhs. His dismissal in 1986 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev caused the first serious riots of the 1980s in the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan declared its sovereignty on Oct. 25, 1990, and full independence on Dec. 16, 1991. Under the presidency of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakh politics continued to follow the moderate line of Kunayev. Nazarbayev’s leadership was initially restrained, relative to the leadership of neighbouring Central Asian states; however, over time it grew increasingly authoritarian. Nazarbayev was reelected to the presidency in 1999 and again in 2005. During his rule, parties who opposed the president and his administration remained weak, partly because of the maneuvering and manipulation of the ruling party. Although a reform package that included a reduction in the length of the presidential term and an expansion of parliamentary power was passed in 2007, a constitutional amendment was passed alongside it that rendered Nazarbayev personally exempt from the standard two-term limit on the presidency. In 2010 the Kazakh parliament approved plans for a referendum for 2011 that would cancel the next two rounds of presidential elections, effectively extending Nazarbayev’s term until at least 2020. In 1994 the government decided to gradually transfer the national capital from Almaty, located in the country’s southeast, to Aqmola, located in the north-centre, in the following years. The capital was officially moved in 1997, and in May 1998 the city was renamed Astana. At the beginning of the 21st century, the rapid transformation of the capital was led by a dramatic construction boom directed by Nazarbayev and fueled largely by the country’s growing petroleum revenues. Despite some periods of tension, Kazakhstan’s relations with Russia in the years following independence remained close, marked by economic partnerships, treaties of accord, and cooperation on matters of security and intelligence. In consideration of both demographic and cultural factors, Russian continues to function as an official language. Kazakhstan also maintains an important relationship with China, with whom it settled lingering border demarcation issues in 1999. Although Russia remains one of Kazakhstan’s principal trading partners, Kazakhstan’s growing relationship with China led to increased trade in the early years of the 21st century.
The Hoyalas of Mysore were descended from a general of the Chalukya king, Vikramaditya.The founder of the dynasty were Biltga better known as Vishnu Vardhana. He reigned for more than 30 years in subordination to the Chalukya king and died in 1141 AD. To begin with he was a Jain but was converted to Vaishnavism by saint Ramanuja. He patronized architecture and sculpture. He extended his domination against Cheras, Cholas and Pandhyas.He finally drove out the Cholas from the Mysore Plateau. His grandson Vira Ballala extended the dominion to Devagiri. He formally declared his independence of Chalukyas in about 1190 AD. He made Hoysalas the supreme power in the Deccan towards the close of the 12th century. The power of the dynasty was overthrown by Alauddin’s general Malik Kafur who sacked the Hoysala capital Dwarasamudra in 1310 AD. The Hoysalas developed a new style of architecture different from that of the Chalukyas.The temples were polygonal star-shaped in plan having rich carved plinths. The towers of the temples were pyramidal in shape and were often attached together. The Hoysala buildings were generally ornamented with an enormous mass of sculpture and statues of very good quality.
Two million! That’s a big number. I mean, if I were to inherit two million dollars tomorrow, it would life changing for me. But, is two million a life-changing number when we are talking about words?….more specifically, the number of words a child with a growing brain is able to hear. It is well known that school-aged children benefit from using remote microphone systems, but researchers at Vanderbilt University recently wanted to find out whether preschool children could benefit from wearing a system at home. Access to millions of more words every year What they found was simply incredible. Their findings showed that when preschool children used a Roger microphone system (RMS) in their homes, they had access to almost 5300 more words per day than when they wore hearing aids alone. I did the math. This essentially means that after one year of using Roger daily in the home, these preschoolers would have access to up to ~2 million more words! Sounds impressive, but what does giving a child access to 2 million more words really mean for a young child’s growing brain? If you read their recent article in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, they highlight important points: - There is a positive relationship between the number of words to which children are exposed and their subsequent vocabulary. - Consistent access to high-quality linguistic input is critical for language development. - Additional language exposure could increase the opportunities to learn and acquire language. - Exposure to words has been shown to have a significant impact on children’s cognitive abilities, language abilities and academic success. Exposure to language is obviously important but do we know how many millions of words preschoolers need for success? …Yes, we do! More words linked to better outcomes Hart and Risley (1995) conducted a landmark study that looked at the link between language exposure and child development. They found that normal hearing children who heard 45 million words by their fourth birthdays were better prepared when they entered school than their peers who came from language deprived environments. And when these same children were followed into third grade, they had bigger vocabularies, were stronger readers, and got higher test scores.1 We know listening in the presence of background noise and at a distance is challenging for children with hearing loss. We also know that the most effective technology for listening in the presence of background noise and from a distance is a remote microphone system. It makes perfect sense that a RMS can improve a child’s speech and language exposure, well before he or she is old enough for the classroom. More conversations from a distance But, interestingly, the Vanderbilt researchers did not just find that children hear better with a RMS. They also found that caregivers tend to talk more from a distance (>8ft) when using the RMS then when not.…What does this mean for children? Well, caregivers are likely providing a more natural exposure to language (more like they would talk with children who have normal hearing) when using a RMS. I suspect they would also have more confidence speaking from a distance because they know their children will hear them. Children ‘more tuned in’ There’s even more good news! When given a questionnaire, caregivers perceived significant listening benefits in their children, especially in noisy environments and when talking from a distance. Families reported children were ‘quicker to respond’, ‘more attentive’ and ‘more tuned in’ when using the RMS. How exciting! Hearing care professionals can offer all these listening benefits and increase a preschool child’s access to caregiver speech by up to 2 million a year, simply by recommending that a remote microphone system be used. RMS benefits – news worth sharing! As a speech-language pathologist, I think this is news worth sharing! We know that millions of extra words count for our little ones. It’s the foundation they need for future learning and success. And for HCPs, when parents come back to your hearing clinic reporting their child is ‘quicker to respond and more attentive’, you can feel confident that you’ve made a difference….knowing two million is indeed a life-changing number! 1 Hart, B. & Risley, T. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing. Here is an infographic that summaries the findings of the Vanderbilt study.
To engage people and communities in transforming masculinity to advance gender equality. refers to the expectations, roles and responsibilities, which families, cultures and societies use to characterize individuals based on assigned biological sex. Gender roles and expectations are learned – starting at a young age, vary across culture and class, and can change over time. While often limited to either masculine (for males) or feminine (for females), gender categories are more diverse and include transgender (including those assigned male sex who identify as gender female and those assigned female sex who identify gender male). is essential to advancing gender equality. It starts with socializing boys to be their naturally loving and life affirming selves, capable of expressing a full range of emotions and treating everyone with respect. It also includes the expectation that people of all genders will be equally empowered to live fulfilling lives – that boys and men will not be afforded privilege and power because of their gender. It leads to equal partnership in the home, community and society, helping ensure fair life outcomes for all. refers to the equal treatment of individuals based on gender, (a woman earning the same income as a man for performing the same work, a man accepted for expressing emotions or crying, a transgender person free to choose pronouns or restrooms). Women and transgendered individuals are more likely to be disadvantaged and marginalized whereas men are more likely to benefit from gender imbalances. Gender equality is beneficial for people of all genders. Together we are – Transforming Masculinity to Advance Gender Equality
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. An international treaty adopted in 1992 in Rio, setting the overall framework for international cooperative efforts by governments to tackle the challenges posed by climate change. The treaty itself does not provide any legally binding limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has no enforcement mechanism. Instead it provides the framework for negotiating specific international treaties (see Protocol). It recognizes that the global climate system is a shared resource, whose stability can be affected by industrial and other emissions of GHGs such as carbon dioxide and others. The main goal of the treaty is to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system", requiring a stabilization of GHGs in the atmosphere (i.e. limiting average global temperature rise). It was joined by Parties to develop the necessary measures and targets to achieve this goal, and tackling whatever the impacts of climate change would be in the future. Since its adoption many negotiations have followed at the annual meetings of the COP, reviewing progress made on its implementation. In 1995, the countries realized that emission reductions provided in the Convention were inadequate, resulting in the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. There are now 195 Parties to the Convention and 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. At COP17 in Durban in 2011, governments recognized the need to draw up the blueprint for a new universal, legally binding agreement to deal with climate change after 2020. This new agreement, that will be applicable to all Parties, is expected to come out from the negotiations at COP21 in Paris. Wikipedia.org (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Learn more about the Convention: unfccc.int (including text of the Convention available in the six offical UN languages)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia. [Lat.,=point], the use of special signs in writing to clarify how words are used; the term also refers to the signs themselves. In every language, besides the sounds of the words that are strung together there are other features, such as tone, accent, and pauses, ..... Click the link for more information. . stop(diaphragm) A circular opening that sets the effective aperture (diameter) of a lens, mirror, eyepiece, etc., and also reduces stray light in an optical system. (in optics), an opaque barrier that limits the cross section of light beams in optical systems (such as telescopes, range finders, microscopes, spectroscopes, and motion-picture and still cameras). The frames of lenses, prisms, mirrors, and other optical parts, the pupil of the eye, the edges of the illuminated object, or the slits in spectroscopes often serve as stops. The size and location of the stop determine the illumination and quality of the image, the depth of focus, and the resolution of the optical system, as well as the field of vision. A stop that most strongly limits the light ray is called an aperture or effective stop. The image of an aperture stop in the part of the optical system in front of it determines the entrance pupil of the system; the image in the part behind it determines the exit pupil. The entrance pupil limits the expansion angle of light rays from the points of the object; the exit pupil plays the same role for rays coming from the image of the object (see Figure 1). The illumination of the image increases with the diameter of the entrance pupil (the effective aperture of the optical system). In photographic lenses a so-called iris stop is most often used for a smooth change in the effective aperture. The ratio of the diameter of the effective aperture to the primary focal length is called the relative aperture of the lens, and it characterizes the optical efficiency of the lens or optical system. A scale that contains numbers inverse to the values of the relative aperture is usually placed on the lens frame. The use of wide light beams in fast optical systems may entail image deterioration because of aberrations of the optical systems. Reduction to the known limit of the effective aperture of an optical system (stopping-down) improves the image quality, since fringe rays, which are most affected by aberrations, are eliminated from the light beams in the process. Stopping-down also increases the depth of focus (the depth of image space). At the same time, the reduction of the effective aperture reduces the resolution of the optical system because of light diffraction at the fringes of the stop. In connection with this, the aperture of an optical system should have an optimal value. Other stops in an optical system primarily impede the passage through the system of rays from points of an object that lie off the principal axis of the optical system. The stop that is most effective in this regard is called a field-of-vision stop. It determines what part of space can be represented by the optical system. From the center of the entrance pupil a fieldof-vision stop is visible at the smallest angle in comparison with other stops (see Figure 2). A stop located in front of the optical system of a motion-picture or still camera is called a light blind or simply a blind. REFERENCESLandsberg,G. S. Optika, 4th ed. Moscow, 1957. Chapter 13 §§77-79. (Obshchii kurs fiziki, vol. 3.) Sliusarev, G. G. Geometricheskaia optika. Moscow-Leningrad, 1946. Tudorovskii, A. I. Teoriia opticheskikh priborov, 2nd ed., vols. 1-2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948-52.
THE SECRET OF CHILDHOOD: Introduction of the concept Normalization At the beginning of her educational career in San Lorenzo, Rome, Dr. Montessori was moved many times by what she observed the children doing. She wondered if their accomplishments were "the work of angels". She would say to herself, I wont believe this time. I will wait until the next time to believe. After 40 years of work, spreading her scientific pedagogy around the world, Dr. Montessori was willing to say that Normalization is the single most important result of our work. She had given up all her other workmedicine, anthropology, psychology, and even prestigious positions to lecture in Universitiesin order to concentrate on bringing this message to the people of the world. The message is that there is much more to childhood than is currently recognized. She saw the normalized child as a new level of humanity. Children all over the world and in all socioeconomic levels have exhibited this new level of humanity. The normalized children possesses a unique character and personality not recognized in Normalization is a technical word borrowed from the field of anthropology. It means becoming a contributing member of society. Dr. Montessori used the term normalization to distinguish one of the processes that she saw in her work with the children at San Lorenzo in Rome. This process, the process of normalization, occurs when development is proceeding normally. She used the word normalization so that people would think that these qualities belonged to all children and were not something special just for a few. When does normalization appear? Normalization appears through the repetition of a three step cycle. The building of character and the formation of personality that we call normalization come about when children follow this cycle of work. (1) Preparation for an activity which involves gathering together the material necessary to do the activity. The movement and the thought involved in the preparation serves to call the attention of the mind to begin to focus on the activity. (2) An activity which so engrosses the child that he reaches a deep level of concentration. This step is what all educator and parents recognize as important for education. (3) Rest, which is characterized by a general feeling of satisfaction and well-being. It is thought that at this point some inner formation or integration of the person takes place. In our Montessori groups, we see this third step as the time a child is putting away the materials, perhaps talking with friends, and is exhibiting a aura of satisfaction with himself and the world. We recognize this cycle as the normal work cycle in a Montessori environment. A Philosophy of Normalization Dr. Montessori explained the process of normalization philosophically as well as practically. She borrowed the term, horme, from Sir Percy Nun, an English philosopher. Horme refers to life force energy. It can be compared to the elan vital of Henri Bergson or the libido of Sigmund Freud or even to religious terms, the Holy Spirit. Horme is simply energy for life. It must stimulate and activate the individual because that is its nature. When the child is surrounded by plenty of suitable means (work of development) for using this energy, then her development proceeds normally. Characteristics of Normalization There are many personality types of course. However, when children enter the process of normalization the same characteristics appear. There are four characteristics that are a signal that the process of normalization is happening: (1) Love of work All four characteristics must be present for us to say that a normalized type common to the whole of mankind is appearingno matter how brief the appearance of the characteristics. The process is usually invisible to us because the process of normalization is hidden by characteristics not proper to the child. Love of Work. The first characteristic of the process of normalization is love of work. Love of work includes the ability to choose work freely and to find serenity and joy in work In the fall I like to observe new three-year-olds who were phased in during the month of September. Some of them have six weeks or so in the group and have their little routines of the work that they love. Some still have no clue about "their work". Kindly and experienced adults lead them into various activities. Some of the activities evoke concentration but most of them do not. It usually isn'tt until the child has learned to do several orderly activities that the missing element of choice will enter the childs work life. The second characteristic of the process of normalization is concentration. Concentration appears as individual children in a group became absorbed in their workeach one in a different, freely chosen activity. To help such development, it is not enough to provide objects chosen at random, but we [teachers] have to organize a world of We must continue to present the next appropriate challenge. The frequency of continual periods of intense concentration will depend on the child and on the teachers' knowledge and attitudes about guiding the process of normalization. The third characteristic of the process of normalization is self-discipline. Self-discipline refers to persevering and completing cycles of activity that are freely begun. Dr. Montessori says: After concentration will come perseverance . . . It marks the beginning of yet another stage in character formation . . . It is the ability to carry through what he has begun. The children in our schools choose their work freely, and show this power unmistakably. They practice it daily for years. The fourth characteristic of the process of normalization is sociability. Sociability refers to patience in getting the materials one wants, respect for the work of others, help and sympathy for others, and harmonious working relationships among members of the group. There is only one specimen of each object, and if a piece is in use when another child wants it, the latterif he is normalizedwill wait for it to be released. Important social qualities derive from this. The child comes to see that he must respect the work of others, not because someone has said he must, but because this is a reality that he meets in his daily experience. Sociability also refers to the human response to turn to other people after finishing a job. If the work when well, then the social interactions are "colored" by the emotional satisfaction of the job. Return to Lectures Return to www.michaelolaf.net Introduction of the concept Deviations At the same time that Montessori was distinguishing the process of normalization she distinguished another process which she called deviations. She saw that the process of normalization and deviations is going on all of the time. It is what children are engaged in. If you do not like the word deviations in referring to human beings, one option is to think of deviations as defenses. We are all familiar with the idea of being defensive. Another option is to think of a deviation as a detour. In Italian as in Spanish the word desviaciones refers to a detour in the road. Deviations or detours in development result from road blocks in the developmental I like to think that hormic energy, or life force energy, runs through us like a crystal clear river. If the energy runs smoothly without barriers and stays within its river banks, we see normalization. If this river, this force is repressed and not allowed to flow in its normal channel, it will seek other ways to move. The hormic energy may be damned up for a while producing an artificial passivity. Every now and then the dam will let loose a big burst of energy. The emotion that comes with that burst of energy may cause turbulence in the person's life. If energy is held in, The life force energy cannot be expressed in ways appropriate to the situation. On the other hand if the river banks are not well defined, the water can spread too thin over the countryside. Just so, the hormic energy without any boundaries can spread out too thin and over too large an area of life. If the child has insufficient order or limits in his life then there is not enough life force to carry out anything much. The horme is dissipated. The Process of Deviations This process is not one big drama. It is the drama of everyday life. When the horme cant go in the normal three step cycle for the building of a person then it moves into these other cycles that we call deviations or detours. The child feels threatened and reacts to save herself. She has to defend herself. A deviation is a defense created when development cannot proceed in a normal way. All children have some deviations. If they are not straightened out, they will become worse in time. Dr. Montessori says that the defects in adults can be traced back to a lack of development in the first years of life. There are many Types of Deviations Dr. Montessori has categorized deviations in several ways. It is interesting to see how she reaffirms their presence while giving them different titles. There is overlapping between the various categories. However, each order she places them in gives us much to think about. (1) Deviations Fostered by Adults By the time a child is three years old, deviations are so common that many of them are fostered by adults and thought to be normal for children. For example: some adults find these characteristics desirable states of being: over-affectionate attachment to persons, submissiveness, play, laziness, overeating, and instability of attention. By now the psychic energy is separated from the movements of the child from lack of purposeful activities in the environment. This type of adult often abandons the child to her toys, the television, or the computer. True, toys stimulate activity, but usually it is like a flash and once used then the toy no longer can give the same attraction. The childs immaturity in the real world and the excess of unused psychic energy combine to form an unreal world where the child can alleviate her boredom and discomfort. She becomes like the adult who is not content unless she is being entertained constantly. So easy it is to foster this deviation and heap toy after toy upon the poor child while denying her part as a worker in the family. For some children the way to feel safe is to hang onto an adult or an older child. She is the one whose movements have been supplanted by others so many times that her drive to independence is thwarted. It is as if she doesn'tt know herself apart from the other, even after the age when she should. This too is an easy deviation for some to foster when that affection fills avoid in the other's life. (2) Deviations Not Fostered by Adults Some deviations, while thought to be normal, are not likely to be deliberately fostered. They are likely to be corrected. Messiness, disobedience and quarreling are so common as to be though normal. The lazy child or the inhibited child who outwardly appear to do little are constructing a thick inner wall of defense to keep out the external world. We are all aware of adult negative reactions to these behaviors. Deviations as Fugues In The Secret of Childhood she talks about deviations as being fugues and barriers. A fugue is a running away, a taking refuge, often hiding away as one hides ones real energies behind a mask. These are the children who are never still, but their movements are without purpose. They begin an action, leave it unfinished, and hurry on to the next. They fancy toys only to throw them away. They become conditioned to the need to be entertained. Deviations as Barriers A barrier is an inhibition which is strong enough to prevent the child from responding to her surroundings. It shows itself as disobedience or obstinacy. Teachers may suspect the childs intelligence because this deviations keeps away the things that would promote growth. The most common of the barriers produce the following deviations: dependence, possessiveness, power craving, inferiority complex, fear, lying, and psychosomatic illness. Deviations Shown by the Strong and Weak In The Absorbent Mind she talks about deviations shown by the strong, meaning those who resist and overcome the obstacles they meet, and deviations shown by the weak, meaning those who succumb to unfavorable conditions. Defects of the strong are capriciousness, tendencies to violence, fits of rage, insubordination and aggression. They are also disobedient and "destructive", possessive, and unable to concentrate. They have difficulty in coordinating their hands. They are generally noisy, unkind, and often greedy at the table. Defects of the weak are passiveness, indolence, crying, trying to get others to do things for them, wishing to be entertained, and easily bored. They find the world frightening and cling to adults. They may refuse to eat, have nightmares, fear the dark, and have psychosomatic illnesses. The Role of the Adult We realize that in the early years there will be many spontaneous expressions of normality even when the environment is very bad or the obstacles very great. The vital energy returns to the surface again and again. The child must continuously struggle alone because no one recognizes and assists his bid for life. The child may become engulfed in her deviations. Lay aside pride and anger The child needs help, more than just physical care. She needs the adult who knows humility rather than pride; patience instead of anger. Yet the common defects of the adult are pride and anger. The adult is easily impatient when he is with a child. He doesn't understand how life needs to grow. He wants the child to submit. He doesn't recognize goodness. He can't give confidence. The educator has to rid himself of his anger before he can put the child's need first. He must: (1) know himself (2) educate himself in his work (3) give appropriate help All these disturbances came from a single cause, which was insufficient nourishment for the life of the mind. To give appropriate is two pronged: Neither kindness nor severity help. It is the return to the normal work cycle that is self-healing. The appearance of normalization is explosive. It must be protected. It happens in a single moment. In that moment the deviations are gone, vanished. The child is as she is. That is the first observation task of the adult. Learn to see, protect, and guide those moments. NEVER interrupt them while the concentration lasts. These normalizing events are triggered by a certain situation. It has been found a characteristic reaction of children throughout the world. A return to a life of normality begins with just one event. Just as long ago the defense mechanism began with one incidence and then proceeded to become a fixed response. In the 3 to 6-year-age span, we are not talking so much about a personality change. At this tender age, the personality is still in the soft, formative stage. During these years he must organize the embryonic development of many parts that were developed separately. The new child is really a true personality being allowed to develop normally. Now we can begin our work. As these moments become more frequent and the concentration more lasting, the child may give up using her old defenses. It is not by reason, nor by threat, nor by begging that she does so. She just doesn't need them anymore because she has less to Why is it apparently easier for some children than others? Apparently some have had to repress less, and their normal responses are not so buried. Some have learned to accept reasonable limits to their behavior. They have some control over their impulses. But in all children, and in us, the life force is there to be found and used in a productive way.
Physiology and Ecology of Behaviour How do birds and other animals find their way to their distant goals? Adjunct Professor Roswitha Wiltschko studies the mechanisms that provide birds such as homing pigeons with navigational information. Migratory birds have an innate programme that controls their migratory direction; whereas homing pigeons have to fly directions that vary according to their current position. They must first determine their home course from local environmental cues with the help of their "navigational map". In a second step, they locate this direction by means of their sun compass and their magnetic compass. How these two compass mechanisms develop, how they function, and how they interact, is a puzzle that Wiltschko and her husband professor Wolfgang Wiltschko – a retired professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt – have already largely solved, whereas the mechanisms determining the home direction and the factors that the birds use in this process are still not entirely clear. Wiltschko pays particular attention to the role of the earth's magnetic field in navigational processes. Pigeons bred in the Frankfurt University loft are released in distant sites to observe their response to the various situations and to record their exact home routes using GPS recorders. Wiltschko investigates the physiological basis of the avian magnetic compass mainly in two species, European robins and domestic chickens Together with her husband, she has identified the avian compass as an "inclination compass" that does not rely on the polarity of the field lines, but on their axial course and its inclination. Working together with physicists she has managed to elucidate the biophysical process underlying this phenomenon and to identify it as a radical pair mechanism. The photopigment cytochrome has been suggested as the receptor molecule; ongoing studies have detected it in the retina of birds, where it is found in a specific type of photoreceptor, the UV-cones, indicating an interaction between the reception of magnetic directions and vision. Birds also have a second type of magnetoreceptor, a magnetite-based receptor in their upper beak that provides them with information on the local magnetic intensity. This information is involved in the mechanisms with which birds determine their location and home course. As Wiltschko puts it, "Our objective is to achieve a detailed understanding of the highly complex interactions between the magnetic receptors in the eyes of birds and those in the beak with the photoreceptors". In addition to general zoology, Wiltschko teaches students the primary behavioural methods of her physiological work, but also – depending on the type of problem – genetic, neurobiological or molecular biological analytical approaches. Roswitha Wiltschko studied zoology, botany and palaeontology at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Subsequent to completion of her Diploma thesis on triggering breeding in zebra finches, she focused her attention on questions of how birds use the sun for orientation in her dissertation. In 1990 Wiltschko obtained her Habilitation in Frankfurt with a thesis on "Die Bestimmung der Sollrichtung beim Heimfinden (The determination the desired direction during homing)". Since 1970 she has been investigating spatial orientation and navigation in birds, together with her husband Wolfgang Wiltschko, who until 2003 was a professor in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Goethe University Frankfurt. They have headed a large number of research projects in Europe, the USA, New Zealand and Australia and have established many international and interdisciplinary cooperation projects. Adjunct Professor Dr. Roswitha Wiltschko Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity Siesmayerstr. 70 (Gebäude A) 60323 Frankfurt am Main Telephone: +49 (0)69 798 24703
A guest post by Toni Krasnic Mind maps graphically organize and represent relations between ideas and concepts. Because they’re visual as well as verbal, mind maps play a key role in harnessing the full range of our brain skills within one framework. Although still relatively little used is school, students who have discovered mind mapping find it a fun and engaging approach to enhance thinking and learning, and a great tool to manage information and increase productivity. Below are the top 10 uses of mind maps by students. 10. One-place repository of information and resources Mind maps are great in helping you overcome information overload. Not only can you integrate key concepts into mind maps, but you can also link images, charts, and files in any format so that you have all pertinent information in one place. Mind maps also allow you to attach notes, include spreadsheets, hyperlinks, and prioritize all information. This way, you have access to all important information and resources from one map. 9. Holistic integration of information (personal information management) and knowledge (personal knowledge management) Mind maps are great for integrating vast amounts of information from multiple sources in a personally meaningful way. Mind maps require much less time to compose and less time to read because they place emphasis on key concepts and clarify their organization and associations in a way that makes sense to you. As a result, you can process a lot more information into personally meaningful knowledge, better and faster. Furthermore, mind maps can expand or collapse to give you a focused view (details) or a bird’s eye view (general overview). By showing everything — the trees and the forest — in a single view, visual maps help clarify thoughts and tackle complex topics. The accuracy, depth, and cross referencing afforded by mind maps are hard to match with any other tool. Visual representation by mind maps allows for development of a holistic understanding that words alone cannot convey. 8. Personal dashboard to manage tasks and goals Many students use mind maps to manage their busy lives with a personal dashboard mind map - a one-map summary of your personal life. You can create different branches for different parts of your life, such a school, personal, extracurricular activities, etc. Within this map, you can then add to-dos, with start and end dates, descriptions, and color coding. You can also add goals and subgoals to keep you on track to where you want to be in the near future. With the recent advances in technology, you can now easily access and edit those maps with you smart phones. 7. Note taking, research, and writing One by one, old traditions are changing with technology, but note taking by students in schools hasn’t changed yet. Pen and paper note taking in classrooms needs to be reexamined because it still exists out of tradition, not because it’s the best way. The active process of note taking with mind maps eliminates the redundancy of just copying information on paper, which, unlike mind mapping, doesn’t encourage interaction, thinking, creativity, or learning. Once students become familiar with mind mapping, they can use it to take notes in lectures, synthesize lectures with non-lecture information, organize and summarize research work, and prepare for writing assignments. 6. Exam preparation and review By having all your notes in one place, you no longer have to scramble the night before exam to your class notes, book notes, practice problem notes, and other miscellaneous notes. They’re all in your mind map, organized and connected in a way that makes sense to you, enabling a productive and stress-free review. 5. Transparent thinking Mind maps are a diagram of your thinking that you can share with your study partners and teachers. For example, students can meet after each chapter to share and compare their mind maps in study groups, which is a great way to share what you know and find out what you still don’t completely understand. Students can also share mind maps though mind map sharing portals and web-based mind map interfaces to collaborate with other students from their personal learning networks outside of school. Students can also share their mind maps with teachers, who can quickly glance over them to provide detailed feedback on students’ understanding of the class material. 4. Improved memory and recall Mind maps are very effective at bringing together logical, visual, and creative thinking to help you organize and link information, a process that improves memory and learning. When you learn a new concept, you add it to the appropriate place in the mind map, and in order to do that, you have to analyze the patterns, structures, and connections of concepts within your topic. This promotes better understanding, memorization, and recall, as well as the ability to apply knowledge in new situations. 3. Increased creativity through free-form, non-linear thinking Like your thinking and understanding, mind maps are not static constructs. Rather, they are inherently flexible and constantly changing, encouraging refinement of thinking. Mind maps help you break the habit of thinking linearly and encourage flexibility. This means making use of more visual thinking to link concepts in relationship webs rather than in sequential order. Non-linear thinking enables you to jump around ideas and explore connections between ideas in pursuit of a big picture that is personally meaningful. Non-linear thinking not only helps make sense of existing ideas by finding the missing connections between them, but also helps identify gaps in understanding, and just as importantly, triggers new connections to seemingly unrelated ideas and helps generate new ideas altogether. With non-linear thinking, one can see possibilities that totally elude the linear thinkers. 2. Problem solving, decision making, and taking action Mind maps are a way to develop logical thinking by revealing connections and helping students see how individual ideas form a larger whole. Their flexible structure encourages new ways of thinking about concepts and ideas and allows for the personal manipulation of information and testing of different scenarios. Mind maps enhance the problem-solving and decision-making process by generating alternative solutions and options, revealing a previously unseen but appropriate action. This will help you get unstuck by helping you generate different perspectives on the problems, resulting in a different state of mind, leading to novel, creative solutions. 1. Transform rote studying into self-directed learning Through mapping concepts and ideas, students become better learners and thinkers. Mind mapping is a powerful tool because it turns complex information and problems into simple and clear diagrams through a visual representation of key concepts, facilitating comprehension and learning. When mind mapping, students whole-mindedly filter and break down unprocessed information to key concepts (analysis) and then organize and connect key concepts back together (synthesis) in a personally meaningful way. Mind maps enable students to see the connections between ideas they already have, connect new ideas to existing knowledge, and organize ideas in a logical structure that allows for future modification. This is the basis for meaningful learning. This active, self-directed process of learning eliminates the redundancy of most students’ approach to studying, which relies on simply copying and repeating back information. Mind mapping offers enough flexibility to maintain interest and encourage curiosity, and enough structure to keep the learner on track. What are some of your favorite mind mapping uses? Let us know in the comments. Toni Krasnic is the author of CONCISE LEARNING: Learn More & Score Higher in Less Time with Less Effort. He is a student success coach, visual mapper, and an educational consultant. He also publishes the free, monthly Student Success Newsletter. His Web site, www.ConciseLearning.com, has many free, useful resources on mind mapping for students and teachers. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. On November 15 at 11AM EST, Toni will host a session on Mind Mapping in Education at the Global Education Conference. Join him for this FREE, 1-hour webinar.
\|Top Previous Next\| An assertion is a test on the characters following or preceding the current matching point that does not actually consume any characters. The simple assertions coded as \b, \B, \A, \Z, \z, ^ and $ are described above. More complicated assertions are coded as subpatterns. There are two kinds: those that look ahead of the current position in the subject string, and those that look behind it. An assertion subpattern is matched in the normal way, except that it does not cause the current matching position to be changed. Lookahead assertions start with (?= for positive assertions and (?! for negative assertions. For example, matches a word followed by a semicolon, but does not include the semicolon in the match, and matches any occurrence of "foo" that is not followed by "bar". Note that the apparently similar pattern does not find an occurrence of "bar" that is preceded by something other than "foo"; it finds any occurrence of "bar" whatsoever, because the assertion (?!foo) is always true when the next three characters are "bar". A lookbehind assertion is needed to achieve this effect. Lookbehind assertions start with (?<= for positive assertions and (?<! for negative assertions. For example, does find an occurrence of "bar" that is not preceded by "foo". The contents of a lookbehind assertion are restricted such that all the strings it matches must have a fixed length. However, if there are several alternatives, they do not all have to have the same fixed length. Thus is permitted, but causes an error at compile time. Branches that match different length strings are permitted only at the top level of a lookbehind assertion. This is an extension compared with Perl 5.005, which requires all branches to match the same length of string. An assertion such as is not permitted, because its single top-level branch can match two different lengths, but it is acceptable if rewritten to use two top-level branches: The implementation of lookbehind assertions is, for each alternative, to temporarily move the current position back by the fixed width and then try to match. If there are insufficient characters before the current position, the match is deemed to fail. Lookbehinds in conjunction with once-only subpatterns can be particularly useful for matching at the ends of strings; an example is given at the end of the section on once-only subpatterns. Several assertions (of any sort) may occur in succession. For example, matches "foo" preceded by three digits that are not "999". Furthermore, assertions can be nested in any combination. For example, matches an occurrence of "baz" that is preceded by "bar" which in turn is not preceded by "foo". Assertion subpatterns are not capturing subpatterns, and may not be repeated, because it makes no sense to assert the same thing several times. If an assertion contains capturing subpatterns within it, these are always counted for the purposes of numbering the capturing subpatterns in the whole pattern. Substring capturing is carried out for positive assertions, but it does not make sense for negative assertions. Assertions count towards the maximum of 200 parenthesized subpatterns. Note: This topic was taken from the PCRE library manual. The PCRE library is open source software, written by Philip Hazel <[email protected]>, and copyright by the University of Cambridge, England.
The work of a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professor has helped reveal a rare orbital shift and the density of an asteroid that will pass close to Earth. Josh Emery, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, and the team of the NASA asteroid sample return mission called OSIRIS-REx have measured the weight and orbit of 1999 RQ36. They have found the asteroid has a low density and its orbit has drifted roughly 100 miles in the last 12 years. This deviation is caused by the Yarkovsky effect. These findings were presented May 19 at the Asteroids, Comets and Meteors 2012 meeting in Niigata, Japan. "This Yarkovsky effect can actually push an asteroid into -- or out of -- the path of the Earth," said Emery. "Understanding this force and how it affects an asteroid is critical for determining whether or not that asteroid will hit us." Emery's work using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in 2007 was crucial in determining the effect. He measured the asteroid's thermal characteristics using infrared emissions and determined the space rock was covered in an insulating blanket of fine material -- a key factor for the effect. "The longer a surface can hold heat, the stronger the Yarkovsky effect," said Emery. "Therefore, if the asteroid was made up of solid rock, the force would be stronger because it would retain heat longer. But fine material such as dust or sand heat up and cool down quickly so the effect is weaker." The Yarkovsky effect sharpens the picture of how potentially hazardous 1999 RQ36 could be in the future. The 1,640-foot diameter asteroid is expected to pass by Earth in 2135 at around 220,000 miles. At such close distances, the asteroid's subsequent trajectory becomes impossible to accurately predict so close approaches can only be studied statistically. Due to this discovery, scientists now have identified many low-probability potential impacts in the 2170s through the 2190s while ruling out others. The Yarkovsky effect is named for the 19th-century Russian engineer who first proposed the idea that a small rocky space object would, over long periods of time, be noticeably nudged in its orbit when it absorbs sunlight and then re-emits that energy as heat. The effect is difficult to measure because it's so infinitesimally small. The effect was discovered on 1999 RQ36 in an effort to determine the mass of the asteroid from millions of miles away. The scientists needed the space rock's size, thermal properties, propulsive force (Yarkovsky effect) and orbit to calculate the bulk density. "Being able to find the weight of a solitary space object by using things like radar tracking and infrared observations might once have seemed almost science fiction," said Emery. "But now we have the tools to do it and we just use our findings and solve for 'x' which is the density." The scientists discovered 1999 RQ36 has the density of water and is very porous. "In addition to the excitement of the Yarkovsky results, we are excited to find that our asteroid consists mostly of dusts and rocks," said Emery. "Therefore, we should be able to get a collect a good sample to bring back to Earth and study." The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2016, arrive at the asteroid in 2019 and bring samples back to Earth in 2023. Cite This Page:
We will spend the next few days studying articulatory phonetic: what is involved in the actual movement of various parts of the vocal tract during speech. (Use transparancy to discuss organs of speech; oral, pharyngeal and nasal cavities; articulators, lungs and diaphragm). All speech sounds are made in this area. None are made outside of it (such as by stomping, hand clapping, snapping of fingers, farting, etc.) Theoretically, any sound could be used as a speech sound provided the human vocal tract is capable of producing it and the human ear capable of hearing it. Actually only a few hundred different sounds or types of sounds occur in languages known to exist today, considerably fewer than the vocal tract is capable of producing. Thus, all speech sounds result from air being somehow obstructed or modified within the vocal tract. This involves 3 processes working together: a) the airstream process--the source of air used in making the sound. b) the phonation process--the behavior of the vocal cords in the glottis during the production of the sound. c) the oro-nasal process--the modification of that flow of air in the vocal track (from the glottis to the lips and nose). Let's discuss the airstream process first. The airstream process The first major way to categorize sounds according to phonetic features is by the source of air. Where does the air come from that is modified by the vocal organs? Languages can use any of three airstream mechanisms to produce sounds. One airstream mechanism is by far the most important for producing sounds in the world's languages. Most sounds in the world's languages are produced by manipulating air coming into the vocal tract as it is being exhaled by the lungs, a method referred to as the pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. Sounds made by manipulating air as it is exhaled from the lungs are called pulmonic egressive sounds. Virtually all sounds in English and other European languages are produced by manipulating exhaled air. And most sounds in other languages are also pulmonic egressive. There is another variety of this pulmonic airstream mechanism. Inhaled air can also be modified to produce speech sounds. This actually occurs in a few rare and special cases, such as in Tsou, an aboriginal language of Taiwan, which has inhaled [f] and [h] ([h5/˝ps˝] ashes; [f5/tsuju], egg). Such sounds are called pulmonic ingressive sounds, and the airstream mechanism for making such sounds is called the ingressive rather than the egressive version of the pulmonic airstream mechanism. Perhaps because it is physiologically harder to slow down an inhalation than an exhalation, pulmonic ingressive sounds are extremely rare. The majority of the sounds in all languages of the world are pulmonic egressive sounds. However, in addition to using air being actively exhaled (or inhaled), two other airstream mechanisms are used to produce some of the sounds in some of the world's languages. 1) To understand the second airstream mechanism, the glottalic airstream mechanism, let's first look at a special pulmonic egressive sound, the glottal stop. Air being exhaled from the lungs may be stopped in the throat by a closure of the glottis. This trapping of air by the glottis is called a glottal stop. English actually has a glottal stop in certain exclamations: [u?ow], u?u], [a?a], and in certain dialectical pronunciations: [bottle]. The IPA renders the glottal stop as a question mark without the period. The glottal stop itself is an example of a pulmonic egressive sound, since air from the lungs is being stopped. However, the glottis can be closed immediately before the production of certain other sounds, trapping a pocket of air in the vocal tract. If this reservoir of stationary air is then manipulated in the production of a sound it yields another type of airstream mechanism, the glottalic airstream mechanism. Here's how it works. First, the vocal cords completely close so that for a brief moment no air escapes from the lungs and air is compressed in the throat (pharynx). If the closed glottis is raised to push the air up and outward, an ejective consonant is produced. The air is forced into the vocal tract and there manipulated by the organs of speech. Compare glottalized vs. non-glottalized [k] in Georgian. Ejectives are found in the languages of the Caucasus mountains, among many Native American languages, and among the Afroasiatic languages of north Africa (Hausa, Amharic). If the closed glottis is lowered to create a small vacuum in the mouth, an implosive consonant is produced. The lowering glottis acts like the downward movement of a piston to create a brief rarification of the air in the vocal tract. When the stricture in the mouth is released air moves into the mouth. Swahili has three implosives: [b], [d], [g]. Implosives occur mostly in languages of east Africa, in several Amerindian languages and in some IE languages of northern India. (Compare the difference between implosives, using the glottalic airstream mechanism, and ingressives, which use inhaled air.) The third and final airstream mechanism used by human language is confined to certain languages of southwest Africa. It is called the velaric airstream mechanism. There is regular oral articulation, while the back of tongue seals off air from the lungs and creates a relative vacuum. Air in the mouth is rarified by backward and downward movement of the tongue. When the stricture is released the air rushes in, creating a click. Although we think of such sounds as exotic, English uses a few of them for quasi-linguistic sound gestures: 'grandmother's kiss' (bilabial click), encouraging a horse (lateral click), tisk-tisk (actually a dental or alveolar click). Some Khoisan languages have over a dozen clicks. (release of click can be supplemented by additional features: aspirated, nasal/ non-nasal). One Khoisan language !Xung has 48 different click sounds. A few of the Bantu languages of South Africa, such as Zulu, have clicks; presumably, these sounds were borrowed from the San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoi (Hottentot) peoples who originally lived throughout all southern Africa. Zulu and the other Bantu languages that use clicks spell them with the letters c, x, q. (cf. the name of the tribe Xhosa). Notice that clicks stop up the air only in the oral cavity; pulmonic air continues through the nose (one can produce a nasal hum while producing clicks). For the sake of completeness, it should be said that at least one other airstream mechanism could possibly be used for producing sounds in human language. A puff of air could be trapped in either cheek, then released to be manipulated by the speech organs. This is the airstream mechanism employed by the Walt Disney character Donand Duck and could be called the buccal airstream mechanism. So far as we know, Donald Duck is unique in using it. And no language uses a gastric airstream mechanism, which would be modifying air burped up from the stomach. The phonation process The vocal cords can be in one of several positions during the production of a sound. The muscles of the vocal cords in the glottis can behave in various ways that affect the sound. The effect of this series of vocal cord states is called the phonation process. Voicing. Vocal cords can be narrowed along their entire length so that they vibrate as the air passes through them. All English vowels are voiced. Voiceless vowels also occur but are far rarer than voiceless consonants are much more common than voiceless vowels. Voiceless vowels usually occur between voiceless consonants, as in Japanese. No language has only voiceless vowels; a language has either only voiced vowels or voiced and a few voiceless vowels. There are also several other vocal cord states that are used to modify sound in the world's languages. None is used as a regular feature of English. Laryngealization. The posterior (artenoid) portion of the vocal cords can be closed to produce a laryngealized or creaky sound. This doesn't play a meaningful role in English phonology, althoght we might use a creaky voice to imitate an old witch when reading fairy tales. Some languages of Southeast Asia and Africa have creaky vowels and consonants, as in Margi, a Nigerian language: ja to give birth/ laryngealized ja thigh; or in Lango a Nilotic language: man this/ laryngealized man testicles. Murmur. The anterior (ligamental) portion of the vocal cords can be closed, with the vocal cords vibrating. This produces murmured or breathy sounds. Murmured or breathy vowels occur in some languages of Southeast Asia. We make murmured sounds to imitate the Darth Vader voice. In many Indo-European languages of India the stop consonants have a murmured release; in other words the anterior portion of the vocal cords remain closed after the stop has been produced during part of the time the vowel is pronounced: bh, dh, gh, Buddha. Whisper. A similar vocal cord state is used to produce the whisper. The vocal chords are narrowed but not vibrated, narrowing is more complete at the anterior end, less so at the posterior end. Whispered sounds do not contrast with non-whispered sounds to produce differences of meaning in any known language, but the whispered voice is common as a speech variant across languages. There is no IPA symbol for a whispered sound. The oro-nasal process Regardless of which airstream mechanism is used, speech sounds are produced when the moving air is somehow obstructed within the vocal tract. The vocal tract consists of three joined cavities: the oral cavity, the nasal cavity, and the pharyngeal cavity. The surfaces and boundaries of these cavities are known as the organs of speech. What happens to the air within these cavities is known as the oro-nasal process. Let's talk first about the oro-nasal process in the articulation, or production, of consonants. There are two major ways to classify the activity of the speech organs in the production of consonants: place of articulation and manner of articulation. Consonantal place of articulation The place of articulation is defined in terms of two articulators These may be: lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, tongue tip (apex), tongue blade (laminus), or back of the tongue (dorsum), hard palate, soft palate (velum), uvula, glottis, pharynx, glottis (the "voice box," or cartilaginous structure where the vocal cords are housed). bilabial [b, p, m, w] labiodental, [f, v] interdental, [T, D] (apico)-dental the tip (or apex) of the tongue and the back teeth: Spanish [t, d, s, z]. alveolar (apico-or lamino-) tongue and alveolar ridge (compare 'ten' vs. 'tenth'). Examples: English [t, d, s, z] postalveolar or palatoalveolar (apico- or lamino-) (English [S]/[Z]), retroflex (apico-palatal) bottom of the tongue tip and palate, or alveolar ridge: Midwest English word-initial [«] and [t, d, n] in many Dravidian languages and many languages of Australia. palatal (apico- or lamino-) (English [j]), [S]/[Z] in many languages velar or dorso-velar Eng. [k, g, N] German [x] Greek [V] uvular French [R], also found in many German dialects. pharyngeal (constriction of the sides of the throat), glottal (glottal stop, the vocal chords are the two articulators. cf. A-ha, bottle, Cockney English 'ave). [h] is a glottalic fricative sound. Manner of articulation Now let's look at the ways that moving air can be blocked and modified by various speech organs. There are several methods of modifying air when producing a consonant, and these methods are called manners of articulation. We have already examined where the air is blocked. Now let's look at how the air can be blocked. 1) Sounds that completely stop the stream of exhaled air are called plosives: [d], [t], [b], [p], and [g], [k], glottal stop. Another word for plosive is stop (nasals are also stops, however, since the air is stopped in the oral cavity during their production). 2) Sound produced by a near complete stoppage of air are called fricatives: [s], [z], [f], [v], [T], [D], [x], [V], [h], pharyngeals. 3) Sometimes a plosive and a fricative will occur together as a single, composite sound called an affricate: [tS], [ts], [dz], [dZ], [pf]. 4) All other types of continuant are produced by relatively slight constriction of the oral cavity and are called approximants. Approximants are those sounds that do not show the same high degree of constriction as fricatives but are more constricted than are vowels. During the production of an approximant, the air flow is smooth rather than turbulent. There are four types of approximants. a) The glottis is slightly constricted to produce [h], a glottalic approximant. b) If slight stricture occurs between the roof of the mouth and the tongue a palatal glide is produced [j]. If the constriction is between the two lips, a labiovelar glide is produced. The glides [j] and [w] are also called semivowels, since they are close to vowels in degree of blockage. c) If the stricture is in the middle of the mouth, and the air flows out around the sides of the tongue, a lateral is produced. Laterals, or lateral approximants, are the various l-sounds that occur in language. In terms of phonetic features, l-sounds are + lateral, while all other sounds are + central. d) The third type of approximant includes any of the various R-sounds that are not characterized by a flapping or trilling: alveolar and retroflex approximants. This includes the American English r (symbolized in the IPA by an upside down [®], but we will use the symbol [r]). It the air flow is obstructed only for a brief moment by the touch of the tongue tip against the teeth or alveolar ridge, a tap, or tapped [\|] is produced: cf. Am Engl ladder; British Engl. very. If the tongue tip is actually set in motion by the flow of air so that is vibrates once, a flap or flapped r is produced: this is the sound of the Spanish single r. Flaps can even be labio-dental, as in one African language, Margi, spoken in Northern Nigeria. If the air flow is set into turbulence several times in quick succession, a trill is produced. Trills may be alveolar, produced by the apex of the tongue: the Spanish double rr perro; the French uvular [R]: de rien; Bilabial trills [B] have been found to occur in two languages of New Guinea: mBulei = rat in Titan. Degree of blockage In discussing manner of articulation, it is also relevant to classify consonants according to the total degree of blockage. Remember that all sounds that involve significant stoppage of air in the vocal tract are known as consonants (this distinguishes them from vowel, which are produced by very little blockage of the airstream). Consonants differ in the manner as well as the degree to which the airstream is blocked. While we are discussing the manner in which air is blocked, we can also classify sounds as to the degree of blockage. Plosives, fricatives, and affricates are all sounds made by nearly complete or complete blockage of the airstream. For this reason they are known collectively as obstruents. Consonants produced by less blockage of the airstream are called sonorants. With little blockage the airstream flows out smoothly, with relatively little turbulence. There are several types of sonorants, depending upon where the airstream is blocked in the vocal tract and how air flows around the impediment. Sonorants are produced using the following manners of articulation: 1) Sounds produced by stoppage at the vocal tract and release through the nose are called nasals. The nasals [m], [n], and [ng] have the same point of articulation as the plosives [d], [b], and [g], except that the velum rises and air passes freely through the nose during their production; the oral stoppage is not released. Plosives are also known as oral stops, to distinguish them from the nasal stops. All known languages have at least one nasal except for several Salishan languages spoken around the Puget Sound (including Snohomish) The division of consonants into obstruents and sonorants is not absolute. In some languages, such as Russian, the glide [j] is produced by much more blockage and could almost as easily be called a fricative. Also, some l- and r- sounds are definitely fricatives rather than approximants. Some types of l- and r-sounds are characterized by a highly turbulent flow of air over the tongue, even more than for the trilled [r]. In Czech, besides the regular flapped r, there is a strident trilled and tensed [r] which is much more like an obstruent than a sonorant. Navaho has a fricative [tl] which is definitely more fricative than approximant. Because all l- and r- sounds (whether approximant and non-approximant) are produced in the same way--with the the air flowing around or over the tongue like water moving around a solid object--there is a collective term for these sounds: liquids. Liquids and nasals are sometimes able to carry a syllable. Syllabic r and l occur in Czech and Slovak: StrC prst skrz krk. The IPA uses a dot beneath them to signify syllabicity. Review of some articulatory terminology Stops (air completely blocked in the oral cavity)-nasal and oral (plosives). Obstruents (high degree of blockage) include: plosives, fricatives, and affricates. Sonorants (low degree of blockage)include: nasals and approximants. Approximants (the lowest degree of blockage) include: the glottal approximant [h], the glides [j] and [w], and most l- and r-sounds. Liquid: all l- and r- sounds, whether fricative or approximant. Go over the handout on the English sound system (up to the vowel questions) Secondary articulation features in consonants Lack of release. Plosives may not be released fully when pronounced at the end of words. This occurs with English [p} b}, t}, d}, k}, g}] Length. Consonants may be relatively long or short. Long consonants and vowels are common throughout the world, cf. Finnish, Russian: zhech/szhech to burn; Italian: pizza, spaghetti. Long or double consonants are also known as geminate consonants and are indicated in the IPA by the symbol […]. Geminate plosives and affricates are also known as delayed release consonants. Nasal release. In certain African languages: [dn]. Palatalization. Concomitant raising of the blade of the tongue toward the palate: cannon/canyon, do/dew; common among the sounds of Russian and other East-European languages: mat/mat' luk/lyuk. There are thousands of such doublets in Russian. Labialization. Concomitant lip rounding cf. sh in shoe vs. she (IPA uses a superscript w to transcribe labialization) In some languages of Africa the constrast between labialized and non-labialized sounds signal differences in meaning, as in Twi: ofa´ he finds/ ofwa´ snail. Velarization. The dorsum of the tongue is raised slightly. Compare the l in wall, all (velarized or dark l) vs. like, land (continental or light l). The glide [w] is also slightly velarized. In Russian all non-palatalized consonants are velarized. Pharyngealization. Concomitant constriction of throat. Afroasiatic languages of north Africa, such as Berber: zurn they are fat/ zghurn they made a pilgrimage. Tensing. The muscles of the articulators can be or lax when pronouncing a sound. Cf. Korean stops: Lax unvoiced p, lax voiced b, tense unvoiced pp. Tensing also occurs in the vocal cords during the production of tensed stops, so tenseness could also have been listed under phonation processes. The oro-nasal process in vowels Go over part D on the handout now; go over part E during the lecture on vowels. Sounds produced by no blockage other than a slight raising of the tongue or a narrowing of the lips are called vowels. Vowels differ in several phonetic features. Three are most important. 1) which part of the tongue is raised: front/central/back (mention the difference between the [a] of father in English dialects.) 2) how high the tongue is raised: high, middle, low 3) whether or not the lips are rounded. Several other features distinguish vowels on a more limited basis across the world's languages. 4) whether or not the tongue is tense (bunched up; in English, diphthongalized) or lax (relaxed and slightly shorter, closer to the center of the oral cavity). In English, stressed lax vowels only occur in closed syllables, tense vowels occur in either open or closed syllables: Tense= by, too, way, so, ma Lax= bit, but, full, get, oil/or, and, (also, hard, in New England pronunciation), as well as schwa: sofa 5) nasal vs. non-nasal (describe the velum and oro-nasal process) 6) long vs. short. Many languages have a distinction between short and long vowels: Hawaiian, Navajo, etc. Estonian has three vowel lengths; in English vowels are slightly longer before voiced consonants and slightly shorter before voiceless. 7) Different phonation processes involving the vocal cords produce several featural contrasts in vowels as in consonants: voiced/voiceless (whispered) laryngealized (creaky), murmured (breathy). There are three diphthongs in General American English [aU] house [aI] like, [OI] oil, boy, toy Diphthongs in other American dialects.
Finding the Center of a Circle Date: 06/06/99 at 15:37:38 From: Eddie Subject: Circle: given in form: Ax^2+Cy^2+Dx+Ey+F=0, find the center and radius and graph it. Hi, I am in advanced math in Rockville Centre, Long Island, and I need to know how to find the center and radius of a circle that is in the form: Ax^2 + Cy^2 + Dx + Ey + F = 0. It would be great if you could show me a sample problem or two. Thank you very much. Date: 06/07/99 at 11:59:17 From: Doctor Rick Subject: Re: Circle: given in form: Ax^2+Cy^2+Dx+Ey+F=0, find the center and radius and graph it. Hi, Eddie. The form you have given is actually more general than a circle; it is the form for an ellipse with axes parallel to the coordinate axes. You can see the equations on our Analytic Geometry Formulas FAQ: http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/formulas/faq.analygeom_2.html#twoellipses Look down that page for the circle formulas. A circle will have A = C. To find the center and radius, you want to put the equation into the standard form (x-h)^2 + (y-k)^2 = r^2 The center is then (h, k) and the radius is r. Here is an example: 5x^2 + 5y^2 + 10x + 6y + 6 = 0 Divide through by 5 first, so that the coefficient of x^2 and y^2 is 1: x^2 + y^2 + 2x + (6/5)y + 6/5 = 0 Group the terms in x and y separately: (x^2 + 2x) + (y^2 + (6/5)y) + 6/5 = 0 Complete the square in each set of parentheses. If you need help with this, you can search the Dr. Math Archives for completing the square. ((x + 1)^2 - 1) + ((y + 3/5)^2 - 9/25) + 6/5 = 0 Collect the constants and move them to the right: (x + 1)^2 + (y + 3/5)^2 = 4/25 Now you can read off the center: (-1, -3/5). The radius is the square root of the constant on the right, which is 2/5. Graph the circle; you will see that it passes through (-1, -1). Check this against the original equation: 5(-1)^2 + 5(-1)^) + 10(-1) + 6(-1) + 6 = 0 5 + 5 - 10 - 6 + 6 = 0 0 = 0 Good, this point is indeed on the circle. I hope this example has helped you. If you don't understand why I did any of these steps, write back and ask! - Doctor Rick, The Math Forum http://mathforum.org/dr.math/ Search the Dr. Math Library: Ask Dr. MathTM © 1994-2013 The Math Forum
Millions of tons of oil are produced in the world every year and over half of it is transported to users by means of marine routes. Based on statistics, a best estimate of oil spill is more than 3 million tons per year. Oil spills cause disastrous impacts on the environment, ecology and socio-economic activities. The right decision has to be made in the event of an oil spill to facilitate prompt action, considering the priorities of protection, to prevent environmental damages. What is an oil spill? An oil spillis a release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term often refers to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. Oil spills include releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, and heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil. Spills may take months or even years to clean up (like that of the Ogoni Land, in River State, Nigeria, which the United Nations report has revealed it will take about 30years to clean up). The UN had conducted a 14-month study of the effects of 50 years of oil drilling and transportation in the region and concluded that the situation is much worse than originally believed. The clean-up effort is expected to surpass that which followed the Gulf of Mexico spill last year with officials estimating recovery could take 25-30 years. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. The key to effectively combating spills is careful selection and proper use of the equipment and materials best suited to the type of oil and the conditions at the spill site. Most spill response equipment and materials are greatly affected by such factors as conditions at sea, water currents, and wind. Damage to spill-contaminated shorelines and dangers to other threatened areas can be reduced by timely and proper use of containment and recovery equipment. Oil Spill Control Technologies A number of advanced response mechanisms are available for controlling oil spills and minimizing their impacts on human health and the environment. They are Chemical and Biological methods, Mechanical containment, amongst other physical methods. Mechanical containment or recoveryis the primary line of defense against oil spills in the advanced world. It includes a variety of booms, barriers and skimmers, as well as natural and synthetic sorbents materials. Mechanical containment is used to capture and store the spilled oil until it can be properly disposed. Chemical and Biological Methods: This method involves the use of dispersing agents and gelling agents. They are most useful in helping to keep oil from reaching the shorelines and other sensitive habitats. Biological agents have the potential to assist recovery in sensitive areas such as shorelines. Chemical and biological methods can be used in conjunction with mechanical means for containing and cleaning up oil spills. Dispersing Agents: Dispersing agents, also called dispersants, are chemicals that contain surfactants and/or solvent compounds that act to break petroleum oil into small droplets. These droplets disperse into the water column where they are subjected to natural processes such as waves and currents that help to break them further. Gelling Agents: They are also known as solidifiers. They are chemicals that react with oil to form rubber-like solids. For treating larger spills, these chemicals are applied to the oil, and then mixed in by the force of high pressure water streams. And with small spills, these can be applied by hand and left to mix on their own. In both cases, the gelled oil is removed from the water using nets, suction equipment or skimmers, and is sometimes reused after being mixed with fuel oil.
In this lesson we look at server hardware and how it differs from client hardware. A server is a network device that provides services to other network devices called clients. A server provides centralized access to these services. There are many services that a server can provide to clients. This material you're reading now is sitting on a web server. Web server software is installed on the server which provides web services to clients running web browsers. Any network device can provide network services and become a server, but typically we use specialized server hardware that is more robust than standard client devices. If you've worked with PC hardware then you know they contain some basic components that work together. You have things like memory, processors, storage, and power supplies. Server hardware has all the same components but with differences that make the hardware more reliable. When you're purchasing a new client computer you have a few options. You can pick a desktop computer, a laptop, an all in one, or tablet. Each has it's advantages and disadvantages, and you pick the form factor that fits your needs. When purchasing a new server you have similar choices. You can choose from a tower, rack mount, or blade server. The third form factor is a blade server. The blade server is made up of two components, the blade chassis, and the blade server. A blade chassis holds the blade servers. Each blade is an entire server minus the features provided by the chassis. Each vendor has it's own chassis design so you can't swap blades between vendors. Below we see a blade chassis with 16 blade servers. The blades can come in different configurations as well. Below we see two blades, one configured with 2.5 in drives, and the other with 1.8 in drives. Server hardware has some differences that make it more efficient than the client equivalent. A lot of the improvements are in place because servers are used differently than clients. A client is typically used by a single user working on a handful of tasks at once. Server hardware needs to support many people doing a lot of different things at the same time. We're going to look at some of the things that set server hardware apart from client hardware. It should be noted that some of these technologies have trickled down to clients over the years. If we look inside a rack mount server we can see it has many of the same components as our clients. Let's look at each of the components and see what's different. In modern computers the processor, or CPU (Central Processing Unit) runs at a higher speed than memory or RAM (Random Access Memory). This means our processors spend time waiting for memory to catch up. If you have multiple processors only one processor can access memory at a time, which means you have multiple processors waiting for the memory to catch up. In the image below we can see what this looks like in a client computer. If one CPU is access memory the other processor has to wait. In server we have a technology called NUMA (Non Uniform Memory Access) where the memory is split up into multiple nodes, one per CPU. Each processor can access their own node without waiting for the other processors. Performance is increased because each CPU has independent access to it's own portion of memory. Modern processors can have multiple cores, where a core acts as a logical CPU. NUMA has been upgraded to support nodes per core. Multiprocessor and multicore NUMA enabled devices will run faster than their non NUMA enabled counterparts since they won't have to wait for RAM access. The RAM in our client computers is not perfect, we do experience bit flips where a stored bit will spontaneously change its value. The operating system is responsible for detecting and recovering from these bit flips. The recovery process slows down our system, and isn't always perfect resulting in a crash. Our servers use a technology called ECC (Error Correction Code) in the RAM that corrects the bit flips before sending the data to the operating system. When you use ECC RAM you don't have to worry as much about memory errors slowing down or crashing the server. Hard drives can be categorized using two different methods. You can look at the interface used to connect the drive to the server, and the way data is stored on the drive. The interfaces used in computers and servers have evolved over the years. In the past we used two interfaces, IDE (Integrated Device Electronics) and SCSI (Small Computer System Interface). Both technologies used cables that transmitted data in parallel. IDE was the connector for ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drives, and ATAPI (Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) CD-Roms. The IDE connector was used in our client computers, and the SCSI interface was used on our servers. The SCSI interface support high data rates and more devices in the chain. Both parallel technologies were replaced with serial connections that connected each drive directly to the main board. The IDE connector was replaced with the SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) connector. This cause a new name to be retroactively assigned to IDE drives, they are now known as PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) drives. The new serial SCSI interface is called SAS (Serial Attached SCSI). You can purchase a server with either SATA or SAS drives. The SAS drives typically run longer, faster, and are more reliable. SATA drives are typically larger in capacity. SAS drives cost more, but if you can't afford SAS drives you may be able to mix and match hard drive types. Server level SSD's are expensive and the capacities are lower than the HDD options. You can mix and match your hard drive technology, for example you may have SSDs for your data that requires quick access, then use HHDs for long term storage. Below is a breakdown of the differences in speed versus capacity between the different interface and storage types. Once you've decided what interface and type of drive you're using the next question is how do you want to configure them? On our client computers we're used to using a single drive to store everything, but in the server world we have a technology called RAID (Redundant Array of Independant Disks) which allows use to build redundancy in the server. Hard drives are one of the most common components to fail in a server, so we want to plan for these failures when designing our servers. When multiple drives are connected together in a RAID configuration they're called an array. The operating system sees the array of drives as one drive. RAID can be configured using hardware or software, in most servers hardware RAID controllers are used. There are different levels of RAID which have different configurations and features. The first is RAID 0 which spreads the data out over multiple drives. With RAID 0 there is no redundancy, if a drive dies you lose all data. RAID 0 uses all the space available for data storage. RAID 1 is a technology that mirrors the drives. All data is written to both drives so if one drive dies you have a copy of all the data and can continue to run. Server hardware supports hot swapping drives which means you can replace the drive without turning off the server. RAID 1 uses half of the space for data and the other half for redundancy. RAID 5 stripes the data across the drives like RAID 0, but it adds parity information that can be used to rebuild the data if a drive dies. RAID 5 requires a minimum of 3 drives to operate properly. You can lose one drive in a RAID 5 array and the server will continue to run. The amount of parity information stored equals that capacity of a drive, so you end up with the amount of usable space equaling the total space minus one drive. RAID 6 is the same as RAID 5, but with extra parity. This means you can have up to two drives fail and continue to run. The total drive array capacity is the total space minus 2 drives. You can combine RAID levels making new RAID levels that may work in your environments. RAID 01 is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1. RAID 01 is where you mirror to stripped arrays. You can go the other way with it and stripe two mirrors with RAID 10. RAID 50 is two RAID 5 arrays stripped together. RAID 60 is two RAID 6 arrays stripped together. It's important to note that RAID technology is not a replacement for backups. RAID will help protect you from hard drive failure, where a backup will help protect you from data corruption overwrites, or deletion. If you overwrite a document on a mirror that overwrite occurs on both drives. You'll need to revert to a backup copy to recover the data. The PSU (Power Supply Unit) in a server is typically different than what you would find in a client device. Typically you find more than one PSU in a server and they are redundant and hot swappable. This means if a PSU fails the server will continue to run and you can replace the dead PSU with a new one without turning off the server. Servers are typically designed with environmental controls that adjust the speed of the fans to properly cool the internal components. Typically the fans are designed to be hot swappable so if one dies you can replace the fan easily without shutting down the server. Some servers have filters in them that make sure clean air is circulated through the server. Remote AccessSome servers contain a separate card that contains a network card and a small operating system on it. You can use this card to remotely access the server and perform tasks that you would otherwise have to do in person. For example if the server locks up you can use the card to remotely power cycle the server. Besides servers and storage arrays you'll find other items in the server room that contribute to a successful server environment. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is an item found in the server room that sits between the power outlet and the server's PSU. It contains batteries that supply short term power to the servers in the event of a power outage. Shortly after a power is lost the UPS can send signals to each server and tell them to shut down to ensure they're shut down properly. A UPS can come in a tower or rack mount form factor and typically have expansion capabilities allowing you to extend the run time by adding more batteries. The next item may not be in the server room, but it affects the server room. A generator can be used to provide continued power in the event of a power outage. Once power is lost the generator will turn on and power the server room. There's a period of time when no power will be supplied to the server room while we wait for the generator to start up. The UPS's keep the equipment running while the generator is starting. The UPS and generator work together to ensure your servers continue to run. Most of the time you access servers using remote access technology. Remote access technology allows you to perform tasks on a server when you're in a different location. You could be a room away, or many cities away. Occasionally you'll have a need to access a server locally. It doesn't make sense to have a monitor, keyboard and mouse for each physical server in your environment. A KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) is a device that allows multiple physical servers to share a single Keyboard, monitor, and mouse. In the server room the KVM can be designed to fit in a rack allowing easy access to multiple physical servers. You can also purchase network enabled KVM's giving you local access even when you're away. Backing up the data in your server room is important. There are many different methods for backing up data. One such method is to backup your data to tape drive. When purchasing a tape drive you can get one that holds one, or two tapes, or you can get one with an autoloader that holds multiple tapes. An autoloader will automatically switch tapes based on your backup jobs. A common backup practice is to do disk to disk to tape backup. In this environment you have your servers backup their data to a centralized drive, then you write those backups to tape. Then you want to store your tapes offsite in a secure location. You can use backup software to backup virtual machines too. When we have a server room running all this equipment it get's pretty hot in there. We need to ensure we provide proper cooling to the server room. Currently the most common method for cooling a server room is to supply air conditioning either into the room, or into the rack directly. What ever cooling method you choose you have to make sure it will cool all your equipment. As your server room grows don't forget to increase the cooling capacity at the same time. If it gets too hot in the server room servers and other equipment will start to shut down to prevent hardware damage.
Tooth decay is an infection of the mouth which is caused by bacteria and other microbes which are found in the mouth. These bacteria convert sugars in food into acids which form cavities in the mouth. Microbes cause plaques which form sticky coverings on the tooth. There are thousands of bacteria present in the mouth. These bacteria live in the gum, teeth and tongue. While some of these microbes are helpful to the body, most are harmful. Some of these harmful bacteria are actually responsible for tooth decay and other forms of mouth infections. Tooth decay in children give parents nightmares. Children suffering from tooth decay experience pains and discomfort. Tooth decay may cause other infections when it persists for a long time. When proper treatment is not provided, growth and speech development may be affected. Tooth decay in children often occurs over a period of time. Some of it signs may resemble those of other infections and in other cases; tooth decay may come up as a result of an underlying ailments. This makes it difficult to detect. Some of the signs of tooth decay in children include appearance of a dull white band on the surface of the tooth, appearance of a yellow brown, and like brownish-black teeth. At the latter stages, the teeth become blackened while the gums appear red and swollen. According to reports obtained from National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, about 42 percent of children between the ages of two and eleven often develop tooth decay. Getting children cured from the infection is a source of concern for parents. What Causes Tooth Decay in children Tooth decay is a common infection that affects children in their early years. It occurs primarily due to inadequate brushing and lack of proper care of the teeth. At the early years, children often sleep at night with bottles strapped to the mouth. This results in baby bottle tooth decay. Feeds from the bottles drain and accumulate at the juncture of the gum thereby providing a breeding place for microbes of all sorts. Apart from this, eating too many candies or food items that have high amounts of sugar can cause tooth decay. These are only some of the causes of tooth decay in children. Apart from the appearance of a brown-blackish tooth; pains, fever and general discomforts are some of the symptoms that children may develop as a result of tooth decay. Tooth Decay treatment in children Parents have important roles to play in order to provide adequate treatment for kids suffering from tooth decay. Do not allow your kids to sleep with a bottle of feeds of other drinks in the mouth. If your child must take something, water is recommended. A good hygiene culture must be embraced by the parents. You must wash your child’s teeth regularly. A minimum of twice every day is recommended. Foods that contain sugars in high amounts should be avoided. Apart from this, other items that seem to contain acids should be avoided because of their effects on the teeth. A proper cleaning of the teeth is recommended after eating sugary substances. When all treatment options seem not to be effective, you are advised to visit your doctor for proper treatment. A medical diagnosis will go a long way in determining the actual cause of ailments when the infection seems to persist even after treatment. When the tooth is extremely damaged, a removal and replacement option may be recommended. This will prevent the infection from spreading to other teeth. Similarly, when the tooth appears to brownish colored, a more advanced option for cleaning may be used. This will depend on the recommendation by your physician.
Researchers have managed to turn indigestible cellulose into starch, a process that could render billions of tons of agricultural waste into food and fuel. Plants grow more than 160 billion tons of cellulose—the material that makes up the walls of plant cells—every year, but only a tiny fraction of that is useful to humans in the crops we grow. This is frustrating, as cellulose is made up of glucose chains that are almost, but not quite, the same as those that make up the starch that constitutes 20 to 40 percent of most peoples' daily calorie intake. With the world's population forecast to reach nine billion by 2050, working out how to alter cellulose glucose into something more practical could be vital for preventing starvation. There's also an extra benefit in that some could be used for biofuels. Biological systems engineers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University investigated ways of breaking cellulose down into more basic glucose blocks, and how to combine them back together into more complex starches. To do this, the team needed enzymes generated by a genetically modified E.coli bacteria (the genes were taken from fungi, potatoes and other bacteria). That gave the team a collection of enzymes. The first breaks cellulose down into the slightly simpler cellobiose, which another enzyme then splits into two individual glucose molecules—one on its own, the other with one phosphate molecule attached. That phosphate molecule allows the glucose to combine together into amylose, a starch powder that's edible but not digestible. It is present in many foods, is a good source of fiber, and has been shown to improve the digestive health of people who eat it regularly. It also has other practical uses. The study's coauthor, Percival Zhang, said: "Besides serving as a food source, the starch can be used in the manufacture of edible, clear films for biodegradable food packaging. It can even serve as a high-density hydrogen storage carrier that could solve problems related to hydrogen storage and distribution." The process renders a third of cellulose into edible starch, with the other two-thirds rendered into a useable biofuel—none of the cellulose is wasted. For every ton of grain harvested by farmers, there can be two or three times as much plant material discarded, and that "grain stover" is what was used in this research. However, future research could mean that cellulose found in other plants that are not considered edible at all, such as trees, might prove to have a use. However, it is unclear how economical this process is. Zhang told Science that it could cost roughly $1 million to turn 200kg of cellulose into 20kg of starch, which is a lot of money for what is apparently only enough for one person across 80 days. Further research will be needed to see if the process has a commercial future. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The authors have filed a patent application for the process. This story originally appeared on Wired UK.
Thunder Cake Teaching Plan - Grades: 3–5 About this book Introduce the Read Aloud Spark children's interest in the story by having them work in small groups to: - brainstorm and list common sounds people are afraid of. - share experiences of how they handle the sounds they list. When children gather as a class again, invite them to compare their lists. Have them identify sounds that are common to all of the lists. You may want to point out that talking about a fear is one way to reduce it. Sharing fears often makes people feel safer. Encourage children to mention experiences in which older members of their families have shared their wisdom about overcoming fear in ways that were helpful to them. Share the Read Aloud Display the cover of the book, read the title and names of the author and illustrator. Talk about the cover picture, and ask children to identify the characters. Ask children to predict what a thunder cake could be. Read the story aloud. As you read, pause at strategic places to ask children to predict what a Thunder Cake is and how the grandmother can help the girl overcome her fear. Think About the Read Aloud Give children time to share their thoughts and opinions about the story. You may want to prompt discussion with questions such as: - Trade places with the girl. In what ways would you be like her? In what ways would you be different from her? - Trade places with Grandma. What would you do the same way as she did? What would you do differently? - Do you think you would like the Thunder Cake? Why or why not? - How do the girl's feelings about herself change from the beginning to the end of the story? - As you listened to the story, how did you picture the storm? What did you see? Hear? Feel? Focus on Language Connect to figurative language Write the words on the chalkboard that the author used to describe the thunder. Read each one, and have children echo you. Tell children that writers sometimes use words to describe sounds, and they try to make the words sound like the sounds. Encourage children to think of other onomatopoetic words, and help you spell them. Then have the group read the words aloud. Have children work in cooperative groups to dramatize a part of the story. Have them choose a favorite scene and role-play characters for a few minutes. Challenge them to improvise further dialogue, scenes, or characters. (COOPERATIVE GROUPS)
Approximately 65 species of mammals are known to occur in the New River Gorge area. Common mammals include groundhog, raccoon, opossum, gray and fox squirrel, chipmunk, and white-tailed deer. Beaver, mink, and an occasional river otter may sometimes be seen along the river. Black bears and bobcats are reclusive and mostly nocturnal. Coyotes and red and gray foxes may also be seen here. The diverse forest and river ecosystems protected at New River Gorge provide critical habitat for a number of threatened and endangered species. The park contains relatively stable and healthy populations of Allegheny woodrats, a species of special concern in West Virginia. The woodrat population in West Virginia may represent the core population for this species in the eastern United States. Due to this species' decline throughout the east, the woodrat populations at New River Gorge are critical from a conservation perspective. Ten species of bats have been documented in the park, including two federally endangered species (Virginia big-eared bat and Indiana bat) and one state rare species (eastern small-footed myotis). Abandoned mine portals throughout the park provide habitat for roosting and hibernating. Protecting these historic mines not only preserves our cultural history, it also protects the critical habitat that bats need to survive.
Read more: "Climate change: What we do – and don't – know" How much warming will there be if we, say, double CO2 levels in our atmosphere? One way to get an idea of how complex feedbacks play out in Earth's climate is to use computer models. The other, more trustworthy method is to look at how changes in CO2 have affected past climate, from the recent past to millions of years ago. Both methods suggest doubling CO2 warms the planet by 2°C at least. Most studies point to a warming of about 3°C being the most likely response, and this is the value for "climate sensitivity" assumed in recent IPCC predictions. Some studies of past climate, however, point to climate sensitivities of 6°C or more. One reason for this discrepancy is that climate models include only "fast" feedbacks, whereas palaeoclimate studies also include longer-term feedbacks such ... To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.
(1) (Science: anatomy) a solid organ located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. The liver plays a major role in metabolism, digestion, detoxification and elimination of substances from the body. large and complicated reddish-brown glandular organ located in the upper right portion of the abdominal cavity; secretes bile and functions in metabolism of protein and carbohydrate and fat; synthesizes substances involved in the clotting of the blood; synthesizes vitamin A; detoxifies poisonous substances and breaks down worn-out erythrocytes.Liver of an animal used as meat.One of the most important organisms of the mammalian body, it is chiefly responsible for the control of glucose concentration in the bloodstream. (2) An organ in the upper abdomen that aids in digestion and removes waste products and worn-out cells from the blood. The liver is the largest solid organ in the body. The liver weighs about three and a half pounds (1.6 kilograms). It measures about 8 inches (20 cm) horizontally (across) and 6.5 inches (17 cm) vertically (down) and is 4.5 inches (12 cm) thick. The liver has a multitude of important and complex functions. Some of these functions are to: Synthesize, store, and process (metabolize) fats, including fatty acids (used for energy) and cholesterol Metabolize and store carbohydrates, which are used as the source for the sugar (glucose) in blood that red blood cells and the brain use Form and secrete bile that contains bile acids to aid in the intestinal absorption (taking in) of fats and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Eliminate, by metabolizing and/or secreting, the potentially harmful biochemical products produced by the body, such as bilirubin from the breakdown of old red blood cells and ammonia from the breakdown of proteins Detoxify, by metabolizing and/or secreting, drugs, alcohol, and environmental toxins (3) The largest gland of the body, weighing between 1200-1600 grams, and is situated in the top right portion of the abdominal cavity. The liver is divided by fissures into four lobes. The liver plays an essential role in many metabolic processes by regulating the composition and concentration of nutrients and toxic materials in the blood. Its functions include synthesizing bile and blood coagulating factors, acting as the site of metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats, regulating the amount of blood sugar, converting excess glucose to glycogen, removing excess amino acids, storing and metabolizing fats, and detoxifying poisonous substances, worn out red blood cells and other unwanted material.
Although many cultures have constructed pyramids, those of Egypt are among the most famous structures in the world. The ancient Egyptians erected huge pyramids as burial monuments for their kings, the PHARAOHS. Around 2650 B.C. an Egyptian architect named Imhotep built the oldest known pyramid for his king, Djoser. It was the first royal tomb in Egypt to be made entirely of stone, instead of mud-brick. It consists of six layers, each smaller than the one below it, and is known as the Step Pyramid. Beneath the pyramid is a network of underground rooms and tunnels, including the king's burial chamber. The next 500 years were the golden age of pyramid construction in Egypt, as kings and nobles ordered ever more massive or elaborate structures. Surrounding each pyramid, which contained or stood on top of the tomb, the Egyptians erected many other buildings, such as temples and smaller pyramids for family members. In some cases, a wall enclosed the entire complex, and passages and shafts ran underneath the structures. The pyramids were built of mud-brick or limestone blocks and were covered on the outside with a layer of the whitest limestone. Of the 80 or so pyramids found in Egypt, many fell into ruin long ago. The best-preserved structures are found at Giza, Dahshur, and Saqqarah, sites south of CAIRO that were close to the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis. The three large pyramids at Giza have been a major Egyptian tourist attraction since the 400s B.C., when the Greek historian Herodotus marveled at them. They were built between 2575 and 2465 B.C. for the kings Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. The largest, the Great Pyramid of Khufu, has been called the largest building ever constructed. It measures 756 feet on each side and was 481 feet high when it was new. It is shorter today because people stripped its outer limestone blocks for use in other structures. The Great Pyramid contains about 2.3 million blocks of stone weighing almost 6 million tons. Nearby is the Great Sphinx. The pyramids were designed to proclaim the might and power of the kings who lay buried beneath them. Unfortunately, they called too much attention to the royal burial sites. Beginning in ancient times, robbers looted nearly all the tombs, carrying off the goods and treasures that were buried with the royal and noble dead. Eventually, the kings of Egypt stopped erecting pyramids and instead built secret royal tombs in the remote caves of the Valley of the Kings. (See also Egypt, Ancient.)
Parents Should Set a Healthy Eating Example for Children To get a child to eat more healthful foods, both Mom and Dad need to set an example. In a study, researchers used questionnaires to determine the eating habits of 114 children ages 3 to 5 years and their parents. Kids ate more raw vegetables, berries, and other fruits when their mothers did. When it came to cooked veggies, both parents’ eating habits influenced how much kids ate. Dinner—which offers more ways to serve vegetables than other mealtimes—was when parents’ eating behavior had the greatest effect on their children. Schedule regular family dinners, and be sure to load everyone’s plates with fruits and veggies. Source: Food Quality and Preference, published online Feb. 20, 2020
A cleft is an opening in the lip and/or palate that occurs early in pregnancy where the developing facial structure does not fuse together completely. A cleft occurs in the upper lip and can be on either side, both sides, or in the middle. The cleft may also extend into the nose. A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. Cleft lip and palate can occur together or separately. Cleft is one of the most common congenital birth defects in the world, occurring on average in 1 of every 700 live births. Some populations have higher incidences of cleft, including people of Asian, Latino, and Native American descent. The exact cause of cleft is unknown, but researchers have identified several factors, both genetic and environmental, that may contribute to the condition. Environmental factors may include maternal smoking, drug and alcohol use, illness or infections, or lack of folic acid during pregnancy. Genetic factors may include ethnicity, consanguinity, and a family history of cleft. Cleft occurs more frequently in underserved communities throughout the world. This is due in part because women have less access to basic healthcare and prenatal care as well as a higher rate of food insecurity and vitamin deficiency. Researchers continue to explore why cleft occurs and how it can be prevented. Children born with cleft face a difficult road ahead of them. Physically, their cleft may affect their eating, hearing, speaking, and breathing, while emotionally, these children may be bullied at school or hidden at home. A child born with a cleft lip and/or palate can have a new, healthy smile with surgery. Global Smile Foundation’s goal is to treat our patients born with cleft lip ate the age of 3 months old and our patients born with cleft palate between 12-18 months old. Even after surgery, these children will also most likely need speech therapy, orthodontic treatment, and psycho-social support. Global Smile Foundation’s philosophy is to help every child born with a cleft to thrive by providing these comprehensive cleft care services throughout the child’s life into adulthood. Types of Cleft Unilateral – Right Unilateral – Left
Poland had a long history of horsemanship, and its light cavalry called Uhlans (A Tatar word for “Hero,” or “Rider”) were the pride of its army. When Hitler invaded on 1st of September, 1939, he swept across Poland with a different kind of cavalry ― tanks. The whole world watched the dawn of entirely different warfare. No more were the horsemen lords of war in the flatlands of Eastern Europe. Instead, they became mere cannon fodder. Before all hell broke loose, it was obvious that the Germans were aiming to end Polish sovereignty. The Free City of Danzig, established by the Versaille treaty, was a semi-autonomous territory that acted as part of the Polish state. Part of the initial battles of the invasion was the famous cavalry charge at the village of Krojanty southwest of Danzig. This was where Hitler struck first. At the same time, from the east, the secret part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact took effect. The Soviet Union invaded the country, causing a complete collapse of Polish attempts to defend themselves. While the Germans were practicing Blitzkrieg, the Poles were cornered and forced to fight to their death. Even though the Polish High Command had initial success, the enemy was far better equipped and larger in numbers. The Poles relied on courage as their last resort. It all came down to heroic acts of individuals. Thus, the Charge at Krojanty turned into a modern myth. The basis for the myth is true, as Poles did use cavalry extensively during their desperate defense attempt against the Germans, but the story later evolved into a propaganda effort by both sides. The truth is, the Polish Cavalry did see extensive combat, and was able to rout the enemy infantry units on several occasions, but the mythic component was the story that the Poles charged the German Panzers, believing they were dummies. Now, why would they believe such a thing? The answer lies in the restrainments of the Treaty of Versaille from 1919, which explicitly prohibited the use of tanks by the German Army. Hitler violated this agreement, but the Poles refused to believe it. The Battle of Krojanty happened on September 1st, as part of the much larger Battle of Tuchola Forrest. This was a series of skirmishes across the Polish defense line in the countries northwest. Krojanty, a small village in northern Poland, which was under the jurisdiction of the Free City of Danzig, became the field of battle which later turned into a story for future generations. The 18th Pomeranian Uhlans spotted a group of German infantry resting at a railroad near the village. Colonel Kazimir Mastalerz, the commander of the Uhlans, ordered Eugeniusz Świeściak, commander of the 1st Squadron, to use the element of surprise. He was ordered to charge at the Germans, with his horsemen, who were mostly equipped with lances. The two other squadrons, which included the TKS/TK-3 tankettes as support, were held in reserve. The initial charge proved to be successful. The German infantry dispersed as the Uhlans chased them across the field. But then, German armored vehicles (most likely Leichter Panzerspähwagen or Schwerer Panzerspähwagen) joined the fight, advancing through the nearby forest. They fired a machine gun barrage which decimated the Polish horsemen. Commander Świeściak was gunned down. Colonel Mastalerz hurried to his aid, prompting the second two squadrons to advance. He was killed soon after by the same armored vehicles. The battle ended, and German and Italian war correspondents rushed to cover the story. As they saw the dead horsemen, they immediately concluded that the charge took place against the German armor. The Italian journalist, Indro Montanelli, wrote on that day about the bravery of Polish Uhlans who charged the German tanks with lances and sabers. This article was the initial starting point of the myth. A third of the Polish force was either dead or wounded after the Battle of Krojanty. Even though the battle was lost, it enabled the Polish 1st Rifle Battalion and National Defence Battalion Czersk to execute their tactical withdrawal from the nearby village of Chojnice. The charge left an impression on the Germans, as they ended their advance for the day. The self-confident and arrogant German officers were indeed frightened of the Uhlan’s cavalry charge, as they managed to disturb the Wehrmacht’s advance on several points along the front. The Poles were able to outmaneuver the German Panzers and strike the supporting infantry from the rear, leaving the tanks unguarded. On 15 different occasions, the Polish Uhlans managed to stage charges, covering the retreating friendly units and causing panic and confusion within the enemy. Even though the lance stopped being part of the official cavalry arsenal in 1937, it was still available as a weapon of choice. The traditional long spear was often decorated with a small Polish flag and was thus seen as a motivational tool, as well as being an effective weapon against infantry. After a month of fighting, Poland fell to her conqueror. The Nazis wanted to mock the defeated Poles by further developing the propaganda myth which incorporated suicidal charges of Polish cavalry on German tanks. They also wanted to point out how superior the German people were in compared with primitive Poles who still used horses in battle even though the time of cavalry had certainly passed. The Poles saw the myth as part of their mentality ― bravery against all odds, and adopted the story proudly and defiantly. The myth survived the war and was used as Soviet propaganda to discredit the pre-war Polish officers who, allegedly, wasted the lives of their soldiers. As late as the 1990s, this story was still taught in history classes in American high schools and colleges. Nevertheless, the story remains inspirational as it depicts romantic bravery against a far superior enemy. A Nobel Prize winning author, Gunther Grass, was particularly struck by the news of the Poles charging the German tanks. He wrote in his famous 1959 novel, “The Tin Drum”: O insane cavalry… with what aplomb they will kiss the hand of death, as though death were a lady; but first they gather, with sunset behind them – for color and romance are their reserves – and ahead of them the German tanks, stallions from the studs of Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, no nobler steeds in all the world. But Pan Kichot, the eccentric knight in love with death, lowers his lance with the red-and-white pennant and calls on his men to kiss the lady’s hand. The storks clatter white and red on rooftops, and the sunset spits out pits like cherries, as he cries to his cavalry: “Ye noble Poles on horseback, these are no steel tanks, they are mere windmills or sheep, I summon you to kiss the lady’s hand”.
Does this test have other names? Peripheral blood smear, blood smear analysis, peripheral blood film, smear, manual differential, manual DIFF What is this test? A blood smear is a type of blood test. It looks at the appearance, number, and shape of your red and white blood cells and platelets to see whether they are normal. A blood smear can also detect parasites in your blood. It is now more common to have blood analyzed by a computer. But blood smears may still be routinely done to look for certain diseases. A blood smear is checked by a lab scientist (pathologist) or healthcare provider who specializes in blood or infectious diseases. These specialists look at the blood cells on a slide. Sometimes a blood smear shows information that's not found by a computer. Why do I need this test? You may need this test if you have any of the problems below: Low levels of red blood cells (anemia) Jaundice, a condition that causes your skin and eyes to turn yellow Feeling tired or dizzy all the time A fever that doesn't go away or keeps coming back, after travel to a developing country or contact with ticks Possible contact with a parasite that carries an infectious disease, such as malaria Healthcare providers often use a blood smear to confirm the diagnosis for certain diseases. For example, if a child has bouts of severe, unexplained chest pain, the child might have sickle cell anemia. This is an inherited disease that can be identified through a blood smear. You may also have this test to check your blood cell count if you have had chemotherapy. This test may help your healthcare provider see if the treatment is working. What other tests might I have along with this test? You may also have a complete blood count. This test looks at the size and number of platelets and red and white blood cells. Another test often done with a blood smear is a reticulocyte count. This is done by staining and counting the number of premature red blood cells. These are red blood cells that have left your bone marrow early. You may also have a chemistry panel, or a blood chemistry test. This test measures substances, such as electrolytes, sugar, and protein, in your blood. You may also have a bone marrow biopsy. This is a test that looks at the blood cells inside your bone marrow. Bone marrow is a spongy substance inside some large bones. Bone marrow makes blood cells. For this test, the healthcare provider collects a tiny amount of bone marrow with a needle. What do my test results mean? Test results may vary depending on your age, gender, health history, and other things. Your test results may be different depending on the lab used. They may not mean you have a problem. Ask your healthcare provider what your test results mean for you. The results of a blood smear might include the number, size, and shape of your red blood cells. The results also might tell your healthcare provider the number and type of your white blood cells, the number of platelets, or even if you have a parasite. Your test results will be either normal or abnormal. Your healthcare provider will interpret that result based on your symptoms, the diagnosis your provider suspects, or the treatment you are having. A blood smear can be used to help diagnose or check on many conditions, such as: Sickle cell disease Sudden kidney failure The accuracy of the results depends on the skill and experience of the person looking at your blood smear. Talk with your healthcare provider about the results. How is this test done? The test is done with a blood sample. A needle is used to draw blood from a vein in your arm or hand. Does this test pose any risks? Having a blood test with a needle carries some risks. These include bleeding, infection, bruising, and feeling lightheaded. When the needle pricks your arm or hand, you may feel a slight sting or pain. Afterward, the site may be sore. What might affect my test results? Ask your healthcare provider if you can eat or drink before the test. How do I get ready for this test? You don't need to prepare for this test. But be sure your healthcare provider knows about all the medicines, herbs, vitamins, and supplements you are taking. This includes medicines that don't need a prescription and any illegal drugs you may use.
A galaxy is a large collection of stars, often arranged into spiral arms in spiral galaxies, though elliptical, irregular, and lenticular galaxies have no spiral arm structure and instead are made directly of stellar belts. The total number of stars in a galaxy ranges from 100 trillion for giant elliptical galaxies to just 1000 in the tiniest dwarf galaxies. The Milky Way, a spiral galaxy, has 400 billion stars. Galaxies also contain spiral arms, which contain various solar systems. The Milky Way contains six spiral arms, though other galaxies can contain more or less, with a minimum of zero (in the case of spiral galaxies that retain only their central bar) and no real maximum. They contain multiple star systems. In addition to the properties above, galaxies are also organized into various groupings, such as local groups and super-clusters. Galaxy, from the Greek word ''γάλα'' which in English is translated to milk, actually means ''Milky Way''. Our own Galaxy is called Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy as it is our own Galaxy. ''Galaxy'' basically means that milky circles around. In Greek mythology and religion, Zeus (Jupiter) placed his son, Hercules at the breasts of his wife, Hera (Juno) and Hercules drunk milky of Hera's breasts, but she realized it and woke up, Since she threw Hercules away from her chest, milky ''fell'' all around in the night sky, shaping the Milky Way, deriving the word ''Gala-Milk- Jias-Way''. Elliptical Galaxy (E) Elliptical galaxies are a type of galaxy that are round or oval in shape and are mostly made up of older stars; it is believed that many galaxy collisions end up creating elliptical galaxies, and that eventually they will become more common as the universe ages. They vary in size; dwarf elliptical galaxies can be made up of just a few million stars, while the largest of them can have trillions. Elliptical galaxies are designated with the type En, with n equal to: 10 * (1 - a/b) where a is the galaxy's major axis and b is its minor axis. In general, elliptical galaxies range from E0 to E7. Well-known elliptical galaxies in our universe include IC 1101 (one of the largest known galaxies), M87, and Maffei 1. Lenticular Galaxy (S0) Lenticular galaxies are a type of galaxy taking the shape of a disc (like spiral galaxies) but which do not have enough active star formation to have spiral arms or a central bar. They tend to be made up of older stars, and their shape means that they are often compared to elliptical galaxies in structure. Well-known lenticular galaxies in our universe include M84, the Cartwheel Galaxy, and NGC 4866. Spiral Galaxy (Sa) Spiral galaxies are a type of galaxy that are disc-like in shape but have their disc of stars spun into a set of spiral arms where there is a higher concentration of nebulae and large, bright stars. It is believed that stars will regularly "pile up" inside these arms like a traffic jam, and then leave the arm to travel to the next one. Like elliptical galaxies, they vary in size from millions of stars to trillions. Spiral galaxies can be subdivided from Sa to Sc, with later letters indicating a looser and more diffuse spiral. The Sa subcategory is usually reserved for the tightest galaxies. Unfortunately, this Wikia does not seem to use this classification, with Sb being used for barred spirals (it is actually SBa through SBc). Well-known spiral galaxies in our universe include M33, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Milky Way. Barred Spiral Galaxy (Sb) Barred spiral galaxies are a type of galaxy similar to a spiral galaxy but possessing a central "bar" of bright stars near the core, to which the spiral arms are attached. Most spiral galaxies have bars, actually, but a "barred spiral" is usually used to refer to a galaxy with a more prominent and even bar. The creation of these bars is thought to be related to the same density wave that creates normal spiral arms. Like normal spirals, barred spiral galaxies are subdivided from SBa to SBc based on how tightly wound they are. Well-known barred spiral galaxies in our universe include NGC 1300 and the Milky Way (which appears to have a partial bar). Loose Spiral Galaxy (Sc) Loose spiral galaxies are a type of spiral galaxy, whose spiral arms appear to be "loose". Whereas Sa and Sb galaxies have their spiral arms close and thin, Sc galaxies appear to have free-flowing, thicker arms and SBc galaxies have many thin arms. SBa and SBb galaxies have arms that take a sharp turn, from going straight out and into a circular manner. Irregular Spiral Galaxy (Sm) Irregular spiral galaxies are galaxies that are irregular, which mean they aren't very symmetrical or "organized". Irregular Galaxy (Irr) Irregular galaxies are a type of galaxy, often very small, that have an irregular, nebula-like shape and no spiral arm structure. Many of them, like nebulae, are rich in stars, gas, and dust, while others are older spiral or elliptical galaxies that were perturbed by gravity into unusual shapes. There are two main types of irregular galaxies: Irr I galaxies appear to have some structure, like a central bar or spiral arms, but are difficult to classify. Irr II galaxies do not have any consistent structure. Well-known irregular galaxies in our universe include the Small Magellanic Cloud, Leo A, and IC 10. Dwarf Spherical Galaxy (dSph) Dwarf spherical galaxies (also referred to as dwarf spheroidal galaxies) are among the smallest and most common type of galaxy. They are extremely small and faint, and only a few have been discovered in Earth's Local Group, but it is likely that most galaxies have several spheroidal companions. Many dwarf spheroidal galaxies resemble globular clusters, and distinguishing the two can be difficult. Most of the Milky Way's and Andromeda (M31)'s companion galaxies are of this type. Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy (dE) Dwarf elliptical galaxies are the smaller counterpart of elliptical galaxies, being dwarf-sized and usually no more than a few kiloparsecs in diameter. They are similar to dwarf spherical galaxies in shape, but have distinct stellar formation patterns and age. Well-known galaxies of this type in our universe include M32, NGC 147, and NGC 185. Dwarf Irregular Galaxy (dIrr) Some of the smallest of all galaxy types, dwarf irregular galaxies (dIrr) are very loose and small galaxies containing as few as a couple thousand stars, putting them very close to globular clusters. They are known to have low metallicity, meaning they are good indicators as to what the universe was like when it formed. While somewhat common as satellites around larger spiral or elliptical galaxies, they are difficult to separate in classification from normal irregular galaxies. A few dwarf irregular galaxies in our universe include UGC 4459 and the Canis Major Dwarf. \|⎊ Null class (-1) ⎊ <- ∅ Protoclass (0) ∅ -> ۞ Starter Class (1) ۞\|
Do Voles Eat Grass? Voles (Microtus spp.), also called meadow mice, are mouselike stocky, compact rodents with short legs and tails. There are 23 vole species in the United States, with six species occurring in California alone. Voles don't invade houses but can become numerous in their habitats and invade gardens, orchards and home landscapes. They live in burrows and runways and are herbivorous; grass is an important part of their diet. They are active both day and night and don't hibernate. Description and Behavior In comparison to a house mouse, voles are heavier-bodied with smaller, partially hidden ears and small eyes. They are usually gray or brown with lighter undersides and coarse fur. The total length from nose tip to tail tip is between 4 and 8 1/2 inches. Voles spend most of their time in their burrows and the runways that connect them. They build underground nests of grass, stems and leaves. A burrow system houses several adults and young. Voles don't climb well so they usually don't enter buildings, instead occupying wild areas, croplands or landscapes that furnish the protective cover. They are good swimmers. Besides a variety of grasses, voles eat other plant materials, including sedges, leafy plants, bulbs, roots, tubers and bark. In winter when fresh plants are limited, they feed mostly on roots and bark. In gardens and orchards, they can damage most leafy and root vegetables, turf, ornamentals and bark of fruit trees. California voles (Microtus californicus) also eat fruits and grain when available. California voles are defensive of territories when the population densities become high, with males defending mostly areas where grass is the staple diet and females defending places where fruits and leafy plants are the primary foods. Like other small rodents, voles have a high reproductive rate. They mature quickly, with females mating at three weeks old and males at five weeks. Litters contain one to 11 young but average four or five. In coastal areas where grasses stay green all year, California voles breed year-round. In Mediterranean climates where grasses die in summer, California voles breed only when grass is growing. Voles are short-lived, with a life span of between 2 to 16 months. In one vole population, 88 percent of voles died in the first month of life. Under favorable conditions, vole populations reach a high density, with reports of hundreds of voles per acre for California voles. It is during such population peaks that voles are likely to damage crops and residential plantings. Although voles are important food for predators such as owls, hawks, foxes, snakes, coyotes, herons and egrets, during peak populations, they can't keep up with effective number reduction. Over time, populations reduce, generally following a three to six year cycle. During peak periods when wild habitats can't furnish enough grasses and wild plants and voles seek cultivated food, University of California Integrated Pest Program guidelines recommend a 15-foot-wide clear strip around areas you want to protect, making voles easier to see and more vulnerable to predators. Exclude voles from gardens with a 12-inch-high, 1/4-inch hardware cloth fence, buried underground for 6 to 10 inches. Protect tree bark by enclosing trunks with hardware cloth, plastic or sheet metal. For smaller vole infestations, traps and toxic baits can be effective. Cathryn Chaney has worked as a gardening writer since 2002. Her horticultural experience working in the nursery industry informs her garden articles, especially those dealing with arid landscaping and drought-tolerant gardening. Chaney also writes poetry, which has appears in "Woman's World" magazine and elsewhere. Chaney graduated from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
Contributed by CAMERA fellow Elana Zelden The black civil rights movement has a very similar origin to that of the Zionist movement. They both stem from discrimination that began due to race or ethnicity. These movements were responses to oppression in what should have been a free society, in the place that each called home, without discrimination just because of their heritage of beliefs. The Jews have endured this kind of discrimination for thousands of years. This can be seen from the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, or even in the recent past by the German Nazi Regime. Current anti-Semitic acts around the world, such as those in Paris and Denmark, are another sign that hate and oppression are still alive today. Millions upon millions of Jews have suffered at the hands of these different uprisings, wars, pogroms, and the Holocaust. Nobody deserves such treatment. They deserve to live safely and freely in their own homes. History cannot be ignored, and if past history is any indication, the Jewish people can only survive with the kind of independence they enjoy in the place that they call home. Zionism aims to realize the dream of the Jewish people, as promised in the Bible, of having a Jewish homeland of their own, where they can live in peace and worship freely. African Americans have gone through very similar experiences. This can be traced back to kidnappings of slaves from Africa and bringing them here to be slaves to affluent Americans. American slavery led to the Civil War in the United States during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Following freedom from slavery, African Americans endured discrimination even in recent history. They were not given the right to vote in the United States until 1870. In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for attempting to sit in the front of the bus as a black woman. This kind of discrimination had to do with nothing more than her skin color. After looking at history, it is hard to not see the similarities between Zionism and the Civil Rights Movement. The chalutzim and founders of the State of Israel, such as David Ben-Gurion, can be compared to Martin Luther King and his followers in the 1960’s in that they all understood exactly what it took to gain true freedom and independence. The world should never let race or ethnicity get in the way of how we treat people or of what freedoms are available to them. African Americans have the right to live safely and freely, just as Jewish people do in their own state. We cannot be blinded by these inherent rights, like so many have been in the past. With the help of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had the privilege of welcoming Dumisani Washington to campus on April 14th. Dumisani is a pastor from Califronia who gave an excellent lecture about the inherent connection between the Black Civil Rights movement and the Zionist movement, as well as the importance of Christianity supporting Zionism. He talked about how supportive Martin Luther King Jr. was of the Zionist movement, and how the Bible clearly identifies the Jewish people and their connection to the State of Israel.
Page 1 of 4 Please PAUSE the "How to Draw a Raven" 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 front part of the raven's body. The circle doesn't have to be perfect. It's just a guide. Step 2: Draw a long arc on the lower left side of the circle to finish up the guide for the raven's body. The end result should be a shape similar to an egg. Step 3: Draw another circle above the raven's body on the right side as a guide for the head. This circle should be about half the size of the first one. The edges of the circles should touch. Step 4: Inside the circle, draw two intersecting lines. These lines will help you place the raven's facial features later. Step 5: Draw a triangle-like shape on the right side of the head as a guide for the raven's beak.
Sometimes when it rains, you can see a rainbow. A rainbow appears only when it is raining and sunny at the same time. But the sun, the clouds and you, have to be at a certain position in order to observe a rainbow. This is how and why rainbow appear: Sunlight contains many different colors. Actually, it contains an infinite number of colors, all colors which exist. This is the sunlight’s visible spectrum, and it ranges from red to violet. But all of these colors together, as in normal sunlight, appear white. Raindrops separate all the different colors so that one can observe them individually. Therefore a rainbow has all these colors. The reason for the color separation is that light breaks when it penetrates the droplet of water. To break light means that the light doesn’t go straight through the surface of the raindrop; it gets bent. In physics this effect is called light refraction. Each color gets bent to different degrees. For rainbows to appear, the white sunlight gets separated into the individual colors of the spectrum inside the raindrops. The whole process of separating the white light into its different colors is shown the figure below. When the white light with all its colors enters the raindrops it already gets separated into the different colors, Then, at the back of the raindrop it gets reflected. While exiting the raindrop, the light gets broken again. You can see from the diagram that the sun needs to be behind you whereas the rain needs to be in front of you in order to observe the individual colors. This separation of light happens in all the raindrops of the raincloud, which are at a specific angle between you and the direction of sunlight. All of these different colors form the rainbow. You can also make a tiny rainbow yourself by spraying water outside on a sunny day with the sun in your back. It looks great.
Quadriceps Tendon Anatomy The quadriceps tendon is a thick tissue located at the top of the kneecap. It works together with the quadriceps muscles to allow us to straighten our leg. The quadriceps muscles are the muscles located in front of the thigh. What is a Quadriceps Tendon Rupture? The quadriceps can rupture after a fall, direct blow to the leg and when you land on your leg awkwardly from a jump. Quadriceps tendon rupture most commonly occurs in middle-aged people who participate in sports that involve jumping and running. Other causes include tendonitis (inflammation of quadriceps tendon), diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, infection and chronic renal failure, which weaken the quadriceps tendon. Use of medications such as steroids and some antibiotics also weakens the quadriceps tendon. Consequences of Quadriceps Tendon Rupture When the quadriceps tendon tears, the patella may lose its anchoring support in the thigh, as a result, the patella moves towards the foot. You will be unable to straighten your knee and upon standing the knee buckles upon itself. Diagnosis of Quadriceps Tendon Rupture To identify a quadriceps tendon tear, your doctor will review your medical history and perform a physical examination of your knee. Some imaging tests, such as an X-ray or MRI scan, may be ordered to confirm the diagnosis. An X-ray of the knee is taken to determine the position of the kneecap and MRI scan to know the extent and location of the tear. Treatment of Quadriceps Tendon Rupture A quadriceps tendon tear can be treated by non-surgical and surgical methods. Non-surgical Treatment of Quadriceps Tendon Rupture Non-surgical treatment involves the use of knee braces to immobilize the knee. Crutches may be needed to prevent the joint from bearing weight. Physical therapy may be recommended to restore the strength and increase range of motion of the knee. Surgical Treatment of Quadriceps Tendon Rupture Surgery is usually performed on an outpatient basis. The goal of the surgery is to re-attach the torn tendon to the kneecap and restore the normal function of the knee. Sutures are placed in the torn tendon which is then passed through the holes drilled in the kneecap. The sutures are tied at the bottom of the kneecap to pull the torn edge of the tendon back to its normal position. Following surgery, a brace may be needed to protect the healing tendon. Complete healing of the tendon will take about 4 months. Risks and Complications of Quadriceps Tendon Rupture Surgery As with all surgeries, surgery to treat quadriceps tendon rupture may be associated with certain risks and complications. These include weakness and loss of motion. In some cases, the tendon which is re-attached may detach from the kneecap or tears may recur. Other complications such as pain, infection and blood clot may be observed.
Literacy focuses on the core skills to read and write. It is the ability to engage with language to communicate with yourself and other in all aspects of daily living, and the ability to understand the world around you. These activities are created fora ll ages and all cognitive levels. Activities should be adapted based on the learner's cognitive ability. Literacy activities are important for learners so that they are able to effectively read and write. Learners need literacy in order to not only be understood by others, but also to comprehend the world around them.
Google and five other companies recently announced their plans to invest in a $300 million undersea cable called FASTER. The new FASTER cable will connect the U.S. West Coast to Japan, offering unprecedented internet speeds for countries throughout Asia. Undersea cables like FASTER make up the backbone of the internet. Over 250 of these fiber optic cables already traverse the ocean floor. The underwater networks — which collectively span over 600,000 miles — connect entire continents and support our global world. Construction and maintenance of these underwater cables is increasing at a drastic rate as the demand for internet access and faster speeds spreads across the globe. But, how do these expansive undersea networks impact the environment? Cables and the Environment Undersea cables have improved drastically since their construction first began in the 1850s. Early cables needed constant maintenance and their poor installation sometimes led to the entanglement of unsuspecting whales. Today, the cables are sturdier and are typically buried within the seabed to prevent run-ins with fishing ships and marine life. Although only a few comprehensive studies exist, most seem to indicate that the cables pose a minimal risk to marine environments near the shoreline. Much less is known about how the cables impact ecosystems and wildlife in deeper waters. These deeper waters are known to be more sensitive to environmental changes and can take longer to recover from any disturbances. Some countries have therefore begun to establish laws to protect sensitive deep-sea environments—like those containing cold-water coral. Many researchers and lawmakers believe that cables could even help marine environments. Since the underwater networks are so crucial to our global economy, Australia and New Zealand have begun establishing protective zones around the cables. The zones prohibit fishing and other marine activities to prevent cable damage. The hope is that these protective areas will double as marine wildlife sanctuaries. It’s too soon to tell if these inadvertent preserves have helped improve ecosystems or marine wildlife biodiversity. However, it’s likely that more countries will adopt cable protection zones as the underwater networks continue to expand. Cables and the Law Despite their apparent minimal environmental impact, the laws surrounding cables trouble many lawmakers and scientists. A single cable can extend past the shorelines of multiple countries and even venture into international waters beyond a coastal state’s jurisdiction. This means that the environmental laws governing a lengthy cable’s construction and maintenance can quickly become complex. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea divides expansive oceans into different zones based on distance away from the shoreline of a coastal state. A state has more rights and control over zones that are closest to its shoreline. There are few provisions under this law that affect cables crossing multiple zones. For example, one article charges states with the general responsibility to protect and preserve the marine environment. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one tool that states use to meet this obligation. EIAs examine how a proposed development project — like cable construction — will impact the environment and marine life. These EIAs can be a powerful tool, but not all coastal states require the assessments for cable construction. The level of detail and quality of data can also vary drastically between countries. North America, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia and Africa have well-established protocols for environmental assessments. In the United States for example, cables proposed in marine sanctuaries undergo extensive review by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. In addition to typical EIAs, companies have to provide a detailed analysis why cable construction within the sanctuary is the best option. Everything becomes even more complicated in international waters. “Modern conservation norms such as environmental impact assessment, marine protected areas, marine spatial planning and development mechanisms … are underdeveloped in [marine areas beyond national jurisdiction]” writes Robin Warner, an associate professor with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong in a recent report. Warner is one of several experts advocating to incorporate changes into the current international law framework for conservation in international waters. An informal United Nations working group studying the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction (The UN BBNJ Working Group) is at the center of these efforts. The hope for the group — which was formed almost a decade ago — is that implementing more comprehensive laws will better protect marine wildlife in international waters. The FASTER cable and the Future How will all of this affect the FASTER cable? The cable will connect the U.S. West Coast with Japan, but specifics about its route haven’t been released yet. The cable will likely travel through international waters along with waters under the jurisdiction of several Asian coastal states. This means that Nippon Electric Company — the supplier contracted to build the undersea cable — will have to navigate complicated overlapping environmental laws. How the company chooses to plan and construct the cable in areas with fewer environmental laws will help set the tone for future development projects. Planning and construction for FASTER is expected to begin shortly and the cable should be ready for use in the second quarter of 2016. This article was originally published at The Wildlife Society, August 29, 2014.
Students Picking Pics (by Randy Poehlman) When students are able to choose which images best represent the content of the lessons, they are instantly more engaged and they become far more active. Students can tailor the themes to their particular interests, or the general interests of their classmates, far better than a teacher can select relevant photography and illustrations. This bottom up learning style is particularly useful in encouraging visual students and passive students. It has the further benefit of allowing them ownership of opinions and sparks creativity. This approach also benefits the teacher in several ways from my experience. The teacher is able to quickly learn about the concepts presented from the students’ perspective as they are the ones doing the selecting. The teacher is also able to bypass the learning materials they believe to be inadequate or out-dated. The number of relevant discussions and questions that come from this activity are numerous. Students learn concepts in less time and study more. Think about this logically from a student’s perspective. Are you more likely to study flashcards and workbooks that were created for you, by professional educators that you have never interacted with? Or, are you more likely to study lesson materials that you created with your classmates and with your teacher based on the framework of those same professional materials? - Open image search results with the computer facing away from the students so you can scan image results for inappropriate pictures before the students see the search results. - Be conscious of time and allow the students to make reasonable selections in a timely fashion. If their search goes on too long, they will ruin the team dynamic and disengage other students. Students have a stronger attachment to the materials and the concepts that they have assisted in creating. When their parents ask them, “What did you in English class today?” they can smile and tell them that they found a picture of a dog in a cup, and perhaps even show them the picture/slide/ worksheet or flashcard they designed and made for the class. Review is also less time consuming and more productive if students can instantly identify with aspects of the lesson that they helped design. Of course, as a teacher you will be required to set achievable goals for the lesson and guide the students through this creative process, so that you can properly harness their creative insight and energy. Additional ideas for this type of image selection and content creation teaching style: - If you have access to a digital camera, you can use students to pose for pictures and even allow other students to try their hand at photography. Then you can incorporate the photos of the posed students to illustrate concepts. - You can use a stronger class to design materials for a weaker class. This will allow the stronger class to gain confidence in their skills while assisting the weaker class in their development with age and interest appropriate materials. Note: I am currently using a tablet computer with a built in camera for this type of lesson. I am using common presentation software. I am teaching small groups between the ages of 6-13. A standard laptop or a desktop would suffice and the concepts could be adapted for larger groups with a projector. I have been teaching ESL for three years in Japan. I am currently working in Osaka, both developing and teaching extensive children’s programs. I am most interested in Bilingual studies, Immersion programs and Literacy development in young learners.
While most students don't know it, simple machines are all around us. As a result, teaching them about the form and function of these devices can be fun and practical. Whether the project is for a science fair or for a classroom activity, these projects can be creative and can easily depart from the textbook lessons students are used to. Get It Done Start the project with a list of all the simple machines. Then have your students think of an easy task they want to accomplish, like closing a door, flipping a switch, or opening a drawer. Have them then work backward to determine how simple machines could accomplish this task. You can create a worksheet to go with the project that has a space for diagramming the proposed idea. The students can even create the device and take a video of the simple machines in action. Fix This House Give students a scenario in which they need to repair a house from top to bottom. The fridge is busted, the roof is leaky, the walls need paint, and all sorts of other things you can think of. Have your students draw a poster of the inside and outside of the house. Then, have them determine all the ways in which simple machines can be used in the renovation process. This can include the screwdriver (screw), ramps (inclined plane) and pulleys, really any of the simple machines. The students must use at least five examples of simple machines and include them on the poster. A written report can be included with the poster. Students can apply their knowledge of pulleys, levers and springs to create a mousetrap-powered car. Provide them the mouse traps and materials such as wood, wire, fishing line, wheels, screws, screw-eyes, nail and glue. The students can then try to build the fastest car. Give them a week or two to create the cars at home or during lab time. Then have the students race their cars against each other, the winner possibly getting extra credit. Simple Machines You Use The Most Have your students create an experiment in which they chart the simple machines they use in their lives and which ones they use the most. Each student creates his own chart listing all the simple machines, and over the course of a week he can place a tally mark by each machine he uses. This can also include a separate section for complex machines in which he breaks the machines down into their component simple machines. After a week of data, the student can then create a graph showing which machines he uses the most on a week-to-week basis. Balancing the Load For this experiment you will need a see-saw, at least two students and one adult. The experiment will determine how the see-saw balances mass when balanced on a fulcrum. You will need to know the mass of the adult and the two children. Have the two children get on either edge of the see-saw. Do a few tests determining where the children need to sit to balance the weight perfectly, measuring the results. Then have one child stay on while the adult gets on the other side. Measure how far away from the fulcrum the adult needs to sit to balance the weight. Test out what happens when different combinations of the adult and the children move closer to and further away from the fulcrum. - lever image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
In this sequence, the nth term is the smallest positive integer (other than 1) that can be expressed in all bases from 2 to n using only the digits “1” and “0”. - TERM 1 Base 1 does not exist.* The first term is not defined. - TERM 2 In base 2, every number consists only of “1” and “0”. The second term is 2. - TERM 3 2 is ‘2’ in base 3, so that is no good. 3 is ‘11′ in binary AND ‘10′ in base 3. The third term is 3. - TERM 4 2 is ruled out, because we already know that 2 is ‘2’ in base 3. 3 is ‘3’ in base 4, so that is no good either. 4 is ‘100′ in binary, ‘11′ in base 3 and ‘10′ in base 4. The fourth term is 4. - TERM 5 82000 is ‘10100000001010000’ in base 2, ‘11011111001’ in base 3, ‘110001100′ in base 4 and ‘10111000’ in base 5. There are no smaller numbers with the desired property. The fifth term is 82000. This sequence struck me as particularly intriguing. It seems to be plodding along in a fairly pedestrian fashion: 2, 3, 4, … before suddenly jumping four orders of magnitude to 82000, a number that feels particularly jarring because it is almost obstinately unremarkable. 82000 is not a number that turns up in a lot of different contexts; as a rule, it keeps quite a low profile, and yet here it is popping up in our sequence, seemingly out of nowhere. Moving forward, 82000 is big, but it is not so big as to make you lose hope that finding another term might also be manageable. How many digits might the sixth term (the first number that is expressible with only “0” and “1” in bases 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) have? Ten? Twenty? More than that? THE SIXTH TERM To find the fifth term, I had written a program in Python. Essentially, it worked by going through all the positive integers in binary, treating their digits as those of a base six number, then expressing that number in bases 3 through to 5 to check whether these other expressions contain only “1” and “0”. Probably not the most efficient way of doing things, but given that it had worked well enough so far (finding 82000 in under a second), I was hoping to find the next term in relatively short order. A couple of hours of computer time later… nothing. The program had checked values up to 204698073815493849907 (‘111111111111111111111111111’ in base 6), but it had not found any solutions, indicating that, if the sixth term exists, it must be greater than 1021. I probably should not have bothered looking at all. Although this sequence is not in the rather fabulous On-line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences [UPDATE: It is now.] the sequence of “Numbers that can be written from base 2 to base 5 using only the digits 0 and 1” (Sequence A146025) is. This sequence reads “0, 1, 82000″… and that is that. With three terms, the sequence is “conjectured to be complete” and has apparently been checked to 3125 base 5 digits (i.e. to roughly 102184, which somewhat puts my 1021 in the shade). Obviously, the sixth term of our sequence would also have to be in Sequence A146025. Therefore, since 82000 itself is no good (82000 is ‘1431344’ in base 6), the sixth term must have over 2000 (base 10) digits, if it exists at all (over 2184 digits, in fact). WHY THERE MAY BE NO MORE TERMS I do not have a proof as to whether or not there are any more terms in the sequence. However, I do have the following loose argument, which I feel is at least suggestive that we may already have found all there is to find. Let’s take an extremely naive view and suppose that the digits of any d-digit positive integer n, expressed in base b, can be considered to be randomly and independently selected from the b possible digits used in that base (with the exception of the first digit, which is additionally constrained not to be zero). In this case, the probability that n is written only with 1s and 0s in base b would be equal to: So, if we further assume that the digits of n in different bases can be considered to be independent (I will come back to these dodgy assumptions!), then the probability p(n,b) that n is written only with “1” and “0” in all bases from 2 to b would be equal to: The expected number e(b) of positive integers (greater than 1) that can be expressed in all bases from 2 to b using only the digits “1” and “0”, could then be found by adding up these probabilities, from 2 to infinity: Now, I do not want to go into all the tedious manipulations, but it turns out that with a bit of messing around, you can show that this expectation is bounded above and below in the following way: Now, the key question is whether the infinite sum in those bounds on e(b) converges or not, for each value of b. If it does converge, then (given our very shaky set of assumptions) we would expect there to be a finite number of integers (possibly none at all) that could be expressed with only “1” and “0” in bases 2 through to b. If it does not converge, then we would expect there to be an infinite number of such integers. Luckily, it is well known that those sums converge if and only if the exponent α(b) < −1. Hence we just need to check the value of α(b) for each integer: - α(2) = 0 > −1. Therefore e(2) = ∞. This is what we would expect, since we know that every positive integer (i.e. an infinite number of positive integers) is expressible using only “1” and “0” in binary. - α(3) ≈ −0.37 > −1. Therefore e(3) = ∞. Again this is what we expect because there are an infinite number of positive integers expressible using only “1” and “0” in base 3, and all of them are also expressible using only “1” and “0” in binary. - α(4) ≈ −0.87 > −1. Therefore e(4) = ∞. This suggests that there are an infinite number of positive integers expressible using only “1” and “0” in bases 2 through to 4 (which seems to fit with this sequence). - α(5) ≈ −1.44 < −1. Therefore, the sum converges, e(5) is bounded above and below by finite values, so e(5) is itself finite. This suggests that there are a finite number of positive integers expressible using only “1” and “0” in bases 2 through to 5. In fact, for b = 5, that infinite sum is equal to about 1.89. Substituting this into the upper and lower bounds for e(5) suggests that the expected number of positive integers (greater than 1) expressible with only “1” and “0” in bases 2 through to 5 should lie between 0.08 and 0.59. In other words, even the fact that there is one number like this (82000) might be counted as quite a lucky result. It would be reasonable to conclude that there are likely to be no others, and if there are no more positive integers of this kind, then there certainly aren’t any positive integers (greater than 1) expressible with only “1” and “0” in bases 2 through to 6. This would mean that 82000 was the last number in our sequence. Clearly, there are significant issues with this argument. The digits of a particular number in a certain base are not chosen randomly, nor are they generally independent from one base to another. A number that ends in a “1” in base 6 will also end in a “1” in base 3, for example. On the other hand, I do feel that there is something going on here. After all, 3, 4 and 5 are the only bases that are actually relevant to the argument given above and they have no common factors (unlike 3 and 6 in the example given above). If you pick a moderately large positive integer that is expressible using only “1” and “0” in base 5, wouldn’t you expect the base 3 and base 4 representations of that number to look as if their digits had been chosen randomly and independently? Also, it is worth observing that our supposed probability p(n,5) that a given integer n will be expressible with only “1” and “0” in bases 2 through to 5 actually drops off quite quickly. Most of the expectation of finding solutions is concentrated around the lower integers (the bigger n gets, the more digits have to fall our way), so if you have got to 102184 and you still have not found a solution… AN OPEN PROBLEM Anyway, that is the best I can do. I do not think there are any more terms in the sequence, but it is an open problem, so I would be delighted to see whether anyone else has any ideas on how this could be investigated. Comments are welcome, as always. UPDATE: The 82000 sequence seems to have captured the imagination of quite a number of people. I have collected some links to related content HERE and HERE. I have also posted some ideas on related sequences HERE. * Note that, while the “unary” system, in which positive integers are represented by a sequence of 1s (a tally system, essentially) is sometimes referred to as “base 1”, it is not a mathematically natural extension of what “base n” means for all other positive integers. Since I am interested in the mathematical properties of this sequence, it is important to use a mathematically consistent definition. Hence, the statement that “base 1” does not exist, since there is no true positional numbering system that uses only one distinct digit. Thomas Oléron Evans, 2015
They say that we were born to run, not metaphorically as in that famous song by Bruce Springsteen, but more literally. The cursorial human being is neither the fastest nor the agilest or the most powerful (a simple backpack complicates things quite a lot). However humans, despite their quaint upright figure, present some breakneck numbers at endurance running (ER). Even without talking about elite athletes but about recreational runners. An average 20 to 40-year old person trained for endurance running is able to run a popular flat marathon, like the one in London in 2014, in an average time of 3 hours, 44 minutes (a The Telegraph report). Therefore, keeping 11km/h (3 m/s) along 42km. Long distance elite runners show stratospheric marks that an average person would barely beat even riding a mountain bike. Aware of the numbers, our peculiar biped biology and some paleontological cues, The endurance running hypothesis began to take shape with a work of David R. Carrier in 19841. It attempts to explain several of our unique anatomical and physiological features from an evolutionary point of view as adaptations to the endurance running for hunting and scavenging. From that view, our ability to dissipate body heat by the lack of hair, the upright position and the ability to sweating (higher that most of the mammals); our invariable energy efficiency in a wide range of running speeds (consuming almost the same amount of energy from 8 to 20km/h); and our peerless respiratory cycle uncoupled from the gait (unlike the quadrupeds) would all be favoured by natural selection as valuable hunting tools. In fact, already the australopithecines were clearly bipeds and consumed some meat from medium-sized mammals lacking any known weapon. Therefore, exist the possibility that the early hominids could use persistence hunting or active fast scavenging for competing against other carnivores. In persistence hunting, the prey is pursued from few hours to a couple of days until it collapses exhausted. Although almost extinct, such an art has been reported in several populations during the twenty-century. Bushmen, Tarahumara, Navajo or some Australian aborigines were skilled running down zebras, wildebeest, dears, or antelopes by ER; mainly during hot weather conditions. Those prey animals just to travel by walking, but they can trot as fast as a human run. They can also gallop faster than humans run but just for a while (Figure 2). However, their respiratory constrictions (breathing coupled with gait) and less efficient heat dissipation (often by panting) make them have preferred running speeds (Figure 2, Tp and Gp). In some species, those preferred speeds are below or about those that conditioned humans can sustain in ER. If the runners chasing a prey are able to track it, keeping good average speed for enough time under a burning sun, the preys will be pushed to run at their uneconomical gaits overheating their body’s until collapse. In addition to above considerations, a full set of biomechanical and musculoskeletal adaptations for running in genus Homo were exposed by Bramble and Lieberman in 2004, consolidating The Endurance Running Hypothesis in a joint body2. In this work, they reasoned a number of features of our body whose existence makes more evolutive sense for running than for walking. Furthermore, they also traced them back to its first evidence in the hominid line, in some cases even to the Homo habilis (Figure 3, upper panel). Some examples of these traits are long spring-like tendons (like Achilles tendon and iliotibial track), foot arch and relative reduction in distal limb mass; all involved in running economy. Working in running stabilization we find the gluteus maximus, the large erector spinal muscles and the nuchal ligament, which is also present in other cursorial mammals like horses. We also find comparatively larger articular surface areas in lower body joints for accommodating the stress generated by impact forces at running, which are, at least, twofold higher than in walking. Many of those features, while useful for running are little or not required for walking and most of them are undeveloped or absent in other primates (Figure 3, lower panel). Therefore, the early hominids, lacking of any weapon, were less powerful and slower in peak speed than large predators and scavengers, which often act towards evening. Hence, the evolutionary pressure would have favoured the endurance running pursuing preys or looking for carcases during in the sweltering mornings. Making possible an increasing amount of protein in hominid diets during Pliocene and Pleistocene. Thus, helping in a dietary change assumed a key player in the development of the intelligence and behaviour of modern humans. Besides and beyond the anatomy and bioenergetics, Kiely and Collins3 consider various processes in our neuromechanical system as adaptations for bipedal racing. In fact, our way of running on two legs seems, at first, terribly dangerous. However, the high impact loads at every step, the high energy demands and the lack of stability of such a “vertical” running, appear not to harm or fatigue our bodies as much as they should. The reason could hide in a superior running coordination. The cerebello-cerebral cortical network in Homo sapiens is relatively larger than in any other mammal. This structure seems to enable humans to generate models of his own movement with high spatial and temporal resolution. Helping to anticipate with extreme precision the requirements of the track and adapting the running dynamics for stability and efficiency. Playing, if necessary, to deal with more complex conditions or when fatigue diminishes the performance. Those models, acquired and refined with practice, modulate the rhythmic patterns generated by the Central Pattern Generators(CPG’s) in the spinal cord. The CPGs are able to keep the gait most of the time, leaving the brain free to other tasks like thinking and decision-making. Additionally, the same spine and brainstem generate the reflexes which modulate adaptation of movements to periodic disturbances. Finally, reflex movements, which are not guided by any neural instruction, would correct those little unforeseen imbalances occurred suddenly like with a misstep. Nowadays, after millennia being farmers more dedicated to handling large weights or heavy armors, this hypothesis is difficult to accept. Even more taking into account that paleoecological evidence suggests a paleohabitat formed by savanna-woodlands, where tracking and running are difficult given the abundant vejetación and poor visibility. Lacking also evidences about whether cognitive abilities of the first hominids were enough for such a demanding activity. And without going into how they were able to stock up on water for such an effort4. However, unlike other primates, our bones, our muscles, our ligaments, our cardiorespiratory system and our neuromechanical control have the mark of animals born not only for long walks. A man running a marathon spends the same energy whether he jogs or he runs at elite pace, and only 30% more than if he walks those 42km (Lieberman 2007). In the very beginning, a blending of group endurance hunting and a prey selection towards young or weak individuals would facilitate such a formidable task. Evolution by natural selection does what it can with what it has. Therefore, despite our extravagant way of running among the animals, we are exceptionally good at it as a result of our innate versatility to face different terrains and long distances, in different weather conditions and at a remarkable pace. Rivaling in endurance to some species of medium-sized mammals. Apart few breeds of camels, horses and dogs, all established by men for endurance running, not many wild terrestrial animals are able to travel by foot the distances that many humans are able to run. - Carrier, D. R. et al. The Energetic Paradox of Human Running and Hominid Evolution (and Comments and Reply) Current Anthropology Volume 25, Number 4, Aug. – Oct., 1984. ↩ - Bramble, D. M. & Lieberman, D. E. (2004) Endurance running and the evolution of Homo. Nature 432, 345–352. doi: 10.1038/nature03052 ↩ - Kiely, J. & Collins, D. J. (2016) Uniqueness of Human Running Coordination : The Integration of Modern and Ancient Evolutionary Innovations. Front. Psychol., doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00262. ↩ - Rayne, T. & Bunn, H. T. (2007)The endurance running hypothesis and hunting and scavenging in savanna-woodlands. J Hum Evol. 53, 434–438. ↩
Copyright © 2007 Dorling Kindersley A meteor, or shooting star, is a streak of light in the sky caused by a piece of dust or rock from space burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. Space rocks that hit Earth are called METEORITES. In a meteor shower, we see more meteors than usual coming from one patch of sky. Most showers take place on the same date every year—the Orionids, for example, are in October, when Earth passes through the dusty trail of Halley’s Comet. A meteorite is a lump of space rock or metal, usually from an asteroid, that hits the surface of Earth, often leaving a crater.
One of the most important energy resources that Canada has developed is the Alberta Oil Sands. Located just south of the nation’s polar region, the 1.3 billion acres is producing millions of barrels of tar sands oil. Much of the final product is then piped down to the United States. The Alberta Oil Sands environmental impact must be examined in-depth despite the project’s backing in Canada and the US. Here are some of the key points that must be considered. 1. It exposes local communities to higher carcinogen exposures. First Nations communities that live near the Alberta Oil Sands have reported higher levels of unusual cancers and rare cancers. 2. It affects the local environment. Marine life, animal habitats, and even water supplies are constantly at-risk of contamination thanks to the collection of tar sands oil. This is because much of the collection process must occur through an open pit-mining process. The end result is the collection of a vast and toxic wastewater containment pond. 3. It produces more greenhouse gases. When compared to the collection of regular crude oil, the processes at the Alberta Oil Sands produce three times more greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it depletes freshwater resources. 4. It creates petroleum coke. To refine tar sands oil, a potentially hazardous byproduct must be produced. Called “petroleum coke,” it is used in cement kilns and electric power plants, as well as certain alloy manufacturing processes. 5. There are continuous risks of pipeline leaks. When oil does spill, the potential consequences can be worth billions in damages. Small leaks can be difficult to detect and many continue on for weeks or months before the pipeline is repaired. Leaks are also more likely with tar sands oil because the product is more acidic and thicker when compared to traditional light crude. 6. Profitability is based on commodity markets. Because tar sands oil produces a globally traded commodity, the actual pricing and profitability of this resource can be unpredictable. Falling fuel prices may create wage cuts, job layoffs, and other issues that impact local economies in more ways. With there are fewer economic resources, there are fewer efforts, on average, to protect the local environment. The Alberta Oil Sands environmental impact has produced profits, but at the risk of personal health and the destruction of local habitats. When tar sands oil is left in the ground, it creates clean energy opportunities that have a greater chance of helping, not hurting, our planet.
Underlying the history of the country's majority indigenous population is the harsh legacy of centuries of Spanish colonial rule as well as the bleak inheritance of the independent governments of the 19th century. These brought in fresh swathes of European settlers, who were provided with land, and reinforced the practice of Indian slavery and oppression. The struggle between the white settlers, particularly strong today in the eastern province of Santa Cruz, and the indigenous peoples concentrated in the western Andean plateau has formed the backdrop to the politics of the past two centuries. Bolivia's tradition of nationalistic leftism dates back to the aftermath of the Chaco war with Paraguay in the 1930s. This led to the nationalisation of oil (the first such initiative in Latin America), the emergence of several radical military governments, and a major revolution in 1952. These and subsequent upheavals often ended in violence and fierce repression. Among the dead heroes of Morales and his political party, the Movement to Socialism, are Gualberto Villaroel, the reformist military officer who was strung up on a lamp post outside the presidential palace in 1946, and the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, who was shot in eastern Bolivia in 1967, as well as Tupac Katari, the leader of the rebellion against Spain in 1780. Where once political debates concerned the exploitation of labour, today they centre on the ownership and development of natural resources. Much of Morales's support comes from those mobilised in the "water wars" of recent years, a successful battle in several cities against the privatisation of the water supply. Morales, famously, is a leader of the growers of coca, whose labour-intensive production provides employment for thousands of indigenous people displaced from the state tin mines. He plans to cease cooperation with the US in the eradication of the crop, arguing that it is the job of the Americans to tackle the problem of drug abuse at home. Meanwhile, the heirs to the white settlers in Santa Cruz and Tarija have been seeking to control for themselves the exploitation of the fabulous deposits of oil and gas that ought to provide for the sustenance of the entire country. They fear the arrival of an indigenous government and threaten to declare independence if they do not get their way. Yet Morales's economic team has already planned for the renationalisation of these resources, and for fresh rules of engagement with foreign companies. Taking a leaf from the new book of Latin American politics written by Hugo Chávez, Morales will seek to copy the example of Venezuela's reformed state oil company, which has secured advantageous deals with foreign companies without too much complaint. Also following the Venezuelan example, he will concentrate in his first year on electing a constituent assembly and formulating a constitution that will recognise the preponderant role of the indigenous population in government. His relatively reformist programme ought to calm the fears of the white settlers and the US, and reassure indigenous voters, anxious for an immediate improvement in their condition, that a new future is within their grasp. Yet the Morales programme, and his intention to deliver, has already led to the elaboration of many alarmist scenarios. Some see the oil-rich Santa Cruz province seceding from the republic and joining up with Brazil. Others envisage Chilean troops massed on the Andean frontier and waging war as they did in 1879. Still others talk of a US invasion from its new military base in Paraguay, evoking the prospect of another Chaco war. The proponents of such drastic possibilities tend to ignore the practical problems of warfare in the Andes and the Amazon basin. They also skate over the fact that Morales is not alone. He joins a growing number of leftist governments in Latin America that are critical of the neoliberal economic recipes of the past 20 years and hostile to the hegemony of the US. Beyond them are the powerful indigenous movements of Ecuador and Peru, increasingly influential in politics. The US, already overstretched in other parts of the world, is now being openly challenged on its southern flank, an extraordinary and unprecedented development. Richard Gott is the author of Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution
As we've said, any lesson at any grade level can be structured cooperatively. All classes can have a mixture of cooperative formal, informal, and base groups and can use cooperative learning scripts to different degrees. A typical class session consists of a base group meeting, a short lecture or a group project, and an ending base group meeting. The instructor formally starts the class by welcoming the students and instructing them to meet in their base groups for the introduction and warm-up task. The teacher then has three choices. She can (1) give a lecture using informal cooperative learning groups, (2) have students complete an assignment in formal cooperative learning groups, or (3) present a short lecture and assign a short group assignment. At the end of the class session students meet in their base groups to summarize and synthesize what they have learned. This structure keeps students intellectually and emotionally tuned in to the work at hand and school in general. An example of the integrated use of the types of cooperative learning is as follows. Students arriving in class in the morning gather in base groups to do a self-disclosure task (such as answering the question, “what is each member's favorite television show?”), check each other's homework to make sure all members understand the academic material and are prepared for the day, and tell each other to have a great day.
If you ask a classroom full of sixth graders if they can draw a rose, most will emphatically say, “No!” But with a little help from one of the available websites on drawing, anyone can draw a rose. The website ” Drawing Step ” is an easy to follow lesson on “How to Draw a Rose.” - “How to Draw a Rose” sheets (one set per student) - White watercolor paper 6″ x 9″ - Pencil and eraser - Greeting card pictures of roses - Watercolor pencils - Paint brushes - Water containers - Paper towels - Distribute the “How to Draw a Rose” sheets and explain the step by step procedure for drawing a rose. - On the watercolor paper, lightly (like a whisper) draw a rose. Be sure to use the length and width of the paper. - Color the roses, stems and leaves with watercolor pencils. Use a greeting card as a color and shading guide. Notice how other colors are sometimes used for shading purposes. - Using a brush and water—dip the brush in the water, blot it off on the paper towel, and lightly pounce the brush on the colored areas. Rinse out the brush when changing colors. - Optional: With one color of the watercolor pencils, make starburst lines out from the roses, staying about an inch away from the roses. With an almost dry brush, brush outward on the lines you just drew. 6th Grade Projects Gallery
~ MONTESSORI MATH ~ Overview of the Primary Montessori Math Program Math is logic, sequence, order, and the extrapolation of truth. In the Montessori philosophy, it's stated that the child has a 'mathematical mind' and an internal drive to understand the environment around him or her. It can, therefore, be said that children have an inborn attraction for math. Their minds are full of energy that propels them to absorb, manipulate, classify, order, sequence, abstract, and repeat. These tendencies help the child to acquire a greater depth to his/her mathematical knowledge. It is the precision of the presentations and the exactness of the Montessori math materials that attract children in Montessori Math. Children at the young age of Kindergarten time are in the process (sensitive period) of fine-tuning their perceptions. Children are sensitive to minute changes in order, sequence, and size. They will notice a tiny bug in the crack of the sidewalk whereas adults will walk by without notice. The exercises of Montessori Math offer children the 'keys' that they will need to send them on the road to further exploration and maturation of the mathematical mind. The ways in which the materials are ordered allows the children to complete full intellectual cycles that help them to achieve the freedom to think independently. Early math is made up of many little details that form a whole, but each detail is complete unto itself. All early math exercises are worked at the sensorial level so as to ensure that the child relates the quantity to the symbol.
When walking into a classroom, first impressions can set the tone of what is being taught and how. Themes for the classrooms have long been used by elementary teachers as a way to capture a student's attention, reinforce teaching, scaffold learning from one area to another and create a cheerful environment for study. However, they are also an invaluable tool for upper grades. Strategies for teaching in middle and high school can easily include creative and engaging themes. Decorating for your theme can be taken up a notch from the hand-lettered, felt and Velcro displays found in elementary school. For instance, National Geographic has maps connected to about any subject thought of, not to mention various posters that can be laminated for hanging in the classroom. Educators who lack the ability to create themes that can remain intact for extended periods might consider advanced technology. Most classrooms have a white board, which works well as a screen for overhead projection. Graphics on the theme from the unit being taught might be projected during class onto the white board. Once class is over, the overhead projector can be turned off and the next class is ready to use the room. The Teaching Wall Most elementary classrooms have theme plans that include a calendar, the weather, jobs for the day/week, the alphabet, and/or vocabulary words or phrases. One caution: classroom teachers should remember that sensory overload (too many colors, too many things crowded into a small area, too many tasks for students to observe, will take away from the effectiveness of the teaching wall. Less is always more in this instance. Therefore, depending on the size of the wall space, it is best to pick two or three things that can be clearly displayed without overlapping or crowding. Middle and high school classrooms often have multiple uses—home room, math class, writing class, etc.—all held in the same exact space. If classrooms are assigned to one teacher or to one subject, then creating themes that will aid students in their studies and spark an interest in the subject is a simple matter of finding a space that will serve the purpose. Teachers who share rooms with other teachers across subject matter will need to be a bit more creative. Laminated maps or posters that can come and go with the teacher, overhead projections, even Power Point presentations projected onto the wall at the beginning and end of class can leave a lasting impression on students. Elementary themes or topics can be created on a general basis. Middle and High school themes or topics can focus in on more specifics. Themes and Topics Some ideas for classroom themes that can be used in teaching include: General Elementary Themes - Holidays – There seems to be a holiday of some sort every month. - World History - American History - Art work - Cultures of the World - Current Events - Language Arts – Vocabulary and grammar terms Fun Themes for Preschool/Elementary School - Teddy Bears - The Beach Middle and High School Themes - In Science – Water cycle, trees of your area of the world, human body, Solar system, - In History – Time lines, rulers of a country being studied (British rulers, US Presidents, Chinese Emperors) - In Literature – Authors and their works, literary terms, list of poetry forms, list of genres - In Art – Works of art by artist, list of periods in art, color wheel, list of art mediums - In Music – Composers of various periods, lists of top ten musical piece of a period, musical terms - In Health – Famous people in health field, cycle of how germs spread, list of exercises - In Mathematics – Math terms, mathematicians and their contributions, list of other subjects that use math - In Foreign Language – Famous people from the country(ies) where the language is spoken, facts on the country's culture Teaching walls, which are used as tools for teaching, may need more materials to put together than other walls. However, the basic list of materials needed might include: - Large bulletin board paper - Double-sided tape - Laminating material Remember to keep the walls or door displays simple, yet informative. While creative teaching themes are a great way to engage students, too much information or too much color may overwhelm young learners. However, teaching walls are a sure and reliable way of scaffolding knowledge and sparking the interest of students in topics that might not be as captivating if taught only by textbook. - Image: Classroom by Bahar under CC BY SA 3.0
Coarctation of the aorta is a congenital (present at birth) heart defect involving a narrowing of the aorta. The aorta is the large artery that carries oxygen-rich (red) blood from the left ventricle to the body. It is shaped like a candy cane. The first section moves up towards the head (ascending aorta), then curves in a C-shape as smaller arteries that are attached to it carry blood to the head and arms (aortic arch). After the curve, the aorta becomes straight again, and moves downward towards the abdomen, carrying blood to the lower part of the body (descending aorta). The narrowed segment called coarctation can occur anywhere in the aorta, but is most likely to happen in the segment just after the aortic arch. This narrowing restricts the amount of oxygen-rich (red) blood that can travel to the lower part of the body. Varying degrees of narrowing can occur. The more severe the narrowing, the more symptomatic a child will be, and the earlier the problem will be noticed. In some cases, coarctation is noted in infancy. In others, however, it may not be noted until school-age or adolescence. About half of all children with coarctation of the aorta also have a bicuspid aortic valve—a valve that has 2 leaflets instead of the usual 3. Coarctation of the aorta occurs in a small percentage of children with congenital heart disease. Boys have the defect more commonly than girls do. Some congenital heart defects may have a genetic link that causes heart problems to occur more often in certain families. Most of the time this heart defect occurs sporadically (by chance), with no clear reason for its development. Coarctation of the aorta causes several problems: The left ventricle has to work harder to try to move blood through the narrowing in the aorta. Eventually, the left ventricle is no longer able to handle the extra workload, and it fails to pump blood to the body efficiently. Blood pressure is higher before the narrowing, and lower past the narrowing. Older children may have headaches from too much pressure in the vessels in the head, or cramps in the legs or abdomen from too little blood flow in that region. Also, the kidneys may not make enough urine since they require a certain amount of blood flow and a certain blood pressure to perform this task. The walls of the ascending aorta, the aortic arch, or any of the arteries in the head and arms may become weakened by high pressure. Spontaneous tears in any of these arteries can occur, which can cause a stroke or uncontrollable bleeding. Symptoms noted in early infancy are caused by moderate to severe aortic narrowing. The following are the most common symptoms of coarctation of the aorta. However, each child may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include: Heavy and/or rapid breathing Poor weight gain Cold feet and/or legs Diminished or absent pulses in the feet Blood pressure in the arms significantly greater than the blood pressure in the legs Mild narrowing may not cause symptoms at all. Often, a school-aged child or adolescent is simply noted to have high blood pressure or a heart murmur during a physical exam. Some may complain of headaches or cramps in the lower sections of the body. The symptoms of coarctation of the aorta may resemble other medical conditions or heart problems. Always consult your child's health care provider for a diagnosis. Your child's health care provider may have heard a heart murmur during a physical exam, and referred your child to a pediatric cardiologist for a diagnosis. A heart murmur is simply a noise caused by the turbulence of blood flowing through the obstruction in the coarctation segment of the aorta. Your child's symptoms will also help with the diagnosis. A pediatric cardiologist specializes in the diagnosis and medical management of congenital heart defects, as well as heart problems that may develop later in childhood. The cardiologist will perform a physical exam, listen to your child's heart and lungs, and make other observations that help in the diagnosis. The location within the chest that the murmur is heard best, as well as the loudness and quality of the murmur (harsh, blowing, etc.) will give the cardiologist an initial idea of which heart problem your child may have. Diagnostic testing for congenital heart disease varies by the child's age, clinical condition, and institutional preferences. Some tests that may be recommended include the following: Chest X-ray. Diagnostic test which uses invisible X-ray energy beams to produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film. Electrocardiogram (ECG). A test that records the electrical activity of the heart, shows abnormal rhythms (arrhythmias), and detects heart muscle damage. Echocardiogram (echo). A procedure that evaluates the structure and function of the heart by using sound waves recorded on an electronic sensor that produce a moving picture of the heart and heart valves. The vast majority of aortic coarctations are diagnosed by echocardiography. Cardiac catheterization (cath). A diagnostic procedure that uses threading a catheter through the arteries and veins of the groin and advancing this catheter up to the heart. Dye is squirted into the heart and aorta and pictures are taken of the anatomy. Catheterization may also be used to improve the coarctation if the child is big enough. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A diagnostic procedure that uses a combination of large magnets, radiofrequencies, and a computer to produce detailed images of organs and structures within the body. Specific treatment for coarctation of the aorta will be determined by your child's health care provider based on: Your child's age, overall health, and medical history Extent of the disease Your child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies Expectations for the course of the defect Your opinion or preference Coarctation of the aorta is treated with repair of the narrowed vessel. Several options are currently available. Interventional cardiac catheterization. Cardiac catheterization may be an option for treatment. During the procedure, the child is sedated and a small, thin, flexible tube (catheter) is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin and guided to the inside of the heart. Once the catheter is in the heart, the cardiologist will pass an inflated balloon through the narrowed section of the aorta to stretch the area open. A small device, called a stent, may also be placed in the narrowed area after the balloon dilation to keep the aorta open. Overnight observation in the hospital is generally required. Surgical repair. Your child's coarctation of the aorta may be repaired surgically in an operating room. The surgical repair is done under general anesthesia. The narrowed area is either surgically removed, or made larger with the help of surrounding structures or a patch. Some infants will be very sick, requiring care in the intensive care unit (ICU) prior to the procedure, and could possibly even need emergency repair of the coarctation. Others, who have few symptoms, will have the repair scheduled on a less urgent basis. After surgery, infants will return to the intensive care unit ICU to be closely monitored during recovery. While your child is in the ICU, special equipment will be used to help him or her recover, and may include the following: Ventilator. A machine that helps your child breathe while he or she is under anesthesia during the operation. A small, plastic tube is guided into the windpipe and attached to the ventilator, which breathes for your child while he or she is too sleepy to breathe effectively on his or her own. Many children remain on the ventilator for a while after surgery so they can rest. Intravenous (IV) catheters. A small, plastic tube is inserted through the skin into blood vessels to provide IV fluids and important medicines that help your child recover from the operation. Arterial line. A specialized IV placed in the wrist, or other area of the body where a pulse can be felt, that measures blood pressure continuously during surgery and while your child is in the ICU. Nasogastric (NG) tube. A small, flexible tube that keeps the stomach drained of acid and gas bubbles that may build up during surgery. Urinary catheter. A small, flexible tube that allows urine to drain out of the bladder and accurately measures how much urine the body makes, which helps determine how well the heart is functioning. After surgery, the heart will be a little weaker than it was before, and the body may start to hold onto fluid, causing swelling and puffiness. Diuretics may be given to help the kidneys remove excess fluid from the body. Chest tube. A drainage tube will be inserted to keep the chest free of blood that would otherwise accumulate after the incision is closed. Bleeding may occur for several hours, or even a few days after surgery. Heart monitor. A machine that constantly displays a picture of your child's heart rhythm, and monitors heart rate, arterial blood pressure, and other values. Your child may need other equipment not mentioned here to provide support while in the ICU, or afterward. The hospital staff will explain all of the necessary equipment to you. Your child will be kept as comfortable as possible with several different medications; some of which relieve pain, and some of which relieve anxiety. The staff will also be asking for your input as to how best to soothe and comfort your child. After discharge from the ICU, your child will recuperate on another hospital unit for a few days before going home. You will learn how to care for your child at home before your child is discharged. Your child may need to take medications for a while, and these will be explained to you. The staff will give you instructions regarding medications, activity limitations, and follow-up appointments before your child is discharged. Most children who have had a coarctation of the aorta surgical repair will live healthy lives. Activity levels, appetite, and growth should eventually return to normal. Your child's cardiologist may recommend that antibiotics before major surgeries or procedures, such as dental cleaning, to prevent infection. As the child grows, the aorta may once again become narrow on occasion. If this happens, a balloon procedure or operation may be necessary to repair the coarctation. Evaluation with MRI is generally recommended. If an aortic aneurysm or dissection is suspected, computed tomography (CT scan) may also be done to further evaluate the anatomy before deciding on treatment options. Blood pressure management is very important. Often, the blood pressure in the child is elevated after aortic coarctation repair. In that case, medications may be prescribed to help lower the child's blood pressure. Regular follow-up care at a center offering pediatric or adult congenital cardiac care should continue throughout life. Consult your child's health care provider regarding the specific outlook for your child.
Solar minimum could bring cold winters to Europe and US, but would not hold off climate change Over the past few decades, our Sun has been relatively active, giving off high levels of the solar radiation that warms the Earth. However, in recent years this peak activity has tailed off, prompting scientists to wonder if the Sun is heading into a period of lower output. A new study says even if the Sun’s activity did drop off for a while, it wouldn’t have much impact on rising global temperatures. But it could mean a higher chance of a chilly winter in Europe and the US, the researchers say. The Sun’s activity rises and falls on an approximately 11-year cycle, but it can experience longer variations from one century to another. Over the past 10,000 years, the Sun has hit around 30 periods of very high or very low activity – called ‘grand maxima’ and ‘grand minima’. One of these occurred between 1645 and 1715, when the Sun went through a prolonged spell of low solar activity, known as the Maunder Minimum. This didn’t have much of an effect on global climate, but it was linked to a number of very cold winters in Europe. In 2010, scientists predicted an 8% chance that we could return to Maunder Minimum conditions within the next 40 years. But since that study was published, solar activity has declined further, and this likelihood has increased to 15 or 20%, says new research published today in open-access journal Nature Communications. In fact, the Sun’s output has declined faster than any time in our 9,300-year record, say the researchers. And so they set out to analyse what this could mean for global and regional climate. The researchers used a climate model to run two scenarios where solar activity declines to a grand minimum. They then compared the results with a control scenario where the Sun continues on its regular cycle. For all model runs they used the RCP8.5 scenario to account for future climate change – this is the scenario with the highest greenhouse gas emissions of those used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC). Global emissions are currently tracking just above this scenario. You can see the modelling results in the maps below. Overall, a grand solar minimum could see global average temperature rise trimmed by around 0.12C for the second half of this century, the researchers say. Larger changes (shown as dark greens and blues) are seen in some parts of the northern hemisphere. Projected difference in annual average surface temperature for 2050-99 between RCP8.5 emissions scenario and a) Solar scenario 1 and b) Solar scenario 2. Areas of blue and green show regions projected to be cooler because of the solar minimum. Source: Ineson, S. et al. (2015) This wouldn’t make much of a dent in global temperature increases that could well exceed four degrees by the end of the century under RCP8.5, says lead author Sarah Ineson, a climate scientist at the UK Met Office. These results are in keeping with similar studies, she tells Carbon Brief: “The expected decrease in global mean surface temperature due to a fall in solar irradiation would be small in comparison to the projected anthropogenic warming.” Under the RCP8.5 scenario, the solar minimum would delay warming for only a couple of years, the paper says. This counters the claim that occasionally appears in some sections of the media that a solar minimum could see the Earth head into an ice age. Northern hemisphere chill While the impacts of a solar minimum are small on a global scale, they can be larger for specific regions, the paper finds. How much of the Sun’s radiation hits the Earth can affect the circulation patterns over the Atlantic Ocean, Ineson says. This can make natural fluctuations, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO), more negative, which can affect the winters here in the northern hemisphere, she says: “A more negative Arctic Oscillation or North Atlantic Oscillation is associated with reduced westerly winds over the North Atlantic sector and a southward shift in the mid-latitude storm track which causes reduced temperatures in the US and northern Europe.” You can see in the top map of the figure below that climate change is likely to cause a large decrease in frost days across the northern hemisphere winter. But as the second and third maps show, a solar minimum could add another five days of frost per year in much of Europe and the US. Change in average number of frost days. Maps show difference in winter (December-February) frost days between a) RCP8.5 model run (2050-99) and historical period (1971-2000), b) Solar minimum Scenario 1 and RCP8.5, and c) Solar minimum Scenario 2 and RCP8.5. Source: Ineson, S. et al. (2015) For Europe, specifically, the study finds the solar minimum could knock 0.4-0.8C off a projected winter temperature rise of 6.6C, under RCP8.5 and relative to 1971-2000. Shifting of the storm track across the Atlantic Ocean would also mean less rainfall coming to northern Europe in winter, the study says, slightly reducing the increases projected under climate change. With only small impacts on global climate, the study shows that a drop in the Sun’s strength shouldn’t delay action on climate change, says Prof Joanna Haigh, co-director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, who wasn’t involved in the study. She tells Carbon Brief: “No one should consider the results to provide justification for bothering less about carbon dioxide emissions.” And any impact of a solar minimum on climate would be short-lived, says Haigh, until such time that the Sun’s activity increased again. Prof Jerry Meehl, from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, who also wasn’t involved, agrees. He tells Carbon Brief that his recent study shows the rebound effect on temperatures is important: “When the grand solar minimum ends, the climate system warms back up to the levels it would have been if there had never been a grand solar minimum. Thus the effects would be temporary.” So it seems that a dip in the Sun’s activity would only have a limited impact on global climate, and wouldn’t call a halt to human-caused climate change.
Capacitors are passive devices that are used in almost all electrical circuits for rectification, coupling and tuning. Also known as condensers, a capacitor is simply two electrical conductors separated by an insulating layer called a dielectric. The conductors are usually thin layers of aluminum foil, while the dielectric can be made up of many materials including paper, mylar, polypropylene, ceramic, mica, and even air. Electrolytic capacitors have a dielectric of aluminum oxide which is formed through the application of voltage after the capacitor is assembled. Characteristics of different capacitors are determined by not only the material used for the conductors and dielectric, but also by the thickness and physical spacing of the components.
Scale Insects- Bumps on tree twigs Scales refers to a large group of insects that feed from the fluids of trees and other plants. They can be divided into two different groups: armored scales and soft scales. Armored scales produce a waxy substance that protects their bodies whereas soft scales excrete copious amounts of sugar in the form of honeydew. Long term infestations are very damaging to tree health. Both types are difficult to control without pesticides, but not impossible. Scales are typically found on the trunks, limbs and smaller twigs of plants. Though, they are also found on the needles of some coniferous plants (Juniper Scale) and leaves of deciduous trees. They look like barnacles, oyster clusters, or small bumps on trees and are usually found in great numbers. When rubbed with the hand they will smear and “bleed”. A black chalky substance called Sooty Mold is often found where soft scales exist. Sooty Mold grows on the sticky excretion released from the scale that covers any surface below (notice the black sooty mold covering the base of the needles in the photos to the right, click to enlarge). It will appear as a shadow and generally covers the entire area directly under the canopy of the tree. The life cycle varies between species of scale. Some scales overwinter as immature crawlers in the cracks and crevices of bark while other species overwinter under the protection of their “shell” or in the egg stage. Typically, they become active in the spring and begin feeding and creating eggs. Immature crawlers and mature adults feed on trees by piercing and sucking through the epidermis and extracting nutrients. Common effects of severe infestations include twig and branch dieback and epicormic sprouting (sucker growth). There are some effective systemic treatments that deliver a lethal dose of insecticide to the site where scales are feeding. Scales are also quite vulnerable to various insecticide sprays during the young crawler stage. Dormant Oils reduce populations by killing the insects during the crawler stage and overwintering stage of their life cycle. Proper watering, annual soil treatments, and power washing or otherwise physically removing them from the plant can help reduce populations.
Exhaled Breath Condensate as a Measure of Airway Inflammation in Children With Asthma This study will evaluate the usefulness of a new procedure for evaluating asthma in children. The method measures the pH (a measure of acidity and alkalinity) of exhaled breath condensate (water vapor created by the lungs). The condensate contains products of the lungs that may be associated with lung inflammation. Investigators will determine if the pH of the exhaled breath condensate correlates well with known asthma indicators, such as number of hospitalizations, school absenteeism, use of rescue medication, and others. Test results will be compared with findings from healthy normal volunteers. No experimental treatments or medicines are used in this study. Patients who require treatment for their asthma will receive standard care with medicines approved by the Food and Drug Administration and used widely in the United States. Children with asthma and healthy normal volunteers between 6 and 17 years of age may be eligible for this study. You must complete the study before your 18th birthday. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination. Children with asthma undergo the following tests and procedures over six clinic visits, including an initial visit and follow-up visits at 4-8 weeks, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months: - Blood draw in children over 6 years of age. Medications are available to decrease the pain associated with blood drawing.(initial visit) - Allergen skin testing: Drops of up to 16 allergens are placed on the arm. The skin under each drop is scratched and the area is observed for an allergic reaction. (4- 8-week follow-up visit) - Expired nitric oxide testing: The child breathes into a balloon to collect a portion of the gases exhaled form the lungs. This test measures the amount of nitric oxide, which correlates with bronchial inflammation. (all visits) - Exhaled breath condensate: The child breathes into a plastic tube surrounded by a cold metal sleeve for 10 to 15 minutes. The water vapor created by the lungs (the same vapor that forms when breathing outside on a cold day) is collected and the pH measured. (all visits) - Pulmonary (lung) function test: The child blows very hard into a tube attached to a machine to measure the airflow from the child's lungs. This test measures airflow from the lungs. (all visits) The children are given small plastic device called a peak flow meter - a device used to measure lung function - to use at home. Children whose lung function is less than 80% of the predicted value for their age may be given medicine to see if their lung function improves. - Review of the patient's symptoms, sick days, medicines or actions taken to get over the illness; review of peak flow reports; and review of action plan. (3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month visits) Healthy controls will have the expired nitric oxide test, exhaled breath condensate test, and pulmonary function test at each visit at the initial and over two additional visits scheduled 6 months apart. \|Official Title:\|\|Exhaled Breath Condensate as a Measurement of Airway Inflammation in Children With Asthma\| \|Study Start Date:\|\|February 18, 2004\| \|Estimated Study Completion Date:\|\|August 19, 2010\| The onset of asthma is often during childhood, and when the child is atopic, it is more likely to persist into adulthood. Diseases such as asthma have a higher prevalence in childhood; and management that alters the morbidity of allergic disease in children may impact disease outcomes in future years. Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease in childhood and accounts for the highest rate of hospitalizations in the ages between 0-4 years. Unfortunately, there are few noninvasive objective measurements of pulmonary health in children. Current techniques include determination of peak flow, spirometry, and measurement of nitric oxide (NO). Bronchial inflammation is a central feature of asthma and anti-inflammatory therapy is the mainstay of treatment. Expired NO (eNO) has been shown to correlate with bronchial inflammation. However, the collection of NO has only been available in research settings due to the limitations of collection and analysis. In contrast, exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is easily obtained and pH analysis technically simple. Determination of pH in EBC is a novel, non-invasive technique in clinical study as a means to evaluate the severity of pulmonary inflammation. In the protocol described, we will evaluate the utility of EBC in the measurement of airway disease in 60 children with asthma and compare them to 30 healthy cohorts in the same age range. We will determine if EBC pH is reflective of the degree of morbidity in children by correlating measurements with known parameters of disease including: 1) number of hospitalizations, 2) absenteeism from school, 3) number of asthma exacerbations, 4) loss of work days (if applicable), 5) extent of rescue medication usage, 6) spirometry to evaluate obstruction, and 7) NO as a measurement of inflammation. Subjects will be evaluated and then categorized based on the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) guidelines. We will measure the pH from EBC in children age 6 to less than 18 years of age and compare findings to clinical data, spirometry, and expired NO. In this way, we will determine if EBC is a potentially useful non-invasive measurement of airway disease. It is hoped that measurements of EBC will be helpful in identifying those children in which the addition of an anti-inflammatory medication is appropriate. We will also attempt to measure inflammatory mediators to determine if they can be used to assess inflammation. This method may also be useful in detecting airway inflammation due to an infectious agent before a systemic reaction (fever, respiratory distress, or cough) is apparent in children with various immunodeficiency diseases such as chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), recurrent respiratory infections without a defined host defect (RIND), or Job's syndrome. We will recruit 30 healthy control children in the same age range to compare the EBC pH values in children without allergic or other chronic pulmonary diseases. In addition, we will recruit 30 children (10 in each group) with CGD, RIND, and Job's to compare exhaled breath condensate pH and exhaled nitric oxide values to those from children with allergic airway inflammation to determine if these methods are useful for early diagnosis of infectious airway inflammation. Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00078208 \|United States, Maryland\| \|National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike\| \|Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892\|
Mold and Indoor Air Quality Mold is a type of fungi; the two terms are often used interchangeably. The kingdom of fungi includes mushrooms, molds, mildew, and yeasts. Fungi are part of the natural environment. Outdoors, fungi play a vital role in nature by breaking down dead organic matter (e.g. fallen leaves, dead trees), but indoors, mold growth should be avoided. Fungi reproduce by means of tiny spores; the spores are invisible to the unaided eye and float through outdoor and indoor air. Fungi may begin growing indoors when spores land on wet surfaces. All fungi need water/moisture in order to grow. Molds and other fungi are found everywhere – both indoors and outdoors all year round. We are all constantly exposed to a wide variety of mold. Although most public-assembly buildings (e.g. campus buildings) have ventilation systems that filter out most mold spores, they find their way into indoor spaces through open windows, doors, on people’s clothing and shoes, and anything else carried into a building. Once mold spores are present in the indoor environment, they remain dormant until conditions are favorable for reproduction and growth. Mold needs a food source (could be anything, but it is most often cellulose-containing), and a source of moisture (e.g. flood, high humidity, dampness). If left to proliferate, mold “blooms” can damage building materials, furniture and other items. Molds have the potential to cause health problems, although the presence of mold does not always mean that health problems will occur. Molds produce allergens, irritants, and in some cases, potentially toxic substances (mycotoxins). Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores may cause immediate- or delayed allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic responses include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash. Allergic reactions to mold are common. Molds can also cause asthma attacks in people with asthma who are allergic to mold. In addition, mold exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs of both mold-allergic and non-allergic people. Symptoms other than the allergic and irritant types are not commonly reported as a result of inhaling mold. It is neither possible nor necessary to remove all mold spores from the indoor environment. Control of mold is most often about controlling moisture in the indoor environment. Leaks, floods, areas of condensation, high humidity, and dampness should be promptly discovered and corrected, and monitored for recurrence. Areas in which mold has proliferated should be promptly cleaned up, using a solution of soap/detergent and water, and wiped clean with a damp cloth and allowed to dry completely. Biocides (such as chlorine bleach) are usually not necessary, and not recommended. If water intrusions are corrected, cleaned and completely dried within 24-48 hours, mold growth can be avoided entirely. Mold must be physically removed from a surface, not neutralized and left where it was found. Although it cannot reproduce, it is still present, as a particulate that may also contain mycotoxins. Absorbent materials (such as ceiling tiles & carpet) that become moldy may have to be replaced. Generally, it is not necessary to identify the species of mold growing in a building. Measurements of mold in air are not reliable or representative. There are no regulatory standards for mold that can be used to determine compliance for mold exposure. If mold is seen or smelled, there is a potential health risk; therefore, no matter what type of mold is present, it should be removed. Please report all suspected mold growth to EH&S (x8978, x8988). - EPA Air and Climate Change Research: Microbiologicals/Mold - A Brief guide to Mold, moisture, and your home: EPA guide to mold and mold cleanup in the home - EPA: Mold remediation in schools and commercial buildings - OSHA: brief guide to mold in the workplace - Indoor Mold, Toxigenic Fungi, and Stachybotrys chartarum: Infectious Disease Perspective. D. M. Kuhn and M. A. Ghannoum. Clin Microbiol Rev. Jan 2003; 16(1): 144–172. - From: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: Indoor Air Quality - Molds and Fungi - From: CDC Workplace Health and Safety Topics: Indoor Environmental Quality/Dampness and Mold in Buildings Last modified: May 21, 2014
Cherlynn Low for Engadget The system came up with the technique by itself, after being trained on a battery of sample images. It appears machines may already be catching up to humans, at least in the world of computational biology. A team of researchers at the MIT-based Center for Brains, Minds and Machines (CBMM) found that the system they designed to recognize faces had spontaneously come up with a step that can identify portraits regardless of the rotation of the face. This adds credence to a previous theory about how humans recognize faces that was based studies of MRIs of primate brains. The as-yet-unnamed system is a computational model of how the human brain recognizes faces, and was trained to identify particular visages from a battery of sample images it was fed. In the process of learning to spot faces, the program created an intermediate processing step that looked at “a face’s degree of rotation – say 45 degrees from center – but not the direction.” In layman’s terms, this means the system, which was looking for invariance (or non-difference) between faces, was able to do so regardless of whether a face was flipped, as long as it was rotated in the same angle. That property is known as “mirror symmetry.” This discovery excites scientists because it duplicates a previously observed feature of how primates process faces, indicating that the system might be doing something similar to the brain. However, it’s not for sure. “This is not a proof that we understand what’s going on,” says Tomaso Poggio, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and director of the CBMM. The researchers’ machine-learning system in this case is a neural network, which has been employed by tech giants such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook. These companies all have their own facial recognition systems in place, and have been investing in machine-learning to enhance their tools. Understanding how we recognize people could help facial recognition systems get significantly better and more accurate, which has vast applications in tech. Face unlock is an increasingly popular feature of phones and laptops, and identifying people in photos lets companies like Facebook, Apple and Google better sort your pictures. The downside, if you choose to see it that way, is that surveillance systems could also get accurate at finding the exact individuals they wish to seek from the endless amount of security camera footage and DMV photos they have. While this is clearly in early stages, and a tiny step towards implementing human-level facial recognition in machines, it certainly is a sign that artificial intelligence is capable of replicating specific functions of the human brain.
Anopheles gambiae is a complex of at least seven morphologically indistinguishable species of mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles. This complex was recognised in the 1960s and includes the most important vectors of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa particularly of the most dangerous malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. It is one of the most efficient malaria vectors known. Despite being morphologically indistinguishable, individual species of Anopheles gambiae complex exhibit different behavioural traits. For example, the Anopheles quadriannulatus, is generally considered to be zoophilic, (taking its blood meal from animals) whereas Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto is generally anthropophilic (taking its blood meal from humans). Identification to the individual species level using the molecular methods of Scott et al. (1993) can have important implications in subsequent control measures. A. gambiae s.str. has been discovered to be currently in a state of diverging into two different species — the Mopti (M) and Savannah (S) strains — though as of 2007, the two strains are still considered to be a single species. The A. gambiae s.str. genome has been sequenced three times, once for the M strain, once for the S strain, and once for a hybrid strain. Currently, ~90 miRNA have been predicted in the literature (38 miRNA officially listed in miRBase) for A. gambiae s.str. based upon conserved sequences to miRNA found in Drosophila. The mechanism of species recognition appears to be sounds emitted by the wings and identified by Johnston's organ. An. gambiense invaded northeastern Brazil in 1930, which led to a malaria epidemic in 1938/1939. The Brazilian government assisted by the Rockefeller Foundation in a programme spearheaded by Fredrick Soper eradicated these mosquitoes from this area. This effort was modeled on the earlier success in eradication of Aedes aegypti as part of the yellow fever control program. The exact species involved in this epidemic has been identified as An. arabiensis. (Source: Wikipedia)
Probably the most misleading name in astronomy. Planetary nebula have got nothing to do with planets. Back in the old days a famous astronomer called William Herschal named them planetary nebula since they resembled faint cloudy planets. However, in these enlightened days we have a different understanding. When a star runs out of fuel it has a tendency to explode. The size of the bang is related to the size of the star. A star similar to our Sun will, at the end of its days, kick out a layer of its outer atmosphere into a large expanding cloud. This is what a planetary nebula is. Nothing to do with planets. There are many of this class of object within reach of our equipment. The Dumbbell Nebula M27 was the first planetary nebula ever discovered. On July 12, 1764, Charles Messier discovered this new and fascinating class of objects, and descibed it as an oval nebula without stars. The name "Dumb-bell" goes back to the description by John Herschal, who also compared it to a "double-headed shot." The Ring Nebula, M57, was discovered by Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in 1779. It is a ring, or torus, of matter orbiting the central star, which is just visible. We are viewing it from above. If viewed from the side, it might look more like M27. It's also hard to estimate the distance to these objects, but they are thought to be several thousand light years away. Compare this to the millions of light years to the galaxies on other pages. \|Location\|\|Toms back garden, 2 August 2003. No moon. Fair to good transparency.\| \|Statistics\|\|About 50 stacked frames of about 15 seconds each.\| \|Equipment used\|\|Helios 8" newtonian reflector Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 SC Long Exposure Modified (no lens) K3CCDTools, Registax and Photoshop\| M57 on the left, M27 on the right. This was the first attempt at these objects, and came out better than expected. Improvements will be attempted. The yellow glow in the top left of M27 is an artifact of imaging, and nothing to do with the object.
Lincoln and the House Divided The most important need Abraham Lincoln faced as the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois in 1858 was to distinguish himself sharply from the incumbent, Stephen A. Douglas, to lessen the risk that Republicans would support Douglas as the best means to achieve their own goals. The House Divided Speech can be understood as a response to this need. He asserted that the country was tending toward nationwide slavery as the result of a conspiratorial effort and that Douglas was part of the plot. He attempted to make these claims credible in the absence of direct evidence by employing a number of rhetorical moves ranging from abductive reasoning to the use of vivid images and metaphors. The conclusion suggested that if Douglas was not an active conspirator, he was at least an unwitting dupe. Although not successful in winning Lincoln a Senate seat, the speech helped to launch his national political career.
Hydrolysis is the reverse of neutralization (a salt reacts with water to produce an acid and a base). The reaction is reversible, so the result depends on the equilibrium. Actual hydrolysis only occurs if a weak acid or base forms, since strong acids and bases release the spectator ions. The reaction occurs because there are a small number of hydronium and hydroxide ions in pure water. The metal ions from the salt can combine with hydroxide ions to form a base, while the nonmetal ions from the salt can combine with hydronium ions to form an acid and water. This PowerPoint presentation describes the hydrolysis reaction and explains the consequences of hydrolysis with respect to salts that are not neutral. Worksheets on this topic are available free of charge on my website at www.evanschemistrycorner.com.
A pyrometer is a thermometer specifically designed to indirectly measure heat. Originally, a pyrometer was meant to measure the temperature of objects above incandescence by way of their visible radiation. Modern pyrometers measure thermal radiation without making direct contact with an object's surface.Know More Pyrometers are also called "radiation thermometers." The first pyrometer was actually invented by a potter to measure the temperature inside of his kilns. It was produced in 1901 and used a temporary filament placed over the object. Pyrometers are vital components of hot air balloons, certain types of steam boilers, metallurgic and salt bath furnaces, and tuyeres.
Western Ghats- 9 facts we didn’t know The mountains of the Western Ghats are no snow-peaked Himalayas. But what they lack in height they make up for in biodiversity, harboring an impressive array of India’s wildlife. 1. The Ghats are older than the Himalayas. 2. Anaimudi (2695 m), is the highest peak of the Western Ghats, which is situated in Eravikulam National Park, Kerala. 4. It has over 7,402 species of flowering plants,1814 species of non-flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird species, 179 amphibian species, 6000 insects species and 290 freshwater fish species; it is likely that many undiscovered species live in the Western Ghats. 5. At least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats 6. The Western Ghats are the main reason for the monsoon in the western coast of India and they receive a heavy amount of rainfall for more than half a year and these rainfall give birth to many famous rivers and waterfalls like river Kaveri, Periyar, Tungabhadra, Jog falls, Dudhsagar falls etc. These rivers alone combines drain to 40% of India alone. 7. The South Western Ghats montane rain forests are the most species-rich ecologic region in peninsular India; eighty percent of the flowering plant species of the entire Western Ghats range are found in this ecologic region. 8. The dense forests of western ghats contribute to the precipitation of the area by acting as a substrate for condensation of moist rising orographic winds from the sea, and releasing much of the moisture back into the air via transpiration, allowing it to later condense and fall again as rain. 9. Silent Valey in Kerala is among the last tracts of virgin tropical evergreen forest in India. Information gathered from wikipedia and wwf.
Learning Event 3: DESCRIBE PRINT FINISHING 1. Print Spotting. Spots may be caused by materials sticking to the negative during printing, by abrasion of the emulsion, by emulsion defect, by negative spotting, or by excessive density in small areas of the negative. The removal of these marks is called print spotting. In prints, defects range in tone from white to black and the technique for removing them varies according to the tone of the spot, the surface of the paper, and the medium used to darken the area. Any print surface from glossy to matte can be spotted. a. Spotting glossy prints. Most prints require some spotting even if it is just to cover up minor dust spots. Spotting is sometimes used to correct or tone down certain areas. Highlight areas which appear too bright in the print may be difficult to remove from the negative with an etching knife; but if they are small, these areas can be toned down by spotting. Glossy paper surfaces, especially ferrotyped surfaces, cannot be spotted with lead pencils without first applying retouching fluid to the surface, to provide a rough surface for the lead to cling to. Apply the retouching fluid to the spot using a cotton swab; and when the surface is dry, fill in the spot with pencil until it can no longer be seen at the normal viewing distance. The selection of the correct pencil is very important. The lighter the spot and the darker the area surrounding it, the softer the lead must be. For example, a white spot in a highlight area should cover easily with a 3H pencil; however, a white spot in a gray area might require a 3B or b. Spotting semimatte and matte prints. Prints that are not glossy are usually either semimatte or matte. A semimatte print has a very slight gloss, while a matte print is completely without gloss. The luster surfaces, smooth luster, rough luster, silk, linen, crystal, etc., come under the general classification of semimatte. Some of the semimatte surfaces are so smooth that they very nearly approach the surface of unferrotyped glossy paper. If there are white spots on a dark background on prints of these surfaces, they may have to be spotted, using the same retouching fluid and techniques as for glossy prints. c. Spotting matte prints is comparatively simple. The surface of the paper has a naturally rough surface, and crayon pencils take very well. Never use lead pencils on a matte surface. They leave bright metallic marks which are more prominent from certain angles than the spot. Black crayon Liquid spotting colors are also excellent for this type of corrective work.
U.S. Department of Energy/Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Video length: 2:16 min.Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness» See how this Video supports the Next Generation Science Standards» Middle School: 2 Cross Cutting Concepts High School: 9 Disciplinary Core Ideas, 2 Cross Cutting Concepts 4.1 Humans transfer and transform energy. Notes From Our Reviewers The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials Teaching Tips \| Science \| Pedagogy \| About the Science - While this video covers the basics of wind energy technology, there is no discussion of social, environmental, and economic impacts of wind turbines. - Comments from expert scientist: The resource is simplistic, and its okay as an introduction. Technical Details/Ease of Use - Excellent visual and audio quality. Easy to access and use. - While there is no specific guide for educators, background information and more videos can be found on the website: http://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/wind-energy-technologies-office Related URLs These related sites were noted by our reviewers but have not been reviewed by CLEANIndex to all videos by the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy: http://www.energy.gov/eere/videos Next Generation Science Standards See how this Video supports: Disciplinary Core Ideas: 9 HS-PS3.A2:At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy. HS-PS3.B2:Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems HS-PS3.B4:The availability of energy limits what can occur in any system. HS-PS3.D1:Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms—for example, to thermal energy in the surrounding environment. HS-ESS3.A1:Resource availability has guided the development of human society. HS-ESS3.A2:All forms of energy production and other resource extraction have associated economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical costs and risks as well as benefits. New technologies and social regulations can change the balance of these factors. HS-ETS1.A1:Criteria and constraints also include satisfying any requirements set by society, such as taking issues of risk mitigation into account, and they should be quantified to the extent possible and stated in such a way that one can tell if a given design meets them. HS-ETS1.A2:Humanity faces major global challenges today, such as the need for supplies of clean water and food or for energy sources that minimize pollution, which can be addressed through engineering. These global challenges also may have manifestations in local communities HS-ETS1.B1:When evaluating solutions, it is important to take into account a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics, and to consider social, cultural, and environmental impacts. Cross Cutting Concepts: 2 HS-C5.2:Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system. HS-C5.3:Energy cannot be created or destroyed—only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.
What was the influence Cleopatra had on Roman women and how was she able to become popular among the Roman population? In the late 40s BCE, Julius Caesar brought Cleopatra and their 2-year-old son to his Empire. This is the first real cultural elegance that the Romans experienced from the Egyptians, as Cleopatra was a very highly intelligent woman. When Cleopatra came to Rome, the women of the empire became infatuated with her style. These people began to worship Isis, a high-ranking Egyptian goddess, as a “patron saint” for those who transported goods from the Egyptian Kingdom and the Roman shores. The “cult of Isis” formed around this foreign deity, and the majority of its members were the Roman women who followed Cleopatra’s image of beauty and grace. Cleopatra’s experiences in Rome caused major political tensions, as her presence led to Julius Caesar getting an inside look into how other territories treated their leaders – not as mortals but as “gods” and goddesses above all else. People in his inner circles began fearing that Caesar was ruling with an iron fist of a demigod and not the republican values than the empire was formed on, and so he was assassinated on the Ides of March. Cleopatra, an abandoned widow on the wrong side of history with a young child to protect, was forced to flee from the Roman chaos and allied herself with Mark Antony. She and Antony would later commit suicide after a horrendous defeat against Octavian/Augustus. Her Egyptian presence influenced Rome even after her death, as Augustus himself would later bring two obelisks from the deserts of Egypt and erect them in Roman squares.
It should come as no surprise that Education is not a "one-size-fits-all" endeavor. No two people are exactly alike, so it makes sense that not everyone learns in the exact same way. There have been many studies done on this subject, and there are, of course, different schools of thought, but the most widely accepted conclusion seems to be that there are three distinctive learning styles. They are: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. Here is some information about each one: - Visual Learners learn best when looking at graphics, watching a demonstration, or simply reading. They are "big picture" people, and are often interested in layout and design. Charts, graphs, and pictures are usually helpful, while just listening is not. If your child is a visual learner, she might want to try color coding her notes, learning the bigger concepts first before focusing on details, using flash cards, and removing excess visual distractions while studying (i.e. an open window). - Auditory Learners learn best when things are explained to them out loud; because of this, your child may recite information to himself while studying. Often these students will process things by talking about them, rather than talk about things after processing them. Auditory learners can benefit from listening to recorded lectures, utilizing study groups and discussion materials, and studying with background music. - Kinesthetic Learners process information through hands-on experience. For them, doing an activity like going on a field trip or performing a science experiment is the easiest way to learn. They prefer their learning to be connected with reality. If your child is predominantly a kinesthetic learner, have him take frequent study breaks to move around, learn new material while doing something active, or try to take classes with teachers who encourage demonstrations and fieldwork. Interestingly enough, most people actually use a combination of all three learning styles but display a clear preference for one. It is very important to remember that while your child might favor one or even two learning styles, it is not set in stone. Training a child early on in learning styles other than the one he prefers can help him utilize multiple learning methods when he is older. This is important, as relying on a single learning style can debilitate a child's true potential. If your child is struggling in school, experiment with alternative methods of study, and talk to the teacher about how information is usually presented in class. Most teachers teach orally and visually, but if your child has told you otherwise, you can ask the teacher to write things down for the visual learner or explain more thoroughly for the auditory learner. A tutor can teach to the student's primary learning style and also encourage her to try different learning styles with games, visual aids, discussion techniques, and even computer programs. Help your children discover how they learn best, and then you and your children will have more control over the learning process.
America’s entry into World War One was well received by the Allies as her military power was desperately needed on the Western Front after the loss of men at the Somme and Verdun. The turmoil in Russia meant that Germany could move men based on the Eastern Front to the Western, so a nation of such power as America was seen, by the Allies, as a welcome addition to the cause. In early June 1917, General John Pershing, commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in Britain for a four-day visit before moving to France where he began to organise his command. On arrival in Britain, Pershing was greeted by the king and the ‘London Graphic’ published a photo of Pershing and his fellow officers with the caption “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious by this sun of (New) York.” Many did see Pershing and his troops as military saviours. By Spring 1917, the campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare was biting – in February 1917, 470,000 tons of ships had been sunk. By April it had risen to 837,000 tons. At the same time the chaos in Russia was set to release tens of thousands of German troops for the Western Front. To cap this, the failure of the Nivelle offensive in 1917, led to widespread mutinies in the French Army. With so many negatives going on for the Allies, it is no wonder that the entry into the war of the world’s most powerful nation was so well received. But what exactly did America bring to the war? America’s population of 90 million gave the military the potential to have a very large army. America’s industrial might was unparalled in the world. In steel production alone, America produced three times as much as Germany and Austria did. However, America did not have an economy that had been put on a war footing and such a transformation would take time – and the Allies did not have time on their side. America had been the provider of many war parts for the French and British armies while it was neutral. Ironically, now in war, both the British and French armies provided the first arriving American troops with equipment and uniforms. The AEF was given French artillery guns (the 75 and 155mm) while the British provided mortars, machine guns, steel helmets and some uniforms. The lack of speed with which the AEF was sent to Europe was later criticised by David Lloyd George. The 1st Division AEF landed in France in June 1917. The 2nd Division did not arrive until September and by October 31st, 1917, the AEF only numbered 6,064 officers and 80,969 men. In roughly the same time span in 1914, the BEF had got 354,750 men into the field. Nine months after America declared war, there were 175,000 American troops in Western Europe. In the same time span of nine months from 1914 to 1915, Britain had put 659,104 men into the various theatres of war. Therefore, in 1917, despite her strength on paper, America played little part in the war activities of that year. However, was America to blame for the lack of speed in her military build-up? Whereas Britain had spent time in 1914 planning for war and creating 6 divisions for the European campaign, America was all but starting from the beginning. In peacetime, the American army only numbered 190,000 and they were spread across America. Now with the declaration of war, these men had to move to the eastern seaboard where many camps had to be built to accommodate them before they sailed across the Atlantic. French ports had to be greatly expanded to handle the influx of men and the French rail network in the region had to be expanded. Pershing also wanted the AEF to be perfectly ready for combat. He did not want what Haig and Pétain wanted – that American forces should be used to fill in where the Allies were weak. Pershing wanted an independent fighting unit that was well-trained and self-contained. Therefore, when the Germans launched their great offensive of March 1918, there was only one American division in the Allied lines – with three divisions in training areas. The series of German offensives from March to July 1918 posed great dangers to the French and British armies. Paris was threatened and on two occasions, the British were nearly driven into the Channel on two occasions. But in all of these attacks, the Americans played little part. However, the German spring offensive had made Pershing realise that he needed to change his course of action. In June it was agreed that American troops would be sent to France from America without space-occupying equipment that could be provided by the French and British once the Americans were in France. In June and July 1918, America sent over 584,000 men. The American merchant marine could not cope with such numbers – so the British merchant marine was used as well. The German army could not hope to match such numbers that arrived in a very short space of time. On July 18th, 1918, the French launched a major attack against the Germans from the Forest of Villers-Cotterêts. This attack included two American divisions – a total of 54,000 men. By August 1918, there were nearly 1,500,000 American troops in France. Germany could only muster 300,000 youths. The Allies were planning for a major attack in 1919 that would be led by 100 American divisions. Faced with such odds, the Germans had no choice but to look for a way out of fighting. This led to the armistice in November 1918 that itself led to the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.
Ebola and the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have one thing in common: bats. The animals are the natural hosts of the viruses which cause those deadly diseases. Now, a team of scientists, led by prominent bat immunologist Dr Michelle Baker, say bats could also hold the key to boost the human immune system. Learning from it could effectively prevent people from developing the illnesses in the first place. The secret of interferons The scientists began this research after realizing that even though the bats carried the viruses, they did not show any of the disastrous symptoms seen in humans, displaying a kind of "super immunity". The team thus wanted to understand how the animal immune system managed to fight off the disease and how it could potentially lead to designing an immunity model replicable to humans. They studied the immune system of the Australian black flying fox. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), their findings reveal that this particular bat's immune system differs to that of humans, because it does not release as many types of interferons. Interferons are proteins created by immune cells in reaction to different pathogens present in the body, whether viruses or bacteria. Scientists have identified three types of interferons in bats, which represents only a quarter of what is released by men. While humans immune response only occurs to fight off diseases, scientists were surprised to discover that one type of interferon, alpha, is continuously released by the bat's immune system. "The bats interferon-alpha is constantly 'switched on' acting as a 24/7 front line defence against diseases", Dr Baker said. "In other mammalian species, having the immune response constantly switched on is dangerous – for example it's toxic to tissue and cells – whereas the bat immune system operates in harmony." The team now wants their findings to be put into practice, in order to design treatments replicating bat's immunity. If they are successful, it could be an effective new tool to combat endemic diseases, like Ebola, which have claimed so many lives.
Why Lesson Planet? In small groups, middle schoolers research deep-sea coral reefs and design a poster to educate the public about their importance. They compare them to shallow-water reefs and consider the impact of bottom-trawl fishing. Many internet resources are provided as background and research information. Employ this lesson in a marine-themed biology unit.
Influencing Others in Our World Grade Levels: 3 - 5Introduction Many individuals in our recent and distant past positively influenced the world in which they lived. When we study their lives, we can become inspired to also try to make the world a better place.Suggested Time Allowance - Students will understand that the actions of people can have a positive influence on a community. - Students will use a variety of resources to research biographies of African Americans. - Students will begin an inquiry into the lives of the historical figure studied. - Researching the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr Worksheet A Picture Book of Martin Luther King Jr, by David Adler, Holiday New York: Holiday House, 1997. If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King Jr, by Ellen Levine, New York: Scholastic Inc., 1990. - Introduce key vocabulary: influential, African American, civil rights, fairness, community, laws vs. attitudes. - Gather the class together for discussion. With chart paper and pens available for recording, ask the class, "What does it mean to influence others?" While collecting various definitions and examples, solicit examples of people who positively and negatively influence others. - Introduce Martin Luther King Jr as an important and influential person. Read A Picture Book of Martin Luther King Jr to the class. While reading the story, keep a list on chart paper of the questions and interests of the students. These will be the basis of the Internet research done in the next - Have students do some reading and research on their own to find some concrete examples of "positive influence." Hand out the worksheet, so that as the students are researching, they can collect information. Direct your students to educational websites about Martin Luther King. - While students are researching on the Internet, circulate among them, keeping track of findings and questions that are being asked. Remind students to record - Gather the children together to debrief and share research findings. Take notes about findings, including questions that arise, questions about vocabulary, and events that will need further explanation. From the questions and wonders, the next steps of the study become clear. Group discussions and books can help fill in students' ever-growing interest in the topic. - From the notes taken during the class meeting, be sure to put each person's name with their discussion offerings. Keeping notes from all discussions will produce a running record for assessment analysis. - Ask the group, "What do you think was the impact of Martin Luther King Jr on our community?" Take notes on chart paper, recording names for later evaluation. - Write a story or poem about Martin Luther King Jr's life. - Using the same format, take the lives of other influential people: Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Frederick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Ruby Bridges. - Compare the life work and outcomes of this work. Make a large graph comparing each person's efforts, the time frame, challenges each faced, and effects of their work. - Make timelines of each student's life, including the influences on their lives and the influences they have had on others. - Make a timeline of each influential person studied. Students can work together in groups and as a class to construct a timeline of King's life. The years of his life should be split up with each range of years being assigned to a group. For example, his life could be split up as follows: 1929-1944; 1945-1955; 1956-1963; 1963-1968 - Have a class discussion about nonviolence as a means of resolving conflict and how this is related to Dr. King's movement. - Read and listen to audio of Dr. King's famous speech "I Have a Dream." (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm) - Understands how democratic values came to be and how they have been exemplified by people, events, and symbols - Understands the folklore and other cultural contributions from various regions of the United States and how they helped to form a national heritage - Understands selected attributes and historical developments of societies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe If you need to teach it, we have it covered. Start your free trial to gain instant access to thousands of expertly curated worksheets, activities, and lessons created by educational publishers and teachers.Start Your Free Trial
Third grade students can practice reading skills by playing games on ABCYa.com, MrNussbaum.com, or PARCC Games. The PARCC Games website offers games specifically designed to help students master Common Core Reading standards.Continue Reading To play reading games on the Mr. Nussbaum website, students can go to the home page and select the yellow 3 button from the Grade Levels menu. They should then select Language Arts to browse reading, spelling and grammar games and activities. The "Story Units" game helps students practice close reading and comprehension skills, and the "Digraph Crosswords" game reinforces contextual vocabulary and reading comprehension skills. On ABCYa, students can play "Sight Word Bingo" or "Word Clouds for Kids" to practice identifying vocabulary words. To play games targeted towards third graders, students should visit the home page, click Grade 3, and then click Letters to browse reading, spelling and grammar games.Learn more about K-12
In 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 63-111, ¶ 171 of which declared June 8 to be World Ocean Day. Although the Resolution contains a laundry list of marine-related issues, it devotes an entire section to preserving the marine environment. In doing so, the General Assembly was recognizing the connection between "sustainable development and management of the resources and uses of the oceans and seas" and the United Nations Millennium Goals. The Resolution urges states to act on the concerns raised by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change about increasing sea temperature, rising sea level, and ocean acidification, (the projections are for reduction in average global surface ocean pH of between 0.14 and 0.35 units over the 21st century) and the critical role that oceans play in mediating global climate. The Resolution also draws attention to destruction of coral reefs, ocean dumping, overfishing, and the myriad other environmental threats facing the world's oceans. Finally, the Resolution points out that most of the pollution load of the oceans emanates from land-based activities, calls upon States to implement the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. There are numerous international agreements purporting to protect the oceans. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) creates an international legal framework for all activities in the world's oceans and seas. With regard to the environment, UNCLOS Articles 192 and 194 impose duties "to protect and preserve the marine environment" and to "prevent reduce and control pollution of the marine environment." Additionally, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (with its 1996 Protocol which bans ocean dumping), the 2004 Ballast Water Convention, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as numerous regional fisheries agreements all seek to channel state action towards protecting rather than harming the marine environment. Confusion and conflicting reports during the search for the wreckage of the Air France flight 447 underscored just how polluted the oceans have become. Debris and an oil slick initially thought to be from the crash turned out to be routine and wholly unrelated pollution. Indeed, a vast swath of the ocean has become the world's largest trash dump, with plastics routinely killing vulnerable marine mammals, turtles and sea birds. The United States has one of the world's largest coastline, and claims management jurisdiction over the world's largest exclusive economic zone. It is past time to ratify UNCLOS, and to take a leadership role in protecting and preserving the world's oceans as part of a comprehensive plan to preserve the earth and to promote the welfare of its inhabitants. We do indeed have "one ocean, one climate, one future."
A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and fire breaks. Wildfires are a common occurrence in Australia; because of the generally hot and dry climate, they pose a great risk to life and infrastructure during all times of the year, though mostly throughout the hotter months of summer and spring. In the United States, there are typically between 60,000 and 80,000 wildfires that occur each year, burning 3 million to 10 million acres of land depending on the year. The most common cause of wildfires varies throughout the world. In the Canada and northwest China, for example, lightning is the major source of ignition. In other parts of the world, human involvement is a major contributor. In Mexico, Central America, South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Fiji, and New Zealand, wildfires can be attributed to human activities such as animal husbandry, agriculture, and land-conversion burning. Human carelessness is a major cause of wildfires in China and in the Mediterranean Basin. In the United States and Australia, the source of wildfires can be traced to both lightning strikes and human activities such as machinery sparks and cast- away cigarette butts. Plants in wildfire-prone ecosystems often survive through adaptations to their local fire regime. Such adaptations include physical protection against heat, increased growth after a fire event, and flammable materials that encourage fire and may eliminate competition. Wildfires can affect climate and weather and have major impacts on atmospheric pollution. Wildfire emissions contain fine particulate matter which can cause cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Atmospheric models suggest that these concentrations of sooty particles could increase absorption of incoming solar radiation during winter months by as much as 15% Effective prevention techniques allow supervising agencies to manage air quality, maintain ecological balances, protect resources and to limit the effects of future uncontrolled fires. However, prevention policies must consider the role that humans play in wildfires, since, for example, 95% of forest fires in Europe are related to human involvement. Sources of human-caused fire may include arson, accidental ignition, or the uncontrolled use of fire in land-clearing and agriculture such as the slash-and-burn farming in Southeast Asia.
The psychological causes of an eating disorder are not well understood. One of the predisposed factors of an eating disorder is an individual temperament, which is the biological feature of the personality that plays a role in the manifestation of any eating disorder. Personality traits that are related to emotional instability such as, preoccupation with self image, having obsessions, and perfectionism contribute at some point to eating disorders. Researchers concluded that these personality traits are related at some point to genetic factor. People who have these characteristics are likely to be anxious, depressed, perfectionistic and self-critical. Thus, all of these components contribute to the emergence of an eating disorder, and hence causes difficulty managing weight and eating in a healthy manner. These characteristics are related to Neuroticism, which is “a long-term tendency to be in a negative emotional state”. Individuals with neuroticism have tendency to be depressed, they suffer from feelings of guilt, envy, anger and anxiety, more frequently and more severely than other individuals (Christian Nordqvist.2013). In addition, an individual with neuroticism is typically self-conscious and shy. According to the national institute of mental health, an eating disorder is a disorder that can lead to sever dysfunction in human health and that because of a problematic behavior to one’s everyday diet. For example, eating a very small amount of food (anorexia) or severely overeating (bulimia and binge eating disorder). A person with an eating disorder may have started out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spiraled out of control. Severe distress or concern about body weight or shape may also signal an eating disorder. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Being competitive and driven to succeed are common traits in individuals with anorexia and bulimia. Furthermore, they are likely to have unrealistic expectations of themselves as they compare their appearance and accomplishments against unrealistic standards. Most of their beliefs stem from their culture and peer and or media pressure rather than personal preference. Hence, those who suffer from aneating disorder tend to be anxious about what other people might think of them. (B. ENGEL, N. STAATS, and M. DOMBECK .2007) Despite of types of standards they set their life for, individuals with eating disorder usually make every effort to meet the greatest standard of performance possible to the point that they find themselves in a self-defeating cycle that is full of apprehension and frustration, especially when they don’t reach their expectations and goals, People with anorexia tend to have obsessive thoughts about food and this obsession accompanied with the idea of controlling their eating. In addition to that, people with an eating disorder have irrational thoughts that has to do with “black and white cognitive distortion”, such as, “I could be either perfect or horrible. Due to that cognitive rigidity, individuals with anorexia tend to be not capable of recognizing that their behaviors are out of control and that there are different ways to be happy in addition to weight loss. Thus, it is very hard for them to accept advices or other point of views from other people Clinicians have suggested that individuals with eating disorders are lacking of essential coping mechanisms and they use that dysfunctional eating behavior to compensate these coping mechanisms they tend to abuse eating habit to sooth and comfort themselves. Furthermore, they tend to numb their emotional pain, seek attention, release stress, control, punish, and protect themselves. People with binge eating disorders use food as a coping skill. However, people with anorexia and bulimia use disordered behavior as a means to become thin. Most people who binge eats have trouble dealing with intensive emotions, such as anger, depression, boredom, and anxiety. According to research findings, about half of all binge eaters have depression. The findings however were not clear whether depression is a side effect or a cause of binge eating. Individuals who binge didn’t learn or have healthy coping skills so they use food to bring comfort and sooth their aching psyche. In addition to psychotropic medication such as antidepressant, psychotherapy, especially CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) that is tailored to the individuals with eating disorder, has been shown to be effective. This type of therapy can be offered in an individual or group environment.
HELPING TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY Urban storm water runoff has become an increasingly important issue as impervious surfaces continue to expand with growing human populations. These surfaces transport rain water to storm drains rather than soaking into the ground like rain water would have done in the past. Yet, the rain water that falls on buildings and yards can be used as a resource when rain gardens are planted, especially with native species. CHOOSING NATIVE PLANTS A diverse mixture of species of native plants that bloom at different times and target a broad range of pollinators, insects, and birds were selected for our rain garden. The garden’s location exhibits species that are adapted to water-saturated (hydric) soils, as well as species that thrive in well-drained, sandy soils. By having a variety of moisture and light conditions, the garden helps visitors learn which plants work in different settings and environmental conditions. CREATING BIRD-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES The Center connects visitors with the natural resources of the Mississippi River, introducing them to the great diversity of plants and wildlife in this region. Our rain garden includes plant species upon which birds depend. Visitors may see an Indigo Bunting, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, American Goldfinch, Tree Swallow, Killdeer, or Dickcissel using the garden. This visitor experience emphasizes the benefits of native plants for wildlife. The Center’s family and school programs stress water conservation and connection to the Mississippi River. Its RiverVision Leadership program targets middle- and high- school students and presents a range of storm water management and water conservation strategies. Visitors see the rain garden and learn how they can support wildlife, protect water, and enjoy the beauty and benefits of native plants. THANK YOU PROJECT PARTNERS: Monsanto \| St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District \| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Layers of the Earth - Foldable Booklet Activity - Beginning Level - Grades K-4 This is a general science/geology activity for students to become familiar with the layers of the Earth. 4-Layers covered: Crust-Mantle-Outer Core-Inner Core Students use the written descriptions to color, label, and cut and paste the different layer diagrams into the fold-able booklet. Print double sided and fold to create simple booklet. Great review activity, Science center, or Teacher directed project!
Written by Lindsey Brand, ESLLC 2015-2016 –What is Ocean Dumping? Ocean dumping is the practice of dumping trash into the ocean as a disposal practice. –Where does this trash come from? A recent study estimates that most of the trash found in the oceans originates from the Chinese coast and other developing countries in Asia. About 10 percent of the plastic created in the world ends up in an ocean. –What happens to this trash? Most of the trash deposited into the ocean eventually ends up in large floating masses called “garbage patches”. There are five major garbage patches in the world’s oceans. The largest patch is located 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii and is called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. 3.5 million tons of trash resides in the patch. Over eighty percent of the trash in this patch is plastic, which explains why the patch is only growing, as plastics never truly degrade. –How does this trash effect marine life? Larger intact debris can be harmful to marine life by entrapping animals. Six-ring can holders are often used as an example of harmful large debris. Additionally, as plastic breaks down, the small plastic particles can be even more harmful to marine life. Plankton and other small organism ingest these particles, introducing plastic into the food chain. The ingestion of plastic is poisonous, harming marine animals as well as the humans that catch and eat these animals. Trash also chokes natural currents and interferes with the nutrients and sunlight needed to sustain both plant and animal life in the ocean. –What are the next steps to solving this problem? Recycling plastics is an easy and effective first step to take at home. Keeping trash off the ground is also important. Improperly discarded trash, even far away from a coast, often enters waterways and can eventually end up in the oceans. On a larger scale, more effective garbage management in communities that do not have the resources to safely deal with trash needs to be implemented in order to stop large amounts of trash from being purposefully dumped in the oceans.
Bobo Explores Light takes you on an exploration of light through the use of an interactive e-book. The app introduces you to 21 light-related topics such as lasers, reflection, refraction, photosynthesis, bioluminescence, aurora borealis, and the human eye. But you might be wondering why it's called, "Bobo Explores Light." Bobo is a robot that guides you through the book and gives you more information about the different topics. It has a holographic projector on its antenna that can show you the working structure of scientific objects and physics phenomena–in interactive 3D. In each section, there are videos, articles, animations, and trivia that should help you learn more about a light topic. This app would make a good supplemental resource for students in upper elementary school or middle school. The app is a visually appealing e-book and should engage students enough so that they want to move from one chapter to another.The activities are self paced and could be used as motivation activities at the start of a unit or even as extension activities. There also are hands-on activities scattered throughout the e-book that you could try with your students. Find out more about how to use apps in the classroom by joining the Thinkfinity iPad group. Hot and Cold Colors 3-5 \| Hands-On Light 1: Making Light of Science Light 2: The Lighter Side of Color Light 3: All Those Seeing Color, Say Eye! 6-12 \| Audio 6-8 \| Interactive
Nearly 500,000 Americans suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), meaning 10% to 20% of the country experiences the ‘winter blues’. The change of seasons brings cold and flu season, but as well an onset for depression. While individuals living in particular geographical regions are more prone to SAD, this type of depression can affect almost anyone. What is SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder is a form of depression that occurs during the same time period each year, usually triggered by the change of seasons. The cause of SAD is still unknown, but experts believe it is prompted from your exposure to sunlight, or lack thereof. Who does SAD affect? While SAD can affect anyone, some are more susceptible to being diagnosed with this type of depression. Those most likely to live with SAD are: - People living in areas with light deprivation, more commonly in the most northern and southern regions of the world. Residents are more vulnerable to SAD during the winter months because of the shorter daylight hours. - Women are more likely to be affected due to certain hormones that have a connection with the depression. - A person between the ages of 20 and 50 – the risk of getting SAD decreases as you age. - People who have a close relative who was diagnosed with SAD. What are the symptoms of SAD? An individual can be diagnosed with SAD throughout different seasons of the year, but more than likely during the winter and summer months. Common symptoms for the winter-onset of SAD are: - Failure to concentrate - Increased appetite - Loss of energy - Weight gain - Withdrawal from activities and social events Common symptoms for the summer-onset of SAD are: - Agitation and irritability - Decrease in appetite - Trouble sleeping - Weight loss VNA of Ohio Mental Health Manager, Amy Silbaugh, discusses Mental Health and the Winter Months: Seasonal Affective Disorder can be treated through a variety of different techniques, from in-home remedies, to light therapies to behavioral therapy. It is best to talk with your doctor and healthcare team to determine the appropriate treatment for your diagnosis. Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio works with your entire healthcare team to ensure a smooth continuum of care, allowing patients to reach optimal health and independence. Call VNA of Ohio Today Learn more about VNA of Ohio, or call us today at 1-877-698-6264.
In 1810, Rabbi Israel Jacobson founded the first Reform Temple in Seesen, Germany, so called because Jacobson wanted to move away from Jerusalem-centric Judaism, proclaiming ‘This is our Temple’. This was the final product of what Judaism calls the Haskalah, or enlightenment, which began in the 1780's when Moses Mendelsohhn left the Ghettos and translated the Torah into German, thus helping many Jews learn German for the first time. The early Reform movement in Germany went on a mission to make Judaism more acceptable to the outside world, and began borrowing ideas liberally from Christianity. Notably, services began to be conducted in German, the Sabbath day was moved from Saturday to Sunday, and the laws of Kashrut were changed. The ethos was very much one of ‘fitting in’. Jews were on the cusp of being socially acceptable by attempting to integrate into society, and the feeling was that the only thing holding Jews back was Judaism itself. The British Reform movement, The Reform Synagogues of Great Britain evolved along different lines. Sephardic Jews in the 1830’s and 40’s felt that Judaism needed to change, and formed the first Reform Synagogue in Great Britain in Upper Berkeley Street West London. Since its beginnings, the Reform movement has grown and changed. Today, the Reform movement has the principles that the Torah was not directly given by G-d, but that it was inspired by G-d, and that the Talmud and the other significant Jewish texts are a guide, and not binding. There is a focus on learning the traditional Jewish texts, and making an informed decision as to whether or not they are correct, in the tradition of Jewish argument, or Machloket. The movement has now made a significant move back towards traditional Judaism, emphasising change for the sake of the soul rather than assimilation. Today the Reform movement is the largest denomination in America, and is the largest non-Orthodox movement in Britain.
\|\|Games and Fun Stuff\|\|Feedback\|\|Meeting Forum\|\| [an error occurred while processing this directive] Return to the Intermediate Level Page. It's all good if you can tell where something is going to move, but what about how it starts moving in the first place? Well, according to Newton's Second Law of Motion, to move an object, you have to apply a force. The larger the object, the larger the force you need to apply. In fact, the relationship is actually really simple: The equation states that force is equal to the mass times the acceleration. In other words, a certain amount of force will accelerate a certain amount of mass. Force is also a vector quantity. For example, if you push a box with a force of 8 N to the right while your friend pushes with a force of 5 N to the left, it would be as if one person was pushing with a force of 3 N to the right. Well, what kind of forces are there? Well, the kinds that you probably will be working with most is weight and friction. WeightThe force that causes an object to fall due to gravity is called the weight of an object. On the surface of the earth, the acceleration of an object due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s2. This is usually refered to as g. So, we can write the equation we stated before in a little different format to specify weight: The subscript W is used to denote that it is the weight force. Also notice that we replaced the a with g. So what about an object sitting on a table? It is not falling because the table is holding it up, right? The object is said to be at equilibrium because it is not being accelerated. The net force on the object is 0. Okay, there is the weight force pulling the object down, so something must push it up to make the net force 0. This force is called the normal force. The normal force (FN) is always exerted perpendicular to the surface that is holding up the object, in this case the table. For a level surface, the magnitude of the normal force is equal to the magnitude of the weight force, except that it acts in the opposite direction. But what about for a slanted surface like a ramp? Well, look at the illustration to the right. The left part of the illustration shows what happens on a level surface. The right part shows what happens on a slanted surface. Notice how the normal force is still perpendicular to the slanted surface. It cancels out the component of the weight force perpendicular to the slanted surface (shown by the dotted line perpendicular to the slanted surface). But it does not cancel out the weight force entirely. So what is left is the component of the weight force parallel to the slanted surface (shown by the dotted line parallel to the slanted surface). This is called the net force (Fnet). As you can see, the net force is directed towards the bottom of the ramp. This is why the block will slide down the ramp. Let's put this in more mathematical terms so that you can figure out actually what the magnitude of the net force is. Say we have a ramp at an angle of q. The magnitude of the normal force is equal to the magnitude of the component of the weight force perpendicular to the slanted surface. So what is the magnitude? Well, through simple trigonometry, the magnitude of the normal force is: By the same reasoning, the magnitude of the net force is: Notice what happens when the q equals 0 (a level surface). Since cos 0 = 1 and sin 0 = 0, the equations merely simplify to: Fnet = 0 ...which is what we would expect. FrictionAll this time we have been ignoring friction, but friction plays a big role as well. Friction is a force that acts parallel to the surfaces in contact, and it turns out that it is determined by the normal force. The ratio of the frictional force to the normal force called the coefficient of friction (denoted by the Greek letter, m). To find the force of friction (Ffr): There are two types of friction that we will be dealing with, static friction and kinetic friction. Static friction is the friction between two surfaces at rest. To start moving an object, you have to overcome the force of static friction. Kinetic friction is the friction between two surfaces that are moving with respect to one another. To keep an object moving, you have to overcome the force of kinetic friction. Generally the force of static friction is greater than the force of kinetic friction. Thus, the coefficient of static friction (ms) is greater than the coefficient of kinetic friction (mk). The coefficients vary depending on the materials in contact. Okay, let's put everything you just learned into one big example. We have a 5 kg block sitting on a ramp at an incline of 30°. This time friction is acting. The coefficient of static friction between the block and the surface is 0.5. The coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.2. Will the block begin to slide? If so, how fast does it accelerate down the ramp once it begins to slide? It may look complicated at first but it really isn't too bad if you take it one step at a time. Let's first find the weight force: Now, let's find the force that makes the block move down the ramp. This time we do not call it Fnet since it doesn't take all the forces into account (we're leaving out friction). Instead, let's call it Fdown: Now let's find the force of friction. But since the force of friction depends on the normal force, we have to find the normal force first: Okay, now that we have the normal force, which coefficient of friction do we use? Well, we're trying to find out whether the block will begin sliding, so we should use the coefficient of static friction: Since the friction is acting directly opposite of the down force, we merely subtract the down force and the friction to find the net force: Now we can say for sure that the block will slide down the ramp because the net force is positive (Fdown is greater than Ffrs). What about the next part of the question? Since the block is moving now, we should find the force of kinetic friction: And then we should find the new net force with that force of friction: Now we can plug this answer back into the general definition of a force to find the acceleration: 16.0 N = (5 kg)a a = 3.2 m/s2 And there you have it! The block accelerates down the ramp at 3.2 m/s2. Check out the Vector Analyzer in our games and fun stuff section to see how vector forces interact to move a body. \|Created by TQ Team 16600:\|\| Clyde, Chetan, Jim Melanie Krieger, Chhaya Taralekar
Saras Crane - migratory birds The saras crane is the tallest flying bird in the world. The Indian sarus crane population is found in Pakistan, northern and central India and Nepal. Sarus Crane is the only resident breeding crane in India and is the world’s tallest flying bird. This Crane is a long-legged, long-necked grey bird with a naked red head. Juveniles have a brown appearance overall, younger sub-adults (> 1 year of age) have a brown head, grey body marked with grey, and older sub-adults (1-2 years of age) resemble adults except for markedly more black on the naked red head and upper neck. Sexes are alike, the female being slightly smaller. They can be identified reliably during the unison call when males open their wings and drop their primaries while females keep their wings closed. The diet includes frogs, reptiles, eggs of birds, eggs of freshwater turtles, a variety of invertebrates including butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers, tubers of aquatic plants, cereals, potatoes, peas, and fruits of Capparis. Sarus Crane has proven to be highly adaptable in the face of high human population pressures. The birds are able to use even small wetlands if they are not persecuted or heavily disturbed. Breeding pairs and families with pre-fledged chicks are typically dispersed among scattered natural and artificial wetlands Adult pairs will use drier habitats such as cultivated and fallow fields. Loss and degradation of wetlands-due to agricultural expansion, industrial development, river basin development, pollution, warfare, heavy use of pesticides, and other factors-are the most significant threats to the species. Sarus Cranes form life-long pair bonds, and return to the same breeding grounds year after year. Their nests are made of marsh vegetation and built on the ground, often in flooded paddy fields or marshes. They lay 2 white eggs per clutch. The female incubates for 31-34 days, with the male taking short turns while she feeds. The chicks are yellowish-brown, with 2 dark brown lines down the back. They stay in the nest for several days, and then begin to follow the parents. They fledge when they are about 3 months old, and are mature at 2-3 years. Increasing human demands on India's wetlands may be contributing to the decline of the Sarus Crane by reducing the recruitment rate within the population.
Graphic design is a branch of science of visual art that can not be separated from the science of psychology. The role of psychology in graphic design, including how a person's psychological response to the visual display nearby. Therefore, studying the theory of psychology is highly recommended for graphic designers in order to create a visual display of intelligent and effective. One of the psychological theory of the most popular and widely used in graphic design is the Gestalt theory. Gestalt psychology is a theory which states that a person would tend to classify what he sees around it become a unified whole based on patterns, relations, and similarity. This theory was developed by three scientists from Germany: Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Wolfgang Köhler. Gestalt in Graphic Design Gestalt is widely used in graphic design because it explains how visual perception can be formed. Gestalt principles are widely applied in graphic design, among others, is the proximity (closeness of the position), similarity (similar form), closures (closure of), continuity (continuity of the pattern), and figure ground. 1. Proximity (closeness of the position) Objects with a position adjacent to each other will be grouped as a whole. The objects on the logo above perceived as a group (the letter 'U') because it has proximity to each other position. 2. Similarity (similar form) Objects forms and similar elements will be grouped as a whole. The three triangles in the bottom of the logo actually is part of a bird icon in the logo. But because it has a similar form with another triangle, the object is perceived as part of a group triangles that make up the circle. 3. Closure (closing the form) An object will be intact even if the form is not closed entirely. We can recognize that the icons on the WWF logo is a panda. In fact, the picture is incomplete or not fully closed. 4. Continuity (continuous pattern) The object will be perceived as a group because of the continuity of the pattern. The circles are perceived as a group because of the continued pattern. Although the actual objects are separated from each other. 5. Figure Ground An object can be seen as two objects with a touch of foreground and background. Each can be identified as objects without having to form it into a solid. This is a picture of an object. But with the use of the theory of figure ground, the image is capable of displaying 2 pieces of the object (the object and the silhouette of the face jug) Gestalt can explain how a person psychologically digest what they see. By understanding the working principle of the tendency of human visual perception by Gestalt, designers can understand how the function of the arrival of a message to the audience.
How Ice Crystals fall during heavy Rain? How are Ice Crystals formed? Droplets of liquid condensation from the rain clouds freezes, thus forming ice. They create a crystalline structure. The air from the ground pushes itself upwards and carries the moist, warmer air into the colder parts of the atmosphere. This helps to begin condensation high up where rain clouds are formed. Snow forms above the rain clouds. What makes the Ice Crystals fall? When condensation happens; the water freezes to form ice crystals. These small ice balls pass through additional clouds and become heavier. Thus they fall onto the ground as they are too heavy to stay up. If the air is still the water is in the form of vapour and as the temperature falls molecules of water come together and form crystals. If the air is freezing cold all the way to the ground then these crystals fall as snowflakes.
Baby food is any soft, easily consumed food, other than breastmilk or infant formula, that is made specifically for infants, roughly between the ages of four to six months and two years. The food comes in multiple varieties and tastes; it may be table food that the rest of the family is eating that has been mashed or otherwise broken down, or it can be purchased ready-made from producers. As of 2011, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and many national health agencies recommended waiting until six months of age before starting a child on food; however, individual babies may differ greatly from this guideline based on their unique developmental progress. A good way to know when to introduce baby food is to watch for signs of readiness in the child. Signs of readiness include the ability to sit without help, loss of tongue thrust and the display of active interest in food that others are eating. Baby may be started directly on normal family food if attention is given to choking hazards; this is referred to as baby-led weaning. Because breastmilk takes on the flavor of foods eaten by the mother, these foods are especially good choices. As a global public health recommendation, the World Health Organization recommends that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. Most six-month-old infants are physiologically and developmentally ready for new foods, textures and modes of feeding. Experts advising the World Health Assembly have provided evidence that introducing solids earlier than six months increases babies' chances of illness, without improving growth. One of the health concerns associated with the introduction of solid foods before six months is iron deficiency. The early introduction of complementary foods may satisfy the hunger of the infant, resulting in less frequent breastfeeding and ultimately less milk production in the mother. Because iron absorption from human milk is depressed when the milk is in contact with other foods in the proximal small bowel, early use of complementary foods may increase the risk of iron depletion and anemia. If there is a family history of allergies, one may wish to introduce only one new food at a time, leaving a few days in between to notice any reactions that would indicate a food allergy or sensitivity. This way, if the child is unable to tolerate a certain food, it can be determined which food is causing the reaction. As shown in the 2008 Feeding Infants and Toddlers study, the overall diet of babies and toddlers, the primary consumers of baby food, generally meets or significantly exceeds the recommended amount of macronutrients. Toddlers and preschoolers generally ate too little dietary fiber, and preschoolers generally ate too much saturated fat, although the overall fat intake was lower than recommended. Micronutrient levels were typically within the recommended levels. A small group of older infants in the American study needed more iron and zinc, such as from iron-fortified baby foods. A substantial proportion of toddlers and preschoolers exceeded the upper recommended level of synthetic folate, preformed vitamin A, zinc, and sodium (salt). Preparation and feeding Baby foods are either a soft, liquid paste or an easily chewed food since babies lack developed muscles and teeth to effectively chew. Babies typically move to consuming baby food once nursing or formula is not sufficient for the child's appetite. Babies do not need to have teeth to transition to eating solid foods. Teeth, however, normally do begin to show up at this age. Care should be taken with certain foods that pose a choking hazard, such as undercooked vegetables, grapes, or food that may contain bones. Babies begin eating liquid style baby food consisting of pureed vegetables and fruits, sometimes mixed with rice cereal and formula, or breastmilk. Then, as the baby is better able to chew, small, soft pieces or lumps may be included. Care should be taken, as babies with teeth have the ability to break off pieces of food but they do not possess the back molars to grind, so food can be carefully mashed or prechewed, or broken into manageable pieces for their baby. Around 6 months of age, babies may begin to feed themselves (picking up food pieces with hands, using the whole fist, or later the pincer grasp [the thumb and forefinger]) with help from parents. Newborns need a diet of breastmilk or infant formula. About 40% of the food energy in these milks comes from carbohydrates, mostly from a simple sugar called lactose. By age two, toddlers need a diet that has a higher carbohydrate level, around 55%. Through the first year, breastmilk or infant formula is the main source of calories and nutrients. Nestlé's Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) of 2008 indicates that few American babies are fed baby food before the age of four months. - On a typical day about half of American babies aged four and five months old are fed infant cereal. The baby may have eaten as little as one small bite of infant cereal, or even as little as one small bite of a food that contains infant cereal mixed with other foods. Other types of grain-based foods are rare at that age. About 90% of babies aged six to twelve months eat some type of grain, although only half eat infant cereal. The others eat rice, bread, crackers, pasta, or cereal designed for older children. - On any given day, about 20% of babies aged four and five months eat some type of fruit, usually a prepared baby food. As with all of these, this may represent as little as one small bite of fruit or a food partly composed of fruit. Two-thirds of babies aged six to nine months, and between 75% and 85% of babies and toddlers older than nine months, eat some type of fruit. At age six to nine months, half of babies are eating prepared baby food fruits, but toddlers aged 12 months and older primarily eat non-baby food fruits, such as fresh bananas or canned fruits. Apple and bananas are common fruits for babies of all ages. Fruit juice, primarily apple and grape juice, is usually introduced later than fruit, and about half of older babies and toddlers drink some type of 100% fruit juice. - In a typical day, about a quarter of babies aged four and five months eat some type of vegetable at least once, almost always prepared baby food, and usually a yellow or orange vegetable like carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and winter squash. At age six to nine months, about 60% of babies and about 70% older babies and toddlers eat vegetables, with baby food vegetables rapidly being replaced by cooked vegetables after about nine months. Raw vegetables are uncommon for all babies and toddlers. By the first birthday, almost a third of babies eat potatoes on a given day. - Very few four- and five-month-old American babies eat meat or other protein source (excluding milk). Six- to nine-month-old babies mostly eat meat as part of a baby food that contains a small amount of meat along with vegetables or grains. About three-quarters of nine- to twelve-month-old babies are given either meat or another protein source, such as eggs, cheese, yogurt, beans, or nuts. More than 90% of babies aged 12 to 18 months old, and nearly all toddlers older than that, are given a protein source at least once a day. Almost three-quarters of these toddlers are given a non-baby food meat; prepared baby food meat (by itself) is uncommon at any age. - Sweet and salty foods - Sweet and salty foods are uncommon for babies. Compared to a prior study in 2002, the number of babies under age nine months that received any sort of sweetened food, snack, or beverage, had dropped by nearly half. At age nine to twelve months, fewer than half of babies are given sweetened foods like cookies, ice cream, or fruit-flavored drinks. Prepared baby food desserts are uncommon at any age, but are given to almost 12% of babies age nine to twelve months. Homemade or commercial Homemade baby food is less expensive than commercial baby foods. Homemade food is not appropriate unless the family has a sufficient and varied diet as well as access to refrigeration and basic sanitation. Homemade food requires more preparation time than opening a jar or box of ready-to-eat commercial baby food, as food may need to be minced or pureed for young babies, or cooked separately without the salt, intense spices, or sugar that the family chooses to eat. Some kinds of non-baby foods, such as unsweetened applesauce, cream of wheat cereal, and mashed potatoes, normally have a suitable texture for babies. As the baby gets older, foods with more noticeable texture, like plain, cooked rice, are commonly introduced, until the baby has transitioned completely to eating the family's normal foods. Some commercial baby food companies have expanded their lines to produce specialty foods for toddlers from the age of about 12 months to two and a half years old. These include juice, cereal, small microwaveable meals, baked goods, and other foods that have been formulated and marketed for toddlers. Parents and caregivers may perceive up to half of toddlers as being "picky" or "faddy", with the peak around 24 months. Adults who hold this opinion often stop offering new foods to the child after only three to five attempts, rather than the eight to fifteen tries recommended. They may also engage in counterproductive behaviors, such as offering appetite-suppressing milk or other favorite foods as an alternative, or trying to force or bribe the child into eating. Historical and cultural Baby food varies from culture to culture. In many cultures, pastes of a grain and liquids are the first baby food. In human history and presently with many cultures around the world, babies are fed food premasticated by the caretaker of the baby in order to pulverise the food and start the digestion process. An infant's first bite of solid food is ceremonial and holds religious importance in many cultures. An example of this is annaprashan, a Hindu ritual where the infant is fed a sweetened rice porridge, usually blessed, by an elder family member. Similar rites of passage are practiced across Asia, including the Bengal region, Vietnam, and Thailand. In the Western world until the mid-1900s, baby food was generally made at home. The industrial revolution saw the beginning of the baby food market which promoted commercial baby foods as convenience items. In developed countries, babies are now often started with commercially produced iron-fortified infant cereals, and then move on to mashed fruits and vegetables. Commercial baby foods are widely available in dry, ready-to-feed and frozen forms, often in small batches (e.g. small jars) for convenience of preparation. Commercially prepared baby foods in the Netherlands were first prepared by Martinus van der Hagen through his NV Nutricia company in 1901. In United States they were first prepared commercially by Fremont Canning Company, now called the Gerber Products Company, in 1927. The Beech-Nut company entered the U.S. baby food market in 1931. The first precooked dried baby food was Pablum which was originally made for sick children in the 1930s. Other commercial baby food manufacturers include H. J. Heinz Company, Nestle, Nutricia and Organix. The demand from parents for organic food began to grow in the 1960s; since then, many larger commercial manufacturers have introduced organic lines of infant food. At the beginning of the 20th century in America, most babies began eating baby food around the age of seven months. During and shortly after World War II, the age at which solid food was first introduced dropped to just six weeks. This age has since increased to four to six months. In China and other east Asian countries, homemade baby food remains common, and babies are started on rice porridge called xifan, then move on to mashed fruits, soft vegetables, tofu and fish. In Sweden, it is common to start with mashed fruit, such as bananas, as well as oatmeal and mashed vegetables. In western Africa, maize porridge is often the first solid food given to young children. Some commercial baby foods have been criticized for their contents and cost. Over the decades, there have been multiple recalls of baby foods because of concerns about contamination or spoilage. In 1984 and 1986, Gerber was involved in a scandal over glass baby food jars breaking in transit, which dramatically affected its sales and profitability, although the US Food and Drug Administration later concluded that the company was not at fault. In 1987, Beechnut paid US $25 million to resolve charges of selling adulterated apple juice in the early 1980s. In 2011, Nestlé France decided to recall a batch of P'tit pot baby food as a precautionary measure after a customer reportedly found glass shards in one of their jars. An investigation into the incident's scope led the company to conclude that it had been an isolated occurrence and that the rest of the batch had not been affected. Commercial baby food is dominated by Gerber, which had about 70% of the American market share in 1996. Beechnut had about 15% of the market, and Heinz had about 10%. Heinz's Earth's Best, the largest brand of organic baby food, had about 2% of the American market share. - Infant formula - International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes - Nestlé boycott - Organic Baby Products - World Health Organization. Online Q&A: What is the recommended food for children in their very early years? Accessed 2 August 2011. - Health Canada. Transition to Solid Foods. - Australian Breastfeeding Association. - Butte NF, Fox MK, Briefel RR, et al. (December 2010). "Nutrient intakes of US infants, toddlers, and preschoolers meet or exceed dietary reference intakes". J Am Diet Assoc 110 (12 Suppl): S27–37. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2010.09.004. PMID 21092766. - Stephen A, Alles M, de Graaf C, et al. (July 2012). "The role and requirements of digestible dietary carbohydrates in infants and toddlers". Eur J Clin Nutr 66 (7): 765–79. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2012.27. PMC 3390559. PMID 22473042. - Siega-Riz AM, Deming DM, Reidy KC, Fox MK, Condon E, Briefel RR (December 2010). "Food consumption patterns of infants and toddlers: where are we now?". J Am Diet Assoc 110 (12): S38–51. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2010.09.001. PMID 21092767. - Samour, Patricia; King, Kathy (2011-01-07). Pediatric Nutrition. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 92. ISBN 9780763784508. Retrieved 25 January 2013. - Mazze, Edward M.; Michman, Ronald D. (1998). The food industry wars: marketing triumphs and blunders. New York: Quorum. pp. 131–152. ISBN 1-56720-111-3. - Bentley, Amy. (Fall 2006). "Booming Baby Food: Infant Food and Feeding in Post-WWII America." Michigan Historical Review. 32:2. Pages 63–87. ISSN 0890-1686. - Carruth BR, Ziegler PJ, Gordon A, Barr SI (January 2004). "Prevalence of picky eaters among infants and toddlers and their caregivers' decisions about offering a new food". J Am Diet Assoc 104 (1 Suppl 1): s57–64. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2003.10.024. PMID 14702019. - Wright CM, Parkinson KN, Shipton D, Drewett RF (October 2007). "How do toddler eating problems relate to their eating behavior, food preferences, and growth?". Pediatrics 120 (4): e1069–75. doi:10.1542/peds.2006-2961. PMID 17908727. - Scaglioni S, Arrizza C, Vecchi F, Tedeschi S (December 2011). "Determinants of children's eating behavior". Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 94 (6 Suppl): 2006S–2011S. doi:10.3945/ajcn.110.001685. PMID 22089441. - Holmes, Wendy (2007), "Influences on maternal and child nutrition in the highlands of the northern Lao PDR", Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 16 (3): 537–545, PMID 17704036 - The Food Timeline-baby food history notes - Our Company, Beech-Nut website, accessed November 30, 2008 - FW-91 - Homemade Baby Food: Fast, Frugal, and Fun \| www.japaninc.com - USA (2011-10-03). "Aflatoxin Exposure after Weaning: Solid Food Contaminant Impairs Growth". Pubmedcentral.nih.gov. Retrieved 2011-10-28. - Cheating Babies: Nutritional Quality and Cost of Commercial Baby Food - Pillay, Ravi. "Recall of Nestlé P’tit Pot Recette Banana baby food by Nestlé France.". October 5, 2011. Retrieved October 24, 2011. - When do I introduce solids?: NHS Choices - Babies, weaning: NHS Choices - Solids: the first steps: NHS Choices - Introducing solid foods: What you need to know from the Mayo Clinic. - Feeding Tips from the Baby Care Encyclopedia. - The Evolution of the Baby Food Industry 2000-2008, Federal Trade Commission Working Papers, 2009
Published after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 brought William of Orange and Mary to the throne, but written in the throes of the Whig revolutionary plots against Charles II in the early 1680s, John Locke offers a theory of natural law and natural rights which distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate civil governments, and argues for the legitimacy of revolt against tyrannical governments. These radical ideas remain influential today.In these two treatises the political philosopher John Locke espouses radical theories which influenced the ideologies of the American and French revolutions, and became the basis for the social and political philosophies of Rousseau, Voltaire and the United States founding fathers. In the first treatise Locke aims to refute the doctrine of the patriarchal and absolute right of the Divine Right of Kings doctrine put forth by Sir Robert Filmer's Patriarcha. He examines key Biblical passages to prove that scripture does not support Filmer's premise.The second treatise offers Locke's positive theory of government in which he establishes a theory which reconciles the liberty of the citizen with political order. His basic premise is founded on the independence of the individual. He declares that men are born free and equal in their rights and that wealth is the product of labor. In his revolutionary theory of the social contract he proposes that a legitimate civil government must preserve the rights to life, liberty, health and property of its citizens, and prosecute and punish those in violation of those rights. Reprint of the 1698 third edition.
Hands-on Outdoor ABCs E A CYR, parent Gather outdoor items on a walk, discuss, and make your own book! Children learn about ABCs, different things about the outdoors, colors, textures, shapes. - construction paper - shoe box - string ( for binding book) - In the fall, go outside with the children and ask them (with your help) to gather different things that start with different letters. - Place these items in a shoe box then return inside. - Talk about what you found: colors, textures, letters, etc. - Then, glue them onto construction paper and make a book for looking at later. Hints: If things are brittle, do not use them. If leaves are in color, the best way to preserve them is by ironing them with wax paper. Children love hands-on activities they feel more involved, more like they did it, being outside helps them develop their imagination. Editor's Note: The Ziploc Bag Book would be very appropriate for this activity so you don't have to worry about things staying glued on.
Arthur Holmes, called the father of modern geochronology, started dating rocks in 1910 using uranium-lead dating methods and perfected many of the procedures in the following 40 years. Holmes is recognized for his perseverance against the well-entrenched feeling of geologists regarding the age of rocks, especially of a much younger Earth. In fact, there was really no method available for determining an absolute geological timescale and everybody worked with relative ages of different types of rocks based on fossil records - a highly unsatisfactory situation. One could say that it was Holmes' mission and ambition to find an absolute geological time scale and do away with the uncertainties in interpreting data relating to the age of rocks, sediments, fossils - in effect set out a time scale against which dynamics of our planet's evolution could be understood. It might be fair to say that by measuring absolute ages, Arthur Holmes's work elevated geology to a 'Science' capable of making quantitative analysis and predictions that could be empirically confirmed. His work also provided a time scale for life sciences against which Darwin's evolution could be understood. During WWII, Patterson worked on the Manhattan Project and was based in Oak Ridge. The work in Oak Ridge concerned with the enrichment of uranium-235 for the atomic bomb and the experience with mass spectrometers was invaluable for Patterson to develop the radioisotope dating methods. Lead (Pb) is the stable end product in the decay of uranium (U). Uranium is radioactive and the two relevant isotopes of U have masses 238 and 235 decaying with half-lives (time for half of a sample of the radioactive isotope to decay) of 4.48 and 0.7 Ba respectively, resulting in end products of Pb isotopes of masses 206 and 207. Essentially, for determining the age of a rock or a meteorite, one is required to measure minute quantities, of the order of pico-grams (a billionth of a milligram) of U and nano-grams (a millionth of a milligram) of Pb isotopes. Patterson developed methods to measure such minute quantity of lead present in his samples. In addition to the ages of Earth, Moon, and meteorites, radiometric dating has been used to determine ages of fossils, timing of glaciations, ages of mineral deposits, recurrence rates of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the history of reversals of Earth's magnetic field, and the age and duration of a wide variety of other geological events and processes. George Tilton in the biographical account describes Patterson's next big project to measure the isotopes of lead in ocean sediments with a view to obtain information about the ages and compositions of the landmasses draining into the oceans. In 1962, Patterson showed that the ocean surface water contained up to 10 times more lead than deep ocean water. Other metals like barium did not show this trend. He showed further that blood lead levels in Americans was over 100 times the prehistoric levels and attributed this to the vast quantities of lead entering the environment from sources like paint, petrol, solder and water pipes. It seemed that the population en mass was being poisoned by the prevailing industrial activity. The lead contamination problem was so pervasive that even the blanks, used as standards, were contaminated with lead and the measured lead levels were grossly under-estimated. The response from big business was as expected. They did everything in their powers to discredit and isolate Patterson. Patterson's results were called 'rabble rousing'. Even the regulatory bodies did not believe what Patterson was trying to tell them which in his view required immediate action. It took Patterson almost two decades to have his views totally accepted by the Environmental Protection Agencies with a significant improvement in the health of the people throughout the world. In Part II, I shall look at lead as an environmental poison and its effects on the human body. In Part III, I shall discuss the inadequacy of our regulatory systems and put the lead poisoning episode in relation to many other failings in the way our system works. Blog Contents - Who am I?
Hermit Crabs information file for children Hermit Crabs for the younger student (NE Atlantic species only) Intertidal Crabs: British Coast Because that's the way their legs bend. Muscles work in pairs. A muscle can only retract, or pull; to lengthen again it must relax and be pulled back by another 'antagonistic' muscle. The muscle blocks in crabs are attached to the inner surface of the exoskeleton, including the ten tubular legs, including the legs with claws, or chelae, as well as other appendages. Crabs do not have ball-and-socket joints but the legs pivot at numerous peg-in-socket joints that are sealed by flexible chitin, and can move in one plane (similar to our knee). Each joint moves in a different plane, so together they allow the crab to move in all directions like our shoulder and hip joints. However, many crabs have joints in their legs moving in a restricted number of planes so that they can only move sideways. The sharp ends of each leg grip on to surfaces and can grip on to tiny irregularities (watch a Hermit Crab climbing up an almost smooth rock). In some crabs, the rear legs are shaped like paddles for limited swimming. Many crabs like the Shore Crab need to scamper sideways to avoid the legs getting tangled up with each other. exoskeleton = external skeleton (see the above article for details of moulting, ecdysis). is a very dense medium, about 830 times as dense as air, and has a viscosity about 60 times that of air. This means that marine life does not require the supporting skeletons of land dwellers; the large spider crabs will collapse out of the water. Water is more difficult to move through, and marine creatures have evolved shapes to minimise the resistance. This can be seen in the flattened bodies of many common crabs. Hermit Crabs for the younger reader How to tell the age of a crab (when dead) New Scientist Research Lobster's Meal Time (BMLSS Scotland) Mantis Shrimps (British) Spider Crab, Maja squinado Spider Crab, Maja squinado (Shoreham) Shrimps and Prawns Occasionally they will fall in sandy pools and will slide along leaving a furrow until they make their way onto hard surfaces on which they settle when the tide goes out, feeding on microalgae when the tide comes in. But not every snail shell moving across a pool is a live mollusc. A careful eye will spot that the snail is not moving in its normal manner. Picking up the snail, the rockpooler may be pleasantly surprised to discover two tiny orange claws sticking out of the opening: a small Hermit Crab has taken up residence in the old shell. Young Hermit Crabs Juvenile Hermit Crabs are common on rocky shores in all months of the year and there were many reports of these fascinating crustaceans in January 1997 when on many shores the fauna was exceptionally sparse. They were seen on the shore immediately following the period of exceptionally cold weather, but this probably reflects the human presence between the tides. Of the 15 or so species recorded regularly in British seas, the species known as the Common Hermit Crab, Pagurus bernhardus, is by far the commonest. If the major claw is on the right side nearest the apex, you can almost certainly assume that a Hermit Crab found between the tides is this species. All the others are so unusual as to be worth a mention in the 'Shorewatch' Newsletter. Continual fights and squabbles are the result of keeping several Hermit Crabs in the same aquarium. This can be explained by the need for the crab to protect its soft abdomen with a borrowed shell. The crab adopts a univalve (snail-like) mollusc shell, which it carries around on its back throughout its life. Fights occur when the crabs dispute the available shells. Mating and Moulting Like all decapod (ten-legged) crustaceans, Hermit Crabs mate, and afterwards the female carries the eggs underneath her coiled abdomen for several months when she is are said to be 'in berry'. In the Common Hermit Crab, Pagurus bernhardus, the eggs hatch into larvae in the first two months of the year. At this hazardous stage they will undergo moults like all crustaceans. The first planktonic stages are called zoea. Later when they develop claws (chelae) they are termed megalopa, before they settle on the sea floor and and search around for a gastropod shell to inhabit. Hermit Crabs are widespread on different demersal habitats, and the choice of shell depends on what is available. Pheasant Shells, Tricolia pullus, and Little Netted Dogwhelk Shells, Hinia incrassata, are a popular early choice on mid-Sussex shores. These shells can be less than 10 mm high, and as Hermit Crabs continue to moult and grow like other crabs, they need to embark on a constant quest for new and larger shells to inhabit. In most cases they will use empty shells of dead snails, but squabbles for possession of occupied shells occur frequently in the wild. A Hermit Crab dispossessed of its home by a more aggressive crab of the same species is vulnerable to attack by its many enemies. It is fun to discover exactly what species of gastropod mollusc the inhabited shell used to belong to. In Sussex, the shells of the Periwinkle, as well as the Grey Topshell, Gibbula cineraria, and the Common Netted Dogwhelk, Hinia reticulata, are often occupied. Common Hermit Crabs will eventually grow large enough to occupy the commodius shelter of the Common Whelk, Buccinum undatum, This is the largest gastropod found in the shallow seas around the British Isles. One of the most fascinating aspects of Hermit Crab behaviour is their association with other animals. Acorn Barnacles, tubeworms and hydroids will frequently settle on the outside of the shell. And one species of hydroid, Hydractinia echinata, is found on their shells and nowhere else. Small Hermit Crab with a shell adorned with the hydroid, Hydractinia echinata, although the furry appearance of the hydroid is not very clear in this photograph. A ragworm, Nereis fucata, even resides in the spiral end of the larger whelk shells, poking its head out to feed on the fragments of the crab's meal. However, the most spectacular of the commensal relationships is the sharing of the shell with a species of sea anemone. One anemone species that is found on large Hermit Crabs in the south and west only is the brownish Calliactis parasitica (pic). The sea anemone is the active partner in the relationship with this species of Hermit Crab. Another species of Hermit Crab called Pagurus prideauxi shares a mutual relationship with the Cloak Anemone, Adamsia palliata. Hermit Crabs are omnivorous scavengers, picking up scraps from the surface of rocks and shredding larger items. They also filter feed, extracting living plankton from the sea on fine setae and other appendages. Hermit Crabs are classified in the infraorder Anomura of the order Decapoda in the subphylum Crustacea of the phylum Arthropoda. They are not true crabs like the Brachyura and can be differentiated by the reduced rear pair of legs, which can be seen when the Hermit Crab Edible Crab Video EMail for Shorewatch Reports of shells occupied by Hermit Crabs Hermit Crab Pagurus bernhardus Database (Marine Wildlife of the North-east Atlantic Ocean Group) Crustacean EBiota of Cetaceans (notes only) Decapod Crustacea DataBase (under construction) Lepeophtheirus nordmanni (copepod) Lobster's Meal Time (BMLSS Scotland) Stomatopods (Lurker's Guide) (External) Taxa of CrustaceaCrustaceans are subdivided into the following groups: Cladocera - waterfleas, daphnia.
All Summer in a Day “A thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives.” “All Summer in a Day” is one of my favorite short stories that I had a chance to teach recently. It is short (less than four pages), has 9 years olds as the central characters, creates vivid characters and a poignant scene, and a deals with issues of group membership, how groups deal with difference, prejudice, and bullying. The characters, setting and theme create an safe topic for conversations of behaviors that may be common to students. - Have students do a quickwrite activity framed in the discussion you want to explore: (This one is to look at how groups treat difference.) “Have you ever been in the company of a group of which you were clearly not a member? What was the circumstance? How did you act? How were you treated?” Pair share, then report out. - Read aloud with students – check for understanding and have students pick out words they are not familiar with. - There are many activities to do with this story (and a few guiding sheets in the resources section). One interesting discussion might be to have students discuss who should be held responsible for Margot’s treatment and then discuss what those people might have chosen to do which would have led to a positive outcome. - Text to the Story “All Summer in a Day” - Resources to go with the story including: a Do Now writing prompt, sketch and important scene with quote, create a pie chart of responsibility, identify setting and figurative language, identify the characterization techniques of the protagonist, Margot. - You Tube Video Version of the Story - Bradbury’s Illustrated Man - “What Do We Do with a Variation” – James Berry Poem. A great text for students to use to think about the different ways people deal with difference.
Japanese (日本語 Nihongo) is a language spoken by over 120 million people in Japan and in Japanese immigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists. Japanese is an agglutinative language and a mora-timed language. It has a relatively small sound inventory, and a lexically significant pitch-accent system. It is distinguished by a complex system of honorifics reflecting the nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned in conversation. Japanese vowels are pure. Although Japanese is written using Chinese characters, and has historically imported many words of Chinese origin, the two languages are not considered to have a genealogical relationship.The Japanese language is written with a combination of three scripts: Chinese characters called kanji (漢字?), and two syllabic (or moraic) scripts made of modified Chinese characters, hiragana (ひらがな or 平仮名?) and katakana (カタカナ or 片仮名?). The Latin script, rōmaji (ローマ字?), is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, romanization of Japanese characters, and when entering Japanese text into a computer. Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also commonplace (see Japanese numerals).
Letter series type of questions usually consists of a series of small letters which follow a certain pattern. However, some letters are missing from the series. These missing letters are then given in a proper sequence as one of the alternatives. The candidate is requitred to choose this alternative as the answer. C B _ _ D _ B A B C C B _ _ 1 2 4 3 _ _ ? ? ? ? a _ a b _ c _ b _ _ _ _ Comparing position of capital letters, numbers and small letters, as we find: a correspondes to C and 1 corresponds to a. So a and 1 corresponds to C. b corresponds to A and 2 corresponds to b. So b and 2 corresponds to A. Also, 4 corresponds to D. So the remaining number i.e. 3 corresponds to B, So BCCB corresponds to 3, 1, 1, 3.
Assessing and diagnosing abnormality is extremely important for the treatment of mental disorders and involves examining symptoms and their causes in order to group these symptoms together into a diagnosis of the problem. This is obviously a very important aspect of abnormal psychology, as conditions can be diagnosed and further researched in order to develop treatments for individuals sufferring from the disorder. Assessments used in abnormal psychology include measurements of biological functioning, cognitive functioning, emotional regulation, personality, and social functioning. Information can be collected and assessed by examining symptoms and history of the individual, including onset of the symptoms and any environmental or psychological factors that may have occurred throughout their life. Then, information can be assessed in more depth through clinical interviews or through an assortment of tests, including personality tests, intelligence tests, brain imaging techniques, and questionnaires to determine symptomatology. Behavioural tests and self-monitoring using methods such as a journal can also be used. Image credit: Erin Kohlenberg Diagnosis is then determined based on the results of these assessments and used to treat the individual. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the most widely used classification of symptoms and disorders; however, while it is beneficial to diagnose someone with a disorder in order to treat them and provide consistency among health care providers and research, it can cause difficulties in assessment/diagnosis, including stigmatization within society. Furthermore, diagnoses may not take into consideration cultural differences.
CONSTITUTION 101: THE MEANING AND HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION - COURSE / 12 LECTURES The Constitution established a limited government, but a government with sufficient powers to protect Americans’ God-given rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This course examines the design and purpose of the Constitution, the challenges it faced during the Civil War, how it has been undermined for over a century by progressivism and post-1960s liberalism, and how limited government under the Constitution might be revived. CONGRESS: HOW IT WORKED AND WHY IT DOESN’T - COURSE / 11 LECTURES The Framers of the Constitution institutionalized the legislative power in Article I, which grants limited powers to a bicameral Congress, with the aim of securing the rights of American citizens. In the early 20th century, Progressives introduced new conceptions of Congress and the legislative power, which resulted in a massive and ongoing transfer of legislative authority to unaccountable bureaucratic agencies. This course explores the Founders’ understanding of the legislative power and how Congress should work, the Progressive rejection of that understanding, and how that rejection has affected American politics. INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION - COURSE / 12 LECTURES The American Founders believed that the principles of the Declaration and the Constitution were not simply preferences for their own day, but were truths that the sovereign and moral people of America could always rely on as guides in their pursuit of happiness. This course considers the principles of the American Founding—which are described most famously and concisely in the Declaration of Independence—as well as key features of American government based on those principles. Led by Hillsdale College President Larry P. Arnn, the course also examines the major challenges posed by Progressivism to American constitutionalism. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - COURSE / 10 LECTURES Article III of the U.S. Constitution vests the judicial power “in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” According to Federalist 78, the judicial branch “will always be the least dangerous” to the liberty of the American people. Yet, judicial decisions have done much to advance a Progressive agenda that poses a fundamental threat to liberty. This course will consider several landmark Supreme Court cases in relation to the founders’ Constitution. PUBLIC POLICY FROM A CONSTITUTIONAL VIEWPOINT - COURSE / 12 LECTURES The American Founders wrote a Constitution that established a government limited in size and scope, whose central purpose was to secure the natural rights of all Americans. By contrast, early Progressives rejected the notion of fixed limits on government, and their political descendants continue today to seek an ever-larger role for the federal bureaucracy in American life. In light of this fundamental and ongoing disagreement over the purpose of government, this course will consider contemporary public policy issues from a constitutional viewpoint. THE FEDERALIST PAPERS - COURSE / 10 LECTURES Written between October 1787 and August 1788, The Federalist Papers is a collection of newspaper essays written in defense of the Constitution. Writing under the pen name Publius, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay explain the merits of the proposed Constitution, while confronting objections raised by its opponents. Thomas Jefferson described the work as “the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written.” This course will explore major themes of The Federalist Papers, such as the problem of majority faction, separation of powers, and the three branches of government. THE PRESIDENCY AND THE CONSTITUTION - COURSE / 10 LECTURES This course, taught by the Hillsdale College politics faculty, will help you understand the structure and function of executive power in the American constitutional order. The course begins with the place of the president in the constitutionalism of the Founding Fathers and examines how that role has changed with the rise of the modern Progressive administrative state. CIVIL RIGHTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY - COURSE / 9 LECTURES In 1776, America was founded on the principle that “all men are created equal.” This course examines the Founders’ understanding of equality, natural rights, and civil rights; the quest for justice in America through the Civil War, during Reconstruction, and in the 20th century; and the danger posed to freedom and civil rights today by identity politics. AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP AND ITS DECLINE - COURSE / 8 LECTURES For most of American history, the people, understood as citizens, have ruled through elected representatives under the terms of the Constitution. Today, the constitutional rule of citizens is threatened by a new form of government, unaccountable to the people, in which power is held by a ruling class that seeks to transform our society. This course, based on Victor Davis Hanson’s book The Dying Citizen, examines the origins and history of citizenship in the West and the grave challenges to American citizenship today. THE GREAT AMERICAN STORY: A LAND OF HOPE - COURSE / 25 LECTURES This course explores the history of America as a land of hope founded on high principles. In presenting the great triumphs and achievements of our nation’s past, as well as the shortcomings and failures, it offers a broad and unbiased study of the kind essential to the cultivation of intelligent patriotism.
Labor Day Word Origins_Shanghai Translation Company In 1882, Peter J. McGuire, a leader of the labor union the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (joiner being "a craftsman who constructs things by joining pieces of wood" or "a worker in wood who does more ornamental work than a carpenter") proposed a day to honor laborers. Laborers were considered a new class that worked in the factories and plants created by the Industrial Revolution. Labor Day became a national holiday on which workers in the 1890s and early 20th century used to call attention to their grievances. There were often parades, political speeches, fireworks, and a picnic. Today, Labor Day, celebrated on the first Monday in September (as of 1894, by law), simply honors anyone who works. The date has no traditional or historic significance but was picked because it filled a gap in the schedule of legal holidays. Canada also celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday in September; many other countries observe this on May 1. The word labor comes from Latin laborem, "distress, toil trouble; drudgery, labor," and first referred to work that was compulsory or painful. The meaning changed with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The first labor unions or trade unions came with the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the 18th century. Employ comes from a French word employer, which first meant "to apply or make something for a specific purpose." The French word traces back to Latin implicare, "to involve or engage." By the late 16th century, the sense of "to use the services of a person in a business or professional capacity" was recorded. The word employer was coined by Shakespeare (c 1599) and he also used employ and employment. Employee was first recorded in 1850 according to the Oxford English Dictionary, though previously it was spelled employé and was used by 1834 for "one who is employed." The word payroll is a combination of pay and roll as in "list," i.e. "a list of employees to be paid." A factory was originally a place where traders did their business in another country. The word is based on Latin factorium "an oil press" (for olive oil). As a place for manufacture of goods, the word was first recorded in 1618. According to Wikipedia, the world's first factory was the Venice Arsenal (1104) in Italy, where ships were mass-produced on assembly lines using manufactured parts.
(Above) 2015 Radio Collar Tracker during Desert Testing, Mojave Desert. Â Photo Credit:Â Engineers for Exploration Many wildlife ecology studies look at population size, location, and density to understand animal behavior and population movement. Â One common method for locating individuals of a population is radio collar tracking, or radio telemetry. Â The traditional method for radio collar tracking involves going out in the field and, using a large directional antenna, following the pulses transmitted by the radio collar. Â This technique often involves walking directly through the brush and over heavy terrain, resulting in researchers taking as many as 5 hours to travel 2 kilometers. For the past couple years, Engineers for Exploration has collaborated with researchers from the San Diego Zoo. Â In particular, we have been working with Dr. Stesha Pasachnik, who studies iguana populations in the Caribbean. Â We are currently developing a platform to track radio collars placed onÂ iguana hatchlings in the Dominican Republic. Â Recently, a team of engineers from E4E deployed this platform into the field, once in early July, and again in mid September. Â These first field trials of the Radio Collar Tracker platform provided a proof-of-concept field demonstration that proved the feasibility of autonomously locating radio collars using low-cost aerial platforms. During our July trip to the Dominican Republic, we tried validating the Radio Collar Tracker platform. Â During this trip, we encountered significant issues due to increased radio noise in the Dominican Republic. Â We then made some changes to the software and hardware configuration to increase sensitivity and to improve our ability to extract and identify the collar pulses. Â However, during our September trip, we found that while the changes we made had some effect on how effectively we could hear and localize the collars, the changes ultimately were not enough to work effectively. Ultimately, we were able to design and deploy a system that is capable of finding collars, however, because of the low power of collars placed on the iguana hatchlings and the noise environment in the Dominican Republic, we were not able to use the system as effectively as hoped.
History of classification and its need Classification of organisms based on their similarities and dissimilarities is required for studying organisms. History of classification: Artificial system of classification: - These classifications are based on morphological characteristics, which is a system of artificial classification. - The drawback of this system is that completely related species are grouped differently. - While completely unrelated species are classified together within the same groups. - Example: The animals that have wings are classified together, therefore bats, birds and insects were put together in the same group. 350 BC - Aristotle - He classified plants and animals based on their morphological characteristics and habitats. - He classified animals into two categories - enaima [with red blood] and anaima [without red blood]. - He also classified animals based on their habitat as aquatic [example: fish, whale], terrestrial [example: reptiles, cattle] and aerial [example: birds, bat]. - He divided plants into three groups: herbs, shrubs and trees. 23 - 79 AD - Pliny and Elder - They classified animals into flight and non-flight. For example, bats, birds and insects were classified as flight animals. - He classified plants into 24 classes based on the numerical strength of sexual charecters as monandria, diandria, polyandria etc. Natural system of classification: - In the natural system of classification along with morphological characteristics several other characters such as cytological, physiological, biochemistry etc. are also utilized. - There is only a little chance of placing unrelated organisms in the same group. - It is the most widely used system of classification. 1862 - 1863 : Bentham and Hooker - They made a natural system of classification in the book ‘Genera plantarum’. Phylogenetic system of classification - This system of classification is based on the evolutionary relationship between organisms. - The phylogenetic system of classification is highly dynamic, and fossil records are the major source of information. - This classification is always changing with the identification of new fossils. 1887 - 1890 : Engler and Prantl - They proposed the first phylogenetic system of classification. - They arranged flowering plants based on increasing complexity of floral morphology; monocots were considered as primitive to dicots. 1959 - Hutchinson and 1966 - Takhtajan: - They proposed the improved phylogenetic system of classification. The relationship was based on evolution. Types of classification: Linnaeus: Two kingdom classification 1866 - Haeckal - Three kingdom classification 1956 - Copeland - Four kingdom classification 1969 - Whittaker - Five kingdom classification 1990 - Carl Woese - Six Kingdom classification or three domains system The Linnaean two-kingdom system was followed up until 1969. Whittaker's five kingdom classification was adopted in 1969. \|Types of classification \|Three domain or six kingdom classification \|\|Domain Archaea [Kingdom Archaebacteria] Domain Bacteria [Kingdom Eubacteria] Domain Eukarya [Kingdom Protista, Kingdom Plantae, Kingdom Fungi, Kingdom Animalia] Need for classification: 1. When the information about a group of organisms is known then every organism in the group need not be studied separately. 2. Classification is required for identifying the organisms. 3. The characteristics of organisms can be studied even if they are not present in a locality. 4. Studying extinct organisms requires classification. 5. Evolutionary tendencies can be known from the relationship between numbers of various taxa. Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs Q1. What are the two kingdoms of the Two-kingdom system of classification? Ans: Kingdom Plantae, Kingdom Animalia 2. What is the difference between three kingdom system and three domain system? \|Three kingdom classification \|\|Three domains system \|1866 - Haeckal
Hoarseness is a harsh, rough quality to the voice. Hoarseness is generally caused by irritation of, or injury to, the vocal cords. The voice box, or larynx, is the portion of the respiratory (breathing) tract containing the vocal cords which produce sound. It is located between the pharynx and the trachea. The larynx, also called the voice box, is a 2-inch-long, tube-shaped organ in the neck. We use the larynx when we breathe, talk, or swallow. Its outer wall of cartilage forms the area of the front of the neck referred to as the "Adams apple." The vocal cords are two bands of muscle that form a "V" inside the larynx. Hoarseness can be caused by a number of conditions. The most common cause of hoarseness is inflammation of the vocal cords from virus infection. Hoarseness can also be caused by bacterial infection, overuse of the voice (such as from yelling or singing), inhalation of irritants (smoking, etc.), chronic sinusitis, reflux of acid from the stomach (GERD), tuberculosis, syphilis, and cancer of (or that has spread to) the larynx. Cough suppressants are sometimes used to prevent recurrent irritation of the vocal cords from coughing. Hoarseness that persists for longer than two weeks should be evaluated by doctor.
The extraordinary history of the Kouprey (Bos sauveli), a species of wild cattle, has left it as one of the most enigmatic large mammals in Asia. There was surprise in the scientific community that such a large mammal should be described as late as 1937 from Cambodia, a relatively accessible country. Very little scientific information was available on this species until the mid 1950s when Charles Wharton organized an expedition to study and capture the species in Preah Vihear, northern Cambodia. Wharton's report contains almost the sole ecological data for the species. Wharton was unsuccessful in his attempt to capture the Kouprey and the species disappeared into the fog of war and military occupation which devastated Cambodia for so many years. Uncertainty continued to surround the Kouprey, despite its absence from the scientific record. In the 21st century debate arose over its status as species with some authors considering it a hybrid between domestic cattle and Banteng (Bos javanicus) (Galbreath et al. 2006). This debate was terminated upon discovery of a skull of Kouprey from the Pleistocene (pre-dating domestication) (Vithayanon & Bhumpakphan 2004) and from genetic analysis (Hassanin & Ropiquet 2007). WCS is currently conducting surveys to ascertain whether the species is still present in the Northern Plains of Cambodia.
The Solar System refers to our neighbourhood of space; the planetary system formed by the Sun, the Earth and all the other planets you’re probably familiar with. There are 8 planets, 4 dwarf planets and over 200 moons in the Solar System, as well as many other celestial objects. In the editor below, write a program that asks the user to type in the name of their favourite planet (all lowercase) and then, depending on what they typed, display at least one the following facts: You can research your own facts on the official NASA website if you want! Remember to use the Python reference sheet to help you with your code! Click on one of the buttons below: Need some help? Click here to reveal a video walkthrough for this task! I don't know that planet... it must be out of this world! Below is an example of how the program should run: Please type in your favourite planet(all lowercase): mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun! Did you know that a year on Mercury is just 88 days long? Please type in your favourite planet(all lowercase): venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun! Did you know that Venus is the third brightest natural object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon? Please type in your favourite planet(all lowercase): tatooine I don't know that planet... it must be out of this world!
TLF ID M025087 This unit of work focuses on the influences that impact on safe behaviours in and around tracks, platforms and trains. Guided activities build students' rail safety vocabulary including grammar and word building. Modelled writing activities support students to shape a research-based inquiry investigating factors that impact on safety around trains and tracks. The unit culminates with activities developing creative ways to communicate the key messages revealed through their research. The unit also provides advice on assessment against the learning intent and outcomes.
Acute inflammation of the palatine tonsils, usually due to streptococcal or, less commonly, viral infection. Tonsillitis may be either an acute or chronic inflammation of the tonsils, located near the back of the tongue. (The adenoids, lymph glands located behind the nose, are often simultaneously inflamed.) Tonsillitis, which usually develops suddenly as a result of a streptococcal infection but may also be caused by a viral infection, is characterized by sore throat, fever, chills, headache, poor appetite, and weakness. The tonsils become swollen and red, with streaks of pus often visible on their surface. Acute tonsillitis usually clears up in about a week, but antibiotics may be prescribed to prevent complications such as middle-ear and sinus infections, formation of deep abscesses, spread of infection to other organs, and chronic tonsillitis. In chronic tonsillitis the tonsils tend to flare up in episodes of acute infection. Tonsillitis is more common in children than in adults. Actions indicated for the processes behind this disease: Lymphatics are of primary importance as this is an infection of lymphatic tissue. Anti-microbials help the immune system combat the infection (whatever the `causal’ organism might be) and help avoid secondary infection Anti-catarrhals are indicated if there is associated sinus congestion or middle ear involvement. Diaphoretics will help the body cope with any associated fever. Expectorants are called for, in one of their varieties, if there is the development of secondary problems in the lower respiratory system. The lymphatic system is the focus for tonic support, but if there is a recurrent pattern of infections, the immune system calls for strengthening. The lymphatic alteratives usually have a local reputation as specifics in tonsillitis. In Britain the most famous would be Galium aparine. One possible prescription: Galium aparine — — — 2 parts Echinacea spp. — — — 2 parts Baptisia tinctoria — — — 1 part Calendula officinalis — — — 1 part to 5ml of tincture three times a day. Treat for fever if indicated. In Herbal Home Health Care, Dr Christopher recommends a fomentation of the following: Verbascum thapsus — — — 3 parts Lobelia inflata — — — 1 part of dried herb. Make a strong infusion. Dip cloth in fomentation and wrap around the neck at night. Do this each night until the condition clears up.

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