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There are two holes the size of bulldozers in the argument made by Johanna Wald in "Clearing Up the Record on Solar Energy on Public Lands", that opening public lands to large scale industrial solar development is a necessary "sacrifice" to fight climate change (see similar arguments from The Wilderness Society and Climate Progress).
First, I'm reminded of a remark made by an energy attorney friend who has fought destructive uranium, coal and oil and gas energy development for almost 30 years, that..."solar is just like any other industrial energy development". He was right.
Oil and gas development has site specific well pad surface impacts, but enormous below ground, water and air quality/climate impacts. Industry has, over the years, reduced surface impacts (at least in theory, if not practice) by drilling multiple wells from a single well pad and spacing them out.
Industrial solar impacts 100% of the surface for literally square miles (see the photo of the first phase construction for BrightSource/ISEGS below). Power tower technology also has significant bat/avian impacts as the towers can be over 650-feet tall (that's nearly as high as the tallest skyscraper in Denver). Visit the Basin and Range Watch website to see more images of what industrial solar development really looks like.
But the bottom line is this: Both oil and gas and industrial solar destroy functioning ecosystems and millions of acres of our public lands are being offered to industry for both forms of energy extraction.
Many unproven assumptions underlie arguments in favor of industrial solar; For example, that it will reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change. Yet, no life-cycle analysis has been conducted to quantify construction emissions, transportation, transmission/SF6, lost carbon sequestration values and other large-scale cumulative impacts.
The truth is, we don't know. But some scientists are beginning to question the massive footprint of industrial solar (See Big Solar's Footprint and Allen, et al.).
Many people, even those you would expect to know better, believe deserts are inhospitable places that support little life. It will come as a surprise that our southwestern deserts are among the most species-rich ecosystems in the US, and, according to a recent report by the Endangered Species Coalition, among the most threatened by climate change. (Desert soils are also very good at sequestering carbon).
Not surprisingly, industry supporters have worked hard to downplay the impacts from big solar and the value of deserts. Also, tremendous political pressure has greased the fast-track wheels for dozens of massive solar and wind developments.
They've gotten away with it because nothing on this scale had ever been built before. But as construction on solar projects in California proceeds, (they are still years away from generating any actual electricity), we are beginning to see the reality.
The Los Angeles times report, "Sacrificing the desert to save the Earth" is among the first to expose the emerging story that impacts from industrial solar projects are likely to be much worse than "predicted".
For example, desert tortoise abundances on the 5.6-square-mile BrightSource/ Ivahpah site were exponentially higher - more than 750 - up from the original estimate of 32. After project approval, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had to acknowledge that more than 3,300 endangered desert tortoises would be killed or relocated (with low survivability) as a result of a single project.
The deadly distemper virus was recently introduced, possibly by workers trying to force kit foxes off the land before grading operations could begin on the 2,000 acre Genesis Solar Power Project. If it spreads, the disease could threaten kit fox populations throughout the Chuckwalla Basin or beyond.
While "ground-truthing" on big solar is just getting under way, over 15 projects on 35,000 acres have been approved, and more are on the BLM priority fast-track. If allowed to go forward, the DOE/BLM solar industrial plan could impact millions of acres of intact, ecologically valuable public lands and render our southwestern deserts a fragmented wasteland.
In a somewhat shocking move, NRDC, The Wilderness Society, The Nature Conservancy and others signed a joint letter to BLM with industrial solar developers, including BrightSource, NRG Solar, Pacific Gas and Electric and SolarReserve, protesting the limitations of the same Solar Energy Zone's(SEZ's) these environmental groups are claiming will help industry avoid environmentally sensitive areas (Also see Mojave Desert Blog).
As the widely touted recent Colorado College Survey reminds us, a majority of Americans want public lands to be protected even if it means fewer jobs. Until proven otherwise, public lands defenders have to assume it applies to all extractive energy development, including industrial solar and wind.
The rational for destroying more public lands does not hold up, especially given the second big hole in Ms. Wald's logic. And that is her failure to acknowledge that point of use distributed solar has already scaled up faster and more cheaply than industrial solar.
Much of the developed world has surged ahead of the US without sacrificing its open-space, productive farmland or intact ecosystems. For example, little cloudy Germanyinstalled 3 GW (3,000 MW) of solar PV in December of 2011 alone, while the US only installed 1.7 GW (1,700 MW) in all of 2011. And Germany was able to do it at half the cost of solar PV in the US.
A recent UCLA study found enough commercial and residential rooftops and parking lots (generally lumped together as "rooftop solar", or distributed generation, "DG") in Los Angeles County to generate 19,000 megawatts -- enough clean energy to meet the city's typical energy demand. Other cities, including New York City, are following suit by mapping their rooftop solar potential.
Over half of Germany's renewable energy is owned by citizens and farmers, not absentee utility companies and corporations. The gains in efficiency, local jobs and energy savings are much greater when solar and wind are distributed more democratically. (See Community Power, by Al Weinrub for a good overview on the superior community benefits of local DG).
Just as Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, China, Japan and India are doing, the US could install thousands of Gigawatts of solar PV in the vast urban landscapes already devoted to human needs. What is lacking in the US is the adoption of proven policy incentives like Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and German-style feed-in-tariffs (FIT). (See Climate Progress for a good overview on the power of FITS).
Remote central-station solar requires years, or even decades to permit and build, and requires costly new transmission that is highly inefficient (7-12% line losses). It also commits us to a path-dependency that could preclude taking the more desert-friendly, efficient and cost-effective distributed path.
There really is no doubt - solar generation in the already built environment is faster, cheaper, more democratic, efficient and better for local economies and the environment than industrial solar. (Also see Rocky Mountain Institute, "Obama's Renewable Energy Plan: Let's Raise the Roof")
One has to wonder why NRDC and other industry-friendly environmental groups cling stubbornly to a misguided policy that is in direct conflict with their purported mission to protect the environment. Could the answer lie in the fact that current board members and former influential players (like R.F. Kennedy, Jr., John Bryson and Carl Pope) are themselves heavily invested in these projects?
Isn't it time to focus on proven policies that cash in on the 60% efficiency dividend and generate the energy where its used rather than fueling an increasingly divisive and confusing policy of advocating for the unnecessary destruction of our public and other valuable undeveloped lands?
The information and views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on this Web site and other publications. This blog was posted directly by the author and was not reviewed for accuracy, spelling or grammar.
To add your comments you must sign-in or create a free account. | <urn:uuid:1b6e609d-0c1d-46cb-9738-8a3c591b96c9> | {
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Definitions of spectacular:
- noun: a lavishly produced performance
Example: "They put on a Christmas spectacular"
- adjective: of the nature of spectacle or drama
Example: "Spectacular dives from the cliff"
- adjective: sensational in appearance or thrilling in effect
Example: "A spectacular display of northern lights"
- adjective: having a quality that thrusts itself into attention
Example: "A spectacular rise in prices"
Search for spectacular at other dictionaries: OneLook, Answers.com, Merriam-Webster
Help, Feedback, Customize, Android app, iPhone/iPad app
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National Constitutional provisions – Philippines
The constitution is the fundamental law of the country, reflecting the underlying and unifying values of society. It spells out the basic rights of each person; it serves as a framework for all other laws and policies, and cannot be easily changed. However, it can be changed and updated through a democratic process, and it is important to keep it alive, by popularising and using it, and by campaigning for its reform or amendment if necessary. Below we have picked out what we see as some of the most relevant articles, but please be encouraged to seek and read your constitution in its entirety.
The state is the central actor in any claim to the right to education: it is the prime duty-bearer and the prime implementer; it is the guarantor; and it is the state´s signature vis-à-vis the international norms and standards which binds it to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education. The state must therefore be judged or challenged on its central text on the right to education, whether this be the constitution, the laws or the policies.
The Constitution of Philippines Adopted 15 October 1986, amended 1987
The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.
The State shall:
(1) Establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society;
(2) Establish and maintain, a system of free public education in the elementary and high school levels. Without limiting the natural rights of parents to rear their children, elementary education is compulsory for all children of school age;
(3) Establish and maintain a system of scholarship grants, student loan programs, subsidies, and other incentives which shall be available to deserving students in both public and private schools, especially to the under-privileged;
(4) Encourage non-formal, informal, and indigenous learning systems, as well as self-learning, independent, and out-of-school study programs, particularly those that respond to community needs; and
(5) Provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-school youth with training in civics, vocational efficiency, and other skills.
(3) At the option expressed in writing by the parents or guardians, religion shall be allowed to be taught to their children or wards in public elementary and high schools within the regular class hours by instructors designated or approved by the religious authorities of the religion to which the children or wards belong, without additional cost to the Government.
(2) Educational institutions, other than those established by religious groups and mission boards, shall be owned solely by citizens of the Philippines or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens. The Congress may, however, require increased Filipino equity participation in all educational institutions.
The control and administration of educational institutions shall be vested in citizens of the Philippines.
No educational institution shall be established exclusively for aliens and no group of aliens shall comprise more than one-third of the enrolment in any school. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to schools established for foreign diplomatic personnel and their dependents and, unless otherwise provided by law, for other foreign temporary residents.
(2) Academic freedom shall be enjoyed in all institutions of higher learning.
(3) Every citizen has a right to select a profession or course of study, subject to fair, reasonable, and equitable admission and academic requirements.
(4) The State shall enhance the right of teachers to professional advancement. Non-teaching academic and non-academic personnel shall enjoy the protection of the State.
(5) The State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.
(…) the Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as a language of instruction in the educational system.
The State shall give priority to education [...]
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law.
The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good. To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and its increments.
(1) the State shall take into account regional and sectoral needs and conditions and shall encourage local planning in the development of educational policies and programs.
See Article 4 (very extensive).
The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.
The State shall protect working women by providing safe and healthful working conditions, taking into account their maternal functions, and such facilities and opportunities that will enhance their welfare and enable them to realize their full potential in the service of the nation.
The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.
The State shall establish a special agency for disabled persons for rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance, and their integration into the mainstream of society
The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other languages.
Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.
For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English.
The regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein.
Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.
This Constitution shall be promulgated in Filipino and English and shall be translated into major regional languages, Arabic, and Spanish.
The Congress shall establish a national language commission composed of representatives of various regions and disciplines which shall undertake, coordinate, and promote researches for the development, propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other languages.
No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights
The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.
The State shall defend :
(1) The right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of responsible parenthood;
(2) The right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation, and other conditions prejudicial to their development;
(3) The right of the family to a family living wage and income; and
(4) The right of families or family associations to participate in the planning and implementation of policies and programs that affect them.
The family has the duty to care for its elderly members but the State may also do so through just programs of social security.
HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
(1) There is hereby created an independent office called Commission on Human Rights. (2) The Commission shall be composed of a Chairman and four Members who must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines and a majority of whom shall be members of the Bar. The term of office and other qualifications and disabilities of the Members of the Commission shall be provided by law. (3) Until this Commission is constituted, the existing Presidential Committee on Human Rights shall continue to exercise its present functions and powers. (4) The approved annual appropriations of the Commission shall be automatically and regularly released.
The Commission on Human Rights shall have the following powers and functions: (1) Investigate, on its own or on complaint by any party, all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights; (2) Adopt its operational guidelines and rules of procedure, and cite for contempt for violations thereof in accordance with the Rules of Court; (3) Provide appropriate legal measures for the protection of human rights of all persons within the Philippines, as well as Filipinos residing abroad, and provide for preventive measures and legal aid services to the underprivileged whose human rights have been violated or need protection; (4) Exercise visitorial powers over jails, prisons, or detention facilities; (5) Establish a continuing program of research, education, ad information to enhance respect for the primacy of human rights; (6) Recommend to the Congress effective measures to promote human rights and to provide for compensation to victims of violations of human rights, or their families; (7) Monitor the Philippine Government's compliance with international treaty obligations on human rights; (8) Grant immunity from prosecution to any person whose testimony or whose possession of documents or other evidence is necessary or convenient to determine the truth in any investigation conducted by it or under its authority; (9) Request the assistance of any department, bureau, office, or agency in the performance of its functions; (10) Appoint its officers and employees in accordance with law; and (11) Perform such other duties and functions as may be provided by law.
The Congress may provide for other cases of violations of human rights that should fall within the authority of the Commission, taking into account its recommendations. | <urn:uuid:38dae8b5-e339-49b9-8eb1-4b8fc1e403ff> | {
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OR operator is a kind of a conditional operators, which is represented by | symbol. It returns either true or false value based on the state of the variables i.e. the operations using conditional operators are performed between the two boolean expressions.
The OR operator (
is similar to the Conditional-OR operator (
||) and returns true,
if one or another of its operand is true.
Read more at:
If you are facing any programming issue, such as compilation errors or not able to find the code you are looking for.
Ask your questions, our development team will try to give answers to your questions. | <urn:uuid:e17bb927-24fb-4bbb-b449-9ba563adebc9> | {
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Explore Guatemala City, Antigua and around
Mixco Viejo was the capital of the Poqomam Maya, one of the main pre-conquest tribes. The site itself is thought to date from the thirteenth century, and its construction, designed to withstand siege, bears all the hallmarks of the troubled times before the arrival of the Spanish. Protected on all sides by deep ravines, it can be entered only along a single-file causeway. At the time the Spanish arrived, in 1525, this was one of the largest highland centres, with nine temples, two ball courts and a population of around nine thousand. Though the Spanish cavalry and their Mexican allies defeated Poqomam forces, the city remained impenetrable until a secret entrance was revealed, allowing the Spanish to enter virtually unopposed and to unleash a massacre of its inhabitants.
Mixco Viejo’s plazas and temples are laid out across several flat-topped ridges. Like all the highland sites the structures are fairly low – the largest temple reaches only about 10m in height – and are devoid of decoration. It is, however, an interesting site in a spectacular setting, and during the week you’ll probably have the ruins to yourself, which gives the place all the more atmosphere. | <urn:uuid:a9979362-643e-4c67-8634-0a95ec814427> | {
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Lake Hengstey is located near Hagen, downstream of the River Lenne’s mouth into the River Ruhr. When it was first put into operation, the chalybeate and acid Lenne waters mixed here with the alkaline waters of the River Ruhr, leading to increased sludge precipitation and creating a strong purification effect. Today, water quality of the Lenne water has been considerably improved thanks to the construction of wastewater treatment plants, and Lake Hengstey serves as a bed-load trap and fine screening step.
MMoreover, Lake Hengstey serves as a low-level reservoir for the pumped-storage hydrostation in Kerdecke (Koepchenwerk), built by the RWE energy corporation. Due to the pumped-storage mechanism, the water level of Lake Hengstey fluctuates by up to 70 centimetres. In 1988/89, approx. 400,000 cubic metres of sediment were dredged from Lake Hengstey. | <urn:uuid:d1510e55-9ed9-4f9b-b406-2a61c8a4b5f5> | {
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1811 - John Bright was born in Rochdale, Lancashire on the 16th of November.
1836 - He met Richard Cobden.
1838 - He made his first speech on the Corn Laws at Rochdale and joined the Manchesterprovisional committee.
1839 - He became one of the leading members and worked closely with Richard Cobden in the campaign for the repeal of the Corn Laws. He married to Elizabeth Priestman. He built the house, "One Ash".
1840 - He led a movement against the Rochdale church-rate.
1841 - He emerged as the chief supporting speaker to Cobden.
1843 - He was the Free Trade candidate at a by-election at Durham. He beacame MP for Durham.
1845 - He moved for an injury into the operation of the Game Laws.
1847 - He married his second wife, Margaret Elizabeth Leatham. He became MP for Manchester.
1854 - He was a member of the Peace Society and denounced the Crimean War as un-Christian.
1855 - He made his most memorable speech and was delivered on the 23th of February.
1856-1858 - He suffered a severe nervous breakdown due to his failure to stop the war. His Crimewar War led him losing his seat as member for Manchester. He launched a speech-making campaign for parliamentary reform in Birmingham.
1866 - He found himself the hero and chief mouthpiece of the reformers.
1868 - He accepted the post of President of the Board of Trade in Gladstone's first ministry.
1870 - He retired through ill-health.
1881 - He returned to political life as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
1882 - He retired because he opposed Gladstone's Home Rule policy for Ireland. He was elected lord rector of the University of Glasgow.
1886 - He was given an honorary degree of the University of Oxford.
1889 - He died on the 27th of March.
Page last updated: 8:12pm, 16 | <urn:uuid:3c73f97c-4608-4a29-99fe-06793dfd2052> | {
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Works of St. Anselm, tr. by Sidney Norton Deane, , at sacred-texts.com
How he justly punishes and justly spares the wicked. ‑‑God, in sparing the wicked, is just, according to his own nature because he does what is consistent with his goodness; but he is not just, according to our nature, because he does not inflict the punishment deserved.
BUT it is also just that thou shouldst punish the wicked. For what is more just than that the good should receive goods, and the evil, evils? How, then, is it just that thou shouldst punish the wicked, and, at the same time, spare the wicked? Or, in one way, dost thou justly punish, and, in another, justly spare them? For, when thou punishest the wicked, it is just, because it is consistent with their deserts; and when, on the other hand, thou sparest the wicked, it is just, not because it is compatible with their deserts, but because it is compatible with thy goodness.
For, in sparing the wicked, thou art as just, according to thy nature, but not according to ours, as thou art compassionate, according to our nature, and not according to thine; seeing that, as in saving us, whom it would be just for thee to destroy, thou art compassionate, not because thou feelest an affection (affectum), but because we feel the effect (effectum); so thou art just, not because thou requitest us as we deserve, but because thou dost that which becomes thee as the supremely good Being. In this way, therefore, without contradiction thou dost justly punish and justly spare. | <urn:uuid:d07d9f7f-10f7-49f9-b5b4-55fefc17b1ea> | {
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Knee osteotomy is surgery that removes a part of the bone of the joint of either the bottom of the femur (upper leg bone) or the top of the tibia (lower leg bone) to increase the stability of the knee. Osteotomy redistributes the weight-bearing force on the knee by cutting a wedge of bone away to reposition the knee. The angle of deformity in the knee dictates whether the surgery is to correct a knee that angles inward, known as a varus procedure, or one that angles outward, called a valgus procedure. Varus osteotomy involves the medial (inner) section of the knee at the top of the tibia. Valgus osteotomy involves the lateral (outer) compartment of the knee by shaping the bottom of the femur.
Osteotomy surgery changes the alignment of the knee so that the weight-bearing part of the knee is shifted off diseased or deformed cartilage to healthier tissue in order to relieve pain and increase knee stability. Osteotomy is effective for patients with arthritis in one compartment of the knee. The medial compartment is on the inner side of the knee. The lateral compartment is on the outer side of the knee. The primary uses of osteotomy occur as treatment for:
- Knee deformities such as bowleg in which the knee is varus-leaning (high tibia osteotomy, or HTO) and knock-knee (tibial valgus osteotomy), in which the knee is valgus leaning.
- A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which is a set of ligaments that connects the femur to the tibia behind the patella and offers stability to the knee on the left-right or medial-lateral axis. If this ligament is injured, it must be repaired by surgery. Many ACL injuries cause inflammation of the cartilage of the knee and result in bones extrusions, as well as instability of the knee due to malalignment. Osteotomy is performed to cut cartilage and increase the fit and alignment of the ends of the femur and tibia for smooth articulation. As one very common knee injury that often occurs in athletic activity, HTO is often performed when ACL surgery is used to repair the ligament. The combination of the two surgeries occurs primarily in young people who wish to return to a highly athletic life.
- Osteoarthritis that includes loss of range of motion, stiffness, and roughness of the articular cartilage in the knee joint secondary to the wear and tear of motion, especially in athletes, as well as cartilage breakdown resulting from traumatic injuries to the knee. Surgery for progressive osteoarthritis or injury-induced arthritis is often used to stave off total joint replacement.
After surgery, patients are placed in a hinged brace. Toe-touching is the only weight-bearing activity allowed for four weeks in order to allow the osteotomy to hold its place. Continuous passive motion is begun immediately after surgery and physical therapy is used to establish full range of motion, muscle strengthening, and gait training. After four weeks, patients can begin weight-bearing movement. The brace is worn for eight weeks or until the surgery site is healed and stable. X rays are performed at intervals of two weeks and eight weeks after surgery.
The usual general surgical risks of thrombosis and heart attack are possible in this open surgery. Osteotomy surgery itself involves some risk of infection or injury during the procedure. Combined surgery for ACL and osteotomy has higher morbidity rates. | <urn:uuid:8c6c2e1b-58c6-4728-a5eb-58fd23315c59> | {
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SciConnect has co-developed a new course to help female scientists maximise their communication skills and career success. The first course will be held on 4-6 January 2013 in Windsor, and culminates in a recording session in a radio studio at BBC Broadcasting House. Places are going fast, so please visit the course webpage to find out more. The deadline for applications is 11th December 2012.
HOW CAN female scientists reach the top in their careers? The answer should be simple: just do brilliant science. Unfortunately, reality presents a rather more complicated and depressing picture. Despite growing numbers of women completing PhDs, they remain woefully under-represented in the higher echelons of academia and industry.
In the UK, only about a fifth of senior lecturers in science are women, and just under 10 per cent of science professors are female. Even in fields such as biology, where roughly equal numbers of men and women do PhDs, the proportion of women reaching senior levels is shockingly low.
SciConnect has teamed up with colleagues at Imperial College London, the University of Warwick and Quercus Training to create a course that aims to help female scientists tackle some of the factors that hold them back. Though the medium of science radio and TV production and science writing training, we help participants develop their communication and presentation skills, as well as deconstructing the media portrayal of science and female researchers.
So what is the problem? Although overt sex discrimination is rare, female scientists are battling engrained bias, both at the institutional and personal levels. One recent study, for example, revealed that when shown identical CVs for an academic post application, both male and female faculty members rated the applicant as being less competent if the name on the CV was female.
On a personal level, female scientists are still lumbered with doing twice as much housework as their male counterparts, and are more likely to put their career in second place to that of their male partners, by moving to suit his job or working fewer hours.
These biases and inequalities need to be tackled by enlightened national policies and institutional good practice. But there are also some things that individual female scientists can do to boost their chances of success in a male-dominated work environment. These include developing their ability to communicate and present their science with clarity, confidence and authority.
Another important factor is the low profile of female scientists in the media and the lack of awareness of women’s scientific achievements. This contributes to a social environment that subtly discourages girls and women from pursuing scientific careers. A recent Wikipedia “edit-a-thon”, tied in to Ada Lovelace day last month helped to redress the balance. But there is always more that any scientist can do to proactively communicate their research to wider audiences, be it via traditional mass media or via new media conduits such as blogging and Twitter.
Our new course uses science media to help early career scientists (meaning final year PhD students, postdocs and new PIs) improve their ability to communicate with different audiences, from other researchers and grant reviewers to journalists and members of the public. It focuses on the barriers facing female scientists in their careers and how developing effective presentation skills and personal impact can help.
The course analyses the media portrayal of female scientists, how it can be challenged, and what female scientists can do to raise their profiles. It also covers the importance of effective networking and mentoring, and participants will be encouraged to network over the duration of the course.
The course involves hands-on science radio and TV production, culminating in a recording session at BBC Broadcasting House. Both women and men are welcome to attend. Please visit the course webpage to find out more, and if you have any questions or thoughts, please add your comments below.
We also have a course flyer available to download (1.8MB) here. | <urn:uuid:284e424e-6ab1-46da-b7de-6ef932cad5dd> | {
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Jornal de Pediatria
Print version ISSN 0021-7557
KELISHADI, Roya et al. Cumulative prevalence of risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases in Iranian adolescents: IHHP-HHPC. J. Pediatr. (Rio J.) [online]. 2005, vol.81, n.6, pp. 447-453. ISSN 0021-7557. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0021-75572005000800007.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the cumulative prevalence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk factors in a representative sample of Iranian adolescents. METHODS: The subjects of this cross-sectional study were 1,000 girls and 1,000 boys, ages 11-18 years, selected by multi stage-random cluster sampling from urban and rural areas of three cities in Iran. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical inactivity, dyslipidemia, smoking, high blood pressure and obesity (body mass index >95th percentile) were 66.6, 23.7, 8.7, 5.7 and 2.2%, respectively. Of subjects studied, 79.1% had at least one and 24.6% had two cardiovascular disease risk factors. The prevalence of physical inactivity was significantly lower in boys than girls [53.9 vs. 79.3%, respectively, OR 95%CI, 0.44 (0.39-0.51)]. The prevalence of smoking was higher in boys than girls [13.1 vs. 4.2%, respectively, OR 95%CI, 3.4 (2.4-4.9)]. CONCLUSION: Considering the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescents, age-appropriate and culturally sensitive interventions for lifestyle change are warranted, so that preventive measures can be taken in a timely manner.
Keywords : Cardiovascular disease; risk factors; adolescent; prevalence. | <urn:uuid:dd58ef5d-5f1d-4f05-b521-414d2b66aba2> | {
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Giant squids, once believed to be mythical creatures, are squid of the Architeuthidae family, represented by as many as eight species of the genus Architeuthis.
They are deep-ocean dwelling squid that can grow to a tremendous size: recent estimates put the maximum size at 10 m (34 ft) for males and 13 m (44 ft) for females from caudal fin to the tip of the two long tentacles (second only to the Colossal Squid at an estimated 14 m, one of the largest living organisms).
For more information about the topic Giant squid, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
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Mar. 6, 2008 First-graders in Oregon and Texas, identified as at-risk because of a lack of early literacy skills, showed dramatic improvements across a range of reading measures after receiving extra instructional time systematically designed to enhance reading development, according to researchers at two institutions.
In the study, published in the March/April issue of the Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21 at-risk students in Oregon, in groups of four or fewer kids, received an intensive 60-minute daily intervention. In Texas, 33 similarly at-risk students, in groups no larger than five, received an intensive daily 30-minute intervention. The sessions were carried out during the school year, focused on similar skill development and were delivered in a similar explicit and systematic manner. The main difference was length of time devoted to the students.
"This study looked at the role of time with students most at risk for reading difficulties to determine whether doubling intervention time at the beginning of first grade is an efficient use of instructional time," said Beth A. Harn, professor of special education at the University of Oregon.
The Oregon students in the longer sessions scored higher on end-of-the-year testing, but all students receiving the extra instruction improved with many of their scores ending in the average range against national norms.
"The significantly greater growth in fluency for all of these students who received more intense intervention is indeed noteworthy," said Harn, who led the study. "A lot of early interventions in the past have done an exceptional job of filling gaps in phonemic awareness, phonics and comprehension, but closing the gap in fluency has represented a struggle."
The Oregon approach was more intensive, increasing instructional support significantly for the most at-risk students, beginning in first grade. In Texas, intensifying to the same level was not available until students were in second grade.
In Oregon, during the first half of the school year, most time was spent on word analysis, such as phonics and word recognition, followed by passage reading and comprehension and reading fluency. In the second half of the school year the intervention focus shifted, with more time spent in passage reading with comprehension and fluency development and less time in word analysis.
The results suggested that students in the longer intervention outperformed students in the less intense intervention on all outcomes except passage comprehension. The greatest differences were found in improvements on oral reading fluency for students in the longer intervention.
Researchers theorize that longer, 60-minute sessions may provide students with the additional practice they need to master early literacy skills. Whether the improvements will continue to be demonstrated across later years is not known, Harn said. "This was a post-hoc study," the authors wrote, "limiting direct comparisons and generalization."
Harn and colleagues also noted that the interventions analyzed in their research involved schools experienced in using research-based instructional and assessment practices with multi-layered support systems. Because of that pre-condition, Harn said, an exact replication of the study in schools that do not use such approaches may be difficult.
"The study certainly has implications in how schools approach their instruction and interventions," said Harn, who led the analysis of data from the Oregon schools. Schools may want to allocate more instructional resources earlier for struggling students, rather than waiting until later grades when it becomes more difficult to catch up struggling readers, she said.
Co-authors Sylvia Linan-Thompson and Gregory Roberts, both in special education programs and in the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading and Language Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, led the effort in the Texas schools.
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Feb. 17, 2009 The genome of a marine bacterium living 2,500 meters below the ocean's surface is providing clues to how life adapts in extreme thermal and chemical gradients, according to an article published Feb. 6 in the journal PLoS Genetics.
The research focused on the bacterium Nautilia profundicola, a microbe that survives near deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Microorganisms that thrive at these geysers on the sea floor must adapt to fluctuations in temperature and oxygen levels, ranging from the hot, sulfide- and heavy metal-laden plume at the vents' outlets to cold seawater in the surrounding region.
The study combined genome analysis with physiological and ecological observations to investigate the importance of one gene in N. profundicola. That gene, called rgy, allows the bacterium to manufacture a protein called reverse gyrase when it encounters extremely hot fluids from the Earth's interior.
Previous studies found the gene only in microorganisms growing in temperatures greater than 80°C, but N. profundicola thrives best at much lower temperatures.
"The gene's presence in N. profundicola suggests that it might play a role in the bacterium's ability to survive rapid and frequent temperature fluctuations in its environment," said Assistant Professor of Marine Biosciences Barbara Campbell, the study's lead scientist.
Additional University of Delaware contributors were Professor of Marine Biosciences Stephen Craig Cary, Assistant Professor of Marine Biosciences Thomas Hanson, and Julie Smith, marine biosciences doctoral student. Also collaborating on the project were researchers from the Davis and Riverside campuses of the University of California; the University of Louisville; the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand; and the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md.
The researchers also uncovered further adaptations to the vent environment, including genes necessary for growth and sensing environmental conditions, and a new route for nitrate assimilation related to how other bacteria use ammonia as an energy source. Photosynthesis cannot occur in the hydrothermal vents' dark environment, where hot, toxic fluids oozing from below the seafloor combine with cold seawater at very high pressures.
These results help to explain how microbes survive near the vents, where conditions are thought to resemble those found on early Earth. Nautilia profundicola contains all the genes necessary for life in conditions widely believed to mimic those in our planet's early biosphere and could aid in understanding of how life evolved.
"It will be an important model system," Campbell said, "for understanding early microbial life on Earth."
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Nov. 23, 2009 Are you a female athlete -- or just someone who likes challenging workouts -- who also wants to get pregnant? It may make sense to ease off a bit as you try to get pregnant. New research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) shows that the body may not have enough energy to support both hard workouts and getting pregnant.
Roughly seven per cent of all Norwegian women are believed to have infertility problems, which means that they are unable to become pregnant during the first year of trying -- even if they might later become pregnant.
Infertility can have many causes, both medical and lifestyle-related. Known risk factors include smoking, stress, and alcohol. Being extremely under- or overweight can also play a role.
It is known, however, that elite sports women have more fertility problems than other women. But does extreme physical activity play a role in fertility among other women as well? NTNU researchers examined precisely this question in a study involving nearly 3,000 women. They found that overly frequent and hard physical exercise appears to reduce a young woman's fertility. But the decrease in fertility probably lasts only as long as the hard training.
Two vulnerable groups
The study was based on material from the Health Survey of Nord-Trøndelag from 1984-1986 and from a follow-up survey in 1995-1997. All of the women who participated were healthy and of childbearing age, and none had a history of fertility problems.
In the first survey, women responded to questions about the frequency, duration and intensity of their physical activity -- and ten years later were asked questions about pregnancy and childbirth.
The NTNU researchers also recorded other information that could have significance for the study.
"Among all these women, we found two groups who experienced an increased risk of infertility," says Sigridur Lara Gudmundsdottir, a PhD candidate in NTNU's Human Movement Science Programme. "There were those who trained almost every day. And there were those who trained until they were completely exhausted. Those who did both had the highest risk of infertility."
Age an important factor
If the women also were under 30 years old in the first study, the relationship became even more evident in both groups. Among those who reported training to exhaustion (regardless of frequency and duration), 24 per cent had fertility problems. In the group that had trained almost every day (regardless of the intensity and duration), 11 per cent reported the same.
Even when the data were adjusted for other possible contributing factors (such as body mass index, smoking, age, marital status and previous pregnancies), the researchers found that women who trained every day had a 3.5 times greater risk of impaired fertility as women who did not train at all.
"And when we compared those who trained to exhaustion to those who trained more moderately, we found that the first group had a three-fold greater risk of impaired fertility," says Gudmundsdottir.
In women who reported moderate or low activity levels, researchers found no evidence of impaired fertility.
A transient effect
But the negative effects of hard training do not appear to be permanent, the researcher says.
"The vast majority of women in the study had children in the end. And those who trained the hardest in the middle of the 1980s were actually among those who had the most children in the 1990s," she adds.
There may be various explanations for why the women who first were least fertile ended up with the most children. "We do not know if they changed their activity level during the period between the two surveys. Or if they just had trouble getting pregnant the first time, but afterwards had a hormonal profile that made it easier to get pregnant again," Gudmundsdottir said.
Scientists have a theory that high levels of physical activity are so energy intensive that the body actually experiences short periods of energy deficiency, where there simply is not enough energy to maintain all the necessary hormonal mechanisms that enable fertilization.
On the other hand, previous research shows that moderate physical activity gives women better insulin function and an improved hormonal profile -- and thus better conditions for fertility -- than total inactivity, particularly in overweight people.
Forget the easy chair
But Gudmundsdottir says that women who want to become pregnant shouldn't give up all physical activity.
"We believe it is likely that physical activity at a very high or very low level has a negative effect on fertility, while moderate activity is beneficial," she says.
But as far as identifying how much is "just right," the researcher is careful. "An individual's energy metabolism is a very important factor in this context. The threshold can be very individual," Gudmundsdottir says.
She also recommends that physically active women be particularly aware of their menstrual cycles. "A long cycle or no menstruation at all are danger signals," she says.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), via AlphaGalileo.
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Feb. 24, 2011 Why, and when, do we learn to speak the way that we do? Research from North Carolina State University on African-American children presents an unexpected finding: language use can go on a roller-coaster ride during childhood as kids adopt and abandon vernacular language patterns.
"We found that there is a 'roller-coaster effect,' featuring an ebb and flow in a child's use of vernacular English over the course of his or her language development," says Dr. Walt Wolfram, William C. Friday Distinguished University Professor of English Linguistics at NC State and co-author of several recent papers describing the research. "This was totally unanticipated." Vernacular English is defined here as culturally specific speech patterns that are distinct from standard English; in this case, the vernacular is African-American English (AAE).
One implication of the finding involves education, since teachers often advocate teaching standard English early in a childhood education. "This approach does seem to work at first," Wolfram says, "but it doesn't last." In other words, if a school system wants its students to graduate high school with a strong foundation in standard English, it may have to revisit standard English later in the education curriculum.
Specifically, the researchers found that children come to school speaking English with a relatively high number of vernacular features. Then, through the first four grades of elementary school, those features are reduced, as children adopt more standard English language patterns. As the children move toward middle school, the level of vernacular rises -- though many children often reduce their use of vernacular again as they enter high school.
"This finding reveals a cyclic pattern in the use of African-American vernacular English that no one expected to see during children's language development," says Janneke Van Hofwegen, a research associate at NC State and co-author of the study. "This wasn't even a hypothesis when we began the study."
The researchers note that, while their data looked solely at African-American children, the findings may be applicable more broadly to other groups.
The research stems from the longest, and largest, study ever to examine the longitudinal development of language in African-American children. The study began in 1990, following 88 African-American children from central North Carolina in order to track their language development. The study is ongoing, with 68 of the original participants still being tracked. The data is collected by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute in Chapel Hill, N. C.
The retention rate of the participants is remarkably high, particularly given that approximately 71 percent of the children were living below the poverty line in 1990. "It's incredible, and gives us a rare opportunity to study language development in children," Wolfram says.
The study also gives researchers an impressive array of data, providing them with access to school and test data, as well as the data collected through the study's own interviews and surveys.
Researchers are currently assessing how and whether dialect use is related to literacy skills, as well as the role that mothers play in their children's use of vernacular.
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- Wolfram, Walt, Janneke Van Hofwegen, Mary Kohn, Jennifer Renn. Trajectories of Development in AAE: The First 17 Years. Proceedings of the Conference on African American Language in Popular Culture, (in press)
- Janneke Van Hofwegen, Walt Wolfram. Coming of age in African American English: A longitudinal study. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2010; 14 (4): 427 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9841.2010.00452.x
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Mar. 7, 2011 In the quest for inexpensive biofuels, cellulose proved no match for a bioprocessing strategy and genetically engineered microbe developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center.
Using consolidated bioprocessing, a team led by James Liao of the University of California at Los Angeles for the first time produced isobutanol directly from cellulose. The team's work, published online in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, represents across-the-board savings in processing costs and time, plus isobutanol is a higher grade of alcohol than ethanol.
"Unlike ethanol, isobutanol can be blended at any ratio with gasoline and should eliminate the need for dedicated infrastructure in tanks or vehicles," said Liao, chancellor's professor and vice chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. "Plus, it may be possible to use isobutanol directly in current engines without modification."
Compared to ethanol, higher alcohols such as isobutanol are better candidates for gasoline replacement because they have an energy density, octane value and Reid vapor pressure -- a measurement of volatility -- that is much closer to gasoline, Liao said.
While cellulosic biomass like corn stover and switchgrass is abundant and cheap, it is much more difficult to utilize than corn and sugar cane. This is due in large part because of recalcitrance, or a plant's natural defenses to being chemically dismantled.
Adding to the complexity is the fact biofuel production that involves several steps -- pretreatment, enzyme treatment and fermentation -- is more costly than a method that combines biomass utilization and the fermentation of sugars to biofuel into a single process.
To make the conversion possible, Liao and postdoctoral researcher Wendy Higashide of UCLA and Yongchao Li and Yunfeng Yang of Oak Ridge National Laboratory had to develop a strain of Clostridium cellulolyticum, a native cellulose-degrading microbe, that could synthesize isobutanol directly from cellulose. "This work is based on our earlier work at UCLA in building a synthetic pathway for isobutanol production," Liao said.
While some Clostridium species produce butanol, these organisms typically do not digest cellulose directly. Other Clostridium species digest cellulose but do not produce butanol. None produce isobutanol, an isomer of butanol.
"In nature, no microorganisms have been identified that possess all of the characteristics necessary for the ideal consolidated bioprocessing strain, so we knew we had to genetically engineer a strain for this purpose," Li said.
While there were many possible microbial candidates, the research team ultimately chose Clostridium cellulolyticum, which was originally isolated from decayed grass. The researchers noted that their strategy exploits the host's natural cellulolytic activity and the amino acid biosynthetic pathway and diverts its intermediates to produce higher alcohol than ethanol.
The researchers also noted that Clostridium cellulolyticum has been genetically engineered to improve ethanol production, and this has led to additional more detailed research. Clostridium cellulolyticum has a sequenced genome available via DOE's Joint Genome Institute. This proof of concept research sets the stage for studies that will likely involve genetic manipulation of other consolidated bioprocessing microorganisms.
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- W. Higashide, Y. Li, Y. Yang, J. C. Liao. Metabolic Engineering of Clostridium Cellulolyticum for Isobutanol Production from Cellulose. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2011; DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02454-10
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Nov. 8, 2012 A completely new way of delivering anti-cancer drugs to tumours, using "minicells" derived from bacteria, has been tested for the first time in humans and found to be safe, well-tolerated and even induced stable disease in patients with advanced, incurable cancers with no treatment options remaining.
The research, which is presented at the 24th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Dublin, Ireland, November 9, suggests that it could be possible to use this new technology for targeted delivery of other drugs to a range of cancers, and to personalise treatment by adjusting the drugs to suit the genetic make-up of each patient's tumour .
Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt and Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid, the founders of EnGeneIC, a biotech company in Sydney, Australia, designed the minicells to deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to tumour cells, thereby reducing the toxic side-effects that are seen when chemotherapy is given to patients systemically. The minicells are created from small bubbles of cell membrane pinched off the surface of mutant bacteria. The minicells can then be loaded with chemicals, such as anti-cancer drugs, and coated with antibodies that home in on receptors on the surface of tumour cells. This means that the minicells target the cancer cells, while avoiding normal cells that do not have the same receptors. The cancer cell recognises the bacteria from which the minicell has been derived and activates its standard defence by swallowing the minicell, which exposes the cell nucleus to whatever cancer-killing drug the minicell is carrying.
Each minicell is about 200 times smaller in diameter than a human hair (it measures 400 nanometres (nM) -- a nM being one billionth of a metre). "Nonetheless, this is much larger than synthetic particles in development for drug delivery," said Associate Professor Benjamin Solomon (MBBS, PhD, FRACP), the principal investigator of the trial and a consultant medical oncologist at the Peter MaCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. "This larger size means that the minicells preferentially fall out of the leaky blood vessels around the tumour and do not end up in the liver, gut and skin where they could cause nasty side-effects like smaller particles do."
Work in the laboratory and in animals had already shown that the minicells worked in the way they were designed to, but this trial is the first time that they have been used in humans.
Professor Solomon said: "In this study we loaded the cells with a cytotoxic chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel (which is currently used in many tumour types) and coated the minicells with an antibody targeting the loaded minicells to tumours expressing the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) -- a protein that is found on the surface of many cancer cells. The study was then conducted in the way standard phase I studies are conducted to determine the safety and toxicity of minicells by treating small groups of patients with progressively higher doses of minicells and closely monitoring safety and toxicity."
A total of 28 patients with advanced, incurable cancers were treated with the minicells in four centres in Australia. Ten patients had stable disease at six weeks and received more than one cycle of minicells.
"The key finding of the study is that minicells can be given safely to patients with advanced cancer," said Prof Solomon. "Additionally, we showed that we could give multiple doses and one patient received 45 doses over 15 months. The major toxicity we observed was a mild self-limiting fever seen on the day of the infusion with little or no side-effects seen in the remainder of the following week. At higher doses we found that there were additional side-effects, in particular changes in liver function tests, which, although asymptomatic, prevented us from raising the doses of the treatment higher.
"This important study shows for the first time that these bacterially-derived minicells can be given safely to patients with cancer. It thereby allows further clinical exploration of a completely new paradigm of targeted drug delivery using this platform coupled with different 'payloads' of cell-killing drugs or other treatments such as RNA interference, and with different targeting antibodies."
He concluded: "The minicell technology is a platform for the targeted delivery of many different molecules, including drugs and molecules for silencing rogue genes which cause drug resistance in late stage cancer. The technology can also be viewed as a powerful antibody drug conjugate where up to a million molecules of drug can be attached to targeting antibodies and delivered to the body in a safe way. In the future this will enable a truly personalised medicine approach to cancer treatment, since the minicell payload can be adjusted depending on the genetic profile of the patient."
Phase II trials of the minicells are now being planned, including a trial in patients with glioblastoma (a type of brain tumour) using minicells loaded with doxorubicin. The researchers also want to develop imaging methods to track the minicells in patients.
Professor Stefan Sleijfer, the scientific chair of the EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium, from Erasmus University Medical Centre (The Netherlands), commented: "Approaches resulting in selective delivery of anti-cancer drugs to tumour cells is highly interesting as it may lead to a reduction in adverse side-effects and improved anti-tumour activity. In this respect, the use of 'minicells' is a novel and promising technique."
EORTC [European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, NCI [National Cancer Institute], AACR [American Association for Cancer Research].
Abstract no: 585. Poster session, Phase I trials, 09.00 hrs, 9 November.
The study was funded by EnGeneIC. Prof Solomon has not received any remuneration from EnGenIC and declares no relevant conflicts of interest.
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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:49d41884-f90d-4e23-bc6e-dc98bff861d5> | {
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Scientists know that many chemicals including PAHs can cross the placenta, but they don’t understand how they may interfere with a fetus’ developing brain.
In the sensitive process of brain development, Bellinger said, there are a lot of things that can go wrong.
“Things are changing very rapidly and they're supposed to happen in a particular way, in a particular sequence,” he said. “It's almost like a choreography of events that go into building a brain.” This choreography is made up of hundreds of “performers,” each taking instructions from chemical signals. Pollutants introduce noise to this process, like static over a radio station.
Also, PAHs may affect the fetus’ DNA directly. When a mother breathes in PAHs, those chemicals are changed into byproducts in the bloodstream that can cross the placental boundary and bind directly to a fetus’ DNA, explained Susan Edwards, a graduate student at the Imperial College in London, and the lead author on the Poland study.
The four-point drop in IQs linked to the air pollutants in New York City and Krakow is fairly subtle; parents and teachers wouldn’t notice it because most children would fall within normal ranges.
Nevertheless, “is a three or point IQ-point decrement important? You bet,” said Lanphear, whose research has focused on lead exposure and children’s neurodevelopment.
He said one recent analysis found that for every dollar invested in reducing lead exposure, society would realize a $17 to $220 benefit. “The bulk of the benefit was from increased lifetime earnings by enhancing children's intellectual abilities,” he said.
“At some point, we will cease blaming parents and teachers for children's failure to learn or thrive in academics and focus our attention on reducing their exposure to widespread neurotoxicants,” Lanphear said.
The good news, Perera said, is that levels of PAHs are declining in New York City. Using data from the women’s backpacks, researchers reported that airborne levels dropped by more than 50 percent between 1998 and 2006.
Bellinger said while steps should be taken to reduce children’s exposure to pollutants, other factors remain more important for their cognitive development.
“An important point is that while these exposures are associated with health outcomes, they aren't the major determinants. How parents interact with their children, and the kinds of stimulation they provide, explains a lot more,” he said.
Living in New York City’s Washington Heights, Baldwin, 30, now has five children between the ages of 10 and two. She wore the air-monitoring backpack in 1999 when she was in the third trimester of her pregnancy with her oldest child, Patience.
Like the other children in the group, Patience has been monitored by the team of scientists since she was born. When Baldwin gave birth, a Columbia University researcher was at the hospital to collect the newborn’s cord blood for testing. Her daughter had her first IQ test as part of the study when she was two and has undergone an array of other tests since then, including a recent CT scan of her brain.
There is no evidence that the PAHs affected her daughter’s IQ. Baldwin said the girl has thrived in school and has no learning problems, although she has moderate asthma. She does not know whether her exposure to PAHs during the pregnancy was classified as high or low.
Baldwin said her role in the study has made her “hyper aware” of the risks of pollutants and pesticides. One of her sons was diagnosed with lead poisoning when he was a toddler; he apparently was exposed from peeling paint.
But she tries not to think about what effects her various exposures during her pregnancies might have had on her children. “I don’t like to dwell on something I cannot change,” Baldwin said. | <urn:uuid:dc67439f-e37d-4585-91dd-bf97bce83509> | {
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Visual perception begins with our retinas locating the edges of objects in the world. Downstream neural mechanisms analyze those borders and use that information to fill in the insides of objects, constructing our perception of surfaces. What happens when those borders—the fundamental fabric of our visual reality—are tweaked? Our internal representation of objects fails, and our brain's ability to accurately represent reality no longer functions. Seemingly small mistakes lead to the very distorted perceptions of an illusory world.
This article was originally published with the title Your Twisted Little Mind. | <urn:uuid:b1fd5421-9017-4d3b-828b-26983e45deee> | {
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WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY?
Scientology Definiton: Scio (Latin) “knowing, in the fullest sense of the word,” logos (Greek) “study of.” Thus Scientology means “knowing how to know.”
Developed by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being.
Scientology addresses the spirit—not the body or mind—and believes that Man is far more than a product of his environment, or his genes.
Scientology comprises a body of knowledge which extends from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these are:
Man is an immortal spiritual being.
His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.
His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.
Within the vast amount of data which makes up Scientology’s religious beliefs and practices there are many principles which, when learned, give one a new and broader view of life. Knowing the Tone Scale, for instance, a person can see how best to deal with a grumpy child, mollify an upset friend or get an idea across to a staid employer. These principles amount to a huge area of observation in the humanities. It is a body of knowledge there for the learning. There is nothing authoritarian in it. It is valuable purely as a body of knowledge.
Scientology helps each being to regain awareness of himself or herself as an immortal spiritual being and the rehabilitation of full spiritual potential—to achieve a recognition of spiritual existence and one’s relationship to the Supreme Being. God is identified in Scientology as the Eighth Dynamic. All Scientology services bring people closer to the Eighth Dynamic, and the congregational services especially focus on this. It is a bringing together of many beings in a joint spiritual experience and an occasion to recognize the ultimate which is the Eighth Dynamic or God.
The Church of Scientology Sunday service consists of a reciting of the Creed of the Church, a sermon based on the writings of the Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, congregational group auditing and prayer. There may also be music and singing, as well as announcements of Church events and programs. | <urn:uuid:79fc3dff-4a34-479b-b366-746dacaa95b0> | {
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In years past, Valentine’s Day has been a fun chance to explore the more lighthearted aspects of science, as pertains to matters of the heart (such as our post on the neurobiology of love and dating). This year, we use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to talk about a different, more serious matter pertaining to our hearts — keeping them healthy. And while blogs, magazines and popular media provide men with no shortage of ideas about what to shower the many women in their lives with on Valentine’s Day, they provide little coverage of the biggest silent killer and danger to women every day: heart disease. So this year, join us in Going Red For Women and learning more about an issue truly close to our hearts. For more, click “continue reading.”
Fact: more women will die of heart disease than all cancers combined. Scary, isn’t it? With the “pink”-washing of virtually all consumer products (and even some sports teams!) every October, one would surely think that breast cancer is the biggest threat to women’s health. Indeed, 48% of women do. Yet despite the very real, and deadly, threat that breast cancer continues to pose for women, according to the American Heart Association, only 1 in 30 women will die of breast cancer, while 1 in 3 will die of cardiovascular disease. 500,000 women die each year in the United States (1 per minute!) of cardiovascular disease, making it the number one killer of women—our colleagues, our friends and loved ones. [Download a full fact sheet here.] But there’s good news! 80% of all heart attacks are preventable, with the majority of heart disease precursors (including diet, weight and sedentary lifestyle) under our control.
If you are absorbing this sobering information for the first time, you’re not alone. At a recent Los Angeles event for an AHA cause called Go Red For Women, I learned many of these facts for the first time as well. Even in the medical community, the rates of misdiagnosis and underdiagnosed, with women’s heart disease symptoms often dismissed as stress. The power of organizations such as Go Red For Women is enormous. In addition to helping spread the necessary information about heart risks to women online and at local events all across the country, GRFW provides educational tools for physicians to better treat female patients for cardiovascular disease. In Los Angeles County, they were instrumental in championing ordinances that removed smoking from beaches and junk food from schools. Nationally, they’ve championed legislation such as the HEART For Women Act, federal legislation introduced to Congress February 12, 2009 to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke in women. They are also working with the entertainment and media industries to produce more pop culture materials such as this short video called “Just a Little Heart Attack starring actress Elizabeth Banks:”
ScriptPhD.com caught up with Dr. Vyshali Rao, a cardiologist that has led the efforts of the Los Angeles-based Go Red For Women campaign, to ask her about the importance of raising awareness for women’s heart issues.
ScriptPhD: Dr. Rao, tell us about what motivated you to get involved with Go Red For Women?
Vyshali Rao: At first I got involved on my own, with the American Heart Association, because of my dad, who is a cardiac survivor and had a bypass operation when he was 86 years old. Being a cardiologist myself, it’s important tying it as much to health care as possible. And it turns out, the hospital that I work at, Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA, is the Los Angeles sponsor for the Go Red For Women campaign. Through myt work at Huntington, I’ve become the medical director of the women’s heart program here, and through that, have worked closely with the Go Red For Women campaign. It really has, for the last three or four years, been a really exciting experience for me, because you meet so many women from all walks of life—different ethnicities, different backgrounds. The commonality of it, though, is they are all [impacted the same way cardiovascularly], which is what we are trying to get out there.
SPhD: Why is this an issue just now coming to the forefront in the media?
VR: In this day and age, it’s interesting to note that cardiovascular disease remains [women’s] #1 health risk. The majority of people will think it’s breast cancer, or cervical cancer, but no one thinks, “OK, I’m going to die of a heart attack or a stroke or cardiovascular disease.” So, I think that for the last few years, the Go Red For Women campaign has really tried to push that information so that more women get involved and get everyone educated about it.
SPhD: Do you feel, fairly or unfairly, that there has sometimes been an overemphasis in the media on other causes or issues? Do you think they could be doing more to highlight women’s cardiovascular health?
VR: Yes. Obviously, in today’s day and age, whoever gets their message out the loudest and attracts the most attention gets it. At this point, there’s so much advertising and so much media for breast cancer and AIDS, which are both issues we need to get everyone educated about. But, heart disease seems to be a little bit slower to get attracted to, and we don’t have the big budget like some of the other [causes and organizations] do. And we don’t have as much money directed at heart disease. The majority—80%–of all the money that comes into the American Medical Association is directed towards research. So, we don’t have big budgets for advertising or media campaigns, so sometimes our message gets lost. Through volunteers and through programs and events sponsored by organizations such as Go Red For Women, we are hoping that this will change, and that heart disease and the American Heart Association will get the attention that it deserves.
SPhD: Do you feel that this campaign and discussion extends somewhat beyond women’s health to our health as a nation and steps we can all take to make our hearts healthier?
VR: Yes, absolutely. The goal of the campaign is not to just empower women. It’s to get everyone educated and to understand the risks for cardiovascular disease. The best thing about cardiovascular disease is that the majority of it is preventable! There’s not a lot of diseases that you could say that about. The majority of the risk factors for heart disease—hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, sedentary lifestyle—they are all potentially preventable. If people can get educated, get off the couch and exercise, we won’t have to suffer from cardiovascular disease as much as we are.
SPhD: If someone is reading this and wondering what they can do to get involved, beyond their own health, what would you tell them?
VR: That’s the great thing. You don’t have to have any money to get involved. The American Heart Association largely works through volunteers. So the majority of the events that we have, like our ‘Heart’ walks, they’re always looking for volunteers, whether it’s to learn CPR, or educate people about it. Now, they launched a new program called ‘School Gardens’ where we actually go to inner-city communities, educate the kids about fresh vegetables, plan the fresh vegetables, harvest them, and then cook with them. You’d be surprised how many of these kids have never eaten a fresh tomato! There’s so many things that have nothing to do with money and people can get involved.
Feel motivated to go red? Here are some suggestions for you and your Valentine that will get your hearts pumping, and leave them healthy for many Valentine’s Days to come.
1. Know the risks for, warning signs and types of cardiovascular disease. Educate yourself.
2. Get involved! Volunteer in your community for an American Heart Association event or training. If there is a girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend or other significant woman in your life, donate the time and effort to spreading the word about Go Red For Women and heart health. Let’s stop heart disease from being the biggest killer of women together.
3. Take care of your heart. We’re not speaking metaphorically here, lovebirds. From heart-healthy recipes, to stress management, to managing physical activity and weight management, the American Heart Association offers a plethora of ideas and guides to forming heart-healthy habits.
4. Impact the next generation. I cannot stress strongly enough how much the problems plaguing Western nations as a whole (and that contribute as precursors to heart disease) are preventable through dietary changes and exercise. But changing decades of unhealthy eating, especially in lower-income neighborhoods without immediate access to fresh fruits and vegetables, will take a collective effort. Programs such as First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign and the AHA’s Teaching Gardens will go a long way towards planting seeds for a lifetime of good health. Take a look at this incredibly moving video about the impact the program has already made:
And lastly, since today is the day we celebrate those that have captured our hearts, here are 10 Amazing Facts About Your Heart. We think it’s worth protecting!
Happy Valentine’s Day from ScriptPhD.com.
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This article was mirrored here faithfully for
ease of access and printing.
D. Pauly and J. Dalsgaard, Fisheries Centre, 2204 Main
Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
V. Christensen, R. Froese, F. Torres Jr., International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, M.C. Post Office Box 2631, 0718 Makati, Philippines.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]
The mean trophic level of the species groups reported in Food and Agricultural Organization global fisheries statistics declined from 1950 to 1994. This reflects a gradual transition in landings from long-lived, high trophic level, piscivorous bottom fish toward short-lived, low trophic level invertebrates and planktivorous pelagic fish. This effect, also found to be occurring in inland fisheries, is most pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere. Fishing down food webs (that is, at lower trophic levels) leads at first to increasing catches, then to a phase transition associated with stagnating or declining catches. These results indicate that present exploitation patterns are unsustainable.Exploitation of the ocean for fish and ma-rine invertebrates, both wholesome and valuable products, ought to be a prosperous sector, given that capture fisheries - in con-trast to agriculture and aquaculture - reap harvests that did not need to be sown. Yet marine fisheries are in a global crisis, mainly due to open access policies and subsidy-driven overcapitalization (1). It may be argued, however, that the global crisis is mainly one of economics or of governance, whereas the global resource base itself fluctuates naturally. Contradicting this more optimistic view, we show here that landings from global fisheries have shifted in the last 45 years from large piscivorous fishes toward smaller invertebrates and planktivorous fishes, especially in the Northern Hemi-sphere.
|For all marine areas, the trend over the past 45 years has been a decline
in the mean trophic level of the fisheries landings, from slightly more
than 3.3 in the early 1950s to less than 3.1 in 1994 (Fig. 1A). A dip in
the 1960s and early 1970s occurred because of extremely large catches [>12E6
metric tons (t) per year*] of Peruvian anchoveta with a low trophic level
(12) of 2.2 (+/- 0.42).
Since the collapse of the Peruvian anchoveta fishery in 1972–1973, the global trend in the trophic level of marine fisheries landings has been one of steady decline. Fisheries in inland waters exhibit, on the global level, a similar trend as for the marine areas (Fig. 1B): A clear decline in average trophic level is apparent from the early 1970s, in parallel to, and about 0.3 units below, those of marine catches. The previous plateau, from 1950 to 1975, is due to insufficiently detailed fishery statistics for the earlier decades (10).
Fig. 1. Global trends of mean trophic level of fisheries landings, 1950 to 1994. (A) Marine areas; (B) inland areas.
|In northern temperate areas where the fisheries are most developed, the mean trophic level of the landings has declined steadily over the last two decades. In the North Pacific (FAO areas 61 and 67; Fig. 2A), trophic levels peaked in the early 1970s and have since then decreased rapidly in spite of the recent increase in landings of Alaska pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, which has a relatively high trophic level of 3.8 (+/- 0.24). In the Northwest Atlantic (FAO areas 21 and 31; Fig. 2B), the fisheries were initially dominated by planktivorous menhaden, Brevoortia spp., and other small pelagics at low trophic levels. As their landings decreased, the average trophic level of the fishery initially increased, then in the 1970s it reversed to a steep decline.||
Fig. 2. Trends of mean trophic level of fisheries landings in northern temperate areas, 1950 to 1994. (A) North Pacific (FAO areas 61 and 67); (B) Northwest and Western Central Atlantic (FAO areas 21 and 31); (C) Northeast Atlantic (FAO area 27); and (D) Mediterranean (FAO area 37).
|Similar declines are apparent throughout the time series for the Northeast
Atlantic (FAO area 27; Fig. 2C) and the Mediterranean (FAO area 37; Fig.
2C), although the latter system operates at altogether lower trophic levels.
The Central Eastern Pacific (FAO area 77; Fig. 3A), Southern and Central Eastern Atlantic (FAO areas 41, 47, and 34; Fig. 3B), and the Indo-Pacific (FAO areas 51, 57, and 71; Fig. 3C) show no clear trends over time. In the southern Atlantic this is probably due to the development of new fisheries, for example, on the Patagonian shelf, which tends to mask declines of trophic levels in more developed fisheries.
In the Indo-Pacific area, the apparent stability is certainly due to inadequacies of the statistics, because numerous accounts exist that document species shifts similar to those that occurred in northern tem-perate areas (13).
Fig. 3. Trends of mean trophic levels of fisheries landings in the intertropical belt and adjacent waters. (A) Central Eastern Pacific (FAO area 77); (B) Southwest, Central Eastern, and Southeast Atlantic (FAO areas 41, 34, and 47); and (C) Indo (west)-Pacific (FAO areas 51, 57, and 71).
|The South Pacific areas (FAO areas 81 and 87; Fig. 4A) are interesting in that they display wide-amplitude fluctuations of trophic levels, reflecting the growth in the mid-1950s of a huge industrial fishery for Peruvian anchoveta. Subsequent to the anchoveta fishery collapse, an offshore fishery developed for horse mackerel, Trachurus murphyi, which has a higher trophic level (3.3 +/- 0.21) and whose range extends west toward New Zealand (14).||
Fig. 4. High-amplitude changes of mean trophic levels in fisheries landings. (A) South Pacific (FAO areas
81 and 87); (B) Antarctica (FAO areas 48, 58, and 88).
Antarctica (FAO areas 48, 58, and 88; Fig. 4B) also exhibits high-amplitude
variation of mean trophic levels, from a high of 3.4, due to a fishery
that quickly depleted local accumulations of bony fishes, to a low of 2.3,
due to Euphausia superba (trophic level 2.2 +/- 0.40), a large krill
species that dominated the more recent catches.
The gross features of the plots in Figs. 2 through 4, while consistent with previous knowledge of the dynamics of major stocks, may provide new insights on the effect of fisheries on ecosystems. Further interpretation of the observed trends is facilitated by plotting mean trophic levels against catches.
For example, the four systems in Fig. 5 illustrate patterns different from the monotonous increase of catch that may be expected when fishing down food webs (15). Each of the four systems in Fig. 5 has a signature marked by abrupt phase shifts. For three of the examples, the highest landings are not associated with the lowest trophic levels, as the fishing-down-the-food-web theory would predict. Instead, the time series tend to bend backward. The exception (where landings continue to increase as trophic levels decline) is the Southern Pacific (Fig. 5C), where the westward expansion of horse mackerel fisheries is still the dominant feature, thus masking more local effects.
The backward-bending feature of the plots of trophic levels versus landings, which also occurs in areas other than those in Fig. 5, may be due to a combination of the following:
(i) artifacts due to the data, methods, and assumptions used;Regarding item (i), the quality of the official landing statistics we used may be seen as a major impediment for analyses of the sort presented here. We know that considerable under- and misre-porting occur (16). However, for our analysis, the overall accuracy of the landings is not of major importance, if the trends are unbiased. Anatomical and functional considerations support our assumption that the trophic levels of fish are conservative attributes and that they cannot change much over time, even when ecosystem structure changes (17). Moreover, the increase of young fish as a proportion of landings in a given species that result from increasing fishing pressure would strengthen the reported trends, because the young of piscivorous species tend to be zooplanktivorous (18) and thus have lower trophic levels than the adults.
(ii) large and increasing catches that are not reported to FAO;
(iii) massive discarding of bycatches (16) consisting predominantly of fish with low trophic levels;
(iv) reduced catchability as a result of a decreasing average size of exploit-able organisms; and
(v) fisheries-induced changes in the food webs from which the landings were extracted.
If we assume that fisheries tend to switch from species with high trophic
levels to species with low trophic levels in response to changes of their
relative abundances, then the backward-bending curves in Fig. 5 may be
also due to changes in ecosystem structure, that is, item (v). In the North
Sea, Norway pout, Trisopterus esmarkii, serves as a food source
for most of the important fish species used for human consumption, such
as cod or saithe. Norway pout is also the most important predator on euphausiids
(krill) in the North Sea (3).
Fig. 5. Plots of mean trophic levels in fishery landings versus the landings (in millions of metric tons) in
four marine regions, illustrating typical backward-bending signatures (note variable ordinate and abcissa
scales). (A) Northwest Atlantic (FAO area 21); (B) Northeast Atlantic (FAO area 27); (C) Southeast Pacific
(FAO area 87); (D) Mediterranean (FAO area 37).
We must therefore expect that a directed fishery on this small gadoid (landings in the Northeast Atlantic are about 3E5 t/year) will have a positive effect on the euphausiids, which in turn prey on copepods, a much more important food source for commercial fish species than euphausiids. Hence, fishing for Norway pout may have a cascading effect, leading to a build-up of nonutilized euphausiids. Triangles such as the one involving Norway pout, euphausiids, and copepods, and which may have a major effect on ecosystem stability, are increasingly being integrated in ecological theory (21), especially in fisheries biology (22).
Globally, trophic levels of fisheries landings appear to have declined in recent decades at a rate of about 0.1 per decade, without the landings themselves increasing substantially. It is likely that continuation of present trends will lead to widespread fisheries collapses and to more backward-bending curves such as in Fig. 5, whether or not they are due to a relaxation of topdown control (23). Therefore, we consider estimations of global potentials based on extrapolation of present trends or explicitly incorporating fishing-down-the-food-web strategies to be highly questionable. Also, we suggest that in the next decades fisheries management will have to emphasize the rebuilding of fish populations embedded within functional food webs, within large “no-take” marine protected areas (24).
(*) we've used the notation E for powers of ten: 1E6 = 1 million
22 August 1997; accepted 10 December 1997
-- seafriends home -- fishing | <urn:uuid:6048173e-e066-431d-8fe7-0f84fa4f7dcc> | {
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"Mobile computing" describes the use of computing technology on the go, through devices such as smartphones, tablets, portable computers, and wearable computers and sensors. The SEI is focusing on pervasive mobile computing at the tactical edge—environments in which front-line soldiers and first responders operate.
The SEI is working to realize this vision for soldiers and first responders:
- Front-line soldiers: Dismounted soldiers receive information that is more relevant and useful for their current mission, on devices that consume fewer battery and bandwidth resources, using applications that they can readily customize to support their needs.
- Humanitarian assistance/disaster response: On-scene responders with access to local information about resource needs of victims—such as food, water, shelter, and medicine—can make better decisions that maximize use of local resources and external assistance.
The SEI explores the architecture and implementation of mobile systems that increase the flexibility of edge users to respond to diverse missions. In these systems, "pervasive computing"—the use of devices embedded with chips that can connect to a network—plays a major role.
Learn about our research in pervasive mobile computing.
Download our information sheet about the Advanced Mobile Systems Initiative. | <urn:uuid:5e343287-703d-418f-b3ff-692cfc9b139f> | {
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This is the most populous area of Nicaragua. It is home to beautiful lakes and some of the world's only freshwater sharks.
With sandy beaches fronted by a long row of young cone-shaped volcanoes (some of which are active), Nicaragua features beach and resort communities. This area also features an array of colonial architecture and artifacts. The temperatures in the region remain fairly constant throughout the year with November to April being the dry season and May to October representing the rainy season.
The North-Central Highlands, or Amerrique Mountains, is less populated than the Pacific Lowlands and features a rugged terrain of forested mountains with deep valleys. This region gradually slopes to the Caribbean Lowlands. The North-Central Highlands boasts an abundance of wildlife as well as mild temperatures that are cooler than the Pacific Lowlands. This area experiences a longer and wetter rainy season.
The Caribbean Lowlands are a large rainforest region with several large rivers. It is an area that is sparsely populated. It features a predominately tropical climate with high temperatures and high humidity.
Nicaraguan is multiethnic with a great diversity of art, cuisine and music. Nicaraguan culture on the Pacific side evidences a largely European influence, while on the Caribbean Coast there exists a very clear and lasting British influence. On the Pacific side, the cuisine and main staples revolve around fruits and corn, while on the Caribbean coastal region, cuisine and main staples revolve around seafood and the coconut. The most common dish is the gallo pinto, a blend of rice and beans.
There is a tremendous range of attractions in Nicaragua including the capital city of Managua, which features Spanish colonial architecture. One can also visit the Masaya Volcano National Park, Xilo Crater Lake, churches of Leon, ruins of Leon Viego, a conquistador buriel site, and Granada, a favourite of tourist destinations. Nicaragua provides the opportunity for Escondido River boat tours, rainforest eco-tours, fabulous diving among the coral reefs of the Corn Islands, and sightseeing at Bluefields, a coastal town that is the center for reggae music. The opportunities for adventure, discovery, and rejuvenation are endless. | <urn:uuid:426e2437-71e3-4701-bf9b-56fe64ba5c5c> | {
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Using Taskset for Priority Tasks
Unless you're using a really old machine or cheap netbook, almost any system you touch with Linux these days is going to be a multiprocessor system. Any server machine deployed within the past five years should have at least two CPUs, and most desktops released in the past three years have at least two cores. For a number of reasons, you might want to "pin" some tasks so they run exclusively on a single CPU or set of CPUs.A tisket, a tasket, be sure to use the open source server tool taskset for priority tasks.
Whether you want to ensure resources for a process, ensure that a process doesn't hog all system resources or improve a process that doesn't scale well to multiple CPUs, you can use
taskset to assign a task to specific CPUs. It's pretty simple.
taskset, you "bond" a process to a CPU. Let's say you want to run Google Chrome on one CPU. You'd run something like this:
taskset 0x00000001 google-chrome
Now Chrome will be limited to CPU 0 (0x00000001 is the "mask" for CPU 0). If you wanted to assign it to two CPUs, you would use
taskset 0x00000003 instead. Or you could use the
-c option and specify the CPUs by numerical ranges. See the taskset man page for more on that.
To see what processors a task is assigned to, try running
taskset -p XXXX, where XXXX is the process ID (PID). If you're on a two-core system, for example, and haven't set the affinity, it will return 3. If you've assigned it to both cores/CPUs, then it will return 3. I don't make the syntax, I just write about it ...
Is this going to speed up your system or be worth doing with all tasks? Nope. It is, however, something you can try to experiment with when you're having performance problems or having issues with a process/application causing problems with the rest of the system. I'd recommend testing it out on your desktop or test systems before attempting it in a production environment -- but with the right combination, you might be able to solve some system problems in short order.
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier is a freelance writer and editor with more than 10 years covering IT. Formerly the openSUSE Community Manager for Novell, Brockmeier has written for Linux Magazine, Sys Admin, Linux Pro Magazine, IBM developerWorks, Linux.com, CIO.com, Linux Weekly News, ZDNet, and many other publications. You can reach Zonker at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:eab4db2a-6399-4993-b091-4fcd9f4149c0> | {
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[ View the story "Climate change: What can Obama do without Congress?" on Storify]
Climate change: What can Obama do without Congress?
With the House controlled by Republicans, some environmentalists are urging President Obama to take action on climate change on his own. Here are five things he could do.
Digital First Media· Mon, Feb 11 2013 06:02:45
President Barack Obama has pledged to make addressing climate change a major priority in his second term. But House Republicans remain skeptical about both the problem and potential legislative solutions.
That’s led many environmentalists to urge Obama to go it alone and take actions to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions on his own. Below are five major things he could do without congressional approval.
Use the EPA’s authority
In 2007, the Supreme Court
that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide under existing air pollution laws. The ruling empowered the agency to set higher standards for new power plants and write
new regulations for older power plants
Some environmentalists think Obama should take advantage of the EPA’s newfound powers to restrict emissions as much as possible. That would still fall short of what a comprehensive bill passed through Congress could do, however, and it might spark a backlash from big business.
Reduce methane emissions
Considered the second most significant greenhouse gas, methane is released from leaks in gas pipelines and coal mines, from landfills and livestock and agriculture. Some scientists think reducing methane in the atmosphere could
delay the effects of climate change
by as much as 15 years.
Obama could order the EPA, the Department of Energy and other federal agencies to refocus efforts at reducing methane emissions by capturing methane released at coal mines, reducing methane from landfills or even requiring more frequent draining of rice paddies.
Soot, also known as black carbon, is another concern for environmentalists.
One recent study
argued that black carbon is a more dangerous greenhouse gas than methane because its color causes it to take in more solar radiation.
Obama could order federal agencies crack down on
such as diesel engines, coal-fired power stations and coal-burning cookstoves. However, coal is already cleaner in the U.S. than it used to be, so there may be a limit on how much this can be addressed within the United States alone.
Approve more renewable energy
Obama can order
to focus on climate change including the Department of Energy, that State Department and the Department of the Interior.
Between Interior and the Department of Agriculture, the
government manages 700 million acres
of land, with another 1.7 billion acres of offshore continental shelf managed by the Interior Department alone. Public lands are prime real estate when it comes to energy development, from coal mining to wind farms.
The administration could approve more renewable energy projects on federal lands. Though that would not subtract any greenhouse gas emissions from existing sources, it would reduce how many are added to the air in the future.
Reject the Keystone XL pipeline
Many environmentalists argue that the Obama administration needs to
reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline
because it would promote the use of fossil fuels and create emissions from the extraction process. Still, there is uncertainty about how much the pipeline itself actually would
increase oil sands production
and how the oil it produces might end up being used.
Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline last year while in the midst of a re-election campaign, but the project is still alive. A number of senators have urged Obama to allow the pipeline, arguing they want to see energy resources developed in this country, but Obama will have a lot of power to block the pipeline if he wants. | <urn:uuid:a422b9e2-3370-4c10-9467-3f5bc8156de6> | {
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1 in 4 in U.S. Starts Drinking Before Turning 21: Report
MONDAY, Nov. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Underage drinking in the United States remains a serious public health issue, a new federal government report shows.
The analysis of data gathered between 2008 and 2010 from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that more than 26 percent of 12- to 20-year-olds reported drinking in the month before they were surveyed, and nearly 9 percent said they bought their own alcohol the last time they drank.
The purchase and consumption of alcohol by anyone under age 21 is prohibited in the United States.
There has been progress in reducing the amount of underage drinking in recent years, particularly among those under 18 years of age. However, rates of underage drinking are still unacceptably high, according to the report released Nov. 20 by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
"Underage drinking should not be a normal part of growing up. It's a serious and persistent public health problem that puts our young people and our communities in danger," SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde said in an agency news release.
"Even though drinking is often glamorized, the truth is that underage drinking can lead to poor academic performance, sexual assault, injury and even death," she noted.
Rates of underage drinking were highest in Vermont (37 percent) and lowest in Utah (14.3 percent). Five other states in the Northeast were among the 10 states with the highest rates of underage drinking: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island.
New York also had one of the highest rates of underage youth illegally buying alcohol (15 percent). States with the lowest rates of underage youth buying alcohol included New Mexico (2.5 percent), Idaho (2.6 percent) and Oregon (2.6 percent).
Southern states had some of the lowest rates of underage drinking (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia) and some of the highest rates of underage youth illegally purchasing alcohol (Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and North Carolina), the investigators found.
The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has more about underage drinking.
SOURCE: U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, news release, Nov. 20, 2012Related Articles
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May 20, 2013
Learn More About Sharp
Sharp HealthCare is San Diego's health care leader with seven hospitals, two medical groups and a health plan. Learn more about our San Diego hospitals, choose a Sharp-affiliated San Diego doctor or browse our comprehensive medical services.
Copyright ©2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:dbd5746a-20db-4339-b01e-1c3676e958ed> | {
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O'Connor was a hard-core bird lover. Her favorite bird? Yes, the peacock. She owned dozens of them and considered herself their servant.
In her November 25, 1955 letter to her friend Betty Hester, O'Connor discussed the peacock in "The Displaced Person":
The Priest sees the peacock as standing for the Transfiguration [one of Christ's stages of transformation], for which it is most certainly a most beautiful symbol. It also stands in medieval symbology for the Church – the eyes are the eyes of the Church. (source: Collected Works, 971)
Notice that O'Connor doesn't try to tell us how to read the peacock in the story, but rather to share with us what it means to her. The quote suggests that she uses the peacock to let us know what she thinks of a character. For example Father Flynn and Astor are the only characters who seem to care about the peacocks: the priest is fixated on the bird, and Astor is upset about the fact that Mrs. McIntyre starved the peacock population from twenty plus to one peacock and two peahens. That makes Mrs. McIntyre a villain and Father Flynn and Astor likeable characters. Notice also that neither Father Flynn nor Astor are present at the murder of Mr. Guizac.
Most of the characters in "The Displaced Person" don't seem to notice the peacock at all. It seems that O'Connor uses the peacock when she wants to make a specific point about a certain character or set of characters. The other character strongly associated with the peacock is Mrs. Shortley. Her relationship with it is ambiguous. She isn't fascinated by it and doesn't appreciate it. The thing that makes the relationship ambiguous is the fact that the peacock follows her around and seems to be fascinated by her. The "fiery wheels with fierce dark eyes in them" sound suspiciously like the eyes on the peacock's tail. If these are the eyes of the Church then does that mean the Church has its eyes on Mrs. Shortley? If so, what does that mean? It depends, we suppose, on how the Church is looking at her. Disapprovingly? Lovingly? We leave it to you to decide. | <urn:uuid:36ca9842-64fc-4901-a10b-9e14e96d9b23> | {
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Back in the 1800s, when ambitious New York-based painters went looking for dramatic landscapes, they found them a ferry-ride away, on Staten Island.
At the time, the Island’s high, central hills were still wooded and sparsely settled. Much of the level land was green farmland. The surrounding waters were clean and filled with picturesque sailing vessels. The place was a landscape painter’s dream come true.
The era will be documented for the first time in "Staten Island Scenery: 1679-1900,” a new book by Barnett Shepherd, the New Brighton-based historian who is director emeritus of Historic Richmond Town and an advisor to the Staten Island Museum.
The book, published jointly by Richmond Town and the museum, will be released later in the year. Both collections preserve paintings of Island scenes from the 19th Century
“At the time, our Island was regarded as a glorious representation of all of America,” Shepherd said. “There were scenic views of the the harbor, acres of woods, grassy meadows, marshy wetlands and, the hills, which towered over the terrain other boroughs. These were perfect scenes for artists to recreate.”
Landscape paintings became popular with the public. Eventually painters left the city and sailed up the Hudson River looking for new views. Even after they headed west, artists who specialized in dramatic, unpopulated American landscapes became known as Hudson River School painters.
"Staten Island Scenery: 1679-1900" will be accompanied by documentary DVD, narrated by Shepherd and directed by award-winning director Ed Wiseman, who is also executive director of Historic Richmond Town. | <urn:uuid:7513a13e-cdd8-4a39-b3b0-6ce56b254804> | {
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Dr. Nicholas Karanikolas, director of Urologic Oncology at Staten Island University Hospital, demonstrates the robotic arms of the da Vinci Surgical System.
Using the da Vinci Robot for Prostatectomy
Mario Monteleone underwent robot-assisted prostate cancer surgery in August 2010 at SIUH.
Mario Monteleone's doctor had been tracking his PSA levels for six years. With each blood test, his level of prostate-specific antigen - a protein made by the body and used to help detect prostate cancer - varied.
If the number rose, antibiotics were prescribed, and the cause attributed to infection or inflammation in his prostate. Then, about four years ago, his levels continued to climb. A biopsy was done that came back normal.
In 2010, Monteleone's PSA level reached 10, meaning he was at an increased risk for prostate cancer.
A second biopsy was done that showed that the 66-year-old Great Kills man had cancer in 5 percent of his prostate.
His doctor recommended several treatment options: hormone therapy, external beam radiation or radioactive tumor seeding.
"I didn't want any of that," said the retired Wall Street securities specialist. "So, I looked at alternatives and I got opinions and more opinions."
After much thought, Monteleone chose to have a prostatectomy - surgical removal of the prostate gland - using robot-assisted technology recently available at Staten Island University Hospital.
In August 2010, Dr. Nicholas Karanikolas, director of Urologic Oncology at SIUH's Ocean Breeze campus, operated on Monteleone using the da Vinci Surgical System.
The high-tech surgery involved two components: a robot with spider-like arms equipped with a camera and tiny surgical instruments, and a separate console station located several feet away from the operating table where the surgeon controlled the robot's every movement.
Five half-inch incisions were made in Monteleone's abdomen through which the camera and instruments were passed.
During the prostatectomy, Dr. Karanikolas sat at the console looking into special binocular-enhanced lenses at a 3D image sent from the camera inside his patient's body. Aided by the magnified view, he used the console's control knobs, which resemble video game joysticks, to maneuver the grasping and cutting motions made by the da Vinci robot.
"We control the arms and the camera with the joysticks allowing us not only optimal visualization but manipulation of tissues in a very deep and intricate area of the body," said Dr. Karanikolas.
The ability to move the robotic arms in precise millimeter increments allowed him to remove Monteleone's prostate while preserving surrounding tissue and nerves responsible for urinary continence and sexual function.
The da Vinci robot enables surgeons to do minimally invasive procedures with smaller incisions, resulting in less bleeding and pain for the patient, shorter recovery times and fewer post-operative complications, such as incontinence and impotence, explained Dr. Karanikolas.
Following his surgery, Monteleone spent another day and a half at the hospital before being discharged. A catheter placed during the procedure was removed 10 days later.
"It took about a month or two to heal and after that, everything has been fine," said Monteleone, who prior to his surgery had difficulty urinating.
For the next two years, he will have to have his PSA level monitored every three months to check for cancer recurrence. Monteleone said he has no regrets about opting for the high-tech surgery.
"This is becoming the dominant means by which prostate cancer is being treated," said Dr. Karanikolas. "Presently, 85 to 90 percent of all prostates are being removed robotically and in the future, it may represent 95 to 99 percent." | <urn:uuid:4fb3b95f-df47-43c9-b204-86f0e93ff732> | {
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That's the name of the Slashdot story, U.S. In Danger of Losing Earth-Observing Satellite Capability.
Their summary: "As reported in Wired, a recent National Research Council report indicates a growing concern for NASA, the NOAA, and USGS. While there are currently 22 Earth-observing satellites in orbit, this number is expected to drop to as low as six by the year 2020. The U.S. relies on this network of satellites for weather forecasting, climate change data, and important geologic and oceanographic information. As with most things space and NASA these days, the root cause is funding cuts. The program to maintain this network was funded at $2 billion as recently as 2002, but has since been scaled back to a current funding level of $1.3 billion, with only two replacement satellites having definite launch dates." | <urn:uuid:3f2165da-5bbf-4bb9-a470-502424fad46b> | {
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Polishing characteristics and problems
Pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, magnetite and pentlandite. Kambalda, Western Australia
The section has been partially polished with 6µm diamond paste. Individual grains of pyrrhotite (brown) are clearly seen due to differential polishing. Crystals in some orientations still retain many polishing pits (black) whereas others are well polished. Chalcopyrite (yellow, centre bottom) and magnetite (light grey, bottom right) are present. Pentlandite (pale yellow-brown, centre right and close to a diagonal fracture) has higher reflectance than pyrrhotite and is just visible within the largest pyrrhotite crystal as small pentlandite flame-like exsolution bodies along a fracture- Dark grey area (bottom right) is silicate, black areas are polishing pits. Coarse features, especially grain boundaries, are well shown after initial polishing, but fine features are still difficult to see.
llmenite and haematite. Kimberlite pipe. Unknown Provenance
This section has been polished with 1µm diamond paste, but shows extensive plucking. Host magnesium-rich ilmenite crystals (brown) carry lath-shaped haematite exsolution bodies (blue-grey). Plucked areas (black) have the same size, shape and orientation as the haematite, suggesting that it has been preferentially removed. If more than one phase is plucked in a section then it becomes difficult to estimate modal percentages.
Bornite, stromeyerite, chalcocite, pyrite and tetrahedrite group mineral. Unknown Provenance
This section has been polished with ¼ µm diamond paste. Although the section is scratch-free has enormous relief and hence shows strong shadows about the harder phases. Euhedral to subhedral pyrite (pale yellow, high reflectance), a tetrahedrite group mineral (light grey, centre and top centre) and quartz (dark grey, bottom centre) show high relief against the softer copper and silver sulphides. Bornite (brown-red, left) has an symplectite-like intergrowth with, and inclusions of, chalcocite (light blue). Stromeyerite (light lilac-grey, centre right) also is complexly intergrown with chalcocite. Although relief accentuates the symplectite texture of the softer phases, they remain poorly polished in areas close to high relief minerals. Minerals forming thin rims around the harder phases would be 'lost' within the shadows. Bornite (top and bottom right) is purple coloured rather than brown, this is tarnish which has been protected by the adjacent quartz crystals from removal.
Chloanthite, rammelsbergite, pyrargyrite, argentopyrite, acanthite and altered argentopyrite. Tynebottom Mine, North Pennines, Britain
This section has been polished with ¼µm diamond paste but shows the effects of overpolishing. Chloanthite (cream-white) is overgrown by rhombic rammelsbergite (pale blue-white, slightly lower reflectance, centre) on the edge next to pyrargyrite. Pyrargyrite (blue) and argentopyrite (brown) overgrow the arsenides. In argentopyrite the slightly higher reflectance patches with a lighter surface colour in the centre of the crystals are more overpolished than the margins. The pyrargyrite crystal (bottom centre left) also shows the same effect. Acanthite (light blue-grey, bottom left) is less strongly coloured than pyrargyrite and more poorly polished. Fine-grained porous aggregates of pyrite, marcasite and an uncharacterized mineral, AgFe11S8, have pseudomorphed argentopyrite (bottom right) but individual crystals cannot be identified at this magnification. Calcite (dark grey) is the main gangue.
Pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, native gold and galena. Cabaçal 1, Mato Grosso, Brazil
The final polishing conditions are not known. Native gold shows relief, compare gold (golden-yellow, high reflectance, strong relief, centre top) within the silicate gangue with gold (centre bottom) intergrown with chalcopyrite (yellow-green, bottom centre) and pyrrhotite (brown, right) where it shows less relief Minor amounts of galena (blue-grey, top centre) are intergrown with pyrrhotite and gold, but are difficult to see. The high reflectance and colour of gold give adjacent crystals of chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite anomalously low reflectance and colours. These effects are more marked to the eye than the photomicrograph suggests. Gangue phases (greys) are quartz (left) and phyllosilicates (centre). Black areas are polishing pits.
Sphalerite, galena, haematite and magnetite. Jersey, Channel Islands, Britain
Final polishing with ¼ µm diamond paste. Despite a wide variation in hardness between the phases, there is little relief. Sphalerite (light grey, left) is intergrown with galena (White, centre) and euhedral magnetite (brown, bottom centre). Haematite (pale blue, bottom centre) laths are being replaced by galena (centre). The gangue is quartz (dark grey, bottom centre) and abundant coarse-grained carbonate with a slightly higher reflectance than quartz. | <urn:uuid:d428ba0b-4614-4133-b826-530cea6eea73> | {
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Publisher: U.S. Census Bureau
Social Explorer; U.S. Census Bureau; Design and Methodology, American Community Survey. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2009.
A term used in 2000 to describe the data that were asked of "100 percent" of the population in Census 2000. That is, questions that were collected for all people on both the census short-form and long-form questionnaires. In 2000, this included sex, relationship, age/ date of birth, Hispanic origin, race, and tenure.
One of four key dimensions of survey quality, accessibility refers to the ability of the data users to readily obtain and use survey products.
The average number of basic ACS items reported per person, including sex, age (counted double), relationship, marital status, Hispanic origin, and race. A questionnaire for an occupied unit must have an acceptability index of 2.5 or greater to be considered an interview.
One of four key dimensions of survey quality. Accuracy refers to the difference between the survey estimate and the true (unknown) value. Attributes are measured in terms of sources of error (for example, coverage, sampling, nonresponse, measurement, and processing).
Address Control File
The residential address list used in the 1990 census to label questionnaires, control the mail response check-in operation, and determine the nonresponse follow-up workload.
Address Corrections from Rural Directories
A post-Census 2000 Master Address File (MAF) improvement operation where Census Bureau staff reviewed commercial directories for 300 rural counties in 10 Midwestern states to obtain new city-style addresses for MAF records that did not contain a city-style address. Conducted in 2002, over 15,000 city-style addresses were associated with MAF records that previously lacked a city-style address.
A Census 2000 field operation to develop the address list in areas with predominantly non-city-style mailing addresses. A lister captured the address and/or a physical/ location description for each living quarters within a specified assignment area. The lister marked the location of each residential structure on a block map by placing a spot on the map indicating its location and assigning a map spot number. The lister also updated and corrected features on the map if necessary. This activity was called "prelist" in the 1990 census.
Geographic areas, usually with legally defined boundaries but often without elected officials, created to administer elections and other governmental functions. Administrative areas include school districts, voting districts, ZIP codes, and nonfunctioning Minor Civil Divisions (MCDs) such as election precincts, election districts, and assessment districts.
Imputation method required when values for missing or inconsistent items cannot be derived from the existing response record. In these cases, the imputation must be based on other techniques such as using answers from other people in the household, other responding housing units, or people believed to have similar characteristics. Such donors are reflected in a table referred to as an allocation matrix.
American Community Survey (ACS) Alert
This periodic electronic newsletter informs data users and other interested parties about news, events, data releases, congressional actions, and other developments associated with the ACS.
American Community Survey Demonstration Program
The full set of testing, research, and development program activities that started in 1994 and continued until the ACS was fully implemented in 2005.
American Community Survey Full Implementation
The period beginning in January 2005 during which the ACS interviewing of its housing unit sample was conducted in every county and Puerto Rico municipio as well as all American Indian and Alaska Native Areas and Hawaiian Homelands. The full implementation initial sample size is approximately 3 million addresses each year, and includes group quarters (GQ) facilities which were added beginning in January 2006.
American Community Survey Test Sites
The ACS demonstration program expanded from an initial four test counties in 1996 to 36 test counties in 1999. When the term ACS test site is used, it refers to data from these 36 counties.
American FactFinder (AFF)
An electronic system for access and dissemination of Census Bureau data on the Internet. The system offers prepackaged data products and user-selected data tables and maps from Census 2000, the 1990 Census of Population and Housing, the 1997 and 2002 Economic Censuses, the Population Estimates Program, annual economic surveys, and the ACS.
American Indian Area, Alaska Native Area, Hawaiian Homeland (AIANAHH)
A Census Bureau term referring to the following types of areas: federal and state American Indian reservations, American Indian off-reservation trust land areas (individual or tribal), Oklahoma tribal statistical areas (in 1990 tribal jurisdictional statistical area), tribal designated statistical areas, state designated American Indian statistical areas, Alaska Native Regional Corporations, Alaska Native village statistical areas, and Hawaiian Homelands.
Imputation method in which values for a missing or inconsistent item can be derived from other responses from the sample housing unit or person. For example, a first name can be used to determine and assign the sex of a person.
Automated Address Unduplication
An ongoing MAF improvement activity completed twice a year (coinciding with the delivery sequence file (DSF) refresh of the MAF) where, through automated means, pairs of city-style addresses are identified as identical based on house number, street name, five-digit ZIP code, and within structure identifier (if one exists). These addresses are linked for future operations to control duplication.
Automated Clerical Review
The ACS program run on raw mail return data to determine whether or not a case goes to failed-edit follow-up. The name reflects the fact that it was originally done clerically. The operator checks for missing content and for large households (more than five members) and for coverage inconsistencies.
Editing that is accomplished using software, as opposed to being done clerically.
Automated Listing and Mapping Instrument (ALMI)
Software used primarily by Census Bureau field representatives for the purpose of locating an address or conducting an address listing operation. The ALMI combines data from the MAF and the Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER®) System database to provide users with electronic maps and associated addresses. ALMI functionality allows users to edit, add, delete, and verify addresses, streets, and other map features, view a list of addresses associated with a selected level of geography, and view and denote the location of housing units on the electronic map.
Automated Review Tool (ART)
A Web-based computer application designed to help subject matter analysts quickly review and approve ACS estimates.
Automated Review Tool II (ART II)
The next generation of the ART. It is aimed at providing analysts with reports at a more detailed level than the previous version.
Tables that provide the most detailed estimates on all topics and geographic areas from the ACS. Base tables also include totals and subtotals. These tables form the data source for the "Derived Products." Base tables are also known as detailed tables.
The base weight for an address is equal to the inverse of the probability with which the address was selected for the sample as determined by the sample design. Since these weights are based only on the initial probability of selection, they are known as a priori to the data collection phase. This is the weight for a housing unit before any adjustments are made. The base weight is also known as the unbiased weight.
Be Counted Enumeration and Be Counted Questionnaire
The Be Counted program provided a means for people who believed they were not counted to be included in Census 2000. The Census Bureau placed Be Counted questionnaires at selected sites that were easily accessible to and frequented by large numbers of people. The questionnaires also were distributed by the Questionnaire Assistance Centers and in response to requests received through Telephone Questionnaire Assistance.
An authoring application that produces an instrument used to collect data using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) or computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI).
A subdivision of a census tract (or, prior to 2000, a block numbering area), a block is the smallest geographic entity for which the Census Bureau tabulates decennial census data. Many blocks correspond to individual city blocks bounded by streets, but blocks-especially in rural areas-may include many square miles and may have some boundaries that are not streets. The Census Bureau established blocks covering the entire nation for the first time in 1990. Previous censuses back to 1940 had blocks established only for part of the nation. Over 8 million blocks were identified for Census 2000.
A Census 2000 field operation to ensure the currency and completeness of the MAF within the mailout/mailback area. Listers traveled in their assignment areas to collect and verify information to ensure that their address listing pages (derived from the MAF) contained a mailing address for every living quarters. They especially looked for hidden housing units (such as attics, basements, or garages converted into housing units) and houses that appeared to be one unit but actually contained multiple housing units. They also updated and corrected their Census Bureau maps.
A subdivision of a census tract (or, prior to 2000, a block numbering area), a block group is a cluster of blocks having the same first digit of their four-digit identifying number within a census tract.
Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS)
An annual survey of all counties and statistically equivalent entities, all or selected incorporated places and minor civil divisions, all or selected federally recognized American Indian reservations and off-reservation trust lands, and Alaska Native Regional Corporations, to determine the location of legal limits and related information as of January 1 of the survey year.
A tool used by field representatives that allows them to manage their interview assignments on their laptops.
Census 2000 Supplementary Survey (C2SS)
The C2SS was an operational test conducted as part of the research program in Census 2000, and used the ACS questionnaire and methods to collect demographic, social, economic, and housing data from a national sample. This evaluation study gave the Census Bureau essential information about the operational feasibility of converting from the census long-form sample to the ACS.
Census County Division (CCD)
A subdivision of a county that is a relatively permanent statistical area established cooperatively by the Census Bureau and state and local government authorities. Used for presenting decennial census statistics in those states that do not have well-defined and stable minor civil divisions that serve as local governments.
Census Designated Place (CDP)
A statistical entity that serves as a statistical counterpart of an incorporated place for the purpose of presenting census data for a concentration of population, housing, and commercial structures that is identifiable by name, but is not within an incorporated place. CDPs usually are delineated cooperatively with state, Puerto Rico, Island Area, local, and tribal government officials, based on the Census Bureau guidelines. For Census 2000, CDPs did not have to meet a population threshold to quality for the tabulation of census data.
A collective term referring to the types of geographic areas used by the Census Bureau in its data collection and tabulation operations, including their structure, designations, and relationships to one another.
Census Information Center (CIC)
The CIC program is a cooperative activity between the Census Bureau and the national nonprofit organizations representing interests of racial and ethnic communities. The program objective is to make census information and data available to the participating organizations for analysis, policy planning, and for further dissemination through a network of regional and local affiliates.
Census Sample Data
Population and housing information collected only on the census long form for a sample of households.
A small, relatively permanent statistical subdivision of a county delineated by a local committee of census data users for the purpose of presenting data. Census tract boundaries normally follow visible features, but may follow governmental unit boundaries and other nonvisible features; they always nest within counties. Designed to be relatively homogeneous units with respect to population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions at the time of establishment, census tracts average about 4,000 inhabitants.
An address that consists of a house number and street or road name; for example, 201 Main Street. The address may or may not be used for the delivery of mail, and may include apartment numbers/designations or similar identifiers.
The process of associating numeric codes with write-in strings. For example, the write-in associated with Place of Birth is turned into a three-digit code.
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
The ratio of the standard error (square root of the variance) to the value being estimated, usually expressed in terms of a percentage (also known as the relative standard deviation). The lower the CV, the higher the relative reliability of the estimate.
Cold Deck Values
The values used to initialize matrices used for hot-deck allocation.
Reducing the amount of detail shown in a base table to comply with data release rules.
Community Address Updating System (CAUS)
A post-Census 2000 MAF improvement program that provides a systematic methodology for enhancement and update of address and feature information. Designed to provide a rural counterpart to the update of the city-style addresses received from the U.S. Postal Services Delivery Sequence File, CAUS identifies and conducts listing operations in selected geographic areas suspected of experiencing growth that is either not available from or appears to be incomplete in the U.S. Postal Services Delivery Sequence File. Address and feature updates collected for CAUS are added to the MAF and the TIGER® System.
Comparison profiles are available from the ACS for 1-year estimates beginning in 2007. These tables are available for the United States, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and geographic areas with a population of more than 65,000.
The ACS interview is classified as complete when all applicable questions have been answered on the mail form, or during a CATI or CAPI interview. The interview may include responses of "Don't Know" and "Refused" to specific questions.
Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)
A method of data collection in which the interviewer asks questions displayed on a laptop computer screen and enters the answers directly into a computer.
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)
A method of data collection using telephone interviews in which the questions to be asked are displayed on a computer screen and responses are entered directly into a computer.
The sample estimate and its standard error permit the construction of a confidence interval that represents the degree of uncertainty about the estimate. Each ACS estimate is accompanied by the upper and lower bounds of the 90 percent confidence interval, or the 90 percent margin of error, from which a confidence interval can be constructed. A 90 percent confidence interval can be interpreted roughly as providing 90 percent certainty that the interval defined by the upper and lower bounds contains the true value of the characteristic.
The guarantee made by law (Title 13, United States Code) to individuals who provide census information, regarding nondisclosure of that information to others.
Congressional Tool Kit
A collection of documents developed for members of Congress that explain how and why the ACS is conducted, its benefits, and how to obtain additional information. The Tool Kit originally was distributed as hard copies in 3-ring binders and is now available as a series of online portable document format (PDF) files.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The CPI program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
A file which represents the current status of any case in sample in the ACS.
During the ACS weighting process, the intercensal population and housing estimates are used as survey controls. Weights are adjusted so that ACS estimates conform to these controls.
Count Question Resolution (CQR)
A process followed in Census 2000 whereby state, local, and tribal government officials could ask the Census Bureau to verify the accuracy of the legal boundaries used for Census 2000, the allocation of living quarters and their residents in relation to those boundaries, and the count of people recorded by the Census Bureau for specific living quarters.
The joint distribution of two or more data characteristics, where each of the categories of one characteristic is repeated for each of the categories of the other characteristic(s). A cross-tabulation in a base table is denoted where "BY" is used as the conjunction between characteristics; for example, "AGE BY SEX" or "AGE BY SEX BY RACE."
Current Population Survey (CPS)
Monthly sample survey of the U.S. population that provides employment and unemployment estimates as well as current data about other social and economic characteristics of the population. Collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the Census Bureau.
The concept used in the ACS to determine who should be considered a resident of a sample address. Everyone who is currently living or staying at a sample address is considered a resident of that address, except people staying there for two months or less. People who have established residence at the sample address and are away for only a short period of time are also considered to be current residents.
The Census Bureau offers a wide variety of general purpose data products from the ACS. These products are designed to meet the needs of the majority of data users and contain predefined sets of data for standard census geograpic areas, including both political and statistical geography. These products are available on the American FactFinder and the ACS Web site.
For users with data needs not met through the general purpose products, the Census Bureau offers "custom" tabulations on a cost-reimbursable basis, with the ACS Custom Tabulation program. Custom tabulations are created by tabulating data from ACS microdata files. They vary in size, complexity, and cost depending on the needs of the sponsoring client.
For users with data needs not met through the general purpose products, the Census Bureau offers "custom" tabulations on a cost-reimbursable basis, with the ACS Custom Tabulation program. Custom tabulations are created by tabulating data from ACS microdata files. They vary in size, complexity, and cost depending on the needs of the sponsoring client.
Data Capture File
The repository for all data captured from mail return forms and by CATI and CAPI Blaise instruments.
Data Collection Mode
One of three ACS methods (mail, telephone, personal visit) of data collection.
Data products containing estimates of key demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics. Data swapping is done by editing the source data or exchanging records for a sample of cases. A sample of households is selected and matched on a set of selected key variables with households in neighboring geographic areas that have similar characteristics. Because the swap often occurs within a neighboring area, there is usually no effect on the marginal totals for the area or for totals that include data from multiple areas.
De Facto Residence Rules
De facto means "in fact." A de facto residence rule would define survey residents as all people living or staying at the sample address at the time of the interview without considering other factors such as the amount of time they will be staying there. Such a rule would exclude people away from a regular residence even if they were away for only that one day. The ACS is using a de facto residence rule when determining the residents of GQ facilities eligible to be sampled and interviewed for the survey.
Delivery Sequence File (DSF)
A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) computer file containing all mailing addresses serviced by the USPS. The USPS continuously updates the DSF as its letter carriers identify addresses for new delivery points and changes in the status of existing addresses. The Census Bureau uses the DSF as a source for maintaining and updating its MAF.
Demographic Area Address Listing (DAAL)
A post-Census 2000 program associated with coverage improvement operations, address list development, and automated listing for the CAUS and demographic household surveys. The program uses automated listing methods to update the inventory of living quarters, and also updates the street network in selected blocks.
Derived products are informational products based largely on estimates from the base tables.
See Base Tables .
Disclosure Avoidance (DA)
Statistical methods used in the tabulation of data prior to releasing data products to ensure the confidentiality of responses. See Confidentiality .
Disclosure Review Board (DRB)
A board comprised of Census Bureau staff who review and must approve all data products based on disclosure avoidance rules before they can be released to the public.
To subject data to program logic to check for missing data and inconsistencies.
Edit Management and Messaging Application (EMMA)
An Internet application used by ACS subject-matter analysts to show the status of edit review and to relay analysts relevant comments.
Numerical values obtained from a statistical sample and assigned to a population parameter. Data produced from the ACS interviews are collected from samples of housing units. These data are used to produce estimates of the actual figures that would have been obtained by interviewing the entire population using the same methodology.
Research and evaluation conducted by Census Bureau staff and external experts to assess a broad set of topics including the feasibility and the quality of the data products produced by the ACS.
Failed Edit Follow-Up (FEFU)
Data collection activity of mail response records designed to collect missing information. Mail returns failing the automated clerical review edit are contacted by telephone.
Federal Agency Information Program (FAIP)
A long-term program of information and technical partnership with federal agencies. The FAIP is designed to establish a relationship with each agency that will identify the unique opportunities and challenges it faces in using ACS data. The program targets assistance based on the needs and resources of each federal agency in order to help the agency make a smooth transition to using ACS data.
Federal Government Unit (FGU)
Any of a variety of civil divisions; places and is used for sampling.
Federal Register Notice
Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. Information describing proposed data collection must be posted on the Federal Register for public review and comment for a 30-day period and must take place before the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) can provide final clearance for the data collection.
Federal-State Cooperative Program for Population Estimates (FSCPE)
FSCPEs are state level organizations, designated by their respective governors, to work cooperatively with the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program in the production of subnational population estimates and in making data broadly available to the public.
Field Representative (FR)
A Census Bureau employee who interviews people to obtain information for a census or survey.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
A process that allows a user to download large files and datasets from American FactFinder.
Final Outcome Code
A code assigned to a CATI or CAPI case at the conclusion of the data collection which characterizes the status of the case, such as "completed occupied interview" or "respondent refusal noninterview."
First Stage Sample
ACS first stage sampling maintains five 20 percent partitions of the MAF by determining which addresses were in the first stage sample 4 years prior and excluding them. This ensures that no address is in sample more than once in any 5-year period. The first phase sample is the universe from which the second phase sample is selected.
Estimates based on 5 years of ACS data. These estimates are meant to reflect the characteristics of a geographic area over the entire 60-month period and will be published for all geographic areas down to the census block group level.
Functioning Governmental Unit (FGU)
A general purpose government that has the legal capacity to elect or appoint officials, raise revenues, provide surveys, and enter into contracts.
The process whereby write-in answers to Hispanic origin, race, ancestry, and language are categorized into codes. This is accomplished using an automated system approach, relying on a set of growing dictionaries of write-ins against which responses are computer matched. Responses that are not found in the dictionaries are sent to subject matter experts who code them. These new responses are added to the computer dictionaries for subsequent use.
The assignment of an address, structure, key geographic location, or business name to a location that is identified by one or more geographic codes. For living quarters, geocoding usually requires identification of a specific census block.
Geographic Summary Level
A geographic summary level specifies the content and the hierarchical relationships of the geographic elements that are required to tabulate and summarize data. For example, the county summary level specifies the state-county hierarchy. Thus, both the state code and the county code are required to uniquely identify a county in the United States or Puerto Rico.
Government Printing Office (GPO)
A federal agency responsible for producing, procuring, and disseminating printed and electronic publications of the Congress as well as the executive departments and establishments of the federal government.
Governmental Unit Measure of Size (GUMOS)
The smallest measure of size associated with a given block. It is used in the sample selection operation to determine the initial sampling rate at the block level.
Group Quarters (GQ) Facilities
A GQ facility is a place where people live or stay that is normally owned or managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or services for the residents. These services may include custodial or medical care, as well as other types of assistance. Residency is commonly restricted to those receiving these services. People living in GQ facilities are usually not related to each other. The ACS collects data from people living in both housing units and GQ facilities.
Group Quarters Facilities Questionnaire (GQFQ)
A Blaise-based automated survey instrument that field representatives (FR's) use to collect new or updated information about a GQ facility. Questions in this survey include facility name, mailing and physical address, telephone number, GQ contact name and telephone number, special place name, and the GQ facilitys maximum occupancy and current number of people staying in the GQ facility.
Group Quarters Geocoding Correction Operation
A post-Census 2000 MAF improvement operation implemented to correct errors (mostly census block geocodes) associated with college dormitories in MAF and TIGER®. Conducted by Census Bureau staff, source materials for over 20,000 dormitories were reviewed and used to identify and correct MAF/TIGER® errors.
Group Quarters Listing Sheet
This form is preprinted with information such as GQ name and control number for sample GQ facilities. It is used by FR's when the GQ administrator is unable to provide a list of names or occupied bed locations for person-level sample selection.
Group Quarters Measure of Size (GQMOS)
The expected population of a given GQ facility divided by 10. It is used in the sample selection operation to determine the universe of sample units to be sampled. A sample unit is a cluster or group of 10 people.
Hot Deck Imputation
An approach for filling in missing answers with information from like households or persons, with donors determined by geographic location or specific characteristics reported. Hot deck imputation continually updates matrices with data from donors with acceptable data and then provides values from such matrices to recipients who need data.
A household includes all the people who occupy a housing unit that meet all the residence rules of a survey or census.
Housing Unit (HU)
A house, apartment, mobile home or trailer, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied as separate living quarters, or if vacant, intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live separately from any other individuals in the building and have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall. For vacant units, the criteria of separateness and direct access are applied to the intended occupants whenever possible.
When information is missing or inconsistent, the Census Bureau uses imputation methods to assign or allocate values. Imputation relies on the statistical principle of "homogeneity," or the tendency of households within a small geographic area to be similar in most characteristics.
Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR)
An automated telephone application which allows the caller to hear prerecorded responses to frequently asked questions. The caller may proceed through the application by entering numbers from the telephone key pad or by speaking responses to select which messages he/she wants to hear. The caller may also elect to speak to an interviewer instead of listening to the recorded responses.
Official Census Bureau estimates of the population of the United States, states, metropolitan areas, cities and towns, and counties; also official Census Bureau estimates of housing units (HUs).
These are codes assigned to a sample GQ assignment in the GQFQ system by a field representative when scheduling a personal visit to a sample ACS GQ facility, when additional research is needed to locate the GQ facility, or when a return visit to the GQ facility is needed to obtain additional survey information.
Interpolation is frequently used in calculating medians or quartiles based on interval data and in approximating standard errors from tables. Linear interpolation is used to estimate values of a function between two known values. Pareto interpolation is an alternative to linear interpolation. In Pareto interpolation, the median is derived by interpolating between the logarithms of the upper and lower income limits of the median category.
A process in which CATI supervisors, for quality control purposes, listen to interviewers while they are conducting interviews with respondents to assure that the interviewer is following all interviewing procedures correctly. The interviewer is not told when the supervisor is listening, but is given feedback on his/her performance after the monitoring.
The failure to obtain valid responses or responses consistent with other answers for individual data items.
Subgroups of the original tabulation universe, especially by race, Hispanic origin, ancestry, and tribal groups. For example, many ACS base tables are iterated by 9 race and Hispanic origin groups.
Joint Economic Edit
An edit which looks at the combination of multiple variables related to a person's employment and income, thereby maximizing the information used for filling any missing related variables.
An operation in which keyers use a software program to capture questionnaire responses by typing responses directly into the scanned image of a questionnaire displayed on their work station screen.
An operation in which keyers use a software program to capture questionnaire responses from a hard-copy of the questionnaire.
A geographic entity whose origin, boundary, name, and description result from charters, laws, treaties, or other administrative or governmental action, such as the United States, states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Island Areas, counties, cities, boroughs, towns, villages, townships, American Indian reservations, Alaska Native villages, congressional districts, and school districts. The legal entities and their boundaries that the Census Bureau recognizes are those in existence on January 1 of each calendar year.
A method of decennial census data collection in some of the more remote, sparsely populated areas of the United States and the Island Areas, where many of the households do not have mail delivery to city-style addresses. Enumerators list the residential addresses within their assignment areas on blank address register pages, map spot the location of the residential structures on Census Bureau maps, and conduct an interview for each household.
Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA)
A Census 2000 program, established in response to requirements of Public Law 103-430, that provided an opportunity for local and tribal governments to review and update individual address information or block-by-block address counts from the MAF and associated geographic information in the TIGER® database. The goal was to improve the completeness and accuracy of both computer files. Individuals working with the addresses had to sign a confidentiality agreement before a government could participate. Also called the Address List Review Program.
The decennial census long-form questionnaire was used to survey a sample of the U.S. population. It contained the questions on the census short form and additional detailed questions relating to the social, economic, and housing characteristics of each individual and household.
Represents the low end of the 90 percent confidence interval of an estimate from a sample survey. A 90 percent confidence interval can be interpreted roughly as providing 90 percent certainty that the true number falls between the upper and lower bounds.
The address used by a living quarters, special place, business establishment, and the like for mail delivery by the USPS. It can be a house number and street or road name, which may be followed by an apartment, unit, or trailer lot designation; a building or apartment complex name and apartment designation; a trailer park name and lot number; a special place/GQ facility name; a post office box or drawer; a rural route or highway contract route, which may include a box number; or general delivery. A mailing address includes a post office name, state abbreviation, and ZIP Code. A mailing address may serve more than one living quarters, establishment, and so on.
A method of data collection in which the USPS delivers addressed questionnaires to housing units. Residents are asked to complete and mail the questionnaire to a specified data capture center.
Main Phase Sample
The annual ACS sample is chosen in two phases. During the first phase, referred to as the main phase, approximately 98 percent of the total ACS sample is chosen. The main phase sample addresses are allocated to the 12 months of the sample year. The second phase, referred to as supplemental sample selection, is implemented to represent new construction.
Master Address File (MAF)
The Census Bureau's official inventory on known living quarters (housing units and GQ facilities) and selected nonresidential units (public, private, and commercial) in the United States. The file contains mailing and location address information, geocodes, and other attribute information about each living quarters. The Census Bureau continues to update the MAF using the USPS DSF and various automated, computer-assisted, clerical, and field operations.
Master Address File Geocoding Office Resolution (MAFGOR)
An operation in which census staff try to find the location of addresses from the USPS that did not match to the records in the TIGER® database. Staff use atlases, maps, city directories, and the like to locate these addresses and add their streets and address ranges to the TIGER® database.
Master Address File/TIGER® Reconciliation
A post-Census 2000 MAF improvement activity where census staff reviewed and corrected map spot inconsistencies in over 1,800 counties. Over 75,000 MAF records in nonmailout/mailback blocks were corrected. The most common types of MAF corrections were the assignment of map spots to MAF records such that they are consistent with the TIGER® database, and the identification and linkage of duplicate MAF records.
Margin of Error (MOE)
Some ACS products provide an MOE instead of confidence intervals. An MOE is the difference between an estimate and its upper or lower confidence bounds. Confidence bounds can be created by adding the MOE to the estimate (for the upper bound) and subtracting the MOE from the estimate (for the lower bound). All published ACS MOEs are based on a 90 percent confidence level.
Measure of Size (MOS)
A generic term used to refer to the estimated size of a specific administrative or statistical area. It is used in the sample selection operation to determine the initial sampling rate at the block level.
Also referred to as "response error," measurement error occurs when the response received differs from the "true" value as a result of the respondent, the interviewer, the questionnaire, the mode of collection, the respondents record-keeping system(s) or other similar factors.
This measurement represents the middle value (if n is odd) or the average of the two middle values (if n is even) in an ordered list of data values. The median divides the total frequency distribution into two equal parts: one-half of the cases fall below the median and one-half of the cases exceed the median. Medians in the ACS are estimated using interpolation methods.
Information about the content, quality, condition, and other characteristics of data. Metadata related to tables presented in American FactFinder can be found by clicking on column headings or by clicking "Help" and then "Census Data Information."
Minor Civil Division (MCD)
A primary governmental and/or administrative subdivision of a county, such as a township, precinct, or magisterial district. MCDs exist in 28 states and the District of Columbia. In 20 states, all or many MCDs are general-purpose governmental units: Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. Most of these MCDs are legally designated as towns or townships.
Three- and five-year estimates based on multiple years of ACS data. Three year estimates will be published for geographic areas with a population of 20,000 or more. Five year estimates will be published for all geographic areas down to the census block group level.
Primary legal divisions of Puerto Rico. These are treated as county equivalents.
A data product that includes easy-to-read descriptions for a particular geography.
National Processing Center (NPC)
The permanent Census Bureau processing facility in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Until 1998, it was called the Data Preparation Division.
A mailing address that does not use a house number and street or road name. This includes rural routes and highway contract routes, which may include a box number; post office boxes and drawers; and general delivery.
A sample address which was eligible for an interview, but from which no survey data was obtained.
Error caused by survey failure to get a response to one or possibly all of the questions. Nonresponse error is measured in the ACS by survey response rates and item nonresponse rates.
An operation whose objective is to obtain complete survey information from housing units for which the Census Bureau did not receive a completed questionnaire by mail. In the ACS, telephone and personal visit methods are used for nonresponse follow-up.
Total survey error can be classified into two categories-sampling error and nonsampling error. Errors that occur during data collection (for example, nonresponse error, response error, and interviewer error) or data capture fall under the category of nonsampling error.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
OMB assists the President in the development and execution of policies and programs. OMB has a hand in the development and resolution of all budget, policy, legislative, regulatory, procurement, e-government, and management issues on behalf of the President. OMB is composed of divisions organized either by agency and program area or by functional responsibilities. However, the work of OMB often requires a broad exposure to issues and programs outside of the direct area of assigned responsibility. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Census Bureau submits survey subjects, questions, and information related to sampling, data collection methods, and tabulation of survey data to OMB for approval and clearance.
Operational Response Rates
Response rates for data collection operations conducted in the ACS-Mail, CATI, CAPI, and FEFU operations.
Optical Mark Recognition (OMR)
Technology that uses a digital image of a completed questionnaire and computer software to read and interpret the marking of a response category and to convert that mark into an electronic response to the survey question.
Extent to which a frame includes units from the target population more than once, giving the unit multiple chances of selection, as well as the extent to which the frame includes units that are not members of the target population.
An estimate based on information collected over a period of time. For ACS the period is either 1 year, 3 years, or 5 years.
An estimate based on one point in time. The decennial census longform estimates for Census 2000 were based on information collected as of April 1, 2000.
Intercensal estimates used in weighting ACS sample counts to ensure that ACS estimates of total population and occupied housing units agree with official Census Bureau estimates.
Primary Sampling Unit (PSU)
The PSU for the housing unit sample selection is the address. For the GQ sample selection it is groups of ten expected interviews. For the small GQ sample selection operation it is the GQ facility. All residents of small GQ facilities in sample are included in the person sample.
Error introduced in the postdata collection process of taking the responses from the questionnaire or instrument and turning those responses into published data. Thus, processing error occurs during data capture, coding, editing, imputation, and tabulation.
Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA)
An area that defines the extent of territory for which the Census Bureau releases Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) records.
Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Files
Computerized files that contain a sample of individual records, with identifying information removed, showing the population and housing characteristics of the units and people included on those forms.
Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Management and Messaging Application (PMMA)
This system is the PUMS version of EMMA, and is used by analysts to communicate with the data processing team about their review of the PUMS files.
Puerto Rico Community Survey (PRCS)
The counterpart to the ACS that is conducted in Puerto Rico.
Quality Assurance (QA)
The systematic approach to building accuracy and completeness into a process.
Quality Control (QC)
Various statistical methods that validate that products or operations meet specified standards.
A measure of the quality of a particular return which is used when there are multiple returns for a particular sample unit.
Statistics that provide information about the quality of the ACS data. The ACS releases four different quality measures with the annual data release: 1) initial sample size and final interviews; 2) coverage rates; 3) response rates, and; 4) item allocation rates for all collected variables.
An iterative procedure whereby a series of ratio adjustments are performed and then repeated. Each ratio adjustment corresponds to a dimension of the raking matrix. The goal of the procedure is to achieve a high degree of consistency between the weighted marginal totals and the control totals used in the ratio adjustment. The raking ratio estimator is also known as iterative proportional fitting.
Ranking tables are tables and related graphics that show the rank order of a key statistic or derived measure across various geographic areas, currently states, counties, and places.
Variables on data files that are the result of combining values from more than one variable.
Time interval to which survey responses refer. For example, many ACS questions refer to the day of the interview; others refer to the "past 12 months" or "last week."
Regional Office (RO)
One of 12 permanent Census Bureau offices established for the management of all census and survey operations in specified areas.
One of four key dimensions of survey quality. Relevance is a qualitative assessment of the value contributed by the data. Value is characterized by the degree to which the data serve to address the purposes for which they are produced and sought by users (including mandate of the agency, legislated requirements, and so on.)
Rural areas in Alaska which are difficult to access. In these areas, all ACS sample cases are interviewed using the personal visit mode. Field representatives attempt to conduct interviews for all cases in specific areas of remote Alaska during a single visit. All sample cases in remote Alaska are interviewed in either January through April or September through December.
The series of rules that define who (if anyone) is considered to be a resident of a sample address for purposes of the survey or census.
The person supplying survey or census information about his or her living quarters and its occupants.
The respondents failure to provide the correct answer to a survey question for any reason, such as poor comprehension of the question meaning, low motivation to answer the question, inability to retrieve the necessary information, or an unwillingness to answer the question truthfully.
The response options for a particular survey question shown on the paper questionnaire, read to the respondent in a CATI interview or read or presented on a flashcard to the respondent in a CAPI interview.
Also referred to as measurement error, response error is any error that occurs during the data collection stage of a survey resulting in a deviation from the true value for a given survey question or questions. Errors made by respondents, interviewer errors such as misreading a question or guiding the response to a particular category, and poorly designed data collection instruments or questionnaires all contribute to response error.
A rolling sample design jointly selects k nonoverlapping probability samples, each of which constitutes 1/ F of the entire population. One sample is interviewed each time period until all of the sample has been interviewed after k periods.
The first month of a samples 3-month interview period.
Geographic and statistical entities eligible to be used in determining the sampling strata assignment.
Errors that occur because only part of the population is directly contacted. With any sample, differences are likely to exist between the characteristics of the sampled population and the larger group from which the sample was chosen.
Any list or device that, for purposes of sampling, delimits, identifies, and allows access to the sampling units, which contain elements of the sampled population. The frame may be a listing of persons, housing units, businesses, records, land segments, and so on. One sampling frame or a combination of frames may be used to cover the entire sampled population.
Proportion of the addresses in a geographical area, or residents of a GQ facility, who are selected for interview in a particular time period.
Variation that occurs by chance because a sample is surveyed rather than the entire population.
Second Stage Sample
The set of addresses selected from the first phase sample using a systematic sampling procedure. This procedure employs seven distinct sampling rates.
Selected Population Profiles (SPPs)
An ACS data product that provides certain characteristics for a specific race or ethnic group (for example, Alaska Natives) or other population subgroup (for example, people aged 60 years and over). SPPS are produced directly from the sample microdata (that is, not a derived product).
The decennial census short-form questionnaire includes questions on sex, age/date of birth, relationship, Hispanic origin, race, and tenure.
Estimates based on the set of ACS interviews conducted from January through December of a given calendar year. These estimates will be published for geographic areas with a population of 65,000 or more.
Population sizes of geographical areas that determine when data products will first be released for that area; for example, areas with 65,000 or greater populations will get single-year profiles in 2006 and every year thereafter; areas with 20,000 or greater populations will receive 3-year data products in 2008 and every year thereafter. There are no population size thresholds applied to the 5-year data products other than those imposed by the DRB.
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE)
Census Bureau program that prepares mathematical model-based estimates of selected characteristics of the United States, states, and school districts.
A federal census conducted at the request and expense of a local governmental agency to obtain a population count between decennial censuses.
Special Place (SP)
A special place is an entity that owns and/or manages one or more GQ facilities. A special place can be in the same building or location as the GQ facility or it can be at a different location than the GQ facility it manages or oversees.
Special Sworn Status (SSS) or Special Sworn Status (SSS) Individual
Individuals with SSS are defined as non-Census Bureau personnel who require access to census information or confidential data. An SSS individual is bound by Census Bureau confidentiality requirements, as authorized by Title 13, United States Code.
The standard error is a measure of the deviation of a sample estimate from the average of all possible samples.
State Data Center (SDC)
A state agency or university facility identified by the governor of each state and state equivalent to participate in the Census Bureau's cooperative network for the dissemination of census data.
Defined and intended to provide nationally consistent definitions for collecting, tabulating, and publishing federal statistics for a set of geographic areas.
The determination of whether the difference between two estimates is not likely to be from random chance (sampling error) alone. This determination is based on both the estimates themselves and their standard errors. For ACS data, two estimates are "significantly different at the 90 percent level" if their difference is large enough to infer that there was a less than 10 percent chance that the difference came entirely from random variation.
A grouping or classification that has a similar set of characteristics.
Refers to the sampling of a sample. The cases that are not completed by mail or through a telephone interview become eligible for CAPI interviewing. This winnowing of the sample is referred to as subsampling.
Data products organized by subject area that present an Overview of the information that analysts most often receive requests for from data users.
Successive Differences Replication (SDR)
A variance estimation methodology to be used for surveys with a systematic sample. The initial sampling weights are multiplied by sets of 80 predetermined factors, and then reprocessed through the weighting system to produce 80 new sets to replicate weights. The 80 replicate weights and the final production weights are used to estimate the variance of ACS estimates.
Sufficient Partial Interview
A sufficient partial interview means that the Census Bureau accepts an interview as final even if the respondent did not provide a valid response for all applicable items.
Summary File 3 (SF 3)
This file presents base tables on population and housing characteristics from Census 2000 sample topics, such as income and education. It also includes population estimates for ancestry groups and selected characteristics for a limited number of race and Hispanic or Latino categories.
Summary File 4 (SF 4)
This file presents data similar to the information included on Summary File 3. The data from Census 2000 are shown down to the census tract level for 336 race, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native, and ancestry categories.
The sample that is selected from new addresses (primarily new construction) and allocated to the last 9 months of the sample year. This is done in January of the sample year.
A data collection for a sample of a population. Surveys are normally less expensive to conduct than censuses, hence, they may be taken more frequently and can provide an information update between censuses.
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
A longitudinal survey conducted by the Census Bureau that collects data periodically from the same respondents over the course of several years. The SIPP produces data on income, taxes, assets, liabilities, and participation in government transfer programs.
The four key elements of survey quality include relevance, accuracy, timeliness, and accessibility.
Survey Response Rates
A measure of total response across all three modes of data collection, calculated as the ratio of the estimate of the interviewed units to the estimate of all units that should have been interviewed. The ACS weights the survey response rate to reflect the sample design, including the subsampling for the CAPI.
See Data Swapping.
Errors or inaccuracies occurring in data consistently in one direction, which can distort survey results. By definition, any systematic error in a survey will occur in all implementations of that same survey design.
The month associated with a sample case which is used in producing estimates. Also known as the Interview Month, it reflects the response month, which may or may not be the same as the sample month.
The specific category of people, households, or housing units on which estimates are based; for example, people aged 25 and over or occupied housing units.
In the context of the ACS language program, this refers to the identification of geographic areas warranting specific language tools.
Telephone Questionnaire Assistance (TQA)
A process which allows respondents to call a toll-free telephone number to receive help when completing the survey questionnaire. This process also allows respondents to complete the survey over the telephone with an interviewer.
Data products that show the geographic patterns in statistical data. Thematic maps are a complement to the ranking tables, and are a tool to visually display on a map the geographic variability of a key summary or derived measure.
Estimates based on 3 years of ACS data. These estimates are meant to reflect the characteristics of a geographic area over the entire 36-month period. These estimates will be published for geographic areas with a population of 20,000 or more.
One of four key dimensions of survey quality. Timeliness refers to both the length of time between data collection and the first availability of a product and to the frequency of the data collection.
Title 13 (U.S. Code)
The law under which the Census Bureau operates and that guarantees the confidentiality of census information and establishes penalties for disclosing this information.
A disclosure avoidance practice whereby extremely low or high values are masked by replacing them with a value that represents everything above or below a certain value.
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER®) System or Database
A digital (computer-readable) geographic database that automates the mapping and related geographic activities required to support the Census Bureau's census and survey programs.
See Census Tract.
A USPS notification that a mailing piece could not be delivered to the designated address.
The extent to which the sampling frame does not include members of the target population thus preventing those members from having any chance of selection into the sample.
The failure to obtain the minimum required data from a unit in the sample.
A sample address that is inadequate for delivery by the USPS.
A method of data collection used in Census 2000 and other censuses, whereby enumerators canvassed assignment areas and delivered a census questionnaire to each housing unit. At the same time, enumerators updated the address listing pages and Census Bureau maps. The household was asked to complete and return the questionnaire by mail. This method was used primarily in areas where many homes do not receive mail at a city-style address; that is, the majority of United States households not included in mailout/mailback areas. U/L was used for all of Puerto Rico in Census 2000.
Represents the high end of the 90 percent confidence interval of an estimate from a sample survey. A 90 percent confidence interval can be interpreted roughly as providing 90 percent certainty that the true number falls between the upper and lower bounds.
An area, sector, or residential development, such as a neighborhood, within a geographic area in Puerto Rico.
Urbanized Area (UA)
A densely settled territory that contains 50,000 or more people. The Census Bureau delineates UAs to provide a better separation of urban and rural territory, population, and housing in the vicinity of large places.
The concept used to define residence in the decennial census. The place where a person lives and sleeps most of the time.
Voluntary Methods Test
A special test conducted at the request of Congress in 2002 to measure the impact on the ACS of changing the data collection authority from mandatory to voluntary.
A control system which is used to track and assign cases to individual telephone interviewers. WebCATI evaluates the characteristics of each case (for example, the date and time of the previous call) and the skills needed for each case (for example, the need for the case to be interviewed in Spanish), and delivers the case to the next available interviewer who possesses the matching skill.
Web Data Server (WDS)
A research tool for reporters, SDCs, CICs, ROs, and internal Census Bureau analysts. WDS features a user-friendly interface that allows users to quickly access, visualize, and manipulate ACS base tables.
A series of survey adjustments. Survey data are traditionally weighted to adjust for the sample design, the effects of nonresponse, and to correct for survey undercoverage error. | <urn:uuid:5c19b36c-61be-4041-96ab-768f6d50a771> | {
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Will the US Face Blackouts as Electricity Generation Suffers in Drought?
Well, its official – the U.S. government has acknowledged that the U.S. is in the worst drought in over 50 years, since December 1956, when about 58 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in moderate to extreme drought.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center’s “State of the Climate Drought July 2012″ report, “Based on the Palmer Drought Index, severe to extreme drought affected about 38 percent of the contiguous United States as of the end of July 2012, an increase of about 5 percent from last month… About 57 percent of the contiguous U.S. fell in the moderate to extreme drought categories (based on the Palmer Drought Index) at the end of July… According to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, about 63 percent of the contiguous U.S. (about 53 percent of the U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico) was classified as experiencing moderate to exceptional (D1-D4) drought at the end of July.”
Much business writing on the effects of the drought have focused on its agricultural aspects. To give but one, the hottest, driest summer since 1936 scorching the Midwest have diminished projected corn and soybean crop yields s in the U.S. for a third straight year to their lowest levels in nine years. Accordingly, the price of a bushel of corn has jumped 62 percent since 15 June and soybeans gained 32 percent in the same period.
But as consumers fret about the inevitable rise in food prices to come, the drought is unveiling another, darker threat to the American lifestyle, as it is now threatening U.S. electricity supplies.
Because virtually all power plants, whether they are nuclear, coal, or natural gas-fired, are completely dependent on water for cooling. Hydroelectric plants require continuous water flow to operate their turbines. Given the drought, many facilities are overheating and utilities are shutting them down or running their plants at lower capacity. Few Americans know (or up to this point have cared) that the country’s power plants account for about half of all the water used in the United States. For every gallon of residential water used in the average U.S. household, five times more is used to provide that home with electricity via hydropower turbines and fossil fuel power plants, roughly 40,000 gallons each month.
Michael Webber, associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, is under no such illusions, stating that the summer’s record high heat and drought have worked together to overtax the nation’s electrical grid, adding that families use more water to power their homes than they use from their tap. Webber said, “In summer you often get a double whammy. People want their air-conditioning and drought gets worse. You have more demand for electricity and less water available to produce it. That is what we are seeing in the Midwest right now, power plants on the edge.”
In July U.S. nuclear-power production hit its lowest seasonal levels in nine years as drought and heat forced Nuclear power plants from Ohio to Vermont to slow output. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman David McIntyre explained, “Heat is the main issue, because if the river is getting warmer the water going into the plant is warmer and makes it harder to cool. If the water gets too warm, you have to dial back production,” McIntyre said. “That’s for reactor safety, and also to regulate the temperature of discharge water, which affects aquatic life.”
Nuclear is the thirstiest power source. According to the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia, the average NPP that generates 12.2 million megawatt hours of electricity requires far more water to cool its turbines than other power plants. NPPs need 2725 liters of water per megawatt hour for cooling. Coal or natural gas plants need, on average, only 1890 and 719 liters respectively to produce the same amount of energy.
And oh, the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center in its 16 August “U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook” wrote, “The Drought Outlook valid through the end of November 2012 indicates drought conditions will remain essentially unchanged in large sections of the central Mississippi Valley, the central and southwestern Great Plains, most of the High Plains, the central Rockies, the Great Basin, and parts of the Far West…” The lack of rain and the incessant heat, has also increased the need for irrigation water for farming, meaning increasing competition between the agricultural and power generation sectors for the same shrinking water “pool.”
But, every cloud has a silver lining. California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Co. utility, commonly known as PG&E, that provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield almost to the Oregon border, is on the case. PG&E has informed its customers that its “Diablo Canyon (nuclear) Power Plant, the largest source of generation in the utility’s service area, is cooled by ocean water, not by rivers that could dry up.”
Never mind the fact that by the time the Diablo Canyon NPP was completed in 1973, engineers discovered that it was several miles away from the Hosgri seismic fault, which had a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on 4 November 1927.
But ocean water as a coolant is not necessarily the answer either.
On 12 August Dominion Resources’ Millstone NPP, situated on Connecticut’s Niantic Bay on Long Island Sound, was forced to shut down one of two reactor units because seawater used to cool down the plant was too warm, averaging 1.7 degrees above the NRC limit of 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The Millstone NPP, which provides half of all power used in Connecticut and 12 percent in New England, was only restarted twelve days later.
The federal government is hardly known for its scaremongering tactics, but it would seem that Mother Nature is forcing Americans to belatedly consider making some lifestyle changes, as the choice seems to be devolving into energy conservation, turning down the air conditioner and digging deeper into the wallet for food costs.
It might also be time for serious national discussion about renewable energy, including wind and solar.
If the sun stops shining, all bets are off.
By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.comhome solar power, hydroelectric plants, national oceanic and atmospheric administration, palmer drought index
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CubeSat Thruster: Engine of Creation
A worry about the proliferation of CubeSat satellite launches is adding clutter to an already troublesome amount of Earth-circling debris.
If CubeSats were deployed at higher orbits, they would take much longer to degrade, potentially creating space clutter. As more CubeSats are launched farther from Earth in the future, the resulting debris could become a costly problem.
“These satellites could stay in space forever as trash,” says Paulo Lozano, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This trash could collide with other satellites. “You could basically stop the Space Age with just a handful of collisions,” he suggests.
Today, more than two dozen CubeSats orbit Earth – each slightly bigger than a Rubik’s cube, and tip the scale at less than three pounds.
But now, an ultra-small rocket thruster could soon power the smallest of satellites in space. As small as a penny, these thrusters run on jets of ion beams.
The device, fabricated by Lozano, is a flat, compact square — much like a computer chip — covered with 500 microscopic tips that, when stimulated with voltage, emit tiny beams of ions. Together, the array of spiky tips creates a small puff of charged particles that can help propel a shoebox-sized satellite forward.
Lozano and his colleagues found that an array of 500 tips produces 50 micronewtons of force — an amount of thrust that, on Earth, could only support a small shred of paper. But in zero-gravity space, this tiny force would be enough to propel a two-pound satellite.
This new technology could enable CubeSats to propel down to lower orbits to burn up, or even act as space garbage collectors, pulling retired satellites down to degrade in Earth’s atmosphere.
The MIT researchers envision a small satellite with several microthrusters, possibly oriented in different directions. When the satellite needs to propel out of orbit, onboard solar panels would temporarily activate the thrusters.
In the future, Lozano predicts, microthrusters may even be used to power much larger satellites: Flat panels lined with multiple thrusters could propel a satellite through space, switching directions much like a rudder, or the tail of a fish.
“Just like solar panels you can aim at the sun, you can point the thrusters in any direction you want, and then thrust,” Lozano says. “That gives you a lot of flexibility.”
For a video clip on this work, go to: | <urn:uuid:5fc77eb2-7652-47f9-bacd-dca6ea892db0> | {
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HWA infestations can be most noticeably detected by the small, white, woolly masses that are attached to the underside of the twig, near the base of the needles.
continued Systemic insecticides may be an option for larger trees. For insecticide guidelines for the state, visit Cornell University’s Crop and Pest Management Guidelines at ipmguidelines.org/ and the DEC recommends consulting a certified pesticide applicator.
Dispersal and movement of HWA occur primarily during the first life stage (“crawler”) as a result of wind and animals that come in contact with the sticky egg sacks and crawlers. Isolated infestations and long-distance movement of HWA most often are instances of people transporting infested nursery stock or other forest products.
Information on HWA can be found at www.nyis.info. For questions or to report possible infestations visit DEC’s website at www.dec.ny.gov/animals/82617.html or call its toll-free Forest Pest Hotline at 1-866-640-0652. | <urn:uuid:07dcf1ad-31be-400d-904f-6a5a66ccd7f5> | {
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The painting machine was a light-sensitive spray-gun.
When light fell on the light cell the spray-gun would stop spraying.
It only sprayed when there was no light.
The light cell was situated at the end of a tube, so it would only react to the light directly hitting straight into the length of the tube.
If it encountered a dark point, the spray-would spray; if not, it would shut.
The spray was hoisted onto a wooden construction which moved back and forth along the wall.
It reacted to the dark and light points in the room and painted them on the wall.
It creates a photographic image, in which all perspective is vanished.
All the objects in the image are the same size as the real objects. | <urn:uuid:626f9ac8-c5cc-41e0-a659-d48c69284526> | {
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Empowering Parents With The Information They Need—School Report Cards
The movie "Won't Back Down" has gotten people across the country talking about what we can do to give parents more options when it comes to their kids' education.
There are many ways that districts and states can empower parents – "Won't Back Down" highlights one policy, parent trigger, that allows parents to petition to turn around their kids' failing schools.
If we want to get parents truly involved, however, we need to give them more information. Parents need to understand what's happening at their children's schools and how well they are learning. That's why StudentsFirst advocates for empowering parents with school report cards. Annual school report cards provide parents with information about how their kids' schools are performing in an easy-to-understand format, just like a student's academic report card. With school report cards, each school and district receives an A-F letter grade based on how well they are educating their students. School report cards can look at a variety of factors, such as student achievement and growth, achievement gaps among different groups of students, graduation and matriculation rates, and attendance. States such as Florida and Indiana have already started issuing school report cards.
Knowledge is power – the information included in school report cards will help give parents the information they need to be strong advocates for their kids and to make informed choices about schools.
To learn more about school report cards, see "Empowering Parents with Data: School Report Cards" below (or you can download it here).
Topics: Empower Parents | <urn:uuid:e1343d00-c7bb-4c14-91b8-07e58a22da5b> | {
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Sentinel Staff Writer
ANASTASIA STATE RECREATION AREA, St. Augustine
Thousands of years have washed over this slender sandbar of a barrier island called Anastasia. But only recently has man written his history on this coastline.
As you stand along the park's barren, wind-swept beach, squinting inland over light-washed marshes held apart from the sea by heaped dunes of sugar sand, you can feel the primal pull of the waves.
It is this great ocean -- nipping like a frothing emerald-gray wolf against Anastasia's eastern flank -- that has shaped both the natural and manmade history of the land on which you stand.
The Timucuas must have known the allure of the water well. The Indians were the first inhabitants, fishing in inland lagoons, hunting in maritime woodlands, hunkering down along the shore of what one day would be known as the Atlantic Ocean.
Then, in the early 1500s, according to local legend,
Don Juan Ponce de Leon was delivered here on the Atlantic's rolling back. When he sighted this land, he named it "La Florida" and claimed it for Spain. During the next 50 years, the Spanish attempted to establish a settlement in the wild territory. They failed many times. But the French didn't. In 1564 they established Fort Caroline, a garrison at the mouth of the St. Johns River. In response, Spain's King Phillip II called upon Pedro Menendez de Aviles, the country's most experienced admiral, to colonize the territory and drive out the interlopers.
At the northern tip of Anastasia, at St. Augustine Inlet, you can gaze across the water at the mainland and imagine Menendez coming ashore there on the Feast Day of St. Augustine in 1565. He set about establishing a settlement on the Matanzas River at the Timucuan village of Seloy. He named his settlement in the saint's honor.
The Timucuas were friendly at first, but in 1566, they tired of the Spaniards and drove them out. The Spanish resettled on Anastasia. Eventually, in the 1570s, the settlement moved back to the mainland.
Many bloody skirmishes marked St. Augustine's infancy, and Anastasia was a quiet witness. Shortly after its establishment, the French sent soldiers south from Fort Caroline to attack St. Augustine, but a hurricane blew their ship south of present-day Daytona Beach, where it wrecked. As the French sailed, Menendez marched north and attacked the French outpost, which was easily vanquished.
Meanwhile, the shipwrecked French troops walked north toward St. Augustine in two groups, eventually arriving at a broad inlet that separated them from south Anastasia Island. The French surrendered, and the Spanish transported them across the inlet to Anastasia, where most of the French soldiers were executed when they refused to convert to Catholism. Thus the inlet and river gained their names: Matanzas -- "massacre."
The fledgling St. Augustine was repeatedly attacked by the British. In 1672, work began on a huge fortress that would help to defend the city. The massive Castillo de San Marcos, now a national monument, rose on the bay, enfolded in the arms of Anastasia Island to the south and a slim mainland peninsula to the north.
Anastasia gave up her backbone for the fort's creation. Timucuas and, later, enslaved Africans, toiled in quarries on the island, chiseling the building blocks of the fort from massive formations of coquina, a limestone formed from crushed shells.
Anastasia Island felt no pain as the stone was extracted. She dozed, as she does now, rocked into a timeless slumber by the rhythm of the slapping waves that both mold and erode her shoreline.
NATURE STILL AT WORK
When you stand on the east coast of Anastasia in the state park -- north of St. Augustine Beach, where the shore is unmarred by the high-rise condos and resorts found elsewhere in the state -- it is quite something to behold.
Indeed, the coastline of the island smacks of a Florida that hasn't yet succumbed to the supersizing of many other coastal communities.
The state park is at the island's northeast end, preserving a four-mile stretch of beach and a tidal lagoon. Winds leave Etch-a-Sketch squiggles in the sand of steep, undulating sand dunes, a ready medium for Mother Nature's artistic hand. Oaks have been shaped into full-size bonsais. They bend like hunched, weathered mariners with their backs to the wind and limbs outstretched, as if reaching for the mainland.
Inland, a shaded nature trail climbs and falls over the remnants of dunes more than 100,000 years old. Seashells crunch under foot as you tread through a tangle of maritime forest of yaupon holly, Southern red cedar, laurel oak, sabal palms and saw palmetto.
This strip of seashore is in constant flux, thanks to the constant pushing and pulling of sand by the sea's waves. The beach's history actually is a short one. Much of it developed after 1940, when the Army Corps of Engineers dredged a new inlet north of it. Conch Island and Bird Island joined like Siamese twins, and Salt Run, a saltwater marshland between ancient dunes and more modern ones, lengthened. The area became the state's domain in 1949.
There is little human activity on the beach on a blustery day in early spring. Surfers in black wetsuits bob in the water offshore like seals, occasionally rising on their boards for a short ride on a modest curl. Earnest beachcombers are out under the churning gray sky, eyes searching the sand for a gift from Poseidon. There are jellies here along with bivalves, washed up in gelatin death, attracting flies. Gulls pay little heed to the bounty brought in on the waves. Instead, they flock around visitors like dogs under a dinner table, begging for tidbits.
The dunes are heaped to a height of 10 feet and more, growing around a skeleton of picket fences. Signs planted in the dunes warn beachgoers not to walk on the dunes, but pocking their sides are small, shifted-sand craters -- evidence of man's ignorant disregard of the fragile dunes ecosystem.
SEAFOOD, OF COURSE
Northwest of the state park's entrance and the coquina quarries, the Bridge of Lions spans the Matanzas River between mainland and the island. Here is Davis Shores, a residential area that bears the moniker of Dave Davis' dream-gone-bust. In the mid-1920s, Davis, best known for developing Davis Islands in Tampa, had planned a 1,500-acre luxury resort. In preparation, he mowed down most of the land's vegetation. But the Florida land bust that preceded the Depression descended, turning Davis' dream sour. Instead of a plush resort and golf course, a quiet neighborhood, composed mostly of modest ranch-style houses, stands on the acreage.
From here the island tapers in a long southbound waist, and the state seashore gives way to the stilt-legged St. Johns County Fishing Pier and the city of St. Augustine Beach. Beachside, balcony-wrapped houses are clustered along snippets of streets, the names of which work downward from 16, then gracefully segue into alphabet soup.
Mixed between the dwellings are the occasional vignettes of touristed beaches: a snack and rental shack, jutting out into the sand like the set jaw of a pirate; a miniature golf course with a Spanish galleon; a sprinkling of convenience stores and mom-and-pop motor courts; a luxurious Holiday Inn; tight clusters of low-rise condos.
Eateries on the flipside of State Road A1A serve Minorcan chowder, flavored with scant bits of gritty clam, and huge platters of steamed seafood. Salt Water Cowboys, which heaps patrons' plates with gator tail, barbecue and fresh seafood, is nestled in a marsh south of St. Augustine Beach. It is so popular on a Saturday night that an attendant works his way down a row of gridlocked vehicles, telling the occupants of each that there is more than an hour's wait for a table.
Things are slower over at the tin-roofed Dunes Cracker House in St. Augustine Beach. Maybe the unkempt landscaping and the weathered buckboard out front keep people away. Whatever. The steamed seafood served inside is cause for celebration. Even a sextet of raccoons -- which dine in a garbage bin out back, heads popping up and down like a Whac-A-Mole game at a kiddy arcade -- relish each morsel.
A SLIVER OF LAND
As the island continues its slow slide south, larger neighborhoods fall behind you and the island tapers into a long, pointed finger.
Here, the beach and the Matanzas River become kissing cousins, just one dune out of sight of the other. One good storm and Anastasia might well one day be divided in two.
Roll on into slow-paced Crescent Beach, where sea and marsh hold land in a tight girdle. Stand on a dune, and you can gaze out to the Atlantic, then glance over your shoulder to see the rippled water of the Matanzas River.
Since the 1890s, the place has been the beach getaway of choice for inland residents from Hastings, Palatka and Gainesville. It even lured Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the author of Cross Creek, who in 1939 dipped into the earnings from her acclaimed book, The Yearling, to purchase a rambling house perched on a dune above the frothing Atlantic. She could have lived anywhere, but she picked Anastasia and the dwelling a friend dubbed "Crawlings-by-the-Sea" for its plentiful spiders.
Here she wrote Cross Creek and was visited by such literary luminaries as Robert Frost, Zora Neale Hurston and Dylan Thomas. Ernest Hemingway stayed several times as a guest of Rawlings when he passed through on his way north from Key West.
In 1953, Rawlings died in the long, narrow house by the sea, which, she confided to a friend in a letter, would sometimes get on her nerves. Apparently she occasionally needed the quiet reassurance of inland forests, like that found near her home in Cross Creek.
That Rawling's beach house still stands in beige anonymity on a one-lane road paralleling A1A is a testament to one woman's commitment to saving an important literary landmark.
The late Mary Elizabeth Streeter, a retired professor of children's literature from Indianapolis, bought the sagging house in the early '80s for more than $300,000, and put at least that amount toward its renovation. Her children now own it.
Back when Rawlings occupied the house, Crescent Beach was a blink of an eye on A1A. Now several convenience stores dot the highway, and a stoplight does a slow wind-propelled waltz above the intersection of A1A and S.R. 206.
The place these days is more populated with condos than cracker beach houses, but it nonetheless retains a certain charm. That's probably because its residents, regardless of the modernity of their dwellings, want to keep the pace slow. When the state proposed a project in 1997 that would four-lane A1A from St. Augustine Beach south to S.R. 206, residents protested and St. Johns County Commission voted to ask the state to kill the plan.
The excitement most days is no bigger than seeing Steve Spurrier, former Gators football coach and Crescent Beach resident, out for a jog.
At the island's southern extreme is the Fort Matanzas National Monument. The fort, actually on Rattlesnake Island to the west, was built in 1740 to protect Matanzas Inlet. As you take the ferry across the river and through the marshes, you can turn your face back into the salty wind and gaze east to the very tip of Anastasia and imagine the fate of the hapless French soldiers who died here on the stark-white dunes.
The sea, of course, erased signs of the conflict from the dunes long ago, but Anastasia will forever wear the ugly scar of its history.
Ghosts may walk the sand, though they leave no tell-tale, shifting footprints on the dunes. Be still and you can almost feel their presence on the wind that ruffles Anastasia's fringe of sea oats, mingling with the long, forlorn cries of gulls that circle overhead.
Copyright © 2013, Orlando Sentinel | <urn:uuid:ef6ee51a-fd0c-491b-963e-f872d384db3c> | {
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A (food) forest takes root in a (food) desert
How do you make a food desert bloom? The range of solutions to these urban areas without ready access to fresh food has included full-service grocery stores, farmers markets, and even small urban farms. All of these answers, of course, require someone (usually from outside the community) to make produce available. What if there was a way for food desert residents to just gather their own fresh food?
Residents of Syracuse, New York’s south side are focusing on just that question, and attempting to answer it with the establishment of a permaculture-based forest garden outside of the new Rahma Free Health Clinic. Different from other forms of gardening, a forest garden, or food forest, is established with perennial plants that support one another. A seven-layer, multi-tiered system ensures that the whole system gets what it needs in terms of nutrients and water, and sustains itself over the long term. This particular forest garden is being designed and built by The Alchemical Nursery, a local permaculture organization; you can take a look at the plans they’ve developed for the space.
The location of the forest garden is no accident: it’s designed to support the clinic in advocating for healthy lifestyles within this impoverished community. But the food grown won’t be limited to clinic patients – any member of the community can come to the garden (once established) to pick berries and other edibles.
Of course, such an effort requires some funding (though not a ton), so the involved organizations have launched a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo. They’ve got 17 days left to raise just over $1000; if you’re inspired by the work they’re doing, consider kicking in a few bucks.
Got experience with permaculture or urban food deserts? Let us know what you think of this effort.
MORE FROM SUSTAINABLOG:
Image credit: Screen capture from Rahma Forest Garden Trailer video | <urn:uuid:a8863af0-23a4-40cf-b07c-dd5fb6baf486> | {
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of the Bible
||A Timeline is an easy way to visualize the timing and order of the
stories and major events in the Bible. You can also use a Timeline
to emphasize that the events recorded in the Bible are true and really
||Use a Bible Drill to reinforce a topic from a story.
|Creation Clothes Pins
||Use this matching game to remind the
preschoolers of all that God created.
||Preschoolers will love coloring with these Creation
Crayons that you can make.
||Write a story and use the black and white Coloring
Pages to illustrate the book.
Tape butcher paper on wall.
Children use markers, colors,
magazine pictures, stickers, etc. to create a picture that tells a story
or illustrates a Bible Truth. The
||Jesus Called the Apostles,
Sermon on the Level Place, The
Good Samaritan, Jesus
Taught About Prayer, Recreate the Last
|Ask the Whiz Kid - Part I
||The children learn about sin, forgiveness, and demonstrating faith by
responding to real life situations.
|What is Sin and
||What is sin and how does it affect a person's relationship with
God? What is forgiveness?
||What is more important - to have your sins forgiven or to have your body
|Ask the Whiz Kid
- Part II
||The children think about who Jesus is by responding to real life
|Building Blocks 101
||Use this demonstration to help the children
understand the strength of a church or a life which has Jesus Christ as
|Signs of Success
||Children rank the success of six adults to learn that the value of a person should be based on an eternal life with God and
not material assets.
|Get Well Card
||Let the children choose markers, colors, pens, construction paper,
etc. to use in designing a Get Well Card for a friend.
||Set up a doctor station and let the younger students play with Ace
bandages, play stethoscopes, crutches, or whatever you have.
|The Healing Power of
||Discuss childhood ailments and their cures to teach about faith,
trust, and Jesus' power over sickness.
Place 2" masking tape on the child's wrist, sticky side out.
Take a nature walk and let the children create their nature
bracelets by sticking grass, pebbles, leaves, flowers, etc. to the bracelet.
Collect leaves, large blades of grass, flat rocks, small
sticks, etc. Select a leaf, blade of grass or whatever and lay it flat on
the table. Cover it with white paper and rub the top of the paper with
|Nature Scavenger Hunt
Divide the children into several groups. Give each group a sack and a list of nature items to
collect. The list could include a rock, green leaf, brown leaf, flower, etc.
|Measure and Weigh the Class.
||Record the height and weight of each child on a Giraffe Measuring Chart.
||Take the kids outside and pick up litter on the church grounds.
Call From Jesus
||See if the children can identify whose behavior indicates they have
responded to the call from Jesus.
||Make a fishing pole and let the children catch paper fish.
||Use this activity to help the children understand what a Tax Collector
did and why Tax Collectors were disliked.
|Time for Prayer
||Encourage the children to follow the example of Jesus and pray before
making big decisions or doing something important. Let each child
tell about the activities planned for the coming week.
|What Do I Do?
||These situations help the children understand what Jesus meant when He
said to love your enemies.
||Learn the importance of following the right people.
|What is God Like?
||Use this activity to help the children understand the qualities of
|Put on the Armor of
||Younger students can learn the nature of Jesus and why He can be
|Put God's Armor to Work
||The children can actively demonstrate why a person can trust Jesus
when facing a difficult situation.
|Put Your Fears in a Box
||Trusting in Jesus can help when you are afraid.
|Read the story from a scroll
||Use butcher paper and dowels to make a scroll. Use the Bible
to copy the story on the scroll. Let the children take turns
reading the story from the scroll.
|Make a scroll
||Each student can
make a scroll using straws and letter size paper. The children
can write the Memory Verse or Bible Truth on the scroll.
|Don't Judge a Snack by
||Choices should not be based solely on appearances.
|The Suffering and Humiliation of
||Use visual aids to teach that Jesus suffered real pain and
is Responsible for the Death of Jesus?
||Discover that all sinners are responsible for the
death of Jesus.
and its Consequences
||Jesus died to give us eternal life because even the smallest sins make
us unacceptable to God.
||Children can agree to bear each other's punishment
for a week at a time.
|The Resurrection Egg Hunt
|| Use this
activity to reinforce the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.
|Go To Work For God
||Children learn the different kinds of things
they can do to help God bring people into His kingdom.
|Top 5 Countdown in Prayer
||Use this game to help the children understand there are no limits to
prayer. A person can pray whenever, wherever, and for whatever
there is a reason to pray.
Use this activity to help the children understand that they should love
others regardless of where they live, what they do, the language they speak,
|Search for the
||Use these activities to help the children
understand the joy God has when a person separated from God returns to
|| Use this activity to help
the children understand what they should do when a person turns from
God. The children can also think about how God acts towards a
sinner who asks for forgiveness and wants to return to God.
|The World vs. the Kingdom of God
||Use this activity to help the children understand how the requirements
for entry into God's kingdom differ from the standards sometimes imposed
by the world.
||Use this activity to help the children understand that Jesus fulfilled the
prophecies of the Old Testament prophets.
|Smell the Nard.
||Bring a sample of nard (also called spikenard or
Nardostachys jatamansi) and let the children smell the perfume
Mary used to anoint Jesus.
||What is temptation and how can it be resisted?
|The Definition of Sin
||Identify which sins make a person unacceptable to God.
|The Impact of
||Learn that sin affects more than just the sinner.
If Nobody's Watching
||Use this activity to help the children understand that God always
knows what is on our minds and in our hearts.
||Use this activity to help the children understand
that the more a person lives a sinful life, the easier it is to sin, and
the more a person tries to please God, the easier it gets to please God.
||Cain was a farmer. Abel was a
shepherd. Teach the children about other jobs
mentioned in the Bible by having a career day.
|Draw the Ark.
||Ask the children to read
Genesis 6:14-16 and use markers, colors and their imagination to draw
the ark Noah built.
||Use a US Jefferson 5¢ coin, a US Kennedy 50¢
coin, a US Sacagawea golden dollar, a container of coffee and a
child to teach the children about the units of weight used during
biblical times such as the shekel or the talent.
Child's Weight in Talents
||Do the children in your class
know how many talents they weigh? Use a scale and this conversion
chart to discover their weight in talents, minas, shekels, pims, bekas,
|Bible Story Activities - Weights
||Activities to help children visualize weights mentioned in the
Bible. Includes the weight of Rebekah's ring and bracelets,
David's crown, Goliath's armor and spear, the gold and silver David set
aside for the building of the temple and others.
||The children experience what it is like to be
the only person resisting temptation.
|Ask the Whiz Kid - Part III
||The children learn about favoritism and jealousy by
responding to real life situations.
||Help the children
understand that God can use any person to do His work, regardless of that
|Ways to Serve
the children think about different ways they can serve God.
||These Greek words are taken from James 1:22 and mean
"doers of the word". Teach the children to say these
words and encourage them to use the words as a special greeting for
anyone they meet. Since no one will understand what they are
saying, the children will then have to explain
that the words mean a person must do what the Bible says.
|Don't Play Favorites
||This activity will help the children learn through experience that
playing favorites is not the thing God wants us to do.
||God placed a rainbow in the
sky as a reminder of the covenant He made with Noah. Ask the
children to make up signs which can remind them of some of God's other
|The Promise Maker
||A person's promises reflect his or her character. Help the children
learn about God and His character by studying some of the promises He
has made to us.
||Use these questions in a game to review the
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For parents and teachers, bullying can be a worrying, complicated issue to resolve. Child bullying has been known to lead to injury and even death. For many people, one of the biggest questions about child bullying is why it happens in the first place. So why do kids bully one another, and how can you stop it?
Social problems. Many kids can turn to bullying as a way to solve other problems they are having. For children, it is normally easier to bully somebody than it is to work a problem out. At a young age, children are less likely to be able to manage their emotions or to learn how to solve problems the right way. Bullying often becomes a much easier way out, and is not necessarily a conscious decision.
Following an example. Bullying often occurs when a youngster is being bullied by others already or when behavior at home sets an example. Children who live with an abusive parent, for example, may not know any other means of getting their way than being aggressive and demonstrating bullying behaviors. If this is all that a child sees, he or she is unlikely to behave differently.
Gang mentality. Older children may become bullies because of peer pressure. Peer groups attack other kids verbally and emotionally, often because they are confused or uncertain of their own identities, and they feel the need to establish authority. Gang mentality occurs because other children see this behavior and decide that if they do not want to become victims of this themselves, they need to join the bullies.
How to respond. Bullying is a complex problem and needs to be carefully managed by parents. It is worth bearing in mind that bullying seldom occurs as a one-time event, so parents cannot expect resolution to be reached with a single action. Maintaining an open dialogue with your kids is critical, in terms of identifying if your child is being bullied or if your child is a bully. Setting the right example at home, in terms of conduct, is critical. Remember that the smallest of things can be taken by a child as permission to behave in this way.
What to do if your child is bullied. If you believe your child is being bullied, you must take action. Try to address the issue through proper channels. Talk to the school and give the personnel the opportunity to address the problem. In very severe cases, you may consider involving the police, but try to do so with the school's support. Remember that the parents of the bully may well be unreceptive to any contact that you have with them, so think carefully about approaching them or speaking to them in person. | <urn:uuid:d907b864-6fc3-4d2c-b887-32b59565eae2> | {
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What XML Means
Published: April 1, 2004
Published in TDAN.com April 2004
Publisher's Note ... This article previously appeared in The Journal of Conceptual Modeling, May 2003.
The following two quotes were denigrated in a recent article: 1) “There really is no difference between a document and a database.” 2) “ XML data is fundamentally different from relational data … [relational structure] can led to inefficiencies in queries and retrievals.” While both of these claims were denounced, they both do contain substantial truth. This article will consider to what extent they are true. It will also present XML as a reasonable data model with characteristics of special interest.
Natural language is more general, expressive and difficult than relational databases. Nevertheless, texts certainly do store data and do require a model (background knowledge) to be information – try reading in a foreign language or in an unknown theoretical field in your own language. Since natural language is a proliferating machine-readable data source, thanks to the web, it is of legitimate interest as a data object. Unfortunately the problem of extracting data from general text is not solved, perhaps not even solvable.
XML offers an approach in which the users of language can mark the significant factual content of text. The raison d’etre of XML is marking, not data management. However to mark content implies that some level of data management must be inherent. Moreover the simple, hierarchical structure of XML, the expressiveness of tags and the flexible range of constraints available through the DTD (a BNF equivalent) creates a data model adaptable to many sources – text, formula, database or programmatic data.
This article proceeds by examining Pascal’s definition of data model. A simple data model for XML is given and is examined against Pascal’s definition of and requirements for a data model. Some characteristics unique to XML are shown and an argument is made that it is simple in a meaningful sense.
It is a tenet, since Von Neumann, that anything may be data. In this regard, there is no difference between a conceptual model, a logical model and a physical model. All maintain data. The differences are simply what the models mean to represent. These models are at three levels because: 1) they represent three levels of abstraction in one process, 2) what is modeled at each level is different.
All three models support data structuring, data ‘access’ and inference. Even a simple diagrammatic notion such as a semantic network diagram does these. It is certainly fair to insist on a narrower definition for ‘data model’.
Among proponents of XML there are two distinguishable viewpoints, related to the purposes of the viewers. The first view is a data centric view. Persons with this view are interested in more or less the same set of operations as traditional DBMS. XML seems to be, with a suitable query language, adequate for this. This view is fundamental in XML-QL and in semi-structured databases. [Abiteboul] The second (and the original) view of XML is a text centric view. Persons with this view are concerned with capturing the data content of texts without the violence of re-writing the source. XML marking while useful, is not perfect at capturing the data in even the most common texts. [Riggs] Technically a model is just a set with relations such that there is an interpretation function that makes the standard commutation diagram work. XML is a model of data in text, as complete with respect to data as relational theory. XML maps far more directly to text data sources. That this ready mapping extends to many other program systems may be no more than the reflection of the nature of programs themselves. It is however a fact of real world practice, shown by the proliferation of XML as an underlying means of logical storage in more and more software systems.
A data model is not a map
A data model is not “a general theory of data used to map enterprise-specific business model…to enterprise specific logical models that are understood by DBMS's.” A compiler is a map from a conceptual model to a physical model. Compiler theories (such as LR-k grammars and algorithms) are maps from language classes to compilers. Relational theory is a general data model, in which specific models may be constructed. The paradigm here is first order predicate calculus in which a theory may be embedded.
As a practical matter, creating a database (or information base, etc.) requires a judicious choice of theoretically possible representations. This is quite as true for relational models as any other. Fictitious (non-domain) entities may be created (as for m-n relationships). Constraints must be selected or omitted. The entire design may become subject to efficiency and purposive constraints as well.
The XML Data Model
While XML is new and evolving, the fundamental data representation is the well-known a tree. For sake of argument, the following is the model for XML
1) An ordered tree of named nodes with id’s.
With two named, leaf nodes:
a) A ‘text’ node that holds a string.2) A set of manipulations (XSLT, XMLQL, XQL, XIRQL are candidates.)
b) A ‘reference’ node that holds a pointer to a node existing in the tree.
It is similar to other models such as semi-structured data. [Abiteboul]
XML as a data model
Rather than offer a specific definition of data model, Pascal's criteria for a data model are examined. XML seems to meet them if they define storing and retrieving data and are not construed so narrowly as to simply define ‘relational database’.
The tree is one of the most basic models of data. It is no less formal because it is not generally described by first order predicate calculus and set theory. It does not have a specific semantics as has been recognized for a long time. [Link] We are not aware of an essentially clearer semantics for relational databases.
The desire for a richer representation of link semantics for XML is addressed in addressed by several communities. RDF is an example of this. [RDF]
The XML model has four types: node names, node id’s, node references and content as data. The semantics of the first three is as clear as table names, column headers or foreign keys. Content is more general/less detailed than relational domains. Content and node references clearly are data in XML. Node id's are 'pseudo data', they are arbitrary, but constrained to uniqueness. Node names are not subject to data operations (Although we may generate them in XML processors). In a sense then, XML has more data types than the relational where we mean types of data not domains.
The utility of general data types is to map values to sets of operations; a specific list is not a definition of 'data model'. Strings, of course, support only weak data operations. Yet in normal discourse, words have types. They are 'soft typed', i.e. the reader can interpret them by context. Such a theory (more probably sets of such theories) would be of interest.
The lack of a broader range of content data types is a concern for some potential uses of XML. Extensions to XML such as XML schema address this.[Schema] XML schema is much richer in data types than most relational systems.
The normal forms are a masterpiece in relational theory. They are however not universally applied in building relational databases They are constraints on the relational theories inference methods with the Aristotelian goal of not saying of what is not that it is. The 1st normal form is distinct from the others in that regard. XML will have to address keys in order to develop a similar area of theory.
Pascal explicitly mentions constraints as representing business rules. The DTD, which is a specific formulation of BNF seems to be a reasonable means to express these constraints. It is not clear that these are part of the relational model proper.
Keys are one integrity constraint not normally considered in XML articles. Thus data referring to an individual can occur in several places. This models textual reality, but may be a difficulty in practice. This concern is indirectly implied in "XML and Free Text". [Riggs]
XML data operations, based on tree traversal, are in no way theoretically deficient. Whether they are practically sufficient is a separate question. Again one may define data model as narrowly as one wishes, but only by removing sense. XML separates its representation model from its inference model. There are several candidate inference models, among them XSLT, XML-QL, XQL and XIRQL.
Select and project are simple enough (although obviously not exactly the 'same'.) Many with the data base view of XML do insist that the set of operations must be broadened to include at least join. [XMLQL] Others with the text centric view wish to add operations required for text retrieval. [XIRQL]. Why these operations on a data (information-, text-, knowledge- ) base are not legitimate is not clear to me.
Data Model Characteristics
If XML is a data model (the old hierarchical model more or less) perhaps it is just a poor model. This is belied prima facie by its increasing use. Pascal offers four necessary characteristics of a data model are considered below.
It is well-known that a relational database can be represented as a tree and vice-versa [Abiteboul]. The formalization above is enough for this purpose. Thus in the formal sense of what can be represented, neither is more general than the other.
XML is superior to relational databases in at least one sense: it can often be imposed on free text sources without disturbing them. Relational databases do not maintain locality of data. [Sowa] This is exactly the real sense of the quote, dismissed by Pascal, that “ XML data is fundamentally different from relational data … [relational structure] can led to inefficiencies in queries and retrievals.” The tree representation does something that relational representations cannot do - represent the data as it is without need of reconstruction.
Generality of inference is another aspect of a model. In XML we have to pick from the competing inference models. The range of data operations is narrower, the same or broader as we choose.
The use of XML as a serialization of data between software systems includes RDBMS but extends to many other sorts of applications. The desired generality would seem to be to communicate data between the widest assortment of applications of all types. Besides text, the structure of data in most programs is more nearly tree-like than relational. The value of a single representation for interchange is obvious. Formality Formality does not depend on expression in predicate calculus plus set theory. The representational model of XML is adequately formal. The inference models for traditional data processes depend on tree traversal and are equally well defined. If we extend inference to include search as in the information retrieval community, there are also formal models. (They most fundamental - the probabilistic model, is however difficult.)
No model is simply ‘complete’. A model is complete with respect to some domain, abstract or real and set of operations. Soundness is similarly determined by that comparison, not by the choice of mathematical theory chosen to express the model. It is quite possible for a graphical theory to be sound and complete. To turn the normal relationship on its head, tableaus are a sound and complete theory for sentential calculus.
Since representation equality of XML and relations is guaranteed, only inferential completeness is at question here. The inference in the domain of discourse are the important criterion here. Information retrieval is a ubiquitous example in which non-crisp methods (vector or probabilistic retrieval) are typically of more value than crisp (Boolean) methods.
Simplicity is likewise not a single measure. Relational databases are reasonably economical, that is they do not have too many axiom schemata or inference rules. The same is true of trees and tree traversal. Representational simplicity is also of concern as is operational simplicity.
The formal issue is one of more or less, not optimal. No one I know likes to write their logical formulas using the Sheffer stroke (the minimal set of operators for logic) , although it is more economical than using ‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘not’ (the familiar set). Indeed, most people are happy to add implication and logical equivalence to their models.
Representational simplicity is extrinsic to the model and concerns the ease with which model objects are interpreted to domain objects. XML has both pluses and minuses here as data theory. As said earlier: it models documents and some other types of data better but perhaps individuals worse. (So far at least.)
Pascal claims that meaning in the sense of “how things are related and how to deal with them are lost in XML. That claim is hollow. How things are related is the essence of structure (and pointers). How to infer with things is a more open question and depends on what you need to infer. Surely the XML data model stores and retrieves data, how much narrower must the definition be?
The lack of rich set of domains and domain operations limits some operations, but also simplifies and generalizes XML. Although XML Schema attempts to address classical database concerns, in is not impossible that an alternative ('soft typing') could provide the same data functions.
As a data model XML does not have a theory of keys and dependencies known to me. Whether that is vicious or not may be worth discussing. In any case the data operations which can be easily modeled by XML will not go away.
Tag names are a two-sided device that are meant to mediate between text and data values. They should resonate with a reader and they should mark data as a meaningful (computational) unit. Relational attribute names do no more. In fact, attempts to link XML with ontologies [OIL] can be seen as attempts to formalize something ubiquitous but unanalyzed in the relational model. (Unless we consider the data dictionary a suitably formal device.)
In regard to the use of XML as a data interchange format, the problem is not one of interchange between RDBMS's. The problem XML addresses is much more general. Also note that interchange is a problem of representation, not inference. We only need to exchange representation between equivalent inference systems. Thus XML is works here too.
It is certain that there are interesting questions about XML. Its origin from a committee, myriad uses and rapid development complicate formalizing it authoritatively. However, it clearly does have a formal basis, if a yet incomplete and multi-faceted one. Its core is already enough to recognize it as a data model and one with unique applicability. The proliferation of auxiliary notations such as: XML schema, XML links, RDF, etc. indicate its fecundity, not its frailty.
[Abiteboul] Data on the Web, Serge Abiteboul, Peter Buneman, Dan Suciu, Morgan Kaufmann, 2000
[Date] "Models, Models, Everywhere, nor any Time to Think", C. J. Date, www.dbdebunk.com/cjd3a.htm
[LINK] "What's in a Link: Foundations for Semantic Networks", William A. Woods, in Readings in Knowledge Representation, p217, Morgan Kaufmann, 1984
[OIL] Welcome to OIL, www.ontoknowledge.org/oil
[RDF] Resource Description Framework (RDF):Concepts and Abstract Syntax, W3C Working Draft 23 January 2003, http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-concepts [Pascal1] "What Meaning Means", Fabian Pascal http://www.inconcept.com/JCM
[Pascal2] "Something to Call One's Own", Fabian Pascal, http://www.dbdebunk.com/fp6a.htm
[Riggs] "XML and Free Text", K. R. Riggs, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, V53, N 6, 2002, 526-528
[Schema] XML Schema, W3C org, www.w3.org/XML/Schema
[Sowa] Knowledge Representation, John F. Sowa, Brooks Cole, 2000
[XIRQL] XIRQL: A Query Language for Information Retrieval in XML Documents, Fuhr, N. Großjohann, K. http://www.is.informatik.uni-duisburg.de/bib/xml/Fuhr_Grossjohann_01.html.en
[XML-QL] XML-QL: A Query Language for XML, Alin Deutsch, Mary Fernandez, Daniela Florescu, Alon Levy, Dan Suciu, http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-xml-ql/#issues
This article previously appeared in The Journal of Conceptual Modeling, May 2003.
Ken Roger Riggs, Ph.D -
Ken Roger Riggs, Ph.D. is a computer scientist and a professor of CIS at Florida A&M University. His degrees are in Philosophy (Indiana University) , Computer Science (U. of Central Florida) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (U. of Miami ). He has been involved in a mix of practice, research and teaching since 1976. His interest in models is both practical and pedagogical. His recent published work includes papers on AI, databases, datamining and XML marking. Other recent publications address conceptual modeling related issues in software engineering (refactoring) and programming languages. | <urn:uuid:15747714-b61b-4b8a-81e9-47335d512148> | {
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Bus Accident Reporting System (BARS)
The Texas Education Agency’s Bus Accident Reporting System (BARS) uses an annual survey to collect information on accidents involving school buses operated or contracted for use by school districts and charter schools, as required by statute and rule.
In responding to the survey, local education agencies are required to provide the following information for each accident:
• Type of bus involved
• Number of students/adults involved in the accident
• Number and types of injuries that were sustained by bus passengers
• Whether injured passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident and, if so, the type
Law and Rules
For additional information, contact:
Office of School Finance
Page last modified on 11/12/2012. | <urn:uuid:478c46f4-1c39-4fef-a273-fa4dcfaffa19> | {
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Source: Garland Science/Taylor and Francis Books, Inc.
In this animation adapted from Garland Science Publishing, a detailed look at DNA reveals the structural features that make up the famed double-helix molecule. The animation shows how the ladder-shaped DNA is constructed from chemical building blocks, including phosphates, sugars, and bases, held together by different kinds of chemical bonds. The narration further explains how the overall structure determines the charge and stability of the molecule, and how structure predicts key cellular functions of replication and transcription.
Every living thing contains building and operating instructions from a molecule inside all cells called deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA contains regions called genes that tell the cells which proteins to produce. At all levels of organization in the living world, structure and function are related. Thanks to the work of many researchers using different technologies, scientists now understand the structure and function of DNA at the molecular level.
DNA is a double-stranded molecule made up of two helical chains of nucleotides. This structure enables several important functions related to heredity and evolution. To enable these functions, the structure allows certain kinds of proteins, called regulatory proteins, to bind to and interact directly with the DNA. These regulatory proteins help to dictate replication and transcription (information encoding) by relaxing the DNA structure in the region where they are bound. The double-helix structure of DNA contains a major (wider) groove and a minor (narrower) groove. Because the nucleotide sequence is more accessible in the major groove, many proteins that bind to and interact with DNA do so here.
Through the process of DNA replication, genetic information is passed from parent cell to daughter cell whenever the parent cell divides. Complementary base pairing ensures that DNA strands are copied quickly and accurately. The DNA double-helix molecule is unzipped by the enzyme helicase, resulting in two strands that will act as templates for new DNA strands. These strands are referred to as antiparallel; they are oriented side by side, but their respective nucleotide sequences read in opposite directions. A DNA polymerase enzyme controls the replication of each strand, which occurs as free-floating nucleotides move in one by one to match up with the nucleotides present on each “old” strand of the unzipped ladder. This creates two identical DNA molecules, each made of an “old” strand and a “new” complementary strand.
The arrangement of bases in a DNA molecule determines the genetic code. Approximately once every 100,000,000 bases or so, this copying process makes errors, so that the wrong nucleotide is placed in position. These errors are called mutations. The cell corrects many of the mutations itself. When specialized repair proteins identify a mismatched base pair, they remove the incorrect nucleotide and give DNA polymerase a chance to correct the sequence.
To manufacture the proteins it needs, the cell must transcribe or copy the instructions contained in its DNA into RNA (ribonucleic acid). It uses the sequence of nucleotides in a given gene to produce a single-stranded complementary messenger RNA (mRNA). The mRNA is then translated by structures called ribosomes from the language of nucleotides into the amino acid sequence of proteins. Each amino acid is specified by a combination of three of the chemical bases (A, T, C, or G), called codons. The codons determine the sequence of the amino acids that are put together in a long chain to form the protein that the cell uses to perform specific jobs for the body.
Academic standards correlations on Teachers' Domain use the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) database of state and national standards, provided to NSDL projects courtesy of JES & Co.
We assign reference terms to each statement within a standards document and to each media resource, and correlations are based upon matches of these terms for a given grade band. If a particular standards document of interest to you is not displayed yet, it most likely has not yet been processed by ASN or by Teachers' Domain. We will be adding social studies and arts correlations over the coming year, and also will be increasing the specificity of alignment. | <urn:uuid:bea57faf-a75a-4bbc-8b16-ac29ed5368b9> | {
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Do you love you some mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians,
fish or insects? Then check out these ideas for some inspiration
for your next project:
If you are concerned about endangered animals
- Identify a local animal species that is threatened or
endangered and research the causes of its decline.
- Gather data on when and where it’s found by observing it in
- Confer with local experts on the viability of a plan to protect
or increase its population (ex. develop a plan to protect or
restore part of its habitat).
If you like feeding animals
- Identify and research local species of butterflies and/or
- Design and plant a garden of their favorite food sources.
- Monitor the garden to collect data on which species the garden
attracts and to which plants they are attracted.
- Develop a guide or poster with planting and feeding information
for local property owners.
If you think bats get a bad rap
- Use donated and/or recycled materials to construct bat houses
and mount them in an appropriate area.
- Work to dispel myths about bats and teach people about their
significant ecological value (bats feed upon insects such as
mosquitoes, pollinate certain plants, and disperse seeds).
If you've got birds on the brain
- Research birds living in cities (ex. birds of prey found on
roofs of buildings) or suburban or rural areas (ex. songbirds in
- Use donated and/or recycled materials to create nest boxes for
- Get permission to hang the nest boxes in a park or on school
- Set up a monitoring station to observe the boxes and gather
- Present your findings to your community or a local
If reptiles are your thing
- Study the impact of high curbs on inhibiting movement of
- Work to have sloped areas added to all new curb
If you're always on the move
- Observe and document the migration patterns of a few different
- Create a migration map detailing the route individuals travel
through your town to share with local authorities, your school
district, environmental organizations, etc.
If you think fish are deelish
- Gather information about the kinds and the numbers of fish in a
local water source.
- Research the quality of those fish that are sold
- Distribute information on how to more safely eat fish from the
If you like running around with a net
- Collect and count the kinds and numbers of insects captured
(and released!) in an area over several months.
- Research the plants they pollinate, the animals that prey upon
them, how they defend themselves, etc.
- Monitor and track any change in populations over time.
Want to check out some more?
Check out our Water Project
Projects or Projects in | <urn:uuid:dce3dd48-7fd5-466d-94c3-2d05dbb89af6> | {
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David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science, reiterated last week that the Coalition is committed to widening access to university. That was not the controversial part of his speech, for who is against it? Almost everyone accepts that all youngsters should have an equally good chance of going to university, and that it would be very undesirable if universities became the preserve of a sort of hereditary caste, where the only children who gained admission were those whose parents went to university.
The controversy centres on how to achieve “wider access”. One proposal, advocated by Prof Les Ebdon, the director of the Office of Fair Access (Offa), is to force universities to discriminate in favour of under-represented groups. They would have to admit them regardless of whether their A-level grades were too low. That policy will have one inevitable corollary: universities will have to reject applicants whose results indicate greater academic ability, on the grounds that they don’t come from one of the disadvantaged groups.
In an informal way, some universities already do this. But they don’t do it on a big enough scale, so that the number of students from deprived backgrounds given places at university is still too low for Mr Willetts. He insists that he is not in favour of quotas, but it is difficult to see how any policy which does not involve quotas can possibly have the effect he wants. At the moment, the requirement for getting into university is having good enough A-level grades. The under-represented groups – children from low-income families and from some ethnic minorities – fail to get through that barrier in the numbers that the Government wants. So what does Mr Willetts suggest? Lower the grades required from members of those groups, until 10 or 20 per cent (or whatever target the Government sets) of university intake comes from the disadvantaged groups.
That sounds like a quota system to me. And there are a number of serious problems with quotas. One is that they are unfair to the well-qualified candidates who are rejected in favour of the less-well-qualified. If meritocracy means anything, it must mean preferring those whose merit is greater over those whose merit is less. A quota system does the opposite – which means it cannot be compatible with meritocracy.
Defenders of quotas, including Mr Willetts, insist that university admissions officers can identify academic merit that has not been reflected in exams. As a general rule, this is false. There is now a great deal of evidence to show that an interview is likely to diminish the chances that a selection procedure ends up choosing the best candidate.
Interviewers assign too much weight to their personal sense of the individual in front of them. The impression that a student makes can be affected by factors entirely irrelevant to their academic potential – even the weather, or how long has elapsed since the interviewer last had food. Studies show that interviewers can produce contradictory evaluations of the same candidate on different occasions. Such inconsistent judgments cannot be a reliable predictor of anything, least of all academic potential.
Basing university entrance solely on a student’s exam grades does not suffer from that crippling defect, which is why it is a much more accurate way to predict how well any individual will perform at university. Admissions tutors may think they can somehow intuit “true” academic ability – but they can’t. A-levels are very far from perfect, but they are a lot better than relying on the arbitrary, inconsistent and sometimes plain dotty judgments of an interviewer.
So why are ministers such as Mr Willetts trying to replace performance in competitive exams as the criterion for university entrance with something else, such as an interview, to spot “true” academic potential? I have no idea – and nor, I’m afraid, does he. But it can’t be good for our universities. | <urn:uuid:c89a5339-b743-4fce-86b5-25aad455d6e0> | {
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Parents worry that children will take advantage of gaps in their grandparents’ technical knowledge, a survey found.
About half of parents with children under 15 think the older generation needs more education and support about online access to prevent grandchildren viewing unsuitable websites while in their care.
Half of grandparents agreed, saying they were worried about their grandchildren’s use of the internet to access videos full of bad language or to communicate with strangers on social networks such as Facebook, or via multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft.
Many are concerned that their grandchildren spend too much time on the internet, rather than engaging with the people around them.
More than a third of grandparents worry about policing internet usage while children are in their care.
About 11 per cent of parents worry that their offspring deliberately seek out unsuitable material or spend too much time online while in the care of their grandparents.
About 8 per cent believe that their children deliberately take advantage of their grandparents’ lack of knowledge to do so, according to the research.
Recent figures show that an estimated 5.8million people in Britain regularly look after their grandchildren
Geraldine Bedell, editor of the online forum Gransnet, said that its users were anxious about internet safety.
“Discussions on our forums show that grandchildren are often far more advanced in technology use than their grandparents, who feel anxious about what boundaries they should set and how to do it,” she said.
Less than a third of grandparents, 31 per cent, have discussed digital rules with parents, even though 44 per cent of families claim to have rules. Those who manage to get to grips with their grandchildren’s internet usage find that they are valuable teachers.
About 29 per cent of grandparents say they have learnt from the younger generation and more than half use technology with their grandchildren for fun, whether playing computer games or keeping in touch through the online video phone service, Skype.
Vodafone, the mobile phone company which commissioned the YouGov survey, has created a set of guidelines for grandparents on how to control internet usage. The guide, Vodafone Digital Parenting, is due to be released at Westminster tomorrow.
Annie Mullins, the company’s head of content standards, said grandparents were “keen to do their part and set the same rules as those set by the children’s parents”.
She added that it was important to build confidence and inform parents and grandparents of the ways to help children get the most out of technology while understanding the hazards. | <urn:uuid:3ac57163-c12f-48f9-b1cd-5454220611ec> | {
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May 18, 1833 – June 19, 1887
A dedicated and respected member of the Republican Party, Sampson W. Keeble was elected to represent Davidson County in the 38th Tennessee General Assembly
, 1873-1874. He was the first black Tennessean to serve in the state legislature. A Tennessee Historical Commission marker in downtown Nashville, near a one-time Keeble family home on South Broadway, proclaims,
Sampson W. Keeble, barber, businessman, and civic leader, became the
first African-American to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Serving from 1873 to 1875, Keeble was appointed to the House Military
Affairs Committee and the Immigration Committee. After service in the legislature, he was elected magistrate in Davidson County, and served
from 1877 to 1882.
Early years in slavery
According to the date on his tombstone in Nashville’s Greenwood Cemetery, Keeble was born in 1833 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, to Sampson W. and Nancy (or Mary) Keeble. Their slave-owner’s father, Walter “Blackhead” Keeble, had stipulated in his 1816 will that his slaves were to be cared for, educated, and freed as soon as the law would allow, and that any of his heirs who did not agree to those requisites would inherit nothing – land, slaves, nor money. When Walter died, the inventory for his 1844 will listed among his slaves 11-year-old Sampson and 16-year-old Marshall (perhaps the father or grandfather of evangelist Marshall Keeble, 1878-1968). The two youngsters were inherited by Walter’s son, Horace Pinkney Keeble, a Rutherford County attorney. (At least one period newspaper named Horace’s brother Edwin A. Keeble as Sampson Keeble’s owner, but there is substantial evidence that Sampson was, in fact, part of H. P.’s household.) Also listed among Walter Keeble’s slaves, who were grouped by family, were Sampson’s mother, called Nancy Polly (40) to distinguish her from another woman named Nancy Betty (39); Sampson’s sisters Elisa Jane, 9 [the “Eliza A.” on Nancy’s tombstone], and Catherine, 2 [“Kitty”]; and brother George Lent, 6 [“Ceorce L”]; the tombstone appears to name one more child, with a name ending in “y.” That could be Joicy (six months old at the time of the inventory) or Billy Buck (age not given), both of whose names are listed near those of the Keeble family on the inventory sheet. There is no evidence that Pastor Marshall Keeble was related to this family, other than to share their slave owner’s surname.
The white Keebles always used the word “servant” instead of “slave” when referring to their workers (a common practice of Middle Tennessee slave owners), and they seem to have treated their own “servants” with extraordinary consideration. Perhaps because of their tolerant practices, the future legislator gained a measure of independence early in his life. The Nashville Union and American
(December 6, 1872) stated that in 1851, when Keeble was 18 years old, he took a job as “roller boy” on the Rutherford Telegraph
in Murfreesboro; by 1854 he was working as pressman for both the Telegraph
and the Murfreesboro News
. He may well have learned the trade under H. P. and Edwin Keeble, who owned the Murfreesboro Monitor
. Sampson worked for these newspapers until the Civil War, and then, according to an account in the Union and American (November 7, 1872), “he was in the Confederate lines during most of the war.” However, he was probably, if anything, serving as an aide or manservant to Horace Keeble rather than actually carrying arms. A Clarksville paper’s statement that “he shouldered his cooking utensils and went into the Southern army like a hero” suggests that he may have been taken along as a cook.
Home and employment in Nashville
This Tennessee Historical Commission marker commemorates the service of Sampson W. Keeble, “the first African-American to serve in the Tennessee General Assembly.” It stands near the intersection of Broadway and 2nd Avenue in downtown Nashville. (photo by Kathy Lauder)
By 1865 Nashville city directories show that Sampson Keeble had settled in Davidson County. He worked in a barbershop at 24 Cedar Street (today’s Charlotte Avenue) and took various part-time jobs to support himself; family members report that he also worked for some time as a custodian in a law office, where he became interested in studying law. The attorneys in that practice, reportedly impressed by his enthusiasm for learning, supported his efforts. He was eventually able to pass the Tennessee bar, which in those days did not involve a written examination, but instead required assessment and approval by a handful of legal professionals and, finally, confirmation by a sitting judge. Keeble’s legal training would later allow him to qualify for election as a Davidson County magistrate. Family members also believe he attended Fisk University briefly, although the university cannot locate his name in their records.
Keeble participated in “a meeting of colored men,” some of Nashville’s leading citizens, who met to quash rumors that the city’s African Americans were planning “a mob and Massacre.” The group, which also included William Sumner, Carroll Napier, Peter and Samuel Lowery, Henry Harding, Nelson Merry, and others, wrote a letter to city government officials, reprinted in the Republican Banner
, assuring them that the rumors were false, and that “the feelings of the colored people [were predisposed] toward peace and good order.”
Both Sampson Keeble and his brother George worked as barbers, along with several other Keebles (including a Wesley) who may have been relatives. Sampson eventually established the Rock City Barber Shop and managed it for about 20 years. (He was still listed as a barber in the Nashville city directory as late as 1885.) Barbershops of that era were strictly segregated: African American barbers were extremely popular with white customers, who still took considerable pleasure in being served and groomed by these deferential former slaves.
Many dramatic changes were taking place in the South during the early post-war years. Tennessee had returned to the Union with far fewer restrictions on its political structure than other Confederate states. The third state (July 19, 1866) to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment
, which granted citizenship status to African Americans, Tennessee was readmitted to the Union a week later, without ever having to conform to the stiff federal regulations most of its neighboring states faced during Reconstruction. Tennessee’s new constitution already included an anti-slavery clause, and, in less than a year (March 1867), the General Assembly would approve the right of African American men to vote and to hold political office – nearly three years before the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment
Keeble had been an active participant in the second State Colored Men’s Convention, which met in Nashville in August 1866 and organized daily demonstrations at the Capitol, lobbying legislators to approve their right to vote. It was that dogged pressure, backed by Governor William G. “Parson” Brownlow, who needed the help of black voters in order to win reelection, that convinced the legislature to change the law. Almost overnight African Americans saw a transformation in their civic status. On September 3, 1868, at the beginning of the Circuit Court session, the Nashville Republican Banner
published a story titled, “Negro Jurors – A Big Dose of Unadulterated African.” It listed the jurors for the coming term, including Sampson W. Keeble, James C. Napier, and six other African Americans. Keeble’s name also appeared on a list of Grand Jury members in April 1878 and of Federal Court jurors in March and April 1881.
By the time of the 1870 census Sampson Keeble had become the head of a large and complex household. He was the proprietor of the Harding House, a boarding house valued at $4000, a tidy sum for the period. This establishment stood near where the Ryman Auditorium is today. Keeping house was Eliza Keeble, 35, whom we know from their mother’s gravestone to be Sampson’s sister. The individual named Mary, 65, was probably Sampson and Eliza’s mother (usually called Nancy, although her gravestone, as well as this census record, says Mary). She described her occupation as “at home,” and was the only one in the family who unable to read and write. There were two children in the household: Hattie, 8 (ditto marks on the page suggest that her last name was Keeble, but in the 1880 census she was called Hattie Beckwith and identified as a niece), and “Saml” Keeble, Sampson’s son. His age is illegible. It appears to be 4, but is likelier to be 11. Two other women also reside with the family: Kate Beckwith, 22, and Harriet Keeble, 30. Harriet, Sampson’s first wife and the mother of young Samuel, was already an invalid. She died on June 16, 1870, shortly after this census was taken. Her funeral was held at the First Colored Baptist Church on West Martin (Pearl Street) near McLemore Street (10th Ave. N.), with the services conducted by H. S. Bennet and the Reverend Nelson G. Merry, who was the first African American minister ordained in Nashville as well as the founder of the Tennessee Colored Baptist Association. An 1872 Freedman’s Bank record for 13-year-old Thomas Keeble (this was apparently Samuel, since “Sammy” was scratched out and “Thomas” written above it on the form) gave his address as 116 North Cherry Street (today’s 4th Avenue), which was the site of Harding House, and he named as his parents Sampson W. and Harriet Keeble. (See image below.)
Keeble was believed to be among the wealthiest blacks in the city. An 1871 article in the Republican Banner
called attention to the fact that a watch stolen from him was evaluated at $100 (the equivalent of as much as $2,000 in 2011). Another article from 1871 suggests that he may have built up his wealth by being sternly frugal. In a squabble with a Market House merchant over the price of a turkey, Sampson Keeble was severely injured when vendor Byron Jackson struck him over the head with a cane. The Nashville Banner
reported that Keeble “was taken home mortally wounded,” and that, despite the efforts of physicians who discovered a compound fracture of the skull and “performed the operation of trepanning,” he was not expected to live.
In spite of such grave journalistic predictions, the plucky barber and boarding house proprietor not only survived his injuries but became even more intensely involved in civic affairs during the next two years. In July 1871 Keeble was named a director of the Tennessee Colored Agricultural and Mechanical Association, along with Henry Harding, William Sumner, Elias Polk, Abram Smith, Simeon R. Walker, Nelson Walker, John J. Cary, William Butler, J. W. Lapsley, J. L. Howard, Hiram C. Rhodes, and Oliver Thompson. This association ordered the construction of an amphitheater on the Colored Fairgrounds in preparation for the annual fair, scheduled to open on September 13. In May 1872 the Davidson County Chancery Court issued a decree granting the directors’ petition for incorporation of the association. In June of that year Keeble was re-elected a director as the group planned the next fair, which would open on September 15 and run for six days. Sampson Keeble, now clearly playing a leadership role in the African American community, served as treasurer of the Colored Agricultural and Mechanical Association and as a member of the advisory board of the Nashville Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Bank, one of only a handful of all-black Freedman’s Bank boards in the United States.
A petition was filed in Chancery Court on August 24, 1872, asking that the Freedman’s National Life Insurance Association be incorporated under the following directors: Nelson Walker, John J. Cary, Henry Harding, Abram Smith, Richard Howard, W. C. Napier, Sampson W. Keeble, and William Sumner. “The capital stock of the company is not to be less than $100,000, and may be increased to $250,000, to be divided into shares of $100 each.”
First African American elected to Tennessee General Assembly
Sampson Keeble offered his name as a Republican nominee for a seat in the General Assembly at a Party gathering in July 1869 but lost the nomination to J. H. Sumner, 51-33. He remained active in politics, and his intelligence and good nature won him many friends and supporters. In April 1870 he was on the committee that helped arrange a day of celebration after the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment. Oddly, Tennessee, which already had a law on its books allowing black male citizens to vote, had voted against the Fifteenth Amendment. [In fact, Tennessee legislators did not ratify that amendment until the 100th General Assembly in 1997!]
The election year of 1872 was a busy time for Keeble. In March he was part of a group of barbers who signed a resolution calling for a state barbers’ convention to get to know one another, to provide for the widows and orphans of deceased members, and “to strive to ameliorate our condition too, and thus contribute our mite to the great work of elevation.” At the convention of the Davidson County Radical Republican Party that endorsed Ulysses S. Grant’s nomination, Sampson Keeble was appointed to the County Executive Committee and was elected as one of the seventeen delegates to the State Convention. In October the members of the Republican County Convention unanimously nominated Keeble, Captain James W. Ready, and Dr. Rudolph Knaffle to be “candidates for the Lower House of the General Assembly of Tennessee,” subject to the approval of the County Republican Executive Committee.
Sampson Keeble’s daughter Jeannette is pictured here with her husband, Benjamin F. Cox, principal of Avery Normal Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1915 to 1936. Jeannette is holding their oldest son, Benjamin, born in 1906. (Photo courtesy of Helen Davis Mills)
A November 2 article in the Nashville Union and American
announced, “We have been furnished with one of the genuine Radical tickets for this county — variegated in color and in make-up.” The newspaper urged readers to “vote the straight tickets.”
Thus it was that in November 1872, riding the coattails of a sizeable popular vote for U. S. Grant for President, Sampson W. Keeble was narrowly elected, along with Dr. William P. Jones as Senator, and Philip Lindsley, J. B. Jeup, and James W. Ready as Representatives from Davidson County in the 38th Tennessee General Assembly
, which convened on January 6, 1873. Grant was enormously popular among black voters, so Keeble certainly picked up most of those votes, but he must have won a number of white votes as well, from people who found his moderate political stance acceptable. Unlike most other counties that elected black politicians during the next decade or so, Davidson County continued to retain a majority of white voters. Keeble became the first African American to serve as a member of the state legislature (and the last for some time – it would be eight years before another African American member took a seat in the House). The Nashville Union and American
reporter who wrote the story on November 7, 1872, was a little careless with his facts and rather ambivalent about Keeble’s victory:
The result of the election in this county is the complete success of the entire
Radical ticket. Davidson county is the first to elect one of our colored citizens.
Sampson W. Keeble is a barber by trade. He was formerly the slave of Hon.
Edwin Keeble, of Murfreesboro. He was in the Confederate lines during the
most of the war. Since the war he has resided in this city, and has deported
himself in a becoming manner for one of his station. Of the other representatives
elect we have Mr. Ready, an Irishman, Mr. Jeup, a German, and Mr. Lindsley, a native
Tennessean. So that on this ticket we have three nationalities and
two races. If our Legislature is intended to represent different nationalities or
different races, then the elected ticket is a decided success. If, however, it is intended
to represent the interests of the whole people of the State of Tennessee
with all their varied and important interests without regard to race or nationality
we are inclined to believe that the public judgment will be that our radical and “independent” Johnson opponents could have improved upon their ticket.
A cynical article from the Clarksville Weekly Chronicle
(January 25, 1873) provided some details of the situation Keeble faced in the legislature:
In the House, all solitary and alone, sits the Hon. S. W. Keeble, of Nashville
. . .. The “colored element” of Davidson would not permit itself to be overlooked—
it furnished a large proportion of the voters, and demanded representation—hence,
the Honorable Solon, or Solomon (I really forget which it
is), was the sop offered to the colored Cerberus . . . . It must be admitted that
the Hon S. W. Keeble bears his honors with meekness bordering on timidity.
Generally four members from the same county occupy but two double desks.
In this case the colored member has a “bunk” all to himself . . . . After all,
there are just seventy-three members, and somebody must be the odd member, and in this instance pleasure waits upon necessity with eagerness . . . . Keeble
has the advantage of a Southern birth and education, (he can read and write
after a fashion), and is less obnoxious on this account . . . . He is of low stature, rather heavy set, and, while he can undoubtedly claim an unmixed African descent, is of a ginger-cake complexion—a color which many Southern
negroes have somehow come by, perhaps rather by epidemic than by contagion . . . . He is evidently very lonesome, and looks as if he thought he was
doing something wrong . . . . One of the features of this case of rare complexion in Tennessee legislation, is the marked kindness accorded him by the ex-Confederate members: they declare their intention to hear attentively what he may have to say, and make him feel as easy as his exceptional and anomalous
position will allow . . . . But enough for the present of Mr. Keeble. As the
pioneer colored legislator of this State he is entitled to a prominence which
he will perhaps not enjoy again hereafter.
During his term in the legislature, despite such insults by the press and his apparent isolation in the House, Keeble valiantly introduced several bills aimed at bettering the condition of the African American community. One bill was intended to amend Nashville’s charter to allow blacks to operate businesses downtown; a second provided protection for wage earners (several black legislators of the 1880s would later follow his lead and introduce similar bills); and a third appropriated state funds to help support the Tennessee Manual Labor University. However, Keeble was unsuccessful at providing legislation to benefit his black neighbors, for none of his bills received a sufficient number of votes to pass into law. Keeble served only a single two-year term in the General Assembly and lost a later bid for re-election.
When writing about social events that included both black and white guests, several newspapers took note of a Nashville banquet to which Sampson Keeble was invited. According to the Dallas Morning News
, “In 1873 Gov. John C. Brown of Tennessee gave a banquet at the Maxwell House in Nashville and one of his guests was Sampson Keeble, a man of very black skin.” The Duluth News-Tribune
and the Kansas City Journal
said, “In Mr. Cleveland’s first administration the late Frederick Douglass was invited to one of the congressional receptions, together with his Caucasion [sic] wife, then his bride. And John C. Brown, the Democratic governor of Tennessee, as far back as 1873, when he gave a banquet at the Maxwell house, Nashville, had among the invited guests on that occasion the Hon. Sampson Keeble, a black negro representative from Davidshon [sic] county, who not only attended the banquet, but responded to a toast.”
The rise and fall of the Freedman’s Bank
A Freedman’s Bank record for Sampson Keeble’s son Thomas (called “Sam’l” in the 1870 census), a 13-year-old student at Bellview School. Thomas was the son of Sampson and his first wife, Harriet, who died in 1870. No further records of Thomas’s life have come to light. (Heritage Quest Online)
The concept of the Freedman’s Bank was first proposed by abolitionist John W. Alvord at a meeting with business leaders in New York in January 1865. Originally intended as a savings bank for the benefit of African American soldiers, its scope was broadened to include all former slaves and their descendants. Charles Sumner steered the bill quickly through Congress, and it was signed into law by President Lincoln five weeks later, on March 3, 1865. The bank was based in Washington, D.C., but branch offices quickly opened in seventeen states, including Tennessee. Sampson Keeble served from the beginning as a member of the advisory board of the Nashville Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Bank. Advertisements encouraged African American depositors, telling them the bank was chartered by Congress and misleading them into thinking their money was safely under the protection of the federal government. Unfortunately, however, despite the best efforts of Congress and newly appointed bank president Frederick Douglass, the bank had no choice but to close in 1874 because of “overexpansion, mismanagement, abuse, and outright fraud.” (Washington) African American depositors, many of whom had placed their life savings in Freedman’s accounts, were shocked to discover that the federal government did not protect the bank’s assets, and that they had lost everything. Local administrators, powerless to save their banks from the failure of the parent institution in Washington, D.C., petitioned Congress for help.
Sampson Keeble joined the Rev. Nelson Walker, Nashville entrepreneur Henry Harding, and other prominent Nashville citizens in sending a memorial to Congress. In their petition, they attempted to explain the magnitude of the fraud perpetrated on unlettered and trusting depositors by the bank, accusing it of
". . . appealing to a class of people who had been prevented by their
previous condition of servitude from accumulating wealth or even a
competency; and the principal, and in fact the effective, argument used
by the managers and agents of the institution to induce that poor, unlettered,
and trusting class to deposit their small earnings—the fruit of
their toil—in the institution was, that it was an institution chartered by
the Government, with its principal office at the seat of Government, and
that its funds, by express direction of Congress, (which the class appealed
to believed was a guarantee by Congress,) were to be invested in Government
securities. It is easy to see that the colored people, for whose benefit
Congress chartered this institution, would readily conclude that the Government
was bound or under some pledge which secured their deposits.
This may not be the law of the case, but it is certain that such representations
were made by the agents of the institution, and that the people who
placed their deposits in the bank believed that the Government was bound
for the deposits, or at least bound to see that the deposits were securely
invested in United States securities, and that this was a contract between
the United States and the depositor . . . .
There may be no legal obligation resting upon the Government to
guarantee [to those left in the unfortunate condition of having every dollar
most of them have in the world locked up in the payment of the amounts
they have deposited on the faith of their confidence in what they regarded
as the solemn pledge of the Government to have the funds of the institution
invested in the securities of the Government, but we respectfully urge that
there was and is a moral obligation resting on the Government to grant your
memorialists, and the other depositors in the institution, speedy relief by
assuming and paying the amounts due them; taking the assets of the bank,
and holding every other officer or agent of the institution who is liable,
civilly or criminally, to a strict responsibility for their acts."
Despite this passionate appeal, joined with similar petitions from other affected states, Congressional response was disappointing. Eventually, about half of the betrayed depositors received a fraction (60% or less) of the value of their accounts, while others lost everything they had saved. A number of depositors continued to petition Congress for years, hoping for reimbursement that never came. In the end, the African American community felt itself betrayed not only by the bank, but also by their government.
Civic and political activity
Sampson W. Keeble Jr., about 32, with his sister Jeannette Cox's children, Benjamin (4) and Helen (2). The photograph dates from about 1910, shortly before young Keeble moved to Detroit. (Photo courtesy of Helen Davis Mills)
As a result of Keeble’s membership on several boards and his political activism through-out the city, he was well known and admired within the African American community. After his legislative service, he was elected a magistrate in the Davidson County Court, serving from 1877 to 1882. His 1041-1022 victory in 1876 was contested on August 10 by his opponent, James W. Ready, his 1872 Republican running mate, who demanded a recount. After two days of counting Ready’s votes only, election officials announced that his total was 1,060, 19 more than Keeble’s original number. However, as the Daily American
pointed out, “Ready should have enjoined the Sheriff from issuing a certificate of election to Keeble, and thus had the matter decided before the returns were made to the authorities at the Capitol. As the Sheriff was not notified of Ready’s intention to contest the election, he gave Keeble a certificate of election, and the returns having been made to the Capitol, Keeble had no trouble obtaining his commission. . . . Ready’s only recourse is now through the courts.” When Ready challenged Keeble’s election in county court August 25, Judge John C. Ferris ruled that the commission could not be set aside once it was granted, and that Keeble should remain in office. Meanwhile, Keeble had asked that his own votes be recounted. This time his total was 1,066 – higher than Ready’s 1,060, after all. On August 22, in the midst of the recount process, Sampson Keeble had again been named a delegate to the State Republican Convention, along with A.V.S. Lindsley, Gen. George Maney, J. C. Napier, and Thomas A. Sykes
An attack on Keeble’s integrity was reported on November 15, 1878. A story in the Daily American
called “Colored Justice under Suspicion” told of the arrest of Keeble and two black police detectives on charges of “extortion and official oppression,” the second such charge against Keeble. It was not unusual for African Americans in positions of authority to be subjected to trumped-up charges by political opponents. It is apparent that these charges were also disproved, for Keeble continued to serve four more years as magistrate without interruption.
His cases were frequently covered by the “Courts” section of local newspapers. One can find articles, for example, recounting that he fined two women for breach of peace in 1877, jailed a man in 1878 for assault and battery, and ordered an inquest in the 1881 death of teenager Granville Bosley, who had been struck by lightning. In 1877 Keeble’s office was the site of a protest meeting of journeymen barbers, who initiated a strike for higher wages and more equitable working conditions.
Sampson Keeble ran again for the General Assembly in 1878 but was defeated by a Greenback party candidate, perhaps partly because the Democrats were beginning to regain their political supremacy in Davidson County by that time, and partly because racial violence and poll taxes were producing their intended effect of intimidating black voters, who failed to turn out at the polls in their usual numbers. Keeble remained active in city government, however, serving on a federal grand jury in 1881 and eventually being elected as a magistrate.
Marriage to Rebecca Cantrell Gordon
This photograph was taken on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina. According to Keeble descendants, “cultured” African American women came here to give birth. Pictured clockwise from upper left are two unidentified individuals (perhaps friends or relatives), Rebecca Keeble holding her granddaughter Anna Rebecca, with Benjamin and Jeannette on the step below. It is likely the family had temporarily moved there from Charleston in 1914 to wait for Wendell’s birth. At one time Sullivan Island was the largest slave port in North America, the destination of more than 40% of all the slaves brought to the British colonies. As many as 200,000 slaves may have disembarked there. Some experts estimate that half of all African Americans living today are descendants of slaves who passed through Sullivan’s Island. (Photo courtesy of Helen Davis Mills)
By the time of the 1880 census, Sampson, now in his late 40s, was married to Rebecca Cantrell Gordon, a 29-year-old teacher (born August 24, 1849), who had been educated in New York; they were the parents of three-year-old “Jennie” (Jeannette) and one-year-old “S.W.” (Sampson W. Jr.). These were the only Keeble children who survived to adulthood. Several others, including a set of twins, died in infancy. (Five-month-old Charles Marshall Keeble died in November 1881; another son, born during the election year of 1884, was given the name James G. Blaine Keeble, but this child soon died as well.) In the 1910 census, Rebecca would report that only two of the six children to whom she had given birth were still living. Also residing in the Keeble household in 1880 were Sampson’s widowed mother, Nancy Keeble (78), and two young relatives, Hattie M. Beckwith (18, doubtless the 8-year-old Hattie “Keeble” of the previous census) and Maggie K. Smith (17), both of whom were attending school in Nashville. Everyone in the household except for Sampson was identified as “mulatto.”
Keeble’s wife Rebecca was the natural daughter of her mother Harriott’s slave-owner, Carroll McGuire [named on her death certificate], and was raised in her father’s home, with light duties as a household servant – a “foot slave.” It is quite possible that she was educated along with the other children of the household. Delighted by this clever little girl, her father sent her to live with relatives in Staten Island, New York, and she received an education there that included lessons in music and Latin. She eventually returned to Nashville (after a failed romance, according to family lore) where she began to teach other African Americans, both children and adults, to read and write. Even after the Civil War, a considerable number of people opposed education for blacks, and some extremists attempted to find and close black schools, which were often makeshift workshops held in churches and private residences. Rebecca continued to teach, in spite of threats to her safety, moving from place to place to meet with her students. Sampson Keeble fell in love with this beautiful and spirited young woman, more than 15 years his junior, and they were married about 1875. Family members say that both Sampson and Rebecca were avid readers who particularly loved reading the Bible.
Family life and children’s accomplishments
At some point, daughter Jeannette remembered, the family left Nashville for Marshall, Texas. However, they returned to Nashville a short time later when, as descendants tell the story, the passionately Republican Keeble “was run out of there for being a rabble-rouser.” Jeannette may have been remembering her father’s final years – he died in Fort Bend County, Texas, in 1887, when his children were still quite young. Rebecca returned to Nashville and continued to work after becoming widowed. She was a remarkable seamstress, and could knit, crochet, tat (make lace), and embroider expertly. Her name appeared in city directories from 1891 through 1918 in much the same form: “Keeble, Rebecca G (c), widow Samson W, seamstress,” and her address for much of that period was a boarding house at 1605 Jefferson Street. Her son Sampson W. Jr. lived with her until 1910 or 1911. Keeble descendants remember that he owned a high-wheeler (penny-farthing) bicycle as a young man. There were a number of these bicycles around Nashville during the 1880s, as well as clubs that encouraged their use.
Benjamin and Jeannette Keeble Cox, both graduates of Fisk University, were lifelong educators, spending many years at the helm of the Avery Institute in Charleston, South Carolina. Sampson Jr. appeared from time to time in Nashville city directories, working as a porter, a clerk, or a messenger (for the Duncan Hotel); his last Nashville census entry was recorded in June 1910, showing him to be single and living in Rebecca’s household. In August 1912 he took out a license in Detroit, Michigan, to marry Alice Criss, a woman who had been married once before. Keeble gave his age as 34, listed his occupation as janitor, named Sampson and Rebecca as his parents, and stated he had no previous marriages. C. Emery Allen, clergyman, officiated at the ceremony, held August 18, 1912. Unfortunately, when Sampson filled out his Draft Registration card in 1918 (medium height, medium build, brown eyes, black hair), his marriage seems to have ended. He listed Rebecca Keeble as his nearest relative, and his occupation as porter in the Hoffman Hotel in Detroit. Alice’s name appeared on another marriage license in July 1920; 40 years old by then, and marrying a 33-year-old laborer named Ralph Dixon, she said (for the second time!) that she had had only one previous marriage.
After her son moved north, Rebecca continued to work as a dressmaker. When her eyes failed, Jeannette and Benjamin Cox took her into their home in Charleston, where she could be near her beloved grandchildren. She died there tragically, early in 1923, when a gas stove in her room set her clothes on fire. Although family members rushed to her aid, they were too late to save her.
The last year the name of Sampson Keeble Sr. appeared in the Nashville City Directory
was 1886, when he was listed as a teacher. A brief obituary in the Nashville Daily American
on July 3, 1887, said, “The many friends of Sampson W. Keeble (formerly of Nashville) will regret to learn of his sudden death, which occurred in Richmond, Tex., June 19, caused by a congestive chill [probably a form of malaria]. He was born in Rutherford County May 18, 1833. He was 54 years old.”
It is not clear whether Sampson W. Keeble was buried in Texas or Tennessee. He is listed with his daughter and son-in-law, Jeannette Keeble and Benjamin F. Cox, on a grave-stone in Greenwood Cemetery on Elm Hill Pike in Nashville. The grave is on a piece of land that runs parallel to Spence Lane, directly across from the final resting places of R. H. Boyd, a Nashville publishing giant, and James C. Napier, the city’s first African American councilman and Register of the U.S. Treasury under President Taft. There is no grave for Rebecca, although her death certificate says that her body was returned to Nashville for burial on January 10, 1923, so it is probable that Sampson was already buried in that city. Sampson’s mother lies in the old Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Nashville, under a broken gravestone with this nearly illegible inscription:
State Honors Sampson Keeble in 2010
KEEBLE Born: 1805 Died: 1883
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
THE MO????OF S. W./ ELIZA A. CEORCEL
KITTY ????Y KEEBLE
CUMBERLAND CO. VA.
AUG. 20, 1805
DIED IN NASHVILLE
JAN. 16, 1883
LORD ? CHRIST
On Monday, March 29, 2010, a bust of Sampson W. Keeble, commissioned by the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators, was unveiled outside the House Chamber in the State Capitol. Created by internationally recognized sculptor Roy W. Butler, the bust stands on a base of Tennessee pink marble engraved with the names of all fourteen African American legislators elected to the Tennessee General Assembly during the 19th century. The day-long ceremony
, which was attended by eight direct descendants of Sampson Keeble, included addresses by three historians, a slide show by Mr. Butler illustrating various stages in the production of the bust, a luncheon for family members and legislators at the historic Hermitage Hotel, and the unveiling of the statue, followed by a public reception and the reading of a proclamation in the House of Representatives honoring Keeble and the other 19th century black legislators.
Many thanks to Sampson Keeble family members Helen Davis Mills, Dr. Leonard Davis, and Dr. Wendell Cox Jr., who provided invaluable information for this biography. We are so very grateful for your continuing support.
Much gratitude also to Walter Keeble descendant Virginia G. Watson for sharing her research on the Keeble family.
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, Vol. V, January 1920, 114-115. | <urn:uuid:580ed606-a53d-4a68-81ab-92e304fa1c03> | {
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Could corals survive more acidic oceans?April 2nd, 2012 - 6:19 pm ICT by IANS
Sydney, April 2 (IANS) Corals may yet be able to survive the acidification of the world’s oceans, escaping the effects of climatic devastation.
Researchers have identified a powerful internal mechanism that could enable some corals and their symbiotic algae to counter the adverse impact of a more acidic ocean.
As humans release ever-larger amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air, besides warming the planet, the gas is also turning the world’s oceans more acidic, faster than those seen during past extinctions, the journal Nature Climate Change reports.
Scientists from Australia’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and France’s Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, has shown that some marine organisms that form calcium carbonate skeletons have an in-built mechanism to cope with ocean acidification - which others appear to lack.
“The good news is that most corals appear to have this internal ability to buffer rising acidity of seawater and still form good, solid skeletons,” says Malcolm McCulloch professor at CoECRS.
“Marine organisms that form calcium carbonate skeletons generally produce it in one of two forms, known as aragonite and calcite,” adds McCulloch, according to a CoECRS statement
“Our research broadly suggests that those with skeletons made of aragonite have the coping mechanism - while those that follow the calcite pathway generally do less well under more acidic conditions,” said McCulloch.
- Fish learn to cope with high CO2 in oceans - Jul 03, 2012
- Carbon emissions speed up ocean acidification - Jan 23, 2012
- Oceans acidification peaks in 300 mn years - Mar 04, 2012
- Make more efforts to tackle rising ocean acidity, say European scientists - May 20, 2010
- Using Mother Nature's method to save oceans' marine life - Jan 20, 2011
- Cut global emissions to save coral reefs - Nov 18, 2009
- 'Rising CO2 levels threaten aquatic food webs' - May 08, 2012
- Radical methods needed to save oceans, say experts - Aug 21, 2012
- Carbon emissions lead to dangerous changes in oceans - Apr 02, 2010
- How climate change and pollution affect ocean chemistry - Jun 20, 2010
- High acidity levels in oceans harming marine life - Dec 05, 2010
- Weed-eating fish key to reef's survival - Mar 11, 2011
- Sea cucumbers could protect endangered corals - Feb 01, 2012
- Global warming threatens coral growth in Red Sea - Jul 16, 2010
- Acidic oceans endangering baby corals - Apr 19, 2012
Tags: acidic conditions, acidity, adverse impact, aragonite, calcite, calcium carbonate, calcium carbonate skeletons, centre of excellence, climate change reports, coping mechanism, coral reef, devastation, internal mechanism, journal nature, malcolm mcculloch, marine organisms, ocean acidification, reef studies, seawater, symbiotic algae | <urn:uuid:c1589688-7e5d-4cec-ac1a-264f3310d5c4> | {
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West Nile Virus (WNV) causes a potentially fatal encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord) in a variety of species such as birds, horses, and humans.
This free report provides an overview of the disease and how it spreads as well as describing the clinical signs to watch for in your horses and other animals. Diagnosis and treatment options are discussed, as well as the prognosis of a horse with West Nile Virus and tips for preventing it.
- Veterinarians Urge Vaccination against West Nile Virus
- Increased Equine West Nile Virus Activity in 2012
- Horse Vaccines in 2012: Where We Stand
- EHV-1 Inactivated Vaccine Efficacy Tested (AAEP 2011)
- Equine Infectious Disease Control in Developing Countries
- Management Strategies to Enhance Vaccine Efficacy
- Researcher: Current Equine Flu Vaccines Effective Against Foreign Strains
- Vaccinating Pregnant Mares for Equine Viral Arteritis
- Spring Vaccinations: Points to Consider Before You Buy
- Possible Cause of Unusual Neurologic Signs in Australian Horses Identified | <urn:uuid:53d60f77-9958-41a6-950b-592d9e40291a> | {
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Screening detects disease, therefore screening must be good. That simple mantra is, sadly, far from true, as the latest errors in cervical-smear screening programmes become apparent. Poor performance at the Kent and Canterbury Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK is one of the worst examples in a series of setbacks that have bedevilled such programmes since their inception in the late 1980s. 91 000 cervical smears collected during 1990-95 and examined in Kent were rechecked: 333 women at high risk of progressing to cervical cancer (which would have led to immediate follow-up) had been told their smears were normal. Eight have died of cervical cancer and 30 have undergone hysterectomies. Unsurprisingly, many are seeking legal advice with a view to compensation.
Detection of abnormal cells on the screening smear would have led to repeat testing, colposcopy, biopsy, and treatment, when appropriate. Therein lies the dilemma in any screening programme. The “correct answer” is that some proportion of the results will be incorrect, because no test is perfect.
The concept of false-positive and false-negative test results is a difficult one for the public to understand, but simple non-jargon explanations must be put across. In the UK programme, between the invitation to the first screen and the possibility of colposcopy and treatment, a woman can receive up to ten letters and four leaflets. Those screened deserve the most accurate answer any test can provide, but they also need to realise that tests are not completely accurate. The UK information leaflets and letters about cervical-smear testing are a model of research-based wording and design, yet only allude to the concept of a false test result, with little or no explicit explanation of what a false result means. For instance, a Health Education Authority leaflet states that “cervical screening is not 100 per cent perfect” and a new poster says that the smear test “cannot be 100 per cent accurate”.
Mass screening of the population is limited to potentially fatal diseases such as cancer (eg, cervical and breast in systematic screening programmes; colorectal and prostate in experimental or self-selection programmes), and receiving a false result has many consequences for the individual. A false negative means that the opportunity for investigation and treatment has been missed. A false positive means further and, commonly, invasive tests (and possible treatment) when neither is needed. In addition, there is immense psychological morbidity associated with a false-positive result in a cancer check, as the individual (and family) waits for further tests and results.
The UK screens over 4 million cervical smears a year. In nearly a tenth of the smears, the sampling is inadequate. During 1996-97, 91% of adequate smears were reported as negative. Estimates of prevented cases of cervical cancer range from 1000 to 4000 a year. The advocates of cervical-smear screening programmes can only estimate the benefits of testing, because the introduction of the programme was never tested in randomised trials.
One of the few who dares speak the unspeakable about screening is a Bristol-based public-health physician, herself involved in a smear-test screening programme. Angela Raffle came under fire for writing, in a research paper in The Lancet in June, 1995, that “much of our effort…is devoted to limiting the harm done to healthy women and to protecting our staff from litigation”. She concluded: “The screening programme is identifying one in ten young women as ‘at risk’ for a disease that is likely to affect one in many thousands”. She returned to the debate in a letter in our Jan 24 issue: “Screening has distorted public belief. In our desire for good population coverage we have said that screening is simple, effective, and inexpensive. In truth, it is complex, of limited effectiveness, and very expensive”.
If screened people are not adequately informed about the possibility of a false-negative result, it is little wonder that, when they get such a result, their next port of call is a lawyer. By that stage, they will not be interested in the distinction between a less than perfect test and less than perfect provision of a testing service, as provided at the Kent hospital. | <urn:uuid:6c6dfa27-133a-4a76-9df6-8fdfd864ad72> | {
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Northallerton lecture by descendant of key figure in US history
12:11pm Sunday 30th December 2012 in News
A DESCENDANT of a man who helped shape America's history, is set to give a talk.
Jeremiah Dixon was responsible for helping create America’s Mason-Dixon line, which divided the slave-owning Southern states from abolitionist Northern states during the civil war.
Jeremiah Dixon, from Cockfield, County Durham, was commissioned 250 years ago by King George III to help resolve a dispute over boundary lines between the English colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania in the US.
Maryland had been founded in 1632 by the Calvert family from Kiplin Hall, North Yorkshire, as a refuge for English Catholics. About 50 years later, neighbouring Pennsylvania was created by the Quaker William Penn and inhabited by the more aggressive Puritans.
Although surveying was in its infancy, accurate boundary measurements were required to prevent continuing argument, so the royal astronomer at the Greenwich Observatory recommended his assistant Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, from Cockfield to undertake a boundary survey.
It took five years and proved one of the great technological feats of the century.
The boundary became the Mason-Dixon, which defined the boundary of freedom for escaping black slaves and the dividing line between Southern and Northern states in the civil war.
Now one of his direct descendants, John Dixon, is to host a talk entitled Jeremiah Dixon; Revered in America, Forgotten at Home, for Northallerton and District Local History Society.
It will take place at the Sacred Heart Church Hall on Thirsk Road, Northallerton at 7pm on Tuesday, January 8. Non-members are welcome at a nominal admission charge of £2.50, while students under 18 will be admitted free.
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The LEGO WeDO set - discussed in previous posts - was made for the classroom, but it comes with two little sensors that can be used in NXT robots too. The set includes a tilt sensor as well as a proximity sensor. With a converter cable, it is possible to read the sensors using the NXT brick.
The video below illustrates the two sensors. Based on the (analog) sensor value, a tone is played. The signal from the tilt sensor is rather discrete - it only tells you wether it points up, down, left, right or wether it is held parallel to the ground.
The proximity sensor responses to changes in relative distance quite fast, making it a good solution for movement detection
Here's a diagram of the converter cable by Daniel Wittenaar (MCP):
Caution: Do not use this cable to connect a battery pack to your NXT. This will damage your NXT instantly.
Other than that, you can safely use this cable to connect PF sensors and Motors to the NXT. | <urn:uuid:3020afa2-a486-44fb-9927-9289b8e21d58> | {
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With some European countries pledging money and all countries agreeing to a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, chances of a deal brightened on the penultimate evening of the UN climate summit in Doha.
The deal, however, will be too weak to have any discernible impact on global warming. The World Meteorological Organization has just warned that concentration of carbon dioxide – the main greenhouse gas (GHG) that is warming the earth – is at a never-before level. The United Nations Environment Programme has warned that current commitments to arrest GHG emissions fall around 40% short of what is needed to keep temperature rise within two degrees Celsius. A recent World Bank study paints a frightful picture of a world that may be four degrees warmer than pre-industrial levels.
But representatives of 194 governments gathered in Doha for the annual summit of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) continued their game of doing as little as possible to combat climate change. “We can only do what is politically acceptable back home,” said a member of the US delegation. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, was confident that there would be “an outcome that may not be to the liking of all, but can be accepted by all” governments.
That “balanced outcome”, as Xie put it, came after Britain, Germany, France, Sweden and Denmark announced that they would be paying poor nations to help combat climate change and move to a greener development path. Negotiators from developing countries were still struggling to put these pledges into the final agreement text. With the US, Canada, Japan, Russia and New Zealand firmly opposed to any such move, the outcome was uncertain.
But with a large part of negotiations completed for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol – though crucial issues remained outstanding – Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, was confident that negotiations would not collapse, and the world could move towards an agreement under which all countries would make stronger commitments to fight climate change after 2020.
The current commitments under the protocol are very weak indeed, and many developed countries have not even made any pledge about the extent to which they will reduce their GHG emissions. Xie pointed out that the “question is ambition of emission reduction – it is now insufficient to keep warming under two degrees, as science says we need.” But BASIC countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – indicated that they were willing to move forward rather than derail negotiations.
In a post-2020 regime where all countries may have obligations to arrest GHG emissions, the question of equity will be paramount, said Mira Mehrishi, head of the Indian delegation. The US delegation has a very different notion of equity than that of developing countries – mainly India – and this is a likely sticking point in future negotiations. | <urn:uuid:78901f58-3cde-4f4f-8ba4-e62befe2c48a> | {
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Aardwolf wrote:As far as I am aware EE theory doesn't have any drift associated with it. IMO antartica has always been exactly where it is now (relative to the other continents). The drifting of continents has always appeared an absurdity to me, and that was before I was even aware of other potential theories.
Dr. James Maxlow wrote:Ancient Magnet Poles
The published ancient magnetic pole information (the location of ancient magnetic poles established from measuring the remnant magnetism in iron-rich rocks) in particular provides conclusive evidence in support of Expansion Tectonics. When this magnetic pole data is plotted on Expansion Tectonic models it demonstrates that all pole data plot as diametrically opposed north and south poles for each model.
These models show that the ancient North Pole was located in eastern Mongolia-China throughout the Precambrian and Paleozoic Eras. As the continents slowly migrated south, during subsequent increase in Earth radius, there was an apparent northward polar wander through Siberia to its present location within the Arctic Ocean. Similarly, the ancient Precambrian and Paleozoic South Pole was located in west central Africa, and, as the continents slowly migrated north, there was an apparent southward polar wander along the South American and West African coastlines to its present location in Antarctica.
The locations of these magnetic poles, as well as the derived ancient equators, independently confirm the model reconstructions shown in Figure 3 and again suggest that Expansion Tectonics is indeed a viable process.
Figure 3: Spherical Archaean to future Expanding Earth models. Models show relative increase in Earth radii during Earth history, and include both continental and oceanic geology. Models range in age from the late Archaean to Recent, plus one model projected 5 million years into the future. (Geology after the CGMW and UNESCO bedrock geology map, 1990). Click here to see a bigger version of this figure.
ancientd wrote:also remeber we are not only getting possibly frozen preserved mammoths but in Antartica at least huge forests of fossilized forests and leaves. i.e. wood transformed into rocklike substances . The agent causing snap freezing must also be capable of causing fossilization. Alos beneath Antartica are marsupial and other remains not to mention coal fields. So does this insinuate your ionization theory as capable of producing these fossils. any comments.Certainly some have seen high voltage powerlines on live trees causing petrification very quickly.
The ancient Permian Glossopteris fern is a common fossil in coals throughout the southern hemisphere and has traditionally been used to define the ancient Gondwana supercontinent. The known distribution of Glossopteris ferns is centred on localities in South Africa and adjacent India. During the Permian period East Antarctica straddled the equator adjacent to South Africa, which was surrounded by occurrences of Glossopteris flora in Australia, West Antarctica and India, suggesting Glossopteris flora may have also been extensive beneath the present East Antarctica ice-cap.
Although he doesn't acknowledge the Saturnian cosmology, I think the research of Donald Patten in his book "The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch" could shed some light on a lot of the questions raised in this thread. Patten's conclusion is that the polar ice sheets were caused by a deposition of ice from a fragmenting icy visitor (an icy moon of Mars to be exact), but I think his research can be better explained by the EU theory.
In 1929, a group of historians found an amazing map drawn on a gazelle skin. Research showed that it was a genuine document drawn in 1513 by Piri Reis, a famous admiral of the Turkish fleet in the sixteenth century. His passion was cartography.
Piri Reis high rank within the Turkish navy allowed him to have a privileged access to the Imperial Library of Constantinople. The Turkish admiral admits, in a series of notes on the map, that he compiled and copied the data from a large number of source maps, some of which dated back to the fourth century BC or earlier.
The Controversy - the Piri Reis Antarctica map - ice free
The Piri Reis map shows the western coast of Africa, the eastern coast of South America, and the northern coast of Antarctica ice free. The northern coastline of Antarctica is perfectly detailed. The most puzzling however is not so much how the Piri Reis Antarctica map managed to so accurate 300 years before it was discovered, but that the map shows the coastline under the ice. Geological evidence confirms that the latest date Queen Maud Land could have been charted in an ice-free state is 4000 BC.
Piri Reis Antarctica map - Antarctica ice free
Oronteus Fineus map of an ice free Antarctica
The Oronteus Fineus map was also incredibly precise. The Oronteus Fineus map showed an ice free Antartica with no ice-cap.It was drawn in the year 1532. There are also maps showing Greenland as two separated islands, as it was confirmed by a polar French expedition which found out that there is an ice cap quite thick joining what it is actually two islands. Another amazing chart is the one drawn by the Turkish Hadji Ahmed, year 1559, in which he shows a land stripe, about 1600 Km. wide, that joins Alaska and Siberia. Such a natural bridge has been then covered by the water due to the end of the glacial period, which rose up the sea level.
As we saw, many charts in the ancient times pictured, we might say, all the earth geography. They seem to be pieces of a very ancient world wide map, drawn by unknown people who were able to use technology that we consider to be a conquer of the very modern times. At a time when human beings were supposedly living in a primitive manner, someone "put on paper" the whole geography of the earth. And this common knowledge somehow fell into pieces, then gathered here and there by several people, who had lost though the knowledge, and just copied what they could find in libraries, bazaars, markets and about all kind of places.
Hapgood made a disclosure which amazingly lead further on this road: he found out a cartographic document copied by an older source carved on a rock column, China, year 1137. It showed the same high level of technology of the other western charts, the same grid method, the same use of spheroid trigonometry. It has so many common points with the western ones that it makes think more than reasonably, that there had to be a common source: could it be a lost civilization, maybe the same one which has been chased by thousands years so far?
Oronteus Fineus map of an ice free Antarctica - ancientdestructions.com
ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2010) — About 12,900 years ago, a sudden cold snap interrupted the gradual warming that had followed the last Ice Age. The cold lasted for the 1,300-year interval known as the Younger Dryas (YD) before the climate began to warm again.
In North America, large animals known as megafauna, such as mammoths, mastodons, saber-tooth tigers and giant short-faced bears, became extinct. The Paleo-Indian culture known as the Clovis culture for distinctively shaped fluted stone spear points abruptly vanished, eventually replaced by more localized regional cultures.
What had happened?
One theory is that either a comet airburst or a meteor impact somewhere in North America set off massive environmental changes that killed animals and disrupted human communities.
In sedimentary deposits dating to the beginning of the YD, impact proponents have reported finding carbon spherules containing tiny nano-scale diamonds, which they thought to be created by shock metamorphism or chemical vapor deposition when the impactor struck.
The nanodiamonds included lonsdaleite, an unusal form of diamond that has a hexagonal lattice rather than the usual cubic crystal lattice. Lonsdaleite is particularly interesting because it has been found inside meteorites and at known impact sites.
In the August 30 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists led by Tyrone Daulton, PhD, a research scientist in the physics department at Washington University in St. Louis, reported that they could find no diamonds in YD boundary layer material.
Daulton and his colleagues, including Nicholas Pinter, PhD, professor of geology at Southern Illinois University In Carbondale and Andrew C. Scott, PhD, professor of applied paleobotany of Royal Holloway University of London, show that the material reported as diamond is instead forms of carbon related to commonplace graphite, the material used for pencils.
"Of all the evidence reported for a YD impact event, the presence of hexagonal diamond in YD boundary sediments represented the strongest evidence suggesting shock processing," Daulton, who is also a member of WUSTL's Center for Materials Innovation, says.
However, a close examination of carbon spherules from the YD boundary using transmission electron microscopy by the Daulton team found no nanodiamonds. Instead, graphene- and graphene/graphane-oxide aggregates were found in all the specimens examined (including carbon spherules dated from before the YD to the present). Importantly, the researchers demonstrated that previous YD studies misidentified graphene/graphane-oxides as hexagonal diamond and likely misidentified graphene as cubic diamond.
The YD impact hypothesis was in trouble already before this latest finding. Many other lines of evidence -- including: fullerenes, extraterrestrial forms of helium, purported spikes in radioactivity and iridium, and claims of unique spikes in magnetic meteorite particles -- had already been discredited. According to Pinter, "nanodiamonds were the last man standing."
"We should always have a skeptical attitude to new theories and test them thoroughly," Scott says, "and if the evidence goes against them they should be abandoned."
starbiter wrote:Hello Mungo: Now that NASA has found limestone in comet dust, the limestone and debris encasing the mega fauna is most likely comet dust. Or a reef slowly grew around the remains over many years.
ancientd wrote:No one seems to of considred electrical transmutation of say vaste amounts of water or air to calcium carbonate . The fossils are equally buried in coal . Is this comet delivered or perhaps a creation of new compounds and minerals under electro magnetic extremes. After all is the limestone within comets created by an electro magnetic whirlpool that constantly modifies its constituents. Or am I thinking beyond the Pail? As I look at my periodic tables I often see how close the various mainline elements are. Often seperated by only a neutron or proton . For instance Carbon ,Nitrogen and Oxygen a mere proton apart.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest | <urn:uuid:f877b1c0-612e-4797-a47d-b85437a91f6d> | {
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THE STARS and stripes were raised Monday in the the immediate Eastern Ohio area and elsewhere, but this didn't involve flags with 50 stars.
With flags having 15 stars and 15 stripes, Ohioans and others through the nation Monday were marking the 200th anniversary of the declaration of war for the War of 1812.
The Governor's War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission enlisted help from officials in all 88 counties to draw attention to this important time in the nation's history and Ohio's involvement in the three-year conflict.
ONE of most memorable reports related to United States' naval history stems from that war.
It was Master Commandant Oliver Hazard Perry's dispatch to Major Gen. William Henry Harrison when he reported, "We have met the enemy and they are ours - two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."
Perry's dispatch resulted from his victory over the British during the Battle of Lake Erie off the coast of Ohio in 1813. The victory opened up the Great Lakes region and land west of Ohio for settlers.
Harrison himself was saluted as a hero of the War of 1812. After the Battle of Lake Erie, he commanded the forces that defeated the British and American Indians, including Tecumseh, at the Battle of the Thames near Chatham, Ontario. The war in the Lake Erie area then effectively ended.
Incidentally, Harrison County takes its name from that illustrious officer who was the first U.S. president to have lived in Ohio.
Harrison isn't the only hero associated with that war and East Ohio even though the 1813 event occurred elsewhere. Johnny Appleseed, who planted apples in area counties, reportedly ran approximately 30 miles from Mansfield to Mount Vernon to warn about American Indian massacres and to obtain reinforcements. Some report that he rode a horse.
ANOTHER event during that war occurred in the Battle of Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key was inspired because the flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes was still flying.
His memorable words are that the "rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." | <urn:uuid:a55e272f-7f0c-4ed8-b63e-fd9af13de85b> | {
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A material made from fibers or thread by weaving, knitting, felting etc. as any cloth.
1. To make, build or construct by assembling parts or manufacturing.
2. To make from raw material.
External front of a building that faces the street or courtyard and is usually used to describe bigger, elegant buildings. Fašade materials include wood, brick, glass, masonry, aluminum, etc.
1. The side of a wall covering that faces away from the framing; for example in an A-B plywood panel, the face would be the A side.
2. An exterior, exposed surface on a structure.
3. Any surface of a thing.
4. The outward appearance of anything.
The dollar amount, shown on a document.
Exterior decorative surface, which is made of brick that is not rendered, painted or plastered and is made of various brick materials, including clay, to give a desired effect.
Applies to the direction of the grain on the face of a veneer-faced panel, which is also called the long dimension of the panel. Since the greatest strength and firmness is parallel to the face grain, it is normal to run the face grain across the supports.
Hardening process for the surface of materials. As an example, the hardening of carbon steel is accomplished by first heating the steel to approximately 1200 degrees F. and then it is immersed in powdered carbon. When some of the carbon is absorbed into the molecular structure of the steel, the surface or face of the steel is hardened.
Also referred to as the face ply, it is the outer layer when there are two or more layers. Face Line Lines that are made of strong string, which is stretched out and attached to staked boards, so that masons can follow the straightness of it when building masonry walls.
Nails, which are hammered at right angles (perpendicular) to the work surface. Also called direct nailing.
The side of the material where the weld was applied, which has the exposed weld.
Face plate holds the work to be turned on a lathe. The plate is then fastened to the lathe headstock, which is the part of the lathe that turns the work.
Also referred to as the face layer, it is the outer layer when there are two or more layers.
Additional weld material, which is added to the face of the weld.
Front of a concrete block.
Coverings, designed to protect the entire face of a worker when a sander, grinder, etc. are being used. A transparent eye panel allows the worker to be protected from small particles, which are being thrown, while being able to see.
The dollar amount shown on a document.
Measurement of the air velocity as measured at the face of the inlet or outlet in an HVAC system.
The outer veneer on a piece of plywood.
The front wall of a structure or, alternately, a retaining wall.
Masonry structure that has different types of material as backing and facing, such as brick on concrete, bonded together.
Veneer covered structural wall.
Real estate professional who aids in a transaction but does not have an agency relationship with that party and can be known as an intermediary or transaction broker.
1. Ease of doing or making; absence of difficulty.
2. A building or special room, constructed for a specific function.
1. Covering of contrasting material to decorate or protect a building; a finished wall surface.
2. Smoothing; finishing.
Specifically made brick, in a special color or texture, for the outside or facing wall of a building.
A reproduction or exact copy or architecturally a reproduction of a building style. Alternately, the electronic transfer of an exact image of a document or picture, referred to as a "fax".
The purchase of the accounts receivable of a business or alternately, taking the accounts receivable of a business as collateral for a loan.
The ratio of the maximum strength of a piece of material or a part to the probably maximum load to be applied to it. If a maximum of 2,000 pounds can be tolerated, a load of 500 pounds will have a 4 to one factor of safety.
The edge of any fabricated item that has been prepared in a factory, such as the long edge of wallboard panels, coming from a factory covered with paper. Fade.
1. To become less distinct. To lose color or brilliance.
2. To disappear slowly. To wane.
Also spelled faggot, the term refers to a bundle of sticks or branches to be used for fuel, or alternately, a bundle of iron or steel pieces to be hammered or rolled, at welding temperature, into bars.
Temperature measurement, named after its discoverer Daniel Fahrenheit 1686-1736, in which 32 degrees is the freezing point and 212 is the boiling point for water.
Italian glazed earthenware, as colorfully designed pottery or in blocks or tiles to be used as wall facings.
Federal law governing credit and charge card billing errors. If the credit card company violates this law, consumers can sue for damages.
A federal law that allows individuals to examine and correct information used by credit reporting services.
Federal law outlawing debtor harassment and regulates collections agencies, original creditor's collection offices (if separate) and creditor's lawyers. Original creditors may be covered under state law.
Federal law making it illegal to refuse to rent or sell to anyone based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. 1988 amendments expanded protections to include family status and disability.
The rent a property commands in a free and open market setting.
Amount that could be received on the sale of real estate when there is a willing seller and buyer. It is a term generally used in property tax and condemnation legislation, meaning the market value of a property. | <urn:uuid:4845eb11-16bf-45e5-a4d5-f851bb3fb797> | {
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Mountains Beyond Mountains
Teachers: If you'd like a printable version of this guide, download the PDF attachment at the bottom of this page.
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World tells the true story of one man’s commitment to bring quality health care to the world’s poorest communities. Author Tracy Kidder guides students through many physical and philosophical journeys with Dr. Farmer, eloquently articulating Farmer’s mission of correcting the inequities and epidemics that plague the poorest people. These journeys with Dr. Farmer constitute an adventure story focused on critical moral issues.
Mountains Beyond Mountains raises several profound questions about issues of access to health care and the global distribution of wealth, allowing students a glimpse into Dr. Farmer’s work to change the world. Reading this fascinating and inspiring book with your class will provide an opportunity to discuss critical modern political issues and will challenge your students to reflect on their own goals and personal philosophies.
This guide is divided into three categories: Style and Structure, Comprehension and Discussion, and Personal Essays. Questions in the first two sections can be used for oral discussion in small or large groups, or for written assignments. The Personal Essay questions will require longer, personal answers, and are more appropriate as written assignments. Each section can be individualized for your students’ interests and reading level, or adapted to meet curriculum demands.
About This Guide
Reading Level: 10
This Teacher's Guide is recommended for use by high school educators.
About This Author
Tracy Kidder was born in New York City in 1945. He attended Harvard College and served as a lieutenant in Vietnam. He writes frequently for Atlantic Monthly magazine and The New Yorker.
After briefly meeting Paul Farmer in Haiti in 1994, Kidder met up with him again in 1999 to begin work on “The Good Doctor,” a profile of Farmer that was published in The New Yorker in July 2000. Kidder’s research for The New Yorker article became the starting point for Mountains Beyond Mountains.
Tracy Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book award in 1982 for The Soul of the New Machine, a book about corporate, high-tech America. Other works include House (1985), Among Schoolchildren (1989), Old Friends (1993), and Home Town (1999). His next book, My Detachment: A Memoir (due Fall 2005) focuses on his time spent as a lieutenant in Vietnam.
Style and Structure
1. Kidder opens Mountains Beyond Mountains with an account of a discussion between Paul Farmer and a U.S. army captain who was commanding a small peacekeeping force in Haiti. Farmer and the captain initially discuss a recent murder case in the area, and then move on to discuss the role of the U.S. in Haiti. While the U.S. Army troops had been stationed in Haiti to reinstate the country’s democratically elected government and to curb political violence, some of the soldiers were cynical about the effects of their presence in the country. In his reflections on the work of the soldiers, Kidder acknowledges that he shared the soldiers’ pessimism, believing that they “had done their best” and that they “would not cry over things beyond their control” in Haiti (page 8). Why do you think that Kidder opens his book with this scene?
2. Most of Tracy Kidder’s other books are not written in the first-person voice. Why do you think he chose to write Mountains Beyond Mountains from a first-person perspective? In what ways would the book be different if it were written in the third-person perspective?
3. The title of the book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, is taken from a Haitian proverb that translates as “beyond mountains there are mountains.” Why did Kidder use this as the title? What does it mean in terms of Paul Farmer’s work?
Discussion and Writing
1. On his trips outside of Haiti, Paul Farmer carries two photos to show his colleagues–one of his own daughter Catherine, and one of a young patient at Cange (page 213). Why is it important to Farmer to show both photos?
2. In Chapter 22, Kidder notes that Paul Farmer’s “days and nights looked hard and in some ways lonesome.” Farmer is very dedicated to his work and has been very successful but in order to do his work, he has also made many personal sacrifices. What sacrifices has Farmer made to pursue his goals? How have these sacrifices affected his relationship with Didi and Catherine, and with his friends?
3. Paul Farmer had a very unusual upbringing in Massachusetts, Alabama, and Florida. What specific elements from his childhood and family life prepared Farmer for his current life? How has your upbringing influenced your own choices and goals in life?
4. Throughout the book, Kidder describes Farmer’s interactions with patients. In many cases, Farmer tends to reach out to touch his patients comfortingly and call them by pet names or endearments. Are these gestures typical of modern American doctors? How do these gestures reflect Farmer’s philosophy of the role of a doctor?
5. What motivates Paul Farmer to do the work he does? What does he see as his compensation? (page 24)
6. Farmer’s philosophy is at odds with standard notions of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. His approach to public health care has drawn criticism because it is not perceived to be cost-effective. For instance, one critic commented that the $20,000 spent on transporting a sick Haitian child to Boston for treatment could have been better spent on other things, like supplies or drugs for many other children (page 287). What is his response to these arguments? What factors do you think are most important in making such decisions about how money should be spent in public health programs?
7. Paul has trained as a medical anthropologist and as a doctor. Discuss the difference between these two careers with your class. How has his background in medical anthropology complemented his work as a doctor? What specific scenes illustrate Farmer’s skills as a medical anthropologist?
8. What is meant by the phrase, “All suffering isn’t equal” on page 216? How does this belief shape the work that Paul Farmer, Jim Kim, and Partners in Health do?
9. As Partners in Health grows, Farmer is expected to travel to many places to implement and monitor programs, meet with policy-makers and other doctors, and make presentations on public health issues. His increasing involvement in other programs in Peru and Russia requires that he spend less time in Cange (page 260). How does he describe the inner conflict between serving his patients in Haiti and helping to solve international inequities and epidemics globally?
10. Many people in Cange believe that Paul Farmer “works with both hands,” meaning that he works both with science and with the magic necessary to remove Voodoo curses (page 27). How did he learn about the role of Voodoo in the lives of the residents of Cange? How does Farmer interpret the continuing presence of Voodoo in modern Haitian life?
11. Early members of Partners in Health refer frequently to an idea from the Catholic liberation theology movement, of “preferential option for the poor” (pages 78 and 81). How does Farmer’s life and work reflect this particular theology? What are some other examples of the role of faith and religion in Paul Farmer’s work?
1. Do you think that Farmer has struck an appropriate balance between acting locally and acting globally? How do you think he should prioritize his responsibilities toward his Haitian patients, PIH’s other international programs, and the global public health community?
2. What responsibilities do you think individuals in wealthier nations have toward people in poor countries? How has reading this account of Paul Farmer’s work changed your ideas about your responsibility or obligations toward people who are poorer than you are? What do you think is the best way to express or act on this sense of responsibility?
3. In many of his projects and activities, Paul Farmer achieves his goals by subverting policies. For example, while there is officially a fee for patient services at Zanmi Lasante, he has made a long list of exceptions, so that in fact almost no one has to pay for services (page 21). While he was in medical school, he “borrowed” tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and lab services from Brigham and Young Hospital on behalf of his patients at Zanmi Lasante by charming the pharmacists and lab workers (page 149). How do you feel about his unconventional approach to problem solving? Do you think that he could be more effective by working within a framework of existing policies and institutional structures, or by working to change policies that he sees as oppressive to the poor?
4. In the final paragraph of the book, Kidder makes a reference to the time he spent with the American soldiers before he met Paul Farmer and of how he regarded the plight of the suffering people. In what ways have Kidder and his viewpoints changed since first meeting Farmer? How did your own perception of Farmer’s life and work change, if it did, as you read the book?
About the Teacher's Guide Writer
Heather Kelly received her Master’s degree in Public Administration and Economic and Political Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Health and her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the College of William and Mary. She taught English at a high school in Papua New Guinea with the Peace Corps, and since then has worked on numerous international public health and economic development projects. She has worked with several non-governmental agencies and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in East Timor, Nunavut, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. | <urn:uuid:2f6e9f15-4fdc-4421-b0ac-8973ab5b980c> | {
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Four voyages can lead to plenty of misadventure. Discover the places where Christopher Columbus met with high drama (and just a few setbacks) during his discovery of the New World, from 1492 to 1504.
Christmas Day 1492 wasn’t all glad tidings and good cheer for Christopher Columbus. On a journey to the northern coast of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, one of Columbus’ 3 ships, the <i>Santa Maria</i>, ran aground and had to be abandoned. It was the first of Columbus’ 4 voyages to the Americas.
Columbus didn’t exactly get a warm welcome when he landed on the Samana Peninsula (in present-day Dominican Republic). He met with violent resistance from the Ciguayos, one of the nations of the Caribbean islands. Because of the Ciguayos' use of arrows, Columbus called the inlet where he encountered them the Bay of Arrows. Historians have since debated its exact location: Some say it is the Bay of Rincon, others that it is Samana Bay.
The good times kept on coming as Columbus headed for Spain, on the last leg of his first voyage. He soon had to put those plans on hold, as a storm forced his fleet into Lisbon. There Columbus anchored next to Portugal King John II’s harbor partrol ship. Columbus spent the next week in Portugal, before he was able to continue on to Spain.
Nine months later, Columbus once again set sail for the high seas. This time, on his second voyage, he returned to Hispaniola, where he intended to visit the fort of La Navidad (built during his first voyage). However, Columbus discovered that the fort, located on the northern coast of Haiti, had been destroyed by the native Taino people. Centuries later, in 1977, an amateur archeologist excavated artifacts from La Navidad.
It seemed like a good idea at the time. When Columbus sailed more than 60 miles eastward, along Hispaniola’s northern coast, he established the settlement of La Isabela, in present-day Dominican Republic. But in 1494 and then, in 1495, the settlement was struck by 2 North Atlantic hurricanes. Hunger, disease and mutiny soon followed, until Columbus abandoned the settlement altogether.
That's what Columbus was thinking when he arrived in Cuba (which he named Juana) on April 30, 1494. Exploring the island’s southern coast, Columbus placed his bets that it was part of a peninsula connected to mainland Asia.
And this must be the Garden of Eden! That’s what Columbus concluded as he sailed the Gulf of Paria (between present-day Trinidad and Venezuela). The nice climate, the abundance of food, the friendliness of the natives and the richness of the area’s natural resources all led him to that conclusion. He also wagered that, based on the rotation of the pole star in the sky, the Earth must not be perfectly spherical, but rather bulged out like a pear around the new-found continent we now know as South America.
Columbus wasn’t feeling so well when he returned to Hispaniola on Aug. 19, 1498, during his third voyage. He felt even worse when he discovered that many of the Spanish settlers of the new colony were in rebellion against his rule, saying that Columbus had misled them about the supposedly bountiful riches of the New World.
Columbus’ fourth and final voyage met with choppy waters in June 1502. When his fleet arrived in Santo Domingo, it was denied port by the new governor. But Columbus got his revenge. He told the governor a storm was coming. The gov didn’t listen … to his demise. He ended up surrendering to the sea, along with 29 of his 30 ships.
Columbus’ 4 ships took a bruising while cruising through present-day Panama. Locals had told Columbus about gold and a strait to another ocean. Columbus set out on an exploration and established a garrison at the mouth of Panama’s Belen River. In April 1503, one of Columbus’ ships became stranded in the river. Meanwhile, the garrison was attacked by the Guaymí locals. Further headaches followed when shipworms damaged the ships at sea.
Columbus’ ships sustained further damage when a storm hit off the coast of Cuba. Unable to travel on, the fleet was beached in St. Ann’s Bay, in Jamaica. For 1 year, Columbus and his men remained stranded in Jamaica before help arrived. In all, Columbus’ voyages stretched over 12 years, and -- a few misadventures aside -- opened the door to the “New World." | <urn:uuid:2a587274-0476-4865-bcbd-c607c87b670d> | {
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Water Reuse Links
Disclaimer: Links to and information about Web sites outside the TWDB are provided solely for the convenience of the user and do not constitute an official endorsement of the information, products, or services contained therein.
- National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense."
- U.S. Agency for International Development
President John. F. Kennedy created the United States Agency for International Development by executive order in 1961 to extend a helping hand to people overseas struggling to make a better life.
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
The USBOR's WaTER Group provides expert water and wastewater treatment engineering and research technical services.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment.
- U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey is a science organization that provides impartial information on the health of the nation's ecosystems and environment, the natural hazards that threaten us, the natural resources we rely on, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the core science systems that help us provide timely, relevant, and useable information.
- American Water Resources Association
An international organization dedicated to increasing the beneficial use of recycled water.
- American Water Works Association
AWWA is the largest water supply professional organization in the world and is an authoritative source of knowledge, information, and advocacy to improve the quality and supply of drinking water worldwide.
- Water Research Foundation
The Water Research Foundation is a member-supported international non-profit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies, and other professionals provide safe and affordable drinking water.
- Global Water Research Coalition
The GWRC is a 12-member international alliance offering water research information and knowledge to its members with a focus on water supply, wastewater, and renewable water resources.
- International Water Association
IWA is comprised of leading water professionals in science, research, technology and practice.
- National Water Research Institute
NWRI is Canada's preeminent freshwater research facility, the largest in the country, leading world-class research on freshwater issues.
- Water Education Foundation
WEF is an impartial non-profit organization, dedicated to creating a better understanding of water issues and helping to resolve water resource problems through educational programs.
- Water Environment Association of Texas
WEAT is an association of water professionals, practitioners, operations specialists, and public officials working together for professional growth and development, and to educate the public on water issues.
- Water Environment Federation
The Water Environment Federation is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with a vision of preserving and enhancing the global water environment.
- Water Environment Research Foundation
The Water Environment Research Foundation is dedicated to advancing science and technology addressing water quality issues as they impact water resources, the atmosphere, the lands, and quality of life.
- WateReuse Association
The WateReuse Association is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the beneficial and efficient use of water resources through education, sound science, and technology using reclamation, recycling, reuse and desalination.
- National Institutes for Water Resources
The NIWR is a network of 54 research institutes (one institute located in every state or territory of the US) with each institute conducting basic and applied research to solve water problems unique in its area.
- Texas Water Resources Institute
TWRI, a member of the National Institutes for Water Resources, provides leadership for priority research and educational programs in water resources within the Texas A & M University system and throughout Texas.
- Universities Council on Water Resources
About 90 universities in the Unites States and throughout the world comprise the UCOWR which facilitates education, research, technology transfer, and information dissemination on contemporary and emerging water resource issues.
Useful Reference Documents
The document's primary purpose is to facilitate further development of water reuse by serving as an authoritative reference on water reuse practices. It updates and builds on the 2004 Guidelines for Water Reuse by incorporating information on water reuse that has been developed since the 2004 document was issued.
This report provides a general overview of current knowledge related to direct potable reuse (DPR), and identifies the information that needs to be developed through targeted studies to inform the stakeholders regarding the feasibility of implementing DPR as a viable water supply management option.
The report provides a comprehensive assessment of technical, economic, social, and regulatory issues associated with both potable and non-potable reuse. | <urn:uuid:e7e23b74-47ca-412e-bc67-8e57481702f6> | {
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Podiatrists are professionally trained to provide medical care for people who have problems with their toes, feet, sometimes also ankles and occasionally knees (this last depends on the specialty training of an individual practitioner and the laws of the state where she/he practices). Podiatrist learn general medicine as well, because part of their role is as primary care practitioners. As an example, a podiatrist may be the first health professionals to diagnose a patient with diabetes because he/she sees blood vessel breakdown - a characteristic which often shows itself first in the feet of a diabetic.
The University of Iowa provides the preparatory course work needed to apply to one of the eight graduate-level Podiatric Educational Programs (programs take 4 years), but has neither an undergraduate degree in pre-podiatric studies nor a Graduate Podiatric Medical Education Program. The University does have a system for identifying students with this goal so that we can match them with an advisors who know about Podiatric Medicine and, maybe, with other students who have the same goals (designated as “pre-podiatric medicine” students). Please note, most schools have a standard set of pre-requisites. However, there is some variation and it is the student’s responsibility to investigate the entry requirements for each program in which they are interested and plan accordingly. The easiest place to do so is the web site of the American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine http://www.aacpm.org . Call the Advising Center at (319) 353-5700 to make an appointment with one of our pre-podiatric medicine advisors.
The minimum set of science courses for pre-Podiatric study, all requiring a laboratory component, are one year each of: principles of chemistry (4:11-12/ 8 s.h.), organic chemistry (4:121-122 & 141 or 4:123 - 124 & 142/ either group 9 s.h.), college physics (29:11 - 12/ 8 s.h., pre-requisite: trigonometry, but the majority in the first physics class have also completed a semester of calculus as well), and principles of biology (2:10 - 11/ 8 s.h.). Two programs require one more 4 s.h. of biology coursework ( Scholl College at Rosalind Franklin University and the Arizona Podiatric Medicine Program in Glendale near Phoenix) and others strongly recommend added specific ones. In addition, one year of English is required (10:1 – 10:2 or 10:3 and Lit 8G:1 often do nicely).
For each of the eight podiatric education programs (more will be established in the near future), a set of scores from the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) or other national test will be needed. The American Podiatric Medical Association provides general information about the careers available as a podiatrist, including potential salaries, and contact with potential mentors for undergraduates to shadow. Furthermore, this organization is responsible for assessing accreditation for graduate education in podiatric medicine and communication among the nation's podiatrists.
All eight belong to the American Podiatric Medicine Association and linkage to their information is available through their web site (just above). Application begins with the podiatric medicine centralized application service, AAPCAS site for all except those planning to attend the New York College of Podiatric Medicine; these start with the adjacent link.
Look carefully at the above requirements; they are much the same as those of allopathic and osteopathic medicine and a number of other health professions including dentistry. Be sure that you have experienced the differences before applying. | <urn:uuid:6d4e35e0-aec9-4fca-9554-2821ab167681> | {
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What is homeopathy?
The main idea behind homeopathy is the Law of Similars, which is sometimes explained as “like cures like.” In the late 18th century, a German physician named Samuel Hahnemann read that quinine containing Peruvian bark (chinchona) cured malaria. Hahnemann swallowed a dose of Peruvian bark and began to feel feverish, drowsy, extremely thirsty, and agitated -- all symptoms of malaria. Hahnemann started to experiment more and formed his theory that like cures like, or the Law of Similars: that when a substance in large doses causes certain symptoms, in small doses it can cure these same symptoms.
Herbs and other plants, minerals, venom from snakes, and other substances can be used to make homeopathic remedies. They are diluted again and again and “succussed” or shaken vigorously between each dilution. The process of sequential dilution and succussion is called potentization.
How does homeopathy work?
Homeopathic remedies start with substances such as herbs, minerals, or animal products. These substances are first crushed and dissolved in a liquid -- usually grain alcohol or lactose -- mechanically shaken, then stored. This is the "mother tincture." Homeopaths then dilute tinctures more with alcohol or lactose, either 1 part to 10 (written as "x") or 1 part to 100 (written as "c"). These tinctures are shaken, yielding a 1x or 1c dilution. Homeopaths can further dilute these tinctures 2 times (2x or 2c), 3 times (3x or 3c), and so forth. Many times professional homeopaths will use much higher dilutions, because the more diluted the substance, the more potent its healing powers are thought to be.
Homeopathic remedies aim to stimulate the body's own healing mechanisms. Homeopaths believe that any physical disease has a mental and emotional component. So a homeopathic diagnosis includes physical symptoms (such as feverishness), current emotional and psychological state (such as anxiety and restlessness), and the person' s constitution. A person' s constitution includes qualities related to creativity, initiative, persistence, concentration, physical sensitivities, and stamina. The right remedy for a condition will take all of these aspects into account, so each diagnosis and remedy is individualized. That means 3 people with hay fever could need 3 very different prescriptions.
Health food stores and some pharmacies sell homeopathic remedies for a variety of problems. Remedies are usually taken for no more than 2 - 3 days, although some people may need only 1 - 2 doses before they start feeling better. In some cases daily dosing may be prescribed.
What happens during a visit to the homeopath?
Your first visit to the homeopath can take from 1 - 2½ hours. Because homeopaths treat the person rather than the illness, the homeopath will interview you at length, asking many questions and observing personality traits, as well as unusual behavioral and physical symptoms. The homeopath will also perform a physical examination and possibly order laboratory work.
What illnesses and conditions respond well?
Scientific evidence is mixed. In some clinical trials, homeopathy appeared to be no better than placebo. In other clinical studies, researchers believed they saw benefits from homeopathy. More controlled clinical research is needed.
Preliminary evidence shows that homeopathy may be helpful in treating childhood diarrhea, otitis media (ear infection), asthma, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, pain, allergies, upper respiratory tract infections, sore muscles, and colds and flu. Some professional homeopaths specialize in treating serious illnesses, such as cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune diseases. In fact, several studies suggest there may be a role for homeopathy in symptom relief and improving quality of life among cancer patients. You should not treat a life-threatening illness with homeopathy alone. Always make sure that all your health care providers know about all the different therapies you are using.
Homeopathic medicines, because they are diluted, generally don' t have side effects. However, some people report feeling worse briefly after starting homeopathic remedies. Homeopaths interpret this as the body temporarily stimulating symptoms while it makes an effort to restore health. Homeopathic medicines are not known to interfere with conventional drugs. However, if you are considering using homeopathic remedies, you should discuss this with your doctor.
Is homeopathy regulated?
The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1938 declaring that homeopathic remedies are to be regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the same manner as nonprescription, over the counter (OTC) drugs. This means that homeopathic medicines can be purchased without a doctor' s prescription. Unlike conventional prescription drugs and new OTC drugs, which must undergo thorough testing and review by the FDA for safety and effectiveness before they can be sold, homeopathic remedies don' t have to undergo clinical trials. They do have to meet legal standards for strength, quality, purity, and packaging. In 1988, the FDA required that all homeopathic medicines list on the label the medical problems they're designed to treat. The FDA also requires the label to list ingredients, dilutions, and instructions for safe use.
The guidelines for homeopathic medicines are found in an official guide, the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, which is written by a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization of industry representatives and homeopathic experts. The Pharmacopoeia also includes provisions for testing new remedies and verifying their clinical effectiveness.
How can I find a qualified practitioner?
To find a homeopathic provider in your area, contact:
There are homeopathic schools and training programs, although no diploma or certificate from any school provides a license to practice. Many homeopaths are also medical doctors (MDs), although homeopaths are licensed in almost every health profession category, including veterinarians. In most states, practitioners of homeopathy must be licensed health care providers. Several respected certification agencies exist. The American Board of Homeotherapeutics certifies medical doctors and doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs) who have specialized in homeopathy (DHt indicates a doctor of homeopathy). Naturopathic doctors study homeopathy extensively as part of their medical training and some are certified by the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (DHANP). All homeopathic practitioners, including chiropractors, nurse practitioners, and acupuncturists, can apply for Certification in Classical Homeopathy (CCH).
Does my medical insurance usually cover homeopathy?
Insurance companies are more likely to cover homeopathy when the person providing the service is a licensed health care professional, such as an MD or DO who also practices homeopathy.
Altunc U, Pittler MH, Ernst E. Homeopathy for childhood and adolescence ailments: systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Mayo Clin Proc. 2007;82(1):69-75.
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Bellavite P, Ortolani R, Pontarollo F, Piasere V, Benato G, Conforti A. Immunology and homeopathy. 4. Clinical studies-part 1. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2006;3(3):293-301.
Brinkhaus B, Wilkens JM, Ludtke R, Hunger J, Witt CM, Willich SN. Homeopathic arnica therapy in patients receiving knee surgery: results of three randomised double-blind trials. Complement Ther Med. 2006;14(4):237-46.
Cucherat M, Haugh MC, Gooch M, Boissel JP. Evidence of clinical efficacy of homeopathy: a meta-analysis of clinical trials. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2000;56:27-33.
Dantas F, Fisher P, Walach H, et al. A systematic review of the quality of homeopathic pathogenetic trials published from 1945 to 1995. Homeopathy. 2007;96(1):4-16.
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dos Santos AL, Perazzo FF, Cardoso LG, Carvalho JC. In vivo study of the anti-inflammatory effect of Rhus toxicodendron. Homeopathy. 2007;96(2):95-101.
Ernst E. Homeopathy: what does the "best" evidence tell us? Med J Aust. 2010;192(8):458-60.
Fleming S, Gutknecht N. Naturopathy and Primary Care Practice. Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice. 2010: 37(1).
Frei H, Everts R, von Ammon K, Kaufmann F, et al. Randomised controlled trials of homeopathy in hyperactive children: treatment procedure leads to an unconventional study design. Experience with open-label homeopathic treatment preceding the Swiss ADHD placebo controlled, randomised, double-blind, cross-over trial.Homeopathy. 2007;96(1):35-41.
Frenkel M. Homeopathy in cancer care. Altern Ther Health Med. 2010;16(3):12-6.
Goossens M, Laekeman G, Aertgeerts B, Buntinx F; ARCH study group. Evaluation of the quality of life after individualized homeopathic treatment for seasonal allergic rhinitis. A prospective, open, non-comparative study. Homeopathy. 2009 Jan;98(1):11-6.
Jacobs J, Herman P, Heron K, Olsen S, Vaughters L. Homeopathy for menopausal symptoms in breast cancer survivors: a preliminary randomized controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(1):21-7.
Jacobs J, Williams AL, Girard C, Njike VY, Katz D. Homeopathy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a pilot randomized-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(5):799-806.
Kistin SJ, Newman AD. Induction of labor with homeopathy: a case report. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2007;52(3):303-7.
Mathie RT, Farrer S. Outcomes from homeopathic prescribing in dental practice: a prospective, research-targeted, pilot study. Homeopathy. 2007;96(2):74-81.
McGuigan M. Hypothesis: do homeopathic medicines exert their action in humans and animals via the vomeronasal system? Homeopathy. 2007;96(2):113-9.
Merrell WC, Shalts E. Homeopathy [Review]. Med Clin North Am. 2002;86(1):47-62.
Milazzo S, Russell N, Ernst E. Efficacy of homeopathic therapy in cancer treatment. Eur J Cancer. 2006;42(3):282-9.
Milgrom LR. Journeys in the country of the blind: entanglement theory and the effects of blinding on trials of homeopathy and homeopathic provings. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2007;4(1):7-16.
Mojaver YN, Mosavi F, Mazaherinezhad A, Shahrdar A, Manshaee K. Individualized homeopathic treatment of trigeminal neuralgia: an observational study. Homeopathy. 2007;96(2):82-6.
Mousavi F, Mojaver YN, Asadzadeh M, Mirzazadeh M. Homeopathic treatment of minor aphthous ulcer: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Homeopathy. 2009 Jul;98(3):137-41.
Muller-Krampe B, Oberbaum M, Dipl-Math PK, Weiser M. Effects of Spascupreel versus hyoscine butylbromide for gastrointestinal cramps in children. Pediatr Int. 2007;49(3):328-34.
Pilkington K, Kirkwood G, Rampes H, Fisher P, Richardson J. Homeopathy for anxiety and anxiety disorders: a systematic review of the research. Homeopathy. 2006;95(3):151-62.
Ramachandran C, Nair PK, Clement RT, Melnick SJ. Investigation of cytokine expression in human leukocyte cultures with two immune-modulatory homeopathic preparations. J Altern Complement Med. 2007;13(4):403-7.
Rao ML, Roy R, Bell IR, Hoover R. The defining role of structure (including epitaxy) in the plausibility of homeopathy. Homeopathy. 2007;96(3):175-82.
Relton C, Chatfield K, Partington H, Foulkes L. Patients treated by homeopaths registered with the Society of Homeopaths: a pilot study. Homeopathy. 2007;96(2):87-9.
Relton C, Smith C, Raw J, Walters C, Adebajo AO, Thomas KJ, Young TA. Healthcare provided by a homeopath as an adjunct to usual care for Fibromyalgia (FMS): results of a pilot Randomised Controlled Trial. Homeopathy. 2009 Apr;98(2):77-82.
Rossi E, Endrizzi C, Panozzo MA, Bianchi A, Da Frè M. Homeopathy in the public health system: a seven-year observational study at Lucca Hospital (Italy). Homeopathy. 2009 Jul;98(3):142-8.
Rostock M, Naumann J, Guethlin C, Guenther L, Bartsch HH, Walach H. Classical homeopathy in the treatment of cancer patients--a prospective observational study of two independent cohorts. BMC Cancer. 2011;11:19.
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Thompson EA, Montgomery A, Douglas D, Reilly D. A pilot, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of individualized homeopathy for symptoms of estrogen withdrawal in breast-cancer survivors. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(1):13-20.
Vickers AJ, Smith C. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;3:CD001957.
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UMMC is a member of the University of Maryland Medical System,
22 S. Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. TDD: 1-800-735-2258 or 1.866.408.6885 | <urn:uuid:e30e8294-74c1-4d25-8e46-51052451c366> | {
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(Continued from page 1)
Grow ripe fruit.
Before plucking seeds, the plant’s fruit should be grown to its ripest point. For beans and peas, this is far beyond the normal harvest time—well after pods have swollen and begun to dry.
Collecting seeds for saving is easiest for beans and peas, which can be removed from dried pods like shell beans. Tomatoes are a different story. Fruit must be picked when ripe and then squeezed to capture both seeds and slimy juice in a plastic container.
Allow seeds to sit in the juice.
Seeds must ferment in the juice for several days to remove a gel coating that hinders germination. Place the container outside to avoid the smelly fermentation process, but keep the seed container away from direct sun. In a few days, a foul-smelling scum will form on the surface.
Leave the seeds in the scummy soup for another day or two before pouring off the scum and lightly rinsing the seeds. Toss out any seeds that are afloat after the other seeds have settled to the bottom. Dry the seeds on paper plates or napkins labeled with each variety. Allow them to cure indoors (out of direct sunlight) for an additional week before packaging them in labeled paper envelopes. Store the envelopes in a cool, dry location.
About the Author: Andy Tomolonis is a writer and gardener in suburban Boston.
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Chairman Mao proclaimed that "women hold up half the sky" and the Party-led state claims to have liberated women. Nonetheless women still generally face a double standard when it comes to rape.
Statistics for rape cases are hard to quantify worldwide, and China is no exception. The U.S. Department of State reported 31,833 rapes in China in 2007, though the Chinese government has not released official statistics for that year. In 2005, the last year for which official Chinese statistics are available, the official number was merely 15,000.
"Only one out of ten cases happened is likely to be reported," said Luo Tsun-yin, a social psychologist at Shih Hsin University in Taiwan, and some estimate that the ratio is even greater. Even if a case is reported, the woman may be pressured by the authorities, her family or the attacker himself to recant.
The majority of these crimes are committed by someone the victim knows. "In the idea of the ‘rape myth,' the victim and rapist are said to be strangers, but what we saw from real-life cases were mostly acquaintances," said Zhang Qi, whose graduate research at the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences centered on media reports of rape. Her MA thesis looked at hundreds of Chinese legal newspaper reports of rape cases in 2004, finding the following data, below.*
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Traditional Chinese culture often holds that the woman bears responsibility for an act of rape. This can be seen in many areas of the world which share China's cultural tradition.
"We don't see a lot of research in this field in mainland China," Luo said. "In this aspect, we need to compare all the research from different regions, including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even Singapore, which are all Chinese communities… Although we have different political and economic systems, the cultural views are similar."
While the topic is troubling worldwide, it is particularly taboo within Chinese culture. An old saying notes that "to die of hunger is a small matter, but to lose your chastity is a huge matter," and still resonates in contemporary culture. Traditional gender stereotypes see males as possessing a sexual drive that the desire-free women must resist. In this view, if a woman is raped, she must have brought it upon herself.
"A woman may be viewed that she should be responsible for being raped because she aspired to date or go to a man's premises; or that she took the risk of being raped as she went out alone late at night or drank alcohol; or that she enticed others to rape her with her behavior or dressing," said Linda Wong, Executive Director of the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women in Hong Kong.
The perception that a raped woman is dirty or ruined further compounds the stigma, even within a woman's own family. Luo studied one case in which after a girl was raped, "her family wouldn't put her clothes together into the washing machine when they washed the clothes. They divided them from the other family members, because they thought she was dirty."
Wong believes that these attitudes point to a larger inequality in Chinese culture. "Violence against women is rooted in patriarchal gender relations where women are assigned roles based not on their capacity but norms and values that perpetuate male dominance and superiority," she said. "The gender inequality is embedded in all levels of the society such as employment, education and social status."
The lack of well-rounded sex education doesn't help matters. On the Chinese mainland as well as on Taiwan, sex education is largely cursory and focused on the biological aspects as opposed to the social. "Taiwan does not have much sex education," Luo said. "So students turn to pornographic material. They implant a lot of wrong information in them, such as ‘no means yes' and ‘all girls want sex.'"
The laws pertaining to rape, while not blind to the crime, largely follow cultural perceptions. For example, the definition of "rape" is quite narrow. "Only women can be victims in China—males cannot be counted as victims," Zhang said.
These laws haven't seen change in a decade or so. "The Criminal Law in China was issued in 1979, and revised in 1997… to combine the crime of fornication with an underage girl into the crime of rape," Zhang said. "Some judicial interpretations took place during 2003 and 2004. No news was heard from modification of laws since then." Sentences for rape range from three years in prison to a death sentence, though there are loopholes to the latter.
"The punishment can be a death penalty with a two-year reprieve and forced labor, which in Chinese law means a sentence can be adjusted depending on the performance of the criminal during the two-year period," Zhang said. "In recent years, there has been a decline in the use of the death penalty, so rapists are mostly given a death penalty with a two-year reprieve and forced labor."
But there is evidence that things are changing. Several domestic and international groups, including government-sponsored ones such as the All-China Women's Federation, are pushing for societal and legal change.
"There have been a number of government initiatives, and there is a very strong movement from the [All-China] Women's Federation to try and press for more resources for women who are the victims of sexual assault or rape," said Sara Davis, the executive director of AsiaCatalyst, a nonprofit organization that assists NGO startups in Asia.
There are several centers where women can receive emergency care and support as well. Many major cities have crisis hotlines, and crisis centers provide counseling and resources to assist victims. Other organizations, including the Federation mentioned above, seek to address a variety of women's issues in China.
The outrage surrounding high-profile cases may also lead to growing awareness of the issue. Early last April, a case involving five "girl hunters," men who waited outside schools for potential victims, went to trial and awaits a verdict. Four government officials, a school teacher, and a taxi driver were charged with raping several young girls and forcing them into prostitution gangs. Last year, riots protested a cover-up by Guizhou police when they declared a girl's death a suicide when in fact she had been raped and murdered.
But despite the legal changes and the growing number of resources available to victims, many agree that social change is most needed.
"The progress in culture and society may not have caught up with the progress in legislation," Luo said.
Wong agreed. "The support services such as psychological counseling, medical, health and legal services are indeed necessary, but these address practical rather than strategic gender needs. They will not put women in greater control of themselves in their own context. They will not change attitudes, behaviors and power structures," she said.
But all remain hopeful for the future.
"We're seeing a lot of changes in China right now, in terms of growing awareness of human rights and rule of law… it's true that it's a very patriarchal society and that women's rights are not taken very seriously, but that can also change pretty quickly," Davis said. "Cultures are very powerful but they are not immutable. Cultures change all the time."
Xiangzhen Lu and Xuelu Qin contributed to this article.
Paxcely Marquez is an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach.
*Further information on Zhang Qi's research on this subject, including that found in the charts, can be found in Zhang Qi, (2007)."Content Analysis on Rape Crime News in Chinese Legal Newspapers",Wang Jinling eds. Report on Women Development in China:Women and Media, no.2(2007),Beijing:Social Sciences Academic Press,pp.103-150 | <urn:uuid:637e80a6-0da9-49f2-b48a-2c5cf30874e7> | {
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What is Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
In the U.S. and throughout the world, there is increasing competition for limited land, water and other natural resources, as well as growing concern about environmental degradation of various sorts. As such, there is a growing need for professionals who can assist in the process of balancing economic and environmental tradeoffs. This major prepares students to do just this within a variety of careers in both the private and public sectors. Private business firms face serious challenges in meeting stricter environmental regulations and achieving self-imposed environmental goals. Public agencies must continually seek to design policies so that society’s resource conservation or environmental quality goals are achieved in a cost-effective manner.
The curriculum combines coursework in natural and environmental sciences, economics, business, and policy, allowing sufficient flexibility for students to tailor their program to their individual interests and career goals.
Career Opportunities in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Students graduating with this major may find employment in private firms with environmental compliance activities or conservation initiatives directed toward energy or other natural resources. Opportunities also exist with consulting firms that assist clients in meeting environmental objectives. Many nonprofit environmental organizations seek to employ staff with economic training. Several federal government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the departments of Agriculture, Interior and Energy, employ natural resource and environmental economists. State and local government agencies also provide opportunities for employment. The major provides a strong background for graduate studies in natural resource and environmental economics, leading to career opportunities in teaching and/or research, as well as high-level policy positions. Students would also be well prepared to pursue a professional program in environmental law.
Salary Trends in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Because graduates can pursue a variety of careers with respect to type of position and employer, the salary range for entry-level positions is fairly wide. Depending upon the type of employer and position responsibilities, beginning salaries can be expected to range from about $30,000 to $45,000. Starting salaries generally increase over time at slightly above the rate of inflation. Potential for advancement in both responsibilities and salary depends on both the type of employer and the performance of the employee.
High School Preparation
High school students who wish to major in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics should take college-preparatory mathematics courses. Completion of electives in areas such as business, microcomputer applications, oral and written communication, and social sciences such as psychology, political science or sociology could also prove helpful. Participation in extracurricular activities to develop leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills is also advised.
How to Major in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Students planning to pursue this major simply declare this intent once they have gained admission to the University. The department has no enrollment restrictions or association requirements beyond the University-wide minimum 2.0 GPA required to remain in good academic standing.
Students who plan to transfer into this major at UT after one or two years at a community college should consult an advisor at UT to choose appropriate courses as early as possible. The flexibility within the curriculum requirements works to the advantage of transfer students, in most cases allowing for all credits taken from up to two years of study elsewhere to apply toward requirements of the program.
Requirements for Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
To complete a bachelor’s degree with this major, students must complete 120 semester hours of course work. This includes 42 hours of general education courses in the areas of English, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, cultures and civilizations, and arts and humanities. Nine hours of additional course work is required in oral communication, written communication and microcomputer applications. Students take 16 hours of courses in economics, accounting, and statistics. At least 12 hours of courses outside the department but within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources are required, in the areas of environmental science and forestry. The heart of the curriculum includes 27 hours of required departmental courses and 6 hours of directed electives within the Department of Agricultural Economics. And finally, 8 hours of general electives can be used by students to pursue a minor or special interests.
Special Programs, Co-ops, and Internships
Internships with private companies, environmental organizations, or government agencies can be an exceptionally valuable component of a student’s academic program. Internships are typically completed during the summer between a student’s junior and senior years of study.
Three hours of academic credit can be received for a three-month internship. Students must submit periodic progress reports, complete a special project and receive satisfactory ratings from their supervisor. During the following semester, students must also complete a written report and make an oral presentation summarizing their internship experience.
Highlights of Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Wide applicability of major to a variety of career options: Graduates are prepared to pursue opportunities for employment or further education in a number of different directions.
Personalized advising: Academic advising for majors is handled by a dedicated team of faculty members in the Department of Agricultural Economics. Students typically work with the same advisor from orientation to graduation and develop a close relationship that often extends well beyond graduation. Advisors are committed to assisting their advisees not only in course selection but in career planning and placement as well.
Small class sizes: Departmental courses all have relatively small enrollments, allowing for personalized interaction between professors and students.
Scholarship availability: Majors are eligible for a large number of scholarships offered by the Department and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
Natural resource and environmental issues are often global in nature. Students are exposed to the international dimensions of these issues in various courses within the curriculum. Students are also encouraged to participate in faculty-led study abroad programs sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). Other UT faculty-led and semester abroad programs are offered through the Center for International Education. CASNR offers scholarships for students participating in study abroad programs. CASNR students, faculty and staff participate in the annual Unity through Diversity Dinner held each fall. Some CASNR students select a minor in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature.
Learn more about UT’s Ready for the World initiative to help students gain the international and intercultural knowledge they need to succeed in today’s world.
|Freshman Year||Credit Hours|
|Biology 101: Humankind in the Biotic World||4|
|Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries 250: Conservation||3|
|English 101-102: English Composition||6|
|Math 123, 125: Finite Math, Basic Calculus||6|
|ESS 120, 220: Soils/Water and Civilizations||6|
|Social Science Elective||3|
|AREC 110: Opportunities in Agricultural and Resource Economics||1|
|Critical courses: English 101-102, Biology 101, Math 123 or 125|
|Sophomore Year||Credit Hours|
|AREC 201: Economics of the Global Food and Fiber System||3|
|AREC 212: The Agribusiness Firm||4|
|Accounting 200: Foundations of Accounting||3|
|Statistics 201: Introduction to Statistics||3|
|Arts and Humanities Elective||3|
|Ag & Nat Res 290: Microcomputer Applications||3|
|ESS 210: Soil Science and Physical Science Elective||8|
|Critical courses: AREC 201 and 212, Accounting 200, Math 123 or 125, Statistics 201|
|Junior Year||Credit Hours|
|AREC 310: Career Planning and Placement||1|
|AREC 315: Agricultural and Environmental Law||3|
|AREC 320: Microeconomics||3|
|AREC 324: Quantitative Methods||3|
|AREC 342 or 350: Management or Marketing||3|
|AREC 430: Food and Agricultural Policy||3|
|Economics 362: Environmental and Nat. Res. Policy||3|
|BSET 326: GIS/GPS Applications||3|
|Philosophy 346: Environmental Ethics||3|
|Critical courses: AREC 310, 315, 320, 324, and 342 or 350; Economics 362|
|Senior Year||Credit Hours|
|AREC 410: Senior Seminar||1|
|Economics 463: Environmental Economics||3|
|AREC 470: Natural Resource Economics||3|
|AREC 471: Policy Analysis for Nat. Res. Mgmt.||3|
|Economics, Sociology or Geography Elective||3|
|Arts and Humanties Elective||3|
|General (Free) Electives||5|
For More Information
The information on this page should be considered general information only. For more specific information on this and other programs refer to the UT catalog or contact the department and/or college directly. | <urn:uuid:645c0040-f2a0-4739-b1b5-e4d9bcbfdfc3> | {
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* The Greek system is the largest network of volunteers in the US, with members donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year.
* Every U.S. President and Vice President, except two in each office, born since the first social fraternity was founded in 1825 have been members of a fraternity.
* 76% of all Congressmen and Senators belong to a fraternity. 40 of 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices since 1910 were fraternity men. 71% of those listed in “Who’s Who in America” belong to a fraternity.
* There are 123 fraternities and sororities with 9 million members total.
* Of the nation’s 50 largest corporations, 43 are headed by fraternity men.
* A U.S. Government study shows that over 70% of all those who join a fraternity/sorority graduate, while under 50% of all non-fraternity/sorority persons graduate.
* Less than 2% of an average college student’s expenses go toward fraternity/sorority dues.
* Over 85% of the student leaders on some 730 campuses are involved in the Greek community.
2% = 80%??
The American college fraternity is one of the few institutions on our higher educational structure which was invented by us and not borrowed from European models. Not surprisingly, it has been a symbol of American college student independence, pride, and leadership.
Fraternity men represent about 2% of the male population of America. What is happening to that 2% ? They are leading this nation! Approximately 80% of the executives of the 500 largest corporations in America are fraternity
men. More than three fourths of our U .S. Senators are fraternity men, as are a majority of the men listed in Who’s Who in America. Of the sixteen U.S. Presidents who had a chance to join a college fraternity, thirteen took
advantage of the opportunity. So many college presidents have been fraternity members that the total would run into the thousands.
How and why are fraternities able to produce such a large percentage of our nation’s leaders? The easiest way to answer this question is to examine just what happens in a fraternity.
A college fraternity provides a young man with the opportunity to learn how to work together with people, whether it be for the highest grades, the best homecoming float, a community service project or merely to keep the house clean. A fraternity provides a unique combination: family, home away from home, social organization, business and organization in which students can develop confidence as they acquire competence. The opportunities for leadership are unlimited and the most important thing is that the principles of leadership are learned through experience.
This experience teaches fraternity men that success is not automatic, but rather, that knowledge and performance are what count most. A fraternity man learns how to develop sensitivity regarding the desires, goals, and aspirations
of others; how to communicate, how to inspire, how to motivate; the importance of setting an example; how to delegate responsibility; and how to accept failure as well as success and glory .He learns that a true leader must have the courage to stand up for his beliefs, while also being attentive, interested, and responsive to those who may disagree.
Too many students come to college, sign up for classes, study from test to test memorizing material and feeding it back at test time. They may get good grades and graduate, but it is surprising how many college graduates are wandering around looking for jobs because they did not develop the ability to work with people or the basic qualities of leadership while they were in college. The qualities of leadership must be tested and developed by each person and a fraternity provides the opportunity for students for just that. This is how 2% can equal 80
custom research papers provided by essaylib.com | <urn:uuid:fb41e21d-4f88-4197-b031-d3cd369f40cc> | {
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Notes: A colorful and bizarre addition to any reef aquarium, the Spiny Sea Cucumber can live for many years in the home aquarium. It will move around the aquarium until it finds an area with a good current where it can filter plenty of food. Once it finds a desirable spot it may stay there for many months.
The Spiny Sea Cucumber uses its oral tentacles to catch food that floats by. As each tentacle becomes full of food it draws its entire tentacle into its mouth. It must be fed foods for filter feeders including marine snow, phytoplankton, and zooplankton. If not properly fed the body of the Spiny Sea Cucumber will slowly begin to shrink.
The Spiny Sea Cucumber can be harmed by the intakes of any pumps or powerheads in the aquarium, so make sure to protect all intakes to prevent it from being sucked in. | <urn:uuid:95623d47-2396-4414-aff5-55b20f679724> | {
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(adj) far (at a great distance in time or space or degree) "we come from a far country"; "far corners of the earth"; "the far future"; "a far journey"; "the far side of the road"; "far from the truth"; "far in the future"
(adj) far (being of a considerable distance or length) "a far trek"
(adj) far (being the animal or vehicle on the right or being on the right side of an animal or vehicle) "the horse on the right is the far horse"; "the right side is the far side of the horse"
(adj) far (beyond a norm in opinion or actions) "the far right"
(adj) further, farther (more distant in especially degree) "nothing could be further from the truth"; "further from our expectations"; "farther from the truth"; "farther from our expectations"
(adv) far (to a considerable degree; very much) "a far far better thing that I do"; "felt far worse than yesterday"; "eyes far too close together"
(adv) far (at or to or from a great distance in space) "he traveled far"; "strayed far from home"; "sat far away from each other"
(adv) far (at or to a certain point or degree) "I can only go so far before I have to give up"; "how far can we get with this kind of argument?"
(adv) far (remote in time) "if we could see far into the future"; "all that happened far in the past"
(adv) far (to an advanced stage or point) "a young man who will go very far"
(adv) further, farther (to or at a greater extent or degree or a more advanced stage (`further' is used more often than `farther' in this abstract sense)) "further complicated by uncertainty about the future"; "let's not discuss it further"; "nothing could be further from the truth"; "they are further along in their research than we expected"; "the application of the law was extended farther"; "he is going no farther in his studies"
(adv) further (in addition or furthermore) "if we further suppose"; "stated further that he would not cooperate with them"; "they are definitely coming; further, they should be here already"
(adv) farther , further (to or at a greater distance in time or space (`farther' is used more frequently than `further' in this physical sense)) "farther north"; "moved farther away"; "farther down the corridor"; "the practice may go back still farther to the Druids"; "went only three miles further"; "further in the future" | <urn:uuid:31411909-5937-49a6-9942-8174e4f815fe> | {
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Support us with Kachingle!
May 31, 2012 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Robotic sounds spill out of the speakers of what used to be a Speak & Spell. Although it might sound like random humming and high-pitched beeping, this device demonstrates the basics of circuit bending, a trend in the music industry.
When the device is turned on, it emits a series of R2-D2-like noises that vary depending on which point of the circuit board is touched.
The violet-colored children’s toy, when resting on its plastic front, shows a disordered jumble of yellow and black wires connected to a green circuit board. Although it might look like a complicated electrical entanglement, it was created in a matter of minutes for the sheer purpose of demonstration.
“[Circuit bending] is basically, in a nutshell, creative short-circuiting, and you’re trying to get results and delve into an interface,” Daniel Park says. “It’s like being able to pinpoint control over chaos.”
In other words, circuit bending is simply controlling circuits of electricity that produce a sound. This technology can be applied to musical instruments and creates a futuristic, electronic sound.
Park, 34, constructs modified instruments. He considers this not only music but also an intuitive art form. “You’re just experimenting and seeing what happens,” Park says. “I want to explore sound and make music. That’s my bottom line.” His first experiment took place seven years ago after buying a cheap Casio keyboard.
Park distributes his circuit-bent devices to producers and studios, mostly from Australia, England and Japan.
“It’s one of those things like jazz where it’s not really appreciated as much in our own country,” he says.
He builds each of the devices in his home and handles all the business aspects. He’s sold more than 500 devices, which range in price from $300 to $1,000.
Although there are many different approaches people have taken with this technique, Park relies on his musical background while experimenting. When toying around with wiring and sounds, he seeks changes in tones and patterns.
Throughout the years, Park has worked with musical instruments such as synths and keyboards as well as electronic children’s toys. The price of the object determines how he will approach it. With cheap toys such as Speak & Spell, Park tends to get a little more daring. But when he’s working with instruments, he’s focused and cautious.
“People have done toys and stuff like that, but I haven’t seen people really get into complex audio equipment — that’s where I stand out,” he says. “It’s really risky to a certain point ’cause you could be damaging this stuff.”
Although electricity is involved, no experience as an electrician is required. “Part of the excitement is that it’s a street-level art,” Park says. “It’s very accessible, and anyone can do this sort of thing.” However, he warns about possible electrical shocks.
Much like the intricate and contorted paths on a circuit board, Park is challenging the standards of instruments by breathing life into his creations. “I treat each one like its own living organism,” he says. As a musical Dr. Frankenstein, Park takes these old machines and makes them do something completely different. | <urn:uuid:bb2b8958-501a-4a7f-a01d-f3773e1c9f77> | {
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Is President Obama’s plan to modernize at least 35,000 public schools across the country as part of his proposed American Jobs Act really necessary?
*Research over decades shows that the condition of school facilities affects student achievement. According to a 2011 report by the 21st Century School Fund, there are clear correlations between the quality of school facilities and student and teacher attendance, teacher retention and recruitment, child and teacher health, and the quality of curriculum.
In a set of 20 studies analyzed by the fund, all but one study showed a positive correlation between the achievement of students and the condition of the school facility once student demographic factors were controlled for.
*The American Society of Civil Engineers, in its 2009 infrastructure report, gave the country’s school buildings a grade of ‘D.’
*About one-fourth (28 percent) of all public schools were built before 1950, and 45 percent of all public schools were built between 1950 and 1969, according to the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities. The average age of public schools is 40 years old, according to the 21st Century School Fund.
*Though there is no current comprehensive nationwide data on the condition of the country’s school buildings, estimates to bring schools into good repair range from a low of at least $270 billion to more than $500 billion.
Until now, Obama’s education priorities have not included school climate or how students who attend class in buildings that are literally crumbling around them are expected to learn. Instead, his school reforms have focused on so-called “accountability” for students, schools and teachers that is based on standardized test scores.
But here’s what Obama said about modernizing schools in his speech Thursday night outlining the proposed Jobs Act:
“There are schools throughout this country that desperately need renovating. How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? This is America. Every child deserves a great school – and we can give it to them, if we act now.
“The American Jobs Act will repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools. It will put people to work right now fixing roofs and windows; installing science labs and high-speed internet in classrooms all across this country.”
Well, yes, every American child does deserve a great school, yet, because of deferred maintenance and repair, there are still many with unsafe drinking water, moldy classrooms, bad air quality, faulty fire alarms, poor security, broken toilets and windows and more. Imagine going to work in such conditions.
In these difficult financial times, state and local governments as well as school districts have had to slash budgets and school repair is rarely seen as much of a priority. So it’s heartening to hear the issue raised in a national debate, even if it is in the context of a jobs bill.
Mr. President, better late than never.
Follow The Answer Sheet every day by bookmarking http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet. And for admissions advice, college news and links to campus papers, please check out our Higher Education page. Bookmark it! | <urn:uuid:8d50cb50-67c2-4c7b-af90-540bc676d767> | {
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Why is student debt different from other kinds of debt?
When it comes to consumer debt, Americans are slowly but surely starting to dig themselves out of the hole of the recent downturn. Severely delinquent mortgages, credit card bills, and car loans have all been in decline over the last two years, according to the New York Federal Reserve.
But Americans have had significantly more trouble paying back one particular kind of loan. “Student loan debt continues to grow even as consumers reduce mortgage debt and credit card balances,” Donghoon Lee, senior economist at the New York Fed, said in a statement. “It remains the only form of consumer debt to substantially increase since the peak of household debt in late 2008.”
The overall student debt load has risen to more than $900 billion, in part, because more students are going to school, and the cost of tuition continues to balloon. But it’s also because consumers have more trouble paying off their student loans than other kinds of debt. In the first quarter of 2012, the delinquency rate for student loans actually rose to 8.69 percent — the only kind of consumer debt whose delinquency rate increased. That’s still below the 2010 peak of 9.17 percent. But it’s taken significantly longer for student loan delinquencies rates to come down.
What’s more, the delinquency rate alone doesn’t capture the full picture. The rate above doesn’t include, for instance, the student loans that have entered forbearance, which gives borrowers a temporary reprieve from making payments. Sallie Mae said earlier this year that 4 percent of all its private student loans were in forbearance.
Why are Americans having more trouble paying off student loans, as compared to other kinds of debt? It’s partly because of the types of consumers who tend to have high student debt. They’re younger than those who tend to take out house or car loans, at a time when half of all recent college grads can’t find full-time work. The pool of struggling borrowers also includes college dropouts, who are four times more likely to default on their loans than graduates, having accumulated debt but no degree to improve their employment prospects. | <urn:uuid:873e96e6-e231-4679-bcf8-d78233c8e2ab> | {
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Is your child waking up in the middle of the night frightened and screaming? These unsettling sounds may cause alarm, especially when they occur frequently. I’d like to help you understand the difference between nightmares and night terrors and how to help your child cope in my two-part series, “Bad Dream Woes.” Karen Rogers, PhD, Psychologist and Program Area Leader for Project HEAL, a comprehensive therapeutic service for children exposed to trauma and their families at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, to provide insight on how you can help your child.
What is a Nightmare?
Nightmare is another word for “bad dream.” It’s a type of sleep disruption characterized by frightening dreams in which your child feels threatened and develops a sense of physical danger. An example would be dreaming of being chased by a stranger or monster. Nightmares more commonly to occur in the early morning and happen during the dream phase of sleep, known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
|Nightmares are a common experience for people
of all ages, and are normal for children to have.
Nightmares are most common in preschoolers (children aged 3-6 years of age). This is the age when normal fears develop and a child’s imagination is very active. Nightmares may involve disturbing themes, images or figures such as monsters, ghosts, animals or bad people. While this intense sense of fear ultimately causes your child to wake up on their own, it does not involve any physical danger.
The following behaviors are usually present in a normal nightmare episode:
- Your child wakes up during the last cycle of their sleep or early morning.
- Your child is frightened and triggers a partial or full awakening in which they are fully alert.
- Your child can describe the frightening dream in detail.
- Your child seeks and responds to comfort and reassurance from you or other close relatives.
- Your child shows fear of the scary dream happening again and may resist returning to bed.
What Triggers a Nightmare?
If your child is stressed or exposed to stressful situations, nightmares may begin to occur. Some stressful events include moving neighborhoods, changing schools, the birth of a sibling or parental marital problems. Other triggers may include being bullied at school or online, watching a scary movie, a recent injury or illness, the death of a loved one or physical, verbal or sexual abuse.
Help Your Child Keep Nightmares Away
When your child has an increase in nightmares, it’s a sign they are under emotional distress, feeling overwhelmed and insecure. Karen Rogers, PhD, emphasizes a number of simple ways to help your child feel better when they
|“Children of all ages will benefit from physical comfort and reassurance from their caregivers when frightened by a nightmare, such as hugs, being held, having a back rub. Speaking to a child in a soft, calm voice and reminding them that you are there to protect them, they are safe, that dreams aren’t real can also be helpful.”|
Creative Ways to Ward-off Nightmares
Rogers explains that once a child participates in imaginary play, they become better at using their imagination to combat nightmares. Here are some unique ways to keep nightmares at bay.
- Use “Monster Spray.” Label a spray bottle and fill with tap water. Spray around your child’s room for protection before bed time.
- Hang a warning sign on your child’s bedroom door, “No Monsters Allowed!” This can be enough to calm some fears for many children.
- Make a “dream catcher” together.
- Your child can choose a “protective” stuffed animal to sleep with.
- Help your child imagine a different and comforting ending to their nightmare.
- Rehearse the new ending before your child goes to bed so they know to use the comforting ending if the nightmare comes back.
If your child comes-up with their own creative way to keep nightmares away, it’s usually the most successful.
These simple strategies have worked for many children. If your child is constantly having nightmares and shows an ongoing fear of going to bed, Rogers stresses speaking with a pediatrician or counselor to seek more support.
What are some ways you’ve helped your child cope with nightmares? I’d love to hear what works for your | <urn:uuid:d871358f-667a-4307-9a9c-8ba209d491ff> | {
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Happiness May Bring Better Health
Upbeat Outlook Reaps Biological Benefits, Says Study
April 18, 2005 -- There's new evidence that happiness and health may overlap.
In a recent study of British civil servants, the happiest participants had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Their hearts kept a mellower pace than those of less happy participants, and they didn't flip out as much during a mental stress test.
Happiness might even hedge against heart disease, suggests the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Under stress, the happiest participants had lower increases of plasma fibrinogen, a sign of inflammation that can predict heart disease.
"Our findings indicate that positive affective states are related to favorable profiles of functioning in several biological systems and may thereby be relevant to risk of development of physical illness," says the study.
Translation: Being happy may be good for your physical health.
Homing In on Happiness
Participants were 216 government employees in London. They were white, 45-59 years old, more than three years away from retirement, and hadn't been diagnosed with heart disease or high blood pressure. The women were all starting or had completed menopause.
Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored on a workday and a weekend day. The researchers measured levels of blood fibrinogen and saliva cortisol -- a stress-related hormone that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Measurements were taken after a mental stress test. After each test, participants rated their happiness level on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).
The happiest people in the group had the best results across the board.
For instance, their levels of the stress hormone cortisol averaged 32% lower than the least happy people. Happiness was also associated with lower ambulatory heart rate, even after considering other factors (age, smoking, employment level, BMI, and physical activity).
During the mental stress tests, most participants (68%) had an increase in plasma fibrinogen. The least happy people were nearly four times (3.72) as likely to have their plasma fibrinogen level increase under stress, compared to the happiest people.
Apart from the stress test, plasma fibrinogen was not associated with happiness, report the researchers, who included Andrew Steptoe, DPhil, DSC, of University College London. Steptoe specializes in psychology and health.
Working for the Weekend?
Taking readings on a workday and during weekend leisure time showed if participants were happier on or off the job.
For those with lower happiness levels, that was true to some degree. But the happiest people generally stayed that way, whether they were on the job or not.
The study amounted to a snapshot of happiness. It wasn't a long-term project, so there's no information on how the findings translate into health outcomes later on.
Age, sex, marital status, and socioeconomic position were not associated with happiness level. That is, happiness didn't favor people who were married, single, male, or female. It wasn't just for those with the biggest salaries or most status, or just for the young or old (though the group was middle-aged, overall). | <urn:uuid:4566e6e0-9946-4e76-8ae6-7f40713c4b5c> | {
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)A local-area network (LAN) that uses a star topology in which all nodes are connected to a central computer. The main advantages of a star network is that one malfunctioning node doesn't affect the rest of the network, and it's easy to add and remove nodes. The main disadvantage of star networks is that they require more cabling than other topologies, such as a bus or ring networks. In addition, if the central computer fails, the entire network becomes unusable.
Standard twisted-pair Ethernet uses a star topology.
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A Sultan with Swat
Remembering Abdul Hamid II, a pro-American caliph.
Dec 26, 2005, Vol. 11, No. 15 • By MUSTAFA AKYOL
AL QAEDA'S STATED GOAL--to reestablish the caliphate, the political leadership of worldwide Islam embodied first in the successors of the Prophet Muhammad and most recently in the four-century rule of the Ottoman dynasty--is pure, ahistorical fantasy. One way to appreciate this is to revisit the 33-year reign of the most remarkable modern caliph, Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909). An ally neither of bigoted Islamists nor of the radical secularists who ultimately deposed him, Abdul Hamid was an Islamic modernizer--and, interestingly, a friend of the United States.
Abdul Hamid emphasized the role of Islam inside the Ottoman Empire, and he emerged as the protector of Muslims around the world, from India to sub-Saharan Africa. He pressed for a new railway to the holy places of Mecca and Medina and sent emissaries to distant countries preaching Islam. Because of these policies, once called "pan-Islamism," he is still revered by conservative Muslims.
His principal political opponents were the Young Turks, inspired by the fashionable European and especially French ideas of the time. They portrayed the caliph as a despot, and the description stuck. While it is true that Abdul Hamid suspended the constitution of 1876 for decades, he did so not out of any contempt for democracy, but out of justified fear of the Young Turks' autocratic ambitions. Although they espoused the rhetoric of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, they had strong authoritarian tendencies. As Princeton historian Sukru Hanioglu explains, their worldview was based on "biological materialism, positivism, Social Darwinism and Gustave Le Bon's elitism," all of which led them to regard egalitarianism as "unscientific."
Another Princeton scholar, the dean of Middle Eastern history, Bernard Lewis, writes that "Abdul Hamid was far from being the blind, uncompromising, complete reactionary of the historical legend; on the contrary, he was a willing and active modernizer." In areas such as education, commerce, finance, diplomacy, central government administration, journalism, translation, and even theater, he accomplished significant reforms. He founded the first archaeology museum, public library, faculty of medicine, academy of fine arts, and schools of finance and agriculture. He endowed the empire with the telegraph, railroads, and factories, and during his reign, Constantinople flourished as a world capital.
Unlike subsequent modernizers, however, Abdul Hamid developed an Islamicly legitimate way forward. Personally observant, he practiced Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam. Yet he also had Western tastes; he loved playing the piano, and arranged piano lessons for his daughter. He enjoyed opera, too, and had the famous Belgian soprano Blanche Arral perform for him.
With some notable exceptions--such as the harsh repression of Armenian insurgents by irregular forces authorized by the sultan in 1895-6--Abdul Hamid was on good terms with his non-Muslim subjects, of whom a record number entered government service. Ahmet Midhat, who has been called a sort of Turkish Edmund Burke, was Abdul Hamid's favorite intellectual. Midhat argued that Islam respects Christianity and Judaism, emphasizing how the empire welcomed the Jews expelled from Catholic Spain in 1492. And he defended the emancipation and education of women.
Abdul Hamid's attempt to marry Islam and modernity was cut short by the Young Turks in 1909. Although secular in outlook, they proved willing to exploit Islamic concepts for political ends. Abdul Hamid never waged a jihad; the Young Turks, on the advice of their new allies, the Germans, launched a global jihad in 1915 against Britain and its allies. Alas, the dethroned and interned caliph had warned them that they should align the empire with Britain, which controlled the seas and so would inevitably triumph. Britain did triumph, and this brought the Ottoman Empire to an end.
Abdul Hamid's relationship with the United States further defies the Islamists' notions about the caliphate.
In contrast with the aggressively secularist Westernizers who believed that the only hope for progress was to get rid of religion entirely, Abdul Hamid saw that the West was not monolithic. In particular, as Kemal Karpat, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, explains, he studied the American separation of church and state, which he regarded as consistent with Islamic principles. (The Ottoman Empire was not a theocracy in the sense of being governed by clerics; indeed, it developed a de facto separation between the religious and temporal authorities.)
At the beginning of his reign, Abdul Hamid observed the centennial of American independence by sending a large number of Ottoman books to be exhibited at Philadelphia and subsequently donated to New York University. Later, he was the first foreign head of state to receive an invitation to the Columbian Exposition of 1893, held in Chicago, to honor the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America. Although he did not personally attend, a total of one thousand people from Jerusalem alone visited the exposition. The World Parliament of Religions held its inaugural meeting in Chicago at the same time, and the sultan's representatives exhibited a large number of Ottoman wares and built a miniature mosque.
Because Abdul Hamid believed that American prosperity had resulted partly from a good accounting of the population and efficient management of national resources, he asked Samuel Sullivan Cox, the American ambassador in Constantinople and the organizer of the first modern U.S. census, to introduce the Turks to the study of statistics, one of the first of the exact sciences to be established in the Ottoman Empire.
Beyond such cultural exchanges, actual Ottoman-American cooperation in foreign policy took place in the face of the Muslim insurgency in the U.S.-occupied Philippines. The American ambassador to Turkey Oscar S. Straus (a Jewish diplomat, incidentally, who was welcomed by the Abdul Hamid regime at a time when his colleague, A.M. Keiley, was declared persona non grata by the Austro-Hungarian authorities simply for "being of Jewish parenthood") received a letter from Secretary of State John Hay in the spring of 1899. Secretary Hay wondered whether "the Sultan under the circumstances might be prevailed upon to instruct the Mohammedans of the Philippines, who had always resisted Spain, to come willingly under our control." Straus then paid a visit to the sultan and showed him Article 21 of a treaty between Tripoli and the United States, which read as follows:
As the government of the United States of America . . . has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Musselmans; and as the said states never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the partners that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony between the two countries.
Pleased with the article, Abdul Hamid stated, in regard to the Philippines, that the "Mohammedans in question recognized him as Caliph of the Moslems and he felt sure they would follow his advice."
Two Sulu chiefs were in Mecca at the time, and they were informed that the caliph and the American ambassador had reached a definite understanding that the Muslims of the Philippines "would not be disturbed in the practice of their religion if they would promptly place themselves under the control of the American army." Later, Ambassador Straus wrote, the "Sulu Mohammedans . . . refused to join the insurrectionists and had placed themselves under the control of our army, thereby recognizing American sovereignty."
This account is supported by an article written by Lt. Col. John P. Finley (who had been the American governor of Zamboanga Province in the Philippines for ten years) and published in the April 1915 issue of the Journal of Race Development. Finley wrote:
At the beginning of the war with Spain the United States Government was not aware of the existence of any Mohammedans in the Philippines. When this fact was discovered and communicated to our ambassador in Turkey, Oscar S. Straus, of New York, he at once saw the possibilities which lay before us of a holy war. . . . [H]e sought and gained an audience with the Sultan, Abdul Hamid, and requested him as Caliph of the Moslem religion to act in behalf of the followers of Islam in the Philippines. . . . The Sultan as Caliph caused a message to be sent to the Mohammedans of the Philippine Islands forbidding them to enter into any hostilities against the Americans, inasmuch as no interference with their religion would be allowed under American rule.
Later, President McKinley sent a personal letter of gratitude to Ambassador Straus for his excellent work, declaring that it had saved the United States "at least twenty-thousand troops in the field." All thanks to the caliph, Abdul Hamid II.
Such acts of statesmanship make painfully obvious that if there are any religious leaders in the Muslim world today who walk in the footsteps of the great caliph, they are not the terrorist leaders of al Qaeda, but rather the peacemakers such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who have been trying to defuse the violence in Iraq by cooperating with coalition forces and calming fellow Muslims. When terrorists like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his big brother Osama bin Laden portray themselves as warriors for the caliphate, they totally misrepresent the historical meaning and function of this Islamic institution. What they do is "hijack" the caliphate--to borrow a term from President Bush--as much as the faith it represents.
The caliphate was abolished in March 1924 by that supreme secularizer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Young Turk hero of World War I and the Turkish war of independence. Despite strong opposition in the Turkish National Parliament, Ataturk dethroned and expelled the last caliph, Abdulmecid Efendi, a cousin of Abdul Hamid, and outlawed all Islamic institutions including the Sufi orders. The 1,300-year-old leadership of Islam was destroyed overnight.
Today many Turks see this act as a great leap forward in Turkey's modernization. Yet it also had terrible side effects. The religious Kurds, who had been loyal to the Ottoman state for centuries, mainly out of Islamic brotherhood, were shaken. In 1925, a group of them revolted against secular Turkey with the aim of reestablishing the caliphate. They were crushed, and this trauma was the source of Turkey's never-ending Kurdish question.
Indeed, the excesses of the Kemalist revolution poisoned the very notion of modernization for many devout Muslims all over the world. Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran, inspired by Kemal, became an even more enthusiastic secularizer and tried to de-Islamicize his society by force--ordering police, for example, to rip the veils off women in the streets. The response, in the long run, would be Ayatollah Khomeini.
And in the Sunni Arab world, the end of the caliphate left a vacuum of authority that was filled by myriad radical, revolutionary, or fundamentalist movements. The worst was Wahhabism, the product of a revolt against the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century that the caliphs suppressed. In the post-caliphate disorder, Wahhabism found fertile ground for spreading its antimodern and inhumane distortion of Islam.
One antidote to that violent heresy is to recover the spirit of Islamic modernity personified by the piano-playing Sufi, Abdul Hamid II. There really is a third way between the spurning of all faith and militant Islamism, and that is what the Islamic world needs today.
Mustafa Akyol is a writer based in Istanbul. | <urn:uuid:eb5c86de-b5ea-42aa-8ceb-0f4a4969b400> | {
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"Stress impacts diet, and diet impacts stress," says Lisa Dorfman, director of sports nutrition at the University of Miami. The physiological changes that anxiety causes -- namely the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol -- affect the way we metabolize energy and use food.
But certain nutrients and ingredients can help reduce the effects of stress. Here are Dorfman's suggestions on what to eat and why.
What You Need: Antioxidants
Where to get it: Colorful fruits and vegetables -- berries, leafy greens, carrots, red peppers -- are rich in antioxidant phytonutrients.
How it helps: Antioxidants help protect the body's cells from breaking down under stress.
What You Need: Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Where to get it: Fatty fish (such as salmon) and flaxseed are good sources of these essential fatty acids.
How it helps: Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and help regulate blood pressure.
What You Need: Magnesium
Where to get it: The mineral is found in whole grains, nuts, black beans, and spinach.
How it helps: This electrolyte sends messages to the muscles telling them to relax.
What You Need: Potassium
Where to get it: Avocados, bananas, and yogurt are rich in this mineral and electrolyte.
How it helps: Potassium has been shown to help regulate blood pressure.
What You Need: "Good" Carbohydrates
Where to get it: Whole-wheat bread, oatmeal, and brown rice are excellent choices.
How it helps: Carbs help produce higher levels of serotonin, which has a calming effect on the body and helps curb cravings for sugary foods. | <urn:uuid:c71e4754-23c0-450c-bc35-ff3c11b4521a> | {
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Tony Addison and Miguel Niño-Zarazúa
China and India are making immense strides in development. Growth in both countries has been impressive. But there is now much concern about whether impressive growth rates are yielding enough poverty reduction. The present debate about their poverty lines is a reflection of this. In this second part of a two-part article (first part featured in January’s Angle), we focus on more inclusive growth in these two Asian giants.
India and, especially, China have enjoyed rapid economic growth, with a median growth rate of 6% and 10% in the 1980-2010 period, respectively. This has catapulted the impressive growth in per capita gross national income (GNI) in the two countries: in 1980, the GNI per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP) was in the order of US$430 in India and US$250 in China. By 2010, the two countries had increased their per capita income up to US$3,560 and US$7,570, respectively. The high growth rates in China are largely explained by the high gross capital formation over the past 30 years, which as a percentage of GDP fluctuated around the median of 38%, vis-à-vis 24% in India, although the investment gap between the two countries has narrowed in recent years.
A significant part of the domestic investment in China, about 20% of GDP, has gone to infrastructure projects, which is nearly 10 times more than the share of GDP invested in infrastructure in India. That has facilitated the accelerated rate at which the Chinese economy has transited form agricultural to manufacturing production. In India, the transition has been towards the IT off-shore service industry with as much as 60% of the labour force remaining engaged in traditional farming activities.
Economic growth is a necessary condition to rising per capital income, but it is nonetheless insufficient to guarantee a steady trend towards poverty reduction. In China, for instance, the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction is far from being linear, with episodes of high economic performance in the 1990s accompanied with increases in the poverty rates (see Figure 2). In India, since the late 1990s the country has experienced the fastest economic growth, and yet the speed at which poverty is being reduced has decelerated. This tells us about the importance of public interventions in making growth more inclusive. Indeed, it is now well understood that policies that are designed to maximise growth can only trickle down to the poor if they are accompanied by wealth redistribution, employment opportunities, investments in human capital, and the provision of social protection for the most vulnerable groups in society.
Spatial inequalities are particularly evident across China, with western and interior rural communities experiencing much weaker effects from economic growth than the eastern coastal provinces. UNU-WIDER’s World Income Inequality database shows that the Gini coefficients in China, which measure the income inequality ranging from zero for ‘perfect’ equality to one for maximal inequality, have been consistently higher in rural areas than in urban areas, despite the observed growing inequality in urban areas largely attributed to unregistered migration from the countryside to the cities. This, in combination with the fact that the national Gini coefficients are higher than both the rural and urban Ginis, indicates that the rural–urban divide is driving the growing levels of inequity in the country. In India, the Ginis have been consistently higher in the urban areas, with the rural–urban divide also growing over the last two decades. This is illustrated by the ratios of the rural to urban consumption expenditure that have declined from 0.63 in the early 1970s to 0.58 in the mid 1990s.
Fiscal policies have a lot to do with wealth redistribution. Tax rates in China and India are low, with most revenues coming from indirect taxes. This also reflects the low share of government revenues as percentage of GDP, which oscillates around 20%. This is in contrast with the average of 50% observed in OECD countries. Tax systems in both countries remain limited to maximising redistributive policies, and to a large extent, they will also limit the capacity of these countries to tackle extreme deprivation in the coming years.
China and India also face significant challenges in terms of employment generation. Rising unemployment is a driving factor in the incidence of poverty in urban areas in China, which has been exacerbated by market-oriented structural reforms and large migration flows of unskilled workers from rural areas to the cities. Migrant workers face exclusion from formal employment arrangements and state benefits such as housing, health and school subsidies, as well as income support from social protection schemes.
But the capacity of China to continue absorbing a larger share of the global consumer goods markets is becoming increasingly limited, with other emerging markets, including India, aggressively competing to get a share of the market. By the same token, it is unclear the extent to which the growing IT industry in India will be able to be the catalyst for a sustained growth, given the large unskilled labour force in the country that remains poor and disconnected from the booming economy.
China and India have made important progress in public service provision, which is associated with the reduction in the poverty rates observed in the two countries. The most recent Human Development Report (2011) shows that the respective Human Development Index (HDI) for China and India has grown at an average annual rate of 1.73% and 1.51%. But challenges persist. In rural China, for instance, accessibility to healthcare is largely financed by out-of-pocket expenses that absorb a large share of household expenditure among poor households. In India, there are serious concerns about the quality of public services, which are very low by international standards. When desegregating the HDI by its components, we also observe that in India both health and especially education indicators fall behind countries with similar per capita incomes. Evidence of schools without books and teachers, and health clinics without doctors and drugs is vast and disturbing. It also shows the importance of increasing public expenditure on the social sectors to improve the accessibility to, and quality of, health and education, and ultimately, reduce poverty.
Social protection in the two countries remains highly fragmented. In China, the Minimum Living Subsidy Scheme, (also known as Di Bao) was introduced in 1997 to support the urban unemployed poor who had been affected by the market-based structural reforms. The programme remains limited as it excludes those who although in poverty are not registered in the civil affairs department office. As pointed out earlier, these are by large migrant rural workers who move to the city in search of livelihoods. In the mid 2000s, the Di Bao was gradually extended to the rural areas to cover nearly 42 million rural people, but the size of the transfers are unlikely to reduce the incentives to migrate to the cities. The rural Di Bao, together with the urban Di Bao, cover nearly 150 million people, which represents the second largest social protection programme worldwide in terms of scale and coverage, just behind India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The NREGS provides a guarantee of 100 days of waged employment per year to unemployed unskilled workers, currently covering nearly 48 million households, or about 240 million people. In fact, India’s social protection system is complex but incomplete. It spans from categorical and means-tested age and disability pensions, and income transfers for schooling and healthcare accessibility, to unemployment schemes such as the NREGS that rely on self-selection for the identification of beneficiaries and therefore exclude those who due to disability, illness, or age are unable to particulate in the scheme. The programmes are also unevenly distributed across the country, with many states and communities yet to be covered.
More co-ordination and institution building are clearly needed, but at the same time, social protection will only provide a sustained process of poverty reduction if it is supported by growth, redistributive policies, improvements in public service provision and employment opportunities. To the extent that the two countries will be able to address these challenges, poverty reduction will be significantly achieved on a global scale. The redefinition of the poverty lines gives us positive clues, but the final outcomes are yet to be seen.
Tony Addison is Chief Economist-Deputy Director, UNU-WIDER.
Miguel Niño-Zarazúa is a Research Fellow, UNU-WIDER. | <urn:uuid:93d03997-9abb-4e83-860b-7625d0f4463a> | {
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Updated: January 10, 2012
Controlling land clearing
The Northern Territory (NT) is home to the core of the world’s largest tropical savanna on Earth. The woodlands and grasslands of the NT store billions of tonnes of carbon. Land clearing laws in Queensland and NSW helped cut those states’ carbon pollution levels significantly over the past decade.
Stopping major land clearing is fastest and cheapest way to achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions, as well as protecting wildlife, soil and river health. Not only will this protect the unique environment of the NT, but underpins the livelihoods and prosperity of river communities and businesses now and for future generations.
In December 2008 the NT Labor Government committed to pass a Native Vegetation Management Act that is ‘world’s best’ practice by mid 2010, including placing caps on land clearing. But to date this has not been delivered, despite key stakeholders, including members of the Daly River Management Advisory Committee, Amateur Fishermens' Association of the Northern Territory and Traditional Owners in the Daly River Catchment supporting a streamlined and effective approach to regulating the clearing of native vegetation.
The existing parallel processes under the Planning Act and Pastoral Lands Act is duplicative and outdated. The NT Climate Change Policy commits to maintaining native vegetation as a carbon bank, and maintaining the NT as a low land clearing jurisdiction. The consultation draft Native Vegetation Management Bill was provided to key stakeholders, including NT Cattlemens Association and NT Agricultural Association, in March 2011.
Passing a Native Vegetation Management Act and capping land clearing at low levels is the single most significant environmental reform NT Labor could achieve in this term of Parliament.
We are campaigning for all political parties to commit to stopping major land clearing by:
- Committing to pass a strong Native Vegetation Management Act,
- Announcing annual and long term caps on clearing that ensure annual rates of clearing are very low and trend downward over time, and
- Ensuring Indigenous communities are not excluded from potential future sustainable development through ‘Indigenous reserves’ within the caps.
For more information, please contact:
The Wilderness Society Inc | <urn:uuid:5183380d-33c5-4c27-bd83-41f3eb612fc5> | {
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This is a picture of the Colorado River near Hoover Dam.
Click on image for full size
Rivers are very important to Earth because they are major forces that shape the landscape. Also, they provide transportation and water for drinking, washing and farming. Rivers can flow on land or underground in deserts and seas. Rivers may come from mountain springs, melting glaciers or lakes.
A river's contribution to the water cycle is that it collects water from the ground and returns it to the ocean. The water we drink is about 3 billion years old because it has been recycled over and over since the first rainfall.
A delta is where a river meets the sea. Usually the river flows more slowly at the delta than at its start because it deposits sediment. Sediment can be anything from mud, sand and even rock fragments. A special environment is created when the fresh water from the river mixes with the salty ocean water. This is environment is called estuary.
The longest river is the Nile River in Africa, and the Amazon River in South America carries the most water. The muddiest river is the Yellow River in China.
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We have beautiful specimens of banded iron formation
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from Nature's Own, along with many other mineral
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Changing Planet: Black Carbon
Black carbon contributes to global warming in two ways. When in the atmosphere, it absorbs sunlight and generates heat, warming the air. When deposited on snow and ice, it changes the albedo of the surface, absorbing sunlight and generating heat. This further accelerates warming, since the heat melts snow and ice, revealing a lower albedo surface which continues to absorb sunlight - a vicious cycle of warming.
Click on the video at the left to watch the NBC Learn video - Changing Planet: Black Carbon.
Lesson plan: Changing Planet: Black Carbon - A Dusty Situation
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is a fun group game appropriate for the classroom. Players follow nitrogen atoms through living and nonliving parts of the nitrogen cycle. For grades 5-9.
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"I just found some really sweet, teeny tiny, wild cluster grapes. My uncle
said they are Winter Grapes. Do you have a recipe?" Doug Horn, Llano, Texas
It is very difficult to identify any grape without seeing it on the vine and tasting it, but I think I can come close on this one. At least four North American native grapes share the name "winter grape" -- Vitis berlandieri, V. bicolor, V. cordifolia (properly, V. vulpina), and V. cinerea. V. cordifolia/vulpina rightfully owns the name. But the point is that the name hints at a very late ripening for all four species. I will rule out V. bicolor for many reasons I need not mention. V. cordifolia/vulpina ripens from August through October, but usually does not sweeten untl after a good frost -- thus it is called the sour winter grape. V. cinerea, the sweet winter grape, ripens from August through November, but prefers sandy and alluvial soils, not the limestone of Llano. This leaves me to believe your grape is Vitis berlandieri, also known vernacularly as the Fall Grape, Winter Grape, Little Mountain Grape, Spanish Grape, and Uņa Cimarrona.
This grape ripens in August and September south of the Rio Grande and in October and November in Central Texas. It is acidic until it ripes and then is sweet and quite delicious, but too small for convenient eating and not quite sweet enough to make a decent wine without a little sugar being added. It is small (1/5 to 1/3 inch) with 30 to 70 per cluster. The clusters are loose and open, the pedicels (stems) long. The skin is thin, the pulp juicy when ripe, usually with one or two seeds of a coffee color. Ripe berries retain enough acid to make a balanced wine. Their small size makes crushing difficult, so pectic enzyme will help extract the juice. Destemming by hand takes a while, but is necessary.
Destem and crush the grapes and place in nylon straining bag. Tie bag closed and place in primary. Squeeze bag to extract enough juice to float a hydrometer in its test jar. Calculate sugar required to raise specific gravity to 1,088. Add sugar and stir well to dissolve it completely. Add finely crushed Campden tablet and stir in well. Cover primary with sanitized muslin and set aside 10 hours. Add pectic enzyme and stir well. Recover cprimary and set aside additional 10 hours. Add activated yeast, recover primary, and squeeze bag twice daily until active fermentation dies down (5-7 days). Remove nylon straining bag and drain, then press to extract all juice. Transfer juice to secondary, top up if required and fit airlock. Ferment 30 days, rack into clean secondary, top up, and refit airlock. Rack again after additional 30 days and stabilize wine. Sweeten to taste if desired and set aside 30 days, or forego sweetening, set aside 10-14 days, and rack into bottles. Age three to six months. [Author's own recipe]
My sincerest thanks to Doug Horn of Llana, Texas for requesting this recipe. | <urn:uuid:167ce3bd-0a69-41d0-9b0d-81de0da049c8> | {
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A ``shelf'' is a persistent, dictionary-like object. The difference
with ``dbm'' databases is that the values (not the keys!) in a shelf
can be essentially arbitrary Python objects -- anything that the
pickle module can handle. This includes most class
instances, recursive data types, and objects containing lots of shared
sub-objects. The keys are ordinary strings.
To summarize the interface (
key is a string,
data is an
d = shelve.open(filename) # open, with (g)dbm filename -- no suffix
d[key] = data # store data at key (overwrites old data if
# using an existing key)
data = d[key] # retrieve data at key (raise KeyError if no
# such key)
del d[key] # delete data stored at key (raises KeyError
# if no such key)
flag = d.has_key(key) # true if the key exists
list = d.keys() # a list of all existing keys (slow!)
d.close() # close it
- The choice of which database package will be used
(e.g. dbm or gdbm) depends on which interface
is available. Therefore it is not safe to open the database directly
using dbm. The database is also (unfortunately) subject
to the limitations of dbm, if it is used -- this means
that (the pickled representation of) the objects stored in the
database should be fairly small, and in rare cases key collisions may
cause the database to refuse updates.
- Dependent on the implementation, closing a persistent dictionary may
or may not be necessary to flush changes to disk.
- The shelve module does not support concurrent read/write
access to shelved objects. (Multiple simultaneous read accesses are
safe.) When a program has a shelf open for writing, no other program
should have it open for reading or writing. Unix file locking can
be used to solve this, but this differs across Unix versions and
requires knowledge about the database implementation used.
See About this document... for information on suggesting changes.
- Module anydbm:
- Generic interface to
- Module dbhash:
db database interface.
- Module dbm:
- Standard Unix database interface.
- Module dumbdbm:
- Portable implementation of the
- Module gdbm:
- GNU database interface, based on the
- Module pickle:
- Object serialization used by shelve.
- Module cPickle:
- High-performance version of pickle. | <urn:uuid:853e10d8-9ce8-43db-8c80-215743d4f260> | {
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Learn something new every day More Info... by email
A predicate is part of a sentence or clause in English and is one of two primary components that serves to effectively complete the sentence. Sentences consist of two main components: subjects and predicates. Subjects are the primary “thing” in a sentence which the rest of the words then describe through either a direct description or by indicating what type of action that subject is performing. The predicate is this secondary aspect of the sentence and usually consists of a verb or adjective, though complicated sentences may have multiple verbs and a number of descriptions affecting the subject.
It can be easiest to understand predicates by first understanding subjects and how sentences are constructed. A sentence just about always has a subject, though it can be implied in some way and not necessarily directly stated. In a simple sentence like “The cat slept,” the subject is “the cat,” which is a noun phrase consisting of the direct article “the” and the noun “cat.” Subjects can be longer and more complicated, but they are usually fairly simple in nature.
The predicate of a sentence is then basically the rest of the sentence, though this is not always the case for longer and more complicated sentences. In “The cat slept,” the predicate is quite simple and merely consists of the word “slept.” This is simple because “slept” is an intransitive verb, which means that it requires no further description or objects to make it complete. The sentence could be expanded as “The cat slept on the bed,” but this is not necessary and merely adds a descriptive component to the predicate through the prepositional phrase “on the bed.”
In a somewhat more complicated sentence, such as “The man gave the ball to his son,” the subject of the sentence is still quite simple: “The man.” The predicate in this sentence, however, has become substantially more complicated and consists of the rest of the sentence: “gave the ball to his son.” This has been made more complicated because the verb “gave” is transitive, specifically ditransitive, which indicates both a direct object and an indirect object.
The act of “giving” requires that there is a direct object, which is the item given, and an indirect object, which is who or what it is given to. In this instance, the predicate consists of the verb “gave” and the direct object “the ball” with a connecting preposition “to” and the indirect object “his son.” Predicates can become even more complicated as an idea expands, such as a sentence like “The rock rolled off the table, landed on top of a skateboard, and proceeded to roll down the hill until it was stopped by a wall.” In this sentence, the subject is only “The rock,” which means that the rest of the sentence is the predicate. | <urn:uuid:b6182938-d2ed-4d47-a28c-9ae9952dbc8d> | {
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Learn something new every day More Info... by email
Monopoly® is a board game which is produced by Parker Brothers, a game company currently owned by Hasbro. In the game, players use dice to move around a board, landing on property which they have the option to purchase and develop. If land is already owned, players must pay rents to the property's owner and developer. The game also includes “Chance” and “Community Chest” squares associated with cards which can influence player's fortunes, forcing them to move to various spaces on the board, requiring them to pay taxes or other fees, or awarding them money.
The history of the game of Monopoly® is quite fascinating. The earliest version of the game was developed by Elizabeth Magie, and it was intended to be an educational illustration of the ways in which landlords abuse tenants with rents. Her version of the game would be familiar to modern players of Monopoly®, although there are some marked differences, of course. Magie's game quickly spread, and was picked up by a number of people, spreading slowly through the United States until it landed in the household of a man named Charles Darrow.
Darrow clearly knew a potentially profitable thing when he saw it, and he developed the famous “Atlantic City” version of Monopoly®, with each square being associated with a location in Atlantic City. He patented the game in 1935, and attempted to sell it to Parker Brothers. The company initially rejected Monopoly® as being too hard to play and too long, later changing their minds, which turned out to be a good decision, since an estimated 750 million people played the game between 1935 and 2007.
Charles Darrow is often credited as the inventor of Monopoly®, although this is technically incorrect, and this has been a source of friction and dispute in the past. Some people argue that the game was clearly a folk game before Darrow got his hands on it, arguing that Parker Brothers essentially stole the rights to the game from its earlier developers, profiting immensely as a result. Others believe that Darrow's refinements and additions to the game were what made it so popular, and that he is entitled to the credit for Monopoly®.
In any case, this two to eight player game has become immensely popular around the world, with numerous regional spinoffs and updated versions designed to reflect changes in the economy. Players struggle for economic supremacy over a Monopoly® board in some region of the world every night, and competition can get fierce. Masters of the game can even play in professional tournaments. | <urn:uuid:bfbd5fb7-ab86-48d0-b9c3-709514d22bf7> | {
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Sorry, no definitions found.
“Also, Stephen J. Tonsor of Michigan State University and Mary F. Wilson of the Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Juneau, Alaska, found that some flowering plants, such as pokeweeds (Phytolacca americana) and English plantains (Plantago lanceolata), grow faster when potted with full or half sib lings than when potted with nonrelatives.”
“No publications found so far for Tonsor and Phytolacca should be 1989”
“Other homeopathic remedies to consider include Phytolacca, Sanguinaria, and Hydratis—all in 6th to 30th potency.”
“Poke root Phytolacca americana has a well-deserved reputation as an herb that purifies the glands, including the breasts.”
“Specific herbs that clear up this problem are dandelion root tea taken together with a combination of three parts echinacea root tincture and one part poke root Phytolacca americana.”
“Of the twelve most frequently reported plants in poisoning incidents, only one, pokeweed Phytolacca decandra, is used medicinally.”
“Few of such plants are those which can be used as laxatives and purgatives, for example, Cassia absus, C. alata, C. obtusifolia, Tamarindus indica and Phytolacca dodecandra.”
“The poke-weed (_Phytolacca_) (Fig. 98, _K_), so conspicuous in autumn on account of its dark-purple clusters of berries and crimson stalks, is our only representative of the family _Phytolaccaceæ_.”
“It belongs to the rare Phytolacca family, and has an immense girth -- forty or fifty feet in some cases; at the same time the wood is so soft and spongy that it can be cut into with a knife, and is utterly unfit for firewood, for when cut up it refuses to dry, but simply rots away like a ripe water-melon.”
“It is believed by some in this country that the pokeweed (Phytolacca), if allowed to die in a cotton field, will produce rust.”
Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests, Medical, Economical, and Agricultural. Being also a Medical Botany of the Confederate States; with Practical Information on the Useful Properties of the Trees, Plants, and Shrubs
‘Phytolacca’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
Looking for tweets for Phytolacca. | <urn:uuid:51d40846-dd32-400b-866d-1d4716ab20d0> | {
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- v. Simple past tense and past participle of cavil.
“And if they cavil at it, as MPs have cavilled and continue to cavil at the detection of their felonies, they may yet discover what the whoosh of the guillotine blade sounds like.”
“He cavilled in part like the priest Sabellius, who had cavilled like the Phrygian Praxeas, who was a great caviller.”
“The Christians sophisticated, cavilled, hated, and excommunicated one another, for some of these dogmas inaccessible to human intellect, before the time of Arius and Athanasius.”
“I'd personally throw the Schwinn over the fence of anyone who read that story and cavilled about spelling.”
“It may be a very difficult thing, perhaps, for a man of the best sense to write a love-letter that may not be cavilled at.”
“However, their replication is no worse than many similar multiproxies, which have not cavilled at opining on MWP-modern relationships.”
“Others make the word refer to exceptions of impossible cases; the priests were to perform all the duties possible to them; if any thing lay beyond their power, the exception was not to be cavilled at.”
“He had cavilled at the idea, but she mentioned the loan again, and he capitulated.”
“The great man cavilled that the day was past, for the sun was set: Nicodemus goes into his oratory again, covers himself and prays, and the clouds dispersing themselves, the sun breaks out again.”
“Now if we will consult the Glossers upon those places, they will tell us that these alterations were made, some of them, lest the sacred text should be cavilled at; others that the honour and peace of the nation might be secured.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cavilled’.
Looking for tweets for cavilled. | <urn:uuid:70b40e48-3ee1-476a-8c68-4d4d583b14cb> | {
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About 15 to 20 years ago, folks began to notice problems in amphibian communities around the world. At first, physical deformities were being noticed and then large population declines were being documented.
The finger was initially pointed at the coal industry, with an idea that perhaps mercury was leading to the deformities. But this didn’t pan out. Next, farm practices came under fire, as excess fertilizer running off into farm ponds became the leading suspect. But that theory didn’t hold water either. Then, attention turned to the ozone hole, with the idea that increased ultraviolet radiation was killing the frogs. No luck there either.
Then came the Eureka moment—aha, it must be global warming!
This played to widespread audiences, received beaucoup media attention and, of course, found its way into Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.
But, alas, this theory, too, wilted under the harsh glare of science, as new research has now pretty definitively linked an infection of the chytrid fungus to declines, and even local extinctions, of frog and toad species around the world.
Perhaps the biggest irony in all of this, is that while researchers fell all over themselves to link anthropogenic environmental impacts to the frog declines, turns out that as they traipsed through the woods and rainforests to study the frogs, the researchers themselves quite possibly helped spread the chytrid fungus to locations and populations where it had previously been absent.
Now a bit good—although hardly unexpected—news is coming out of the frog research studies. Some frog populations in various parts of the world are not only recovering, but also showing signs of increased resistance—gained through adaptation and/or evolution—to the chytrid fungus.
The magazine New Scientist has an interesting article titled “Fungus out! The frog resistance is here” that ties together a growing number of research findings indicating that frog populations that once faced local extinction have been making a come back—even in the continued presence of the chytrid fungus.
New Scientist reports that Australian researchers are reporting that a variety of frog species from across the Land Down Under that were once devastated by chytrid infection are now re-establishing themselves in areas that they were wiped out and in some cases have even returned to numbers as large as they were prior to the chytrid outbreak.
Other researchers are finding, as reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Briggs et al., 2010), that frogs in the mountains of California that were once “driven virtually to extinction” are also making a recovery even though the chytrid fungus is still present. Some populations there have apparently developed the ability to survive in the presence of low-levels of the fungus.
Evidence of a developing resistance to the chytrid fungus has also been reported in a species of Australian frogs. A study published in the journal Diversity and Distributions (Woodhams et al., 2010) looked at populations of frogs which have recovered from a chytrid infection and found indications that natural selection may have led to more resistant populations and facilitated the recovery.
All this is not to say that amphibian populations across the world have made a full and complete recovery, but it is to say that there are encouraging signs that some populations are clawing their way back through adaptation and natural selection—precisely the way things are supposed to work.
And even though global warming is no longer considered to be the guilty party (of course, exonerated with much less fanfare than it was accused), the amphibian story does show the resiliency of nature—a resiliency that is grossly underplayed or even ignored in virtually all doom and gloom presentations of the impacts of environmental change.
Something that is worth keeping in mind.
Briggs, C. J., et al., 2010. Enzootic and epizootic dynamics of chytrid fungal pathogen of amphibians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 9695-9700.
Woodhams, D.C., et al., 2010. Adaptations of skin peptide defenses and possible response to the amphibian chytrid fungus in populations of Australian green-eyed treefrogs, Litoria genimaculata. Diversity and Distributions, 16, 703-712. | <urn:uuid:70cbb38c-4ebb-4a7e-8c8d-bf4011cb4efe> | {
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Location: Northern Greece, Macedonia
The vardar is a cold northwesterly wind blowing from the mountains down to the valleys of Macedonia. A type of ravine wind, enhanced by a channelling effect while blowing down through the Moravia-Vardar gap, bringing cold conditions from the north to the Thessaloniki area of Greece. Most frequent during winter, it is blowing in the rear of a depression when atmospheric pressure over eastern Europe is higher than over the Aegean Sea. In general, the vardar is similar to the mistral wind.
A strong vardar event occured on January 12 and 13, 2003. Compare the significant drop in maximum temperature by 17°C (from 19C down to 2C) with the darstic jump in prevailing wind direction from easterly to northerly and northwesterly, and the wind speed and peak gusts during this time period recorded at Thessaloniki. | <urn:uuid:d807ab06-5a74-4563-9210-d560cfb98b61> | {
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The Smart Grid is Coming! What’s a Smart Grid?
Several hundred utility executives, government regulators, and engineers have gathered in downtown San Diego this week for a three-day conference that is focused on what may be the utility industry’s biggest paradigm shift since the Tennessee Valley Authority electrified the Southeastern United States.
The only problem is that it’s the biggest paradigm shift that people have never heard of. A Harris Poll recently highlighted the fact that U.S. utilities have committed billions of dollars to upgrade the electric grid by installing new “smart meters” in homes and businesses. But the Harris Poll shows about two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) have never heard the term “smart grid” and 63 percent don’t know what a smart meter is.
So for at least some people, you got it here first: Instead of merely tracking how much total electricity (or gas, or water) a customer uses each month, a smart meter tracks a customer’s usage continuously throughout the day and uses wireless technology to automatically transmit the data in real time to the utility. This automated meter reading technology makes it possible for regulators to set prices that vary at different times of day—and which encourage or discourage consumption—based on the relative cost of power production and periods of peak energy demand. As the Harris Poll shows, if the price of electricity changes according to how much it actually costs to produce, three out of four people want to be able to see and control how much electricity they are using.
So why are smart meters a big deal? And why should technology innovators care? A few highlights from the “Metering America” conference are in order:
—In California, the big three investor-owned utilities are in the process of deploying 12 million smart meters, covering about 80 percent of the state’s population at an estimated cost of $4.5 billion, according to Commissioner Nancy Ryan of the California Public Utilities Commission. Ryan told the “Metering America” conference that utility rates based on time-of-day pricing related to the cost of producing electricity must be coupled with extensive customer communications and education campaigns, or the effort to align consumers and true market costs will be wasted.
—San Diego Gas & Electric is on schedule to complete installation of 1.4 million electric smart meters and 850,000 gas smart meters in its service area by the end of 2011 at an estimated cost of $600 million, says Anne Shen Smith, SDG&E’s senior vice president for customer services. While there really are benefits to the deployment, Smith says the industry is “lagging in developing the kind of software that goes with this technology. Until then, it will just be a meter.”
—SDG&E also is deploying its smart meters before technical standards have been set. “We just can’t wait for the perfect technology to happen,” SDG&E’s Smith told the audience. She says smart meters “have to have flexibility, so we can incorporate new technologies as we go.” Smith says it is imperative for the industry to continue development of smart meters as “a software-driven technology platform—so the smart meter itself can be updated remotely as we move forward over time.” Updating the smart meter’s hardware would be a costly proposition that utilities want to avoid. Meanwhile, The California utilities commission has been working to establish smart meter standards with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other agencies.
—The deployment of smart meters at the end points of the power grid also will necessitate the deployment of extensive technologies to collect and store the data—and add intelligence to grid management. Utilities will need new applications for data mining and data analytics to make use of the data being generated. New innovations are being developed and new startups are being formed to serve this emerging industry sector.
—As a case study in what not to do, Ryan pointed to the installation of smart meters in Bakersfield, CA, under a pilot program by Pacific Gas & Electric. Outraged residents who saw their utility bills quadruple following deployment filed a class-action lawsuit against the utility, meter installer Wellington Energy. “PG&E has conceded it did not do enough customer education,” says Ryan, who describes Bakersfield as “the epicenter of the revolution” against smart meters. The state utilities commission has halted the lawsuit, pending its own investigation into the PG&E’s smart meter program, including the accuracy of its meters and billing system.
—SDG&E, which has installed 600,000 smart meters of all types so far, says it has no immediate plan to change from its current flat-rate to time-of-day billing—which prudently separates the smart meter from dynamic pricing that can send customer bills soaring. The PUC’s Ryan says it’s “imperative that the installation of smart grids be seen as something done for customers and not something done to customers.” Yet Ryan says the California utility commission also is intent to follow smart meter deployment with utility rates based on “dynamic pricing that encourages customers to use electricity when it’s abundant and produced at lower cost”—and which discourages them from using electricity during periods of peak energy demand. | <urn:uuid:f011a949-f941-4d06-825f-d84765eb944e> | {
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by Ben Kiernan
Genocide and Resistance in Southeast Asia: Documentation,
Denial and Justice in Cambodia and East Timor (Transaction, 2008)
The Pol Pot Regime (2008 edn.)
How Pol Pot Came to Power (2004 edition)
The Pol Pot Regime (2002)
Conflict and Change in Cambodia (2006), edited with an Introduction.
Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge, the United Nations, and the International Community (ed., 1993)
Other books by
Genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda (2005) edited by
Susan E. Cook
Cambodia (World Bibliographical Series, 1997), by Helen Jarvis
Getting Away With Genocide: Cambodia's Long Struggle Against the Khmer Rouge, by H. Jarvis and T. Fawthrop (2004)
Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Mem[oirs by Survivors, compiled by Dith Pran, Introduction by B. Kiernan (1998)
Genocide in Cambodia: Documents from the Trial of Pol Pot and Ieng Sary, edited by Howard J. de Nike, Kenneth J. Robinson, John Quigley, Helen Jarvis, and Nereida Cross
Pol Pot Plans the Future: Confidential Leadership Documents From Democratic Kampuchea, 1976-1977, ed. D. P. Chandler, B. Kiernan, and C. Boua.
Revolution and Its Aftermath in Kampuchea: Eight Essays, ed. D. P. Chandler and B. Kiernan
Copyright © 2010 Cambodian Genocide Program, Yale University. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:3afe05ec-151f-4601-ae3e-44cfa0a8ead0> | {
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This year’s national nursing week will take place May 7-13.
In 1971 the International Council of Nurses designated May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, as International Nurse’s Day. Several years later, the first national nursing week was celebrated in 1985 to highlight nurse’s contributions to the well being of Canadian public.
As many of you know, Nightingale is best known around the world as the “lady with the lamp” who nursed British soldiers during the Crimean war and turned nursing into a profession. Nightingale died on August 13, 1910 at the age of90.
Prior to the founding of modern nursing, nuns and the military usually provided nursing-like care. The religious and military roots are still evident today in many countries, for example in the United Kingdom, senior female nurses are known as Sisters.
Although the event is celebrated internationally, Canada chooses to hold theirs independently on a different date.
The 2012 Canadian theme is Nurses- The Health of our Nation. It reflects the positive impact nurses make to the lives and well-being of Canadians.
Canadian nursing dates all the way back to 1639 in Quebec with the Augustine nuns. These nuns were dedicated to opening up a Mission that cared for spiritual and physical needs of patients. This Mission later went on to create the first nursing apprenticeship training in North America.
At the end of the nineteenth century, hospital care and medical services had been improved and expanded due to Florence Nightingale who was training women in English Canada. In 1874 the first formal nursing training program was started at the General and Marine Hospital in St. Catharines in Ontario. Many programs popped up in hospitals across Canada after this and graduates and teachers from these programs began to fight for licensing legislation and for professional organizations for nurses.
More changes began to occur after World War II, the health care system expanded and Medicare was introduced.
Registered nurses are extremely important for smaller communities, as many only have one doctor. In Canada we are lucky enough to have nurses who are legally allowed to prescribe medication.
Currently there are approximately 260,000 nurses in Canada but nurses are becoming scarcer and the population of baby boomers is aging which requires more nursing care.
The only major event mentioned on the Nursing Association’s web site was that of National telehealth education which was held at the Regina General Hospital, May 9.
Take a few moments to honor your community’s nurses. Say thanks, or give them a small sentimental gift in appreciation for what they do on a daily basis. | <urn:uuid:e9e28d7d-b1cd-4c29-89bd-fbf5874adaed> | {
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Natural Gas Markets: How Federal Agencies Can Reduce Gas Utility Bills
April 20, 2004
Public attention focuses on U.S. natural gas markets in the winter, particularly the impact of projected higher gas prices and possible gas supply shortfalls on the economy. The sharp increase in wholesale prices earlier this year and record low levels of gas in storage have prompted strong statements by Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, warning that "we are not apt to return to earlier periods of relative abundance and low prices any time soon." These comments are mirrored by trends in natural gas forward contracts for the next 3 to 5 years, which are currently trading at nearly twice historical prices.
This trend has implications for consumers, both in terms of their natural gas and electricity bills. Throughout the country, natural gas has been the fuel of choice for virtually all new power plants built over the past decade. As a result, electricity prices are increasingly sensitive to the price of natural gas. While "regulatory lag" will in many cases delay the effect of rising natural gas prices on consumers' electricity bills, a sustained increase in natural gas prices will almost certainly lead to an eventual rise in electricity rates.
Because of the long lead-time needed to develop significant new natural gas supplies and infrastructure, the most promising near-term strategy for putting downward pressure on prices is to reduce natural gas demand. Federal agencies can play a decisive role in responding to this situation by undertaking targeted energy conservation efforts at their facilities. Such efforts can benefit the agencies directly by reducing their exposure to rising electricity and natural gas prices. Agencies can consider a number of general strategies:
- Natural gas efficiency and conservation: The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) estimates the cost-effective potential for natural gas efficiency in the U.S. to be
approximately one trillion cubic feet per year, equivalent to 4 to 5 percent of current annual consumption. Among commercial and institutional customers, retrofitting HVAC systems and furnaces or boilers, recommissioning, and installing window glazing represent some of the more promising opportunities for reducing natural gas use on site. Facility managers may want to re-examine the economics of projects involving these measures, based on current and projected higher natural gas prices.
- Electric efficiency and conservation: Throughout most of the U.S., natural gas power plants operate on the margin at least half of the time—and in a number of regions (the West, Southwest, Texas, Florida, and New England), they operate on the margin 80 to 90 percent of the time. Electricity users can therefore indirectly decrease natural gas consumption—and thus help to put downward pressure on prices—by reducing their electricity use, particularly during daytime hours when natural gas is most likely to be the marginal fuel
source for electricity generation. In fact, in many cases, electric efficiency efforts provide the "biggest bang for the buck." Federal agencies can build on their reputation as leaders in promoting the efficient use of electricity by engaging in measures such as retrofitting lighting and HVAC systems, installing or recommissioning energy management systems, and establishing energy-smart operational practices.
- Demand response and load management: In a number of regions, electricity users have the opportunity to receive payment for reducing their electricity use during specific periods by participating in demand response programs offered by the regional grid operator or their electricity provider. Two types of programs are typically offered: "emergency" programs that pay customers to reduce their load during periods when the reliability of the grid is potentially jeopardized, and "economic" programs that give customers the opportunity to offer load curtailments in exchange for market-based payments. The importance of such programs is heightened by the recent run-up in natural gas prices, which is likely to put upward pressure on peak period electricity prices in many parts of the country. By participating in demand response programs, federal customers can help to dampen this effect.
Agencies can leverage their efficiency and demand response efforts with financial and/or technical resources funded through public benefits funds or demand side management programs. These programs have historically been administered by the local utility, although in a number of states (New York, Vermont, Oregon, Wisconsin) the programs are administered by a statewide agency or non-governmental organization.
Current ratepayer funding for electric energy efficiency tops $1 billion annually—providing for a range of resources to federal agencies, from rebates for energy-efficient equipment and retrofits, to facility audits and project evaluation. Funding for natural gas efficiency is also available in many gas utility service territories. Information on those programs most relevant to federal customers is available on the FEMP Web site.
For more information, please contact Charles Goldman of LBNL at 510-486-4637. | <urn:uuid:b1c67e9f-a81a-4259-aa75-a68366d704d0> | {
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The student exiting the programs in the mathematical sciences must be able to:
1. Analyze and solve problems in the areas of algebra, analysis, statistics, and geometry. The student should be able to work individually and as a member of a team. Depending on the program emphasis, the student should possess the concept comprehension skills mentioned above at a sufficient level of expertise to function successfully as a teacher of mathematics, as a contributing member in business or industry, or as a graduate student pursuing an advanced degree in mathematics.
2. Use technology as an aid in the solution of problems. Specifically, the student must be able to write and effectively use programs for computers and programmable or graphing calculators.
3. Develop appropriate learning skills to foster the investigation of mathematical ideas and direct his/her own learning.
4. Communicate the mathematical ideas learned in the program. This ability must exist in both written and oral forms of communication. | <urn:uuid:628694c5-adb7-473e-879d-b1ce720febfa> | {
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A research internship can allow students to learn while working in the lab with their professor
Or it can offer them the chance to learn while building a new lab with their professor.
Such was the case last summer when David Negro '06 and Soo Hooi Oh '06 helped Boon Siew Ooi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, set up a new optoelectronics and photonics lab in Lehigh's Center for Optical Technologies.
The students' mission was to assemble the lab's several optical waveguide and semiconductor laser characterization stations, and interface them with a central computer so all the new equipment could be controlled from the same keyboard and mouse.
"Neither of us knew a whole lot about photonics before last summer," says Negro, an electrical engineering major, "so the learning experience was huge.
"We not only had to learn how to use new tools, we also had to manipulate the tools for unconventional purposes."
"We had to build the lab, learn the equipment, see how the different instruments work together and learn to be creative," says Oh, a triple major in electrical engineering, integrated business and engineering (IBE) and music composition.
One purpose of the new lab, says Ooi, is to develop emitters and other light sources for use in medical technology, the semiconductor industry and other applications.
Ooi has a grant from Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., a German-based international maker of eye ophthalmology systems, to develop a semiconductor light source that would increase the sensitivity and resolution of the system.
"We have developed a broadband light source for this application," says Ooi, "but we need to increase the bandwidth and the strength of its signal."
Negro and Oh were chosen for their internship after successfully completing Fundamentals of Semiconductor Devices, a sophomore-level electrical engineering course that Ooi taught last spring. Their internships were funded by the COT.
The students assembled the lab's state-of-the-art equipment the old-fashioned way, says Negro. "We read the manuals, we got stuck and then we called the company hotline."
The students spent much of the summer measuring the performance of the new equipment, characterizing the properties of photonic devices and semiconductor chips, and generating and guiding laser signals.
They also helped determine the properties of quantum dot materials. Quantum dots, which emit the light that creates lasers, are nanometer-size semiconductor structures in which the presence or absence of a quantum electron can be used to store information.
"We tried to modify the bandgap and lasing wavelength in order to control the optical properties of the quantum-dot structures," says Soo, who hopes to continue her work in the area by setting up the photoluminescent system that can characterize this nano-material structure.
Using Labview software, Negro and Oh integrated the new equipment to a central computer, then merged data from two or more machines so that the experimental results could be plotted in one graph on the computer screen.
"Without the computer, it would have taken an entire day to generate a graph," says Negro. "With the computer, we generated the same graph in two seconds."
In addition to gaining valuable experience in the lab, the students realized other benefits from their summer internship.
"This opened a wide variety of options for me," says Negro, who hopes to take advantage of the university's Presidential Scholarship program, which offers a tuition-free fifth year of study to students with a 3.75 undergraduate GPA.
"Working in a lab requires a lot of patience and dedication," says Oh. "It has enabled me to see what it would be like to be a graduate student. It has also shown me what I'm lacking, and that will help me know what electives to choose the next two years."
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At this point, WENDELL PHILLIPS, of Boston, entered the hall, which fact the President (MR. GARRISON) announced, remarking that "his appearance was as cheering as the unveiled face of the sun after a long storm." (Loud applause.) |
JOSEPH BARKER said that he perfectly agreed with Mr. Quincy, that Slavery is the lowest condition of Humanity, and that slaveholding is the greatest crime in the catalogue of sins; but what he had contended for was this that in substance and in tendency the two systems were one, and that their effects were much more alike, than one who had not felt the weight of the European system would be disposed to believe; and that, indeed, under certain circumstances, the effect of the Aristocratic system in Great Britain and Ireland was more deplorable, in some respects, than the effect of the slaveholding system in this country. In illustration of this position, Mr. Barker cited the starvation which had been produced, not only in Ireland, but also in England, to a fearful extent, by the efforts of the landlords to maintain a monopoly of the grain market, and thus secure a higher price for their lands form the tenant farmers. By this system, within two years, the population of Ireland had been reduced, through absolute starvation, one and a half to two millions. In no case had the slaveholding system produced such a deplorable and frightful result.
He (Mr. B.) acknowledged the force of Mr. Quincy's remark, that the people of Great Britain could run away, that they were at liberty, if they chose, to leave that country, and come to this. It was also true, that there was no law expressly passed to prevent the people from learning to read; but, by a tax of eight cents on every newspaper, so that one could not be bought for less than thirteen or fifteen cents, by levying a tax of thirty-six cents on every advertisement, though it were but a line, and by a burdensome tax on paper, the number of books and newspapers was kept down, and the ability to obtain them limited to the higher and middle classes of the people. Let his audience imagine books kept at a high price, the people prevented from having more than one half the needful amount of employment, and then obliged to pay two thirds of all their earnings in taxes, (the Aristocracy did not pay one fiftieth part of the their income in taxes,) and they would have as cunningly a devised scheme as the world had ever beheld, for extracting the very last drop of life-blood and energy from the working classes, and leaving them as low, as abject, as poor, as hopeless, as they could well be.
It was true, Mr. Barker said, that the people had the right to run away; but, in many cases, they had not the requisite means to avail themselves of this mode of escape from the tyranny that oppressed them. There were millions in Great Britain and Ireland, at this time, who could not run away; and many of them waited until their friends in this country sent them the means to pay their passage here. Millions were sent over from the United States to Great Britain every year for this purpose. He was aware, as Mr. Quincy had said, that the conduct of the Irish and English Aristocracy is sometimes thrown in the way of the Abolitionist, as an objection to the Anti-Slavery movement; and when he presented his views on this subject, he know what abuse might be made of them by pro-slavery parties in this country. He knew it was possible that some pro-slavery man might, by mistake, say to him, "That's' right, Barker! You do right to denounce the Aristocracy across the ocean." It was possible that such a man might do this once-not twice! (Laughter and cheers.) But, on the other hand, if they refused to allow that the English and Irish Aristocracy are the company of unbearable creatures they really arehow did that operate on the Irish emigrants? They would say"If these men don't know any more about Slavery than they know about England and Ireland, we shan't believe them when they tell us of the condition of the slaves. We have suffered from the Aristocracy and land monopolists in England; we know how they operate; we know it is not possible for the slaves physically to be in a worse condition than he laws of the Aristocracy and land monopolists of Great Britain and Ireland have brought upon the laboring population of those countries; and if they will not concede the truth when speaking on this subject, we are not prepared to acknowledge what they have to say on the question of Slavery."
Mr. Barker concludedMy own impression is, that the course I have taken in venturing to express my feelings and judgment on this subject, will do far more good, by its influence upon English emigrants, than it could possible do harm by appearing, for a time, to strengthen a certain objection employed by slaveholders and their sycophantic adherents. (Applause.) But, whatever be the effect of this course of procedure, for a time, one thing is certain, I can only vindicate liberal principles in my own way, and use such illustrations as my reading and experience supply; and I will trust the effect of a free, honest, benevolent utterance of my own thoughts, and my own feelings, further than I can see. And when we do utter our feelings and sympathies, and convictions of truth, and our wishes for improvement, and when we do contribute our labors for the good of mankind, I am thoroughly persuaded, as I am that I exist, that the effect must be good, though some individuals may seek to make a bad use of it. However, we are all agreed, that while we live in America, it is with American institutions and American abuses that we have especially to deal. Our work is to create and extend the sentiment in favor of impartial Freedom, and against that most accursed of all institutions, American Slavery. I say, here we are agreed, and here we speak our minds, and contribute our efforts to this one great object,to wipe away the stain from the American character, to abolish that institution which rests like an incubus upon American enterprise and improvement; and, surely, we can bear to hold differences of opinion in minor matters, so long as we are perfectly agreed in hating American Slavery, in opposition to the American slaveholder, and in our efforts elevate every human being to a position of equality of rights and a fair chance of doing well for himself, both in body and soul, in his own person and in his posterity, through the length and breadth of this great county, and through he countless ages which are to witness its growing destiny. (Loud cheers.) | <urn:uuid:2d24a18f-0309-4b50-8a89-ea45f6550e95> | {
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The Hoiho – New Zealand’s Yellow-eyed Penguin written by Adele Vernon, photographs by Dean Schneider
Catalogue number 200101
Suitable for children and adults alike. A very informative softcover book. This engrossing account of the hoiho’s secretive lifestyle and unusual characteristics is amply illustrated with striking colour photographs. 44 pages with detailed index.
5 Little Hoiho by Jake Lewis
Catalogue number 200211
New release February 2002
Jake Lewis wrote this book when he was 10 years old as part of a home school project which grew out of his interest in conservation and the plight of the hoiho (the yellow-eyed penguin). The story is aimed at the younger child, beautifully illustrated by Jake with 16 pages of colourful illustrations. Fact flashes of important information about the yellow-eyed penguin are useful for older children. Jake has kindly donated all proceeds from the sale of this book to the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust to help save this unique bird. It’s a gem!
Mustelid Trapping Field Guide by David Blair
Catalogue number 200212
RRP $7.50 (Discounts for bulk orders. For details please contact the Trust office).
2nd edition (2005) available. To order, please send your payment to the Trust office
The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust hosted a practical workshop on mustelid control techniques in August 2000. At the request of attendees, a follow-on field guide was published by the Trust in 2002 and revised in 2005. This A5-sized booklet outlines the biology of the mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels), including reproduction, diet and range, and signals the implications of predator guild relationships. Placement of traps (when, where, how many), technical aspects of trapping and types of traps are all discussed. Included are sample data recording sheets, and explanations to the importance of accuracy of records, including recognising nil returns. The legal obligations under the Animal Welfare Act are also included in this booklet.
Aimed at both amateur and experienced trappers, the Trust hopes it may assist in the practical eradication of one of the threats to the rare yellow-eyed penguin and other endemic species.
Penguin Partnership – A Guide for Landowners
Catalogue number 200105
This is a great guide for those landowners who may have penguins on their land, and want to know the best way to ensure that the penguins will be safe from stock and predators.
Saving the Yellow Eye by John Darby
Catalogue number 200102
Suitable for younger readers. Excellent bright colourful photos and graphics with interesting statistics brings together this informative softcover book.
Nature Kids – the Penguin by Barbara Todd
Catalogue number 200104
This book includes facts about where penguins live, what they eat, the differences between them and how they look after their babies. 24 pages.
New Zealand Wild The Penguin by Barbara Todd
Catalogue number 200105
This book is aimed at 8-14 year-olds. The author looks at penguins, both past and present, what they look like, how they live together and parenthood. This information is followed by extensive text about penguins that live in New Zealand, followed by shorter entries about other penguin species around the world. Excellent for home or school use. 32 pages with colour photographs throughout.
Step by Step Snacks, Light Meals & Treats by Alison Holst
Catalogue number 200108 (currently out of stock)
A cooking book for beginners of all ages. Alison’s reliable, trustworthy and delicious recipes for tasty and interesting family food. This book, supported by Mainland Products, our sponsor, includes a penguin icon on each page. All recipes were test-cooked by a 12 year old.
Coasting – the Sea Lion and the Lark by Neville Peat
Catalogue number 200110
Neville Peat, one of our finest observers of the natural world, takes us on a journey from Otago to the subantarctic and follows the life and migration of a sea lion. With the taut and accurate prose of a scientist, and the lyrical sense of an artist, Peat’s compelling style lures us into gaining an immense amount of information.
In a work that is deeply intimate and wonderfully expansive, Peat takes us well beyond the physical. He delves into the emotional origins of myth, and reveals an impassioned respect and understanding of the close relationship between humans and animals.
While exploring changing coastal habitat – blending ancient beliefs, local history, legend and the natural sciences – Peat encounters a number of remarkable individuals along the way; sea dogs, old salts, and a mysterious drifter who follows the winds and tides. Here we gain the naturalist’s sense of wonder, and the philosopher’s contemplation of the mysterious presence we call nature.
From Field to Forest: A guide to revegetating southern coastlines
Catalogue number 201111. RRP $7.50
Compiled by staff and trustees of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, this booklet summarizes their experiences in habitat restoration since 1987. It is a non-technical guide for anyone protecting native plant habitats, particularly those in southern New Zealand. It is as equally suitable for small scale planting in a coastal garden as for the recovery of an entire penguin nesting habitat.
Going, Going Gone? by Malcom Tait
Animals and plants around the world on the brink of extinction, the orgnanistations that help, and how you can help. A page is dedicated to New Zealand’s yellow-eyed penguin. RRP $35.00 | <urn:uuid:98c366f0-43d8-41ac-9016-729b125daaaa> | {
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Twelve Step programs are well known for their use in treating addictive and dysfunctional behaviors. The first 12 step program began with Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in the 1930s and has since grown to be the most widely used approach in dealing not only with recovery from alcoholism, but also from drug abuse and various other addictive and dysfunctional behaviors.
The first book written to cover the 12 step program was titled "Alcoholics Anonymous", affectionately known as the Big Book by program members. Following the subsequent extensive growth of twelve step programs for other addictive and dysfunctional behaviors, many additional books were written and recordings and videos were produced. These cover the steps in greater detail and how people have specifically applied the steps in their lives. An extensive chronology and background about the history of A.A. has been put together at
Dick B.'s website.
The twelve steps of the program are listed above and on the steps page in generic form. Other groups who have adopted the 12 steps to address their own particular addictive or dysfunctional behavior have similar ideas, usually with only minor variations. These steps are meant to be worked sequentially as a process of getting rid of addictive behaviors and should result in a growth in freedom and happiness, as outlined in the Promises. The general governing approach for A.A. groups was originally laid out in the Twelve Traditions, and they remain the guiding principles for most 12 step groups today.
There is a wealth of further information about 12 Step programs in Wikipedia, including a list of 12 step groups, and also from the numerous links in our directory of recovery related websites. | <urn:uuid:7341e43d-eaa6-417d-87d1-ebe82a26e990> | {
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High blood pressure, stress, and diabetes are all familiar warning signs that someone's at risk for cardiovascular disease. But there are other red flags that most of us are not aware of, such as hair loss, or problems in the bedroom. By paying attention to risk factors, and using them as cues to make healthy changes in your life, there's a lot that can be done to prevent cardiovascular damage early on, says Dr. Rene Alvarez, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Cardiovascular Institute. Here are six unusual signs of heart disease -- and what you can do to protect yourself.
1. Sexual dysfunction
Heart disease may be the last thing on your mind when you're cuddling close to your significant other, but trouble performing may be a concern for heart health as well as sexual health. Dr. Alvarez says that although sexual dysfunction in men and women is different, the issue linking it to heart disease is the same: When blood vessels don't work well, sexual problems can occur. "If you have dysfunction in one circulatory area you have it in others," he says.
Do this. Treat both issues. With good medical therapy and healthy lifestyle changes, both sexual dysfunction and heart disease can be avoided. Dr. Alvarez recommends regular exercise, and talking with your physician about daily aspirin use and your vascular health, to resolve both problems.
2. Male pattern baldness
Loss of hair is more than an issue of appearance -- it may mean loss of circulation, according to a correlation between top rear head balding and cardiovascular disease described in a recent t issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Dr. Alvarez says lack of circulation to the hair follicles may be related to heart circulation, although other factors may play a role in the connection. "Some patients who have male pattern baldness may smoke, have hypertension, or a genetic predisposition relating to heart disease," he notes.
Do this. Watch and be aware. Knowing your family history -- both of baldness and heart disease—can help you asses your own risk. If either runs in the family, it's extra reason to take steps to prevent hypertension and high cholesterol levels, and to avoid or quit smoking.
3. Snoring and sleep apnea
Sawing logs may cause your heart to struggle. A study from Emory University in Atlanta found that the obstructed airways in people who have sleep apnea or snore were linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Disturbed sleep may be a predisposition of high blood pressure and diabetes, both contributing to heart disease, says Dr. Alvarez.
Do this. Prevent future problems now. The good news is that this warning sign gives you lots of time to take action. "Sleep-disordered breathing typically occurs decades before it's diagnosed, and decades before signs of cardiovascular disease events," says Dr. Alvarez. If you have these nighttime symptoms, take a sleep test and get advice from a specialist to improve your quality of sleep and quality of life, he suggests.
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"score": 2.546875,
"token_count": 621,
"url": "http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HeartDisease/surprising-heart-disease-warning-signs/story?id=15726396"
} |
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