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Time to Save the Western Arctic Reserve of Alaska
Posted September 27, 2012 in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Last month, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the Bureau of Land Management’s preferred alternative, the “B-2” alternative, for the first area-wide Integrated Activity Plan developed for Western Arctic Reserve, formally known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The Reserve is the nation’s largest tract of public land—the size of Indiana—covering nearly 23 million acres of America’s most wild and remote region.
The B-2 alternative is a major step toward achieving long-sought, responsible management of the Reserve and is consistent with the federal land management mandate for the Reserve provided by the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (NPRPA) of 1976. In NPRPA, Congress explicitly recognized that the Reserve contains subsistence, recreational, fish, wildlife, historical, and scenic values that should be protected and directed the Secretary of the Interior to establish “conditions, restrictions, and prohibitions” to protect significant surface resources of the Reserve (42 USC § 6506a). NPRPA expressly cites the Teshekpuk Lake and Utukok River as examples of areas warranting “maximum protection” under the law (42 USC § 6504). These provisions of NPRPA were included partly due to the work I did as a lobbyist. The B-2 alternative would protect approximately 11 million acres of the highest-value habitats found in America’s Arctic by recognizing these habitats as ‘Special Areas’. The NPRPA also closed the entire Western Arctic Reserve to hard rock mining claims, land selections by the State of Alaska and Native Corporations and oil and gas leasing—although it did allow oil and gas exploration. Only through a sneaky amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill in 1980 by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) was the area opened to oil and gas leasing.
The Teshekpuk Lake Special Area is vital habitat for countless shorebirds, waterfowl, and seabirds, including the rare yellow-billed loon and the threatened spectacled eider. The lake is the centerpiece of the world's largest Arctic wetland and the heart of an international migration of waterfowl, important to subsistence users, birdwatchers, and waterfowl hunters alike. Many of these species migrate to places across the nation from coast to coast, and some travel much farther, to Central or South America, Asia, Africa, or even Antarctica.
The B-2 alternative would also protect the Utukok River Uplands Special Area, core caribou calving, insect-relief, and migration areas of the state’s largest caribou herd – the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, which provides a vital subsistence resource for more than 40 communities in northern and western Alaska. This area also provides vital habitat for various predators including grizzly bear, wolves and wolverine. The uplands serve as a wildlife highway – connecting interior Alaska to the Arctic Coastal Plain. Going back to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service recommended that both the greater Teshekpuk Lake and Utukok areas be protected as national wildlife refuges. Rep. Dingell (D-MI) sponsored bills to so protect them. When the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA) passed the House of Representatives, it provided for the entirety of the Western Area Reserve to be a national wildlife refuge.
Coastal area protections, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Peard Bay Special Areas, would benefit polar bears, walrus, beluga whales, and other marine mammals.
Incorporating these protections for wildlife habitat into the Reserve’s preferred alternative has generated broad public support. At least 27 resolutions representing 90 villages have been adopted in the region, calling for protection of critical areas, wildlife, and the subsistence way of life in the Reserve. Approximately 400,000 public comments were submitted supporting strong conservation protections from several sportsmen and conservation organizations.
Despite the outpouring of public support for these conservation efforts, this plan does not include all the conservation lands it should. Unfortunately, concessions were made to oil and gas interests. Portions of the proposed Utukok River Uplands Special Area and Teshekpuk Lake Special Area were not included with full protection. Major portions of the Ikpikpuk River and Lower Utukok Rivers were not included in the Special Areas. Although the significant parts of Kasegaluk Lagoon, Peard Bay, and the majority of the Teshekpuk Lake Special Areas are unavailable to leasing, some of these areas are not unavailable to new non-subsistence infrastructure—this leaves the door open these areas to be carved up with roads and pipelines. Roads between individual oil fields should be absolutely prohibited. In the last year the USGS has done a new assessment of the oil potential of the Reserve finding it has less than one-tenth the potential of earlier assessments. Clearly, this should allow for conservation of these critical habitats and for wildlife and wilderness to be maximally protected.
It has been a very long battle to bring meaningful protection to the Western Arctic Reserve—over forty years. Despite its shortfalls, Secretary Salazar’s preferred alternative, “B-2”, is a serious plan that substantially advances wildlife and wilderness conservation. With Secretary Salazar’s plan, we move a step further to the ultimate goal: permanent protection for all the special areas of the Reserve. This will take enormous effort given the opposition of the oil industry, State of Alaska and others dependent on oil development.
Clint Kincaid aided Chuck Clusen with this post.
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O. Henry in 1909. He may even be drunk here.
New York City has a fine, macabre tradition of harboring famous artists, writers, musicians and actors on the cusp of an alcohol or drug-fueled demise. The city naturally attracts the creative, oddballs and innovators looking for like minds amid the flourishing artistic communities of the city. Many of these also tragically detoured into the city's equally impressive collection of taverns, saloons, opium dens, speakeasies, nightclubs, coke dens and crackhouses.
Countless have drank and drugged themselves to ruin in the city's 400-year history, either unintentionally or with suicidal design. If you're looking to pinpoint the first major instance of this trend among the major icons of American history, look back in New York City history exactly one hundred years ago to the death of one of this country's most iconic writers, O. Henry.
Henry (real name William Sydney Porter) is not the first American writer to die of the effects of alcoholism. Probably the most infamous was one-time New Yorker Edgar Allen Poe, who died in a Baltimore gutter in 1849. I'm not even going to claim that O. Henry was even the first notable alcoholic death in New York City. For instance, Jewish poet Naphtali Herz Imber collapsed and died in the Lower East Side from an alcohol binge in 1909.
But O. Henry was an undisputed American star at the time of his death, one of the country's most famous writers and the pioneer of the short story. Artists at the height of their success in 1910 do not die of alcohol abuse, at least officially. In fact, his death by cirrhosis on June 5, 1910, is heavily glossed over in contemporary sources.
Porter first became O. Henry in 1899, in an article for McClure's Magazine. It should be noted he wrote that particular story while in an Ohio prison, serving a five year stint for embezzlement. He moved to New York City in 1902 where he flourished, writing hundreds of stories and becoming America's most prolific and most popular writers.
Many of his stories are set in New York, although his popular 'The Ransom of Red Chief' (one of favorite stories as a kid) is a kidnapping yarn that takes place in Alabama. Probably his most famous tale, the 1906 'Gift of the Magi', was written, according to legend, at Pete's Tavern near Gramercy Park.
So yes, like many writers, Porter wrote and drank, both prolifically and magnificently. In fact, he kept drinking even though his body began deteriorating from the effects of cirrhosis and diabetes.
On June 3, 1910, Porter collapsed after writing a letter and was taken to the New York Polyclinic Hospital at 218 East 34th Street (today near the entrance of the Queens Midtown Tunnel), checking in under a false name to throw off the newspaper reporters. He died two days later, his last words reportedly, "Turn up the lights. I don't want to go home in the dark."
Biographies of the day barely mentioned Porter's drinking problem and the cirrhosis which killed him. The writer was buried in Asheville, NC, the hometown of his wife Sara.
For the next hundred years, troubled celebrities would follow his morbid example -- from Dylan Thomas to Billie Holiday, Heath Ledger, GG Allin, Lorenz Hart, Sid Vicious, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Montgomery Clift, Julia Bruns, and many more.
"It couldn't have happened anywhere but in little old New York." -- O. Henry | <urn:uuid:dd6712dd-a654-409e-bcb2-ae7eed5e6c3b> | {
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Consider: in 1985, according to a Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) study, blacks made up 25 percent of Boston's total population – 76 percent of whom were concentrated in the adjoining, and predominantly black, neighborhoods of Roxbury, Mattapan, and South Dorchester. And while another 17 percent of the city's blacks lived, according to the BRA study, in the mostly white neighborhoods of Hyde Park, North Dorchester, and the more evenly integrated Jamaica Plain, that can be attributed less to integration than to an expansion of Boston's growing minority population into areas that border the city's established black core.
Meanwhile, six of Boston's 16 neighborhoods were found to be more than 90 percent white. Four of them – South Boston, Charlestown, East Boston, and downtown – had zero percent blacks living in them; Allston-Brighton, Roslindale, and West Roxbury all had black populations of two percent or less. And according to 1980 census data of 22 cities and towns surrounding Boston, 19 had black populations of less than 3 percent. And in 13 of those communities, blacks actually made up less than one percent of the population.
Part of that disparity, some sources say, is a result more of economics than of outright housing discrimination.
"I think the whole affordable-housing issue overshadows discrimination," says Wilson Henderson, director of the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency's (MHFA) equal-opportunity division. A full third of black families live in poverty, according to Henderson, who argues that persons with low incomes tend to be less mobile than their wealthy counterparts, and therefore prefer to live closer to a familiar social structure. And the perception that housing costs in communities of color are so much cheaper may also convince many minorities that moving into white neighborhoods is economically impossible. (According to a 1981 neighborhood-by-neighborhood survey of rents conducted by the Massachusetts Tenants Organization, however, that perception is highly overstated. The then-median $383 monthly rent in Roxbury, Mission Hill, and Mattapan was only four percent lower than the city-wide average of $402. And it was more expensive than prices in white neighborhoods such as Roslindale and East Boston, and at least a dozen largely white suburbs.)
Others argue that many people of color have no desire to leave their communities. Many who could afford to live elsewhere are perfectly content to stay, say these observers, and resent the implication that moving into white areas should be some sort of innate desire. Others, says Arthur Eskew, a housing advocate at the Roxbury Multi-Service Center, either fear racial harassment or are just too weary to fight the system of discrimination. "You [whites] have beaten us [people of color] so badly, I don't think there's the will to fight segregation," he says. "And I wouldn't feel safe in an all-white community."
But those minorities who do buck the tide and try to move into largely white neighborhoods often run smack up against either overt or covert discrimination in the housing industry. "You'd really be spitting in the wind if you tried to say that [discrimination] wasn't the reason for the patterns we're seeing," says Ernest Gutierrez, executive director of the Boston Fair Housing Commission.
"It's a big problem," says one real-estate broker. "And it's all over eastern Massachusetts." | <urn:uuid:e1a61d64-13b4-41e2-a386-73b3f63e2c84> | {
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The current state of arctic sea ice (see graph below) sends a chill down my spine.
So what it says is that the ice is melting furiously, and looks like it’s not yet slowing down even though the days have started to draw in.
However, any scientist will tell you that no single data point can be used as evidence of global warming, there are simply too many fluctuations for anything to be concluded over anything but the longest timescales. We cannot simply look at the mean temperature for a hot year and say, there you go, global warming!
Now, the issue is, there are well-known cycles over pretty much all timescales – this pretty much undermines all serious attempts at prediction.
So, what to do? Well all is not lost; there are still some clever little leading indicators we can look at to give us that sobering wake up call.
Firstly, we know CO2 concentration is up, no doubt or argument, this can be seen in the famous Hawaii data above, complete with the seasonal ‘breathing’ by global plant-life. The argument is about whether the greenhouse models that say this will result in warming will turn out right. I honestly don’t know, but I wouldn’t even have to wonder if the CO2 levels weren’t going up, would I?
#2: A Record Breaking Rate of Record Breaking
Secondly, rather looking at averages or ‘new records’, we can look at the frequency of records. So rather than saying, “we just had the hottest summer ever in some parts of the US, there’s the proof” we can look at how often records are set all over the world – hottest, coldest, wettest, dryest and so on. This approach creates a filter; if it shows there are more records being broken on the hot side than the cold side, could this be an indicator? I hope not, because there are.
Again, it could be part of a long-term cycle that could bottom out any time now. But on the other hand, if it was going the other way, I wouldn’t have to hope, would I?
#3: Sea Ice
Now the sea ice. The sea ice is another proxy for temperature. The reason it’s interesting to climatologists is because it is a natural way to ‘sum-up’ the total warmth for the year and longer; if ice is reducing over several years, it means that there has been a net surplus of warmth.
Today we are seeing a new record set for minimal northern sea ice. And not only is there less area of ice, but it is thinner than previously realized and some models now suggest we could be ice-free in late summer in my lifetime.
Now if that does not strike you cold, then I didn’t make myself clear. This is not some political posturing, not some ‘big-business’ spin, nor greeny fear mongering. It’s a cold clean fact you can interpret for yourself, and it could not be clearer.
So is it time to panic?
Well it can still be argued the melting is part of a cycle, it could of course reverse and hey, no biggy. After all, what does it matter how much ice there is?
Well, yet again, I hate to rely on the ‘hope’ that it’s a cycle. Because if it continues, the next effect will be felt much closer to home…
Sea level is the ultimate proxy for warming. Indeed, sea level change can be so serious, maybe it is the problem rather than the symptom. If the ice on Greenland and Antarctica melt, the rise in sea level would displace hundreds of millions of people and change the landscape so dramatically it’s a fair bet wars and famine will follow. Now that is serious.
So have we seen sea level rise? Well, yes. Here’s the plot:
Now, it looks pretty conclusive but hold the boat. Some say’s it’s proof of warming but not everyone agrees. It’s true it could again be a cycle. Also, the sea level rise is fairly gradual; what people are really arguing about is whether we should expect it to speed up. If temperature goes up a few degrees it could go up 5 or 10 times faster. The speed is the issue. Humanity can cope if the level goes up slowly enough, sure, countries like Tuvalu will be in big trouble either way, but countries like Bangladesh and cities like New York and London will only be in real trouble if the rate increases.
Canaries taken into mines in order to detect poisonous gases; the idea being they would suffer the gas faster than the people and if the canary dropped, it was time to vacate. Do we have systems that are hypersensitive to climate change?
Yes! There are many delicately balanced ecosystems that can can pushed over a tipping point with the lightest of touch. Is there an increase in the rate of species loss, or an increase in desertification? Yes!
We can also look at how far north certain plants can survive, how high up mountains trees can live or how early the first buds of spring arrive.
Again, these indicators fail to give solace. Everywhere we look we see changes, bleached coral, absent butterflies, retreating glaciers.
The conservative approach is to ascribe these changes to the usual cut and thrust of life on earth; some take solace from the fact that humankind has survived because we are the supreme adapters and that the loss of species is exactly how the stronger ones are selected.
Yes, we are great at adapting, however, to kill any complacency that may create, consider the following: for humans just ‘surviving’ is not the goal, that’s easy, we also need to minimize suffering and death, a much tougher aim. We’ve also just recently reduced our adaptability significantly by creating ‘countries’. Countries may seem innocuous, but they come with borders – and mean we can no longer migrate with the climate. Trade across border also needs to be of roughly the same value in both directions. While some countries will actually see productivity benefits from global warming, most will not, and without the freedom to move, famine will result. Trade imbalances mean inequality will become extreme. The poorest will suffer the most.
So for now changes are happening, and advances in agricultural technology are easily coping; however, because ecosystems are often a fine balance between strong opposing forces, changes may be fast should one of the ropes snap.
Looking at the long history of the earth we have seen much hotter and much colder scenes. We have seen much higher and much lower sea levels. We are being wishful to assume we will stay as we have for the last 10,000 years. It may last, or it may change. Natural cycles could ruin us. And mankind is probably fraying the ropes by messing with CO2 levels.
Can we predict if we are about to fall off of our stable plateau? No, probably not. But is it possible? Heck yeah.
If you liked this, you may like these earlier posts on the subject of global warming: | <urn:uuid:9a7cd3b6-4f62-4026-a172-8d9ce40f079e> | {
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Leila Keene and Pat Kirke 3 August 1943
- Subject: Tolkien discusses runes, the Common Speech, and the adoption by the Dwarves of Erebor of the language of the Men of Dale.
- Publication: The letter was first reproduced in Sotheby's Illustrated Books, Children's Books, Ephemera, Performing Arts & Related Drawings 4 May 1995. Christopher Tolkien included a description and excerpts from the letter in The Peoples of Middle-earth.
"... It was a sort of lingua-franca, made up of all sorts of languages, but the Elvish language (of the North West) for the most part. It was called the Western language or Common Speech; and in Bilbo's time had already passed eastward over the Misty Mountains and reached Lake Town, and Beorn, and even Smaug (dragons were ready linguists in all ages). ..."
- ↑ Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (2006), The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide: I. Chronology, p. 261
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The Peoples of Middle-earth, "The Appendix on Languages", pp. 72-73
- ↑ "Sotheby's 1995 catalogue?" , Tolkien Collector's Guide (accessed 08 July 2012) | <urn:uuid:79d0f3ca-67b1-473d-980a-a297e4964240> | {
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Across legal and economic disciplines, there have been many arguments regarding the benefits of free trade on developing countries. At the heart of such discussion is the controversial result of the Washington Consensus “describe[ed] a set of ten specific economic policy prescriptions that … constitute a "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington D.C based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the U.S. Treasury Department.” (Wikipedia). According to Dani Rodrik (2006) the ten commandments of Washington consensus were:
1. Fiscal discipline
2. Reorientation of public expenditures
3. Tax reform
4. Financial liberalization
5. Unified and competitive exchange rates
6. Trade liberalization
7. Openness to FDI
10.Secure Property Rights
In an assessment of the literature on the theory and empirical research relating to the benefits of trade liberalization, Deraniyagala and Fine (2001) found that much of the works were flawed, and concluded that the extent to which free trade benefits economic development is unknown. As the result, the past three decades since 1980s found many political economists arguing for a better approach toward trade liberalization in order to minimize its negative impacts of economic backwardness as in the case of Latin American or income distribution and regional polarization as the case of China.
Mexico is an example of a failed economy that followed the conventional wisdom of trade liberalization rigidly. Here, we find that more than one lesson could be learned. The country started its economic reform in 1985. Under tremendous pressure from the U.S. and the IMF, Mexico radically opened up its economy to the world market without sufficient institutional reform to accommodate the economic adjustment. “Import penetration increase from an average of 11.3 percent in 1080-85 to 14.5 in 1986-90. By 1990, import penetration had already reached 17 percent.” (Dornbusch, 1992). The sharp rise in imports, which was not accompanied by immediate gain in exports and foreign direct investments damaged Mexico’s domestic market and defy many infant industries. (Dornbusch, 1992). It is argued that Mexico, as well as Latin America as a whole, did worse than its pre-1980s period, when import substitution, protectionism and macroeconomics populism were enforced. (Rodrik 2007). As Rodrik asserts: “That the region did better with these discredited policies than it has been under open-market policies is a fact that is quite hard to digest within the conventional paradigm.” Such paradox reinforces the importance of a new approach to trade liberalization where country’s institutional and historical background are all too significant to be ignored and total trade liberalization alone may not generate the growth that its creator promised. Here, the role of the government and some forms of targeted protectionism at the beginning of the reform may be useful. South Korea and China offered excellent case studies for its usage of the new trade theory to their economic benefits.
Korea did not play by the orthodox wisdom (nor it has ever accepted the Washington Consensus to be therapeutic during the Asian crisis) when it started to integrate into the world economy. In contrast, the country successful economic reform involves two major key strategies- market orientation coupled with central planning in developing and protecting infant industries while strategically opened up other industries to the world market. During the reform, Korean government, indeed, acted as an entrepreneur to induce desirable private investments toward targeted industries. Korean trade liberalization, therefore, was a selective process instead of being driven solely by global marketization. Many major sectors were deliberately protected and excluded from trade. By using selective export strategy and heavy government intervention, Korea was able to develop many highly competitive manufacturing industries such as automobile, electrical appliances and shipping which respectively hold their own names in the world market.
China started its reform by first rejecting the conventional wisdom of global liberalization and calling its reform “Socialism with Chinese Characteristic.” Unlike Latin America, Chinese government moved cautiously from central planning to gradual adoption of institutional and mechanism of market economy. Rodrik (2004) argues that China reformed its incentives in a “two-track manner” by grafting a market system on top of a central-planned system, rather than abandoning the latter altogether. The country also underplayed private property rights and relied instead on township-and-village enterprises owned by local governments as well as opened up to the world partially by establishing special economic zones. (Rodrik, 2004). Without following the Washington consensus blindly, the result of Chinese economic progress has been impressive. China’s GDP performance has been consistently stayed at 8-10% growth rate in the past 20 years. Here, China’s success challenged the conventional wisdom total trade liberalization and market orientation.
Despite how countries have been benefiting from trade, there exist multiple issues created by export growth strategy itself such as income inequality and regional polarization. According to Ocampo and Taylor (1998), globalization has intensified the income gap and income distribution especially in countries with comparative advantage in skill-intensive products. The authors offer examples of African economies whose comparative advantage in peasant production has worsened income distribution. Similarly, despite China’s conservative approach toward trade liberalization in accordance with government intervention, the country has been facing serious issues regarding income inequality and regional polarization. Prior to the eruption of the global financial crisis, labor migration had moved rapidly to export processing zone set up mostly along the West coast region of the countries. As the result, wage labor and prosperity appeared to increase drastically faster than the interior regions in which agriculture remained to be the dominant means of production and income creation. Here trade liberalization on its own cannot effectively solve social problems created by export-oriented strategy.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against free trade or market liberalization. I am wholeheartedly against the IMF’s “one size fit all” formula and see the importance of a thorough understanding of country’s historical and political background before any economic policy is prescribed. Market failures are deeply embedded in economic system, which can’t plainly and ignorantly be corrected by Washington’s 10 commandments.
One may then ask: “So, what is the IMF doing these days given our ongoing financial crisis? Has there been a “new” Washington Consensus?” My next entry on this topic will follow.
*Bibliography with attached pdf files on hyperlinks
Deraniyagala, Sonali, and Fine, Ben, “New Trade Theory Versus Old Trade Policy: a Continuing Enigma,” Cambridge Journal of Economics, Vol. 25, pp. 809-825, November 2001.
Dornbusch, Rudiger, “The Case for Trade Liberalization in Developing Countries,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 6, issue 1, pp. 69-85, 1992.
Ocampo, Jose and Taylor, Lance, “Trade Liberalization in Developing Economies: Modest Benefits but Problems with Productivity Growth, Macro Prices, and Income Distribution,” Economic Journal, Vol. 108, pp.1523-46, September 1998.
Rodrik, Dani, “How to Save Globalization From Its Cheerleaders,” KSG Working Paper No. RWP07-38, September 2007.
Rodrik, Dani, “Rethinking Economic Growth in Developing Countries,” John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, October 2004.
Rodrik, Dani, "Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Bank's Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform," Journal of Economic Literature, 44(4): 973–987, December 2006. | <urn:uuid:e79e17e4-127d-49c2-97ae-853ea1fce22d> | {
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Output expanded robustly after 1933. Between 1933 and 1937, the US economy grew by 8% a year. Between 1938 and 1941, growth averaged more than 10%.
Rapid output growth without equally rapid capital-stock or employment growth must have reflected rapid productivity growth. This is the paradox of the 1930’s. Despite being a period of chronic high unemployment, corporate bankruptcies, and continuing financial difficulties, the 1930’s recorded the fastest productivity growth of any decade in US history.
How could this be? As the economic historian Alexander Field has shown, many firms took the “down time” created by weak demand for their products to reorganize their operations. Factories that had previously used a single centralized power source installed more flexible small electric motors on the shop floor. Railways reorganized their operations to make more efficient use of both rolling stock and workers. More firms established modern personnel-management departments and in-house research labs.
There are hints of firms responding similarly now. General Motors, faced with an existential crisis, has sought to transform its business model. US airlines have used the lull in demand for their services to reorganize both their equipment and personnel, much like the railways in the 1930’s. Firms in both manufacturing and services are adopting new information technologies – today’s analog to small electric motors – to optimize supply chains and quality-management systems.
A similar argument has been made that extensive business restructuring around the time of the 2001 recession contributed to productivity growth in the following years.
(Business sector output per hour - Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Eichengreen goes on to argue that policy support is necessary:
But this positive productivity response is not guaranteed. Policymakers must encourage it. Small, innovative firms need enhanced access to credit. Firms need stronger tax incentives for R&D. Productivity growth can be boosted by public investment in infrastructure, as illustrated by the 1930’s examples of the Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley Authority.Which sounds alot like the Obama administration's recent initiatives to increase small-business credit, build more infrastructure and make the R&D tax deduction permanent. While a case can be made for the first two as short-run stimulus, the benefits of the research and development tax credit are almost entirely of the long run variety.
In the long run, higher productivity is good news: it means more output per worker and, therefore, higher average wages. However, it also means less employment is needed for any given level of output, which means the increase in unemployment during the recession was than the decline in output would normally imply (see this previous post).
By increasing potential output, ceteris paribus, productivity growth increases the distance between actual economic activity and the economy's capacity sometimes known as the "output gap." This suggests that even stronger demand growth is necessary to close the gap.
The resurgence of productivity growth in the mid-1990's is one of the factors that allowed the Fed to keep interest rates low and allow unemployment to fall to 4% without igniting inflation (whatever else we say about Alan Greenspan now, he deserves credit for recognizing this early on). If Eichengreen is correct, the "productivity boom-in-waiting" will raise the economy's speed limit, and this is one more reason for the Fed to step on it. | <urn:uuid:78e69c27-594d-4dd6-9ed3-764ca67d3bd8> | {
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Satellite Image of Lake Carnegie in Australia
Lansat 7 (15m) Satellite Image of Lake Carnegie in Australia
Click on image to view in high resolution.
Lake Carnegie is an ephemeral lake in Western Australia. It fills with water only during very rare periods of significant rainfall, such as during the huge 1900 floods and in numerous recent tropical wet seasons when the monsoon and tropical cyclones have been moved south by recent climate change. In dry years, it is reduced to a muddy marsh.
Water entering the lake, unlike in more easterly playas of the Australian arid zone, does not come from well-defined river channels since the soils of the region are so weathered – lacking tectonic or glacial activity since the Carboniferous ice ages – that sediment is completely absent and the terrain so flat that only the most unweatherable rocks remain on the surface and well-defined river channels cannot form especially since the extreme age of the soils and consequent high rooting density of native flora limits runoff to an extreme extent. Image credit: NASA/USGS | <urn:uuid:4e5f3e46-37c5-43bd-b5e7-c64e179874fa> | {
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Geodatabases and ArcSDE
An overview of the Geodatabase
The geodatabase is a "container" used to hold a collection of datasets. There are three types:
- File Geodatabases—Stored as folders in a file system. Each dataset is held as a file that can scale up to 1 TB in size. This option is recommended over personal geodatabases.
- Personal Geodatabases—All datasets are stored within a Microsoft Access data file, which is limited in size to 2 GB.
- ArcSDE Geodatabases—Stored in a relational database using Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, or IBM Informix. These multiuser geodatabases require the use of ArcSDE and can be unlimited in size and numbers of users.
Comparing the three types of Geodatabases
Learn about creating geodatabases
File geodatabases and personal geodatabases
||A collection of various types of GIS datasets held as tables in a relational database
This is the recommended native data format for ArcGIS stored and managed in a relational database.
|A collection of various types of GIS datasets held in a file system folder
This is the recommended native data format for ArcGIS stored and managed in a file system folder.
|Original data format for ArcGIS geodatabases stored and managed in Microsoft Access data files
This is limited in size and tied to the Windows operating system.
|Number of Users
Many readers and many writers
ArcSDE can be licensed for use at three levels:
- Personal ArcSDE
- Workgroup ArcSDE
- Enterprise ArcSDE
|Single user and small workgroups
Some readers and one writer per feature dataset, standalone feature class or table.
Concurrent use of any specific file eventually degrades for large numbers of readers.
|Single user and small workgroups with smaller datasets
Some readers and one writer.
Concurrent use eventually degrades for large numbers of readers.
- Microsoft SQL Server
- IBM DB2
- IBM Informix
|Each dataset is a separate file on disk
A file geodatabase is a file folder that holds its dataset files.
|All the contents in each personal geodatabase are held in a single Microsoft Access file (.mdb).
|Up to DBMS limits
||One TB for each dataset. Each file geodatabase can hold many datasets
Each feature class can scale up to hundreds of millions of vector features per dataset.
|Two GB per Access database
Effective limit before performance degrades is typically between 250 and 500 MB per Access database file.
||Fully supported across all DBMSs; includes cross-database replication and updates
||Windows, Unix, Linux, and direct connections to DBMSs that can potentially run on any platform on the user's local network
|Security and Permissions
||Provided by DBMS
|Operating file system security
|Windows file system security
|Database Administration Tools
||Full DBMS functions for backup, recovery, replication, SQL support, security, and so on
|File system management
||Windows file system management
|Requires the use of ArcSDE
|Allows you to optionally store data in a read-only compressed format to reduce storage requirements
|Often used as an attribute table manager (via Microsoft Access). Users like the string handling for text attributes.
File and personal geodatabases, which are freely available to all ArcGIS users (i.e., users of ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo), are designed to support the full information model of the geodatabase. This includes topologies, raster catalogs, network datasets, terrain datasets, address locators, and so on. File and personal geodatabases are designed to be edited by a single user and do not support geodatabase versioning. With a file geodatabase, it is possible to have more than one editor at the same time providing they are editing in different feature datasets, standalone feature classes or tables.
The file geodatabase is a new geodatabase type released in version 9.2. Its goals are to
- Provide a widely available, simple, and scalable geodatabase solution for all users.
- Provide a portable geodatabase that works across operating systems.
- Scale up to handle very large datasets.
- Provide excellent performance and scalability, for example, to support individual datasets containing well over 300 million features and datasets that can scale beyond 500 GB per file with very fast performance.
- Use an efficient data structure that is optimized for performance and storage. File geodatabases use about one third of the feature geometry storage required by shapefiles and personal geodatabases. File geodatabases also allow users to compress vector data to a read-only format to reduce storage requirements even further.
- Out perform shapefiles for operations involving attributes and scale the data size limits way beyond shapefile limits.
Personal geodatabases have been used in ArcGIS since their initial release in Version 8.0 and have used the Microsoft Access data file structure (the .mdb file). They support geodatabases that are limited in size to 2 GB or less. However, the effective database size is smaller, somewhere between 250 and 500 MB before the database performance starts to slow down. Personal geodatabases are also only supported on the Microsoft Windows operating system. Users like the table operations they can perform using Microsoft Access on personal geodatabases. Many users really like the text handling capabilities in Microsoft Access for working with attribute values.
ArcGIS will continue to support personal geodatabases for numerous purposes. However, it is also highly recommended to use the file geodatabase. It is ideal for working with file-based datasets for GIS projects, for personal use, and for use in small workgroups. It has strong performance and scales well to hold extremely large data volumes without requiring the use of a DBMS. Plus, it is portable across operating systems.
Typically, users will employ multiple file or personal geodatabases for their data collections and access these simultaneously for their GIS work.
When you need a large multiuser geodatabase that can be edited and used simultaneously by many users, the ArcSDE geodatabase provides a good solution. It adds the ability to manage a shared, multiuser geodatabase as well as a number of critical version-based GIS workflows. The ability to leverage your organization's enterprise relational databases is a key advantage of the ArcSDE geodatabase.
ArcSDE geodatabases work with a variety of DBMS storage models (IBM DB2, Informix, Oracle, and SQL Server). ArcSDE geodatabases are primarily used in a wide range of workgroups, departments, and enterprise settings. They take full advantage of their underlying DBMS architectures to support
- Extremely large, continuous GIS databases
- Many simultaneous users
- Long transactions and versioned workflows
- Relational database support for GIS data management (providing the benefits of a relational database for scalability, reliability, security, backup, integrity, etc.)
- SQL Types for Spatial when the DBMS supports this capability (i.e., Oracle, Informix, and DB2).
Through many large geodatabase implementations, it has been found that DBMSs are efficient at moving in and out of tables the type of large binary objects required for GIS data. In addition, GIS database sizes and the number of supported users can be much larger than with GIS file bases.
For information about the ArcSDE geodatabase architecture and how ArcSDE geodatabases leverage relational database technology, see Architecture of the geodatabase
There are three levels for accessing and using ArcSDE in ArcGIS
ArcSDE geodatabases readily scale from personal, single-user geodatabases through workgroup geodatabases, and on up to extremely large enterprise geodatabases. ArcSDE geodatabase capabilities are available in the following ESRI software products:
Personal ArcSDE included with ArcEditor and ArcInfo: Beginning at Version 9.2, ArcEditor and ArcInfo include the Microsoft SQL Server Express database free of charge. These desktops also include ArcSDE capabilities to support "personal ArcSDE" geodatabases for three simultaneous users—one of whom can edit data.
SQL Server Express is limited to run on one CPU (or Core within a Socket) and utilize 1 GB RAM. The maximum database size for SQL Server Express is limited to 4 GB.
Personal ArcSDE provides the ability to fully administer and manage ArcSDE geodatabases using SQL Server Express within ArcEditor and ArcInfo. This provides full ArcSDE geodatabase capabilities for a few users and one editor at a time. You set up and manage these ArcSDE geodatabases within ArcCatalog. No extra software or database administration expertise is required.
Workgroup ArcSDE included with ArcGIS Server for Workgroups: ArcGIS Server for Workgroups includes ArcSDE support for SQL Server Express. With this level of ArcSDE, you can use SQL Server Express for up to 10 simultaneous Windows desktop users and editors (for example, users of ArcView, ArcEditor, ArcInfo, a custom ArcGIS Engine application, AutoCAD, MicroStation, and so on) plus any number of additional server connections from Web applications. (Consult your license agreement for specific information on the number of connections for your implementation.)
SQL Server Express is limited to running on one CPU or Core with a maximum of 1 GB RAM. Database sizes are limited to a maximum of 4 GB.
As with personal ArcSDE, you use ArcEditor or ArcInfo to create, administer, and manage workgroup ArcSDE geodatabases. You set up and manage these workgroup ArcSDE geodatabases using SQL Server Express within ArcCatalog. No extra database administration expertise is required.
In this context, you can think of ArcGIS Server for Workgroups as being an extension for ArcEditor or ArcInfo to help you manage and serve workgroup ArcSDE geodatabases. Of course, ArcGIS Server can perform many more functions and tasks. See An overview of GIS services
Enterprise ArcSDE included with ArcGIS Server for Enterprises: This is the traditional ArcSDE technology that runs on Oracle, SQL Server, IBM DB2, and IBM Informix and can scale to databases of any size and number of users, running on computers of any size and configuration. Users provide their own DBMS license for this level of ArcSDE use. The DBMS is typically administered and managed by a database administrator (DBA).
To learn more about ArcGIS Server, see An overview of GIS services
|You do not need to monitor and manage the use of your memory and cpu's for SQL Server Express. The SQL Server Express software will automatically limit computer use to 1 GB RAM on a single cpu and to a database size of 4GB.
|Personal ArcSDE is included free as a part of ArcEditor and ArcInfo. If you choose to install SQL Server Express, you can administer SQL Server Express databases using ArcCatalog.
|When you install the ArcGIS Server for Workgroups, you can install and use SQL Server Express and ArcSDE. After installing SQL Server Express, you can use ArcCatalog to administer SQL Server Express databases on your computer.
|These various levels enable users to take full advantage of ArcSDE geodatabases for any number of users, large or small. It allows organizations to have one scalable data architecture that works across their single user systems up into their large enterprise systems.
ArcSDE provides long and short transaction management on the DBMS transaction framework
The ArcSDE geodatabase includes advanced support for managing edits and updates to a multiuser geodatabase. As GIS increasingly adds users and the requirement to manage data from an array of sensor networks, the need for transaction management becomes more critical. In GIS, long transactions are needed along with the more common, short database transactions that are orchestrated on the DBMS's short transaction framework.
Often, GIS users have specialized transactional requirements, one of which is the need for some transactions to span long periods of time (sometimes hours, even days and months, not just seconds or minutes).
Additionally, a single editing session in a GIS can involve changes to multiple rows in multiple tables. Users need to be able to undo and redo changes. Users want to treat each edit session as a single transaction when they commit their changes. Furthermore, the edits must often be performed in a system that is disconnected from the central, shared database.
During these specialized GIS data flow processes, the GIS database must remain continuously available for daily operations, where each user might have a personal view or state of the shared GIS database.
In a multiuser database, the GIS transactions must be orchestrated on the DBMS's short transaction framework. ArcSDE plays a key role during these operations by managing the high-level, complex GIS transactions on the simple DBMS transaction framework.
ArcSDE does this by storing change information as delta records in the database; isolating multiple edit sessions using versions; and supporting complex transactions, automatic archive, and historical queries.
See An overview of editing and maintaining data
for more information. | <urn:uuid:1c39e6d8-1acc-4b95-a0fe-d71b735828d3> | {
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Difference between revisions of "Rocky Mountain National Park"
Revision as of 04:07, 5 August 2010
Rocky Mountain National Park is a United States National Park that is located in the Front Range region of the state of Colorado. The park's borders lie within three counties, Larimer, Boulder, and Grand and it is surrounded by Roosevelt, Arapaho, and Routt National Forests. The Continental Divide cuts almost directly through the center of the park, creating two areas with very different landscapes - a drier and heavily glaciated eastern side, and a wetter, more forested western side. Both areas offer excellent spots for high altitude alpine hiking, backpacking and rock climbing as well as ample opportunity for spotting wildlife. The park is dominated by Longs Peak one of Colorado's 54 "Fourteeners" at 14,259 feet, and dubbed the "Monarch of the Front Range."
Evidence of Native American peoples visiting the park date back almost 10,000 years, mainly from the Ute and Arapaho communities. Several expeditions visited the area in the early to mid 19th century, including one by Joel Estes in 1859 after which he and his family established a homestead that would soon become Estes Park, the resort town that currently sits on the east side of the park. After a small mining rush on the western side of the park in the early 1880s, a 14 year old boy by the name of Enos Mills moved to the area and began to extensively document the region's geography and ecology through essays and books. He began to lobby Congress to establish a national park in the area surrounding Longs Peak, a mountain he had climbed over 40 times by himself. On January 26, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that established the creation of Rocky Mountain National Park. The 1930s brought a building boom to the park during the Great Depression, during which time the Trail Ridge Road was constructed through the park, which remains today the highest continuous stretch of highway in the United States.
Rocky Mountain National Park sits on the Continental Divide, separating the park into two distinct regions. The eastern and more developed side of the park is dominated by striking valleys and cirques that were formed through heavy glaciation and is a good starting point for first-time visitors. The western side of the park is wetter, is heavily forested and is less developed, but still contains excellent trekking and backcountry opportunities. Most areas of the park sit well above 9,000 feet with mountains along the Continental Divide topping off at above 12,000 feet. The 13,000 foot Mummy Range rests on the northern side of Rocky Mountain National Park with two roads skirting long it's southern edges; a one-way, dirt road that winds up the Fall River called the Old Fall River Road; and a section of Highway 34 famously known as the Trail Ridge Road. The Never Summer Mountains sit on the western side of the park and consist of 10 distinct peaks, all rising well over 12,000 feet, and contain the headwaters for the Colorado River. One of the most dominating features in the southeast area of the park is Longs Peak at 14,259 feet, which is surrounded on all sides by several peaks well about 13,000 feet, including Mt. Meeker, Mount Lady Washington, and Storm Peak.
Flora and fauna
For wildlife seekers, Rocky Mountain National Park offers some fantastic opportunities to view the variety of animals that live inside its borders. Elk, deer, chipmunks, ground squirrels, beavers, porcupines, foxes, and coyotes are all commonly seen in meadows and in and around lakes and streams. Marmots seem to be ubiquitous above the tree line, especially on well-hiked trails around Longs Peak. Hawks and eagles are often seen soaring above the glacier gorges in search of critters that hide among the rocks and colorful tree birds such as blue jays and cardinals fly in the lower altitudes. Hummingbirds have a tendency to close to where people - and their food - are sitting. Less common animal sightings include black bears and the rare mountain lions, although the former will manage to hang out if human food is accessible. Moose mainly stay on the western side of the park and Bighorn Sheep - a rare but exciting find - stay above the tree line and can sometimes be seen off the Trail Ridge Road.
Wildflowers seem to be everywhere throughout the park, including the popular Indian Paintbrush and Columbine, Colorado's state flower. One of the most spectacular sights in the mid to late fall is to walk through a grove of Aspen trees as their leaves change from green to gold. Ponderosa and Lodgepole pines are the dominate conifer trees in the area, although they have been recently dying in large numbers due to an outbreak of pine beetle infestation.
Considering the park's high altitude, the weather trends closer toward moderate four-season climate than edging on the extremes. Winters bring heavy snowfall, and although there is rarely a deep-freeze the park gets significantly less visitors. Summer are the high season with warm temperatures ranging in from mid 70s-80°F during the day, but dropping into the low 40s°F to near freezing. Thunderstorms are constantly looming in the early to mid afternoon during the summer, but clear off quickly by evening, bringing crisp and cool weather.
Highway 34 connects Grand Lake and Estes Park across the Continental Divide, giving you awesome views of the western and eastern sides of the park. A great stopping point along the road is the Alpine Visitor Center at the Fall River Pass, which sits at almost 11,800 feet. Colorado Route 7 runs from Estes Park to the south, passing by several trailheads, including those for Lily Mountain, the Twin Sisters, the Longs Peak Ranger Station and the Wild Basin. Many visitors use Bear Lake or Glacier Gorge as their starting point into the park, both of which can be accessed via the Bear Lake Road. The Beaver Meadows and Moraine Park visitor centers are popular destinations for getting oriented with the park's layout, the former having been designed by students of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
From the east: The Beaver Meadows Visitor Center is three miles from downtown Estes Park near the terminus of US-36 and can be reached via several roads. SR-7 runs from Boulder via Lyons and Allenspark along the east side of the park, passing the Longs Peak Ranger Station and intersects US-36 in Estes Park. SR-66/US-36 run from Denver through Longmont up the Big Thompson River canyon. US-34 also intersects US-36 in Estes Park via Loveland and continues on into the park toward the Fall River Visitor Center.
Rental cars are available at the Denver International Airport. If you aren't driving, the Estes Park Shuttle offers reasonable one-way and round-trip rates from DEN to downtown Estes Park.
NOTE: While the park is open year-round, the Trail Ridge Road closes in the winter and may not open until the late spring or early summer, depending on the snowpack.
The nearest major airport is Denver International Airport (IATA: DEN) located about 1 hour and 45 minutes away from the park, with connecting service to most major US cities. A smaller option is Eagle County Regional Airport (IATA: EGE) located near the skiing resorts of Vail and Beaver Creek; however, service to this airport is usually seasonal and confined to the winter months.
Entrance fees are $20 per private vehicle or $10 for individuals on foot or on bicycle, valid for seven days. Holders of the National Park Pass ($80, allows entry to all national park areas for one year) do not need to pay an entrance fee. In addition, there is a $40 pass available that allows entry into Rocky Mountain National Park for one year.
If you drive in early in the morning or late at night the fee booth will probably be unmanned. It is rumored that local Larimer County and Grand County residents can pass through the park without paying a fee if they mention that intention to the entrance guards.
Most of the major trailheads in the park are accessible by car and have parking lots depending on the popularity of the route. While parking is relatively ample in the early mornings, many lots are full by mid-morning during the peak summer months. The Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Roads are closed during the winter and usually don't reopen till late spring at the earliest. Access to Moraine Park and Bear Lake via the Bear Lake Road are open year-round and plowed.
There are several entrances to the park which do not have fees on the east side of the park:
Starting around Memorial Day Weekend and going through the end of September, Rocky Mountain National Park operates a free shuttle bus service which enables you to access many destination and loop hikes along Bear Lake Road, including Sprague Lake and Glacier Gorge to cut down on traffic congestion and limited parking. Shuttle buses run between many trailheads, Moraine Park Visitor Center, and Moraine Park and Glacier Basin Campgrounds.
There are two routes: The Bear Lake Route and the Moraine Park Route. Both routes are based at the Park & Ride shuttle bus parking area across from the Glacier Basin Campground. The first bus departs from Park & Ride at 7PM. and the last bus leaves at 7PM. The last bus of the day leaves Bear Lake and Fern Lake Trailheads at 7:30PM. The Bear Lake Route shuttle makes the round trip between the Park & Ride and Bear Lake. These buses run every 10 to 15 minutes. The Moraine Park Route shuttle makes the round trip between the Park & Ride and the Fern Lake Trailhead bus stop. These buses run every 30 minutes.
To experience the true beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park means getting out onto some of the 355 miles of trail that wind in, around and over the Continental Divide, Wild Basin, Mummy Range, and more.
Cycling through the park offers riders a chance to take in some of the scenery and striking vistas at a casual pace; however, some may be daunted by the high altitudes and steep climbs on the main roads. Elevations range from 8,000 feet to 12,183 feet (2,400 to 3,700 m). There are 60 miles (97 km) of hard-surfaced road with a five to seven percent grade. Most of the roads in the park have little to no shoulder, with the added challenge of dealing with heavy summer traffic. Early mornings or late evening rides may minimize conflict with other vehicles. Be vigilant for thunderstorms in the early to late afternoons, where lightning can create a serious hazard.
Winter cyclists will have access to Upper Beaver Meadows Road, Moraine Park Campground, Endovalley Road, Aspenglen Campground and High Drive. For a unique cycling experience, check with the park information office for specifics on the Old Fall River Road (gravel surface) and Trail Ridge Road (paved), which are open to bicycles early in the summer season, before they open to vehicles.
Off-road mountain biking is prohibited inside the park.
The park offers 359 miles of trail to hikers, backpackers and horseback riders. Difficulty levels range from the half mile wheelchair accessable jaunt around Bear Lake to the backbreaking 'Mummy Kill', recommended only for those with years of mountaineering experience or a death wish. A few of the most memorable hikes are listed below. Many of the trails in the Eastern Part of the Park can be reached via shuttle buses. Note that snow conditions should be considered before hiking as higher elevations will be snow-covered later into the year.
Most of the visitor centers offer books and other items for purchase, and there is a gift shop located next door to the Fall River Visitor Center.
Snacks are available for purchase at the Alpine Visitor Center, and there is a snack shop located next door to the Fall River Visitor Center. There are no sit-down restaurants inside of the park, but the neighboring towns of Estes Park and Grand Lake have numerous options.
There is no wine or alcohol for sale anywhere in the park. Beverages may be purchased at the snack bar next to the Fall River Visitor Center or at the Alpine Visitor Center. Water is available at the entrance station and visitor centers, and during summer months at the campgrounds.
There are five drive-in campgrounds and two group camping areas in the park (one group campground is winter only, one is summer only). Three campgrounds, Moraine Park, Glacier Basin, and Aspenglen, take reservations, as does the group-camping area at Glacier Basin. Other park campgrounds are first-come, first-served, and fill on most summer days. There are no electric, water or sewer hookups at any campsites. The water is turned off in the winter at all year-round campgrounds but drinking water is available at entrance stations and open visitor centers.
You must have a backcountry/wilderness permit to camp overnight in the park's backcountry/wilderness. You can pick one up at the Headquarters Backcountry Office or at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center. To minimize impacts on the park's resources, the number of permits issued is limited. You may obtain day-of-trip permits in person year round. You may make reservations by mail or in person anytime after March 1 for a permit for that calendar year. You may make reservations by phone from March 1 to May 15 and anytime after October 1 for a permit for that calendar year.
Backcountry/Wilderness Permits Rocky Mountain National Park Estes Park, CO 80517
You can also call the backcountry office at (970) 586-1242 to reserve a permit. For all reservations:
During the busy summer months, if you have a permit reservation, you must pick up the permit by 10 AM on the first day of your planned backcountry/wilderness stay, otherwise, the permit will be cancelled in its entirety, and given to other backpackers. If you know you will not be using your permit, please cancel your reservation as soon as possible.
The greatest danger to most park visitors is due to altitude. The entire park is above 7,500 feet and ranges as high as 14,259 feet, so it is important to take time to acclimate before undertaking strenuous activities. Even driving at high elevation can affect sensitive individuals. Altitude sickness symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat and insomnia. Also note that high elevation increases the chance of dehydration, severe sunburn, and the aggravation of pre-existing medical conditions. Drink several quarts of water per day to ward off dehydration. Wear and reapply sunscreen often. If you begin to feel sick or experience any physical problems descend to lower elevations.
In addition, be aware of the weather. A bright, sunny day can turn windy and wet within a matter of minutes with high winds and driving rain or snow. Be prepared for changing conditions by dressing in layers and always carrying gear appropriate for both cold, wet weather and bright, sunny conditions. If caught in a lightning storm above treeline get away from summits and isolated trees and rocks and find shelter (but avoid small cave entrances and overhangs) and crouch down on your heels.
Other park dangers include wildlife - never feed wild animals, and always give them their space. Animals are unpredictable, particularly if they feel threatened, and even a deer is capable of killing a human. To protect against larger predators like bears and mountain lions make noise while hiking to avoid startling an animal, and use bear-proof containers to store anything with a scent; this includes food, toothpaste, deodorant, empty food wrappers, or anything else that might attract a bear's interest.
Park streams may contains giardia and other water borne diseases, so always purify water before drinking. Be careful on snowfields, particularly on steep slopes where avalanche dangers may be high. | <urn:uuid:1a68a77c-8f22-432e-a34a-7a9df5aef14b> | {
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Estimate the Induction Time Distribution for a Disease
A group of 258 patients with AIDS had been exposed to HIV through blood transfusion on a known date. Patients who had not developed AIDS before the end of the study are not included (right truncation).
Create a kernel density estimate of the AIDS induction time distribution and compute its mean.
The probability a person will survive more than six years without developing AIDS.
The expected induction time, given AIDS has not developed by six years. | <urn:uuid:ead1ef13-c437-4176-ad3b-2e0e9bf5f88b> | {
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It's a pilot program that transports the past to the present at Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln.
"The possibilities are endless," said Bill Lopez who teaches a masters level education course at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
"There are more than 55 thousand souls buried here in Wyuka and every one has a story to tell," said Lopez.
His students are not placing flowers at grave sites, they are placing QR (quick response) codes.
"Why not have Q-R codes where people can take their own tour of the cemetery just by scanning their Smart Phones to the Q-R codes," said Lopez.
The technology sounds complicated, but the process is easy, scan a Smartphone to the QR code and read the information.
"The students have been uploading all of the information and so a visitor scans it and it takes them to the student's websites with all the information on the person or the family," said Lopez.
"And we found our information using ancestry.com and by also using the Nebraska Archives. So it was pretty interesting," said Katie Mohr who is a student of the course.
Students will use the technology in future classrooms.
"We are using a lot of I-pads and other technology and this is another great way to incorporate technology and history for the students," said Teresa Ulrich, who is a student of the course.
"We are learning ways to apply it in the classroom for when we become teachers which is really exciting," said Carly Weber who is a student of the course.
"I envision students all over the country adopting cemeteries like we adopt highways. Each student tries to find out more about the history of the people in there," said Lopez.
So present day technology, makes it possible for the future to reveal the past more accessibly. | <urn:uuid:b7106dbf-a26b-44a3-b756-c57c5366a5ef> | {
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There's something lurking around distant and icy dwarf planet Pluto: a fifth moon.
A team of scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope said Wednesday they have discovered the tiniest moon yet around Pluto. That brings the number of known moons to five.
The mini-moon is estimated to be 6 to 15 miles across, smaller than the one that scientists spotted last year, which is 8 to 21 miles wide. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, is about 650 miles across.
Until the newly found moon gets a name, it will be known as P5.
A NASA spacecraft named New Horizons is speeding toward Pluto where it will arrive in 2015. When New Horizons launched in 2006, Pluto was a full-fledged planet, but astronomers have since demoted it to dwarf planet. | <urn:uuid:4f462d2b-0af4-4e66-a9e2-9e938fdbaf99> | {
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A lucid account of the Suffolk Bank system which operated in Massachusetts between 1825 and 1858. Dr Trivioli shows that during this period a free enterprise central bank and clearing system operated with great success, bringing stability to a stuation where competing banks issued their own notes.
Synopsis: In tracing the history of the leading ideas of the Social Market Economy in Germany to their various intellectual roots, Konrad Zweig offers some pertinent insights into the fundamentals of German economic thinking and policies, little known in the English–speaking world. In his foreword to this work, Professor Christian Watrin of the University of Cologne comments: "I see great merit in Dr. Konrad Zweig's essay in clarifying and describing the leading ideas of the German position to an English–speaking public. His paper shows a profound knowledge of the historical roots, but at the same time, his aim is to show the compatibility of a competitive market and social protection.
A report looking at the transport problems in the UK, and at one potential solution to it.
Michael Forsyth provides the solutions for the abject failure of public services in the late 1970s and early 1980s:
"Local authorities seeking to make cuts in expenditure and increase benefits to ratepayers must now undertake extensive privatization of their services. The best method is just to do it, to put out services for private contract. The arguments of theory against the success of such action melt away in the practical results gained wherever it is done.
The British people have come to expect that public services will become lower in quality and' more expensive to provide. This need not be so. Privatization has its part to play, therefore, not only in re–servicing Britain, but in helping to restore the country's faith in itself."
A critical analysis of Britain's planning system. Not much has changed positively in the years since 1982 making this report still relevant today. It also outlines solutions that would free up the planning system.
... to the economic and political thought of our time. This book, written by Dr Eamonn Butler, gives an introduction to the great Austrian economist and political philosopher Friedrich A. Hayek. The book covers the themes of Hayek's work, which consists more than 25 books and numerous articles. The topics include Hayek's understanding of the market process; his critique of socialism and the meaningless term of social justice, and Hayek's suggestions for the constitution of the liberal state.
An indepth look at the options available for the process of privatizing Britain's airports. Taking into considersation the present thinking (of the mid 1980s) surrounding privitization Dr Barrett outlines how it could be applied to airports and the benefits that it would bring. He also outlines how it could be improved with a variety of differing policy ideas.
What now appears to be a seminal publication on the road to welfare reform. Ralph Howell examines the welfare system of the mid 1980s, what the Beveridge Report didn't utilise and how the two could be combined to create an incentivized work force and a simplified benefits system. This publication foreshadows many of the summer 2008 announcements. | <urn:uuid:33b53c25-ceed-48ba-ac97-eda399ea609d> | {
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Akamba people alongside other central Bantu speaking people are believed to have originated in the current Democratic Republic of Congo and migrated to East Africa across Tanzania border. They settled around Mount Kilimanjaro before migrating further to the settle in the plains of Nithi at a place called Kiima Kya Kyeu (Mountain of White). Due to frequent conflicts in the 16th century with the neighboring Maasai people, the Akamba further migrated to Chyulu Hills a place they purported to be safe. Due to persistent drought, they further moved to Kibwezi plains. The Akamba live in the semi-arid Eastern Province of Kenya stretching east from Nairobi to Tsavo and north up to Embu. This land is called Ukambani.
The oldest form of Kamba artistic expression have been engraving and painting of calabashes or gouards. This art, mainly done by women, served both to embellish and imbue the vessels with the mystic or spiritual meaning.
The Kamba are nowadays most known for African black wood carvings, although this is a very recent art form. They were introduced to wood sculpturing by Mutisya Munge who had served in the colonial Carrier Corps in Tanzania during World War I. There, he came into contact with Zaramo carvers, who had themselves been influenced by the Makonde carvers. Munge collected Zaramo models, and on returning to Kenya, took up carving as a full time occupation. Following Munge’s efforts, a booming trade in carving developed at a small town of Wamunyu along the Machakos- Kitui highway. It is estimated that about three thousand people many of them of youthful age, eke out their living from wood carving. Many more carvers are located throughout Ukambani, and at the coast where they sell to tourists.
Akamba are the most highly organized and productive art movement in Kenya and East Africa region. They produce an enormous line of hand made artifacts. At the carving centre, labour is divided between wood merchants, carvers and finishers. Wood is usually purchased ready cut into logs of 4 to 15 inches or more. Carving is executed with tools local tools from scrap metals and timber. Some artists work on order but many simply mass-produce carvings and stock them hoping to sell eventually. Workers who work in assembly lines of productions often receive set wages for producing a number of carvings per day.
The first step on production line is to select a chunk of wood considering the approximate size and shape of the figure to be created. The shape of the wood may also influence the choice of the figure to be designed. Hard wood are more difficult to shape but have better luster and longevity whereas soft wood are easier to curve but less resistant to damage. Detailed figures require hard wood with fine grain such as African Black Wood.
Once the wood has been selected, a sculptor begins with general shaping process using hand made gouges of various sizes. For harder wood, a sculptor use saws, chisels and mallets, while on smaller ones, knives of different sizes are used. Sculptors always carve across or with the grain of the wood as a basic principal.
Once the general shape has been achieved the sculptor uses a variety of tools for creating details. A veiner or fluter may be used to make deep gouges in the surface. A v-tool is used for making fine lines or decorative cuts.
The method used on finishes depends on the required quality of surface required. The texture may be left by shallow gouges to give life to the sculpture surface. Many carvers, buyers and collectors prefer this tooled finish. If completely smoothened surface is priority, it is done using tools such as rasp, a flat blade with a surface of pointed teeth. Rifflers are similar to rasps but smaller, double ended and of various shapes for working in folds or crevasse. The finer polishing is attained using filing and abrasive paper which comes in various sizes of grain.
A finished sculpture is then sealed and coloured with a variety of natural oils such as walnut or linseed oil. These protect wood from moisture and dirt. It also imparts a sheen to the wood, which by reflecting light, helps the observer appreciate the form. Glossy varnishes are rarely used. Objects made out of wood are frequently finished with a layer of wax which protects the wood and gives it a softer sheen. A wax finish is comparatively fragile though and is only suitable for indoor carvings.
The most common materials used in Akamba carvings are locally available woods from trees such as African black wood (Delbergia melanoxylon), African ebony, rose wood, mahogany, teak and jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia). Finishes are always coated with wax, oil colour and varnishes. Other sculptors may require adornment with beads, leather metallic decorative pins, metallic clips, fibers and ivory.
Akamba carvings range from figures of various sizes and shapes. The figures are carved keenly detailing basic curves but maintaining accurate shapes and proportions. Very accurate lines and textures are shown giving the figures life. Natural colours of materials are maintained when a thin layer of wax and oil is applied giving the product a natural aesthetic value.
The carvings maintain laws of art and design. Most Akamba carvings are in proper shapes and proportions that are enhanced by harmonious movement and rhythm created by lines, shapes and decorations. A scene of a predator killing a prey can be depicted with very accurate movement and energy involved. Such scenes at times are left on unrefined wooden ground and backdrop but concentrate emphasis and finishes on the subject, which brings unity that controls the perception of the sculpture.
Akamba wood carvings have very strong denotative messages. A mask for example carries a clear spiritual message just like a stool may portray elderly values from the way it is decorated. Connotative values are scanty in most of the Akamba carvings because of the direct imitation from nature and the environment. Most of the reproduced forms do not communicate much about the period in which the carvings are created. They are not influenced by cultural trends, in either music, culture or even dance. They do not respond to any social or political change. Mass production destroys individual styles and gives rise to unscrupulous business. Middle business dealers claim ownership and even claim to employ Akamba artists who produce the work.
Since Akamba carvers are inspired by the arid semi arid region in which they live, most of their subjects are prominent animals such lions, elephants, giraffes and other cultures exposed to them like the Maasai people. They are further inspired by the market demands of such kind of carvings since most of the buyers are people visiting Kenya.
Repetitive production of carvings lowers their values and quality. Buyers, collectors and general audience need a variety of subjects, styles and Messages and meanings. Every carving should tell its own story. Replication of these carvings is good for mass demand but dilutes the very intricate value of Akamba art for prosperity.
The Kamba sculptors have formed cooperative societies for purposes of proper management and improved product. The management sources for raw materials, markets and supports artists with loans for personal development. Some societies have over 350 members all working in the same shade. Ten percent of the proceeds from individual work once sold is retained by the society management for administrative purposes and also part of it retained by the society account to be issued out to members in form of soft loans. Some societies get some grants from the government to enhance operations and products.
Small scale Kamba sculptors who run small cottage workshops in towns and cities often use mobile communication technologies to transact business. It is now common for artists to receive orders, make purchases and receive payments through mobile phone money transfer services available locally.
Akamba sculptors have evolved into huge companies that manufacturer and export fine wood carvings, animal sculptures, decorative accessories, and fancy customized goods mainly to foreign markets. This is in the effort to diversify into other areas of craft to be able to remain in business. The companies have developed websites where they market and sell their carvings online. Amongst the most popular products are the "big five" (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, and leopard); a variety of human sculptures; realistic and abstract African art, masks, stools, and decorated African wooden utensils (bowls, spoons, stools, walking sticks) that are fancied by both local and foreign markets.
Akamba Handicraft Cooperative Society Ltd has 3000 members and 2000 sub-contracted sculptors in their in-house workshop and showroom located on Airport Road, Mombasa. It exports 30% of their products to Europe, Japan, North America, and South Africa and sells 30% in their Mombasa showroom. The remaining 40% is sold to other curio vendors in Kenya. Shipment is done using currier companies and payments received through telegraphic money transfers keeping abreast with competitors in the global market through information communication technologies available.
By Adams Namayi Wamukhuma,
Comment on this article! | <urn:uuid:cd58d957-8b58-4a5a-b5a8-5126b8e72fbb> | {
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Pediatric Regime of Chemotherapy Proves More Effective for Young Adults Monday, June 18, 2012
Leukemia patients 16 to 39 have higher long-term survival rates, finds TAU researcher
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), usually found in pediatric patients, is far more rare and deadly in adolescent and adult patients. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, child ALL patients have a higher than 80 percent remission rate, while the recovery rate for adults stands at only 40 percent.
In current practice, pediatric and young adult ALL patients undergo different treatment regimes. Children aged 0-15 years are typically given more aggressive chemotherapy, while young adults, defined as people between 16 and 39 years of age, are treated with a round of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant. But a new study has revealed that it may be time to rethink this strategy, says Dr. Ron Ram of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Davidoff Cancer Center at the Rabin Medical Center.
Dr. Ram and his fellow researchers have determined that a pediatric treatment regime for young adult patients with ALL improves their chance of long-term survival, and decreases the mortality rate itself by 40% — all without the additional complications of a bone marrow transplant. Their findings have been published in the American Journal of Hematology.
Avoiding the transplant list
There are a number of reasons for the differing treatment regimes, including physical stress, psychological preparedness, and prevalence of the disease. Pediatric oncologists, who see dozens of cases of ALL a month, treat their patients with aggressive chemotherapy because there is a consensus that young children can better cope with the treatment — their heart, liver, and lungs are better able to repair themselves after exposure to the toxic cancer-fighting drugs, and they have better psychological support systems to deal with their situation.
Adult oncologists, on the other hand, proceed with more caution, believing that the older body has less ability to heal itself and that adults are not as psychologically well-adapted for the hardships of intensive chemotherapy. In addition, the smaller number of young and mature adult ALL patients means that fewer studies and clinical trials have been done on adolescents and adults with the disease, so less information is available.
For their study, Dr. Ram and his fellow researchers conducted a systematic review of 11 comparative studies comparing the outcomes of 2,489 individuals aged 16-39. They completed an analysis to determine how the young adult regime compared to the pediatric treatment for this age group. They discovered that at three years, mortality was significantly lower when the patient was treated with the pediatric regime than with the adult chemotherapy/transplant combination, with a remission rate closer to that in children. Relapse rates were also significantly lower.
"The long-term survival of these young adults increased significantly when following the pediatric treatment," concludes Dr. Ram. The results disproved the assumption that with the more aggressive chemotherapy, young adult patients would have higher toxicity rates. "There was a worry that the patients might suffer or even die from the toxicity of the treatment, but toxicity rates remained the same. With the pediatric treatment, patients were more frequently in remission and had prolonged survival without bone marrow transplantation — which itself is hard on the body."
More trials needed
Though the comparative studies have pointed researchers in the right direction, Dr. Ram says that this study is limited by a lack of randomized controlled trials, which could give more insight into whether the pediatric regime should be adopted as standard for young adult patients.
Still, the results are persuasive, leading to the conclusion that patients in this age group can be treated as pediatric patients in terms of the level of chemotherapy they can handle. "For a 16-20 year old, I would push them towards a pediatric regime," Dr. Ram says.
This study was conducted in collaboration with Profs. Ofer Shpilberg and Pia Raanani and Drs. Ofir Wolach, Liat Vidal and Anat Gafter-Gvili.
For more cancer research news from Tel Aviv University, click here. | <urn:uuid:9ac87eb2-a650-4320-95d9-7c33b3d92e38> | {
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Moving people toward compassionate living
Your letters and calls do help!
|Originally Posted: 23 May 2011|
Help Save Hammerhead and Oceanic Whitetip Sharks
Tell National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service (NMFS) it's time to stop catching hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks in U.S. waters! Prohibiting the retention of these species in all Highly Migratory Species (HMS) fisheries will allow for straightforward enforcement and implementation of the proposed ban and help to safeguard these species in U.S. waters.
Please add the oceanic whitetip and scalloped, great and smooth hammerhead sharks to the prohibited species list under HMS management in the Atlantic.
Sign an online petition
And/Or make direct contact:
NOAA Fisheries Service
INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS
Oceanic whitetip and hammerhead sharks are some of the most amazing creatures in the world's oceans, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. These top predators play a critical role in maintaining the balance of life in the sea, and their loss could cause irreversible damage to the oceans. Up to 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins, valued for the Asian delicacy shark fin soup.
Sharks grow slowly, mature late and produce few offspring over long life spans, making them particularly vulnerable to overexploitation and slow to recover from overfishing.
This is particularly true for oceanic whitetip and hammerhead sharks, which have an even lower ability to recover from decline compared to most shark species. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies oceanic whitetips as Critically Endangered and hammerhead sharks as Endangered. Caught primarily for their fins for exports and generally not used for their meat, these lions and tigers of the ocean need special protection now.
The United States has an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership for sharks by permanently protecting these threatened species in our waters. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) governs the management of sharks in U.S. ocean territory, and has supported proposals for global trade restrictions to ensure the future of these sharks. While the world deliberates, the U.S. should act now to permanently protect these species in our waters.
Thank you for everything you do for animals! | <urn:uuid:d58ffa1b-ecf4-49b6-a892-c91e0053f688> | {
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Jewish Vegetarian - Vegan Articles
God - Bible - Intent - Love - Compassion - Faith - Peace - People - Animals - Animal Rights - Diet - Nutrition - Health - Non-violence - Ecology - Environment - Sacrifices
| Home Page |
Rosh Hashanah and
By Richard H. Schwartz
Rosh Hashanah is the time when we take stock of our lives and consider new beginnings. Perhaps the most significant and meaningful change that Jews should consider this year is a shift away from diets that have been having devastating effects on human health and the health of our increasingly imperiled planet. While many Jews seem to feel that the holiday's celebration can be enhanced by the consumption of chopped liver, gefilte fish, chicken soup, and roast chicken, there are many inconsistencies between the values of Rosh Hashanah and the realities of animal-centered diets. Consider these points:
1. While Jews ask God on Rosh Hashanah for a healthy year, non-vegetarian diets have been linked to heart disease, strokes, several forms of cancer, and other illnesses. While we implore "our Father, our King" on Rosh Hashanah to "keep the plague from thy people", high fat, meat-based diets are causing a plague of degenerative diseases that have resulted in total U.S. medical costs soaring from $80 billion in 1970 to an estimated $1,106 billion in 1994.
2. While Jews pray on the Jewish New Year that God "remove pestilence, sword, and famine", over 70% of the grain grown in the United States is fed to animals destined for slaughter, as 20 million people die annually because of hunger and its effects. Flesh-centered diets, by wasting valuable resources, help to perpetuate the widespread hunger and poverty that often lead to instability and war.
3. While Jews commemorate the creation of the world on Rosh Hashanah, livestock agriculture is a major contributor to many global threats, such as soil erosion and depletion, air and water pollution related to the production and use of pesticides and chemical fertilizer, and the destruction of tropical rain forests and other habitats.
4. While Jews pray on Rosh Hashanah for God's compassion during the coming year, many Jews, as well as most other people, partake in a diet that involves animals being raised for food under cruel conditions, in crowded, confined cells, where they are denied fresh air, exercise, and any emotional stimulation.
5. While Judaism teaches that people's fate for the new year is written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur and that repentance, prayer, and charity can cancel a stern decree, the fate of farm animals is determined before they are born and there is no way they can change it. While the Torah and Prophetic readings on Rosh Hashanah describe the great joy of both Sarah and Hannah after they were blessed with sons after it seemed that both were destined to be barren, meat-based diets require the taking of animal babies from their mothers after only one day of nursing, to spend the rest of their lives in small pens where they are fattened up for slaughter.
6. While Rosh Hashanah is a time when we are to "awake from our slumber" and mend our ways, the consumption of meat on Rosh Hashanah means that we are continuing the habits that are so detrimental to our health, to animals, to hungry people, and to ecosystems. While we symbolically cast away our sins at tashlich during Rosh Hashanah, the eating of meat means a continuation of the "sins" associated with our diets, with regard to treatment of animals, protecting our health, polluting the environment, and wasting food and other resources. While Rosh Hashanah is meant to be a time of deep contemplation when we carefully examine our deeds, most meat eaters ignore the many moral issues related to their diets.
7. While we speak of God"s "delighting in life" on Rosh Hashanah, the standard American diet annually involves the brutal treatment and deaths of billions of animals, as well as many human deaths, due to insufficient food in poor countries and too much rich food in the wealthy countries.
8. While Rosh Hashanah has a universal message and involves the prayer that "all the world's people shall come to serve (God)", many of the world's people suffer from chronic hunger which denies them the necessary strength and will for devotion, while meat and fish from the choicest land and most bountiful waters of their countries is exported to meet dietary demands in the United States and other developed countries.
9. While Rosh Hashanah is a time of joy (along with sincere meditation), animals on factory farms never have a pleasant day, and millions of people throughout the world are too involved in worrying about their next meal to be able to experience many joyous moments.
In view of these and other apparent contradictions, I hope that Jews will enhance their celebrations of the beautiful and spiritually meaningful holiday of Rosh Hashanah by making it a time to begin striving even harder to live up to Judaism's highest moral values and teachings by moving toward a vegetarian diet.
Richard H. Schwartz, Email address: [email protected]. Author of Judaism and Vegetarianism, Judaism and Global Survival, and Mathematics and Global Survival. Patron of the International Jewish Vegetarian Society. My articles on Judaism and Vegetarianism are on the internet at http://schwartz.enviroweb.org/
| Home Page | Jewish Articles: Table of Contents |
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org. | <urn:uuid:5d1667fa-bab5-4015-b416-5f3dafddee29> | {
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Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Southern American English
Southern American English is a dialect of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from central Kentucky and northern Virginia to the Gulf Coast and from the Atlantic coast to eastern Texas. Southern American English can be divided into different sub-dialects (see American English), with speech differing between, say, the Appalachian region and the coastal area around Charleston, South Carolina. The South Midlands dialect was influenced by the migration of Southern dialect speakers into the American West. The traditional dialect of African Americans, popularly called "Ebonics", shares many similarities with Southern dialect, unsurprising given that group's strong historical ties to the region.
Speakers of Southern American English have been stereotyped as uneducated or stupid commonly due the slower rate of speech and intertextualization of cultural factors of the region. Since the use of the dialect is stigmatized, educated speakers often attempt to eliminate many of its more distinctive features from their personal idiolect, settling for a more "neutral-sounding" English, though more often this involves changes more in phonetics than vocabulary. Well-known speakers of Southern dialect include United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton along with playwright Tennessee Williams and singer Elvis Presley.
Few generalizations can be made about Southern pronunciation as a whole, as there is great variation between regions. One phenomenon that is probably found throughout the region is the merger of and [ɪ] before nasal consonants, so that "pen" and "pin" are pronounced the same. This sound change has spread beyond the south in recent decades and is now quite widespread in the Midwest and West as well.
Other typical (sometimes stereotypical) aspects of the Southern accent:
- [z] becomes [d] before [n], e.g. [wʌdn̩t] wasn't, [bɪdnɪs] business
- The diphthong /aɪ/ becomes monophthongized to [aː]. Some speakers have this feature before voiced consonants but Canadian-style raising before voiceless consonants, so that ride is [raːd] and wide is [waːd], but right is [rəɪt] and white is [hwəɪt]; others monophthongize /aɪ/ in all contexts.
- The diphthongization or triphthongization of the traditional short front vowels as in the words pat, pet, and pit: these develop a glide up from their original starting position to [j], and then back down to schwa. This is the feature often called the "Southern drawl".
- The English of the coastal Deep South is historically non-rhotic: it drops the sound of final /r/ before a consonant or a word boundary, so that guard sounds similar to god (but the former has a longer vowel than the latter) and sore like saw. Intrusive /r/, where an /r/ sound is inserted between two vowel sounds ("lawr and order") is not a feature of coastal SAE, as it is in many other non-rhotic accents. The more western (including Appalachian) varieties of SAE are rhotic. Non-rhoticity is rapidly disappearing from almost all Southern accents, to a greater degree than it has been lost in the other traditionally non-rhotic dialects of the East Coast such as New York and Boston.
- The distinction between the vowels sounds of words like caught and cot or talk and tock is mainly preserved. In much of the Deep South, the vowel found in words like talk and caught has developed into a diphthong, so that it sounds like the diphthong used in the word loud in the Northern United States. This diphthong also applies to words outside of such pairs. For example, in "boat," "god", salt" round off the mouth almost to make a schwa preceding the consonant (though not as fully as the di/triphthongization of short front vowels).
- For many Southern speakers, some nouns are stressed on the first syllable that would be stressed on the second syllable in other accents. These include pólice, cément, and béhind.
- The distinction between /ɔr/ and /or/, as in horse and hoarse, for and four etc., is often preserved, especially in non-rhotic varieties.
- Merger of lax vowels with tense vowels before 'l', making pairs like feel/fill, fail/fell, and fool/full homophones.
- The distinction between w and wh, as in wine and whine is preserved for some speakers.
- The distinction between /ær/, /ɛr/, and /er/ in marry, merry, and Mary is preserved.
- Yod-dropping is not found among many speakers, thus /dj/, /nj/, /tj/, in due, new, tune is preserved.
- The distinction between /3`r/ and /Vr/ in furry and hurry is preserved.
- In some regions of the south, there is a merger of [ɔr] and [ɑAr], making cord and card, for and far, form and farm etc. homonyms.
- The distinction between /Ir/ and /i:r/ in mirror and nearer, Sirius and serious etc. is preserved.
- The distinction between pour and poor, more and moor etc. is lost in many regions.
- Use of double modals ("might could", "might should", "might would", etc.)
- "You" may be "ye" ("Did ye get yer car?")
- Occasional preservation of the aspirative "h" for the third person singular neuter ("hit").
- Use of "y'all" as the second person plural pronoun (less commonly "you-all," "all-y'all")
- Some Appalacian and Ozark dialects prefer "you'uns", and by extension "we'uns" and "they'uns".
- Use of "fixin' to" or "a-fixin' to" as an indicator of immediate future action. For example: "He's 'fixin to eat," or "We're 'a-fixin to go."
- Use of the word "done" in place of "already" or "did", such as in "We 'done' did this" (We already did this).
- Use of the emphatic definite article (frequently abbreviated to the dental fricative /ð/): "He went to the Wal-Mart." "I'ma go to th'IGA."
- Use of "over yonder" in place of "over there" or "in or at that indicated place," especially when being used to refer to a particularly different spot, such as in "the house over yonder"
- Use of "the grocery" in place of "the supermarket" or "the grocery store." For example "I went to the grocery earlier today" or "we're fixin' to go to the grocery"
- Use of a quasi-reflexive pronoun "me" or "him". For example, "I'm fixin' to paint me a picture."
- Use of "to love on someone or something" in place of "to show affection to" or "be affectionate with someone or something." For example: "He was lovin' on his new kitten."
- Word use tendencies from the Harvard Dialect Survey:
- A carbonated beverage in general as "coke" (likely influenced by The Coca-Cola Company being headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and the resultant dominance of Coca-Cola in the region).
- The small land crustaceans that roll when you touch them as "roley-poleys" rather than "pill bugs" or "woodlouse"
- The push-cart at the grocery store as a "buggy"
- The small freshwater crustacean in lakes and streams as a "crawdad," "crawfish," or "crayfish" depending on the location
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:7bf9a462-b80c-4c54-b195-e50e55d890cf> | {
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Montenegro was part of the former Yugoslavia at one time. Illyrians originally settled the area, followed by the Greeks, Celts, Byzantines, Romans and the Slavs. The nation was eventually Christianized under Nicholas I and later united with Serbia to fight the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. Nicholas oversaw the expansion of Montenegro’s borders and led it toward independence in 1878. Italy occupied the country during World War II, and Montenegro adopted socialism as part of Yugoslavia during the Cold War. In 1992, Montenegro joined with Serbia as Yugoslavia began to break up, leaving behind a truncated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. While Serbia became involved in the war in Bosnia, Montenegro remained largely out of the conflict. The Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro became the dominant political force in the country throughout the 1990s. During this time Montenegro became a hotspot for smuggling due to its location on the Adriatic Sea. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia renamed itself Serbia and Montenegro. This lasted until June 2006 when Montenegro became completely independent. The United States soon thereafter established diplomatic relations with Montenegro.
Lay of the Land: Montenegro occupies an area slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut, and lies between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania. Its terrain is varied, from the mountainous regions with thick forests to central plains and the Adriatic coast, with a few small islands off the coast. The climate is generally continental, and Mediterranean off the coast.
The area now known as Montenegro was originally settled by the Illyrians before the 6th century. Subsequently, the Greeks and Celts formed settlements to enhance trade in the region. The Romans eventually conquered the Illyrian kingdom and divided the territory with the Byzantine Empire.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a conglomeration of six regional republics and two autonomous provinces that was roughly divided on ethnic lines. Following a string of violent conflicts during the 1990s Yugoslavia split into several independent countries, including Serbia and Montenegro,.
In 2009, the and the United States’ leading export to Montenegro were new and used passenger cars ($3.3 million) and drilling/oilfield equipment ($2.3 million). Other major exports included unmanufactured agricultural goods ($2 million), medicinal equipment ($1.3 million), generators and accessories ($1.1 million), plastic materials ($1.1 million), and household appliances ($1.1 million).
Montenegro Accused of Caving to US Pressure on Kosovo
According to the U.S. State Department, Montenegro’s government has been accused of “allowing police mistreatment of suspects in detention, substandard prison conditions, abusive and arbitrary arrests, police impunity, lengthy pretrial detention, delayed and inefficient trials, widespread perception of corruption in law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, physical assaults on journalists, excessive monetary judgments against the media for slander, denial of public and press access to information, mistreatment and discrimination against the large number of refugees and internally displaced persons, sectarian intolerance and homophobia, discrimination against women, trafficking in persons, and discrimination against ethnic minorities,” .
Note: The United States recognized the Republic of Montenegro on Jun 13, 2006 and established relations with it on Aug. 15. The US Consulate in Podgorica became an embassy Oct 5, 2006, with Arlene Ferrill as Charge d’Affaires ad interim.
Montenegro’s ambassador to the United States since November 2010, Srdjan Darmanovic knows a thing or two about strategy, both the diplomatic kind and that used on a chess board.
Sue K. Brown, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, was appointed in November 2010 by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to Montenegro. She was sworn in on April 27, 2011.
A native of Rhode Island, Roderick W. Moore served as the first-ever US Ambassador to Montenegro. He was sworn in on September 12, 2007. Moore attended Brown University where he received his BA in Russian studies and international relations in 1986. He also earned an MA in Slavic linguistics in 1987 and has studied Serbian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Russian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Czech, French, Spanish and Haitian Creole. | <urn:uuid:c5fc41b4-0921-4b39-b0b0-b5e94a33fc6b> | {
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1997-1999: Children's book
Completed AE projects
When someone is suffering from dementia, the whole family is affected. It can be difficult for everyone, but particularly for children who do not always understand what is going on. In 1999, Alzheimer Europe (in collaboration with the Association Luxembourg Alzheimer) produced a book aimed at helping children understand more about Alzheimer’s disease and possibly come to terms with it. The book is aimed at children between the age of 8 and 11 and is suitable for those who have a relative with dementia, as well as those who do not.
Participants from eight of our member associations were involved in the project:
- France: Association France Alzheimer
- Greece: Greek Alzheimer Association
- Iceland: F.A.A.S.
- Luxembourg: Association Luxembourg Alzheimer
- Portugal: APFADA
- Switzerland: Association Alzheimer Suisse
- The Netherlands: Alzheimerstichting
- United Kingdom: Alzheimer Scotland-Action on Dementia
Funding and duration
The European Commission granted the necessary funds for the “Alzheimer Children’s Book Project” to the Association Luxembourg Alzheimer. Alzheimer Europe worked in close cooperation with the Association Luxembourg Alzheimer on this project which started in December 1997 and finished in June 1999.
The main aims of this project were to produce a book about Alzheimer's disease which would provide children with basic information about Alzheimer's disease (though the story), answer some of the questions they may have, remove some of the stigma associated with having a relative with Alzheimer's disease and provide a tool for the topic to be discussed in schools, at home and amongst friends.
Moreover, it was our aim to write a book which would be directly accessible to a young audience rather than the parents of children with a relative with dementia .
The first stage of this project involved collecting copies of existing information in order to analyse its content, produce a summary and compile an inventory. Before starting to write the story, Alzheimer Luxembourg Association, in close collaboration with Alzheimer Europe, organised interviews with young children in order to assess their real needs with regard to information about Alzheimer's disease and their preferences concerning the style of the book. These interviews enabled us to analyse the language used by young children in order to write a story in a style which was understandable and adapted to the needs of the target group.
Finally, two meetings were held with the project participants in Luxembourg. These meetings enabled the participants to define guidelines for the book, the overall structure of the story, the audience, the specific aspects of the disease to be dealt with, the characters, the setting, the style and the kind of illustrations to be included etc. and later to agree on the actual text and overall presentation.
The children's book was written in French and then translated into all the official languages of the European Union.
The children’s book, which is called “Chère Mamie” in the original version, is available in French, German, Italian, Greek, Flemish and Danish and can be obtained from Alzheimer Europe or its member associations in the respective countries.
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A modifier describes another word or word group. Words, phrases (groups of words without a subject or predicate, usually introduced by a preposition or conjunction), and clauses (groups of words with a subject and verb within a compound or complex sentence) may all be modifiers. An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a clause. Clauses or phrases may serve as adjectives or adverbs. | <urn:uuid:6870a7cf-7546-492a-b8dc-b3ca73c2bc1d> | {
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- Historic Sites
William Trent House Museum
William Trent built his country estate north of Philadelphia, in New Jersey, at the Falls of the Delaware River about 1719. It was a large, imposing brick structure, built in the newest fashion. An "allee" of English cherry trees led from the entrance down to the ferry landing. Nearby, there were numerous outbuildings as well as grist, saw and fulling mills along the Assunpink Creek. In 1720 Trent laid out a settlement, which he incorporated and named "Trenton." Through careful preservation and accurate historical interpretation, visitors will become aware of the importance of this building in national, state and municipal history. An ambitious restoration project is nearly complete and will provide a more accurate historical representation of the museum's original appearance. | <urn:uuid:818775f9-54d0-4af6-a0e7-c232eb34aa2c> | {
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Find out what’s on your pet’s mind or work with your pet on a behavior problem
Have you ever wondered what Lucy has on her mind? How she feels about that new litter or why she is peeing outside the box? Have you ever wanted to explain to Max that you’re going to be adding another dog friend to the family? or a new baby? That you’re moving to a new neighborhood? Would you like to know what would make your hamster more content? What your dog thinks of his trainer or his doggy day care? How your horse feels about the new groomer? Why your cockatiel gets a little grumpy right after laying an egg?
These are the kinds of things you can learn through a session of animal communication.
Animals are thinking, feeling beings who greatly enjoy expressing themselves. They are individuals with their own inner lives. They appreciate your desire to find out how they’re feeling and to ask what would make them happier. They value the respect you show in preparing them for changes ahead.
Sometimes their thoughts are simple and expected, sometimes complex, and sometimes light-hearted and amusing. Occasionally they will reveal a health condition of which you were unaware.
They will tell you who and what they like and don’t like. They will tell you what is on their mind and may be more willing and able to change their behavior after hearing your requests and point of view. They might even surprise you with the reasons for their behavior that change your own perspective on the problem and guide you to a more effective solution.
When you contact us to arrange a conversation with your pet, we prefer to have limited information so that whatever we receive during the conversation comes from your pet, not from what you told us. That will help validate for you that we are in touch with your pet. | <urn:uuid:455f5891-e939-4931-9d15-45f562e074ca> | {
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Asclepsis tuberosa or butterfly weed is a wonderful addition to the summer garden. Its bright orange flowers are irresistible to butterflies, especially the monarch. Although the flowers lure the monarch butterfly, the monarch caterpillar eats nothing but the foliage of this particular plant. One morning I discovered that the caterpillar had eaten every single leaf. Normally I would be heart sick to see a plant damaged but the presence of a monarch in the garden is a gift.
Despite being called a weed (milkweed more specifically), I do not consider it a weed. As a matter of fact, it is a well-behaved, easy - to - grow, beautiful perennial in the garden. After the blooms fade, green seedpods take their place. The seeds do eventually migrate through the air; this plant, however, seems only to have spread in my garden by forming larger clumps. Butterfly weed prefers full sun, although mine is doing very well in part sun. It is not a drought tolerant plant, but enjoys water during dry times.
Ascelpsis tuberosa provides a double gift for the gardener. It not only attracts flights of butterflies to the garden, but it also brightens any flower bed.
Although the name ‘Endless Summer’ (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Endless Summer’) could suggest the title of a cable tv show or a soap opera, it is actually the name of a wonderful mophead hydrangea. What makes this hydrangea with its brilliant blue flowers so special is that it reblooms. It blooms on old and new wood in the same season, often blooming in early summer and then in fall. Another positive about ‘Endless Summer’ is that if a late frost kills the early blooms there will be more to follow. This easy- to-grow hydrangea likes the same things that other mopheads do: ample water (at least an inch per week), morning sun, and afternoon shade. Give it a good home in rich organic soil. If your soil is heavy, consider making a planting bed instead of just a single hole. Planting a hydrangea high as you would an azalea also will improve drainage. Just because a plant likes shade, planting it right next to a large tree is not often a good idea as the plant has to compete with the trees roots for nutrition and moisture. High shade in a yard is a blessing. A nice layer of mulch is always a good idea as it will help to conserve moisture and keep the soil cooler in the summer.
Pruning techniques for ‘Endless Summer’ are not difficult. Prune mopheads immediately after flowering. Because ‘Endless Summer’ reblooms, pruning it should occur in late summer to early fall. However, flower buds for the next season may begin to form from August to October so if yours needs pruning, you may have to sacrifice a few late flowers to get this garden task accomplished at the right time. It is a good idea to prune out all the dead canes and even to cut about one third of the older stems to the ground every year. This will encourage your hydrangeas to grow stronger, have a nicer shape, and have more flowers.
My mature ‘Endless Summer’ is about 5 feet high and almost that wide. It is a joy in the garden as the flowers look like jewels. With so many gorgeous hydrangeas on the market it is often difficult to choose a new one, but those that rebloom are a necessity for the summer garden, guaranteeing you a summer full of endless flowers.
These are hard days for gardeners. We have talked about the heat to everyone we meet and we are suffering through it as I write these words. I can’t remember days of continual 100 plus temperatures, This kind of heat probably has happened in other years, but, like many other bad memories, I have forgotten those times. I have not, however, forgotten the drought of a few years ago when my town of Jacksonville imposed watering restrictions. For a plant person this can spell disaster. We saved water from every possible indoor source and carried it outside in buckets. Hope we do not face that same situation this year.
By now, unless you have been watering your grass, it has turned an ugly shade of brown and is pretty crispy. It is not really dead, only dormant. As soon as it rains, it will green back up (unless it is a newly sodded lawn in which case the color may be a cry for help). Should you decide to water, please remember to water deeply and less often. Grass needs about an inch of moisture a week to look like a golf course. You can judge how much water your lawn is getting by setting empty tuna cans around to catch the water. The best time to water your lawn is between 4 and 9 am.
Although your lawn will bounce back from this drought and heat, these same conditions are much harder on many annuals and perennials, trees and shrubs, especially newly planted ones. Many or most annuals are water hogs. The sun coleus I planted are begging for a drink at least twice a day. The pentas are hanging their heads. If you put in new ornamental plants or trees last spring, they must have water to survive until they are settled in. Even those planted last winter need to be watered. Again water deeply and less often, early in the morning if possible. Watering at night may encourage the development of fungus and disease. By watering early you allow the foliage to dry. A good layer of mulch surely helps keep the soil from drying out as quickly (and keeps down the weeds). Overhead watering is never the best choice; drip irrigation wastes less water and gets the water where it is needed most – to the roots. Many of us, however, have the traditional over head irrigation systems in our yards – either through in ground sprinkler systems or rotating sprinklers. Some soaker hoses added to the mix will help.
Now is not the time to fertilize--struggling plants don't need encouragement to grow. They need to use their strength to survive. Good soil helps plants to be strong. Layers of compost mixed in the soil next winter will improve the structure of the soil and make it easier for water to reach the roots.
The use of drought tolerant plants in the landscape is certainly a solution to reducing our water usage. There are so many to choose from: sedums, agaves, yuccas, and even cactus. These laugh at the drought and the heat. These drought tolerant beauties also make wonderful container plantings. (Note to myself; do not plant three dozen sun coleus in pots and beds next year).
Be kind to yourself on these sweltering days. For us humans working in the garden in the early morning or early evening will be the healthiest for us. With a little patience we will survive another Alabama summer.
June 27 th
Hayes Jackson, ACES
Dates/speakers subject to change. Calhoun Co. Extension Office 256-237-1621.
Hayes will be highlighting using succulents, drought tolerant plants, for container plantings. | <urn:uuid:eefeeef5-8619-4c4f-8ce3-08278614896c> | {
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Using scientific techniques and cutting-edge equipment, researchers at the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Conservation Science Laboratory have recently solved mysteries about paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Giorgio de Chirico. Since opening in early 2011, the Conservation Science Laboratory has undertaken multiple projects that have provided the museum world with new research, techniques and advances in the field of conservation.
A partnership between the IMA Conservation Science Laboratory and the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) has shed new light on the colors that Vincent van Gogh used in his 1890 painting Undergrowth with Two Figures. Van Gogh was known to use vibrant colors in his paintings but many of his works today have lost this original vibrancy. Undergrowth with Two Figures is one such work and during a cleaning of the work, former CAM paintings conservator Per Knutas unearthed miniscule traces of bright pink colorant in areas where the frame covered the edge of the painting. This discovery prompted Knutas to contact Dr. Gregory D. Smith, the IMA Otto N. Frenzel III Senior Conservation Scientist. Smith agreed to help identify the paint colorant used by van Gogh and worked with visiting researcher Dr. Jeffrey Fieberg, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Centre College in Danville, KY, to examine the painting and solve the mystery.
I gladly accepted the challenge to identify the colorant, knowing this project would allow the Conservation Science Laboratory to build ongoing partnerships within the museum community, contribute useful research on paint fading and fully utilize the state-of-the-art instruments available in the lab, Smith said. This project is a shining example of the type of research the lab is equipped to conduct.
Van Gogh painted Undergrowth within the last five weeks of his lifea period when he was known to have used a bright Geranium Lake organic dye and the brilliance of Geranium Lake is short lived when exposed to light. A helpful clue in the process came from a letter written by van Gogh to his brother, Theo, while he was painting the work stating it contained . . . undergrowth, lilac trunks of poplars, and underneath them some flower-dotted grass, pink, yellow, white and various greens. Since the pink flowers rapidly faded to white, the question addressed by the IMA lab was which flowers were white because of the fading, and which ones were always white.
The painting was brought to the IMA for an in-depth, nondestructive analysis. Smith utilized a small broken paint chip found lodged in the varnish to analyze the dye by Raman microspectroscopya process that collects a characteristic spectral fingerprint from the dye by measuring changes in laser light scattered by the molecules. Comparison of the spectrum to a digital library of thousands of materials identified the dye as eosin, which gives Geranium Lake its vibrant color. After identifying the ink, Smith and Fieberg painstakingly mapped out its location by elemental spectroscopy in the 387 dobs of white paint used by van Gogh to represent the flowers. The team used Adobe Photoshop to record all the spots in which the dyestuff was detected, creating a virtual restoration of the aged painting.
The research collaboration between Smith, Fieberg and CAM is ongoing. An upcoming scholarly publication by the projects core collaborators will make the information more widely known to art history scholars. Smith is now working with forensic scientists at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis to refine the coloration used in the virtual restoration based on actual microcolorimetry measurements of small paint flakes from the van Gogh painting.
Van Gogh said, . . . in the colours there is adulteration as in wines. How can one judge correctly when, like myself, one knows nothing of chemistry. Although the damage has already been done, through chemistry the IMA is now working to understand the changes in this work and others by van Gogh in the Museums collection and to give todays admirers of his work a more accurate picture of his artworks brilliance.
The Conservation Science Lab did similar work on a Giorgio de Chirico painting from the IMAs permanent collection. IMA Associate Curator for Research, Annette Schlagenhauff, gained assistance from the science lab and conservation imaging specialists while studying the provenance and authenticity of de Chiricos The Mysterious Departure. The piece was taken off view for more than 30 years because of the belief that it might be a forgery. Closer examination revealed a figure study underneath that was characteristic of de Chiricos later works. It is now believed that de Chirico painted this work in the 1930s as a copy of one of his earlier pieces to take advantage of the popularity of this metaphysical style later in his career.
Other ongoing projects in the Conservation Science Lab include:
Developing internship opportunities for high school, undergraduate and graduate students
Offering sabbatical programs for university professors who teach Chemistry of Art courses
Studying fading behaviors in photographs and woodblock prints
Developing non-destructive identification techniques for plastic materials used in modern design objects | <urn:uuid:dc5f4919-99cb-4769-835e-773e9745a510> | {
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Brazilian name: arapaçu-de-bico-torto
|São Paulo state, Brazil
The Black-billed Scythebill is distributed in south-east Brazil and into adjacent areas of Paraguay and Argentina. It is found in Atlantic Rain Forest and secondary woodland, often associated with stands of bamboo.
It has a very long, decurved black bill the colour of which distinguishes it from the other two scythebills found in Brazil; Red-billed Scythebill Campylorhamphus trochilirostris and Curve-billed Scythebill C. procurvoides. Otherwise it is olive-brown above with a black head and nape with white streaks. The wings and tail are chestnut-rufous and the throat is whitish.
|It forages on trunks, as seen in these photos, and on
bamboo and bromeliads where its bill must help it catch its insect
There are recordings and a distribution map on xeno-canto. | <urn:uuid:d5e44d9b-5e9a-4326-ac6b-1c9f0c3a8de1> | {
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During the early 1900’s the first commercial asparagus plantings in the state of Victoria were grown by Thomas Roxburgh - a shipping agent by trade - on a 300 acre farm in the town of Vervale. By the 1930’s the major commercial asparagus production area in Victoria was the nearby Koo Wee Rup and Dalmore area. Soon after, this area was to become the largest asparagus producing area in Australia.
Victoria has a range of soils and climates suitable for asparagus production, including those in Koo Wee Rup, East Gippsland and Lindenow in southern Victoria, Rochester and Myrtleford in north-east Victoria, and in the Mildura and Swan Hill districts of north-west Victoria.
As a result, Victoria has a longer growing season for asparagus than most other production areas in the world. The asparagus season in Victoria also complements that of other states of Australia and helps provide a continuous supply of product. Much of the plantings in Australia are of the California hybrid UC157 because it produces a premium spear of uniform size, length and overall appearance. However, additional varieties are grown in specific regions, such as Mary Washington in southern Victoria and Ida Lea in North-West Victoria.
Victoria is the leading state in Australia for the production and export of fresh asparagus, producing 95% of the national asparagus crop with a Gross Value of 95% of $41.42 m (ABS: Agriculture 2007-08). | <urn:uuid:e3e9a590-942f-4a9f-9131-9d5b31557505> | {
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Features leading edge research, new philosophies and innovative methodologies on materials information and database system utilization.
21 comprehensive, peer-reviewed papers from an international body of materials data professionals are divided into the following key areas:
Materials Science and the Role of Virtual Experiments -- 3 papers discuss alternative ways computers can best be used to support materials research and development.
Progress and Refinement of Data Models -- Using the Internet for comprehensive knowledge sharing; data model flexibility; and a new international standard, STEP, for representing and exchanging product data are among the issues explored in 4 papers.
Expert Systems and Knowledge Organization -- 5 papers examine how modern software technologies can be used to explore such areas as corrosion data, environmentally assisted cracking; and the exploration of unconventional natural gas reserves.
New Aspects of Data Content, Data Evaluation -- Environmental impact evaluation of materials engineering; concrete materials database guidelines; superconductor data evaluation methodology; and long term field corrosion test databases are among the topics presented in 5 papers.
Advancement of Computer Technologies -- 4 papers discuss the significance of materials microstructural information; microstructural classification; database performance and application; and future information systems designed for open world problem solving. | <urn:uuid:89d25c8d-affc-4c4d-b4a6-0db0e8727d2f> | {
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Cityscapes With State Parks Provide Urbanites a Valuable Connection to Nature
Tom Kroeger has quite the office view. Out one window there's a cityscape, complete with skyscrapers, smokestacks, shipping ports and a wastewater treatment plant. Out another, there's a panoramic view of the fifth largest lake in the world. "The birdlife alone is amazing," says Kroeger. "I've got ducks of all kinds, one after another, showing up at my doorstep right here in the city."
Kroeger is the superintendent of Milwaukee's Lakeshore State Park, which was trumpeted by former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1998 as Wisconsin's first-ever urban state park. While it was originally conceived as a way for the state to provide year-round access to Lake Michigan, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources now hopes to use the park as a means to give state residents a firsthand education about the effects of urbanization throughout Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shore.
"This park is kind of like a little microcosm of all the issues affecting the Great Lakes," says Kroeger. "We're on manmade land; we've got an urban center; we've got a harbor that's listed as an EPA area of concern; we've got issues with drinking water, problems with invasive species. I don't think there are other parks out there where all of these elements that are affecting life on the Great Lakes are so apparent from one spot."
It's that kind of broad vantage point that ideally suits Lakeshore Park as a state project, says Gloria McCutcheon, southeast region director for the Wisconsin DNR, adding that the park also connects multiple state trails of historical significance. "The thinking previously had been that urban parks are really to be provided by cities and counties," says McCutcheon. But from California to New York, that mindset is changing, and urban state parks are showing off natural resources while also forging new bonds between urbanites and their state park systems.
From a functional planning perspective, urban state parks are as diverse as the cities that surround them. Some, such as Detroit's Tri-Centennial State Park, follow a fairly traditional state park track by extolling their state's many and varied natural virtues. The DNR promotes the space as a "green oasis" that showcases "the natural resources collected throughout all of Michigan's state parks," despite it being just steps away from downtown's most iconic skyscraper, the Renaissance Center.
Other urban state parks are more recreation-intensive. The 28-acre Riverbank State Park — one of only 11 parks in the world (and the only one in North America) to be built atop a sewage treatment facility — boasts an Olympic-size pool, a covered multipurpose rink, tennis and basketball courts, and a fitness center from its location 69 feet above the Hudson River in upper Manhattan.
In California, the Los Angeles State Historic Park, located just outside of Chinatown, focuses more on historical education by incorporating creative landscaping throughout its 32 acres. Raised subway tracks demarcate the course of the early 19th-century water system that once supported the region. The parkland also was home to the Pacific Railroad's River Station, as well as the Pacific Hotel, the approximate boundaries of which are now marked by recycled-glass structures.
In downtown Indianapolis, the White River State Park not only ties together walkways, promenades, bridges and open spaces, it serves as a major tourist destination. Attractions include the Indianapolis Zoo, a minor league ballpark, the NCAA Hall of Champions and the Indiana State Museum.
More common, however, are urban state parks that were established for preservation or restoration purposes. Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, which is surrounded by San Francisco's historically underserved Hunter's Point neighborhood, is described by the California State Parks division as "the first California State Park unit developed to bring state park values into the urban setting." Occupying 34 acres — much of which has suffered years of abuse as landfill and dumping grounds — the project involves the restoration of natural wetlands and subsequent habitat diversity that will benefit the Bay Area as well as the entire state.
In fact, what each of the aforementioned project types share is the kind of statewide benefit potential that should appeal to state agencies, according to Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the 90,000-member California State Parks Foundation and co-chair of the national City Parks Alliance. "A state parks agency is supposed to be focused on resources of statewide significance," says Goldstein. "You don't want to take state resources and just build a soccer field that's just going to serve a neighborhood. The L.A. State Historic Park is a perfect example. Certainly the park will serve a lot of local constituencies — and they really are the ones who fought to protect that land — but it's also going to tell stories of immigration and water issues, stories of statewide significance."
Park users don't represent the only party served by urban state parks. In California alone, says Goldstein, state parks have benefited from billions of dollars of referendum-related funding over the years. "When you look at the electoral votes, the percentages are extremely high among urban communities," says Goldstein. "To connect the dots here, if those constituencies do not feel a real relationship to state parks or do not get the sense that they are being served by them, then those park systems are going to be in trouble. There's a recognition that these communities are vital in making sure the agencies themselves have adequate services and funding."
Because of their typically high usage rates — a natural result of their proximity to densely populated areas — most urban state parks have a higher profile than their suburban and rural counterparts. Despite that reality, Goldstein says there is a perception issue among park users, who may not always see the forest for the trees by recognizing that their local park has statewide significance. "These parks should be clear gateways to the entire state park system," she says. "The parks have many different audiences and many different purposes. But we've done a whole marketing campaign in California, and the line is, 'Where will the state parks take you today?' The whole point is to make people understand that wherever they are, they are surrounded by a broad system of state parks."
Facility of the Week
The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center (Quincy, IL) | <urn:uuid:6354529c-9e97-43a8-88ab-b55bb457fc56> | {
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The Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum
Location & Contact:
The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum explores the universal themes of respect for difference, responsible citizenship, human dignity, and community building through the lens of the Jewish experience. The Breman features: Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years, 19331945; Creating Community: The Jews of Atlanta from 1845 to the Present in The Blonder Family Heritage Gallery; The Marlene J. and William A. Schwartz Special Exhibition Gallery; The Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Community Archives and Genealogy Center; The Lillian and A.J. Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education; a comprehensive resource library for educators, scholars and the media supporting archival, genealogical and Holocuast research, character education and heritage studies; and The Elinor Rosenberg Breman Museum Shop.
Through its signature exhibitions and special exhibitions, The Breman attracts diverse audiences and educates visitors about Jewish values, customs and traditions. Tzedakkah (righteousness) and tikkun olam (repairing the world) are two such concepts. Exhibitions also explore universal themes, such as personal responsibility, community building and cross-cultural understanding.
The Bremans Cuba Archives and Genealogy Center holds memories and documentation of Jewish life in Georgia and Alabama. The archives contribute greatly to the study of Jewish culture and the humanities by illuminating how Jewish people lived, organized and participated in communities throughout the state. Personal stories and historical memorabilia of individuals provide a springboard for discovery and dialogue.
The Breman is a teaching museum committed to serving a broad spectrum of teachers, students, their families and lifelong learners in Georgia and the Southeast. More than 20,000 visitors a year have the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust as well as Jewish history from The Bremans exhibitions, survivor speakers, and archives. They are challenged to consider the relevance and implications of the Holocaust today.
The Education Departmentof The Breman, including the Weinberg Center for Holocaust Education, provides age-appropriate tours, speakers, lesson plans, books, films, courses, a speaker series, online exhibitions, and other resources that are intended to support and enlighten visitors from diverse settings including public, private, and parochial schools. These educational resources may be integrated into mandated areas of study in almost all academic disciplines. They meet Georgia Performance Standards in a variety of curricular areas, including:
Through its public exhibitions and programs, The Breman explores the universal themes of respect for difference, responsible citizenship, human dignity, and community-building through the lens of the Jewish experience. The museum provides visitors with a strong historical perspectiv,e as well as a positive example of the strength of the human spirit and our interdependence. The Breman, a local and national resource, houses two permanent exhibitions, Absence of Humanity: The Holocaust Years which provides the history of the Holocaust and Creating Community: The Jews of Atlanta from 1845 to the Present, depicting Jewish life in the State of Georgia; one gallery for special exhibitions, a resource library, and extensive archives relating to Jewish history in Georgia with materials (including diaries, documents, scrapbooks, photographs, audio and video recordings, oral histories; and an extensive newspaper collection) that date back to the 1850s.
Cash, Credit, Debit
PhotosClick on an image to enlarge
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logging in or signing up Ecological pyramids bothrops Download Post to : URL : Related Presentations : Share Add to Flag Embed Email Send to Blogs and Networks Add to Channel Uploaded from authorPOINT lite Insert YouTube videos in PowerPont slides with aS Desktop Copy embed code: Embed: Flash iPad Dynamic Copy Does not support media & animations Automatically changes to Flash or non-Flash embed WordPress Embed Customize Embed URL: Copy Thumbnail: Copy The presentation is successfully added In Your Favorites. Views: 11910 Category: Education License: All Rights Reserved Like it (4) Dislike it (2) Added: November 30, 2008 This Presentation is Public Favorites: 3 Presentation Description A level ecology - looks at trophic levels and diiferences between pyramids of numbers, biomass and energy Comments Posting comment... Premium member Presentation Transcript Ecological Pyramids : Ecological Pyramids Revision : Revision We have looked at the use of food chains and food webs to the direction of energy flow in ecological systems. What is A trophic level? A secondary consumer? An autotroph? A heterotroph? Ecological pyramids : Ecological pyramids There are three types of pyramid that can be used to display ecological systems Pyramids of NUMBER Pyramids of BIOMASS Pyramids of ENERGY Pyramids of Number : Pyramids of Number The simplest example of an ecological pyramid Produced by a simple count of the organisms in each trophic level of the ecosystem. The number of each type of organism is represented by a rectangle that’s length is proportional to the number of individual organisms in a given area (or volume) Pyramids of Number : A typical pyramid of numbers Pyramids of Number Log numbers Producers herbivores 1st level carnivore 2nd level carnivore 3rd level carnivore Pyramids of Number : An inverted pyramid of numbers Pyramids of Number numbers Producers herbivores 1st level carnivore 2nd level carnivore Pyramids of Number : Advantage Data relatively easy to collect using simple sampling Disadvantages Producers vary in size Large range of numbers Trophic level difficult to work out Pyramids of Number Pyramids of Biomass : Pyramids of Biomass These are based on an estimation of the total mass of the organisms at each trophic level How might this data be collected? Individual organisms weighed and counted. Dry mass should be compared to eliminate errors due to water content Pyramids of Biomass : Pyramids of Biomass Advantages The data is more accurate. Eliminates misleading problems of producer size differences Disadvantages Laborious and expensive Destructive Can also be misleading in some circumstances Pyramids of Biomass : Pyramids of Biomass For example, in certain aquatic ecosystems a pyramid of biomass may look like this phytoplankton zooplankton 1st level carnivore WHY? Pyramids of Biomass : Sample only takes into STANDING BIOMASS not PRODUCTIVITY Misleading when; Producers are small with a high turnover rate The rate of consumption is about equal to rate of production Pyramids of Biomass Pyramids of energy : Pyramids of energy Each bar represents the total amount of energy used by the trophic level per unit area over a set period of time (remember KJm-2yr-1?) Pyramids of energy : Pyramids of energy Gross production Herbivores to carnivores Producers to herbivores Carnivores to top carnivores 87110 88 1603 14098 Energy (in KJm-2yr-1) Pyramids of energy : Advantages Takes into account the PRODUCTIVITY Addresses the fact that weight for weight, two species do not necessarily have the same energy content Disadvantages Very difficult to obtain data Destructive Problems identifying trophic level Pyramids of energy Please get out your information booklets! : Please get out your information booklets! You do not have the permission to view this presentation. In order to view it, please contact the author of the presentation. | <urn:uuid:7f34693b-33c5-4f0d-9e24-04ef6a3b2c69> | {
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Earth-sized planet found in Alpha Centauri by European astronomers using HARPS telescopeBy Angel Cuala on Oct 17, 2012 in Astronomy, Science •
European astronomers announced on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 their discovery of an Earth-sized planet in Alpha Centauri, the star system closest to our plant. The said planet was reportedly only 4.3 light years away from Earth, and was detected using a High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) telescope.
According to a report by European Southern Observatory (ESO) on its official website that day, the unnamed planet was discovered by the astronomers using the 3.6-metre telescope HARPS instrument at ESO‘s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Search of such kind of planets was said to be going on since the nineteenth century.
Alpha Centauri is known to be a system composed of of two stars (Alpha Centauri A and B) similar to the Sun and are orbiting close to each other; and a faint red component known as Proxima Centauri, which is slightly closer to Earth than A or B. Alpha Centauri B is a bit smaller and less bright than the Sun.
As noted in the report, the European team found the planet “by picking up the tiny wobbles in the motion of the star Alpha Centauri B created by the gravitational pull of the orbiting planet.” The full report can be found at journal Nature this Wednesday, October 17 titled ‘An Earth mass planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B.’
“Our observations extended over more than four years using the HARPS instrument and have revealed a tiny, but real, signal from a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B every 3.2 days. It’s an extraordinary discovery and it has pushed our technique to the limit!” Xavier Dumusque, lead author of the report told the paper.
“This is the first planet with a mass similar to Earth ever found around a star like the Sun. Its orbit is very close to its star and it must be much too hot for life as we know it.” Stéphane Udry of the Geneva Observatory, a co-author of the report and team member, was quoted as saying.
Artist’s impression showing the Earth-sized planet orbiting the star Alpha Centauri B
Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)
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Tympanoplasty is a surgery done to repair the eardrum and middle ear bones. The eardrum and bones are necessary to hear.
The Middle Ear
Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.
Types of tympanoplasty include:
- Myringoplasty—repair of a tear in the eardrum
- Tympanoplasty with ossiculoplasty—repair of a tear in the eardrum and correction of a defect in the bones of the middle ear
- Tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy—repair of a tear in the eardrum and eradication of bony infection in the area behind the ear
What to Expect
Prior to Procedure
Before surgery, your doctor will check to be sure that you do not have an ear infection.
You will have several tests, including an ear exam and a hearing test. In certain cases, a
is also done.
Talk to your doctor about your medicines. You may be asked to stop taking some medicines up to one week before the procedure, like:
or other anti-inflammatory drugs
Blood thinners, such as
The procedure often only requires local anesthesia. Your ear and the area around it will be numb.
Description of the Procedure
A small incision will be made behind the ear. Some tissue will be extracted from this area. This tissue will then be attached to the eardrum to cover the hole. Other materials may be added to hold the graft in place. If the bones of the middle ear need to be repaired, this is done as well.
A small pack may be left in position in the ear canal. The incision behind the ear will be closed with stitches.
How Long Will It Take?
Will It Hurt?
Anesthesia prevents pain during the procedure.
To insure proper healing, avoid the following:
- Blowing your nose hard
- Exposing your ear to water—Ask your doctor how to wash your hair and shower for the first few weeks after surgery.
- Swimming or diving
- Heavy weight lifting and straining
It will take several weeks after surgery to determine if the tympanoplasty was a success. Complete recovery takes about four weeks. Be sure to follow your doctor's
Call Your Doctor
After arriving home, contact your doctor if any of the following occurs:
- Signs of infection, including fever and chills
- Increasing fluid or foul-smelling fluid draining from the ear
- Redness, swelling, increased pain, bleeding, or discharge from the incision site
- Pain that you cannot control with the medicines you have been given
- Cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain
- Any new symptoms
In case of an emergency, call for medical help right away. | <urn:uuid:66ea88ef-6c1b-4cac-81ae-5146b60ba3b4> | {
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The best and most reliable form of research is the double-blind, placebo-controlled study. A treatment cannot really be said to be proven effective unless it has been examined in properly designed and sufficiently large studies of this type.
In these experiments, one group of subjects receives the "real thing"—the active substance being tested. The other half receives a placebo designed to appear, as much as possible, like the real thing. Individuals in both groups don't know whether they are getting the real treatment or placebo (they are "blind"). Furthermore, the researchers administering placebo and real treatment are also kept in the dark about which group is receiving which treatment (making it a "double-blind" experiment). This last part is important, because it prevents the researchers from unintentionally tipping off the study participants, or unconsciously biasing their evaluation of the results.
The purpose of this kind of study is to eliminate the power of suggestion. It is true, although hard to believe, that people given
(fake) treatment frequently report dramatic and long-lasting improvements in their symptoms. However, if the people in the real treatment group fare significantly better than those in the placebo group, it is a strong indication that the treatment really works.
What you've just read is a highly simplified introduction to a crucial and non-intuitive topic. If you'd like a more in-depth analysis, see the article
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If you have watched TV coverage of the current American primaries and caucuses, you’ve seen a telestrator used. It’s the computerized device that permits electronic illustrations to be drawn OVER video images, either live or taped, in motion or freeze-framed. The cream of current telestration technology is often voted by TV crews to be the Fingerworks Studio Version.
Sportscaster John Madden made the telestrator famous for diagramming and analyzing plays during football broadcasts in the late 1980s and 1990s. For example, a still picture of a football play, captured by instant replay recording, is fed from a frame store into a special TV monitor equipped as a pixel-sensitive touch screen or graphics pad, and software, nowadays using layering programs, permits the operator to draw a freehand sketch with a stylus over an existing still shot or a live-action moving shot. This composite picture is then fed back to the switching panel and inserted into the program as called for by the host or the director.
Canadian hockey fans will remember “Squeaky Meeker.” For years Howie Meeker, National Hockey League player and then intermission TV analyst, used a telestrator on CBC TV’s “Hockey Night in Canada”
A telestrator device and software for a TV weathercast cost from approximately 15,000 dollars up to 75,000 dollars or more, depending on the complexity of the system and the kind of animated superimposed weather information required.
Inventor of Telestrator
Leonard Reiffel, an American physicist doing an early science-report television show on PBS in the late 1960s, invented the Telestrator. In his first system the operator drew on a television screen adapted to work with a light pen. Nowadays a weatherperson or sports analyst can work with a tablet PC or a touch screen pre-programmed for a specific broadcast and located just off camera.
CNN’s chief national correspondent John King, shown above, has been dubbed by one fan “the Toscanini of the Telestrator.” Actually King’s electronic board is far more complex than a mere telestrator.
Telestration has advanced quickly in the last decade and is being used this election year in ever more productive and complex modes. The elaborate gizmo depicted above includes “Jeff Han’s Perceptive Pixel Touch Screen.”
Other election news broadcasts employ a barrage of even showier electronic toys like giant Montage processors, professional video processors used for multi-image displays to create LED walls and multiplex screens texted by Screenwriter® software — equipment so cool it would make a techie drool.
I am reminded of the newspaper report about Orson Welles’ debut day at RKO, the first day on the set of his first movie, a little item entitled “Citizen Kane.” A reporter asked Orson what it was like to come from New York radio and theater to a movie set. Said Welles, “It’s the biggest toy a boy ever had to play with.” From that same day there is a photo of Welles, slim, handsome, 25 years old, beaming with delight.
Etymology of the Word Telestrator
Doctor Reiffel invented the word telestrator. He made up the compound from tele (Greek ‘far away’) and illustrator. Telephone, Telex, telegraph, television: all contain as their initial element the Greek adverb tele used adjectivally in words naming inventions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
In the sixteenth century, the verb to illustrate entered English from Medieval Latin illustrare ‘to light up, to clear up, to make famous.’ The ultimate root is lux lucis Latin ‘light.’ The best known phrase containing the word is from the Vulgate, Saint Jerome's Latin version of the Bible, where in Genesis, God says “Fiat lux,” ‘let there be light.’ So is Fiat, the Italian automobile brand, the same word? No. Founded in 1899 the company name FIAT is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino ‘Italian Automobile Factory of Turin.’ Naturalmente in a Roman Catholic country, it didn't hurt that the car name pleasingly echoed the very words of God.
The Evolution of illustrate’s Meanings in English
1526 – to make clear in the mind (first English usage)
1538 – “Thou shalt see that one translation declareth, openeth, and illustrateth another.” Prologue to the Coverdale Bible
1603 – to show in a good light, to make illustrious
1625 – to light up an object
1638 – to make something clear by drawing a picture of it (the most frequent modern meaning of the verb to illustrate)
It is interesting how almost all of the current meanings of the verb to illustrate arose so early in the word’s English life. Often verbs with a long history in English take centuries to evolve new meanings.
© 2008 William Gordon Casselman
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For Immediate Release, November 4, 2009
Contact: Ileene Anderson, Center for Biological Diversity, (323) 490-0223
Court Reconsiders Threatened Status for Flat-tailed Horned Lizard
PHOENIX, Ariz.— In response to a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson Herpetological Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and others, a federal district court in Arizona ruled late Tuesday that the flat-tailed horned lizard once again is a proposed threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The district court’s reinstatement of the proposed listing rule follows a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in May 2009 that overturned an Interior Department decision to deny protection to the species.
Since the vanishing lizard was first proposed for listing in 1993, the proposal had been withdrawn three times, with conservation groups successfully challenging each withdrawal in court. Meanwhile, the species’ habitat has fallen prey to additional destruction.
“The flat-tailed horned lizard is severely threatened by urban and agricultural sprawl and off-road vehicles. It desperately needs protection as an endangered species to survive,” said Ileene Anderson of the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Ninth Circuit decision rejected a Bush-administration policy developed by the solicitor of the Department of the Interior in 2007 that required the Fish and Wildlife Service to ignore loss of historic range when determining if species warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.
“In the intervening years since first proposed in 1993, the flat-tailed horned lizard’s plight has only gotten worse,” said Anderson. “We challenge the new administration to break with the Bush administration agenda and finally provide protection for this disappearing species.”
The flat-tailed horned lizard inhabits portions of the deserts of Southern California (Riverside, Imperial, and San Diego counties), Arizona (Yuma county), and northwestern Mexico (Sonora, Baja California). It is severely threatened by habitat destruction caused by urban and agricultural sprawl, off-road vehicles, and other threats.
The groups involved in the latest court challenge include the Tucson Herpetological Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Horned Lizard Conservation Society, and Sierra Club, who were represented by attorneys Neil Levine, a private attorney, and Bill Snape, senior counsel with the Center for Biological Diversity. The Department of the Interior is required to make a final decision about the status of the flat-tailed horned lizard by November 2010.
As the common name suggests, the species is recognized by its broad, flattened tail but also has long, sharp horns on its head, two rows of fringe scales along its abdomen, a dark stripe along its backbone, and concealed external ear openings. Adults range in size between 2.5 and 4.3 inches long, excluding the tail. | <urn:uuid:f0ba1e70-c397-44db-b086-30f2466d219a> | {
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Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a molecule produced in the developing embryo and fetus. In humans, AFP levels decrease gradually after birth, reaching adult levels by 8 to 12 months. Normal adult AFP levels are low, but detectable; however, AFP has no known function in normal adults. In normal fetuses, AFP binds the hormone estradiol. AFP is measured in pregnant women, using maternal blood or amniotic fluid, as a screening test for a subset developmental abnormalities, principally open neural tube defects. It is also measured in pregnant women, other adults, and children, serving as a biomarker to detect a subset of tumors, principally hepatocellular carcinoma and endodermal sinus tumors.
Structure and levels
AFP is a glycoprotein of 590 amino acids and a carbohydrate moiety. Many functions have been proposed for AFP; an anti-cancer active site peptide has been identified and is referred to as AFPep. AFP is normally produced by the fetal yolk sac, the fetal gastrointestinal tract, and eventually by the fetal liver. Levels of AFP in fetal serum rise until the end of the first trimester of gestation and then fall. Because the fetus excretes AFP into its urine, amniotic fluid levels of AFP tend to mirror fetal serum levels. In contrast, maternal serum levels of fetal AFP are much lower but continue to rise until about week 32.
LabCorp, a large US clinical laboratory testing company, began offering AFP screening tests in the early 1980s.
AFP in normal infants
The normal range of AFP for adults is variously reported as under 50, under 10, and under 5. At birth, normal infants have AFP levels 4 or more magnitudes above the normal range for adults, decreasing to adult levels over the first year of life. Correct evaluation of abnormal AFP levels in infants must take into account this normal pattern.
Very high AFP levels may be subject to hooking, resulting in a false low level.
There are two categories of AFP tests: tests performed on serum (blood plasma), and tests performed on amniotic fluid. Tests performed on serum are further categorized by the reason for performing the test: maternal serum, adult tumor marker, and pediatric tumor marker.
Tests performed on serum
For these tests, the patient visits a phlebotomy lab to have a blood sample drawn. Usually, this requires that the patient (or guardian) first obtain a written order from the patient's physician. In the US, an alternative is to use MyMedLab.
The standard is a quantitative test, reporting a measured concentration of AFP in the sample, but there is also a less expensive qualitative test, reporting only that the concentration is normal or high. The qualitative test is appropriate only in some circumstances.
The resulting test report should specify the assay method and equipment used, and the report of a quantitative test should also provide a reference range for the test result. Many laboratories report reference ranges that are based on all other samples tested in that laboratory, necessarily including samples with abnormal AFP concentrations due to disease. Superior reference ranges are produced by research on healthy subjects.
Maternal serum AFP tests need to be interpreted according to the gestational age, as levels rise until about 32 weeks gestation. Typically, such measurements are done in the middle of the second trimester (14-16 weeks). Elevated levels are seen in multiple gestation as well as in a number of fetal abnormalities, such as neural tube defects including spina bifida and anencephaly, and abdominal wall defects. Other possibilities are errors in the date of the gestation or fetal demise. In contrast, low levels of maternal serum AFP are associated with Down syndrome and Trisomy 18. Diabetic patients also have lower levels. Patients with abnormal levels need to undergo detailed obstetric ultrasonography. The information is then used to decide whether to proceed with amniocentesis.
Maternal serum AFP may be measured as part of a routine prenatal screening test:
Like any elevated tumor marker, elevated AFP by itself is not diagnostic, only suggestive. Tumor markers are used primarily to monitor the result of a treatment (e.g. chemotherapy). If levels of AFP go down after treatment, the tumor is not growing. In the case of babies, after treatment AFP should go down faster than it would normally. A temporary increase in AFP immediately following chemotherapy may indicate not that the tumor is growing but rather that it is shrinking (and releasing AFP as the tumor cells die). AFP-L3, an isoform of AFP which binds Lens culinaris agglutinin, can be particularly useful in early identification of aggressive tumors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
AFP is the main tumor marker (sometimes with HCG) used to monitor testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, and malignant teratoma in any location: values of AFP over time can have significant effect on the treatment plan.
AFP is normally elevated in infants, and because teratoma is the single most common kind of tumor in infants, several studies have provided reference ranges for AFP in normal infants.. Perhaps the most useful is this equation: log Y = 7.397 - 2.622.log (X + 10), where X = age in days and Y = AFP level in nanograms per milliliter.
Tests performed on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
In normal infants, AFP in CSF is:
Levels of AFP in CSF decline with gestational age in proportion to levels of AFP in serum
Interpretation of AFP test results
AFP test results often are reported as either ng/ml or MoM (multiple of the median, where the median is calculated for an appropriate reference population).
Abnormally elevated AFP in the serum of a pregnant woman can have one or more of these sources:
Usual follow-up steps include (1) a prenatal ultrasound exam to look for fetal abnormalities and/or (2) measurement of AFP in amniotic fluid obtained via amniocentesis.
AFP in amniotic fluid has one or two sources. The fetus normally excretes AFP into its urine, hence into the amniotic fluid. A fetus with one of three broad categories of defects also releases AFP by other means. These categories are open neural tube defect, open abdominal wall defect, and skin disease or other failure of the interior or exterior body surface.
Abnormally elevated AFP in amniotic fluid can have one or more of many different causes:
Sources of AFP: Normal
Serum alpha-fetoprotein is a fetal serum protein produced by the yolk sac and liver.
Sources of AFP: Abnormal
There are case reports of elevated AFP associated with teratoma. However, some of these case reports involve infants but do not correct for the normal elevation of AFP in infants, while others ignore the likelihood that teratoma (and other germ cell tumors) may in fact be mixed tumors containing elements of endodermal sinus tumor.
In patients with AFP-secreting tumors, serum levels of AFP often correlate with tumor size. Resection is usually associated with a fall in serum levels. Serum levels are useful in assessing response to treatment.
Increased serum levels in adults are also seen in acute hepatitis and colitis.
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The "silver" fox, also marketed as a Siberian fox, is a color phase (or specially produced mutation) of the red fox that, after 50 years of experiments in the Soviet Union and Russia, is widely available via the exotic pet trade.
Naturally occurring silver foxes are somewhat rare, comprising only 8% of Canada's wild red fox population. Those seen in captivity, like this male given refuge at Black Pine, are typically outcasts of the pet trade.
Since arriving in September 2012, this male is as yet unnamed and his age is unknown. He was brought to Black Pine by a conservation officer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, safely captured while wandering around a residential neighborhood at a northeast Indiana lake.
After consulting with the state licensing agent Black Pine determined if the fox was kept as a "pet", which is likely given the animal's lack of fear of humans, he was apparently not owned legally. With no other apparent options, Black Pine is happy to be able to provide the animal a new forever home.
Foxes have grown in popularity within the exotic pet trade because of their beauty, curious and playful nature, and similarity to dogs. They are, however, very smelly and will continuously scent mark their home by urinating and defecating often and in obvious places. They are often destructive and skittish, nervous animals, so do not do well in people's homes around other high-energy animals, or children. Foxes often kill cats, too, so can pose a danger to both fellow "pets" and keepers.
InfoBox - Silver Fox
Status: Least concern.
Diet: Beef, venison, poultry, fruit, vegetables, dog food.
Life span: 10 to 15 years in captivity.
Weight: 8 to 15 pounds.
Native habitat: Canada and northern U.S. | <urn:uuid:6137d6f4-de6f-4e2e-b940-5613fe076e74> | {
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Klein Grass, Panicum Coloratum, is a warm season perennial bunchgrass that is planted in the southwestern portion of the United States for hay production and grazing. Klein Grass is a native grass of Africa and was first introduced into the United States in the 1950’s.
Klein Grass is grown primarily as a pasture grass but in recent years it has been farmed to make hay in the Imperial Valley area of California. Klein Grass can grow up to 1 meter tall and is a fine stemmed leafy plant. Klein Grass is palatable and nutritious for cattle. When Klein Grass is grown for hay it is typically harvested at a younger stage of growth. Harvesting at a younger stage helps to produce a fine stem, soft and leafy grass hay that is very palatable and nutritious for many types of animals.
Grading for Klein Grass Hay is based on visual inspection where we evaluate the color, leafiness, texture and purity. BVT has three grades of Klein Grass: Premium, #1, and #2.
|Premium||Bright green color with minimal bleach,leafy and soft texturefree of any other grasses or weeds|
|#1||Good green color with 10% bleach maximum,leafy with good texture and free of any grasses or weeds|
|#2||Fair to good color with up to 25% windrow bleach. Can have a harder texture and small amounts of other grass mix.| | <urn:uuid:88e9c3ed-4375-4c9a-b078-d08a8622f045> | {
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Colorado DesertArticle Free Pass
Colorado Desert, part of the Sonoran Desert, extending southeastward for 164 miles (264 km) from the San Gorgonio Pass in southeastern California, U.S., to the Colorado River delta in northern Mexico. A low-lying, arid region, it is bounded by the Pacific coastal ranges (west), the San Bernardino, Cottonwood, Chuckawalla, and Chocolate mountains and the Colorado River (north through east), and the head of the Gulf of California (south). The typical vegetation of the desert is the creosote bush–desert shrub association. Shifting sand dunes lie in the northwest and in the Algodones sand hills in the east. The Salton Sea, a brackish-water lake, occupies the deepest section of the Salton Trough (Salton Basin), a landform that effectively outlines the Colorado Desert and the neighbouring Yuma Desert of Arizona, U.S., and northwestern Sonora, Mex. The productive, irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys stretch northwest and southeast from the Salton Sea. Water is supplied to these valleys through canals from the Colorado River, after which the desert was named. Within the desert are several Indian reservations, the Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, and popular resorts such as Palm Springs.
What made you want to look up "Colorado Desert"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:0d37c66c-2ab5-4c33-b438-b066a8c5348c> | {
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Adapted from the NCI Cancer Bulletin.
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass., have found that the source of disease in many cases of the most aggressive form of ovarian cancer, serous carcinoma, may not be the ovary at all, but rather the fimbria of the fallopian tube. Dr. Keren Levanon reported these findings at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting on April 14, 2008.
"Until now, there was no understanding of the basic pathogenesis or carcinogenesis of [ovarian] serous carcinoma," said Dr. Levanon at the meeting. Noting that the majority of ovarian cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage, she continued: "We didn't really know what the early cancer lesion or precursor lesion looks like, so we couldn't analyze what went wrong."
Her team, which included collaborators at Brigham and Women's Hospital, searched for these early lesions by identifying cells with a "p53 signature" - mutations in the p53 gene and buildup of p53 protein in cells - in the tissues of women who, due to a high risk for developing ovarian and other cancers, volunteered to have their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
The team found a p53 signature most often in the secretory cells lining the finger-like appendages, called fimbria, at the ends of fallopian tubes. Dr. Levanon's team then developed an ex vivo model that they are using to continue studying these cells and the molecular events that lead to cancer. They hope this research will lead to targeted therapies and biomarkers for early detection.
Though they were surprised by their findings, explained Dr. Levanon, they were not surprised that ovarian cancer could begin in the fallopian tubes. "When we look at patients who are diagnosed with later-stage ovarian cancer," she said, "we find that they have these lesions in their fallopian tubes in close to 100 percent of cases." She also noted that patients who have prophylactic surgery to remove their ovaries sometimes develop tumors in other parts of their abdomen, which could result from shed cancer cells when the fallopian tubes are left intact. | <urn:uuid:5a3f8c8c-86c2-4a17-b391-d72ff30bddc3> | {
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Carbon credit initiative
Cargill supports first-of-its-kind project designed to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Earth Day, every day. To demonstrate our commitment to Earth Day we present stories that illustrate how we work to make a positive difference. For additional information on our environmental activities read Biomass - Powering a plant..., Waste to Energy and Saving Water in China for environmental innovations.
Cargill has awarded USD $3 million to Columbia University and the Amazon Forest Carbon Partnership (AFCP), a first-of-its-kind project designed to help preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Columbia University and the AFCP will attempt to reduce deforestation and degradation by establishing a reliable standard for forestry carbon credits.
“The main goal is to create a platinum standard for forestry carbon credits to ensure they are sustainable, permanent and environmentally friendly across the board,” said Cargill Global Emissions and European Power & Gas (GEEPG) general manager for structured carbon, Michael Dwyer, who steered Cargill’s participation in the partnership.
Financial incentive for protecting rainforests
Selling forestry carbon credits to help preserve rainforests is a subject of debate in the carbon industry, with much of the controversy centering on REDDs (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation). The REDD mechanism relies on creating a financial incentive for protecting the rainforests by allowing developed countries to buy forestry credits from developing countries.
Proceeds from the sale of these carbon credit proceeds will fund rainforest preservation programs and provide assistance to indigenous people.
“This project will help establish accountability and see that the money goes where it belongs—and that means that a portion of it gets out to the indigenous people who live in these forests,” said Arjun Patney, U.S. Carbon market strategist for GEEPG.
Partnering across countries
AFCP was launched at Columbia University by Don Melnick, a distinguished professor of conservation biology at New York’s Columbia University. Columbia’s Center for Economy, Environment, and Society is working in partnership with five non-governmental environmental trust funds (ETFs) dedicated to preserving the Amazon rainforest. The ETFs are based in Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. “Cargill has a large presence in this part of the world and involving the local ETFs gives the project a great deal of credibility,” added Dwyer. “The threats to the rainforest are something we can work on with people from each of these countries.” | <urn:uuid:281f6847-eb81-463c-9015-d6d8085f48ed> | {
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In the UK one person dies from a smoking-related disease every four minutes.
Lung cancer (smoking causes over 80 per cent of all lung cancer deaths)
Other cancers e.g mouth and throat cancer
Smoking can also worsen colds, chest problems and allergies like hay fever, bronchitis and emphysema. It can bring on unpleasant side-effects such as wrinkles and bad breath and can make you feel short of breath when you exercise.
The benefits of stopping smoking are immediate. Within weeks you will have better breathing and cleaner clothes. Even better, the risk of serious disease starts going down immediately and continues going down for years as your body recovers.
As well as the health effects of giving up smoking there is the cost of smoking, complete the smoking calculator to see how much you could save by going smokefree.
The National Public Health Service (NPHS) operates Stop Smoking Wales, which provides support for smokers across Wales through the process of giving up. Most people used to smoke – now only 25% do. Thousands have given up, helping themselves and those around them.
Call 0800 085 22 19 for support and advice on giving up. | <urn:uuid:b6ee23f2-a919-4f14-bc2b-845bd9d9fc4c> | {
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“Though faith is
above reason, there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason.
Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the
light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever
contradict truth. Consequently, methodical research in all branches of
knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not
override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of
the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and
persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by
the hand of God in spite of himself, for it is God, the conserver of all
things, who made them what they are.” Catechism of the Catholic Church
, par 159.
RI Can faith exist in a world where
science is demonstrating ever more details of creation and the evolution of
human life? Is there a place for science among those who believe that the Book
of Genesis is God’s inspired revelation?
anchored “Modern Science/Ancient Faith,” a conference sponsored by the Benedictine-run
Portsmouth Institute, housed in Rhode Island’s Portsmouth Abbey School, on June
22-24. The event brought together some ninety scientists, theologians, philosophers,
clergy, lay faithful, and skepticsor some mix of the aboveto explore the
dialogue between the natural sciences and Christianity.
While few participants
expressed difficulties with the coexistence of faith and reason, the how of this coexistence wasn’t always in agreement. Some
demanded a decidedly scientific approach to questions of beginnings. Others
championed a more literal understanding of Genesis. This made for polite but
fiery discussions that began in the early summer’s heat of the Abbey’s grounds
and now continue online.
with Adoration and the Rosary, the first talk was a review of the Galileo
affair by Rev. Dom Paschal Scotti, O.S.B. His presentation set an amicable tone
for the conference by demonstrating Christianity’s affinity for the natural
sciences. The priest made clear that the driving issue at play in Galileo’s
run-in with the Church was not an inherent fear of science. Rather, most
Catholic theologians and scientists working with Galileo fought with the
astronomer to keep scientific observations in their proper arena.
And as in the
modern debates about issues such as evolution or climate change, what further
inflamed the Galileo saga were the nuances of human sin, politics, and egos.
According to Fr. Paschal, relations between Galileo and the Church were
complicated by issues such as tensions between the Dominican and Jesuit orders;
secular pressures on Pope Urban VIII; Galileo’s often aggressive approach and
sometimes sarcastic writings; and the effects of Protestantism’s demands for sola
Fr. Paschal noted
that, human failings notwithstanding, an incarnational faith by its nature
intersects with the natural world and, thus, the sciencesand this may explain
why Christianity was the fertile ground from which the natural sciences could
“The respected historian of science,
Edward Grant ... sees Christianity as supportive of science and the Christian
Middles Ages as laying the foundations for the Scientific Revolution,” wrote
Fr. Paschal. Later, the priest noted that the conference was an important one
since there remains an unfortunate metaphor of “warfare” between Christianity
and science by many outside of academic circles, most especially in the media.
Mindful that the
faith-reason link remains a tough sell even within academic circlesespecially among fundamentalist
Christians and atheistsDr. John F. Haught, Senior Fellow of Science &
Religion at Georgetown University, offered a “dramatic” or “narrative” appreciation
of how the universe is not idle, but remains in a formative, evolving state.
Haught said that
we can better appreciate the meaning of creation, and better know our creator,
by acknowledging that because the story of the universe is not complete,
neither the natural or theological sciences can, on their own, truly explain
“what it’s all about.” Haught made his points with references to traditions found
in St. Augustine and St. Bonaventure. He also lamented “an often third-grade
understanding of theology” held by both atheists and some who demand a literal
reading of Sacred Scripture.
University’s Dr. Michael Ruse, a specialist in the history and philosophy of
science, agreed that sound science is being impeded by animosity between the
“new atheists,” such as the English scientist Richard Dawkins, and biblical fundamentalists.
He also applauded the Catholic predisposition that holds faith and science in
relation. A self-described “religious skeptic,” Ruse sought to foster a “middle
way” to bring order to faith-reason debates.
conference speakersBrown University’s Dr. Kenneth Miller and Southwestern
Baptist Theological Seminary’s Dr. William A. Dembskidemonstrated that such
debates are very much alive.
Miller is a
well-known defender of evolutionary science while Dembski defends Intelligent Design,
which has been described by some as an exploration of a less “materialist”
explanation for how humans came to exist than most evolutionists allow. Others
see Intelligent Design as just another form of biblically literal creationism.
Both Miller and Dembski have been on opposing sides of legal disputes between
citizens and public school districts over how to teach the origins and
development of life.
conference, Miller, a Catholic molecular biologist, gave an overview of
findings from fossil records and genome studies that show adaptations and
intermediary steps in the evolution of life. Miller also championed his faith’s
allowance to let science be sciencein particular quoting Pope Benedict XVI. but to emphasize the role that
reason in general, and scientific reason in particular, should play in the
lives of the faithful.
When asked about
the many questions that evolutionary sciences have not answered, Miller responded
that “to say ‘nobody really knows’ is not the same as ‘we know nothing.’”
Miller urged his fellow Catholicsand all religious believersto not look for
God in areas of science that have not yet been explained, because someday
scientists may answer those questions, too.
Dembski, a mathematician
and professor of philosophy, spoke in agreement with much of what evolutionary
sciences have demonstrated. But he noted that in areas such as the development
of life, its increasing complexity, and its self-awareness, science has much
more to explain than it hasor can. Dembski made a critical distinction between
matter and information and he asked if there is something “outside” of matter
that is informing it, guiding the cosmos and life to develop as it has.
selection is the method that evolution uses, that’s fine,” Dembski said after
his talk. “But where does the information needed for this process come from?”
Miller later said
that Dembski was being “disingenuous” in stating acceptance of specific elements
of evolution, such as natural selection, “and the record proves this.” He added
that science has in fact demonstrated that life has an innate ability to
“harvest” from its environment the information needed for adaptation. Miller
said that he and Dembski “are oceans apart” in their views.
since wrote in evolutionnew.org that “Miller
devoted about twenty minutes of [his] talk to going after me personally,
lifting dated (2005 and 2006) and out-of-context quotes from the UncommonDescent.com
blog and trying to discredit me with some outright fabrications.”
nature of such debates is why conference planners ended with Fr. Nicanor Pier
O.P., a professor of biology at Providence College. The Dominican priest
showcased the long Catholic tradition that weds faith and reason and proposed
ways to reconcile science with the Book of Genesis.
Motherway of Wickford, RI, the conference helped her understand how faith and
reason inform each other, and how faith must remain in society for the common
good. “I’m old enough to remember the ‘love’ of the 1960s and the past few
years we’ve tried ‘hope,’” Motherway said. “Maybe it’s time we focus more on
faithespecially since faith and reason are not antithetical.”
was the latest summer gathering by the Portsmouth Institute. The institute’s executive
director Jamie MacGuire, a 1970 graduate of Portsmouth Abbey, hopes that the
relaxed June conferences will make growing contributions to Catholic thought
“in the spirit of the Benedictine tradition.”
that this year’s theme was proposed because the school will soon break ground
on a replacement for its science center. “As an educational institution we
truly seek to build our students faith while developing their love of reason,”
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Step 3: Find Books & Videos
The Library Catalog is an inventory of all the materials we own - books, periodicals, videos/dvds, and CDs. It lists the call number, availability, and physical location of each item. It also includes links to online items like eBooks and streaming videos.
- Leave out 'a', 'the', 'le', 'la', 'el', 'die', and other articles at the beginning of a title.
- Just enter the first few words.
- Capitalization and punctuation are not necessary, except hyphens.
|The Hitchhiker's Guide to Calculus||hitchhikers guide|
|Censorhip in America:
a Reference Handbook
|censorship in america|
Enter the surname(last name)first.
Capitalization and punctuation don't matter.
Use Author search to find authors, editors, artists, illustrators, translators, corporations, and organizations.
Author Search command:
|John W. Snapper||snapper, john|
|J. R. R. Tolkien||tolkien|
|The World Chess Federation||world chess federation|
- When you search by Subject you are searching a formal set of vocabulary called 'Library of Congress Subject Headings.'
- If you don't know the exact subject heading for your topic, use a keyword search instead.
Your topic :
Subject Browse command:
|computer circuits||computers -- circuits|
Keyword Search command:
|psychological causes of anorexia||anorexia psychology|
LOCATE THE ITEM
Find the item on the shelf (or online) using the information provided:
- Main Level, Reference
- Main Level, Circulation Desk
- Main Level, New Books Shelves
- Level 3, Circulating Collection
- Level 1, Curriculum Library
- Level 1, Buc Cup CBU
- Online Resource
Call Number: Plough Library uses the Dewey Decimal System. Each number in the Dewey Decimal System represents a particular subject.
Status:Tells if item is available or checked out and other information about availability of item.
- Available = Item is on the shelves or online.
- Charged = Item is checked out.
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Discover what smart strategies, solutions and practices you can be implementing to prepare your IT infrastructure for the inevitable technological changes coming to your campus.
A fictional Englishman's quest to circle the globe in 80 days inspired technology integration facilitator Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano to take her students on a similar adventure, without physically traveling to different countries.
That's where Skype comes in. The Internet-based software allows her to make video and voice calls from her Florida school to other schools, and she uses the tool to help her students learn.
As of March 12, the elementary school students at Martin J. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville had called 51 other schools and spoken with kids their age for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, depending on their schedules. More than 300 schools have joined them in the Around the World with 80 Schools project (named after the novel by Jules Verne), which has allowed them to make authentic connections with real people who can answer questions about their culture and history.
“It's not about the Skype tool," Rosenthal Tolisano said, "it's about being able to get first-hand information, being able to take the learning really off the page of the book."
While Kelly Hines' fourth grade class at Chocowinity Primary School in North Carolina read a book about Lewis and Clark's adventures, students in a St. Louis school were taking field trips to learn more about the two explorers. When they talked on Skype, her kids could meaningfully link the two experiences.
“They’re starting to recognize and build connections between who we’re talking to and things that we’re learning,” Hines said.
And her class is learning that a world exists beyond the little town in which they live; the students get so excited when they find out that a student in a different school has the same name or ate pizza for lunch.
This year, she's focused on collecting data for a graphing project. The kids develop questions about topics such as what they ate for lunch, how many kids were in their class and whether they had to wear uniforms. Then they add the information into their project and write posts on their class blog about what they learned through the Skype call.
In San Isidro, Buenos Aires, English teacher Christine Premoli is providing a way for her students at Colegio Goethe to compare their lives with children's lives in other parts of the world.
They talk about their daily lives, what they do in their free time, what food they like and what sports they follow. The nine-year-old to 12-year-old kids at the German school have different native languages, but still became friends with students in Indonesia through a Skype conversation in English.
“As they are learning English — and they are in the first steps of this language — they realize that they can communicate through any other language that is not their mother tongue," Premoli said, "and how useful it is not only to learn English, but also to learn some other languages.”
The students at the American School of Madrid come from more than 50 countries around the world, and recently, the first grade students studied weather. They talked with kids on another continent and learned about their country's climate, what they wear during the day and how the weather impacts their lives, said Nancy von Wahlde, educational technology specialist.
“This week when we spoke with South Africa, the first graders were having a hard time wrapping their minds around that it was summer there and it’s almost spring here,” von Wahlde said.
Through talking with students in other countries, Rosenthal Tolisano's class in Florida is learning essential skills, such as communication, collaboration, speaking and listening. The students are also learning about the world around them, without the expense of physically traveling.
“Those kids might never leave the country, but through this they will meet other people, they’ll talk to kids just like them in other countries, and they’ll catch a glimpse out of their window.”
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Dr. Marsh at the South Pole
Even Delaware's coldest winter could hardly rival the frigid environments in which Dr. Adam Marsh works. The marine biochemist regularly travels to Antarctica to learn more about the sea life that dwells in its icy waters. The lowest temperature on the planet has been recorded in Antarctica -- at 128.6°F below zero.
Marsh recently joined the faculty at the University of Delaware Graduate College of Marine Studies. As an assistant professor in the college's Marine Biology-Biochemistry Program, he will teach graduate courses in marine biochemistry with special emphasis on the structure an d function of proteins essential to marine life. He also will conduct research on the early life stages of shellfish and finfish in waters ranging from the Antarctic ocean to Delaware Bay.
"In general, I'm working to find out how marine organisms develop in 'extreme,' or harsh, environments, including polar oceans with their freezing temperatures, deep-sea basins with their crushing pressure, and even estuaries such as the Delaware Bay," Marsh says. "You might be surprised that estuaries could be classified as an extreme environment," he notes. "But wide variations in temperature and salinity occur there, and the marine animals that live in them must be able to adapt quickly to the changing conditions in order to survive."
One of Marsh's projects, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), focuses on the Antarctic sea urchin (Sterechinus neumayeri). This animal resembles a pincushion, with long, red spines extending from its round shell. It lives on the seafloor and uses its spines or sucker-tipped tube feet to move about.
Specifically, Marsh is working to find out how the Antarctic sea urchin's embryos are able to develop so well in the extreme cold of the polar sea. The animal's metabolism may provide clues to how organisms grow in other harsh environments.
Marsh earned his Ph.D. in marine science from the University of Maryland. He also has a master's degree in invertebrate zoology and bachelor's degrees in zoology and English literature from the University of South Florida.
His honors include the Lerner-Gray Marine Science Award for Molecular Ecology and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biotechnology. Additionally, for the past seven years, he has served as an instructor in the NSF course "Biological Adaptations of Antarctic Marine Organisms" at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Marsh's office is in Smith Laboratory at the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes. His phone number is (302) 645-4367, and his e-mail address is [email protected]. To learn more about his research, please visit his Web site at www.ocean.udel.edu/people/amarsh.
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Document ID: 12905
Cisco IOS® Network Address Translation (NAT) is designed for IP address simplification and conservation. It enables private IP internetworks that use nonregistered IP addresses to connect to the Internet. NAT operates on a Cisco router that connects two networks together, and translates the private (inside local) addresses in the internal network to public addresses (outside local) before packets are forwarded to another network. As a part of this functionality, you can configure NAT to advertise only one address for the entire network to the outside world. This effectively hides the internal network from the world. Therefore, it provides additional security.
There are no specific requirements for this document.
This document is not restricted to specific software and hardware versions.
For more information on document conventions, refer to the Cisco Technical Tips Conventions.
One of the main features of NAT is static Port Address Translation (PAT), which is also referred to as "overload" in a Cisco IOS configuration. Static PAT is designed to allow one-to-one mapping between local and global addresses. A common use for static PAT is to allow Internet users from the public network to access a Web server located in the private network.
In order to get more information about NAT, refer to the NAT Technical Support pages.
This table shows the three blocks of IP address space available for private networks. Consult RFC 1918 for more details about these special networks.
|IP Address Space||Class|
|10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix )||Class A|
|172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix )||Class B|
|192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix )||Class C|
Note: The first block is nothing but a single class A network number, while the second block is a set of 16 contiguous class B network numbers, and third block is a set of 256 contiguous class C network numbers.
In this example, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) assigns the DSL subscriber only a single IP address, 188.8.131.52/24. The assigned IP address is a registered unique IP address and is called an inside global address. This registered IP address is used by the entire private network to browse the Internet and also by Internet users that come from the public network to reach the Web server in the private network.
The private LAN, 192.168.0.0/24, is connected to the Ethernet interface of the NAT router. This private LAN contains several PCs and a Web server. The NAT router is configured to translate the unregistered IP addresses (inside local addresses) that come from these PCs to a single public IP address (inside global - 184.108.40.206) to browse the Internet.
IP address 192.168.0.5 (Web server) is an address in the private address space that cannot be routed to the Internet. The only visible IP address for public Internet users to reach the Web server is 220.127.116.11. Therefore, the NAT router is configured to perform a one-to-one mapping between IP address 18.104.22.168 port 80 (port 80 is used to browse the Internet) and 192.168.0.5 port 80. This mapping allows Internet users on the public side to have access to the internal Web server.
This network topology and sample configuration can be used for the Cisco 827, 1417, SOHO77, and 1700/2600/3600 ADSL WIC. As an example, the Cisco 827 is used in this document.
In this section, you are presented with the information you can use to configure the features described in this document.
This document uses this network setup.
Current Configuration: ! version 12.1 service timestamps debug uptime service timestamps log uptime ! hostname 827 ! ip subnet-zero no ip domain-lookup ! bridge irb ! interface Ethernet0 ip address 192.168.0.254 255.255.255.0 ip nat inside !--- This is the inside local IP address and it is a private IP address. ! interface ATM0 no ip address no atm ilmi-keepalive pvc 0/35 encapsulation aal5snap ! bundle-enable dsl operating-mode auto bridge-group 1 ! interface BVI1 ip address 22.214.171.124 255.255.255.240 ip nat outside !--- This is the inside global IP address. !--- This is your public IP address and it is provided to you by your ISP. ! ip nat inside source list 1 interface BVI1 overload !--- This statement makes the router perform PAT for all the !--- End Stations behind the Ethernet interface that uses !--- private IP addresses defined in access list #1. ip nat inside source static tcp 192.168.0.5 80 126.96.36.199 80 extendable !--- This statement performs the static address translation for the Web server. !--- With this statement, users that try to reach 188.8.131.52 port 80 (www) are !--- automatically redirected to 192.168.0.5 port 80 (www). In this case !--- it is the Web server. ip classless ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 184.108.40.206 !--- IP address 220.127.116.11 is the next hop IP address, also !--- called the default gateway. !--- Your ISP can tell you what IP address to configure as the next hop address. ! access-list 1 permit 192.168.0.0 0.0.0.255 !--- This access list defines the private network !--- that is network address translated. bridge 1 protocol ieee bridge 1 route ip ! end
From the show ip nat translation command output, the Inside local is the configured IP address assigned to the Web server on the inside network. Notice that 192.168.0.5 is an address in the private address space that cannot be routed to the Internet. The Inside global is the IP address of the inside host, which is the Web server, as it appears to the outside network. This address is the one known to people who try to access the Web server from the Internet.
The Outside local is the IP address of the outside host as it appears to the inside network. It is not necessarily a legitimate address. But, it is allocated from an address space that can be routed on the inside.
The Outside global address is the IP address assigned to a host on the outside network by the owner of the host. The address is allocated from an address or network space that can be globally routed.
Notice that the address 18.104.22.168 with port number 80 (HTTP) translates to 192.168.0.5 port 80, and vice versa. Therefore, Internet users can browse the Web server even though the Web server is on a private network with a private IP address.
In order to get more information about how to troubleshoot NAT, refer to the Verifying NAT Operation and Basic NAT Troubleshooting.
827# 827#show ip nat translation Pro Inside global Inside local Outside local Outside global tcp 22.214.171.124:80 192.168.0.5:80 --- --- tcp 126.96.36.199:80 192.168.0.5:80 188.8.131.52:11000 184.108.40.206:11000 827#
In order to troubleshoot address translation, you can issue the term mon and debug ip nat detailed commands on the router to see if the address translates correctly. The visible IP address for outside users to reach the Web server is 220.127.116.11. For example, users from the public side of the Internet who try to reach 18.104.22.168 port 80 (www) are automatically redirected to 192.168.0.5 port 80 (www), which in this case is the Web server.
827#term mon 827#debug ip nat detailed IP NAT detailed debugging is on 827# 03:29:49: NAT: creating portlist proto 6 globaladdr 22.214.171.124 03:29:49: NAT: Allocated Port for 192.168.0.5 -> 126.96.36.199: wanted 80 got 80 03:29:49: NAT: o: tcp (188.8.131.52, 11000) -> (184.108.40.206, 80) <... snipped ...>
- Cisco DSL Technology Support Information
- Product Support Information
- Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems
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Science fiction (abbreviated SF or sci-fi with varying punctuation and capitalization) is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theater, and other media.
In organizational or marketing contexts, science fiction can be synonymous with the broader definition of speculative fiction, encompassing creative works incorporating imaginative elements not found in contemporary reality; this includes fantasy, horror, and related genres. Speculative fiction is a term used as an inclusive descriptor covering a group of Fiction Genres that speculate about worlds that are unlike the real world in Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience
Science fiction differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though some elements in a story might still be pure imaginative speculation).
Science fiction is largely based on writing entertainingly and rationally about alternate possibilities in settings that are contrary to known reality. These include:
Exploring the consequences of such differences is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas". Outer space, often simply called space, comprises the relatively empty regions of the Universe outside the escape velocities of Celestial bodies. Extraterrestrial life is Life originating outside of the Earth. This article details time travel itself For other uses see Time Traveler. Psionics is the study and/or practice of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena Nanotechnology, sometimes shortened to nanotech, refers to a field of Applied science whose theme is the control of matter on an Atomic and Molecular A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements
Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a wide range of subgenres and themes. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty by stating that "science fiction is what we point to when we say it". Damon Francis Knight ( September 19, 1922 &ndash April 15, 2002) was an American Science fiction Author, Vladimir Nabokov argued that were we rigorous with our definitions, Shakespeare's play The Tempest would have to be termed science fiction. This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. William Shakespeare ( baptised The Tempest is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It is generally dated to 1610-11 and accepted as the last play written solely by him although
According to science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, "a handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena " Rod Serling's stated definition is "fantasy is the impossible made probable. Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling ( December 25, 1924 &ndash June 28, 1975) was an American Screenwriter, best known Science Fiction is the improbable made possible. "
Lester Del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado– or fan- has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and that the reason for there not being a "full satisfactory definition" is that "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction. Lester del Rey ( June 2 1915 &ndash May 10 1993) was an American Science fiction author and editor. "
Author Mark C. Glassy stated that the definition of science fiction was very much like the definition of porn; you don't know what it is, but you know it when you see it. Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer
Forrest J. Ackerman publicly used the term "sci-fi" at UCLA in 1954, though Robert A. Heinlein had used it in private correspondence six years earlier. Forrest J Ackerman (born November 24, 1916) is an American collector of Science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. As science fiction entered popular culture, writers and fans active in the field came to associate the term with low-budget, low-tech "B-movies" and with low-quality pulp science fiction. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — A B movie is a motion picture made on a low or modest budget Originally the term was used for films intended for distribution as the less-publicized second half of a Double Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines By the 1970s, critics within the field such as Terry Carr and Damon Knight were using "sci-fi" to distinguish hack-work from serious science fiction, and around 1978, Susan Wood and others introduced the pronunciation "skiffy. Terry Gene Carr ( February 19, 1937 – April 7, 1987) was a U Damon Francis Knight ( September 19, 1922 &ndash April 15, 2002) was an American Science fiction Author, Susan Joan Wood ( August 22, 1948 - November 12, 1980 was a Canadian Author, critic, and Science fiction Skiffy is a deliberate humorous misspelling or mispronunciation of the controversial term "sci-fi" a neologism referring to Science fiction. " Peter Nicholls writes that "SF" (or "sf") is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers. " David Langford's monthly fanzine Ansible includes a regular section "As Others See Us" which offers numerous examples of "sci-fi" being used in a pejorative sense by people outside the genre. David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953 is a British author editor and Critic, largely active within the Science fiction field An ansible is a hypothetical machine capable of Superluminal communication and used as a Plot device in Science fiction literature
As a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling, science fiction has antecedents back to mythology, though precursors to science fiction as literature began to emerge from the 13th century (Ibn al-Nafis, Theologus Autodidactus) to the 17th century (the real Cyrano de Bergerac with "Voyage de la Terre à la Lune" and "Des états de la Lune et du Soleil") and the Age of Reason with the development of science itself, Voltaire's "Micromégas" was one of the first, together with Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Ala al-Din Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qarshi al-Dimashqi ( Hector Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (6 March 1619 &ndash 28 July 1655 was a French Dramatist and Duelist who is now best remembered for the many works 17th century philosophy in the Western world is generally regarded as being the start of Modern philosophy, and a departure from the medieval approach Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Micromégas (1752 is a Short story written in the 18th century by the French Philosopher and Satirist Voltaire. Gulliver's Travels (1726 amended 1735 officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts Following the 18th century development of the novel as a literary form, in the early 19th century, Mary Shelley's books Frankenstein and The Last Man helped define the form of the science fiction novel; later Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon. Mary Shelley ( Née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a Novel written by the British author Mary Shelley The Last Man is an apocalyptic Science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826 Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, More examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Then with the dawn of new technologies such as electricity, the telegraph, and new forms of powered transportation, writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells created a body of work that became popular across broad cross-sections of society. Jules Gabriel Verne ( February 8 1828 &ndash March 24 1905) was a French Author who pioneered the science-fiction Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political In the late 19th century the term "scientific romance" was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. See also History of science fiction Scientific romance is a bygone name for what is now commonly known as Science fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott. For other uses see Flatland (disambiguation Flatland A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 Science fiction Edwin Abbott Abbott ( December 20, 1838 &ndash October 12, 1926) English Schoolmaster and theologian, The term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. William Olaf Stapledon ( May 10, 1886 &ndash September 6, 1950) was a British philosopher and author of several influential works
In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. Pulp magazines (or pulp fiction; often referred to as "the pulps" were inexpensive Fiction magazines Hugo Gernsback ( August 16 1884 – August 19 1967) born Hugo Gernsbacher, was a Luxembourg American Inventor Amazing Stories was an American Science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback 's Experimenter Publishing. In the late 1930s, John W. Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and a critical mass of new writers emerged in New York City in a group called the Futurians, including Isaac Asimov, Damon Knight, Donald A. Wollheim, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, Judith Merril, and others. John Wood Campbell Jr (June 8 1910 – July 11 1971 was an important Science fiction editor and writer Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American Science fiction Magazine. The City of New York The Futurians were an influential group of Science fiction fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian Damon Francis Knight ( September 19, 1922 &ndash April 15, 2002) was an American Science fiction Author, Donald Allen Wollheim (October 1 1914 &ndash November 2, 1990) was a Science fiction writer, editor, publisher and Frederik George Pohl Jr (born November 26, 1919) is a American Science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career James Benjamin Blish ( East Orange, New Jersey, May 23, 1921 – Henley-on-Thames, July 30, 1975) was an Judith Josephine Grossman ( January 21, 1923 - September 12, 1997) who took the pen-name Judith Merril about 1945 was an Other important writers during this period included Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and A. E. Van Vogt. Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917–19 March 2008 was a British Science fiction Author, Inventor, and Alfred Elton van Vogt (April 26 1912 – January 26 2000 was a Canadian -born Science fiction author who was one of the most prolific Campbell's tenure at Astounding is considered to be the beginning of the Golden Age of science fiction, characterized by hard SF stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress. The first Golden Age of Science Fiction, often recognized as a period from the late 1930s or early 1940s through to the 1950s was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide This lasted until postwar technological advances, new magazines like Galaxy under Pohl as editor, and a new generation of writers began writing stories outside the Campbell mode. Galaxy Science Fiction was a digest-size Science fiction magazine, the creation of noted editor H
In the 1950s, the Beat generation included speculative writers like William S. Burroughs. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word In the 1960s and early 1970s, writers like Frank Herbert, Samuel R. Delany, Roger Zelazny, and Harlan Ellison explored new trends, ideas, and writing styles, while a group of writers, mainly in Britain, became known as the New Wave. Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr ( October 8 1920 &ndash February 11 1986) was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American Samuel Ray Delany Jr (born April 1, 1942, New York City) is an award-winning American Science fiction Roger Joseph Zelazny ( May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American writer of Fantasy and Science fiction Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is a prolific American Writer of Short stories, Novellas, Teleplays The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located New Wave is a term applied to Science fiction writing characterized by a high degree of experimentation both in form and in content and a Highbrow and self-consciously In the 1970s, writers like Larry Niven and Poul Anderson began to redefine hard SF. Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles California) is a US Science fiction author. Poul William Anderson ( November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author who wrote during a Golden Ursula K. Le Guin and others pioneered soft science fiction. Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (ˈɝsələ ˈkroʊbɚ ləˈgwɪn (born October 21, 1929) is an American author
In the 1980s, cyberpunk authors like William Gibson turned away from the traditional optimism and support for progress of traditional science fiction. Cyberpunk is a Science fiction genre noted for its focus on " High tech and low life. William Ford Gibson (born March 17 1948 is an American - Canadian writer who has been called the "noir prophet" of the Cyberpunk subgenre Star Wars helped spark a new interest in space opera, focusing more on story and character than on scientific accuracy. Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (originally released as Star Wars) is a 1977 Space opera Space opera is a subgenre of Speculative fiction or Science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often Melodramatic adventure set mainly or entirely C. J. Cherryh's detailed explorations of alien life and complex scientific challenges influenced a generation of writers. Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942) better known by the Pseudonym C Extraterrestrial life is Life originating outside of the Earth.
Emerging themes in the 1990s included environmental issues, the implications of the global Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology and nanotechnology, as well as a post-Cold War interest in post-scarcity societies; Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age comprehensively explores these themes. This is a list of environmental issues that are due to human activity Biotechnology is Technology based on Biology, especially when used in Agriculture, Food science, and Medicine. Nanotechnology, sometimes shortened to nanotech, refers to a field of Applied science whose theme is the control of matter on an Atomic and Molecular Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the Post scarcity or post-scarcity describes a hypothetical form of Economy or Society, often explored in Science fiction, in which things such as Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known primarily for his Science fiction works in the Postcyberpunk genre The Diamond Age or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a Postcyberpunk Novel by Neal Stephenson. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels brought the character-driven story back into prominence. Lois McMaster Bujold (born November 2, 1949, Columbus, Ohio) is an American author of Science fiction and Fantasy The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of Science fiction novels and short stories by Lois McMaster Bujold, most of which concern Miles Vorkosigan, a physically The television series Star Trek: The Next Generation began a torrent of new SF shows, of which Babylon 5 was among the most highly acclaimed in the decade. Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created produced and largely written by J A general concern about the rapid pace of technological change crystallized around the concept of the technological singularity, popularized by Vernor Vinge's novel Marooned in Realtime and then taken up by other authors. The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial Vernor Steffen Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born October 2, 1944 in Waukesha Wisconsin, U Marooned in Realtime is a 1986 murder mystery and Time-travel Science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge, about a small time-displaced Television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and films like The Lord of the Rings created new interest in all the speculative genres in films, television, computer games, and books. Fictional narratives (and works of art exist beyond their completion e The Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three Live action Fantasy Epic films The Fellowship of the Ring ( 2001
While SF has provided criticism of developing and future technologies, it also produces innovation and new technology. The discussion of this topic has occurred more in literary and sociological than in scientific forums.
Cinema and media theorist Vivian Sobchack examines the dialogue between science fiction film and the technological imagination. Vivian Sobchack is an American cinema and media theorist and cultural critic Technology does impact how artists portray their fictionalized subjects, but the fictional world gives back to science by broadening imagination. While more prevalent in the beginning years of science fiction with writers like Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Walker and Arthur C. Clarke, new authors like Michael Crichton still find ways to make the currently impossible technologies seem so close to being realized. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. Frank Walker may refer to Frank Comerford Walker, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee Frank Ray Walker architect partner in Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917–19 March 2008 was a British Science fiction Author, Inventor, and John Michael Crichton, ˈkraɪtən, (born October 23 1942 is an American author Film producer, Film director, Medical doctor, and Television producer
This has also been notably documented in the field of nanotechnology with University of Ottawa Professor José Lopez's article "Bridging the Gaps: Science Fiction in Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology, sometimes shortened to nanotech, refers to a field of Applied science whose theme is the control of matter on an Atomic and Molecular For the university in Ottawa Kansas see Ottawa University. The University of Ottawa or Université d'Ottawa in French " Lopez links both theoretical premises of science fiction worlds and the operation of nanotechnologies.
Authors and filmmakers draw on a wide spectrum of ideas, but marketing departments and literary critics tend to separate such literary and cinematic works into different categories, or "genres", and subgenres. Literary criticism is the study discussion evaluation and interpretation of Literature. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set These are not simple pigeonholes; works can be overlapped into two or more commonly-defined genres, while others are beyond the generic boundaries, either outside or between categories, and the categories and genres used by mass markets and literary criticism differ considerably.
Hard science fiction, or "hard SF", is characterized by rigorous attention to accurate detail in quantitative sciences, especially physics, astrophysics, and chemistry, or on accurately depicting worlds that more advanced technology may make possible. Hard science fiction is a category of Science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail or on scientific accuracy or on both Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. Astrophysics is the branch of Astronomy that deals with the Physics of the Universe, including the physical properties ( Luminosity, Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties Many accurate predictions of the future come from the hard science fiction subgenre, but numerous inaccurate predictions have emerged as well. Hard science fiction is a category of Science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail or on scientific accuracy or on both For example, Arthur C. Clarke accurately predicted (and invented the concept of) geostationary communications satellites, but erred in his prediction of deep layers of moondust in lunar craters. Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917–19 March 2008 was a British Science fiction Author, Inventor, and A geostationary orbit (GEO is a Geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth 's Equator (0° Latitude) with a period equal to the Earth's Some hard SF authors have distinguished themselves as working scientists, including Robert Forward, Gregory Benford, Charles Sheffield, and Geoffrey A. Landis, while mathematician authors include Rudy Rucker and Vernor Vinge. This is about the physicist and science fiction writer You may be looking for his son Robert D Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941 in Mobile Alabama) is an American science fiction author and Astrophysicist who is on the Charles Sheffield ( June 25, 1935 &ndash November 2, 2002) was an English -born mathematician physicist and Science fiction Geoffrey A Landis works as a scientist and writer of Science fiction. Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (born March 22, 1946 in Louisville Kentucky) is an American Computer scientist and Science fiction Vernor Steffen Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born October 2, 1944 in Waukesha Wisconsin, U Other noteworthy hard SF authors include Hal Clement, Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Kim Stanley Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, and Stephen Baxter. Harry Clement Stubbs ( May 30, 1922 in Somerville Massachusetts – October 29, 2003 in Milton Massachusetts) better Joe William Haldeman is an American Science fiction author. Life and work Haldeman was born in 1943 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles California) is a US Science fiction author. Jerry Eugene Pournelle (born August 7, 1933) is an American Science fiction Writer, Essayist and Journalist Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23 1952) is an American Science fiction Writer, probably best known for his award-winning Robert J Sawyer is a Canadian Science fiction writer born in Ottawa in 1960 and now resident in Mississauga. Stephen Baxter (born 13 November 1957 is a British Hard science fiction Author.
The description "soft" science fiction may describe works based on social sciences such as psychology, economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology. The Left Hand of Darkness is a Science fiction Novel by Ursula K Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (ˈɝsələ ˈkroʊbɚ ləˈgwɪn (born October 21, 1929) is an American author Soft science fiction, or soft SF, like its complementary opposite Hard science fiction, is a descriptive term that points to the role and nature of the Social science fiction is a term used to describe a subgenre of Science fiction concerned less with technology and Space opera and more with Sociological The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including Anthropology, Communication studies Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Political science is a branch of Social sciences that deals with the theory and practice of Politics and the description and analysis of Political systems Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Noteworthy writers in this category include Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Dick. Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (ˈɝsələ ˈkroʊbɚ ləˈgwɪn (born October 21, 1929) is an American author Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 – March 2) was an American Science fiction Novelist and Short story Writer. The term can describe stories focused primarily on character and emotion; SFWA Grand Master Ray Bradbury is an acknowledged master of this art. Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22 1920 is an American mainstream, Fantasy, horror, Science fiction and mystery Some writers blur the boundary between hard and soft science fiction - for example Mack Reynolds's work focuses on politics but anticipated many developments in computers, including cyber-terrorism. Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds ( November 11, 1917 - January 30, 1983) was an American Science fiction writer
Related to Social SF and Soft SF are the speculative fiction branches of utopian or dystopian stories; The Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Brave New World are examples. Utopia is a name for an ideal community taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional Island in the A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος alternatively cacotopia, kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, first published by McClelland and Stewart in Nineteen Eighty-Four (also titled 1984) by George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair) is a 1949 English Novel Brave New World is a 1932 Novel by Aldous Huxley. Set in the London of AD 2540 (632 A Satirical novels with fantastic settings such as Gulliver's Travels may be considered speculative fiction. Gulliver's Travels (1726 amended 1735 officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts
The Cyberpunk genre emerged in the early 1980s; the name is a portmanteau of "cybernetics" and "punk" , and was first coined by author Bruce Bethke in his 1980 short story "Cyberpunk". Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, notable for being the most famous early Cyberpunk novel and winner of the science-fiction "triple William Ford Gibson (born March 17 1948 is an American - Canadian writer who has been called the "noir prophet" of the Cyberpunk subgenre Cyberpunk is a Science fiction genre noted for its focus on " High tech and low life. Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and Speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s Bruce Bethke is an American author best known for his 1980 Short story "Cyberpunk" which led to the widespread use of the term and his novel The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such The time frame is usually near-future and the settings are often dystopian. Common themes in cyberpunk include advances in information technology and especially the Internet (visually abstracted as cyberspace), (possibly malevolent) artificial intelligence, enhancements of mind and body using bionic prosthetics and direct brain-computer interfaces called cyberware, and post-democratic societal control where corporations have more influence than governments. Information technology ( IT) as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA is "the study design development implementation support The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Cyberspace &mdash from the Greek el Κυβερνήτης (el kybernētēs steersman governor pilot or rudder &mdash is the global domain of electro-magnetics accessed Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, Biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of biological In Medicine, a prosthesis (plural prostheses) is an Artificial extension that replaces a missing Body part. A brain-computer interface (BCI sometimes called a direct neural interface or a brain-machine interface, is a direct communication pathway between a human or animal Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field (a Proto-science, or more adequately a “proto-technology” Nihilism, post-modernism, and film noir techniques are common elements, and the protagonists may be disaffected or reluctant anti-heroes. Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing is a philosophical position that argues that Existence is without objective meaning Purpose Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation Noteworthy authors in this genre are William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan, Rudy Rucker, and Neal Stephenson. William Ford Gibson (born March 17 1948 is an American - Canadian writer who has been called the "noir prophet" of the Cyberpunk subgenre Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American Science fiction author, best known for his novels and his seminal work on the Mirrorshades Pat Cadigan (born 1953 is an American-born Science fiction author, whose work is described as part of the Cyberpunk movement Rudolf von Bitter Rucker (born March 22, 1946 in Louisville Kentucky) is an American Computer scientist and Science fiction Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known primarily for his Science fiction works in the Postcyberpunk genre The 1982 film Blade Runner is commonly accepted as a definitive example of the cyberpunk visual style. Blade Runner is a 1982 American Science fiction Film, directed by Ridley Scott.
Time travel stories have antecedents in the 18th and 19th centuries, and this subgenre was popularized by H. G. Wells's novel The Time Machine. Time travel is a common theme in Science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 &ndash 13 August 1946 He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist, his later works becoming increasingly political The Time Machine is a novella by H G Wells, first published in 1895 and later directly adapted into at least two Feature films of the same name as Stories of this type are complicated by logical problems such as the grandfather paradox. This article refers to the Time travel paradox In novels based on the television series Doctor Who, "Grandfather Paradox" is the semi-mythical Time travel is a popular subject in novels, television series (most famously Doctor Who), as individual episodes within more general science fiction series (for example, "The City on the Edge of Forever" in Star Trek, "Babylon Squared" in Babylon 5, and "The Banks of the Lethe" in Andromeda) and as one-off productions such as The Flipside of Dominick Hide. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. " The City on the Edge of Forever " is the penultimate episode of the first season of Star Trek. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through " Babylon Squared " is an Episode from the first season of the science-fiction television series Babylon 5. Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created produced and largely written by J See Andromeda (disambiguation for other uses of "Andromeda" The Flipside Of Dominick Hide is a British television play which has attained cult status
Alternate history stories are based on the premise that historical events might have turned out differently. Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction These stories may use time travel to change the past, or may simply set a story in a universe with a different history from our own. Classics in the genre include Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore, in which the South wins the American Civil War and The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Bring the Jubilee, by Ward Ward Moore (b August 10 1903, Madison New Jersey - d January 28 1978) was the working name of American author Joseph Ward Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The Man in the High Castle is a 1962 Alternate history Novel by Science fiction writer Philip K Dick, in which Germany and Japan win World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Sidewise Award acknowledges the best works in this subgenre; the name is taken from Murray Leinster's early story "Sidewise in Time". The Sidewise Award for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best Alternate history stories and novels of the year Murray Leinster ( June 16, 1896 in Norfolk Virginia - June 8, 1975) was a Nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Military science fiction is set in the context of conflict between national, interplanetary, or interstellar armed forces; the primary viewpoint characters are usually soldiers. Military science fiction is a Subgenre of Science fiction in which the principal characters are members of a military service and an armed conflict is taking For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces Stories include detail about military technology, procedure, ritual, and history; military stories may use parallels with historical conflicts. Heinlein's Starship Troopers is an early example, along with the Dorsai novels of Gordon Dickson. Starship Troopers is a Science fiction Novel by Robert A Heinlein, first published (in abridged form as a serial in The Magazine The Childe Cycle is an unfinished series of Science fiction novels by Gordon R Gordon Rupert Dickson ( November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author Joe Haldeman's The Forever War is a critique of the genre, a Vietnam-era response to the World War II-style stories of earlier authors. Joe William Haldeman is an American Science fiction author. Life and work Haldeman was born in 1943 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma The Forever War is a 1974 Science fiction Novel by Joe Haldeman. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Prominent military SF authors include David Drake, David Weber, Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, and Lois McMaster Bujold. David Drake (born September 24, 1945) is an author of Science fiction and Fantasy literature David Mark Weber is an American Science fiction and Fantasy author. Jerry Eugene Pournelle (born August 7, 1933) is an American Science fiction Writer, Essayist and Journalist Stephen Michael Stirling is a French -born Canadian - American Science fiction and Fantasy author Lois McMaster Bujold (born November 2, 1949, Columbus, Ohio) is an American author of Science fiction and Fantasy Baen Books is known for cultivating military science fiction authors. Baen Books is an American Publishing company established in 1983 by long time Science Fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. Television series within this subgenre include Battlestar Galactica and Stargate SG-1. Battlestar Galactica is a franchise of Science fiction Films and television series, the first of which was produced in 1978 The popular Halo videogame and novel series is another prominent modern example. Halo is a Science fiction Video game franchise created by Bungie and owned and published by Microsoft Game Studios.
The broader category of speculative fiction includes science fiction, fantasy, alternate histories (which may have no particular scientific or futuristic component), and even literary stories that contain fantastic elements, such as the work of Jorge Luis Borges or John Barth. Speculative fiction is a term used as an inclusive descriptor covering a group of Fiction Genres that speculate about worlds that are unlike the real world in Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction John Simmons Barth (born May 27 1930 is an American novelist and short-story writer known for the postmodernist and metafictive quality of his work For some editors, magic realism is considered to be within the broad definition of speculative fiction. Magic realism, or magical realism, is an artistic Genre in which magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or even "normal"
Fantasy is closely associated with science fiction, and many writers, including Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, C. J. Cherryh, C. S. Lewis, Jack Vance, Terry Pratchett, Roger Zelazny, and Lois McMaster Bujold have worked in both genres, while writers such as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley have written works that appear to blur the boundary between the two related genres. The Lord of the Rings is an epic Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7 1907 – May 8 1988 was an American Novelist and Science fiction Writer. Poul William Anderson ( November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author who wrote during a Golden Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles California) is a US Science fiction author. Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942) better known by the Pseudonym C Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 John Holbrook Vance (born August 28, 1916 in San Francisco, Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948 is an English fantasy, Science fiction, and children's author. Roger Joseph Zelazny ( May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American writer of Fantasy and Science fiction Lois McMaster Bujold (born November 2, 1949, Columbus, Ohio) is an American author of Science fiction and Fantasy Anne Inez McCaffrey (born April 1, 1926) is an American Science fiction Author best known for her Dragonriders Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley ( June 3, 1930 – September 25, 1999) was an American author of Fantasy novels such The authors' professional organization is called the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (ˈsɪfwə or /ˈsɛfwə/ was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. SF conventions routinely have programming on fantasy topics, and fantasy authors such as J. K. Rowling and J. R. R. Tolkien (in film adaptation) have won the highest honor within the science fiction field, the Hugo Award. The definition of a fantasy author is somewhat diffuse and a matter of opinion – Jules Verne considered H Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE (born 31 July 1965 who writes under the Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a Feature film. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year Some works show how difficult it is to draw clear boundaries between subgenres, for example Larry Niven's The Magic Goes Away stories treat magic as just another force of nature and subject to natural laws which resemble and partially overlap those of physics. Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles California) is a US Science fiction author. The Magic Goes Away is a Fantasy Short story written by Larry Niven in 1976 and later expanded to a Novella of the same name which
However, most authors and readers make a distinction between fantasy and SF. In general, science fiction is the literature of things that might someday be possible, and fantasy is the literature of things that are inherently impossible. Magic and mythology are popular themes in fantasy. Magic in Fiction is the endowing of Fictional characters or objects with magical powers. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" There are many elements that show up throughout the fantasy genre in different guises
It is common to see narratives described as being essentially science fiction but "with fantasy elements. Frankenstein is a Horror film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and very loosely based on the novel of the same name " The term "science fantasy" is sometimes used to describe such material. Science fantasy is a mixed Genre of story which contains some Science fiction and some Fantasy elements
Horror fiction is the literature of the unnatural and supernatural, with the aim of unsettling or frightening the reader, sometimes with graphic violence. Horror fiction is broadly Fiction in any medium intended to scare unsettle or horrify the audience The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events Graphic violence is the depiction of especially vivid brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as Literature, Film, Television Historically it has also been known as "weird fiction. " Although horror is not per se a branch of science fiction, many works of horror literature incorporates science fictional elements. One of the defining classical works of horror, Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, is a fully-realized work of science fiction, where the manufacture of the monster is given a rigorous science-fictional grounding. Mary Shelley ( Née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a Novel written by the British author Mary Shelley The works of Edgar Allan Poe also helped define both the science fiction and the horror genres. Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, Today horror is one of the most popular categories of films. Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers
Works in which science and technology are a dominant theme, but based on current reality, may be considered mainstream fiction. Much of the thriller genre would be included, such as the novels of Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton, or the James Bond films. The thriller is a broad Genre of Literature, Film, Gaming and Television. Thomas Leo Clancy Jr (born April 12 1947) is an American author best known for his technically detailed espionage and Military science storylines John Michael Crichton, ˈkraɪtən, (born October 23 1942 is an American author Film producer, Film director, Medical doctor, and Television producer James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story
Modernist works from writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, and Stanisław Lem have focused on speculative or existential perspectives on contemporary reality and are on the borderline between SF and the mainstream. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 – March 2) was an American Science fiction Novelist and Short story Writer. Stanisław Lem ( sta'ɲiswaf lɛm 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006 was a Polish Science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine which posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives and that this essence follows from their existence
According to Robert J. Sawyer, "Science fiction and mystery have a great deal in common. Robert J Sawyer is a Canadian Science fiction writer born in Ottawa in 1960 and now resident in Mississauga. Both prize the intellectual process of puzzle solving, and both require stories to be plausible and hinge on the way things really do work. " Isaac Asimov, Anthony Boucher, Walter Mosley, and other writers incorporate mystery elements in their science fiction, and vice versa. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian Anthony Boucher (born William Anthony Parker White) ( August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968) was an American Science fiction Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is a prominent American novelist most widely recognized for his Crime fiction.
Superhero fiction is a genre characterized by beings with much higher than usual physical or mental prowess, generally with a desire or need to help the citizens of their chosen country or world by using his or her powers to defeat natural or superpowered threats. Superhero fiction is a subgenre of Fiction that deals with Superheroes Supervillians super-powered humans aliens, or mutants Many superhero fiction characters involve themselves (either intentionally or accidentally) with science fiction and fact, including advanced technologies, alien worlds, time travel, and interdimensional travel; but the standards of scientific plausibility are lower than with actual science fiction.
Some of the best-known authors of this genre include Stan Lee, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Diane Duane, Peter David, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, George R. R. Martin, Pierce Askegren, Christopher Golden, Dean Wesley Smith, Greg Cox, Nancy Collins, C. J. Cherryh, Roger Stern, and Elliot S! Maggin. Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922) is an American Writer, editor, creator of comic book characters Keith Robert Andreassi DeCandido (born April 18, 1969 in New York, United States) is an American Sci-fi and Fantasy writer Diane Duane (born May 18, 1952) is an American Science fiction and Fantasy author For the Grenadian politician see Peter David (politician. Peter Allen David (often abbreviated PAD) (born September 23 Len Wein (born June 12, 1948) is an American Comic book Writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics Marvin A "Marv" Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an award-winning American Comic book Writer. George Raymond Richard Martin ( September 20, 1948) sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American Author and Screenwriter John Pierce Askegren (1955 - November 2006 of the Louisiana Askegrens was an American Author best known for his work in adaptations of licensed properties and is a lifelong Christopher Golden is an American author of horror, Fantasy, and suspense novels for adults teens and young readers Dean Wesley Smith is a Science fiction author known primarily for his Star Trek novels movie novelizations and other novels of licensed properties such Greg Cox (born 1959 is a Science fiction Writer. He lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania, U Nancy A Collins (born 10 September, 1959) is a United States Horror fiction writer best known for her series of Vampire novels featuring Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942) better known by the Pseudonym C Roger Stern (born September 17 1950) is an American Comic book Author and Novelist. Elliot S Maggin, also spelled Elliot S! Maggin (born 1950 is an American writer of comic books film television and novels
References to the most noteworthy science fiction books and authors are included here.
External link: Locus 1977 All-Time Best Author Poll
Science fiction fandom is the "community of the literature of ideas. Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community of people actively interested in Science fiction and Fantasy literature, and in contact with one another . . the culture in which new ideas emerge and grow before being released into society at large. " Members of this community, "fans", are in contact with each other at conventions or clubs, through print or online fanzines, or on the Internet using web sites, mailing lists, and other resources. Fans in Little Italyjpg|thumb|right|Fans in Little Italy Manhattan celebrating the victory of the Italian association football team after the 2006 FIFA World Cup]][[Image Wm-oly-de-cr Science fiction conventions are gatherings of the community of fans (called Science fiction fandom) of various forms of Speculative fiction including Science A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of Science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients
SF fandom emerged from the letters column in Amazing Stories magazine. Soon fans began writing letters to each other, and then grouping their comments together in informal publications that became known as fanzines. Once they were in regular contact, fans wanted to meet each other, and they organized local clubs. In the 1930s, the first science fiction conventions gathered fans from a wider area. Science fiction conventions are gatherings of the community of fans (called Science fiction fandom) of various forms of Speculative fiction including Science Conventions, clubs, and fanzines were the dominant form of fan activity, or "fanac", for decades, until the Internet facilitated communication among a much larger population of interested people.
Among the most respected awards for science fiction are the Hugo Award, presented by the World Science Fiction Society at Worldcon, and the Nebula Award, presented by SFWA and voted on by the community of authors. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year The Nebula Award is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA for the best Science fiction / Fantasy fiction One notable award for science fiction films is the Saturn Award. The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in Science fiction, Fantasy It is presented annually by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.
There are national awards, like Canada's Aurora Award, regional awards, like the Endeavour Award presented at Orycon for works from the Pacific Northwest, special interest or subgenre awards like the Chesley Award for art or the World Fantasy Award for fantasy. The Prix Aurora Awards are given out annually for the best Canadian Science fiction and Fantasy literary works Art Works and Awards for Fan Activities The Endeavour Award, announced annually at OryCon in Portland Oregon is awarded to a distinguished Science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists to recognize individual works and achievements during a given year The World Fantasy Awards are annual international awards given to authors and artists who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the field of Fantasy. Magazines may organize reader polls, notably the Locus Award. The Locus Awards were established in 1971 and are presented to winners of Locus Magazine 's annual readers' poll
Conventions (in fandom, shortened as "cons"), are held in cities around the world, catering to a local, regional, national, or international membership. Minicon is a Science fiction and Fantasy convention in Minneapolis usually held on Easter weekend General-interest conventions cover all aspects of science fiction, while others focus on a particular interest like media fandom, filking, etc. Media fandom is a fan term invented in the late 1970s to describe the collective Fandoms for contemporary television shows and movies Filk is a musical culture genre and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom. Most are organized by volunteers in non-profit groups, though most media-oriented events are organized by commercial promoters. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage The convention's activities are called the "program", which may include panel discussions, readings, autograph sessions, costume masquerades, and other events. Activities that occur throughout the convention are not part of the program; these commonly include a dealer's room, art show, and hospitality lounge (or "con suites"). Conventions may host award ceremonies; Worldcons present the Hugo Awards each year. The Hugo Awards are given every year for the best Science fiction or Fantasy works and achievements of the previous year SF societies, referred to as "clubs" except in formal contexts, form a year-round base of activities for science fiction fans. They may be associated with an ongoing science fiction convention, or have regular club meetings, or both. Most groups meet in libraries, schools and universities, community centers, pubs or restaurants, or the homes of individual members. Long-established groups like the New England Science Fiction Association and the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society have clubhouses for meetings and storage of convention supplies and research materials. The New England Science Fiction Association, or NESFA, is a Science fiction club centered in the New England area The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society or LASFS (pron "Lahss-Fuss" "Loss-Fuss" "Lass-Fass" or "Lahss-Fahss" is a membership fan
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) was founded by Damon Knight in 1965 as a non-profit organization to serve the community of professional science fiction authors. Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (ˈsɪfwə or /ˈsɛfwə/ was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. Damon Francis Knight ( September 19, 1922 &ndash April 15, 2002) was an American Science fiction Author,
Fandom has helped incubate related groups, including media fandom, the Society for Creative Anachronism, gaming, filking, and furry fandom. Media fandom is a fan term invented in the late 1970s to describe the collective Fandoms for contemporary television shows and movies Society for Creative Anachronism (usually shortened to SCA) is a historical re-creation and Living history group founded in 1966 which Historically the term " gamer " usually referred to someone who played Role-playing games or wargames. Filk is a musical culture genre and community tied to science fiction/fantasy fandom. Furry fandom is a Fandom devoted to anthropomorphic animal
The first science fiction fanzine, "The Comet", was published in 1930. Fanzine printing methods have changed over the decades, from the hectograph, the mimeograph, and the ditto machine, to modern photocopying. The hectograph or gelatin duplicator or jellygraph is a Printing process which involves transfer of an original prepared with special inks to a pan of A spirit duplicator (also referred to as a Ditto machine or Banda machine) was a low-volume printing method used mainly by schools and churches A photocopier (or copier is a machine that makes Paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply Subscription volumes rarely justify the cost of commercial printing. Modern fanzines are printed on computer printers or at local copy shops, or they may only be sent as email. Electronic mail, often abbreviated to e-mail, email, or originally eMail, is a Store-and-forward method of writing sending receiving
The best known fanzine (or "'zine") today is Ansible, edited by David Langford, winner of numerous Hugo awards. A zine (an abbreviation of the word Fanzine, or magazine ziːn "zeen" is most commonly a small circulation non-commercial Publication An ansible is a hypothetical machine capable of Superluminal communication and used as a Plot device in Science fiction literature David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953 is a British author editor and Critic, largely active within the Science fiction field Other fanzines to win awards in recent years include File 770, Mimosa, and Plokta. File 770 is a Science fiction fanzine published by Mike Glyer and named for the party in Room 770 at the 1951 Worldcon science fiction Mimosa is a Genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. Plokta is a Science fiction Fanzine, first published in 1996 Subtitled "The journal of superfluous technology" the magazine includes
Artists working for fanzines have risen to prominence in the field, including Brad W. Foster, Teddy Harvia and Joe Mayhew; the Hugos include a category for Best Fan Artists. Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist. About this award The Hugo Awards the most prestigious awards in Science fiction and Fantasy
The earliest organized fandom online was the SF Lovers community, originally a mailing list in the late 1970s with a text archive file that was updated regularly. A file archiver is a Computer program that combines a number of files together into one Archive file, or a series of archive files for easier transportation In the 1980s, Usenet groups greatly expanded the circle of fans online. Usenet, a Portmanteau of "user" and "network" is a world-wide distributed Internet discussion system In the 1990s, the development of the World-Wide Web exploded the community of online fandom by orders of magnitude, with thousands and then literally millions of web sites devoted to science fiction and related genres for all media. The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Most such sites are small, ephemeral, and/or very narrowly focused, though sites like SF Site offer a broad range of references and reviews about science fiction. SF Site is a Webzine edited by Rodger Turner. Established in 1996 by John O'Neill, it is based in Canada, but includes contributors from around
Fan fiction, known to aficionados as "fanfic", is non-commercial fiction created by fans in the setting of an established book, film, or television series. The community surrounding modern Fan fiction has generated a considerable number of unique subgenres and literary terminology over the past several decades A non-commercial enterprise is work that values other considerations above and beyond that of making a profit
This modern meaning of the term should not be confused with the traditional (pre-1970s) meaning of "fan fiction" within the community of fandom, where the term meant original or parody fiction written by fans and published in fanzines, often with members of fandom as characters therein ("faan fiction"). Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community of people actively interested in Science fiction and Fantasy literature, and in contact with one another A science fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of Science fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day Examples of this would include the Goon stories by Walt Willis. Walter Alexander Willis (1919-1999 was a well-known Irish science fiction fan, resident in Belfast
In the last few years, sites have appeared such as Orion's Arm and Galaxiki, which encourage collaborative development of science fiction universes. Orion's Arm, (also called the Orion's Arm Universe Project OAUP or simply OA is an online Science fiction World-building project founded by M Galaxiki is a web -based Free content Virtual community Web 2 | <urn:uuid:c1ca71b9-82bb-4291-8b61-15273ec28084> | {
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It’s a crazy market, the investors were told by the columnist, and they had to protect themselves. So they shouldn’t accept “verbal assurances” that their fund managers were making the right decisions; they needed it in writing.
A court in Tennessee, meanwhile, ruled that “an employee who made “an oral or verbal complaint against an employer” was protected against retaliation.
So does “verbal” mean “spoken” or “written”?
Yes. And therein lies the imprecision.
“Verbal” simply means “expressed in words”; the form of the words is not specified. If you put the words to paper or screen, or to stone tablet, they are “written.” If they’re spoken, they’re “oral.”
But sometimes we act as if we’re back in grade school, when words that sounded dirty made us, er, titter. We avoid those words for fear of being misinterpreted.
As a result, many writers avoid saying “oral” and say “verbal” instead.
Why this should be so is not clear. After all, colleges have no problem giving “oral exams,” doctors can openly advertise a specialty in “oral surgery,” and courts hear “oral arguments” without anyone getting all giggly.
And many people have learned that “verbal” means only written, adding to the confusion.
In sports, college athletes make a “verbal commitment” to come play for a school, though too often it’s called just “a verbal,” making it a noun. (In English, the “acceptable” noun “verbals” are gerunds, infinitives, and participles.) A few times it’s even been a verb—“He has verbaled to Cornell”—which is a few times too often.
So are the athletes signing something or have they merely made an “oral” promise? Knowing that could be important, especially in the current scandal-ridden environment.
Enough people use “verbal” in the place of “oral” that Garner’s Modern American Usage puts that usage at Stage 4 of the Language-Change Index, meaning it’s proper English among all but extreme holdouts.
Still, there’s no reason not to use “oral,” and it’s certainly preferable in cases where the mode of communication is important. As Garner’s says: “If you think of oral in a narrow sexual sense, you should immediately wash your mouth out with soap. Otherwise, we may be in danger of losing a perfectly good word.”
But if you still resist, there’s an easy way out: Use “spoken” for stuff that comes out of your mouth, and “written” for stuff you have to spell. Hope that “verbalizes” it for you. | <urn:uuid:643f91fe-75c5-42af-afa4-a8724ce3ee31> | {
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The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recently released a new pamphlet titled “Frogs are Cool: Facts About Frogs for Kids,” an informative and fun flyer aimed at raising awareness of the many endangered and sensitive species of frogs native to Oregon.
There are 16 species of frogs native to Oregon, and many are recognized as Oregon State Sensitive species, meaning they have small or declining populations. ODFW hopes the new frog awareness campaign will help kids and adults alike recognize and protect the protected species.
“Worldwide, frogs are in trouble and many are on the road to extinction,” the ODFW website says. “Habitat loss, pollution, pesticides, climate change, infectious diseases, the pet trade and invasive animal species are all causing problems for frogs.”
Want to help make a difference? Here are the top things you and your kids can do to help protect Oregon’s native frog population.
- Learn about frogs.
- Never keep a wild frog as a pet.
- Tell others about protecting frogs.
- Never release non-native frogs, such as ones used in science projects, into the wild.
Frog spotting is a great activity for hiking and camping – it’s silly, easy and educational. Download the “Frogs are Cool” pamphlet, make sure you have the proper camping or hiking gear, and get out there and enjoy some frogs!
[photo: Dan Hershman] | <urn:uuid:dad8ed7e-2e56-45f8-a5a3-a89284e093a9> | {
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I have seen many tutorials on ASP.NET but most of them starts with coding and writing your first ASP.NET Program. But here I has written this tutorial for explaining why there is a need for ASP.NET when classy ASP is working fine and what are the underlying technology behind ASP.NET, What programming model ASP.NET Provides to programmers. Now let us get started.
ASP.NET is the new offering for Web developers from the Microsoft .It is not simply the next-generation of ASP; in fact, it is a completely re-engineered and enhanced technology that offers much, much more than traditional ASP and can increase productivity significantly.
Because it has evolved from ASP, ASP.NET looks very similar to its predecessor—but only at first sight. Some items look very familiar, and they remind us of ASP. But concepts like Web Forms, Web Services, or Server Controls gives ASP.NET the power to build real Web applications.
Looking Back : Active Server Pages (ASP)
Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) is a server-side scripting technology. ASP is a technology that Microsoft created to ease the development of interactive Web applications. With ASP you can use client-side scripts as well as server-side scripts. Maybe you want to validate user input or access a database. ASP provides solutions for transaction processing and managing session state. Asp is one of the most successful language used in web development.
Problems with Traditional ASP
There are many problems with ASP if you think of needs for Today's powerful Web applications.
- Interpreted and Loosely-Typed Code
ASP scripting code is usually written in languages such as JScript or VBScript. The script-execution engine that Active Server Pages relies on interprets code line by line, every time the page is called. In addition, although variables are supported, they are all loosely typed as variants and bound to particular types only when the code is run. Both these factors impede performance, and late binding of types makes it harder to catch errors when you are writing code.
- Mixes layout (HTML) and logic (scripting code)
ASP files frequently combine script code with HTML. This results in ASP scripts that are lengthy, difficult to read, and switch frequently between code and HTML. The interspersion of HTML with ASP code is particularly problematic for larger web applications, where content must be kept separate from business logic.
- Limited Development and Debugging Tools
Microsoft Visual InterDev, Macromedia Visual UltraDev, and other tools have attempted to increase the productivity of ASP programmers by providing graphical development environments. However, these tools never achieved the ease of use or the level of acceptance achieved by Microsoft Windows application development tools, such as Visual Basic or Microsoft Access. ASP developers still rely heavily or exclusively on Notepad.
Debugging is an unavoidable part of any software development process, and the debugging tools for ASP have been minimal. Most ASP programmers
resort to embedding temporary Response. Write statements in their code to trace the progress of its execution.
- No real state management
Session state is only maintained if the client browser supports cookies. Session state information can only be held by using the ASP Session object. And you have to implement additional code if you, for example, want to identify a user.
- Update files only when server is down
If your Web application makes use of components, copying new files to your application should only be done when the Web server is stopped. Otherwise it is like pulling the rug from under your application's feet, because the components may be in use (and locked) and must be registered.
- Obscure Configuration Settings
The configuration information for an ASP web application (such as session state and server timeouts) is stored in the IIS metabase. Because the metabase is stored in a proprietary format, it can only be modified on the server machine with utilities such as the Internet Service Manager. With limited support for programmatically manipulating or extracting these settings, it is often an arduous task to port an ASP application from one server to another.
ASP.NET was developed in direct response to the problems that developers had with classic ASP. Since ASP is in such wide use, however, Microsoft ensured that ASP scripts execute without modification on a machine with the .NET Framework (the ASP engine, ASP.DLL, is not modified when installing the .NET Framework). Thus, IIS can house both ASP and ASP.NET scripts on the same machine.
Advantages of ASP.NET
- Separation of Code from HTML
To make a clean sweep, with ASP.NET you have the ability to completely separate layout and business logic. This makes it much easier for teams of programmers and designers to collaborate efficiently. This makes it much easier for teams of programmers and designers to collaborate efficiently.
- Support for compiled languages
developer can use VB.NET and access features such as strong typing and object-oriented programming. Using compiled languages also means that ASP.NET pages do not suffer the performance penalties associated with interpreted code. ASP.NET pages are precompiled to byte-code and Just In Time (JIT) compiled when first requested. Subsequent requests are directed to the fully compiled code, which is cached until the source changes.
- Use services provided by the .NET Framework
The .NET Framework provides class libraries that can be used by your application. Some of the key classes help you with input/output, access to operating system services, data access, or even debugging. We will go into more detail on some of them in this module.
- Graphical Development Environment
Visual Studio .NET provides a very rich development environment for Web
developers. You can drag and drop controls and set properties the way you do in Visual Basic 6. And you have full IntelliSense support, not only for your code, but also for HTML and XML.
- State management
To refer to the problems mentioned before, ASP.NET provides solutions for session and application state management. State information can, for example, be kept in memory or stored in a database. It can be shared across Web farms, and state information can be recovered, even if the server fails or the connection breaks down.
- Update files while the server is running!
Components of your application can be updated while the server is online and clients are connected. The Framework will use the new files as soon as they are copied to the application. Removed or old files that are still in use are kept in memory until the clients have finished.
- XML-Based Configuration Files
Configuration settings in ASP.NET are stored in XML files that you can easily read and edit. You can also easily copy these to another server, along with the other files that comprise your application.
Here are some point that gives the quick overview of ASP.NET.
- ASP.NET provides services to allow the creation, deployment, and execution of Web Applications and Web Services
- Like ASP, ASP.NET is a server-side technology
- Web Applications are built using Web Forms. ASP.NET comes with built-in Web Forms controls, which are responsible for generating the user interface. They mirror typical HTML widgets like text boxes or buttons. If these controls do not fit your needs, you are free to create your own user controls.
- Web Forms are designed to make building web-based applications as easy as building Visual Basic applications
ASP.NET is based on the fundamental architecture of .NET Framework. Visual studio provide a uniform way to combine the various features of this Architecture.
Architecture is explained form bottom to top in the following discussion.
At the bottom of the Architecture is Common Language Runtime. NET Framework common language runtime resides on top of the operating system services. The common language runtime loads and executes code that targets the runtime. This code is therefore called managed code. The runtime gives you, for example, the ability for cross-language integration.
.NET Framework provides a rich set of class libraries. These include base classes, like networking and input/output classes, a data class library for data access, and classes for use by programming tools, such as debugging services. All of them are brought together by the Services Framework, which sits on top of the common language runtime.
ADO.NET is Microsoft’s ActiveX Data Object (ADO) model for the .NET Framework. ADO.NET is not simply the migration of the popular ADO model to the managed environment but a completely new paradigm for data access and manipulation.
ADO.NET is intended specifically for developing web applications. This is evident from its two major design principles:
- Disconnected Datasets—In ADO.NET, almost all data manipulation is done outside the context of an open database connection.
- Effortless Data Exchange with XML—Datasets can converse in the universal data format of the Web, namely XML.
The 4th layer of the framework consists of the Windows application model and, in parallel, the Web application model.
The Web application model-in the slide presented as ASP.NET-includes Web Forms and Web Services.
ASP.NET comes with built-in Web Forms controls, which are responsible for generating the user interface. They mirror typical HTML widgets like text boxes or buttons. If these controls do not fit your needs, you are free to create your own user controls.
Web Services brings you a model to bind different applications over the Internet. This model is based on existing infrastructure and applications and is therefore standard-based, simple, and adaptable.
Web Services are software solutions delivered via Internet to any device. Today, that means Web browsers on computers, for the most part, but the device-agnostic design of .NET will eliminate this limitation.
- One of the obvious themes of .NET is unification and interoperability between various programming languages. In order to achieve this; certain rules must be laid and all the languages must follow these rules. In other words we can not have languages running around creating their own extensions and their own fancy new data types. CLS is the collection of the rules and constraints that every language (that seeks to achieve .NET compatibility) must follow.
- The CLR and the .NET Frameworks in general, however, are designed in such a way that code written in one language can not only seamlessly be used by another language. Hence ASP.NET can be programmed in any of the .NET compatible language whether it is VB.NET, C#, Managed C++ or JScript.NET.
Quick Start :To ASP.NET
After this short excursion with some background information on the .NET Framework, we will now focus on ASP.NET.
File name extensions
Web applications written with ASP.NET will consist of many files with different file name extensions. The most common are listed here. Native ASP.NET files by default have the extension .aspx (which is, of course, an extension to .asp) or .ascx. Web Services normally have the extension .asmx.
Your file names containing the business logic will depend on the language you use. So, for example, a C# file would have the extension .aspx.cs. You already learned about the configuration file Web.Config.
Another one worth mentioning is the ASP.NET application file Global.asax - in the ASP world formerly known as Global.asa. But now there is also a code behind file Global.asax.vb, for example, if the file contains Visual Basic.NET code. Global.asax is an optional file that resides in the root directory of your application, and it contains global logic for your application.
All of these are text files
All of these files are text files, and therefore human readable and writeable.
The easiest way to start
The easiest way to start with ASP.NET is to take a simple ASP page and change the file name extension to .aspx.
Here is quick introduction of syntax used in ASP.NET
You can use directives to specify optional settings used by the page compiler when processing ASP.NET files. For each directive you can set different attributes. One example is the language directive at the beginning of a page defining the default programming language.
Code Declaration Blocks
Code declaration blocks are lines of code enclosed in <script> tags. They contain the runat=server attribute, which tells ASP.NET that these controls can be accessed on the server and on the client. Optionally you can specify the language for the block. The code block itself consists of the definition of member variables and methods.
Code Render Blocks
Render blocks contain inline code or inline expressions enclosed by the character sequences shown here. The language used inside those blocks could be specified through a directive like the one shown before.
HTML Control Syntax
You can declare several standard HTML elements as HTML server controls. Use the element as you are familiar with in HTML and add the attribute runat=server. This causes the HTML element to be treated as a server control. It is now programmatically accessible by using a unique ID. HTML server controls must reside within a <form> section that also has the attribute runat=server.
Custom Control Syntax
There are two different kinds of custom controls. On the one hand there are the controls that ship with .NET, and on the other hand you can create your own custom controls. Using custom server controls is the best way to encapsulate common programmatic functionality.
Just specify elements as you did with HTML elements, but add a tag prefix, which is an alias for the fully qualified namespace of the control. Again you must include the runat=server attribute. If you want to get programmatic access to the control, just add an Id attribute.
You can include properties for each server control to characterize its behavior. For example, you can set the maximum length of a TextBox. Those properties might have sub properties; you know this principle from HTML. Now you have the ability to specify, for example, the size and type of the font you use (font-size and font-type).
The last attribute is dedicated to event binding. This can be used to bind the control to a specific event. If you implement your own method
MyClick, this method will be executed when the corresponding button is clicked if you use the server control event binding shown in the slide.
Data Binding Expression
You can create bindings between server controls and data sources. The data binding expression is enclosed by the character sequences <%# and %>. The data-binding model provided by ASP.NET is hierarchical. That means you can create bindings between server control properties and superior data sources.
Server-side Object Tags
If you need to create an instance of an object on the server, use server-side object tags. When the page is compiled, an instance of the specified object is created. To specify the object use the identifier attribute. You can declare (and instantiate) .NET objects using class as the identifier, and COM objects using either progid or classid.
Server-side Include Directives
With server-side include directives you can include raw contents of a file anywhere in your ASP.NET file. Specify the type of the path to filename with the pathtype attribute. Use either File, when specifying a relative path, or Virtual, when using a full virtual path.
To prevent server code from executing, use these character sequences to comment it out. You can comment out full blocks - not just single lines.
First ASP.NET Program.
Now let us have our First ASP.NET program.
Let’s look at both the markup and the C# portions of a simple web forms application that generates a movie line-up dynamically through software.
Web form application part 1 -- SimpleWebForm.aspx
<% @Page Language="C#" Inherits="MoviePage" Src="SimpleWebForm.cs" %>
<H1 align="center"><FONT color="white" size="7">Welcome to <br>Supermegacineplexadrome!</FONT></H1>
<P align="left"><FONT color="lime" size="5"><STRONG>
<U>Showtimes for <%WriteDate();%></U>
<FONT size="5" color="yellow"><%WriteMovies();%></FONT>
And this is where the C# part of a web forms application comes in.
Web form application part 2 - SimpleWebForm.cs
public class MoviePage:Page
protected void WriteDate()
protected void WriteMovies()
Response.Write("<P>The Glass Ghost (R) 1:05 pm, 3:25 pm, 7:00 pm</P>");
Response.Write("<P>Untamed Harmony (PG-13) 12:50 pm, 3:25 pm, " + <br> "6:55 pm</P>");
Response.Write("<P>Forever Nowhere (PG) 3:30 pm, 8:35 pm</P>");
Response.Write("<P>Without Justice (R) 12:45 pm, 6:45 pm</P>");
Execution Cycle :
Now let's see what’s happening on the server side. You will shortly understand how server controls fit in.
A request for an .aspx file causes the ASP.NET runtime to parse the file for code that can be compiled. It then generates a page class that instantiates and populates a tree of server control instances. This page class represents the ASP.NET page.
Now an execution sequence is started in which, for example, the ASP.NET page walks its entire list of controls, asking each one to render itself.
The controls paint themselves to the page. This means they make themselves visible by generating HTML output to the browser client.
We need to have a look at what’s happening to your code in ASP.NET.
Compilation, when page is requested the first time
The first time a page is requested, the code is compiled. Compiling code in .NET means that a compiler in a first step emits Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) and produces metadata—if you compile your source code to managed code. In a following step MSIL has to be converted to native code.
Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL)
Microsoft intermediate language is code in an assembly language–like style. It is CPU independent and therefore can be efficiently converted to native code.
The conversion in turn can be CPU-specific and optimized. The intermediate language provides a hardware abstraction layer.
MSIL is executed by the common language runtime.
Common language runtime
The common language runtime contains just-in-time (JIT) compilers to convert the MSIL into native code. This is done on the same computer architecture that the code should run on.
The runtime manages the code when it is compiled into MSIL—the code is therefore called managed code.
ASP.NET Applications and Configuration
Like ASP, ASP.NET encapsulates its entities within a web application. A web application is an abstract term for all the resources available within the confines of an IIS virtual directory. For example, a web application may consist of one or more ASP.NET pages, assemblies, web services configuration files, graphics, and more. In this section we explore two fundamental components of a web application, namely global application files (Global.asax) and configuration files (Web.config).
Global.asax is a file used to declare application-level events and objects. Global.asax is the ASP.NET extension of the ASP Global.asa file. Code to handle application events (such as the start and end of an application) reside in Global.asax. Such event code cannot reside in the ASP.NET page or web service code itself, since during the start or end of the application, its code has not yet been loaded (or unloaded). Global.asax is also used to declare data that is available across different application requests or across different browser sessions. This process is known as application and session state management.
The Global.asax file must reside in the IIS virtual root. Remember that a virtual root can be thought of as the container of a web application. Events and state specified in the global file are then applied to all resources housed within the web application. If, for example, Global.asax defines a state application variable, all .aspx files within the virtual root will be able to access the variable.
Like an ASP.NET page, the Global.asax file is compiled upon the arrival of the first request for any resource in the application. The similarity continues when changes are made to the Global.asax file; ASP.NET automatically notices the changes, recompiles the file, and directs all new requests to the newest compilation. A Global.asax file is automatically created when you create a new web application project in the VS.NET IDE.
Application directives are placed at the top of the Global.asax file and provide information used to compile the global file. Three application directives are defined, namely Application, Assembly, and Import. Each directive is applied with the following syntax:
<%@ appDirective appAttribute=Value ...%>
In ASP, configuration settings for an application (such as session state) are stored in the IIS metabase. There are two major disadvantages with this scheme. First, settings are not stored in a human-readable manner but in a proprietary, binary format. Second, the settings are not easily ported from one host machine to another.(It is difficult to transfer information from an IIS’s metabase or Windows Registry to another machine, even if it has the same version of Windows.)
Web.config solves both of the aforementioned issues by storing configuration information as XML. Unlike Registry or metabase entries, XML documents are human-readable and can be modified with any text editor. Second, XML files are far more portable, involving a simple file transfer to switch machines.
Unlike Global.asax, Web.config can reside in any directory, which may or may not be a virtual root. The Web.config settings are then applied to all resources accessed within that directory, as well as its subdirectories. One consequence is that an IIS instance may have many web.config files. Attributes are applied in a hierarchical fashion. In other words, the web.config file at the lowest level directory is used.
Since Web.config is based on XML, it is extensible and flexible for a wide variety of applications. It is important, however, to note that the Web.config file is optional. A default Web.config file, used by all ASP.NET application resources, can be found on the local machine at:
ASP.NET is an evolution of Microsoft’s Active Server Page (ASP) technology. Using ASP.NET, you can rapidly develop highly advanced web applications based on the .NET framework. Visual Studio Web Form Designer, which allows the design of web applications in an intuitive, graphical method similar to Visual Basic 6. ASP.NET ships with web controls wrapping each of the standard HTML controls, in addition to several controls specific to .NET. One such example is validation controls, which intuitively validate user input without the need for extensive client-side script.
In many respects, ASP.NET provides major improvements over ASP, and can definitely be considered a viable alternative for rapidly developing web-based applications.
Points of Interest
I has write this tutorial to share my Knowledge of ASP.NET with you. You can find more articles and software projects with free source code on my web site http://programmerworld.net .
- Date Posted: June 27, 2003
I am a B.E in Information Technology form Lingaya's Institute of Managemant and Technology Faridabad, India.
I has worked on VC++, MFC, VB, Sql Server. Currently I am working on .net, C# and ASP.net
I keeps my free source code projects and articles at website http://programmerworld.net | <urn:uuid:9b858cdc-f880-4b7a-9fbf-1b67bd6e948f> | {
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‘We spent a good deal of time thinking about how accident, disruption, distraction, and difference increase the motivation to learn and to solve problems, both individually and collectively.’
The article : Collaborative Learning for the Digital Age by Cathy N. Davidson makes me think that collaborative work itself could challenge the limited feature of the human brain, whose performance level is usually or relatively low when it has to deal with multitasking assignments. The conceptual breakthrough, which does not limit our ability due to the result from the experimentation described in the first part of this article is a lesson for me not to get depressed easily because of the negative consequence, which refers to ‘attention blindness’. Collaborative learning could be a savior of the insufficient inherent capability.
We are living in this world to enable an individual knowledge to be replaced with his/her community. An individual brain would be no longer more valid or highly valued than what it is now or it used to be, rather its collaborative mode would be appreciated or recognized to be an authentic qualification for human intelligence.
‘I think therefore I am’by Descartes is manipulated by ‘iPod therefore I am’, which could also be replaced by ‘We think therefore I am’. However this does not mean to say each person could learn less than before ; on the contrary s/he would learn more being motivated to enjoy further studies. Online collaborative projects, which I went through could therefore persuade me to think that the underline concept of competency lies in her/his connectivity and collaboration with outsides. The value of what is meant to be intelligent enough to cope with all issues of this coming era differs from that of definition without social network system.
How the World Wide Web has changed the world from DigiTeen Projects based on Flat Classroom Projects and WorkshopA from The 1001 Flat World Tales Project certainly not only show us the new process of learning in the 21st century but also give us the solution to challenge side effects of social network communication system. They could refer to how we can possibly manage or control the massive flow of information ; how we can be confident that what we are doing is on the right path ; how we could easily or efficiently live in the digital information era.
Things should be getting more convenient for us to learn, yet at the same time we have additional or extra burdens to be overseen and monitored constantly. Whether it is controllable or not also seems to rely on the potential of collaborate learning.
These projects running in the world premise not only save time and space but also give another credit to his/her own idea, which used to be owned by his/her exclusive confidential copyright since this would reflect his/her personal assessment. The more cooperate or collaborative you are, the better reflections you could expect from your society.
These projects remind me of the lyric of the song ‘Heal the World’ by Michael Jackson : ‘Heal the world to make it better place for you and for me…’ . Could we start making the world better place by means of having a collaborative project for you and for me at a micro level at first, which we would hope to extend to the globally created product? | <urn:uuid:f692c0ee-9577-4983-9ff4-ce9f05d98d81> | {
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JOSEPH EARNED MERIT etc. Why the difference that first it is written: And Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh etc.,2 followed by, And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house,3 and in the sequel it is written: And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren,4 followed by, And all that went up with him to bury his father? — R. Johanan said: At first, before [the servants of Pharaoh] beheld the glory of the Israelites, they did not treat them with respect;5 but in the sequel, when they beheld their glory, they treated them with respect. For it is written: And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad;6 but is there a threshing-floor for brambles? — R. Abbahu said: It teaches that they surrounded Jacob's coffin with crowns like a threshing-floor which is surrounded with a hedge of brambles, because the sons of Esau, of Ishmael and of Keturah also came. A Tanna taught: They all came to wage war [against the Israelites]; but when they saw Joseph's crown hanging upon Jacob's coffin, they all took their crowns and hung them upon his coffin. A Tanna taught: Sixty-three crowns were hung upon Jacob's coffin.
And there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation.7 It has been taught: Even the horses and asses [joined in the lamentation]. When [the cortege] arrived at the Cave of Machpelah, Esau came and wished to prevent [the interment there], saying to them, Mamre, Kiriath-arba, the same is Hebron8 — now R. Isaac has said: Kiriath-arba [is so called] because four couples [were buried there], viz. Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah — [Jacob] had buried Leah in his portion and what remains belongs to me'. They replied to him, 'Thou didst sell it'. He said to them, 'Granted that I sold my birth-right, but did I sell my plain heir's right!' They replied: 'Yes, for it is written: In my grave which I [Jacob] have digged for me',9 and R. Johanan has said in the name of R. Simeon b. Jehozadak: The word kirah [dig] means nothing else than 'sale' [mekirah], and thus in the coast-towns they use kirah as a term for 'sale'. — He said to them, 'Produce a document [of sale] for me'. They replied to him, 'The document is in the land of Egypt. Who will go for it? Let Naphtali go, because he is swift as a hind'; for it is written: Naphtali is a hind let loose, he giveth goodly words10 — R. Abbahu said: Read not 'goodly words' [imre shefer] but imre sefer [words of a document]. Among those present was Hushim, a son of Dan, who was hard of hearing; so he asked them, 'What is happening?' They said to him, '[Esau] is preventing [the burial] until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt'. He retorted: 'Is my grandfather to lie there in contempt until Naphtali returns from the land of Egypt!' He took a club and struck [Esau] on the head so that his eyes fell out and rolled to the feet of Jacob. Jacob opened his eyes and laughed; and that is what is written: The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.11 At that time was the prophecy of Rebekah fulfilled, as it is written: Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?12 Although the death of the two of them did not occur on the one day, still their burial took place on the same day. — But if Joseph had not occupied himself with [Jacob's burial], would not his brethren have occupied themselves with it? Behold it is written: For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan!13 — They said [among themselves], 'Leave him [to conduct the interment]; for the honour [of our father] will be greater [when it is conducted] by kings than by commoners'.
WHOM HAVE WE GREATER THAN JOSEPH etc.? Our Rabbis have taught: Come and see how beloved were the commandments by Moses our teacher; for whereas all the Israelites occupied themselves with the spoil, he occupied himself with the commandments, as it is said: The wise in heart will receive commandments etc.14 But whence did Moses know the place where Joseph was buried? — It is related that Serah, daughter of Asher, was a survivor of that generation. Moses went to her and asked: 'Dost thou know where Joseph was buried?' She answered him, 'The Egyptians made a metal coffin for him which they fixed in the river Nile so that its waters should be blessed'. Moses went and stood on the bank of the Nile and exclaimed: 'Joseph, Joseph! the time has arrived which the Holy One, blessed be He, swore, "I will deliver you", and the oath which thou didst impose upon the Israelites15 has reached [the time of fulfilment]; if thou wilt shew thyself, well and good; otherwise, behold, we are free of thine oath'. Immediately Joseph's coffin floated [on the surface of the water]. Be not astonished that iron should float; for, behold, it is written: As one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water etc. Alas, my master, for it was borrowed. And the man of God said: Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim.16 Now cannot the matter be argued by a fortiori reasoning — if iron floated on account of Elisha who was the disciple of Elijah who was the disciple of Moses, how much more so on account of Moses our teacher! R. Nathan says: He was buried in the sepulchre of the kings; and Moses went and stood by the sepulchre of the kings and exclaimed. 'Joseph! the time has arrived which the Holy One, blessed be He, swore "I will deliver you", and the oath which thou didst impose upon the Israelites has reached [the time of fulfilment]; if thou wilt shew thyself, well and good; otherwise, behold, we are free of thine oath'. At that moment, Joseph's coffin shook, and Moses took it and carried it with him. All those years that the Israelites were in the wilderness, those two chests, one of the dead and the other of the Shechinah,17 proceeded side by side, and passersby used to ask: 'What is the nature of those two chests?' They received the reply: 'One is of the dead and the other of the Shechinah'. 'But is it, then, the way of the dead to proceed with the Shechinah?' They were told,
Sotah 13b'This one [Joseph] fulfilled all that was written in the other'.1 But if Moses had not occupied himself with him, would not the Israelites have occupied themselves with him? Behold, it is written: And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt buried they in Shechem!2 Furthermore, if the Israelites had not occupied themselves with him, would not his own sons have done so? And, behold, it is written: And they became the inheritance of the children of Joseph!3 — They4 said [to one another], 'Leave him; his honour will be greater [when the burial is performed] by many rather than by few'; and they also said: 'Leave him; his honour will be greater [when the burial is performed] by the great rather than by the small'.
Buried they in Shechem.3 Why just in Shechem? — R. Hama son of R. Hanina said: From Shechem they stole him,5 and to Shechem we will restore what is lost. The following verses are contradictory: it is written: And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him,6 and it is written: And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up7 etc.! — R. Hama son of R. Hanina said: Whoever performs a task without finishing it and another comes and completes it, Scripture ascribes it to the one who completed it as though he had performed it. R. Eleazar said: He8 is likewise deposed from his greatness; for it is written: And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down.9 R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: He also buries his wife and children; for it is written: Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died etc.,10 and it is written: But Er and Onan died.11
Rab Judah said in the name of Rab: Why was Joseph called 'bones' during his lifetime?12 Because he did not interfere to safeguard his father's honour when [his brothers] said to him, Thy servant our father13 and he made no reply to them. Rab Judah also said in the name of Rab, and others declare that it was R. Hama son of R. Hanina: Why did Joseph die before his brothers? Because he gave himself superior airs.
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt.14 R. Eleazar said: Read not 'was brought down' but 'brought down', because he brought Pharaoh's astrologers down from their eminence.15 And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's bought him, Rab said: He bought him for himself;16 but Gabriel came and castrated him,17 and then Gabriel came and mutilated him [pera'], for originally his name is written Potiphar but afterwards Potiphera.18
WHOM HAVE WE GREATER THAN MOSES etc. And the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee.19 R. Levi said: With the word 'suffice' [Moses] made an announcement and with the word 'suffice' an announcement was made to him. With the word 'suffice' he made an announcement: 'Suffice you';20 and with the word 'suffice' an announcement was made to him: 'Let it suffice thee'. Another explanation of 'Let it suffice [rab] thee' is, Thou hast a master [rab], viz., Joshua.21 Another explanation of 'Let it suffice thee' is, That people should not say: How severe the Master is and how persistent the pupil is.22 And why so? In the School of R. Ishmael it was taught: According to the camel is the burden.23
And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day.24 Why does the text state 'this day?' [The meaning is], This day are my days and years completed.25 Its purpose is to teach you that the Holy One, blessed be He, completes the years of the righteous from day to day, and from month to month; for it is written: The number of thy days I will fulfil.26 I can no more go out and come in24 — what means 'go out and come in'? If it is to be understood literally, behold it is written: And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated;27 it is also written: And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo;28 and it has been taught: Twelve steps were there, but Moses mounted them in one stride! — R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Jonathan: [It means] to 'go out and come in' with words of Torah, thus indicating that the gates of wisdom were closed against him.
And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.29 A Tanna taught: That was a Sabbath when two teachers [gave discourses] and the authority was taken from one to be transferred to the other. It has further been taught: R. Judah said: Were it not for a Scriptural text, it would be impossible to utter the following. Where did Moses die? In the portion of Reuben, for it is written: And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo, and Nebo was located in the portion of Reuben, for it is written: And the children of Reuben built … and Nebo etc.30 — It was called Nebo because three prophets [nebi'im] died there, viz. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. — And where was Moses buried? In the portion of Gad, for it is written: And he provided the first part for himself etc.31 Now what was the distance between the portion of Reuben and that of Gad? Four mil.32 Who carried him those four mil? It teaches that Moses was laid upon the wings of the Shechinah, and the Ministering Angels kept proclaiming, He executed the justice of the Lord, and His judgments with Israel,33 and the Holy One, blessed be He, declared: Who will rise up for Me against the evil-doers? Who will stand up for Me against the workers of iniquity?34
Samuel35 said [that God declared], Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing?36 R. Johanan said [that God declared], Where shall wisdom be found?37 R. Nahman said [that God announced], So Moses died there etc.38 Semalyon39 said: So Moses died there, the great Sage of Israel.40
It has been taught: R. Eliezer the Elder said: Over an area of twelve mil square, corresponding to that of the camp of Israel, a Bath Kol made the proclamation, 'So Moses died there', the great Sage of Israel. Others declare that Moses never died; it is written here, 'So Moses died there', and elsewhere it is written: And he was there with the Lord.41 As in the latter passage it means standing and ministering, so also in the former it means standing and ministering.
And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor.42 R. Berechyah said: Although [Scripture provides] a clue within a clue, nevertheless no man knoweth of his sepulchre.42 The wicked Government once sent to
- To Next Folio - | <urn:uuid:bef18640-f28b-49da-a5fc-dc29339ce65d> | {
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How the Pilgrims Saved Us From Socialism
by Jack Cashill
Karl Marx had little use for America. From what he knew it was “pre-eminently the country of religiosity,” and yet it seemed to be the one nation that had been most thoroughly corrupted by ambition. Two strikes against America right there.
The “free inhabitant” of New England, Marx wrote in “On The Jewish Question,” is convinced “that he has no other destiny here below than to become richer than his neighbor.” When he travels, he worries “only of interest and profit.” The world for the New England Yankee is “no more than a Stock Exchange.” As to idols, he has but one, and that is, of course, mammon.
Marx wrote this in 1843, when J.P. Morgan was a first grader in Hartford, Conn., and Marcus Goldman was peddling goods from a horse-drawn cart in Philadelphia. One sees in his rant a precocious anti-Americanism that would deform the thinking of the international left for the next 165 years and find full flower, most recently, in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
What Marx almost assuredly did not know is that 200 years earlier, the very first New Englanders had taken a serious stab at the social scheme he was in the process of formulating.
Plymouth Plantation Gov. William Bradford describes here the outcome of the colony’s ambitious “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” experiment:
The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato’s and other ancients applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of property and bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.
For this community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.
For the young men, that were most able and fit for labour and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children without any recompense.
The strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice.
The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labours and victuals, clothes, etc., with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them.
And for men’s wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brook it.
Upon the point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like condition, and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them.
And would have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none object this is men’s corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer, seeing all men have this corruption in them, God in His wisdom saw another course fitter for them.
Freed from the theoretical, Americans set about creating a distinctive and largely spontaneous commercial culture. Self-interest would drive it, and self-control would restrain it.
The Judeo-Christian legacy would inform that self-control and inspire it, but always imperfectly, given the fallen nature of man. The relative absence of external control would allow this dynamic to work itself out and, in the process, forge the most productive industrial enterprise in world history, but the balance between forces would always be a delicate one.
On Nov. 6, we saw how the mis-education of our children has helped upset that balance. Let the re-education begin, and there is no better way to start than by sharing Bradford’s words of wisdom over the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/11/how-the-p...vzI7OWT0Q2r.99 | <urn:uuid:f6dbc942-9213-4901-98bd-2e835c8d466b> | {
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This post is part of our year-long series, Apocalypse 2012, where our favorite futurists, resiliency and disaster experts examine the role of design to help you prepare for...the end?
If you asked me what the two most important design tasks at hand for humanity is right now it would be:
1. Preserving human habitat
2. Creating new habitats for humans
The response I often get to these mandates is that the two are mutually exclusive; that if we preserve our habitat, planet Earth, we don't need to find a new planet. Some might argue that searching for new planets advances unsustainable technologies while simultaneously promoting fatalism with regards to our environment. In other words, the first proposal is proper tree-hugging and the second is dirty, quasi-steampunk.
I believe nothing could be further from the truth. It is an astronomical fact that planet Earth, in the long run, is doomed regardless of how well we handle the present greenhouse effect and related environmental challenges. Secondly, finding alternative habitats will not be feasible if we don't overcome present environmental challenges. Thirdly, the knowledge needed to terraform planets and to geo-engineer earth is the same.
I do think that we need to take our environment in general—our water and energy supply and global warming specifically—far more seriously than we do. I also don't think that spacefaring plans should diminish our current obligations to the Earth's environment. Within design and innovation we are already exploring the next frontier: innovation that breaks away from resource-dependence, where growth is uncoupled from consumption and product life cycles are prolonged.
Spacefaring is tougher to deal with because it seems remote; both physically and in terms of relevance and time. So the stickiest criticism is: "Why invest is space migration now?"
Earth isn't about to go under and we've got our hands full with other eminent and important stuff: A global financial crisis, epidemiologic disasters and natural catastrophes. Well, that might true and there is no clear way of determining the exact right time—I would however still claim that now is the moment to seize:
We are facing a great risk if we choose to postpone a mission for interplanetary exploration. The longer we wait the higher our risk: Earth is the only habitat we have. The probability of something going absolutely bonkers—life being wiped out by an asteroid, giant volcanoes, planetary disaster—is very low. But the risk we incur is immense. The later we start hedging the more expensive a plan B will be.
In 1961, John F. Kennedy announced the goal of sending an American to the Moon before the end of the decade. Such an outlandish goal was aspirational for innovators all over the globe: The United States decided on an ambitious target and, with a strong vision, set out to reach it. Putting a man on the Moon is celebrated as an isolated event today. Kennedy had guts—what responsible politician would declare a 10-year goal today? In retrospect, Kennedy's goal was perhaps too nearsighted. Space experts argue that by focusing all American expertise on one symbolic goal, the big picture got lost. More advanced means of propulsion could have been developed to enable us to colonize remote corners of space, and crucial geo-engineering experiments could have been conducted.
Although the West "won" the space race, winning such battles don't matter in the long run. Winning the war, the survival of our species does. The American hegemony will soon be over. Although I don't foresee the demise of the United States tomorrow, the world's number one hard power and world's foremost space faring nation is in decline and already signs of fatigue are showing with respect to long term expenses. It has yet to be seen if cosmonauts or taikonauts or any other nation's space programs are ready to take up the mantle. And although I am all for private space ventures, the type of investments needed to terraform Mars or bring humans to habitable exoplanets are out of their league. This is a venture bound to take half a millennium or so. We need to get started while we know we have the ability, the will and the funding.
I understand that one of the frustrating parts of this search for new habitats is the feeling that there is even less you, as a designer, can do about it than if you wanted to reverse the greenhouse effect. It is remote and sort of intangible.
One example of someone who is doing something about it is my friend, architect Kristian von Bengtson. He is a boutique example of a citizen starting a private and autonomous space project. Why would a private citizen invest time and money into space exploration? As he explains:
Before the age of robots and machines, humans were key participants in any exploration. From Marco Polo to present cave divers, the human presence is seen as the approval of a discovery. Human involvement in exploration enables sharing the story of the exploration with the whole world, not only objectively, but perhaps more importantly, subjectively. "Being there" as humans is important. But since the development of robots we have created augmented senses and presence which is considered just as good these days. The question is, can one argue that humans have been on Mars through the use of rovers and landers? There is a big difference between exploration using robots and humans. When NASA landed rovers Spirit and Opportunity on Mars they lasted 100 times longer than anticipated. It was a major achievement. Compared with humans, rovers are relatively easy to ship to Mars—machines do not require food and safety. But the two rovers lasting for many years on Mars were estimated to have performed exploration work comparable to one human presence on Mars for only two weeks. Robots do not sense what is important nor do they think rationally or independently. Humans are required in any serious exploration if we want to go somewhere seriously with in this matter.
In the development phases of human spaceflight, corporations have always turned towards engineers. However, engineers may have a hard time dealing with factors which cannot be added into equations because of irrational behavior in human nature, human needs and "functionality." Architects, designers, psychologists and anthropologists are widely used and much required to make it all happen. The integration of machine, mission and humans is a task for these professions to solve. It has been done for many decades with much success and future human exploration calls for more participation from these professions.
Besides autonomous space projects, a few other things that could be done:
- Outsourcing some non-core projects to private companies.
- Revamp national and international projects with a clear goal to bring the human species into space.
- Change international space law to be in favor of "messing" with space. Right now space law is in favor of conservationism.
- Reinforce and communicate the link between environmentalism and spacefaring—between terraforming and geo-engineering, preserving our habitat, Earth and finding new ones.
In the past, the United States has thrown down the gauntlet of greening the globe and the rest of the world has picked it up. Who will be there to seize the mandate of space migration now?
Jens Martin Skibsted is a designer, entrepreneur and philosopher, who rose to celebrity status with the instantly iconic Biomega bike, which stands for an entirely new sort of urban mobility. For more than a decade, he has helped ambitious companies build products that redefine marketplaces. He's the founding partner of Biomega, a luxury bicycle manufacturer, and KiBiSi, a product design consultancy. His bicycle designs live in the permanent collections at the MoMA, Le Cnap and SFMoMA. A Young Global Leader who spoke about Icons at Davos 2011, he is a member of INDEX Award, World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design Innovation, and the Danish Design Council. He is also a guest blogger for Fast Company. Jens Martin graduated from ESEC in Paris, UC Berkeley and Copenhagen University. @jmskibsted | <urn:uuid:7989aaef-171b-4b99-b868-ff447120fd5e> | {
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Patient safety is hot topic in healthcare
Ensuring safe care for patients who require care in the hospital setting has always been an important issue for healthcare providers and institutions, but it has become a front-and-center topic of discussion in recent years. National Patient Safety Awareness Week, sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation (www.npsf.org) is March 3-9. Southwest Health System hospitalist Kent Aikin, MD, says that patient safety is top of mind for nurses, physicians, and all healthcare providers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. "There are many factors to consider related to patient safety," said Aikin. "Reducing the risk of medication errors is, to me, the number one issue."
Nurses, pharmacists, and doctors have many procedures in place to make sure that each patient receives the medications they are prescribed correctly - the right drug, in the right dosage, at the right time. Patients have a role to play in avoiding medication errors, as well, according to Aikin. "When patients are aware and knowledgeable about what they are taking, the chance of them being given the wrong drug or one that will interact negatively with something they're taking is greatly reduced," he said. It's also important for patients to be upfront with nurses and doctors about all medications they take (including over-the-counter and recreational drugs, vitamins, and supplements) and to inform healthcare providers about any allergies they have.
Aikin suggests that everyone, no matter their age or health status, maintain a list of medications they are currently taking, keep it updated, and keep it with them. Wallet-sized cards designed for this purpose are available for free at Southwest Memorial Hospital. Having a medication list available in the event that emergency department or inpatient hospital treatment is needed allows caregivers to know what medications are currently being taken and to avoid administering duplicate or contraindicated drugs. "This list is an excellent source of information for healthcare providers," said Aikin. All too often, he noted, patients will say, for example, that they take a blue pill in the morning and a red pill twice a day. "There are a lot of red and blue pills out there," he said.
Hospitalized patients can be proactive in reducing their risk of receiving an incorrect medication by being vocal. "Patients should feel comfortable asking nurses what's being administered each time they're being given a medication," said Aikin. Doing so helps raise awareness and keeps everyone on their toes.
Patients who are admitted to the hospital should bring their current medication bottles with them; however, in almost all cases those drugs will be administered by nursing staff over the course of the stay. "So many medications can interact that we need to have control over what patients are taking while they're in our care," said Aikin.
Preventing hospital-acquired infections is another important patient safety goal, and one that is getting a lot of attention due to a rise of antibiotic-resistant "super bugs." Fortunately, this has not been a significant problem locally because hospital staff are trained and regularly re-trained in techniques to help prevent the spread of infections. Hand washing is the most important activity that anyone can do to prevent infection. Here again, patients can take an active role in ensuring their safety while in the hospital. "Patients should be bold and ask each nurse and doctor whether they've washed their hands before administering treatment," said Aikin. "Patients may be reluctant to do this, but hospital staff expect to be asked and we encourage it."
Because hospitalized patients are ill and more susceptible to getting infections, it's important for friends and family not to visit if they themselves are not feeling well. When visitors do call on patients in the hospital, they should wash their hands before and after the visit or use the hand sanitizer that is available in wall dispensers all around the building.
Another step that hospital staff members take to keep patients safe is asking them their name and date of birth and checking their hospital ID bracelet frequently. This may seem redundant to patients but the procedure ensures that Mrs. Jones is not taken down for an x-ray that was ordered for Mrs. Smith who is in the room across the hall, and that patients are given the correct medications and even the correct meal trays.
One simple step that patients can take while they're in the hospital to ensure their own safety is to tell nurses and doctors if they experience any new symptoms or significant change in the way they're feeling. Patients know their bodies better than anyone and clear communication with healthcare providers is an important factor in safety, quality care, and positive clinical outcomes.
Southwest Health Notes is a public service feature provided by Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez, Colorado. The information provided herein is not intended as patient-specific medical advice or as a substitute for consultation with your personal healthcare provider. | <urn:uuid:18e1eceb-78e7-4106-a8a2-7cbfc0d99450> | {
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This image was well known in the African American community. First published in 1925, it was reprinted four years later in The Negro in Chicago. This area of State Street (just off the top of Map 3) was located in an older section of black businesses closer to the downtown area than Thirty-fifth Street.
1) Which of the following black-owned businesses that occupied this stretch of buildings would you expect to find in a neighborhood shopping center today: a drugstore, a barber shop, a florist, a tailor, a music store, a photographer, a millinery shop, and a fish market? How might shopping here in the 1920s differ from your shopping experiences today?
2) List the most obvious differences between the buildings pictured here and those found in Drawing 1. What might account for these differences?
* The image on the screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a high quality version of this photo, but be aware that the entire file will take about 90 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem. | <urn:uuid:b6bceb51-1168-40cf-8d20-3092e9dcc782> | {
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A schoolmate Nitin would introduce himself with the line: "I'm Nitin, the same backwards and forwards". However cheesy that may be, at least it gave a mnemonic - people didn't forget his palindromic name in a hurry.
Palindromes are words or phrases that read the same in either direction. Words like MUM, DEED, REFER, the famous long one MALAYALAM. Phrases like NURSES RUN and MADAM I'M ADAM and SO MANY DYNAMOS.
When a palindrome appears in a cryptic puzzle, the clue will often make use of its same-both-ways attribute in the wordplay.
Times Sunday 4312: It swivels up and down (7)
FT 13124 (Mudd): Flat food turned over just the same (4)
Times 24250: Standard that may be raised to no effect (5)
Guardian 24502 (Orlando): Witnesses going up and down (4)
- The word "palindrome" is derived from the Greek palíndromos, meaning "running back" (palín = back + dromos = running).
- Other than the traditional palindrome which has character-by-character symmetry, variants such as these are also classed as palindromes:
- Word-Unit Palindrome: A phrase/sentence with symmetry of words rather than letters. e.g. Fall leaves after leaves fall.
- Mirrored Palindrome: A graphically reversible sequence. e.g. WOW, bid. A traditional palindrome is not necessarily mirrored (e.g. DID is not a mirrored palindrome).
- The Shishupala Vadha, an epic Sanskrit poem composed by Magha in the 8th century, has a stanza which is palindromic not just forwards and backwards but also up and down. Read more here.
- The Guardian carried a palindrome-themed puzzle by Araucaria a few months ago. Check it out here: Guardian 24587.
- If you are afraid of palindromes, you're suffering from aibohphobia according to Wikipedia's list of jocular phobias (and if you're really possessed by this fear then don't learn this word as it is itself a palindrome). | <urn:uuid:11496eb9-353a-4c97-a7e5-b6ee42c74069> | {
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Croatia should apologize for World War II genocide before joining the EU
Croatian fascists murdered hundreds of thousands of victims as part of a campaign against Serbs and Jews.
Croatia is nearing the finish line of a multiyear race to join the European Union. Its accession has been pushed along by traditional ally Germany, and by the United States, which has encouraged the EU’s southwest expansion to include all of the Balkans and even Turkey.Skip to next paragraph
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Croatia has complied with most of the formal entry requirements and is expected to join in 2012.
However, there is another – moral – requirement Croatia should have to meet for its own sake before being admitted.
It should fully and publicly acknowledge its role in World War II as a loyal ally of the Nazi cause, and its ardent participation in genocide against its Serbian, Jewish, and Gypsy (Roma) populations. The scattered, vague, and half-hearted denials masking as apologies that Croatia has used to improve its image in recent years don’t count. The country should come to grips with its genocidal role in the same way Germany has come to grips with its Nazi past.
Just this week, the Serbian parliament apologized for its role in the infamous Srebrenica massacre of 1995 that killed some 7,000 Bosnian Muslims. Such an apology was considered unthinkable even a few years ago, yet the pressures of joining the EU helped nudge that nation to account for this war crime.
It’s time Croatia did the same. Croatia has more than its share of apologies to make for crimes it committed during the Balkans conflict of the 1990s, but it can start with the massive killings it unleashed during World War II.
Although estimates vary, between 300,000 and 700,000 victims were murdered by Croatian fascists during the war.
When Hitler’s forces invaded Yugoslavia in the spring of 1941, Croatian right-wing extremists, under the leadership of Ante Pavelic and his fascist “Ustashi” movement, were given control of Croatia. Pavelic aligned the country enthusiastically to the Nazi cause and immediately launched a horrific onslaught against the Serbian minority. The official policy was popularly expressed as: Kill one-third of the Serbs, convert another third to Roman Catholicism, and expel the remaining third from Croatia.
The Roman Catholic Church insists it condemned the atrocities, but the record suggests a mix of official responses, ranging from weak condemnations to tacit support. While the killing was under way, the Croatian archbishop, Aloysius Stepanic, blessed the new regime and Pavelic was granted an audience with Pope Pius XII. A number of Franciscan monks participated in the killing. After the war ended, the Vatican helped Ustashi criminals evade capture and flee to South America. | <urn:uuid:124540ca-cb27-4764-8971-8b25601e08f7> | {
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Before letting a child play at a playground, you should check it out yourself to make sure it's safe. Even if you determine that it is, if there are several children using it, there's always the possibility of injury. The most common playground injury is from a fall, so make sure the surface is relatively soft, especially around equipment. Mulch, shredded bark, and wood chips are preferable to grass and earth, which can be hard, and of course to concrete or asphalt. The area should be clear of broken glass, bottles, cans, and other debris (duh-BREE). The equipment itself should be firmly anchored into the ground, and screws and bolts shouldn't be loose or exposed. In particular, slides should be shaded, especially if they're metal, and be rust-free. Monkey bars should be used only by children older than five, and the surface underneath should be soft to cushion falls. Seesaws should be used by children of approximately the same age or weight, with something placed under the seat, such as a rubber tire, to cushion the impact of hitting the ground. Check swings for frayed ropes or chain-links in which fingers can get caught. Children under five should use only chair swings. Even if they play on equipment in good condition, children can be injured if they don't use it safely, so take the time to go over the proper ways of using it, as well as proper etiquette toward other kids. | <urn:uuid:2dd651e5-09ee-4e48-9338-40cb81159183> | {
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DAKAR: Pieces of pottery, iron tools and jewellery dating back thousands of years have been discovered in Dakar after recent torrential rains flooded some suburbs, university researchers told AFP on Monday.
Moustapha Sall, a lecturer and researcher at Dakar's Cheick Anta Diop university said he happened upon the items by chance during a visit to the suburb of Ouest-Foire in the north-east of the capital after the rains on August 26.
"While visiting the flooded zone, I stumbled upon... pieces of pottery, perforated shells reused as jewellery, iron scoria and small stones including blades which could have been used to cut or carve," said Sall.
"The water washed away the sand and revealed these archeological objects."
Sall said the area was home to several construction sites, where workers said they had come across pieces of pottery and shells, which could hinder any future archeological digs.
"We will do an analysis of the objects discovered and send them to a laboratory" at the university which specialises in dating historical items, Sall said.
Another researcher at the university, Alioune Deme, said the objects could date back between 2,000 and 7,000 BC. | <urn:uuid:da49ad05-bc79-44a8-82f1-03e16015819b> | {
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If the idea of sitting on the ice trying to get a fish to bite doesn’t appeal to you or cross country skiing hasn’t flipped your switch, don’t give in and stay inside with the clicker in your hand.
Instead get outdoors and take a look around. Specifically keep an eye on the ground and those tracks you see in the snow.
You don’t have to go far to begin see tracks from the tiny spine-like ones birds make, to the smaller, squirrel-size impressions. Your backyard is a good place to start.
Similar to bird watching because you are trying to identify what you see, the exceptions are no binoculars are needed and being absolutely quiet isn’t required.
Training yourself to be observant and see not only the tracks but also details within those tracks and any other information with or around the track such as droppings or scat, pieces of fur or feathers.
Seeing more detail comes in handy for all sorts of hunting including mushrooms, asparagus, and some wild berries.
Sometimes you’ll see deer tracks on one side of a path but not on the path itself. Take a closer look around. You’ll probably discover them on the opposite side of the trail.
Before going out to look for tracks consider taking a notebook, pen or pencil and camera to help identify what you are tracking. A ruler is another good piece of equipment to measure tracks.
To identify tracks, draw it in your notebook or take a picture of it. Pay attention to what the track is showing you.
For instance is it round or long, is there more than one track, and can you tell if there are any pads or toenails in the track?
Draw a picture of the track in your notebook and take a picture to refer to later. Are there any other tracks with it or nearby?
Pay attention to where you find tracks. Are they near the birdfeeder, around that brush pile you are meaning to clean up in the spring or from under your garden shed?
There are many excellent field guides on animal tracks that make really good references.
Another place to begin and have fun is to take the online quiz to identify animal tracks. You can find it by visiting www.dnr.wi.gov/eek. Give it a try. It’s fun.
You’ll have fun kicking tires and checking out the 275 units and 50 brands of motorhomes, travel trailers, pop ups fifth wheels, and toy haulers at the 47th annual Detroit Camper and RV show at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Feb., 6-10.
If you are in the market for an RV to use this camping season, this is a good place to see lots of them without having to go far. And many manufactures offer rebates and show prices to buyers.
Booths selling parts and accessories, on-site RV financing, RV rentals and campground information are some of the features at this show.
Race fans will want to enter to win the Ultimate MIS Race Experience package from Michigan International Speedway. Includes tickets, camping and VIP access (valued at nearly $3,000).
Coupons are available at www.marvac.org, Big Boy restaurants, and in area newspapers.
Visit one of the 20 metro Detroit NAPA Auto Parts Stores for your discount admission coupon. With this special coupon, all consumers can get $1 off any adult or senior admission.
What? The 47th Annual Detroit Camper & RV Show will be held in Novi at the Suburban Collection Showplace.
When? Feb. 6-10. Weekday hours are 2-9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. The cost for adult admission (ages 13 and up) is $9; senior admission is $8; children ages 12 and under are admitted free.
Other? For more information call (517) 349-8881 or visit www.marvac.org. A coupon is available at www.marvac.org, and Big Boy restaurants.
Visit a NAPA Auto Parts Stores for your discount admission coupon. With this special coupon, all consumers can get $1 off any adult or senior admission.
This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count is from Feb. 15-16. Bird watchers nationwide are expected to participate.
This is as easy as sitting in your rocking chair and watching birds for 15 minutes, adding up the numbers of each species you see and reporting the findings on www.birdcount.org.
A joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon, with Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada, bird observations are welcome from parks, gardens, wetlands, and backyards.
This four-day count typically receives sightings from tens of thousands of people reporting more than 600 bird species in the United States and Canada alone.
“We’re eager to see how many of the world’s 10,240 bird species will be reported during the count this year,” said Cornell Lab director John Fitzpatrick.
“We’re looking forward to this historic snapshot of birds that that will be reported from around the world. We need as many people as possible to help build the wealth of data that scientists need to track the health of bird populations through time.”
No experience is necessary to join the count. “This count is so much fun because anyone can take part, whether you are an expert, novice, or feeder watcher,” said Gary Langham, Audubon’s Chief Scientist.
Participating is easy. To learn more about how to join the count, get bird ID tips, plus downloadable instructions, web buttons, and flyers, visit www.BirdCount.org.
The count also includes a photo contest and a prize drawing for participants who enter at least one bird checklist online. Portions of the GBBC site are also now available in Spanish at www.ContandoAves.org.
Roger Beukema writes a weekly outdoors column for Journal Register Newspapers. Email him at [email protected] and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. | <urn:uuid:a0ea3ebc-6ef4-4c83-a1c0-3aaf5097bbe9> | {
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Definitions For Great Lakes Water Withdrawal Registration
For purposes of implementing the Great Lakes Water Conservation and Management Act, the following definitions are applicable for registering water withdrawals and losses.
- Facility is one or more pieces of water withdrawal equipment at the same site, including but not limited to any place of business, farm, factory, industrial or commercial site, institution, structure, open land, vessel, or rolling stock, where water is withdrawn for any purpose.
- Agriculture is the practice of farming on a farm for crops, plants, vines and trees; and the keeping, grazing or feeding of livestock for sale as livestock or livestock products.
- Farm is an agricultural business that may be composed of up to 25 non-contiguous parcels of land within a radius of 40 miles that are under the ownership or control of the same person.
- Water withdrawal is a withdrawal of surface or ground water from the Great Lakes Basin of 100,000 gallons per day averaged over 30 consecutive days.
- Water loss means the consumptive use of Great Lakes water, or the diversion of water out of the Great Lakes Basin, or both.
- Consumptive use is a use of water that results in a failure to return any portion of the amount withdrawn to the Great Lakes Basin.
- Interbasin diversion is a transfer of water out of the Great Lakes Basin through any mechanism such as a pipe or canal and including a change in ground water flow caused by pumping.
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The benefits of exercise are many, from producing physically fit bodies to providing an outlet for fun and socialization. When added to a weight control program these benefits take on increased significance.
We already have noted that proper exercise can help control weight by burning excess body fat. It also has two other body-trimming advantages:
1) Exercise builds muscle tissue and muscle uses calories up at a faster rate than body fat and
2) Exercise helps reduce inches and a firm, lean body looks slimmer even if your weight remains the same. Additional benefits may be seen in how exercise affects appetite. A lean person in good shape may eat more following increased activity, but the regular exercise will burn up the extra calories consumed. There are other physical benefits of regular exercise as well.
Regular physical activity helps you feel better because it:
• Increases your strength, movement, balance, and flexibility.
• Helps control blood pressure and blood sugar.
• Helps build healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
• Helps your heart and lungs work better.
• Boosts energy during the day and may aid in sleep at night.
The psychological benefits of exercise are equally important to the weight conscious person. Exercise decreases stress and relieve tensions that might otherwise lead to overeating.
• Exercise builds physical fitness which in turn builds self-confidence, enhanced self-image, and a positive outlook. When you start to feel good about yourself, you are more likely to want to make other positive changes in your lifestyle that will help keep your weight under control.
• In addition, exercise can be fun, provide recreation and offer opportunities for companionship.
The exhilaration and emotional release of participating in sports or other activities are a boost to mental and physical health. Pent-up anxieties and frustrations seem to disappear when you’re concentrating on going that extra mile. | <urn:uuid:ae10b993-5d18-4860-abed-b7693ce836b3> | {
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Bank of America and several smaller banks recently announced they will impose monthly fees on customers for using their debit cards.
The move prompted howls of protest, including ones from Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who took to the Senate floor to encourage customers to remove their money from banks that raise fees.
That a sitting senator would encourage a bank run at any time, much less when the economy is in a precarious state, is remarkable in itself — and an indication of the political heat generated by the new bank fees.
So let's shed some light on how to think about them. No customer wants to pay new fees for any product or service he already receives.
Why are these banks taking such an unpopular step and dinging their customers $3, $4, or $5 a month? It's important to note that no one can say he didn't see it coming, least of all Durbin.
When Congress pushed through its big financial reform package last year, it included price controls on the so-called "swipe fees" banks can charge merchants for the use of debit cards in retail transactions. These fees are one way that banks make money. The swipe fees had nothing to do with the crisis that triggered the broader financial reform measure.
So why did Congress include these price caps? Durbin and other supporters of the measure were aiming to help friends in the retailing industry, who don't like paying the fees.
Before the law passed, the banks informed Durbin that imposition of the controls would likely lead them to raise prices for other services. But the price caps passed despite this warning. And so banks have done exactly as they said they would do — raise fees elsewhere to make up for the lost revenue — estimated at over $6 billion.
What should consumers receiving notices from their banks about increased fees think of all this?
Banks are not the most popular institutions these days, but they can hardly be faulted for raising fees in one area of their business after Congress imposed price caps in another.
This is not the first time Washington has experimented with price controls to ill effect. Price controls were advanced by policymakers to regulate the airline, telecommunications, and trucking industries, among others.
In the 1970s, caps on gasoline prices were imposed by the Nixon administration. This led to shortages and long lines at filling stations. Americans were outraged.
Indeed, price controls are one of the most pernicious kinds of government regulation. In an ironic twist, they often lead to higher consumer prices over time because they build inefficiencies into economic transactions and decision-making that end up costing consumers more money.
This is a key reason policymakers largely abandoned the use of price controls after the country's painful experiences with them in the 1970s. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, the saying goes, and it looks like we're repeating the mistakes of the 1970s.
Public ire today should be directed as it was back then — at Washington policymakers interfering with the market's price mechanism.
The good news is a bipartisan effort is channeling some of that public outrage in a productive manner. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican of Utah, and Rep. Bill Owens, a Democrat from New York, have sponsored legislation to repeal to Durbin price controls.
But they face an uphill battle. Large retailers like the price caps. And some policymakers like having banks as a convenient public villain. The loser if the price controls remain is the average bank customer who will likely see less innovation, worse service and higher prices over time than he otherwise would.
Nick Schulz is editor of American.com and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
- Letters: Move to the center 37
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- White House press corps has been turned... 19 | <urn:uuid:ec3b3fff-ce12-4477-9380-c087320e49b2> | {
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The word Diwali has its origin from the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" which means "rows of light". Diwali is the festival that falls on the night of “Amavasya” (no moon) but the “diyas” we light gives us the message of spreading light and driving the darkness away. On Diwali day, shops are packed with people buying fire crackers; mothers are busy preparing special dishes for family feasts. Late evening is the time for a special Pooja at home, and illuminating the houses with rows of oil lamps, candles and colourful lanterns.
Each day of the festival has a significance in life -
Balipadyami - “Truth alone wins”
Healthy eating is not about strict nutrition philosophies, staying unrealistically thin, or depriving yourself of the foods you love. Rather, it’s about feeling great, having more energy, and keeping yourself as healthy as possible. As the saying goes “Truth alone wins”, it’s mostly the kind of food that makes the person you are.
Here are a few ways to eat healthy -
- Eat enough calories but not too many
- Eat a wide variety of foodsespecially vegetables and fruits
- Keep portions moderate, especially high-calorie foods
- Don’t be the food police, you can enjoy your favorite sweets and fried foods in moderation
- An excellent way to add healthy sweetness to your meals is by using sweet vegetables like sweet potatoes or yams and reduce your craving for other sweets
Naraka Chaturdashi - "Burn the evil"
Burning the evil need not be burning the idols of evil powered Gods only. This can be about burning evil thoughts in our minds and the unhealthy foods that have made their way into our lives.
Let’s make a conscious effort to give up the unhealthy eating pattern -
- Do not rush through your meals. Take time to chew your food slowly, savoring every bite… Reconnect with the joy of eating.
- Avoid stress while eating. Try taking some deep breaths prior to beginning your meal, or light candles and play soothing music to create a relaxing atmosphere.
- Listen to your body; ask yourself if you are really hungry. It actually takes a few minutes for your brain to tell your body that it has had enough food, so eat slowly.
- Start your day with a healthy breakfast to jumpstart your metabolism.
- Eating small, healthy meals throughout the day can help you ward off snack attacks.
Lakshmi Pooja - "Wealth is Worship"
Life is not merely to be alive but to be healthy and wealthy. A Spanish proverb says "A man who is too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools". Health and Wealth decides the quality of life we lead. If you want to lead a happy life, wealth and health are both important.
Here is a gentle reminder of all the wonderful benefits of healthy eating -
- A long life is worth living only when there’s quality, and good eating patterns provide a good quality of life
- Happiness need not be temporary, but can be a permanent one. By eating healthy foods you'll suffer less from those terrible ups and downs that make you moody
- Vitality can be achieved by healthy eating along with exercise
- The better you sleep, the more rested you feel when you wake up
Sesame Seed (Til) - Khoya laddu
2 cups khoya
1 1/2 cups of coarsely powdered roasted sesame seeds (til)
Powdered sugar to taste
Kesar, chopped almonds and pistas for decoration
- Roast the khoya on low flame till it is very light golden yellow in color.
- Let it cool for a few minutes.
- Then add coarsely powdered roasted sesame seeds and mix it.
- Add powdered sugar when the above mixture is luke warm.
- Mix well and shape into small balls. If the mixture is too hot, then the sugar will melt, so care has to be taken that mixture is not hot.
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The cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum is native to northern Argentina and parts of Peru and Paraguay. It was introduced into the Caribbean islands in the 1960’s to control several (native) prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia) species (Simonson 2005).
In 1989 the cactus moth was discovered to have spread to southern Florida. The moth probably entered the United States more than once (Simonsen et al. 2008) - either on winds from nearby Caribbean islands or on imported cactus plants. In the 20 years since, the cactus moth has spread up the peninsula as far north as coastal South Carolina and west along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. (There are both native prickly pear cacti and ornamental cacti throughout the Southeast.) In 2009, it was detected growing on spoil islands in the swamps of southern Louisiana.
The cactus moth can kill most prickly pear cacti (genus Opuntia), in particular those species that have flat pads. In Florida, the cactus moth has already caused considerable harm to the six species of vulnerable prickly pears (Garrett 2004), three of which are state listed. In some places, 75% of the prickly pear cacti have been attacked by the moth, with small individuals at greatest risk of death from these attacks (Johnson and Stiling 1998, Baker and Stiling 2009). Most of the peninsula from Gainesville south is now infested (USDA APHIS 2009a).
The greatest threat is to the deserts of the American Southwest - from Texas to California - and Mexico. These deserts are home to 114 native species of Opuntia (APHIS 2009b), about 80 of which are flat-padded species vulnerable to the cactus moth (Simonson et al. 2005). In the difficult desert environment, prickly pears are a nutritious and reliable food supply for many wildlife species, including deer, javalina (peccaries), Texas and desert tortoises, spiny iguana, and pollen-feeding insects. Prickly pears provide shelter for packrats - which in turn are eaten by raptors, coyotes, and snakes; and for nesting birds including the cactus wren and curve-billed thrasher. The cacti also are nurse plants, under which other desert plants' seedlings may start life. Finally, the prickly pears' root systems hold the highly erodible soils (Simonson 2005).
The economic consequences of loss of prickly pear cacti will fall most heavily on Mexico, where prickly pears provide food to both people and livestock. Prickly pears are cultivated on some 250,000 ha in Mexico for both the fruits (tunas) and pads (nopales). Fruits and pads are collected from the wild across another 3 million ha (Simonson 2005). An estimated 28,000 people are employed by the prickly pear trade in Mexico, generating an estimated US$50 million in revenue annually during the 1990s (Simonson 2005) - and certainly more now. Opuntia are the third most important subsistence food source for Mexico's rural poor, so failure of this crop would be devastating (Soberon et al. 2001).
Another associated commercial crop is the natural deep-red dye extracted from the cochineal beetle (Dactylopius coccus) – which feeds on prickly-pear cacti. In Mexico, cochineal dye production constitutes a significant agricultural crop (Simonson 2005). The dye, as a natural product, is considered by some to be preferable for use in foods and cosmetics (http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Cochineal/index.html).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has tried since 2005 to slow the spread of the cactus moth. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and APHIS have relied on a program that combines release of sterile moths to disrupt mating and removal of the cactus hosts on the leading edge of the invasion. In cooperation with state departments of agriculture, APHIS has funded surveys in western states to assure that those most vulnerable areas are still free of the cactus moth. A volunteer network managed by Mississippi State University monitors federal, state, and private lands along the Gulf Coast for the presence of cactus moth to ensure any new populations of the species are quickly eradicated.
This integrated program has had some success in slowing the rate of the cactus moth’s spread; nevertheless, it has continued to move westward - to Petit Bois and Horn Islands, Mississippi in 2008; and the swamps and bayous southwest of New Orleans. The Louisiana outbreaks were detected in May 2009 – probably 4 years after the moth arrived there. These swamps are more than 50 miles farther West than the Mississippi islands. (USDA APHIS 2009a).
There would be smaller potential economic losses in the U.S. Depending on what species, if any, expand into areas where the prickly pear cacti were formerly abundant, losses could include reduced revenue from licensed hunting opportunities. In South Texas, higher rents are received for ranchland leased for hunting than for cattle production (Garrett 2004). Ecotourism in the Southwest would probably also be harmed by widespread death of prickly-pear cacti. Just one form of such recreation, off-highway vehicle recreation, resulted in expenditure of $3 billion in Arizona alone in 2002 – with a statewide economic impact of $4.25 billion (Simonson 2005).
While the Louisiana detection was a discouraging setback, researchers taking part in the program review in December 2009 still believed that it is possible to create a barrier to halt further westward spread of the moth by aggressively applying control tactics at the leading edge and managing hot spot infestation to the east of that line. Since there are few cacti in St. Mary Parish or the Atchafalaya swamp, this area might be a good barrier to westward movement; intensive surveys will be needed to verify this approach. Increased funding might enable the program to push the leading edge back to the east, where a better location for the barrier might be the Apalachicola River in Florida (USDA APHIS 2009a).
The moth is spreading much faster along the coast (approximately 75 miles per year) than inland (even in Florida). It will probably move inland faster in TX where cactus density is high throughout the state (USDA APHIS 2009a).
The primary tools for managing the moth at this time are removal of infested host material, limited herbicide treatment to kill cacti, and release of sterile moths (SIT). Monitoring and survey efforts depend on pheromone-baited sticky traps and visual inspections of host plants (USDA APHIS 2009a).
The attractant currently used in the cactus moth lure works, but not for long distances. Another weakness is that it attracts a significant number of non-target moths (USDA APHIS 2009a). Improving the attractant is key to both detecting moth presence and any attempts to use mating disruption to suppress moth numbers (USDA APHIS 2009a). An improved lure is expected to be field-tested by the end of 2010 (Javier Trujillo Arriaga, Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Mexico, pers. comm. October 2010).
The Program Review team (USDA APHIS 2009a) set out trapping site priorities for Louisiana and called for intensive delimitation survey of the Louisiana and Texas coastline (the latter is 250 miles long) using both traps and visual inspections (USDA APHIS 2009a).
Host plant removal (meaning elimination of all Opuntia from a given area, whether the plants are infested or not) and sanitation (meaning removal of all cactus moth life stages and infested plants) are key components of the containment program. The strategy chosen depends on circumstances (USDA APHIS 2009a). Both strategies depend on finding the cacti. This is difficult since cactus populations are not mapped. The Review Team suggested testing aerial surveys of bayou areas – which could be assisted by the fact that, so far, cacti are usually on spoil banks with trees (USDA APHIS 2009a).
Release of sterile moths has proved effective against small populations. Scientists cannot produce enough sterile insects to flood a large population such as that present in Louisiana. To suppress that large moth population, APHIS planned to focus in 2010 on cactus removal and sanitation; with sterile insect releases scheduled for 2011. Once sterile insect components of the program are instituted, they will face the challenge of delivering sterile insects twice per month to infested areas scattered across large wetlands (USDA APHIS 2009a). The oil spill in the Gulf made access to the area more difficult because of few boats were available for lease. Mexico sent a team of experienced cactus eradicators to assist (Robyn Rose, Entomological Society of America, December 2010).
Cactus moths have been successfully eradicated in limited areas using either complete removal of all cactus hosts (Isla Mujeres, Mexico and Ft. Morgan, AL), or sanitation to reduce the moth population accompanied by sterile insect releases (Isla Contoy, Mexico). Host plant removal was possible where plants could be accessed by vehicles and machinery, and homeowners and officials were comfortable with removing the plants. Sanitation and the SIT were used in protected areas where only limited plant removal was allowed and the plants difficult to access. In order to eradicate Cc in LA, an integrated approach focusing on sanitation, host plant removal and SIT with other control methods utilized on a case by case basis (USDA APHIS 2009a).
Once the cactus moth reaches Texas and the Southwest, biocontrol would be the only probable strategy. Most predators currently known are generalists so they are unsuitable for release. One candidate appears to be a specialist - the braconid larval-pupal parasitoid Apanteles alexanderi; host specificity testing was begun in 2010 in Argentina and Puerto Rico (Strickman 2010). US mainland cactus-feeding moths are poorly known so they will be hard to capture and test for vulnerability to the parasitoid.
Trichogramma pretiosum, a hymenopteran egg parasitoid, has been found parasitizing the cactus moth in the U.S. (Paraiso et al. 2009). While these wasps are available commercially, they offer little promise because they are not host specific and the level of parasitism is normally very low.
The USDA program has been hampered from its beginning by insufficient funding from unstable sources. There has never been an appropriation by Congress for this work. The USDA Agriculture Research Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have absorbed more than $9 million in costs since 2001. Mexico has provided $1.4 million. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Mississippi State University, and the U.S. Geological Survey (Department of Interior) have also participated in cactus moth control work.
In 2009 APHIS amended its regulations to ensure that Opuntia cactus nursery stock moved from infested states in the southeastern United States would not spread the cactus moth (Federal Register Vol. 74 No. 108 [June 8, 2009], pp. 27071-27076).
The cactus moth has also been introduced to Mexico. In August 2006, it was discovered on Isla Mujeres, offshore from Quintana Roo, in southeastern Mexico. A second outbreak on Isla Contoy was detected in May 2007. These populations have been eradicated with the help of USDA APHIS (APHIS 2009).
Baker, A. J. and P. Stiling. 2009. Comparing the effects of the exotic cactus-feeding moth, Cactoblastis cactorum (Berg) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and the native cactus-feeding moth, Melitara prodenialis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on two species of Florida Opuntia. Biol. Invasions 11: 619-624.
Garrett, L. 2004. USDA APHIS PPQ CPHST. White Paper: Economic Impact from spread of Cactoblastis cactorum in the United States.
Johnson, D. M. and P. D. Stiling. 1998. Distribution and dispersal of Cactoblastis cactorum (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), an exotic Opuntia-feeding moth in Florida. Florida Entomol. 81: 12-21
Paraiso, O., Kairo, M., Bloem, S., Hight, S.D. 2009. Survey for egg parasitoids attacking Cactoblastis cactorum in North Florida. Meeting Abstract
Simonsen, T.J., R.L. Brown, and F.A. H. Sperling. 2008. Tracing an Invasion: Phylogeography of Cactoblastis cactorum (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in the United States Based on Mitochondrial DNA. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 101(5): 899-905 (2008)
Simonson, S.E., T. J. Stohlgren, L. Tyler, W. Gregg, R. Muir, and L. Garrett. 2005.
Preliminary assessment of the potential impacts and risks of the invasive cactus moth, Cactoblastis cactorum Berg, in the U.S. and Mexico. Final Report to the International Atomic Energy Agency, April 25, 2005 © IAEA 2005
Soberon J, Golubov J, Sarukhan J (2001) The importance of Opuntia in Mexico and routes of invasion and impact of Cactoblastis cactorumLepidoptera: Pyralidae). Fla Entomol 84:486–492.
Strickman, D. 2010. Research Project: Collection and Evaluaton of Biological Control Agents Against Cactus Moth in Argentina Project Number: 0211-22000-006-11
USDA APHIS C. cactorum Program, Technical Working Group Report, New Orleans, LA, December 1-3, 2009
USDA APHIS. 2009. Eradication of Cactoblastis cactorum, from 11 Parishes in Southeast Louisiana. September 2009 USDA APHIS | <urn:uuid:41905fa5-ad8c-41ca-a535-689d508d5e68> | {
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A digital preservation program exists within an organizational context and as such must fit the needs, priorities, and resources of that organization. The core of a digital preservation program is a digital preservation system. This tutorial focuses on the organizational context for a digital preservation program and has as its foundation two key documents that have emerged from the digital preservation community.
The first document is Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes and Responsibilities (TDR), produced by the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and OCLC. TDR defines the organizational context for a digital preservation program. TDR embraces OAIS and demonstrates what adhering to OAIS will mean for an institution.
The second document is the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS), produced by an international group of digital preservation researchers and practitioners convened by the NASA Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). OAIS is an ISO standard (ISO 14721:2003) that provides the functional framework for sustaining digital objects in managed repositories. OAIS has been adopted as the foundation for many important digital preservation initiatives, and incorporates definitions and relationships between participants and the component parts of an archival information system. OAIS defines what is needed but not how to build it. Currently, CCSDS has updated OAIS using input from the user community. This update is CCSDS 650.0 M 2.
You could say that the TDR is primarily organizational and the OAIS primarily technological, but the two must work in concert for a digital preservation program to be successfully planned and implemented. Organizations have tended to focus on the technology—and more often on their fear of the technology—though there are many organizational pieces that need to be in place, including policies, procedures, and sustainable resources.
Here we present the two foundation documents in some detail with a special emphasis on preservation metadata and then discuss how they fit together to provide a starting point for cultural organizations wishing to establish a digital preservation repository. | <urn:uuid:eb5503ac-45d3-4dbf-a078-28122321c0ff> | {
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Concrete Examples of Orderings
Last week, I noted that if you have an object with two components, each of which you know how to order independently, it requires at least a little thought to figure out how to do so. Moreover, there is a commonly used strategy, often called lexicographical order or dictionary order, for taking the ordering strategies for individual components and combining them.
The C++ library is considerate enough to implement dictionary ordering for its users in (at least) three places. The first is the
std::pair template, which defines the six comparison operators in terms of the corresponding operators of the pair's components. Specifically,
pair(x1, y1) < pair(x2, y2) is defined as x1<x2 || (!(x2 < x1) && y2 < y1)
Note that this definition is careful to use only < on components, not > or ==. Part of its technique for doing so rests on the fact that the comparison x2 < x1 can take place only when it has already been established that x1<x2 is false, so that !(x2 < x1) is really a clever way of saying x2 == x1 without using == or !=.
pair(x1, y1) == pair(x2, y2) is defined as x1 == x2 && y1 == y2
This definition is careful to use only == to define == on pairs.
You might think that the other four comparison operators would be defined in terms of the corresponding operators on the component, but you would be wrong. Instead,
pair(x1, y1) > pair(x2, y2) is defined as pair(x2, y2) < pair(x1, y1) pair(x1, y1) != pair(x2, y2) is defined as !(pair(x1, y1) == pair(x2, y2)) pair(x1, y1) <= pair(x2, y2) is defined as !(pair(x1, y1) > pair(x2, y2)) pair(x1, y1) >= pair(x2, y2) is defined as !(pair(x1, y1)< pair(x2, y2))
The underlying principles are easy to understand once explained:
- The pair template never depends on more than the == and < operations on the components.
- Order relations are defined entirely in terms of other order relations.
- Equality relations are defined entirely in terms of other equality relations.
- If the element types have relations defined that meet the library requirements, then the resulting relations on pairs will also meet the library requirements.
As a generalization of
pair, the library tuple template also implements the six comparison operators in terms of < and == on the
tuple's elements. Like
tuple does not reply on the other four comparison operators on elements.
The third place where the library implements dictionary order is in the
lexicographical_compare algorithm. This algorithm accepts two pairs of iterators, each of which defines a range of elements, and uses an extended version of this comparison procedure to compare the sequences:
- If both sequences have the same length and every element is equal to the corresponding element of the other sequence, the two sequences are considered equal. This case holds even if both sequences are empty.
- If one sequence is a prefix of the other, the shorter sequence is considered less than the other.
- Otherwise, the result of the comparison is the result of comparing the elements that make up the first discrepancy between the sequences.
This function offers an easy way to define sequence comparison in terms of element comparison when all the elements have the same type.
Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, one's first thought about how to define comparison between two data structures should probably be to compare the data structure's elements along the lines that we've been discussing. The main mistake that beginners make is to believe that it is possible to define
pair(x1, y1) < pair(x2, y2) as something such as
x1 < x2 && y1 < y2, which doesn't work.
There is another pitfall in defining comparison relations: Sometimes the obvious way of comparing individual elements doesn't always work. We'll look at some examples of that pitfall next week. | <urn:uuid:9ae4399b-98f5-4509-a4b4-7d88309d0eb3> | {
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How to Ask for and Understand Directions in Japanese
7 of 10 in Series: The Essentials of Japanese Words and Phrases for Traveling
Exploring Japan can be quite an adventure, but you need to know how to ask for directions in Japanese and how to understand the directions you are given. After all, if you don't know how to understand what you're told, you might miss the very things you hoped to see.
The first thing you need to know is how to ask for directions. To get help you can say Sumimasen. (Excuse me.); or Michi o kiite mo ii desu ka. (May I ask you for directions?); or Tasukete kudasasimasen ka. (Will you help me?).
The following words can be used when asking for or receiving directions in Japan.
tonari (next to)
mae (in front of)
michi (street, road)
massugu iku (to go straight)
migi ni magaru (to turn right)
kōsaten o hidari ni magaru (to turn left at the intersection)
Be forewarned. It can be very difficult to find streets and houses based on addresses in Japan. An address is usually used to indicate the area of a building rather than its exact location. In fact, most streets are usually not laid out in a grid pattern and most of the time there are no street signs. So, having an address might not be enough information to actually find your destination address.
Here are some phrases that might come in handy when you need directions.
Takushī de nan-pun gurai desu ka. (How many minutes by taxi approximately?)
Mō ichido onegaishimasu. (Could you repeat that, please?)
Yukkuri onegaishimasu. (Could you speak slower, please?)
Chikatetsu de ikemasu ka. (Can we go there by subway?)
Try putting some phrases and direction words together. The following conversation is typical of getting and receiving directions in Japan.
Tom: Chotto sumimasen. Michi o kiite mo ii desu ka. (Excuse me. May I ask you for directions?)
Hiro: Mochiron. (Of course!)
Tom: Hoteru wa doko desu ka. (Where is the hotel?)
Hiro: Daigaku no kita desu. [(It) is north of the university.]
Tom: ATM wa doko desu ka. (Where is the ATM?)
Hiro: Asoko desu. [(It's) over there.]
Tom: Benten to iu resutoran o shirimasen ka. (Do you know the restaurant called Benten?)
Hiro: Hai. Daigaku no minami desu. (Yes. (It) is south of the university.)
Tom: Eigakan wa dono tōri ni arimasu ka. (What street is the movie theater on?)
Hiro: Eigakan wa migi ni arimasu. (The movie theater is on your right.)
Tom: Gakkō ni wa dōyatte iku n-desu ka. (How do I get to the school?)
Hiro: Migi ni magatte, hidari no hito-tsu-me no michi desu. (Turn right, and it is the first street on your left.)
Tom: Sakura Hoteru wa doko desu ka. (Where is Sakura Hotel located?)
Hiro: Hoteru wa eki no tonari desu. (The hotel is next to the train station.)
Tom: Ginkō to yūbinkyoku no aida desu. [(It) is between the bank and the post office.]
Hiro: Massugu iku to arimasu. (Go straight and you will find it.)
Tom: Hakubutsukan wa koko kara tōi desu ka. (Is the museum far from here?)
Hiro: Koko kara hakubutsukan made yaku ichi-kiromētoru desu. (The museum is about one kilometer from here.)
The measurement units used in Japan are different than those used in the United States. For expressing the distance between two locations, Japanese commonly uses kiromētoru (kilometer) instead of mile. One kilometer is 0.621 miles. | <urn:uuid:a149ec0d-6051-4972-985e-8bee89645367> | {
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Three use cases (with one score for each) — Portrait, Landscape, and Sports — report on different aspects of sensor performance. Each use case score is associated with one defined image quality metric as defined below:
Flash studio photography involves a controlled and usually maximal amount of light. Even when shooting with hand-held cameras, studio photographers rarely move from the lowest ISO setting. What matters most when shooting products or portraits is to aim for the richest color rendition.
The best image quality metric that correlates with color depth is color sensitivity. Color sensitivity indicates to what degree of subtlety color nuances can be distinguished from one another, often meaning a hit or a miss on a pantone palette. Maximum color sensitivity reports, in bits, the number of colors that the sensor is able to distinguish.
The higher the color sensitivity, the more color nuances that can be distinguished. As with dynamic range, color sensitivity is greatest when ISO speed is minimal, and falls rapidly with rising ISO settings. DxO Labs has focused on measuring only maximum color sensitivity.
A color sensitivity of 22bits is excellent, and differences below 1 bit are barely noticeable.
Landscape photographers often carefully compose their images and choose the optimal time to shoot. This type of photography commonly involves mounting the camera on a tripod and using the lowest possible ISO setting to minimize noise, thus maximizing image quality.
Unless there is motion, relatively long shutter speeds are not an issue with a tripod. What is paramount is dynamic range, especially because photographers will often aim for detail in high-contrast settings, juxtaposing bright sky with shadowy foliage, mountains, etc. Ideally, the dynamic range of the camera should be greater than the dynamic range of the scene, otherwise details in shadows are lost or highlights are burned.
Dynamic range falls rapidly with higher ISO settings, as any analog or digital amplification performed will increase the noise in the darker areas, making it harder to distinguish between fine levels of contrast.
Maximum dynamic range is the greatest possible amplitude between light and dark details a given sensor can record, and is expressed in EVs (exposure values) or f-stops, with each increase of 1 EV (or one stop) corresponding to twice the amount of light.
Dynamic range corresponds to the ratio between the highest brightness a camera can capture (saturation) and the lowest brightness it can capture (typically when noise becomes more important than the signal, i.e., a signal-to-noise ratio below 0 dB).
A value of 12 EV is excellent, with differences below 0.5 EV usually not noticeable.
This scale is open, as incoming light is not a bounded quantity.
Unlike the two previous scenarios in which light is either generous (studio) or stability is assured (landscape), photojournalists and action photographers often struggle with low available light and high motion. Achieving usable image quality is often difficult when pushing ISO.
When shooting a moving scene such as a sports event, action photographers’ primary objective is to freeze the motion, giving priority to short exposure time. To compensate for the lack of exposure, they have to increase the ISO setting, which means the SNR will decrease. How far can they go while keeping decent quality? Our low-light ISO metric will tell them.
The SNR indicates how much noise is present in an image compared to the actual information (signal). The higher the SNR value, the better the image looks, because details aren't drowned by noise. SNR strength is given in dB, which is a logarithmic scale: an increase of 6 dB corresponds to doubling the SNR, which equates to half the noise for the same signal.
An SNR value of 30dB means excellent image quality. Thus low-light ISO is the highest ISO setting for a camera that allows it to achieve an SNR of 30dB while keeping a good dynamic range of 9 EVs and a color depth of 18bits.
A difference in low-light ISO of 25% represents 1/3 EV and is only slightly noticeable.
As cameras improve, low-light ISO will continuously increase, making this scale open. | <urn:uuid:ea61549e-79e5-4299-a13d-149153e0f483> | {
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There are some very important things that you need to keep in mind when you're on your computer at home or at school.
I will talk with my parents so that we can set up rules for going online. We will decide upon the time of day that I can be online, the length of time I can be online, and appropriate areas for me to visit. I will not access other areas or break these rules without their permission.
First, remember never to give out personal information such as your name, home address, school name, or telephone number in a chat room or on bulletin boards. Also, never send a picture of yourself to someone you chat with on the computer without your parent's permission.
Never write to someone who has made you feel uncomfortable or scared. I will tell my parents right away if I come across any information that makes me feel uncomfortable. I will not respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make me feel uncomfortable. It is not my fault if I get a message like that. If I do I will tell my parents right away so that they can contact the online service.
I will never agree to get together with someone I "meet" online without first checking with my parents. If my parents agree to the meeting, I will be sure that it is in a public place and bring my mother or father along.
Tell your parents right away if you read anything on the Internet that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Remember that people online may not be who they say they are. Someone who says that "she" is a "12-year-old girl" could really be an older man.
Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens
You’ve probably learned a long list of important safety and privacy lessons already: Look both ways before crossing the street; buckle up; hide your diary where your nosy brother can’t find it; don’t talk to strangers.
The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, is urging kids to add one more lesson to the list: Don’t post information about yourself online that you don’t want the whole world to know. The Internet is the world’s biggest information exchange: many more people could see your information than you intend, including your parents, your teachers, your employer, the police — and strangers, some of whom could be dangerous.
Social networking sites have added a new factor to the “friends of friends” equation. By providing information about yourself and using blogs, chat rooms, email, or instant messaging, you can communicate, either within a limited community, or with the world at large. But while the sites can increase your circle of friends, they also can increase your exposure to people who have less-than-friendly intentions. You’ve heard the stories about people who were stalked by someone they met online, had their identity stolen, or had their computer hacked.
Your Safety’s at Stake
The FTC suggests these tips for socializing safely online:
- Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings.
- Think about keeping some control over the information you post. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family.
- Keep your information to yourself. Don’t post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or bank and credit card account numbers — and don’t post other people’s information, either. Be cautious about posting information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline. This could include the name of your school, sports team, clubs, and where you work or hang out.
- Make sure your screen name doesn’t say too much about you. Don’t use your name, your age, or your hometown. Even if you think your screen name makes you anonymous, it doesn’t take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.
- Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing — about you. Many people can see your page, including your parents, your teachers, the police, the college you might want to apply to next year, or the job you might want to apply for in five years.
- Remember that once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.
- Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered and broadcast in ways you may not be happy about. If you do post one, ask yourself whether it’s one your mom would display in the living room.
- Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.
- Be wary if a new online friend wants to meet you in person. Before you decide to meet someone, do your research: Ask whether any of your friends know the person, and see what background you can dig up through online search engines. If you decide to meet them, be smart about it: Meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. Tell an adult or a responsible sibling where you’re going, and when you expect to be back.
- Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust and report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim. | <urn:uuid:9e42c821-cd50-4a3e-a084-e60d69ac4284> | {
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Moving toward a “more meatless” diet is all the rage—just look to former President Bill Clinton, who’s been speaking recently about the vegan diet he adopted to help his heart health. I’m all over moving toward eating less meat too. Why? First, I love vegetables, whole grains and beans (for real) and feel great when I’m packing my diet with these plant-based foods. Also, as Rachael Moeller Gorman wrote in a recent issue of EatingWell Magazine, vegetarian diets often have big benefits for the environment and your health.
That said, meat isn’t evil: it’s a great source of protein and other nutrients, including iron, a mineral some women fall short on. And the latest 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest that “lean meat and poultry” are protein sources that fit into a healthy diet. Basically it’s the fatty cuts of meat that we should be considering what I like to call “sometimes foods.” (Can you tell I have a 3-year-old?)
Here are three compelling reasons why limiting fatty meats is a smart move:
1. Saturated fats. The fat in meats are mostly the saturated kinds that could harm your heart. Research shows that by eating lean proteins, such as chicken, fish and beans, in place of fattier meats, you’ll limit saturated fats, which can elevate “bad” LDL cholesterol that leads to plaque buildup in arteries. (Of course, there are other things you can do to reduce your intake of sat fat, too, namely—replacing butter with olive and canola oils; selecting nonfat or low-fat milk and yogurt in place of whole-milk versions; and eating full-fat cheeses sparingly. For more ideas on how to eat, check out these 10 Best and Worst Proteins for Your Health and the Environment.)
2. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Cooking fatty meats at high temperatures can create toxic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs form when fat drips onto hot coals, creating smoke that settles on food; these compounds have been associated with increased risk of breast cancer. (Read more on the dangers of cooking meats at high temps here.)
Related link: Does eating red meat increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer?
3. Dioxins. More than 90 percent of our exposure to dioxins—a family of chemicals (including some polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs) with known cancer-causing properties—comes from meat, dairy, fish and shellfish. Why? Because these compounds concentrate in animal fat. (Find out about 6 more toxins you can avoid to clean up your diet.)
To avoid dioxins, opt for leaner cuts of meat and poultry; trim away visible fat. Good to know: meat from grass-fed animals tends to be leaner to start with (but don’t get tripped up by these 5 myths about natural meats).
More from EatingWell: | <urn:uuid:5ed966aa-62d8-4b36-a5ee-5e462206ccf8> | {
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Everything children see, hear, and do...from their first breath, shapes the rapidly developing architecture of their brains. The foundation for language, social behavior, problem solving ability, and emotional health will be mostly created by the time they enter kindergarten. Community leaders, parents, and concerned citizens in Eaton County who understand the vital importance of investing in young children have come together to form our Great Start Collaborative Council. Everyone is invited to join .
The Great Start Collaborative will work to insure that every child in Eaton County enters school optimally prepared to learn and grow to the best of his/her ability. Agencies, parents, caregivers, and the community commit to providing a supportive environment characterized by respect and by the provision of accessible and coordinated services.
1. All children will be seen and treated as important and valued.
2. The community will support the first years of life because they affect lifelong emotional, social, intellectual, and physical well-being.
3. Children will be raised in families where they can experience positive relationships characterized by love and respect.
4. Communities will support families to help children successfully learn and grow.
5. The community will help parents access support and information because it directly impacts children.
We are pleased to assist you in finding a quality preschool program for your child. If you are interested in enrolling in Great Start, please visit Eaton's Great Start application page: http://www.eatongreatstart.org/preschool_assist.htm | <urn:uuid:a79a36f2-d4f2-4d9c-9ef8-75d941103c3a> | {
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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America. It's important to learn about how you and your family can follow a heart-healthy diet.
The key to heart health is eating foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium, and high in omega-3 fatty acids and fiber. Eating a well-balanced diet will include a combination of whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy.
Saturated and trans fats are found in some meats, dairy products, baked goods and deep-fried and processed foods. Both types of fat raise your LDL – or "bad" – cholesterol level. Instead, eat more plant proteins, fish, poultry and low-fat dairy foods. Start cooking with oils high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat instead of butter, margarine or shortening, which are high in trans fat.
Switch refined grains, like white rice or bread, with whole-grain options, such as brown rice and 100-percent whole-grain bread or pasta. Throughout the day, sip on water and limit sugary beverages by choosing fat-free milk and 100-percent fruit juices.
Next time you are at the grocery store, pick up some of these heart-healthy items:
- Beans, peas and barley
- Soybeans, other soy-based foods
- Fruits and vegetables
- Salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel
- Red grapes and purple grape juice
- Nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts
Another way to reduce your risk of heart disease is to be active. Regular, moderate physical activity lowers blood pressure and helps your body control stress and weight. Be physically active in your own way, and start by doing what you can, at least 10 minutes at a time. Children and teens should get 60 or more minutes of physical activity per day, and adults should get two hours and 30 minutes per week. Encourage your family to take a walk after dinner or play a game of catch or basketball.
For more heart-healthy cooking tips and information on reducing your risk for heart disease, consult a registered dietitian in your area.
Reviewed April 2013 | <urn:uuid:e43b04ef-818d-4291-9d1b-8725e72e386a> | {
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Nausea and Vomiting, Age 12 and Older
Nausea is a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. When you are nauseated, you may feel weak and sweaty and have too much saliva in your mouth. You may even vomit. This forces your stomach contents up your esophagus and out of your mouth. Most of the time, nausea and vomiting are not serious. Home treatment will often help you feel better.
Nausea and vomiting can be a symptom of another illness. Nausea and vomiting may be caused by:
Nausea or vomiting also may be a symptom of a problem or a disease, such as:
Nausea and vomiting can quickly cause dehydration. Older adults have an increased chance of becoming dehydrated, because they may:
Check your symptoms to decide if and when you should see a doctor.
eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
Find out what women really need.
Most Popular Topics
Pill Identifier on RxList
- quick, easy,
Find a Local Pharmacy
- including 24 hour, pharmacies | <urn:uuid:d1dd972f-b7bf-44a4-be39-b9761d68409e> | {
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An outbreak of an illness occurs when there is an increase in the number of people who live in the same area and are infected around the same time by an organism such as a virus or bacteria. A community may have an outbreak of the flu or measles as that specific organism spreads through the water or food in that area.
Organisms passed to people from insects or rodents can cause outbreaks too. These outbreaks usually do not spread much beyond the region where the rodents or insects live.
eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
Find out what women really need.
Most Popular Topics
Pill Identifier on RxList
- quick, easy,
Find a Local Pharmacy
- including 24 hour, pharmacies | <urn:uuid:7fd63bf8-fd3e-4903-8ddd-f6005985430e> | {
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Category: Sponges view all from this category
Description 8" tall (20 cm) and 1" (2.5 cm) wide. Sponge produces brilliantly colored tree-like, intertwined branches in red and orange. Surface is covered with tiny, scattered pores.
Habitat Ocean or bay shallows, Tidepools.
Range Eastern Canada, Florida, New England, Mid-Atlantic, California, Texas, Northwest.
Discussion Branches of the Red Beard Sponge provide important habitats for crustaceans and juvenile fish species. Reproduces both asexually and sexually. Broken branches can regenerate into new sponges. When cells from the Red Beard Sponge are separated, they have the ability to reorganize themselves. | <urn:uuid:5b37c27a-2d82-4de1-8942-df11c18b4567> | {
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"url": "http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?foo=0&curGroupID=8&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=3"
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The transistor ushered the modern world of gadgets that we all love, and now optical transistors could help to bring us to the proper next generation of the internet. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics have demonstrated successful electromagnetically induced transparency, or EIT, which is effectively a way of enabling one beam of light to control another. In their experiments, researchers used a rubidium atom to indicate state, blocking a beam of light in one direction but, when a laser hit it at a perpendicular angle, turning it transparent to allow the first beam through. The idea is that this could serve as a sort of optical gate for quantum computers
; the building block of a next-gen internet for next-gen devices. There's reason for excitement about the potential here, but researchers have a long, long way to go before anything like this is ready for reality, so don't give up those handlinks just yet. | <urn:uuid:82553058-bf43-41eb-b3fa-ae89ac56a0d2> | {
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What does this program measure?
Sulfur Dioxide is measured at 4,10,23,and 40 meters above the ground, in units of parts per trillion by volume.
How does this program work?
Why is this research important?
This is part of an effort to monitor long-term of emissions from Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. It may provide a precursor to the next Mauna Loa eruption. These measurements also detection large sulfur dioxide pollution events from Asia.
Are there any trends in the data?
No trends. Kilauea has been in continuous eruption since 1983. Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984. Since 1994; SO2 levels from Mauna Loa have been low (<500ppt, or parts per trillion).
How does this program fit into the big picture?
What is it's role in global climate change?
The SO2 data can be used to detect periods of volcanic pollution at the observatory. This can provide a non-baseline filter for other measurements.
Comments and References
NOAA Sulfur Dioxide Monitoring (SO2) | <urn:uuid:f8bcf8d0-f144-4e8a-b1ee-796934b50837> | {
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Contact: Science Press Package
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Caption: In this audio file, a University of Oregon archaeologist provides an overview of his research at Oregon's Paisley Caves since he began excavating there in 2002. He refers to much earlier work at the site by archaeologist Luther Cressman, who died in April 1994 after 35 years on the UO faculty. This audio file relates to a paper that appeared in the July 13, 2012, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Dennis L. Jenkins at University of Oregon in Eugene, Or., and colleagues was titled, “Clovis Age Western Stemmed Projectile Points and Human Coprolites at the Paisley Caves.”
Credit: [Audio courtesy of University of Oregon]
Usage Restrictions: Please cite the owner of the audio file when publishing. This audio file may be freely used by reporters as part of news coverage, with proper attribution. Non-reporters must contact Science for permission. | <urn:uuid:6419d6a4-8c4c-4bbe-ad2a-eaeb7f2f9d83> | {
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Fort Dearborn, U.S. army post on the Chicago River, NE Ill.; est. 1803 and named for Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. Threatened by the indigenous population at the start of the War of 1812, the frontier post was ordered by Gen. William Hull to evacuate. On Aug. 15, 1812, as Capt. Nathan Heald led the small contingent of troops, militia, women, and children from the fort, a large Native American force attacked. More than half of the people were killed and most of those remaining were taken prisoner; the fort was destroyed. Fort Dearborn was rebuilt in 1816–17.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
More on Fort Dearborn from Fact Monster:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. History | <urn:uuid:acf57b8b-35f8-4099-9ab1-92df9e34038b> | {
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|Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations|
|Federal Highway Administration > Publications > Focus > October 2001 > The ABCs of Heat-Straightening Repair for Steel Bridges|
|October 2001||Publication Number: FHWA-RD-01-068|
The ABCs of Heat-Straightening Repair for Steel Bridges
A number of calamities can cause damage to steel bridges, including vehicle impact, earthquake, and fire. While the procedure of heat-straightening has been used sporadically over the past 50 years as a way of correcting this damage, the technique had never been well-documented. To provide guidance to State highway agencies and contractors, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a two CD-ROM set, Heat-Straightening Repair for Damaged Steel Bridges: An Interactive Guide, in 2000 and will be offering specialized training through a series of 2-day seminars. FHWA has also published a manual, Heat-Straightening Repairs of Damaged Steel Bridges: A Technical Guide and Manual of Practice.
Heat-straightening is a repair process in which a limited amount of heat is applied in specific patterns to the deformed regions of damaged steel in repetitive heating and cooling cycles to produce a gradual straightening of the material. A benefit of using the process is that the repairs generally don't require the temporary shoring of the bridge. Another benefit is that the process can eliminate or greatly curtail the need for traffic detours. When done properly, the heat-straightening technique is an effective and economical approach that can be used in many damage cases. The same principle can also be applied to the fabrication of new bridges for curving or cambering a girder.
The Manual of Practice and CD-ROM provide information on the management and design of heat-straightening repair projects, as well as techniques for using the procedure. The CD also presents a detailed case study of a heat-straightening project on a bridge near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The two-lane bridge crossing on I-10 had been damaged when equipment on a flatbed tractor-trailer impacted a bridge beam. The repair was designed by a team from Louisiana State University and implemented in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
Seminars will be held in Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 27-28, 2001, and in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on December 10-11. Additional workshops will also be scheduled over the next 2 years. The training programs will cover:
Workshops were previously held this year in Topeka, Kansas, and Atlanta, Georgia. The Topeka workshop drew more than 50 attendees, while the Atlanta course attracted nearly 70 participants. "Very useful information was provided in a format that could be understood and applied to what I do at work," said attendee Steve Vaughn of the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT). "It was one of the best FHWA courses that we have had," noted Paul Liles, Jr., of the Georgia DOT. Don Whisler of the Kansas DOT says, "The materials provided will be great tools to use in the future."
For more information on the workshops or scheduling a training session in your area, or to obtain a copy of the CD-ROM, contact Krishna Verma, Senior Welding Engineer at FHWA, 202-366-4601 (fax: 202-366-3077; email: [email protected]). More information, including a link for downloading the heat-straightening manual, can also be found on the Web at www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/heat.htm.
United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration | <urn:uuid:843e7d3c-e5ab-4963-9211-5c458eaa6398> | {
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Dengue Fever in India
04 March 2013
Dengue fever is a growing concern in India. In 2012, 247 deaths were recorded as a result of dengue fever nationwide.
Latest data on disease prevalence released by the Health Ministry shows a significant rise in the incidence of dengue fever from 18 860 cases in 2011, to 49 606 in year 2012.
Around 1700 dengue cases were reported from Delhi in 2012.
Advice for Travellers
India is a popular tourist destination and travellers should be aware of the risk of dengue fever. Avoidance of mosquito bites, particularly during daylight hours, by covering up with clothing, the use of bite avoidance measures such as repellent and bed nets is advised. Elimination of breeding sites around hotel rooms/houses is advised for longer term stays. | <urn:uuid:cec56b3f-1f86-4cf0-8456-717120369364> | {
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Athens (/ˈæθɨnz/; Modern Greek: Αθήνα, Athína; IPA: [aˈθina]; Katharevousa: Ἀθῆναι, Athinai; Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athēnai) is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC in later centuries on the rest of the then known European continent. Today a cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. In 2008, Athens was ranked the world's 32nd richest city by purchasing power and the 25th most expensive in a UBS study. | <urn:uuid:06ff887f-0c9e-4eeb-8c7d-5e210d02a6b2> | {
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|Updated: 4/10/2007 10:12 am
||Published: 4/10/2007 10:12 am
For your car's engine to be able to start, several things have to happen. The flywheel needs to turn the crankshaft, which moves the pistons up and down, which in turn makes the valves draw air into the combustion chamber to mix with fuel to ignite. The process starts when your car's starter motor connects gears with the flywheel after the key switch is turned to start. The starter motor will disengage after the engine is started. Your car's battery provides electricity to turn the starter, and your car's alternator keeps the battery charged and powers all the accessories in your car once it's running. The alternator generates more electricity the faster your car's engine runs. The voltage regulator in your car controls the amount of current to the battery and prevents damage from overcharging. Contact a qualified mechanic in your area for more information on your car's starting system. | <urn:uuid:9eea44d6-be2b-40c4-ba2b-12698fe59b77> | {
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WebMD Medical News
Daniel J. DeNoon
Laura J. Martin, MD
April 8, 2011 -- What does a government shutdown mean for our health? Here's WebMD's FAQ, with answers to questions from WebMD readers and staff.
Most government health services are administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. During the government shutdown, 62% of HHS employees will not be allowed to work.
The remaining 38% of HHS employees will continue to administer programs that involve the safety of human life and protection of property, as well as programs that pay for themselves.
HHS shutdown plans remain sketchy, but here's a rundown of how the shutdown affects HHS services:
The Veterans Administration is a major source of government supported health care. Here's how the shutdown affects the VA:
Other non-HHS health services affected by the government shutdown include:
Probably not. However, closing of most of the FDA means that there will be less drug-safety oversight. Cutbacks at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mean the popular CMS hotline will have longer wait times, and investigations of Medicare/Medicaid fraud will be suspended.
Dialysis is a life-saving medical procedure. Dialysis centers will not be closed, and patients whose dialysis is supported by Medicare will continue to receive services.
Government health insurance will remain in effect.
Social Security itself is not affected by the government shutdown, as it is funded separately. But some government employees who administer Social Security will be furloughed. This likely means that processing of new Social Security applications will slow down, and there will be longer wait times to speak with Social Security personnel.
SOURCES:Scott Wolfson, director, public information office, Consumer Product Safety Commission.Department of Health and Human Services: "Contingency Staffing Plan for Operations in the Absence of Enacted Annual Appropriations," April 7, 2011.USDS Food Safety and Inspection Service: "Operations Plan for Absence of Appropriations," April 7, 2011.Department of Veterans Affairs: "VA Contingency Plan: Agency Operations in the Absence of Appropriations," April 8, 2011.U.S. Office of Personnel Management: "The Potential Impact of a Lapse in Appropriations on Federal Employees," April 7, 2011.U.S. Department of Agriculture Contingency Plans.Office of Management and Budget: "Agency Contingency Plans."
Here are the most recent story comments.View All
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of FOX16 - Breaking News and Weather to Plan Your Day for Little Rock and Central Arkansas
The Health News section does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information. | <urn:uuid:26fc3840-3a99-427f-8291-dc3b31e4843a> | {
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High Speed Research Car T-16
In November, 2000, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) began operating high speed research car T-16 to investigate methods for providing a safer and smoother ride for passenger and freight trains traveling at higher speeds. FRA's Office of Research and Development uses T-16 to study the dynamics of wheel-rail behavior, to investigate methods for improving track inspection, and to assess potential high speed rail corridors. T-16 also assists Amtrak, local and regional commuter authorities, and individual railroads in assessing their routes.
T-16 is a former Amtrak Metroliner passenger car which was refurbished and instrumented with advanced technology, with capabilities for measurement and data collection at speeds up to 160 mph. Measurement capabilities include track geometry, rail head profile, ride quality, and wheel-rail forces. T-16 can also be used as an instrumentation platform to collect data from sensors mounted on other cars in the train.
T-16 has the capability to process and display collected data in several formats. Monitors throughout the train can be configured to show the various displays. Exceptions are displayed in a list with specific details about each instance and on a GIS map to show their location in reference to other features. Raw data is streamed across a video strip chart that provides a graphical representation of measured parameters. The on-board system calculates and displays Track Quality Indices (TQI) based on track geometry data collected by the car. When requested by track inspectors onboard, data can be printed to an exception report or paper strip chart. Data can also be downloaded to removable media for offline viewing. | <urn:uuid:371aac0c-a2da-4ed9-ba62-6809b3a4bf3e> | {
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“The short-pant is a terrible fashion choice. Unless it is from Bermuda.”
When the British officers arrive in 1816 to the Bermuda Islands on the Atlantic Ocean, because this was a strategic spot for the Navy Inteligence, they soon realized that their permanence in there would be less than pleasant thanks to a factor which English people are not used to: unbearable heat.
For the British Empire outside Great Brittain, it was necessary to adapt to the conditions and weather of their colony. While in India, they leaned towards the light Madras, in Burma they prefered linen. But in the North Atlantic, on the Bermuda island, the story was different. The Royal Navy found that the Island had no natural resources for clothing, and all textiles were made out of cotton.
To the change of fabrics, it was added another one that would set the difference on the male fashion history. Officers cut their pants on bottom half, expecting that this would relief the effect of high temperatures on their european bodies. Quickly, this trend extended to local civilians, even local tailors started to sell suits with short-pants instead of long ones.
By time, tourists and visitors of the Bermuda Islands adopted the local style. Today we can find that this is a very popular piece of clothign between the male population, and also females, because of its practical style and versatility, besides being very popular in the hottest seasons.
By FM Team | <urn:uuid:90f96e56-73c3-4de9-ac7b-6bc55d88de91> | {
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The Intellectual Property Rights Reform initiative of the Information Program uses grant making to support work which will strengthen a vibrant knowledge ecology based on a balance between private property rights and the commons. Such knowledge ecology is significant to a thriving public sphere, an effective education system, the advancement of the sciences as well as the development of open societies.
Intellectual property rights (IPRs) govern the ownership and control of knowledge. IPRs are a powerful means to restrict the access, exchange and creation of knowledge and knowledge-based good or conversely to enable equitable access and ensure creativity and innovation.
IPRs, most importantly copyright and patents, affect everything right from patterns of economic growth, to affordable and free communications on the internet to the availability and price of textbooks, scientific journals, software and drugs.
Motivated by a concern about the emergence of a new, unbalanced global IP regime in recent years, the Information Program’s Intellectual Property Reform Initiative has emphasized on the reform of WIPO, and will continue to fund work in this area. Owing to this work, a coalition of groups supported by the Information Program scored several victories as the adoption of the WIPO Development Agenda – which have begun to shift the course at WIPO.
Fair use rights (also known as copyright limitations and exceptions) are essential to enabling access to knowledge, including for disadvantaged groups as the visually impaired. However, many countries in the Global South have weak fair use rights hampering access to education and research. Moreover, these rights are being increasingly curtailed as digital formats and platforms begin to dominate knowledge dissemination. In 2012-13, the Information Program will continue to support efforts that will advance international reforms to strengthen fair use rights including the WIPO Treaty for the Visually Impaired. IPR also support advocacy for fair use rights in national, regional and multilateral foray.
Another major concern is the current IPR enforcement agenda being advanced at different levels of policy making. The proposed policies are often negotiated in secret and would, if adopted, violate fundamental human rights as well as due process protections. The Information Program will support efforts that will advocate for transparency in the IPR policy making process; educate policy makers and the interested public about the threat of widespread “collateral damage” posed by some of the more radical IP enforcement proposals; and promote alternative models for the remuneration of creativity.
For further information, visit the link. | <urn:uuid:deb42ceb-bc5c-4190-bf0d-9ac918fd1e2a> | {
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What causes Tsunamis?
Tsunami are waves caused by sudden movement of the ocean due to earthquakes, landslides on the sea floor, land slumping into the ocean, large volcanic eruptions or meteorite impact in the ocean.
Most tsunami are caused by large earthquakes on the seafloor when slabs of rock move past each other suddenly, causing the overlying water to move. The resulting waves move away from the source of the earthquake event.
Underwater landslides can cause tsunami as can terrestrial land which slumps into the ocean. View our landslide generation animation which demonstrates how a landslide induces a tsunami.
Less common are tsunami initiated by volcanic eruptions. These occur in several ways:
- destructive collapse of coastal, island and underwater volcanoes which result in massive landslides
- pyroclastic flows, which are dense mixtures of hot blocks, pumice, ash and gas, plunging down volcanic slopes into the ocean and pushing water outwards
- a caldera volcano collapsing after an eruption causing overlying water to drop suddenly.
Topic contact: [email protected] Last updated: December 5, 2012 | <urn:uuid:942441f1-978d-4112-888a-0afdd3d00afb> | {
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Region Description: Coastal and Tropical South
Southern Coasts and Tropical South.
Baton Rouge LA, Brownsville TX, Charleston SC, Corpus Christi TX, Daytona Beach FL, Ft. Lauderdale FL, Galveston TX, Houston TX, Jacksonville FL, Key West FL, Laredo TX, Miami FL, Mobile AL, Monterrey MEX, New Orleans LA, Orlando FL, Sarasota FL, Savannah GA, Tampa FL, Tallahassee FL, and West Palm Beach FL.
The Coastal and Tropical South region follows its namesake bodies of water and extends inland as far as the sea's influence moderates the climate. The Gulf Coast bends upward from Brownsville and Laredo Texas, east across southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to the Florida panhandle and northern Florida. The Lower Atlantic Coast draws a narrower swath along coastal Georgia and South Carolina to the North Carolina border. The tropical areas include Central and Southern Florida and the Florida Keys.
The Coastal and Tropical South region is solidly subtropical and tropical. The Gulf Coast and Lower Atlantic Coasts are not as hot as the true tropics or cold for as long as those just north of us. With about 100+ days each year above 86F, even where sea breezes prevail, the predominant weather is hot and humid. Precipitation is heavy and frequent with annual rainfall averages between 40 and 60 inches a year. It's marked by high humidity, year round lush growing conditions, and little variation in the seasons.
Central and South Florida have a distinct wet and dry climate typical of many tropical and subtropical areas of the world. The summer wet season is hot and humid. It usually begins in early June and ends around mid-October. The winter dry season starts in mid-October and continues until the beginning of June. We receive at least 2/3rds of our 50 to 65 inches a year average annual rainfall during the wet season with southeast, interior Florida experiencing the heaviest rains. Tropical rainfall can be intense with high winds and flooding a real problem in low lying coastal and southern areas. This is especially true during hurricane season from August to November. Inland areas can receive frost in December and January while coastal areas, such as Ft. Lauderdale, are always warmer and some rarely receive frost. The Keys are truly frost-free.
The Growing Season
Most of this region will not experience frosts most winters. However, the summer's are oppressively hot and humid, making annual vegetable and flower growing difficult. The best growing season for annual flowers and vegetables is fall (September) through spring (May). It is often dry in winter permitting virtually any annual flower or vegetable to be grown with concerns about the frosts dependent on where in the area you're located.
It's also possible to grow a broad range of temperate and tropical fruits, such as citrus, strawberries, and avocado, in warmer areas. The lack of a prolonged winter and intense summer heat often limits the type of ornamental trees and shrubs that can survive and flourish in this climate to subtropical ones. Live oaks, citrus, palms, magnolias, oleanders, and gardenias are but a few of our classic landscape plants. Tropical foliage plants thrive in southern Florida.
The summer has high heat and humidity making it hard for most vegetables to survive. Summer weather features temperatures along the coast in the 80Fs and low 90Fs and inland in the mid to upper 90Fs. Frequent thunderstorms often temporarily lower the heat. | <urn:uuid:1eb2405a-efc5-4e71-a4dd-ac198bbd6bc4> | {
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Urban agriculture as a tool for economic recovery.
Customizable ideas for direct action
Use the Grow section to explore innovative methods for planting, growing, farming, harvesting, reforesting, and building productive landscapes. This Category covers subject areas like urban agriculture, community gardening, and urban forestry. Issues addressed include food security, soil science, nutrition, and the socioeconomic importance of safe food production.
In this category, creative solutions for managing stormwater and street runoff appear side by side with irrigation systems, canals, and fountains. Water solutions for cities range from networks of streetside swales to small-footprint greenhouses occupying single vacant lots. Emphasis is placed on reducing impermeable surfaces in cities—these include rooftops, sidewalks, and traditionally paved surfaces like playgrounds and basketball courts.
Alternative energy sources available in urban contexts include solar power, wind power, and biofuels. Efficient green-building solutions and varied methods of bioremediation—preparing polluted urban soil for other uses—also appear in this diverse Category.
Public space, education, recreation, and safety are serious considerations for anyone rehabilitating urban vacant lots. Explore the Play Category to find inspiring designs combining all of these elements in parks, community centers, playgrounds, and alternative transportation systems.
Small solutions can often be the most accessible for individuals and communities, while producing the greatest positive impact. Explore our solutions for Lots to find compact architectural structures, mobile education units, pocket gardens, greenhouses, hydroponic beds, and many other projects for pocket-sized spaces.
More space means bigger opportunities: long-term, large-scale operations working to fit the needs of entire neighborhoods. Lots of Lots collects examples of—and ideas for—rehabilitating former industrial sites, entire blocks, and other big vacant sites requiring complex planning. Projects like these offer city governments and corporations the chance to support communities through funding, operational support, and policy change.
Building Corridors brings together populations, businesses, and neighborhoods never before in close contact. Explore this Category to learn how urban networks of all kinds—from bicycle lanes to trail systems to small-scale barter economies—can capitalize on vacant properties to effect citywide change. | <urn:uuid:7532b070-6317-49de-b212-e88e82c34bc7> | {
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Become a fan of h2g2
Early in the development of Christianity and Islam, Gnosticism and Sufism1 became marginalised and persecuted as heretical beliefs. Gnosticism and Sufism themselves inspired two of the more interesting 'heresies' of the Middle Ages.
Mani was born in Persian-controlled Iraq in 3AD and saw himself as one in the line of Buddha, Zoroaster and Jesus. His philosophy was that Evil was not a perversion of Good, but rather an alternative form of matter to Good. The two matters battled for supremacy over Earth2. Knowledge was the path to salvation, and missionary work was encouraged.
By the time Manicheism had travelled from Iran to Turkey and through the Balkan trade routes into Western Europe it had developed the view that Evil had already won on Earth. In southern France, the Cathar sect formed around the town Albi3. They posited that all material things - the world, us, our actions, and so on, were inherently evil. The only Good matter was Heavenly matter - our souls, God, Heaven, the non-material.
Catharism led to a society where eating meat or eggs was considered a mortal sin but where sexual promiscuity was encouraged. The Cathars believed only the heart and mind contributed to one's soul (the only bit of Good in a person) and thus it was impossible to sin below the waist. The enemies of the Cathars in northern France termed them the Bulgars or Buggers4. Faced with such an alternative lifestyle, the French Roman Catholic Church felt they had little option but to send in armies on a crusade to slaughter them all. They started at Béziers on 22 July, 1209 - a town with a sizeable Cathar population.
'How will we know who to kill?,' a knight is supposed to have asked Abbot Arnold Aimery.
'Slay them all,' was the Abbot's response,
'God will recognise his own.'
And so it went for nearly 20 years. Thousands of innocents were slaughtered, towns were razed to the ground - their land passing to local nobles who supported the Catholic Church. In fact it became pretty clear to a lot of people that it wasn't so much a difference of faith at the root of this holocaust - the Church was making a grab for land. One landowner in Toulouse ran through the streets before the Crusaders arrived declaring:
I am no heretic - I have a wife; and sleep with her... I eat meat, I tell lies and swear, and I am a good Christian. So don't believe it when they say I am an atheist, not a word of it! They'll very likely accuse you too, as they have me - these accused villains want to put down honest folk and take the town from its lawful master.
Heresy of the Free Spirit
The other major heresy of the Middle Ages was the Heresy of the Free Spirit. The root of this heresy lies in Sufi Islam - the mystical, populist off-shoot of Islam. The Sufis thoughts were brought into the mainstream in North Africa (the Maghreb5) through peculiar social and political events there. As the North Africans controlled the Iberian peninsula at this time, Sufism entered Europe through Spain.
The Heresy of the Free Spirit is in essence a riddle. If God created everything, then he created Evil. If we are in the image of God (a God who is partly Evil) then it's acceptable to be evil. In fact any behaviour we are capable of, is a reflection of the divinity of God. Sufism emphasises the oneness of all Creation - that us, the Universe and Everything are parts of God and vice versa. Introduced into the Maghreb in the 12th Century by Al-Ghazali6, scholarly Sufism spread from the Maghreb into Europe via Muslim Andalusia, where Spinoza's7 works lent the ideology of oneness-with-God increased momentum.
The Sufis of Seville began the Heresy of the Free Spirit movement - with followers undergoing an initiation of blind obedience to their master for several years before enjoying total freedom of action. Their every impulse was a divine command. The Heresy took off with holy beggars who wandered the roads of Western Europe along with widows and spinsters.
The Heresy had three major tenets:
- All is Divine.
- There is no afterlife - Heaven and Hell are states of the soul during life.
- To know of God renders one incapable of sin.
United with God, the individual was above all laws, churches and rites. Famous proponents of the Heresy (all killed by the Church) included Marguerite Porete, burned at the stake in Paris in 1311 and Heinrich Suso who wrote in Köln, Germany in 1330 that untrammelled freedom was.
When a man lives according to his caprices without distinguishing between God and himself, and without looking before or after.
This radical, gnostic mystic-Christian sect influenced the Anabaptists, Quakers and by evolution the libertarians and anarchists of modern times. Across Europe of the Middle Age, it inspired peasant rebellions and later in the English Civil War, the Ranters and Diggers. There are even strong parallels to the thoughts of Nietzsche and the Counter Culture of the 1960s. | <urn:uuid:1079b885-a80b-4a03-ab2c-35113994949f> | {
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Story and photos by Nikki Carlson
On THE MILK RIVER - Water sloshing against the river banks and bending around rocks gives the Milk River a fine-tuned heartbeat. This rhythmic dance whispers the river's past and future.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service watershed specialist Warren Kellogg says the Milk River is a precious "jewel in our back yard" and its legacy should continue for future generations.
"You feel like you've gone back in time" when you're on the river, Kellogg said.
NRCS's mission is to educate people about conservation, management and improvement of the environment and natural resources. Last Friday, 15 nature enthusiasts - including three members of the Hill County Conservation District board of supervisers, staffers, family members and guests - grabbed their paddles and floated an 8-mile stretch of the Milk River. Among them was conservation district administrative assistant Shannon Patterson.
"We just wanted to keep (the float) educational for the supervisors and people who might find it interesting," Patterson said.
The weather was sunny and complimented the 5-hour float.
As they moved downstream, they noted improvements that can be made in the areas of safety, wildlife habitat and conservation. They observed pump sites, bank erosion and weeds.
"Having a waterway like this 100 years ago was very important for other reasons than right now," Kellogg said. "Right now, the importance is community recreation, tourism, municipal water and irrigation."
Rows of rusty antique cars lining parts of the riverbank are one issue the conservation district and NRCS are concerned about. The cars were initially placed on some riverbanks about 50 years ago, Kellogg said, as a preventative measure against erosion. Kellogg said the car bodies should be replaced with rock as a safer and more attractive alternative.
"People used to use them a long time ago as riprap. Aesthetical and water quality-wise, this isn't a practical practice." Conrad Nystrom, conservation district chairman, said the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is planning to remove the car bodies this fall when the water level drops.
"(The cars) are an eyesore, pollutant to the water, a hazard for recreationists, rafts, and there's erosion going on behind the car bodies," Nystrom said. "It really didn't solve the problem as well as people thought it would."
Another topic was a non-native shrub known as Russian olive that's growing along the riverbanks. Why all of the shrub talk? Kellogg said this particular shrub "invades and crowds out native plants" in the area.
"They're very adaptive to dry areas, but it's also on river water and it's kind of a nuisance," Kellogg said. "If it's allowed to go, eventually you could have 100 percent Russian olive on this river bottom."
On a positive note, the cottonwood tree is also making a comeback along the Milk River. At a stopping point, Kellogg pointed out young cottonwoods along the bank.
"They're starting to come back now due to a change in management over the years," he said.
Years of erosion have left the roots of some cottonwoods naked along the riverbank, clearly suggesting that they will eventually fall over into the water. In order to prevent that, Kellogg suggested the trees be cut down and the roots left alone so even more erosion will not occur.
Barbed wire fences gliding down the slopes beneath the river's surface were another cause for alarm for the supervisors because of the hazard they create for boaters.
After the guided canoe tour, the group had gained a lifelong experience on the Milk River.
So what's in store for the Milk River? Now its whispers are being heard.
"I think it's a beautiful trip, beautiful day, and nice company," said Nystrom. "I appreciate Warren being here and giving us lots of good information." | <urn:uuid:f93f1d87-0fb0-40f3-a658-d8c9eeb3b6dd> | {
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Breathing-related sleep disorder
Breathing-related sleep disorder is marked by sleep disruption caused by abnormal breathing during sleep. The most common complaint of individuals with breathing-related sleep disorder is excessive daytime sleepiness, brought on by frequent interruptions of nocturnal, or nighttime, sleep. A less frequent complaint is insomnia or inability to sleep.
Mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders also known as the DSM to diagnose mental disorders. In the 2000 edition of this manual (the fourth edition, text revision, also known as DSM-IV-TR) breathing-related sleep disorder is listed as one of several different primary sleep disorders. Within the category of primary sleep disorders, it is classified as one of the dyssomnias, which are characterized by irregularities in the quality, timing, and amount of sleep.
The DSM-IV-TR lists three types of breathing-related sleep disorder: obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (the most common type); central sleep apnea syndrome; and central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome.
The most common feature of any breathing-related sleep disorder is interruption of the person's sleep leading to excessive daytime sleepiness. When the regular nighttime sleep of individuals is frequently interrupted, sleepiness at other times of the day is the usual result. People with breathing-related sleep disorder often find that they feel sleepy during such relaxing activities as reading or watching a movie. With extreme cases, the person may feel so sleepy that he or she falls asleep during activities that require alertness, such as talking, walking, or driving.
Other people with breathing-related sleep disorder report having insomnia, or the inability to sleep. Patients also find that their sleep does not refresh them; they may awaken frequently during sleep, or have difficulty breathing while sleeping or lying down.
The two sleep apnea syndromes that are listed as subtypes of breathing-related sleep disorder are characterized by episodes of airway blockage or stopping of breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea is potentially deadly. The other type of breathing-related sleep disorder, central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome, is distinguished from the other two subtypes by the fact that the reduced oxygen content of the blood is caused by shallow breathing. The alveoli, which are the tiny air sacs in the lung tissue, are not able to oxygenate the blood efficiently because the person is not breathing deeply enough. Shallow breathing often occurs when people are awake and is common in severely overweight individuals.
Many persons with the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome subtype of breathing-related sleep disorder are overweight. The symptoms often grow worse as the person's weight increases. Persons who have obstructive sleep apnea and are not overweight often have breathing passages that are narrowed by swollen tonsils, abnormally large adenoids, or other abnormalities of the various structures of the mouth and throat.
Central sleep apnea syndrome is often associated with cardiac or neurological conditions affecting airflow regulation. It is a disorder that occurs most frequently in elderly patients.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which is the most common type of breathing-related sleep disorder, is marked by frequent episodes of upper-airway obstruction during sleep. Patients with this syndrome alternate between loud snores or gasps and silent periods that usually last for 20–30 seconds. The snoring is caused by the partial blockage of the airway. The silent periods are caused by complete obstruction of the airway, which makes the patient's breathing stop.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is also common in children with enlarged tonsils. The symptoms of any breathing-related sleep disorder in children are often subtle and more difficult to diagnose. Children under five are more likely to demonstrate such nighttime symptoms as apnea and breathing difficulties. Children over five are more likely to demonstrate such daytime symptoms as sleepiness and attention difficulties.
Persons with central sleep apnea syndrome experience periods when the oxygenation of blood in the lungs temporarily stops during sleep; but they do not suffer airway obstruction. Although these patients may snore, their snoring is usually mild and not a major complaint.
Central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome is characterized by excessive sleepiness and insomnia.
The majority of patients with the obstructive sleep apnea type of breathing-related sleep disorder are overweight, middle-aged males. Adult males are two to four times as likely as adult females to experience obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Among children the male: female ratio is 1:1.
Central sleep apnea syndrome is most common in the elderly.
A diagnosis of breathing-related sleep disorder usually requires a thorough physical examination of the patient. The patient may be referred to an otorhinolaryngologist (a doctor who specializes in disorders of the ear, nose, and throat) for a detailed evaluation of the upper respiratory tract. The physical examination is followed by observation of the patient in a sleep clinic or laboratory. Breathing patterns, including episodes of snoring and apnea, are evaluated when the patient is connected to a device called a polysomnogram. The polysomnogram uses a set of electrodes to measure several different body functions associated with sleep, including heart rate, eye movements, brain waves, muscle activity, breathing, changes in blood oxygen concentration, and body position. Interviews are also conducted with the patient and his or her partner.
To meet criteria for the diagnosis of breathing-related sleep disorder, the patient must experience interruptions of sleep leading to insomnia or excessive sleepiness that have been determined to result from one of the following sleep-related breathing conditions: obstructive sleep apnea syndrome; central sleep apnea syndrome; or central alveolar hypoventilation syndrome.
The disturbance in sleep must also not be better accounted for by another mental disorder or by a general medical condition not related to breathing.
The disturbance in sleep must not be due to the direct effects on the body of a prescription medication or drug of abuse.
Weight loss is a key to effective treatment of overweight people with breathing-related sleep disorder. It is often considered the first step in treating any disorder involving sleep apnea. Increased exercise and reduced-calorie diets are the most important components of an effective weight loss regimen.
Nasal continuous positive airway pressure therapy, also known as nasal CPAP therapy, is a popular form of treatment for the obstructive sleep apnea subtype of breathing-related sleep disorder. Nasal CPAP therapy, which has been in use since 1981, involves the use of a high-pressure blower that delivers continuous air flow to a mask worn by the patient during sleep. The airflow from the nasal CPAP blower is often very effective in reducing or eliminating sleep apnea episodes. Nasal CPAP treatment is, however, inconvenient and somewhat noisy for anyone who must share a bedroom with the patient. Patients do not always comply with this form of treatment; one study indicated that about 25% of patients who are treated with nasal CPAP therapy stop using it within a year.
Medications for patients with the sleep apnea subtype of breathing-related sleep disorder are most commonly such respiratory stimulants as medroxyprogesterone acetate (Depo-Provera) and acetazolamide (Diamox). Protriptyline (Vivactil), which is a tricyclic antidepressant, is also used for some patients.
Surgery to relieve airway obstruction is increasingly preferred by many patients. If the airway obstruction is related to anatomical structures that are narrowing the airway, surgical reshaping of the soft palate and uvula (a small, conical-shaped piece of tissue attached to the middle of the soft palate) may be performed. Another surgical procedure that is sometimes done in very obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea is a tracheostomy, or an artificial opening made in the windpipe. This operation has a number of unpleasant side effects, however, and so is usually reserved for patients whose breathing related disorder is life-threatening.
Patients with sleep apnea are advised to abstain from alcohol and sedative medications, which are often given to patients who display any type of sleeping irregularities. Alcohol and sedatives often increase the likelihood of upper airway problems during sleep.
Breathing-related sleep disorder often has a gradual long-term progression and a chronic course. For this reason, many people have the disorder for years before seeking treatment. For many, symptoms worsen during middle age, causing people to seek treatment at that point.
Successful treatment of other conditions, such as obesity, cardiac or neurological conditions in the elderly, or enlarged tonsils in children often aids in the treatment of breathing-related sleep disorder. Weight loss often leads to spontaneous resolution of the disorder.
Because overweight people are more likely to develop the more common obstructive sleep apnea type of breathing-related sleep disorder, a good preventive measure is effective weight management. Good general health and treatment of related physiological conditions are also effective in preventing the disorder.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th edition, text revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
Buysse, Daniel J., Charles M. Morin, and Charles F. Reynolds III. "Sleep Disorders." In Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders, edited by Glen O. Gabbard. 2nd edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
Hobson, J. Allan, and Rosalia Silvestri. "Sleep and Its Disorders." In The Harvard Guide to Psychiatry, edited by Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., M.D. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999.
Saskin, Paul. "Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Treatment Options, Efficacy, and Effects." In Understanding Sleep: The Evaluation and Treatment of Sleep Disorders, edited by Mark R. Pressman, Ph.D., and William C. Orr, Ph.D. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1997.
Thorpy, Michael J., M.D., and Jan Yager, Ph.D. The Encyclopedia of Sleep and Sleep Disorders. 2nd edition. New York: Facts on File, 2001.
American Sleep Apnea Association. 1424 K Street NW, Suite 302, Washington DC 20005. <http://www.sleepapnea.org>.
American Sleep Disorders Association. 6301 Bandel Road NW, Suite 101, Rochester, MN 55901. <http://www.asda.org>.
Ali Fahmy, Ph.D. | <urn:uuid:6af6eb89-4905-4e14-99c7-3fd9db790baa> | {
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Its victory in the Spanish American War catapulted the United States into the international limelight. This program investigates the history of the war, as well as the journalistic accounts of the conflict. The two are at variance. Archival film footage, photographs, and commentary by historians contrast actual events with the newspaper accounts of "yellow journalist" William Randolph Hearst. Regardless of the truth of his sensationalism, the truth remains that Theodore Roosevelt became a national hero, his Rough Riders became legendary, and the United States became a country to be reckoned with on the world stage.
~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide | <urn:uuid:bb3013c7-75fd-4903-ab5d-66c5255e4df6> | {
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A $25 investment in 1963 for extra-fat insulation batts was the smartest decision Harold Orr has ever made.
Almost five decades ago, the man behind Canada's respected R-2000 program hired a Saskatoon contractor to build a modest 1,100-square-foot bungalow for him, his wife, Mary, and a young family that would eventually grow to include four sons, four daughters and a number of foster children.
It was a full house, but also a warm one that operated on a slim budget.
"I don't remember exactly what I saved that first year, but it was at least $25. Now I estimate I save $400 to $500 a year on heating with natural gas," says the 80-year-old internationally recognized environmental engineer.
Orr is the principal brain behind the Saskatchewan Conservation House, an 1,800-square-foot two-storey built in Regina in 1977 by a team of leading energy professionals. It was the first R-2000 home built in North America and it was crafted from suggestions Orr made to the organizing committee the year before — 13 years after he customized his family's three-bedroom bungalow.
A respected graduate of the National Research Council in Ottawa and then the NRC's Saskatoon offices, Orr was asked for suggestions but cautioned against offering anything experimental or crazy. He came back with a seven-point building plan that became the blueprint for the Conservation House and, later, Canada's successful R-2000 program.
Even more important, his recommendations were, and remain, the foundation of sweeping changes to green the building code, which was just updated this month in four provinces — Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and British Columbia.
There are some differences between the 2012 building code changes and his own green menu:
- Orr suggested no basement, because they were too expensive to insulate and prone to water leaks.
- Most of the windows should be on the south side of the house to capture the warmth of the sun and limited to smaller dimensions on the east, north and west side of the home to prevent heat loss.
- Shutters would be less expensive than opting for triple-glazed windows and do the same job of saving energy, he reasoned.
- Finally, walls should be 12 inches thick to accommodate extra insulation and there should be 20 inches of insulation in the roof.
The Conservation House created a furor among a concerned minority of environmental leaders who wanted to create an energy-efficient home in the years following the OPEC oil crisis in the '70s. Oil prices that almost tripled in two months, from $3.56 a barrel in October 1973 to a record $11.65 by January 1974.
A year later, the Danes built a zero-energy house in Lyngby, Denmark, that utilized some of Orr's R-2000 components and operated on less than $40 a year.
Americans were going in similar green directions, pushing R-2000 standards and super-insulated homes, while sliding away from stingier passive solar-heated homes because they were more expensive to build.
Orr used many of the same R-2000 building techniques in retrofitting older homes, turning energy gobblers into energy misers.
Yet the drive to build more R-2000 homes and homes with environmental benefits crashed when the price of oil tumbled from $32 a barrel in 1982 to $11 a barrel in '86, prompting then U.S. president Ronald Reagan to slash funding to innovative energy-saving programs.
There were similar spending cuts by former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, including trims to NRC staff and programs, prompting Orr to take a buyout when he was 55.
In Saskatoon, Orr continues to consult in the energy sector and continues to pocket energy savings based on the $25 investment in extra-fat insulation batts. His brick bungalow cost $13,890 at the time. He spent an extra $500 for brick siding, another $100 on operating windows to allow summer breezes to cool the inside of the home and another bit of money for a second, smaller bathroom on the main floor.
Before finishing the basement — adding two bedrooms, a family room and a bathroom — Orr personally installed a tight vapour barrier to keep out moisture and keep in heat. "I didn't trust the contractor to do a good, tight job. So I did it with a friend from work on the weekend."
Over the years, the Orrs have replaced the original windows with triple-glazed models containing low-E argon gas, traded wooden slab doors for insulated metal options and upgraded the furnace.
But those fat insulation batts, which improved the R-7 factor up to R-10, are still in the walls, paying back dividends far better than any mutual fund.
In fact, a mathematician might say Harold Orr's $25 investment and lower energy bills have more than recouped the price tag of his Saskatoon home. | <urn:uuid:68de4515-cc28-4e6d-8533-ce8c3ac8454b> | {
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