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Nurse-Anesthetist administers a local anesthetic to an injured Marine prior to surgery aboard USS Kearsarge
||The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (March 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)|
A nurse anesthetist is a nurse who specializes in the administration of anesthesia. In the United States, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) is an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) who has acquired graduate-level education and board certification in anesthesia. The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists' (AANA) is the national association that represents more than 90% of the 45,000 nurse anesthetists in the United States. Certification is governed by the National Boards of Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). Education is governed by the Council on Accreditation (COA) of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.
In the United States
Nurse anesthetists have been providing anesthesia care in the United States for 150 years. According to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, nurse anesthetists are the oldest nurse specialty group in the United States. Additionally, in testament to the profession’s roots, today’s nurse anesthetists remain the primary anesthesia providers to U.S. service men and women at home and abroad.
Among the first American nurses to provide anesthesia was Catherine S. Lawrence. Along with other nurses, Lawrence administered anesthesia during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The first "official" nurse anesthetist is recognized as Sister Mary Bernard, a Catholic nun who practiced in 1877 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania. There is evidence that up to 50 or more other Catholic sisters were called to practice anesthesia in various mid-west Catholic and Protestant hospitals throughout the last two decades of the 19th century. The first school of nurse anesthesia was formed in 1909 at St. Vincent Hospital, Portland, Oregon. Established by Agnes McGee, the course was seven months long, and included courses on anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, and administration of common anesthetic agents. Within the next decade, approximately 19 schools opened. All consisted of post-graduate anesthesia training for nurses and were about six months in length. These included programs at Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Barnes Hospital, New York Post-Graduate Hospital, Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Grace Hospital in Detroit, among others. Early anesthesia training programs provided education for all levels of health providers. For example, in 1915, chief nurse anesthetist Agatha Hodgins established the Lakeside Hospital School of Anesthesia in Cleveland, Ohio. This program was open to nurses, physicians, and dentists. The training was six months and the tuition was $50. A diploma was awarded on completion. In its first year, it graduated six physicians, two dentists, and 11 nurses. Later, in 1918, it established a system of clinical affiliations with other Cleveland hospitals. Some nurse anesthetists were appointed to medical school faculties to train the medical students in anesthesia. For example, Agnes McGee also taught third year medical school students at the Oregon Health Science Center. Furthermore, nurse anesthetist Alice Hunt was appointed instructor in anesthesia with university rank at the Yale University School of Medicine in 1922. She held this position for 26 years. In addition, she authored the 1949 book Anesthesia, Principles and Practice. This is most likely the first nurse anesthesia textbook.
Early nurse anesthetists were involved in publications. For example, in 1906, nurse anesthetist Alice Magaw (1860–1928) published a report on the use of ether anesthesia by drop method 14,000 times without a fatality (Surg., Gynec. & Obst. 3:795, 1906). Beginning in 1899, Magaw authored several publications with some published and many ignored because of her status as a non-physician. Ms. Magaw was the anesthetist at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester for the famous brothers, Dr. William James Mayo and Dr. Charles Horace Mayo. This became the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Magaw set up a showcase for surgery and anesthesia that has attracted many students and visitors.
Nurse Anesthesiology is a graduate prepared profession. In the United States of America, nurse anesthetists must be licensed registered nurse and complete a master's degree in anesthesia and/or nursing with a post-masters certification in anesthesia. In addition, candidates are required to have a minimum of one year of full-time nursing experience in a medical or surgical intensive care unit. Following this experience, applicants apply to a Council on Accreditation (COA) accredited program of nurse-anesthesia. Education is offered on a master's degree or doctoral degree (in Nurse Anesthesia Practice). Program length is typically 28 months in duration, but can vary from 24 to 36 months. The didactic curricula of nurse-anesthesia programs are governed by the Council on Accreditation (COA) standards and provide students the scientific, clinical, and professional foundation upon which to build a sound and safe clinical practice. Accredited programs afford and ensure supervised experiences for students during which time they are able to learn anesthesia techniques, test theory, and apply knowledge to clinical problems. Students gain experience with patients of all ages who require medical, surgical, obstetrical, dental, and pediatric interventions. In addition, many require study in methods of scientific inquiry and statistics, as well as active participation in student-generated and faculty-sponsored research. Among the oldest schools in the U.S., Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago, opened in 1925 by Mae Cameron, which in 2001 became the NorthShore University HealthSystem School of Nurse Anesthesia, was the first school to be accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs in 1952.
History of education
CRNAs in the United States receive Master's or Doctoral degrees in nurse anesthesia. The Council on Accreditation develops requirements for degree programs. In 1981, the Council on Accreditation developed guidelines for master's degrees. In 1982, it was the official position of the AANA board of directors' that registered nurses applying for a school of anesthesia shall be, at minimum, baccalaureate prepared and then complete a master's level anesthesia program. At that time, many programs started phasing in advanced degree requirements. As early as 1978, the Kaiser Permanente California State University program had evolved to a master's level program. All programs were required to transition to a master's degree beginning in 1990 and complete the process by 1998. Currently, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has endorsed a position statement that will move the current entry level of training and education of nurse anesthetists in the United States to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) or Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP). This move will affect all advance practice nurses, with a mandatory implementation by the year 2015. In August 2007, the AANA announced its support of this advanced clinical degree as an entry level for practice of all nurse anesthetists with a target compliance date of 2025. In accordance with traditional grandfathering rules, all those in current practice will not be affected. Several nurse anesthesia programs have already transitioned to the DNP or DNAP entry level format. Because all programs will be converting to a doctorate level education, the length of the programs will continue to expand. Nurse anesthetists have always embraced the responsibility of helping meet America’s growing healthcare needs. As healthcare technologies continue to advance and the knowledge base of the human body continues to expand, the 2025 requirement of a doctoral level education for entry into nurse anesthesia practice will ensure that patients have continued access to the highest quality anesthesia care that is possible.
The certification and recertification process is governed by the National Board on Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). The NBCRNA exists as an autonomous not-for-profit incorporated organization so as to prevent any conflict of interest with the AANA. This provides assurance to the public that CRNA candidates have met unbiased certification requirements that have exceeded benchmark qualifications and knowledge of anesthesia. CRNAs also have continuing education requirements and recertification every two years thereafter, plus any additional requirements of the state in which they practice. Currently in revision, recertification in the future will included NBCRNA mandated course subjects in addition to board retesting, similar to physician requirements.
In the United States, there have been three challenges brought against nurse anesthetists for illegally practicing medicine: Frank v. South in 1917, Hodgins and Crile in 1919, and Chalmers-Francis v. Nelson in 1936. All occurred before 1940 and all were found in favor of the nursing profession, relying on the premise that the surgeon in charge of the operating room was the person practicing medicine. Prior to World War II, the delivery of anesthesia was mainly a nursing function. There were limited anesthetic drug choices and less was known about the physiologic effects of anesthesia and surgery. In 1942, there were 17 nurse anesthetists for every one anesthesiologist. As knowledge grew and surgery became more complex, the numbers of physicians in this specialty expanded in the late 1960s. Therefore, it was legally established that when a nurse delivers anesthesia, it is the practice of nursing. When a physician delivers anesthesia, it is the practice of medicine. When a dentist delivers anesthesia, it is the practice of dentistry. There are great overlaps of tasks in the health care professions. Administration of anesthesia and its related tasks by one provider does not necessarily contravene the practice of other health care providers. For example, endotracheal intubation (placing a breathing tube into the windpipe) is performed by physicians, physician assistants, nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist assistants, respiratory therapists, paramedics, EMT-Intermediates, and dental (maxillofacial) surgeons. In the United States, nurse anesthetists practice under the state's nursing practice act (not medical practice acts), which outlines the scope of practice for anesthesia nursing.
Scope of practice
Today, nurse anesthetists practice in all 50 United States and administer approximately 34 million anesthetics each year (AANA). CRNA practice varies from state to state, and is also dependent on the institution in which CRNAs practice.
CRNAs practice in a wide variety of public and private settings including large academic medical centers, small community hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, pain clinics, or physician's offices, either working together with anesthesiologists, other CRNAs, or in independent practice. When practicing within the Anesthesia Care Team model, CRNAs most often fall under the medical direction, or supervision, of an anesthesiologist. CRNAs also have a substantial role in the military, the Veterans Administration (VA), and public health.
The degree of independence or supervision by a licensed provider (physician, dentist, or podiatrist) varies with state law. Some states use the term collaboration to define a relationship where the supervising physician is responsible for the patient and provides medical direction for the nurse anesthetist. Other states require the consent or order of a physician or other qualified licensed provider to administer the anesthetic. No state requires supervision specifically by an anesthesiologist.
The licensed CRNA is authorized to deliver comprehensive anesthesia care under the particular Nurse Practice Act of each state. Their anesthesia practice consists of all accepted anesthetic techniques including general, epidural, spinal, sedation, or local. Scope of CRNA practice is commonly further defined by the practice location's clinical privilege and credentialing process, anesthesia department policies, or practitioner agreements. Clinical privileges are based on the scope and complexity of the expected clinical practice, CRNA qualifications, and CRNA experience. This allows the CRNA to provide core services and activities under defined conditions with or without supervision.
In 2001, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a rule in the Federal Register that allows a state to be exempt from Medicare's physician supervision requirement for nurse anesthetists after appropriate approval by the state governor. To date, 17 states have opted out of the federal requirement, instituting their own individual requirements instead.
More than 40 percent of the CRNAs are men, a much greater percentage than in the nursing profession as a whole (ten percent of all nurses are men).
Because many less-developed countries have few anesthesiologists, they rely mainly on nurse anesthetists for anesthesia services. In 1989, the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists was established. The International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists has since increased in membership and has become a voice for nurse anesthetists worldwide. They have developed standards of education, practice, and a code of ethics. Delegates from 35 member countries participate in the World Congress every few years. Currently there are 107 countries where nurse anesthetists train and practice and nine countries where nurses assist in the administration of anesthesia.
In the United States armed forces, nurse anesthetists provide a critical peacetime and wartime skill. During peacetime and wartime, nurse anesthetists have been the principal providers of anesthesia services for active duty and retired service members and their dependents. Nurse anesthetists function as the only licensed independent anesthesia practitioners at many military treatment facilities, including U.S. Navy ships at sea. They are also the leading provider of anesthesia for the Veterans Administration and Public Health Service medical facilities.
During World War I, America's nurse anesthetists played a vital role in the care of combat troops in France. From 1914 to 1915, three years prior to America entering the war, Dr. George Crile and nurse anesthetists Agatha Hodgins and Mabel Littleton served in the Lakeside Unit at the American Ambulance at Neuilly-sur-Seine in France. In addition, they helped train the French and British nurses and physicians in anesthesia care. After the war, France continued to use nurse anesthetists, however, Britain adopted a physician-only policy that continues today. In 1917, the American participation in the war resulted in the U.S. military training nurse anesthetists for service. The Army and Navy sent nurses anesthesia trainees to various hospitals, including the Mayo Clinic at Rochester and the Lakeside Hospital in Cleveland before overseas service.
Among notable nurse anesthetists are Sophie Gran Winton. She served with the Red Cross at an army hospital in Château-Thierry, France, and earned the French Croix de Guerre in addition to other service awards. In addition, Anne Penland was the first nurse anesthetist to serve on the British Front and was decorated by the British government.
American nurse anesthetists also served in World War II and Korea, receiving numerous citations and awards. Second Lieutenant Mildred Irene Clark provided anesthesia for casualties from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During the Vietnam War, nurse anesthetists served as both CRNAs and flight nurses, and also developed new field equipment. Nurse anesthetists have been casualties of war. Lieutenants Kenneth R. Shoemaker, Jr. and Jerome E. Olmsted, were killed in an air evac mission en route to Qui Nhon, Vietnam.
At least one nurse anesthetist was a prisoner of war. Army Nurse anesthetist Annie Mealer endured a three-year imprisonment by the Japanese in the Philippines, and was released in 1945. During the Iraq War, nurse anesthetists comprise the largest group of anesthesia providers at forward positioned medical treatment facilities. In addition, they play a role in the continuing education and training of Department of Defense nurses and technicians in the care of wartime trauma patients.
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Archives. 222 South Prospect, Park Ridge, Illinois, 60068-4001
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- Bankert, M. (1990). "A Living Heritage." CRNA Forum. Vol. 6 No. 1, p. 5-9.
- Thatcher, V.S. (1953) History of Anesthesia, With Emphasis on the Nurse Specialist. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, p. 60.
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- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2005). Education of Nurse Anesthetists in the United States - At a Glance. Retrieved May 23, 2007, from http://www.aana.com/educuscrnas.aspx
- Horton, B. (2007). "Upgrading Nurse Anesthesia Education Requirements (1933-2006) - Part 2: Curriculum, Faculty and Students." AANA Journal, Vol. 75, No. 4, p. 247-251.
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2007). A Brief Look at Nurse Anesthesia History Retrieved May 23, 2007, from http://www.aana.com/brieflookhistory.aspx
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2004). AACN Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing October 2004. Retrieved May 23, 2007, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/pdf/DNP.pdf
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- Blumenreich, G.A. JD (1999). Legal Briefs, Anesthesia -- It's Finally the Practice of Medicine, AANA Journal, Vol. 67, No. 2, p. 109-112. Retrieved May 25, 2007 from http://www.aana.com/Resources.aspx?ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetID=54&ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetType=4&ucNavMenu_TSMenuID=6&id=2352
- Blumenreich, G.A. JD (1990). Legal Briefs, The Administration of Anesthesia and the Practice of Medicine, AANA Journal, Vol. 58, No. 3, June 1990, p. 185-187. Retrieved May 25, 2007 from http://www.aana.com/lb_june90.aspx
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001). Physician Supervision of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists. Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/factsheet.asp?Counter=391
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2002). AANA Fact Sheet Final Supervision Rule -- Frequently Asked Questions, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)Conditions of Participation for Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs), and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs): Anesthesia Services (Part A Payment), November 21. Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.aana.com/finalsupervisionfaqs.aspx
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2007)Scope and Standards for Nurse Anesthesia Practice. Retrieved May 24, 2007 from http://www.aana.com/scope.aspx
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2007). Guidelines for Clinical Privileges. Retrieved May 24, 2007 from http://www.aana.com/clinicalprivileges.aspx
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001). States Allowed To Set Standards For Anesthesia. Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=319
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- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2007). Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists at a Glance. Retrieved November 19, 2009 from http://www.aana.com/ataglance.aspx
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- Thatcher, V.S. (1953) History of Anesthesia, With Emphasis on the Nurse Specialist. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, p. 97.
- Thatcher, V.S. (1953) History of Anesthesia, With Emphasis on the Nurse Specialist. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, p. 96-99.
- Bankert, M. (1990). "A Living Heritage." CRNA Forum. Vol. 6 No. 1, p. 9-10.
- Bankert, M. (1990). A Living Heritage. CRNA Forum. Vol. 6 No. 1, p. 13.
- Bankert, M. (1989) Watchful Care; A History of America's Nurse Anesthetists. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company, p. 107-123, 137-139.
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2000). "Pearl Harbor, the Korean Conflict, and COL Mildred Irene Clark." Retrieved December 28, 2009 from http://www.aana.com/resources.aspx?ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetID=164&ucNavMenu_TSMenuTargetType=4&ucNavMenu_TSMenuID=6&id=1810
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- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (2004). Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists Play Pivotal Role in U.S. Efforts to Combat Worldwide Terrorism. Retrieved May 23, 2007 from http://www.aana.com/pr011304.aspx | <urn:uuid:31111d00-53da-4c1e-b10c-d7663c61dce9> | {
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United Nations Day, 2002A Proclamation
The United Nations was founded 57 years ago to improve our global community by strengthening the ties among member nations through improved communication, expanded understanding, and enhanced security. On United Nations Day, America joins the world in commemorating the founding of this important international organization and recognizing the profound impact it has had on our world and the role that it continues to play.
Since October 24, 1945, the United Nations Organization has grown to include 191 member states. Through its relief agencies, the U.N. aids and protects millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide. For example, in 2001, the United Nations World Food Program provided aid to 77 million people in 82 countries and helped to avert a severe famine that threatened Afghanistan. The U.N. also seeks to improve living conditions around the globe by immunizing children, providing safe drinking water, and fighting disease.
The United States remains committed to helping the U.N. to advance human rights, healthcare, security, and education throughout the world; and we will continue to meet these and other commitments as we rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Our country continues to work with the U.N. in supplying aid for nations and peoples in need or distress, and in providing medical care and other essentials through U.N. agencies such as UNICEF.
As our world faces new challenges and opportunities, the efforts of the United Nations take on a renewed significance. The United States recognizes the U.N. for its efforts to support and strengthen the international coalition against global terror. And we hope the United Nations will fulfill its role in addressing the threats posed to the civilized world, particularly the threat now posed by Iraq. As a founding member of the U.N., the United States reaffirms our dedication to this vital organization and our hope that it will continue to fulfill the vision of its founders.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 24, 2002, as United Nations Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.Start Printed Page 65870
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.B Filed 10-25-02; 8:45 am]
[FR Doc. 02-27547
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Baluran National Park is a forest preservation area on the north coast of East Java. The location is in Sumberwaru village, Banyuwangi district, Situbondo (on the east border of Java Island). It has a relatively dry climate and consists of lowland forests, savanna, mangrove forests and hills, with Mount Baluran (1.247 above sea level) as its highest peak.
Baluran National Park is situated at the north-eastern extremity of Java, close to the islands of Bali and Madura. The park is bordered by the Madura Strait to the north, the Bali Strait to the east, the river Bajulmati (Wonorejo village) to the west and the river Klokoran (Sumber Anyar village) to the south. The park is a rough circle, with the extinct volcano. Baluran at its centre. It's total area is 25.000 ha, it consists of five zones, the Main Zone (12.000 ha), the Wilderness Zone (5.537 ha, comprising 1.063 ha water and 4.574 ha land), the Intensive Utilization Zone (800 ha), the Spesific Utilization Zone (5.780 ha), and the Rehabilitation Zone (783 ha).
The park is dominated by forest and savana vegetation. The coastline is formed by irregular peninsulas and bays. Near the coast are living coral areas, sandbanks, and mudflats. The peninsulas are covered with mangroves, while other part of the coastline are covered with swamp forest. The volcano is covered with lowland and upland monsoon forest.
There are 444 species of plant growing in this park, including curious and indigenous species like Widoro Bukol (Ziziphus rotundifolia), Mimba (Azadirachta indica), and Pilang (Acacia leucophloea). These tree species are able to adapt to very arid conditions, remaining green while the plants around them wither. Other plants in the park include Tamarind (Tamarindus indica), Gadung (Dioscorea hispida), Kemiri (Aleurites moluccana), Gebang (Corypha utan), Api-api (Avicennia sp.), Kendal (Cordia obliqua), Manting (Syzygium polyanthum), and Kepuh (Sterculia foetida).
The 26 species of mammal include the Banteng (Bos javanicus javanicus), Asian Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus javanicus), Barking Deer (Muntiacus muntjak muntjak), Timor Deer (Cervus timorensis russa), Panther (Panthera pardus), Lesser Malay Mouse Deer (Tragulus javanicus pelandoc), Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), and Ebony Leaf Monkey (Trachypithecus auratus auratus). The Banteng is the mascot of Baluran National Park.
In addition, there are about 155 species of bird, some of them endangered species like the Green Peafowl (Pavo muticus), Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus), Malabar Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus conversus), Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros silvestris), Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceae), and Lesser Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos javanicus).
Baluran National Park has a typical Monsoon climate with a long dry season. It is of type F in the Schmid & Fergusson system of climate classification. The temperature varies between 27,2oC and 30,9oC, humidity averages 77 %, wind velocity average 7 knots and the wind direction is influenced by a strong south-east wind. The rainy season lasts from November to Aprril and the dry season from April to October. The highes rainfall is in December and January.
Baluran National Park has a radial water system. The Kacip river flows from the caldera to Labuhan Merak beach. The Klokoran and Bajulmati rivers from the western and southern borders of the park. Many stream beds form in the short wet season, but the water is absorbed in great quantity by the very porous volcanic ash, and after it reaches the hardened underground lava it comes to the surface in form of springs in coastal areas (Popongan, Kelor, Bama, Mesigit, Bilik, Gatel, Semiang and Kepuh), in downhill areas (Talpat spring), in Air Tawar Bay and on the Sedano peninsula. In wet seasons the black soils are least permeable, and water then flows on the surface, forming many pools, particularly in the southern area from Talpat to Bama. In the longn dry periods, those pools are often dry.
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Short-horned chameleon (Calumma brevicorne)
|Also known as:||elephant-eared chameleon|
|Synonyms:||Calumma brevicornis, Chamaeleo brevicornis, Chamaeleon brevicornis, Chamaeleon gularis|
|Size||Male length: 35 cm (2)|
Listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).
The most striking and distinctive features of the short-horned chameleon are its large, ear-like occipital lobes, and the short bony appendage that projects from the snout of the male (2) (4). Although generally greyish in colouration, there is some variation between the sexes and across the species’ range, with the slightly larger males tending to have a lighter coloured head, and some specimens being greener and having blue legs (2) (5). The size of this chameleon also varies from one locality to another, as does the prominence of the dorsal crest, which is more obvious in some individuals than in others (2). The level of variation in this species has led some to hypothesise that it is actually a complex of several closely related species (5) (6). Indeed, several new Columma species were described in 2006 from populations originally considered to be short-horned chameleons (1) (6). The subspecies Columma brevicorne tsarafidyi was described from a single specimen allegedly collected in the Tsarafidyi Forest in 1970, but the most recent taxonomic research suggests it is indistinct from the nominate subspecies C. b. brevicorne (1) (4).
The short-horned chameleon is endemic to Madagascar, where it occurs in the eastern and northern parts of the island (2) (4).
Found in shrubs and trees on forest edges (2).
Like other chameleons, the compressed body, spindly limbs, grasping feet and prehensile tail of the short-horned chameleon enable it to deftly negotiate the branches and twigs of its arboreal home (7). Very little is known about this species’ ecology, but in captivity it is known to feed on a wide variety of insects (2). When threatened, it raises its ear-like flaps to increase its apparent size and attacks with an open mouth (5) (7).
Although the reproductive biology of the short-horned chameleon has not been studied in any detail, females have been observed laying 10 to 30 eggs, around 40 days after mating (2).
Prior to the short-horned chameleon’s listing on Appendix II of CITES in 1995, it was exported in considerable numbers for the pet trade (8). With trade now reduced to a minimum, the greatest threat to this species is the loss and degradation of its forest habitat (9). In the 2,000 years since humans arrived on Madagascar, the island nation has lost 90 percent of its forest cover, with firewood collection and slash-and-burn agriculture continuing to have a devastating impact (10).
The only direct conservation measure currently in place for the short-horned chameleon is its listing on Appendix II of CITES, which serves to prohibit trade in this species without a permit (3). Nonetheless, the conservation of Madagascar’s biodiversity is considered a high conservation priority and this species, like many endemic chameleons, should certainly benefit from existing efforts by international and local conservation groups to protect the island’s forests (9) (10) (11) (12).
For further information on conservation in Madagascar see:
Madagascar Wildlife Conservation:
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
- Arboreal: an animal which lives or spends a large amount of time in trees.
- Dorsal: relating to the back or top side of an animal.
- Endemic: a species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
- Occipital lobes: flexible flaps extending from the rear of the head of some chameleons.
- Raxworthy, C.J. and Nussbaum, R.A. (2006) Six new species of occipital-lobed Calumma chameleons (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae) from montane regions of Madagascar, with a new description and revision of Calumma brevicorne. Copeia, 2006(4): 711-734.
AdCham.com (April, 2009)
CITES (March, 2009)
The Reptile Database (April, 2009)
- Bartlett, R.D. and Bartlett, P.P. (1995) Chameleons. Barron's Educational Series Inc, New York.
- Boumans, L., Vieites, D.R., Glaw, F. and Vences, M. (2007) Geographical patterns of deep mitochondrial differentiation in widespread Malagasy reptiles. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 45: 822-839.
- Halliday, T. and Adler, K. (2002) The New Encyclopedia of Reptile and Amphibians. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Carpenter, A.I., Rowcliffe, J.M. and Watkinson, A.R. (2004) The dynamics of global trade in chameleons. Biological Conservation, 120: 291-301.
- Jenkins, R.K.B., Brady, L.D., Bisoa, M., Rabearivony, J. and Griffiths, R.A. (2003) Forest disturbance and river proximity influence chameleon abundance in Madagascar. Biological Conservation, 109: 407-415.
WWF (April, 2009)
Conservation International (April, 2009)
Madagascar Wildlife Conservation (April, 2009) | <urn:uuid:958b3996-189b-4855-a341-f5963ded3493> | {
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It's taken 123 years, but the federal government is the closest it's ever been to compensating Minnesota's Chippewa bands for tribal land that the U.S. government sold unfairly.
Today, a bill that would award millions of dollars to the six bands that make up the tribe and their members, will be heard in a House committee in Washington. The money would settle a dispute over a century-old land deal.
But not all tribal members think the deal is fair.
In 1889, the Congress passed the Nelson Act, which consolidated Minnesota's Chippewa reservations by allocating plots to individual tribal members and selling off the rest of the reservation land. The act aimed to assimilate the tribes, in part by shrinking the size of the reservation. Money raised from the sale was supposed to help the tribe, but the government sold it at prices considerably below market value.
"They were listing it as swamp land, which was probably $2 per acre, as opposed to timber land," said Gary Frazer, executive director of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. "It was really timberland and they were classifying it as swamp lands."
In 1946, the Chippewa tribe filed a lawsuit against the government, seeking full compensation for the land. The tribe argued the money the federal government raised wasn't used appropriately. But an agreement wasn't reached until 1999, when federal officials offered the tribe $20 million. Tribal leaders accepted.
But a disagreement within the tribe over how the money should be distributed stalled the payment. Since then, the money has sat in an account, slowly collecting interest, making the payout now closer to $28 million.
Frazer said it's time to get the money out of the government's hands.
"The biggest thing right now, is that it's earning like a half a percent interest," he said. "It's ridiculous what it earns. I mean, if you had $20 million dollars and you had it invested — because interest rates were pretty high for a while there — for 13 years, you think it would earn more than $8 million dollars."
Infighting among the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe's six bands has a lot to do with the government's delay in paying the tribe.
Frank Bibeau, the attorney for the Leech Lake Band, said it is entitled to roughly 70 percent of the settlement because that's the proportion of land the band lost. Bibeau said the band is open to compromise, but plans to do whatever it takes to derail a bill should Congress proceed with a plan the Leech Lake Band considers unfair.
"We would like to think that Congress wants to do the right thing," Bibeau said. "We would like to think that we can educate them in such a way that they'll understand that they have to pay the Indians they took the land and timber from. ... Don't just pay some Indians."
Congress is moving forward. U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, and U.S. Reps. Chip Cravaack, Colin Peterson and Erik Paulsen, are all working on legislation that allows for the payment to finally be disbursed.
The bills reflect what most of the Chippewa tribe wants. Each tribal member would receive $300. The remainder would be split evenly between the six bands, each receiving about $3 million.
But that doesn't reflect what the Leech Lake Band wants. Franken said Minnesota's Congressional delegation worked hard to seek unanimous consensus within the Chippewa tribe, but couldn't.
"We just felt that now it's time to make sure that some of the elders get this money before it's too late," he said.
A hearing is scheduled for later this morning in the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs. Cravaack said the hearing will let the Leech Lake Band, once again, reiterate its concerns.
"We're working to try to resolve this so that we honor what the sovereign nations of the Chippewa want us to do," Cravaack said. "But Leech Lake has said 'Wait a minute; we have an issue.' We'd like to discuss it."
It is too soon to know if a bill will get passed this Congress. The House and Senate still need to go through a process where the bill can be revised and amended, if necessary. The final version likely would be rolled into a larger piece of legislation before Congress would vote on it.
If settlement language does pass, members of the Leech Lake Band said they will likely take their argument to the courts if band leaders don't like what they see. | <urn:uuid:a61cd39d-a589-49ee-a4ae-08b0ae21ad79> | {
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The polar bear, also known as the white bear, northern bear, sea bear, or nanuq in some Inuit languages, is a species of bear that is native to the Arctic and the apex predator within its range.
Its thick blubber and fur insulate it against the cold, and its translucent fur, which appears white or cream-colored, camouflages it from its prey.
The bear has a short tail and small ears that help reduce heat loss, as well as a relatively small head and long, tapered body to streamline it for swimming.
The polar bear is a semi-aquatic marine mammal that depends mainly upon the pack ice and the marine food web for survival.
It has uniquely adapted for life on a combination of land, sea, and ice and is now dependent on this combination.
Scientists now believe that the projected decreases in the polar sea ice due to global warming will have a significant negative impact or even lead to extinction of this species within this century.
Population reductions of up to 20% have been recorded in recent years, the average weight of the bears has been declining significantly, and cub survival rates have plunged. | <urn:uuid:b56a37e3-02b7-4241-bf44-d07b721ca811> | {
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Measles (Rubeola): Clinical Significance Of Its Complications, Diagnosis, Treatment And Prevention
Pneumonia Complicates Measles
Complications Of Measles
These are common, though in the majority, the disease is self-limiting. Respiratory complications include croup, bronchitis, bronchiolitis and rarely, interstitial giant cell Pneumonia. These are more common in immunocompromised persons and malnourished children. The eye lesion may progress to corneal ulceration, keratitis and blindness. Myocarditis develops in 20% of cases and this cause transient ECG changes, but clinical this may remain silent. Acute abdominal pain may occur due to mesenteric lymphadenitis. In pregnant women, fetal loss may occur in 20%
Secondary bacterial pneumonia by staphylococcus, streptococcus, pneumococcus and H. influenza is common and may progress to lung abscess and empyema. Otitis media may develop commonly. Stomatitis may develop and progress to cancrum orits, especially in malnourished children. Quiescent tuberculous lesions may flare up or fresh tuberculous infection may develop.
Encephlomyelitis, another serious complication occurs in 1/1000 patients, usually occurring 4 to 7 days after the appearance of the eruption. It is characterized by high fever, headache, drowsiness and coma ending fatally in 10% of cases. Progressive encephalitis may develop in 1 to 6 month after measles in immunosuppressed children. Subacute slcerorising panencephalitis (SSPE) which is a late complication of measles is characterized by progressive dementia and motor weakness.
Measles Prevention: Administration Of Gamma Globulin 0.25 ml/Kg Within 5 Days Of Exposure
Diagnosis, Treatment And prophylaxis Of Measles
Laboratory investigations are essential in diagnosing atypical cases and also for differentiating measles from rubella. Leucopenia is frequent in the early stages. Leucocytosis occurs with secondary bacterial infection. Cerebrospinal fluid shows raised protein and lymphocytosis in encephalomyelitis. Demonstration of multinucleated giant cells in Giemsa stained smears of nasal secretions is a simple side room laboratory test. Virus antigen can be detected in the cells by immunofluoresence. Virus can be isoltated in human embryonic kidney and amnion cells.
Demonstration of rising antibody levels by complement fixation test, hemagglutination inhibition test and neutralization test in paired sera help to make serological diagnosis.
Differential diagnosis: Rubella has to be differentiated from measles. Rubella is a milder illness of short duration without significant respiratory complaints,. Infectious mononucleosis, toxoplasmosis, secondary syphilis, adenovirus and enterovirus infectious, scarlet fever and drug rashes have to be differentiated.
Treatment And Prevention
Treatment: There is no specific drug against the virus and therefore management is symptomatic. Bacterial infection has to be treated with antibiotics based on clinical and bacteriological findings. Children who continue to be ill after an attack of measles should be investigated for the presence of tuberculosis.
Prevention: Administration of gamma globulin 0.25 ml/Kg within 5 days of exposure effectively prevents or reduce the attack. Children below three years, pregnant women, immunocompromised persons and those who suffer from tuberculosis should be given gammaglobulin for passive immunization.
Live attenuated measles vaccine, prepared from Admonston B strains of measles virus is used for active immunization. Immunity lasts for a period of about 10 years. In general, children below the age 1 are not vaccinated. If they have to be vaccinated under special circunstances, a second dose should be given at the age of 15 to 18 months. The vaccine may be given alone or in combination with rubella and mumps vaccines. Vaccination is leukemia, lumphoma and immunocompromised patients.
© 2014 Funom Theophilus Makama | <urn:uuid:46bef167-dbd9-4416-b401-f5b04eda8772> | {
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October 18, 2017
A review of claims that Martin Luther King Jr. lived in Camden when an ugly racial incident may have catalyzed his later civil rights activism has dragged on for two-and-a-half years with no bureaucratic decision by New Jersey officials.
That indecision has not stopped Google Maps from “dropping a pin” on the site. In fact, Google Maps refers to the home at 753 Walnut St. in Camden as the “MLK National Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement Museum.”
An aerial photo of the address on Google Maps appears to show a gaping hole in the roof of the property. Many windows are covered with boards, and several of them have shifted, leaving the interior open to the elements.
Without a determination by the state on the building’s historic value, plans to repair the roof have stalled, leading to additional deterioration.
Yet to be answered by the state before determining if the property deserves historic designation:
• Did a refusal of service for King and three companions at a Maple Shade establishment – the owner fired a .45 caliber handgun into the air outside Mary’s Place – set him on a path toward civil rights activism when he lived in Camden?
• And did the Camden property, where he appears to have lived with a fellow seminarian at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester at the time of that incident, also play a significant role in his formation as a civil rights leader?
There are some indisputable clues.
Listing the Camden property as his residence, King filed a police complaint against Ernest Nichols, the owner of Mary’s Place in June 1950. (The café with a bar was torn down in 2011, but Maple Shade has endorsed placing a commemorative plaque at the site.)
The complaint, in which King alleged that Nichols went outside and fired a handgun after refusing service to the four, may be the civil rights leader's first documented attempt to confront and challenge racism. But the case was soon withdrawn when three witnesses declined to testify.
Which may explain, at least in part, why King moved from courts to civil disobedience.
There is no question the incident happened: a copy of the complaint, culled from King’s own documents, is included in Stanford University’s archives on King, who was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis.
A spokesman for the city of Camden, Vincent Basara, called the state’s review a “logjam.”
He added the state has not updated the city since the process began.
“We’re in support, but as you can imagine, it’s a process. We don’t control the process,” added Basara.
Similarly, the Coopers Ferry Partnership, which does development and redevelopment work on behalf of the city, “remains committed to the project,” according to a spokesman.
A source, who asked not to be identified, said the roof of the Walnut Street home is so unstable that a plan to cover the roof with a tarp was abandoned by Coopers Ferry out of fear of injury.
And a Coopers Ferry plan to secure about $230,000 in grant money to stabilize and upgrade the property has languished because of the state’s indecision.
Likewise, a contract to transfer ownership of the long-vacant home from owner Jeanette Lily Hunt remains unsigned until the historic designation is confirmed – or denied. Hunt's father-in-law was the original owner of the home and he rented a room there to King and his best friend, another seminarian.
U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, who visited the home last year with civil rights icon John Lewis, a fellow member of Congress, remains supportive of the stalled project, according to his office.
A preliminary application for historic designation was filed with New Jersey in March 2015.
The applicant, Patrick Duff, acting on behalf of the building’s owner, Hunt, said he was told a decision could happen in as little as three months – the time frame is referenced in several of his correspondences with the state.
But a more recent letter from a DEP official warned Duff the process could take far longer.
As of now, a determination still awaits.
A spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection said this week the review is “anticipated” in November, emphasizing there is no firm date.
In an effort to assess whether King's presence at the home is significant enough to warrant historic status, the DEP's State Historic Preservation Office hired researchers from Stockton University to investigate the evidence.
DEP spokeswoman Caryn Shinske said Wednesday that the state received a “preliminary” report from Stockton investigators on Aug. 21. She declined to release the report to PhillyVoice, citing policy on preliminary reports.
“DEP understands the strong interest in this application and is working hard to ensure the research is as thorough and as complete as possible. We look forward to reviewing the final report, which is expected to include background and archival research, as well as oral history interviews,” added Shinske.
One of the academic investigators, Stockton’s John O’Hara, had told PhillyVoice that he and collaborator Michelle Craig McDonald had filed what they considered a final report to the state on July 31. But a spokeswoman for the university said Thursday that the professor had the date wrong and added it was a draft, not final report.
"The Stockton Research team submitted a draft of their report to the state on August 21, 2017, with the expectation that the Historic Preservation Office would review and offer suggestions to incorporate in the final report," the spokeswoman said. "That work is still ongoing."
O’Hara's contract does not allow him to disclose his findings to anyone except the DEP, he had said.
O’Hara had previously said a response from the DEP calling for more “talking with neighbors” did not happen until the start of Stockton’s fall school year, meaning the investigators have less time to devote to additional interviews.
He called the delayed response by the DEP “just plain bureaucracy” and said the call for new interviews was “a point of contention.”
He said he has personally set an “unofficial” deadline of Oct. 31 for completing the expanded report and delivering it to the DEP.
Duff, an amateur historian who discovered King’s police complaint about Mary’s Place in Stanford’s archives, said his efforts to move the review process along have been “exhausting.”
Meanwhile, with the winter season approaching, the property continues to languish.
• • •
Full disclosure: U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-1st, is the uncle of PhillyVoice Founder and CEO Lexie Norcross. | <urn:uuid:c373e28e-7a1a-4d21-93fd-8dacf29086e7> | {
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In an interview, one person has a goal–to obtain information from another person. The interviewer wants the interviewee to feel comfortable, yet direct the conversation to certain points.
Unlike in a conversation, the interviewer may have to lead the interviewee back to the main point–without hurting his or her feelings. This can be difficult, but practice helps develop good interviewing skills. These tips will help:
1. Before interviewing anyone, give advance warning. Interviewers should explain what they want to do, why they want to do it, and why a person is important to them and their research.
2. An interviewer should be prepared .before the interview by finding out about a relative. Where does this person fit into the family? What documents might he or she have? What other genealogical items might this person have? Whom did this person meet that no one else knew, or whom might he or she remember best? Where did this person live? As much information as possible should be gathered ahead of time about this person's relationship to everyone in the family.
3. Interviewing requires structure, so questions should be thought out beforehand. List questions on a sheet of paper, organized by subject. An easy way is to organize chronologically beginning with the early years.
4. Summarize what's already known so that the interviewee can verify the facts. Then ask for more detail.
5. Remember, ask open-ended questions. "What do you remember most about your first apartment?" or "Tell me about your relationship with your sisters" may yield something unexpected and wonderful.
6. Use a tape recorder but don't depend on it solely. A small recorder usually doesn't disturb anyone, and it catches every bit of information, including the way interviewees sound and exactly how they answer questions. However, tape recorders have a way of stopping just when there's important information–without any sign to the interviewer. So a backup notebook is a necessity.
7. During the interview, write down names and dates, and double-check them with the interviewee. Facts are important, but the most important information interviewees offer are their stories. Try to capture not only the way they talk but their colorful expressions.
8. Begin with easy, friendly questions. Leave the more difficult or emotional material for later in the interview, after trust has been established. If things aren't going well, an interviewer should save difficult questions for another time.
9. Also, begin with questions about the interviewee. Get some background information about him or her. And when asking for dates, relate them to the interview.
10. Bring family photographs to the interview and use them during it. Look for photos, artwork, or documents that will help jog the interviewee's memory. Ask the interviewee to describe what's going on. "Do you remember when this was taken? Who are the people? What was the occasion? Who do you think took the picture?"
11. Don't be afraid of silence. Silence is an important part of interviewing, and it can sometimes lead to very interesting results. Because people find silence uncomfortable, they often try to fill it if the interviewer doesn't, and, in doing so, they may say something that they might not have otherwise.
12. Allow interviewees time to ponder their thoughts. Asking interviewees to think back on things they may not have considered in years is a challenge. Calling up these memories may spark other thoughts, too.
13. Be ready to ask the same question in different ways. People don't know how much they know, and rephrasing a question can give more information.
14. Ask to see any family treasures belonging to the interviewee. When interviewees bring
out an heirloom, they should be asked to describe it. What is it? How was it used? Who made it? Who gave it to them? Ask if there are any stories connected with it, or any documents.
15. Be sensitive. Sometimes people become emotional talking about the past. They may remember relatives long dead, or forgotten tragedies. If an interviewee is upset by a memory, the interviewer should either remain silent, or quietly ask, "Is it all right if we talk some more about this? Or would you rather not?" People frequently feel better when they talk about sad things. Give the interviewee the choice of whether or not to go on.
16. Try not to interrupt. If the interviewee strays from the subject, let him or her finish the story and then bring them back on track. Not interrupting makes the conversation friendlier, and may lead to something unexpected.
Source Information: Everyday Genealogy, New Providence, NJ, USA: Genealogy Today LLC, 2007.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Genealogy Today LLC.
Would you like to browse through our collection of GenWeekly articles written exclusively for Genealogy Today? Yes, take me there Would you like to keep up-to-date with the latest releases from Genealogy Today, along with news from a variety of other sources by receiving The Genealogy News (a FREE service) by email? Yes, sign me up Would you like to become a Genealogy Today member and be able to manage your research experience, post messages to forums, add comments to resources and much more? Yes, show me how Would you like to tap into our community of over 85,000 members by posting a query and get assistance breaking down your most difficult brickwalls? Yes, show me how Would you like to go shopping in a marketplace of over 700 items, including charts, scrapbooking materials, books and a variety of unique gifts and supplies? Yes, take me there | <urn:uuid:03d4cceb-4f87-49c0-8fb4-4b1b36424bfe> | {
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tenant farmer of the late Roman Empire and the European Middle Ages. The coloni were drawn from impoverished small free farmers, partially emancipated slaves, and barbarians sent to work as agricultural labourers among landed proprietors. For the lands that they rented, they paid in money, produce, or service. Some may have become coloni in order to gain protection from the proprietor against the state tax collector or against invaders and aggressive neighbours. Although technically freemen, the coloni were bound to the soil by debts that were heritable and by laws limiting their freedom of movement. By AD 332 landlords were permitted to chain coloni suspected of planning to leave. Coloni were forbidden to transfer their property without consent of the landlord and to sue the landlord except for increasing their rent. The colonus could not lose his land as long as he paid the rent, but he was forbidden to leave or change his occupation. If the land was sold, he went with it; his children held it after him on the same terms
Learn more about colonus with a free trial on Britannica.com. | <urn:uuid:297e23df-b90a-4d35-a898-acbca167f78e> | {
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Euthanasia is defined as the act of intentionally ending a person’s life so as to help relieve suffering or pain. If for example a doctor was to give a patient suffering from a terminal condition such as cancer an overdose of drugs that would end the patient’s life, this would be considered as euthanasia. Deliberately aiding, or encouraging a person to commit suicide would also be considered as assisted suicide. A good example would be obtaining powerful sedatives for a terminally ill person with full awareness that the medication would be used for suicide. In which countries is euthanasia legal? What about euthanasia legality in the US?
In Which Countries Is Euthanasia Legal?
In some countries, euthanasia is legal and there have been various government policies that have implemented in support of the practice that is also referred to as mercy killing.
Belgium is one of the countries that have legalized euthanasia and this law has been in place since September 2002. The law states that two doctors need to be involved in the process and a psychologist as well if the competency of the patient is in doubt. Both the patient and doctor decide on the best course of action to take in ending the patient’s life and this could be through a prescribed overdose or lethal injection.
On May 20th 2010, the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled that no one would be held criminally accountable for terminating the life of a patient who is terminally ill and had authorized euthanasia. The court went to further define the term terminally ill as a person with condition such as AIDS, kidney failure, liver failure, cancer and other terminal conditions that come with extreme suffering. That said; euthanasia laws in Columbia do not authorize intentionally ending the lives of patient suffering from degenerative diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
India is yet another country where euthanasia is legal. However, the law only recognizes passive euthanasia as legal. This law was passed by the Supreme Court of India in 2011 as a means to legally withdraw life support in patients who are in a permanent vegetative state. Active euthanasia is however still illegal and this includes using lethal compounds to end a person’s life.
In Ireland, active euthanasia is illegal. However, it is not illegal to withdraw life support or other treatments if the patient or a next of kin requests for it. According to a poll published on the Irish Times, 57 percent of adults love to see doctor assisted suicide legalized if the patient requests it.
Luxembourg was the third country in the EU to legalize euthanasia. The law was passed in a parliamentary bill that allowed doctors to end the lives of a terminally ill patient. This law requires that such a decision be reached with the approval of a panel of experts and two doctors.
Although active euthanasia is illegal in Mexico, the law allows for passive euthanasia to take place. Close relatives of a terminally ill unconscious patient or the patient could refuse further treatment. This law has been applicable since 2008 and a similar law which sought to have some extended provisions that decriminalize active euthanasia is pending approval.
In Netherlands, euthanasia and doctor assisted suicide are both legal. Although the law was passed in 2002, the courts have permitted the practice since the 1980s and doctors are generally not obligated to keep patients alive contrary to their wishes. For over 20 years, the Netherlands courts have not been prosecuting physicians who facilitate euthanasia.
Where in America Is Euthanasia Legal?
Active euthanasia is illegal and prohibited throughout U.S. However, passive euthanasia in which patients refuse treatment or require proper management of pain that may hasten death is legal.
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in some states of America, and these include Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and California.
- In Oregon, physician-assisted suicide was legalized under the Death With Dignity (DWD) Act which was implemented in 1997. The law allows patients with terminally ill or hopelessly ill conditions to request for lethal medication. The requirements are that the patient must have made two verbal requests and another in writing with a witness for the doctors to end his or her life. Two doctors also need to agree on the diagnosis, the prognosis of the disease and the capability of the patient. The patient will have to personally administer the medication.
- Washington became the second state to legalize physician-assisted suicide after Oregon in 2008 and this was done via the Washington Death with Dignity Act. The Washington law is pretty similar to the Oregon law as it also requires that the patient makes two oral requests and a written one as well. The requests need to be 15 days apart and the patient must be suffering from a terminally ill condition with a life expectancy of six months or less.
- In December 2009, in Montana, the physician-assisted suicide law was passed in the Montana First Judicial District Court in a case dubbed Baxter v. Montana. The ruling stated that a competent patient had the right to die with dignity. The law allows the physician to assist the patient by providing prescription lethal medication which the patient will take on their own.
- In May 20th 2013, Vermont also joined the list of states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide. The law was introduced through act 39 of the End of Life Choices. The law also requires that the patient provide two oral and one written request.
- Most recently in Oct. 5, 2015, California legalized physician-assisted suicide under the End of Life Act (effective January 1, 2016). The act requires that it can only be implemented when the patient is expected to die within 6 months or less. It also requires patients providing two oral requests that are at least 15 days apart and one written request.
It’s important to note that the patient needs to be a resident in all of the above states for a physician-assisted suicide. | <urn:uuid:87739710-24d5-42b6-a499-53945a3eb2ef> | {
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Unequal Economic Development
Although most economies have expanded significantly in the last 40 years,this expansion has been far from equally distributed around the world. Critics of globalization point out that while income in developed regions of the world (such as the United States, Western Europe, and Japan) have increased significantly during the last 30-40 years, other regions (such as Sub-Saharan Africa) have barely improved at all. The result is:
A widening gap between the rich nations of the world and the poor nations.
According to the World Bank, "In 1960 per capita GDP in the richest 20 countries was 18 times that in the poorest 20 countries. By 1995 this gap had widened to 37 times..." The difference in the rate of growth is depicted in the chart below. (Original Source URL: http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/ch3.pdf)
Graphic Source: World Bank, 1999 World Poverty Report
The huge inequalities that exist today are shown in the map below, depicting the existing (1999) distribution of world incomes. The regions in white have an average GNP per capita (an approximation of income) of $755 or less. This represents an average income of about $2.00 per day -- the income the World Bank uses to define the "poverty line" in world incomes. The areas in dark green have average incomes at least 12 times higher ($9266 per year or more).
Be aware that the map shows the AVERAGE GNP per capita. Some of the countries in the areas in white have a substantial number of well-to-do people. India for example, has a large, and rapidly growing, middle-class. But it also has millions of people who are in extreme poverty, causing its average to be very low.
The World Bank defines extreme poverty as "one dollar per day or less." As of 2001, approximately 21% of the world's population was living on $1 per day or less. For many economists, politicians, and moral leaders around the world, putting an end to this extreme poverty, and to extreme differences in income, is the single most important goal of the next century.
Remember, the scope and magnitude of the present economic inequalities in the world is, in the opinion of many commentators on the topic, the single most important factor to be aware of in the study of Globalization. You should be familiar with the facts presented on this page.
Map Source: World Bank, 1999 World Poverty Report
Created on ... February 07, 2004. Revised 10:46 3/15/2005 | <urn:uuid:d0a02826-dd82-49a1-a31e-f553635e555d> | {
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Shelf life of confectionery
Sugar has an impact on the keeping qualities of confectionery.
Boiling a sugar solution to the point of over-saturation and subsequently cooling it down is the basis for manufacture of hard toffee. The keeping qualities of hard toffee can be limited.
Over time the sugar starts to crystallise. This crystallisation can be prevented by adding glucose syrup.
However, it is important to achieve the correct ratio of sugar to glucose syrup. If the content of glucose syrup is too high, the toffee gradually become more and more sticky. | <urn:uuid:1d71d980-cac1-42ef-90f0-0bcb3c4d6a3d> | {
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Special thanks to the
Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program
and to the BC Injury Research & Prevention Unit
for permission to adapt material.
Each year in BC, about 43 people drown.
You drown if your lungs fill with water
and you cannot breathe.
Where do people drown?
In swimming pools,
in natural waters such as rivers, lakes and oceans,
and in bathtubs.
Always have an adult watch babies and children.
Other swimming safety tips:
- Have a first aid kit and a telephone with you.
- Make sure you have lifejackets for everyone.
- Be your child’s lifeguard. | <urn:uuid:dfe31580-c68b-4ffa-83e9-c8703b7764b4> | {
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KU Natural History Museum Event, Science on Tap - Gomphotheres + Silkville: Little Known Stories about the Woody Plants around Us
Wednesday, July 17
Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St., Lawrence, KS
Since the 1860s, nearly 2,200 species of flowering plants, cone-bearing plants, and ferns have been documented in the wild in Kansas. Woody plants—trees, shrubs, and lianas—are a relatively minor component of the state’s flora but have enormous influence on the ecology, history, culture, and economy of Kansas. Craig Freeman, curator of botany at the KU Biodiversity Institute, will highlight the roles of some of these species in shaping our landscapes, lives, and legacy. | <urn:uuid:d71b075f-6842-40ad-9a4b-5f00f9c594c5> | {
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Beyond Browsing the Web07/05/2000
In addition to viewing URLs in the standard Web browsers, there are other useful ways of getting and using Web data on Linux systems right now. Here are a few of them.
Viewing images from the Web
If you want to view an image file that's on the Web, and you know
its URL, you don't have to start a Web browser to do it -- give the
URL as an argument to
display, part of the
ImageMagick suite of imaging tools (available in the Debian
imagemagick package or here).
For example, to view the image at
Click the right mouse button to get a menu; from there, you can save the image to a file if you want to.
Reading text from the Web
If I want to read the text of an article that's on the Web, and I
just want the text and not the Web design, I'll often grab the URL
browser using the
-dump option. This dumps the text of the given URL
to the standard output; then I can pipe the output to
less for perusal, or use redirection to save it to a
lynx -dump http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/winterd/winter.html | less
It's an old Net convention for italicized words to be displayed in
inside underscores like _this_; use the
-underscore option to output
any italicized text in this manner.
lynx numbers all the hyperlinks and
produces a list of footnoted links at the bottom of the screen. If you
don't want them, add the
-nolist option, and just the pure text will be
To output the pure text, with underscores, of the above URL to the
winter_dreams, type (without the line break):
lynx -dump -underscore http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/winterd/winter.html > winter_dreams
Or pipe the output to
to make a nice printout of it (again, don't enter the line breaks shown here):
lynx -dump -underscore http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/winterd/winter.html | enscript -B -f "Times-Roman10"
Pages: 1, 2 | <urn:uuid:8748f258-4ce8-4d8b-a8ab-94c43a7069bf> | {
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It may sound basic, but it's pretty amazing to watch the ape in action.
And when the towel-keeper wouldn't share with a smaller orangutan? Check out what the little one did to prove a towel wasn't needed to stay cool.
Multiple studies have shown wild orangutans use "found objects" like branches to swat bees, leaves to protect their hands from spiny fruit and collections of leafy sticks to create an umbrella-type tool.
Another study observed captive orangutans using raw materials provided to them to perform tasks such as removing raisins from wooden blocks.
It's easy to see why the "orangutan" is also know as the "person of the forest."
Earlier this year, the Girl Scouts organization came under fire for supporting palm oil plantations, which are said to threaten the orangutan population. | <urn:uuid:172c2370-2348-453e-8a09-aaa8bc43c666> | {
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By using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to discover minute areas of heart damage before they grow larger, physicians may be able to take action to prevent sudden cardiac death, which is a leading cause of death in patients with sarcoidosis, the researchers said.
Sarcoidosis is characterized by the formation of tiny inflammatory growths called granulomas. Although granulomas tend to cluster in the lungs, in lymph nodes and under the skin, they also can form in the heart. When they do, it currently is difficult to determine which patients will develop heart damage, the researchers said.
"We found that MRI was sensitive in detecting small areas of damage in the hearts of patients with sarcoidosis, and we were further able to correlate these areas of damage with future adverse outcomes," said Duke cardiologist Manesh Patel, M.D., who presented the results of the study on Sunday, Nov. 12, at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association, in Chicago. "The MRI technology is very good at obtaining high-resolution images of heart muscle and distinguishing normally functioning heart cells from those that are damaged or destroyed."
The study was supported by the Duke Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Center.
According to Patel, conventional methods identify cardiac damage in only 5 percent to 7 percent of sarcoidosis patients. The standard evaluation includes an electrocardiogram, which is an electrical test of the heart, coupled with one of a number of different cardiac imaging techniques.
But previous studies in which autopsies were performed on sarcoidosis patients indicate that up to 30 percent of such patients exhibit evidence of heart damage, he said.
"For this reason, we hypothesized that cardiac damage in sarcoidosis patients is more common and is often unrecognized, explaining why it could be a major cause of death in these patients," Patel said.
For their analysis, the Duke researchers identified 81 sarcoidosis patients consecutively referred for evaluation at Duke. All of the patients received a standard clinical evaluation including an electrocardiogram and on average 1.6 non-cardiac MRI imaging tests, and a cardiac MRI scan. The conventional method identified 10 patients (12.3 percent) with heart damage, while the cardiac MRI identified 21 patients (26 percent) with areas of heart damage, Patel said.
The damage observed often did not fit the pattern of damage caused by coronary artery disease, Patel said, a finding which suggested that the sarcoidosis was the cause of the damage.
The patients in the study were followed by their treating physicians for an average of 13 months, and Patel's team examined their records to see if they had died or had experienced medical problems related to the heart's electrical system.
According to Patel, it is commonly thought that when sarcoidosis damages a portion of heart muscle, the damaged areas can block or reroute the electrical impulses that keep the heart beating. Sudden cardiac death can occur when the heart's internal electrical system is disrupted, causing the heart to beat erratically and, in some cases, to stop.
By the end of the follow-up period, five patients had died from cardiac causes, two had experienced heart-beat abnormalities requiring treatment to bring the heart back into normal rhythm and one needed a pacemaker implanted to maintain normal heart rhythm, Patel said.
The imaging technique that the team used is called delayed enhancement cardiac MRI. In this approach, the researchers inject trace amounts of the element gandolinium into patients before administering the MRI scan.
"Gandolinium is an inert metal, and it cannot enter normally functioning heart muscle cells," Patel said. "However, if small areas of heart muscle are damaged, there are areas that absorb the gandolinium like a sponge. The MRI then detects where the gandolinium accumulates and shows us where the damage is located."
Richard Merritt | EurekAlert!
Multi-year study finds 'hotspots' of ammonia over world's major agricultural areas
17.03.2017 | University of Maryland
Diabetes Drug May Improve Bone Fat-induced Defects of Fracture Healing
17.03.2017 | Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung Potsdam-Rehbrücke
Astronomers from Bonn and Tautenburg in Thuringia (Germany) used the 100-m radio telescope at Effelsberg to observe several galaxy clusters. At the edges of these large accumulations of dark matter, stellar systems (galaxies), hot gas, and charged particles, they found magnetic fields that are exceptionally ordered over distances of many million light years. This makes them the most extended magnetic fields in the universe known so far.
The results will be published on March 22 in the journal „Astronomy & Astrophysics“.
Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe. With a typical extent of about 10 million light years, i.e. 100 times the...
Researchers at the Goethe University Frankfurt, together with partners from the University of Tübingen in Germany and Queen Mary University as well as Francis Crick Institute from London (UK) have developed a novel technology to decipher the secret ubiquitin code.
Ubiquitin is a small protein that can be linked to other cellular proteins, thereby controlling and modulating their functions. The attachment occurs in many...
In the eternal search for next generation high-efficiency solar cells and LEDs, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory and their partners are creating...
Silicon nanosheets are thin, two-dimensional layers with exceptional optoelectronic properties very similar to those of graphene. Albeit, the nanosheets are less stable. Now researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have, for the first time ever, produced a composite material combining silicon nanosheets and a polymer that is both UV-resistant and easy to process. This brings the scientists a significant step closer to industrial applications like flexible displays and photosensors.
Silicon nanosheets are thin, two-dimensional layers with exceptional optoelectronic properties very similar to those of graphene. Albeit, the nanosheets are...
Enzymes behave differently in a test tube compared with the molecular scrum of a living cell. Chemists from the University of Basel have now been able to simulate these confined natural conditions in artificial vesicles for the first time. As reported in the academic journal Small, the results are offering better insight into the development of nanoreactors and artificial organelles.
Enzymes behave differently in a test tube compared with the molecular scrum of a living cell. Chemists from the University of Basel have now been able to...
20.03.2017 | Event News
14.03.2017 | Event News
07.03.2017 | Event News
24.03.2017 | Materials Sciences
24.03.2017 | Physics and Astronomy
24.03.2017 | Physics and Astronomy | <urn:uuid:ffd892e7-263f-47cc-87df-80ebc740e663> | {
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Baking with Kids: Peanut Butter Cookie Day
Today is National Peanut Butter Cookie day! Our summer goals include "Have More Fun" and "Practice Persistence & Flexible Thinking" so of course we had to make peanut butter cookies. My Little Man did all the measuring, most of the mixing, and most of the eating of these delicious 3 ingredient cookies. They have always been a favorite of mine...
Easy PB Cookies
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup peanut butter
- Mix all ingredients together
- Form cookie dough balls, then press with fork
- Bake at 375F' for 6-8 minutes
It is the first recipe I ever memorized and I've made it many times since.
Baking and cooking hit SO many skill points that we are working on strengthening that I try to get my kids to do it often. First of all it is fun AND rewarding because there is food to eat at the end. Most kids will eat more diverse foods if they have helped prepare the foods. This recipe in particular hit fine motor skill strengthening we are working on with my son and you can see in the video the many times he wants to quit stirring or measuring because he is weak in this area. I did end up helping him in the end. Working in the kitchen also offers many problem solving opportunities and flexible thinking opportunities. Just a few things that happened in this 10 minutes... my child:
- Broke egg shell in the bowl and had to work out what to do
- Had to break concentration/activity to transition to additional hand-washing and then back
- Remembered ingredients, measurements, and directions (I did not write them down for him)
- Problem solve how to measure the peanut butter and get it out of the bowl... this was also the most taxing on his fine motor skill strengths (y)
- Practiced patience with the amount of time it was taking to complete this task and patience to
- And did many other small things like figuring out where to put the spoon down, where to wipe off hands, etc. Things we as adults just know, but kids need opportunity to learn or figure out themselves. | <urn:uuid:3f68ff3d-045f-43f1-9993-d07f54fad8ea> | {
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Military Records- Revolutionary War Veterans
With the creation of the United States laws were provided to take care of those veterans that served our country during the Revolutionary War. The descendants of the soldiers came to the area of Northwest Ohio in large volumes.
Northwest Ohio had a few Revolutionary Soldiers that died and were buried in the area. Due to the age of many of the soldiers who fought it was not common for them to come to our area. The information gained from there service records can be valuable to tracing your ancestors to their states of origin.
Two primary records exist for the soldiers that served. The first is the service record. There were two primary units. They were those that served in the Continental Army and those that served in the state militia. Service records for the Continental Army are located at the National Archives and state militia records are at the state level of the state served. These records provide information on when the person served, where they joined and how long they served. This information provides valuable clues to the area that the person came from. This is critical when trying to trace the ancestors back further.
The second primary source and by far the most valuable is pension records and bounty land warrants. These provide a treasure trove of information related to the soldiers life and military service. The person was proving who they were and that they were eligible for the pension. In these records you will find where the person was born and when. You will get a list of where this person has lived since their service in the war. This is important, because it shows their migration pattern. The document will list who they served under and where they served. The spouses name will be listed and I have seen instances where the spouses maiden name is given. Spouses were also eligible for this benefit after the death of the solider.
Bounty Land warrants were applied far more than the pensions. The information provided is the same as that for a pension. Over 450,000 applications are located at the Archives in Washington. These bounty's were granted all over the Northern part of Ohio.
The records both for the Continental Army, pension records and bounty land warrants are located at the National Archives in Washington. The files are indexed by the soldiers name. When searching your family history this is another valuable source of information and something to be very proud of their service. | <urn:uuid:c7dca8e5-eebd-481f-a5f7-c18c4db41047> | {
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|Bookshelf Home | Contents | Index | PDF|
The variable switch_variable is evaluated, and then it is compared to the values in the case statements (value1, value2, ..., default) until a match is found. The statement block following the matched case is executed until the end of the switch block is reached or until a break statement exits the switch block.
Make sure to use a break statement to end each case. In the following example, if the break statement after the "I=I+2;" statement were omitted, the computer executes both "I=I+2;" and "I=I+3;", because the Siebel eScript interpreter executes commands in the switch block until it encounters a break statement.
Suppose that you had a series of account numbers, each beginning with a letter that indicates the type of account. You could use a switch statement to carry out actions depending on the account type, as in the following example:
|Siebel eScript Language Reference| | <urn:uuid:4bf35356-4d2d-493e-882f-e2dd5109db66> | {
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Xing (“natural tendencies”) and qing (“feelings” or “affectivity”) are two key terms in Zhongyong. The Chinese character xing and qing both contain one element: xin. So here’s where my attempt to explain the meaning of the two terms begins.
Xin, which is generally translated as “heart”, actually has a broad meaning. Almost all Chinese characters related to “feelings” has the element “xin” as a constituent part. It’s because like the ancient Egyptians, the ancient Chinese held that heart is the biological component for thinking and feeling, which are now recognized as the functions of the mind. So looking at the Chinese characters, you could find that xin means both thinking and feeling.
Now let’s take a look at the character xing. It has two parts, xin (thinking and feeling) and sheng (born). In many translations of Chinese classics, the word xing means nature, something people are born with. Is this a felicitous translation? This is the first question this article attempts to answer.
Xing is Natural Tendency
Zhongyong begins with “what tian commands is called natural tendencies”. (天命之谓性).
Because of Zhongyong’s particular role in Chinese philosophy, a bridge connecting the Confucianism and Daoism, understanding these two terms requires a careful reading of all of the Confucian and Daoist classics. In explaining this sentence, I first sought answer from the Analects. Zigong said, “We can learn from the Master’s cultural refinements, but do not hear him discourse on subjects such as our ‘natural disposition (xing)’ and ‘the way of tian (tiandao)’”1. According to my understanding, the reason why Confucius doesn’t talk about xing or tian is not because they are not important terms, but quite the contrary, they are so important that Confucius thinks you cannot simply put it into words and teach others; a better way would be for the others to spontaneously seek it through observing the conducts of exemplary persons and thus learn about it.
In Zhuxi’s commentary of the Zhongyong, xing is defined as li (rationality), xing ji li. However, the Chinese li is different from the Platoic reasoning or Aristotelian rationality. Li is closely related to people’s relationship with the world and their feelings toward the world.
When Aristotle discusses virtues, he tends to attribute it to acting upon rational principle, not something that comes to us by nature, for the function of human beings is “an activity of soul which follows or implies rational principle”2. In the Confucian tradition, on the other hand, virtues come from natural tendencies.
Mencius, as opposed to Confucius, doesn’t only talk about xing, but also gives a metaphorical explanation on the relationship between human nature and human goodness: “The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downwards. There are none but have this tendency to good, just as all water flows downwards.”3 This passage gives us the idea that “natural tendency”, not nature, is the matter that concerns most, for if human nature is virtuous, where does the need of nurture and development come in? This reminds me of the “ought” implies “can” principle in Kantian philosophy. I think the Kantian “ought” implies virtues, and “can” implies a possibility. “Natural tendency” suggests man’s possibility of being virtuous.
Look further in the Works of Mencius, says: “The feeling of commiseration is the beginning of ren; the feeling of shame and dislike is the beginning of rightness; the feeling of deference and compliance is the beginning of propriety, and the feeling of right and wrong is the beginning of wisdom. Men have these four beginnings just like they have their four limbs. ”4 Hence, we could see that like a bud needs water and sunshine to grow, human being have the natural tendency to be virtuous but are not naturally virtuous, so it also needs nurturing and educating. In this case, simply translating xing as “nature” is partial. A felicitous translation of xing would be “natural tendency”.
Xing serves “at least three functions: explanatory, originative, and regulative. In other words, “xing” rationally explains the moral motivation of a person in whatever sense of morality commands and compels our general and basic respect and trust; “xing” is understood or experiences to originate our initial moral impulses, which lead to our moral behaviors; and “xing” finally provides a normative or prescriptive definition of goodness: whatever “xing” manifests under optimum natural conditions is ontologically good and therefore should provide a basis and a starting point for moral goodness.”5
Another point calls for attention is the nontranscendent and organismic concept in early Chinese cosmology. The natural tendency of human beings is not endowed, but commanded, which means xing is not only generic, but also spontaneous. Xing is not an origin or an end, rather a process that requires human beings to put in their efforts.
Xing is a Process
Unlike the Western tradition in which tian is considered transcendent, the early Chinese tradition, since Zhou dynasty, bears the idea of san cai (ie. Tian (heaven), di (earth), and ren (human)) and pei tian (the complement of tian). The very basis of Zhongyong is the notion of tianrenheyi (heaven and human as one).
The process of self-realization, or self-transformation, which is later known as "learning to be a Sage" in the Confucian tradition was based on two premises: the Heaven-commanded natural tendency human possesses, and human’s capability of functioning as a creative agent. Therefore, it is “within one’s capacity in realizing and fulfilling this ideal goal of life.”6
Mencius said, “He who has exhausted all his mental constitution knows his nature. Knowing his nature, he knows Heaven. To preserve one's mental constitution, and nourish one's nature, is the way to serve Heaven.”7
To know the nature and nourish the nature is perceived as a way to serve heaven. This notion places one’s natural tendency in a position of a road map, which leads one closer to the way of tian. And since it “has its ultimate appeal to tian”, the natural tendency plays a role of “providing an authoritarian justification of the good.”8
“Exemplary persons cannot but cultivate their persons. In cultivating their persons, they cannot but serve their kin. In serving their kin, they cannot but realize human conduct. And in realizing human conduct, they cannot but realize tian.”9 This passage suggests that the start of being an exemplary person is realizing tian, which, as far as I’m concerned, means to realizing our natural tendencies, knowing that we are given the ability to think and feel. The second step, realizing human conduct, is about carrying out our natural tendencies, actualizing them in our conduct. The next requirement, serving the kin, shows an extraordinary character of Chinese culture, which is the emphasis on filial piety. And this is where it differs most from Western ideology. Chinese philosophy put more emphasis on people’s emotional experiences and relationships with others. Then a person could be said as a cultivated person. So everything boils down to what we are given. Here I want to stress that xing is generic; it’s given to everyone, which means everyone has the capacity to become an exemplary person. Yet we are all “given to be not totally determined by what are given, for we are given what is not presently realized in the given.”10
So the question is what is realizing the given. And here is
Where Qing Comes In
Commiseration with the suffering of others, shame at one's own faults, deference to superiors, and approval/disapproval of the actions of others (Mencius 2A.2) are all parts of human feelings, which is, as I understand it, the forms of natural tendencies (xing). While there is nothing good or bad about certain feelings, there is, however, differences in the appropriateness in expressing feelings.
“The moment at which joy and anger, grief and pleasure, have yet to arise is called a nascent equilibrium (zhong); once the emotions have arisen, that they are all brought into proper focus (zhong) is called harmony (he).”11
The Confucian tradition is more concerned with appropriateness than righteousness. So what matters most is the proper expression of qing, as it plays an important role in ritual propriety (li). Yucong (《语丛》) tells us that feelings rise from natural tendencies, and ritual proprieties rise from feelings ( 情生于性，礼生于情) ; it also says ritual proprieties are something people do according to their feelings (礼因人之情而为之) . Liji (《礼记》) expresses similar idea by saying “teaching the people to love one another, and high and low to cultivate good feeling between them;--such was the effect of those ceremonies”12 (上下用情，礼之至也) As we learnt in the Analects, the hard thing to do in filial piety (xiao) is not “displaying” the conduct of filial affection but really feeling the love and affection to parents (se nan). Without qing, all rituals will just be a synthetic display.
As we know, music plays an important part in ritual proprieties. In music as in other aspects of ritual proprieties, the concept of harmony is most indispensable, and it is also achieved through qing. Vladimir Ashkenazy would not play such beautiful piano works by Frederic Chopin if he is indifferent to the feelings revealed in the music.
So it could be concluded that the particular importance of qing lies in its access to harmony (he), which is the heart of Confucian philosophy. This harmony involves three levels: “the personal or individual heart–mind, the socio-moral, and the onto-cosmic and onto-cosmological. Each illuminates the other, and they form the Confucian vision of the trinity of heaven, earth, and man, which is a state of the utmost harmony and ultimate goal of the Confucian education.”13 This means that qing, by making persons properly focused and harmonious, has an effect on cosmic order.
As it says in Zhongyong, “the notion of equilibrium and focus (zhong) is the great root of the world; harmony then is the advancing of the proper way (dadao) in the world. When equilibrium and focus are sustained and harmony is fully realized, the heavens and earth maintain their proper places and all things flourish in the world.”
In conclusion, the natural tendency (xing) is what given to everyone in forms of qing and it calls for cultivation and development. Qing, when properly expressed, is what brings equilibrium and harmony to persons, cosmos, and to human-heaven relationships.
1 Ames, Roger and Henry Rosemont. The Analects Of Confucius. New York: Ballantine Books/Ballantine Pub. Group, 1999. V.13
2 Aristotle et.al. The Nicomachean Ethics. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1998.
3 Legge, James. The Works of Mencius. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. 6A2
4 Legge, James. The Works of Mencius. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. 2A6
5 Chung-ying Cheng. “On a Comprehensive Theory of Xing (Naturality) in Song-Ming Neo-Confucian Philosophy: A Critical and Integrative Development”, Philosophy East & West, Volume 47, Number 1 January 1997. 33-46
6 Chung-ying Cheng, “On The Metaphysical Significance of Ti (body-embodiment) in Chinese Philosophy: Benti (origin-substance) and Ti-Yong (substance and function)”, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, vol. 29, no2, pp. 145-161 2002
7 Legge, James. The Works of Mencius. New York: Dover Publications, 1990. 7A1
8 Yunping Wang, “Autonomy and the Confucian Moral Person”, Journal of Chinese philosophy, vol. 29, no22, pp. 251-268, 2002
9 Ames, R., & Hall, D. Focusing the Familiar. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 2001. XX
10 Chung-ying Cheng, “On Education for Morality in Global and Cosmic Contexts: Two Philosophical Models”, Wingspan
11 Ames, R., & Hall, D. Focusing the Familiar. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 2001. I
12 James Legge, The Li Ki (The Book of Rites), XXI. KÎ Î,
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Spectacular Wyoming cloud formation: What is a supercell, anyway? (+video)
Storm chasers' time-lapsed footage of a Wyoming supercell is taking the Internet by storm. Where do these spectacular and potentially deadly cloud formations come from?
Video footage of a massive cloud formation in Wyoming has brought the breathtaking splendor of the high Plains to the desktops of millions.
The spiraling mass of clouds caught on tape by a group of storm chasers known as Basehunters shows the time-lapse formation of a supercell storm.
Supercells form when winds aloft cross surface winds, creating a powerful rotating updraft that whips clouds into a thunderous vortex, according to The Weather Channel. These formations are often referred to as “mothership” clouds because they frequently resemble an enormous space ship hovering above the earth.
The Monitor’s Pete Spotts reported on supercells for a 2012 cover story on tornadoes.
Supercells rely on four basic ingredients to form: a source of warm, moisture-laden air near the ground and colder air at higher altitudes; a shift in wind speed or direction with altitude – known as wind shear – within a few thousand feet of the ground; something to trigger the rise of that low-level warm air; and a landmass that is closer to its hemisphere's pole than the source of the warm, moist air.
These ingredients are present elsewhere, such as South America, southeastern China, Bangladesh, and on the Tibetan Plateau, notes Paul Markowski, an associate professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University in State College. "But no place do these conditions occur on as vast a scale as the Great Plains of the United States," he says.
The footage of the gathering storm may be a visual treat for those watching from the comfort of their desks, but supercells can be extremely dangerous for those on the ground. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, windspeeds within and prodtruding from supercells can exceed 100 miles per hour and are capable of producing violent tornadoes.
The supercell captured in the Basehunters' footage produced hailstones the size of baseballs. A supercell was responsible for the formation of the devastating tornado that ripped through Moore, Okla., on May 20, 2013.
Depending on moisture levels and the orientation of the updraft, these monstrous clouds can assume forms so magnificent that people who manage to capture images of them tend to want to share them. Here are a handful of recent shots from around the globe of supercells in all their glory. | <urn:uuid:37430526-50a5-4eff-ba2a-2e30a173370f> | {
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Shoots are the sprouted plant seeds, that have not yet formed green leaves. The dry grains raise under supply of water, oxygen, light and warmth their metabolism and start to germinate. In the grain begin a positiv change of the ingredients. The structure of the carbohydrates will refurb and so they are more easily to digestible, the amino acids will be shift and the proteins get a higher quality, the content of unsaturated fatty acids rises and the minerals and phytochemicals are available. On top of the changes many different flavours are bulid during the germination and the seeds get more aromatic. The sprouted seeds are used for bakery products, pasta, cereals or salads. The seeds belong to different plant familys like the graminaceae, leguminous, clovers and oil seeds contain different ingredients and are spezial compositions.
Sprouting seeds are defined as the germinable seeds of eatable plants. The seeds are used for pulling the sprouts. The seeds are placed in a equipment for germination under warm and humid conditions. Then the seeds start to germinate and the small plants are named sprouting seeds, until they formed their first leaves and feeds on itself.
Ziegler Natur offers a wide selection of sprouting seeds form certified organic farming. | <urn:uuid:fe75fe95-4814-4293-bd7c-13de385b4663> | {
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Surveillance impacts every aspect of our lives.
Ad agencies create profiles about us without our knowledge. Companies
violate their own privacy agreements and still are granted immunity after
sharing our customer data with the NSA. The government and police use
counterterrorism resources to spy on our peaceful political protests.
And just imagine what else is happening without our knowledge.
Call Congress — don't let them pass mass surveillance laws in your name!
Thanks for taking action!
Now, more than ever, we have a real chance at passing meaningful surveillance reform. Please help spread the word!
Surveillance is censorship.
Supporters of mass surveillance often say "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear." This trivial argument ignores the fact that privacy is a human right, and that surveillance is often used politically to bully journalists and silent dissent. A report by the U.N. found that when people know they're under surveillance, they are more likely to limit their own freedom of expression, engaging in self-censorship for fear of government retaliation. In the United States, surveillance programs meant to fight terrorism are used to monitor and target political activists, directly threatening our rights to free speech and free association. Governments want their citizens to be afraid of them. Surveillance is not about protecting us, it's about control.
Surveillance legislation in the United States
The United States government already has sweeping mass surveillance authority, and Congress is trying to pass even more. Here's a summary of the main authorities the government uses to engage in mass surveillance.
• The USA Freedom Act
Congress recently passed the USA Freedom Act, a so-called surveillance reform bill that was initially hyped as an end to NSA bulk collection. But in fact, this bill extended key portions of the PATRIOT Act and explicitly authorized the NSA's phone metadata spying program, which was ruled illegal up until the bill passed. The USA Freedom Act was backed by the US Intelligence Community, and Congress passed it without support from key privacy groups, such as Fight for the Future, Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union.
Opponents of the USA Freedom Act argued that the NSA will still be able to use broad search terms to target large portions of the population, and they can collect even more information from contacts “connected” to those targets. Companies that hand customer data over to the government are rewarded with blanket immunity from lawsuits, even when they violate their own privacy agreements with customers. The bill also allows the government to issue permanent gag orders on people or companies that receive surveillance orders.
The USA Freedom Act was just recently passed. Time will tell if it reigns-in mass surveillance at all, but already the law is being used to potentially shut down surveillance transparency lawsuits.
• Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
Although much of the public debate over mass surveillance has centered around the phone "metadata" collection program that Edward Snowden revealed, lawmakers including Senator Ron Wyden of the Intelligence Committee have suggested that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Under Section 702 of FISA, the NSA has been able to collect huge quantities of electronic communications data, including the actual content of emails and web browsing sessions, without a warrant or any meaningful oversight. Section 702 has allowed the NSA to tap directly into the Internet backbone, giving them potentially unlimited surveillance ability. It's likely that many secret mass surveillance programs are based on Section 702, unknown to the public (such as the ability for the government to listen to any past phone call, without having ever set up a specific wiretap).
AT&T's Folsom Street backbone facility, where the NSA tapped directly into the Internet.
• Executive Order 12333
Issued by President Ronald Reagan in 1980, Executive Order 12333 has been used by the NSA to justify tapping directly into the cloud storage servers of Yahoo and Google without a warrant or civilian oversight. The NSA has also used EO 12333 to secretly construct social networks of American citizens. Unlike other legislation, executive orders are issued by the president without any oversight or approval from Congress. This raises serious privacy and separation of power questions when such authority is used to engage in mass surveillance of American citizens.
• CIS(P)A: The Cyber-Intelligence Sharing Act — not passed yet!
CISA, formerly called CISPA, is a surveillance bill that would let the government collect private user information stored by web companies like Facebook and Dropbox, and share it with the NSA, DEA, and FBI. Companies would given legal immunity for working with the government surveillance authorities in ways that violate privacy laws. Thanks to outcry from privacy activists, Congress has tried and failed to pass CISA four times over the last few years, but they're trying again this summer. Like a zombie, this bill is hard to kill once and for all.
How to get involved:
Congress recently passed the USA Freedom Act, but this legislation didn't go nearly far enough to reign-in the NSA. Call Congress and demand real surveillance reform! | <urn:uuid:b00b1df8-0c8a-44ce-9f6c-e6226d21d76d> | {
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It's an old joke: How does the teflon stick to the pan? It turns out that the answer involves a relatively long scientific quest to find a smooth substance that can stand the test of time.
When you run your fingers over nonstick pans, they have that ultra-smooth plasticky feel that lets you know why pancakes slide away from them as if they're hostages making a break for freedom. Press your fingers a little harder, and you'll find one of the answers to that oldest of jokes, "What makes the teflon stick to the pan." The teflon is sleek, but underneath you feel a nubbly (that's a scientific term) surface that's far more rough than regular metal pans. That's teflon history right there, because the first thing that got teflon to stick to any pan was a rough, pitted surface.
Nonstick coatings are long chains of fluorine mixed with carbon and hydrogen. The carbon is very important to the process. Carbon and fluorine double bond to each other in rings. It's the strongest carbon bond that there is, and it leaves no chance for anything else to form bonds with the carbon, including any food. The combination of hydrogen, carbon, and fluorine in these polymers has been juggled and re-juggled by scientists for years. Build the chains long and they work like crazy as nonstick substances, but they become viscous - sticking to themselves or each other - and impossible to apply or handle. Keep them too short and they're not really nonstick.
The first solution to the problem was to create a surface that almost anything in the world would have to stick to. Manufacturers would either pit the metal viciously or spray on what they called tiny pieces of ceramics and we might call sand, creating a mountainous environment for the polymers. The nonstick coating would get caught in the crags. It would also, with too much scraping, come out of the crags, which is why special rubber spatulas had to be sold to keep the nonstick pans even a little bit nonstick. Nonstick coatings were notoriously delicate. This meant the pans that were supposedly easy to cook with began to require more care than normal pans. Once something burned on, it needed scrubbing to get off. The scrubbing pulled off more coating, which meant more food was going to stick to the pan.
The next incarnation of pans battled this problem with a two step process. They first introduced a primer. This consisted of a version of the nonstick coating that allowed the equivalent of tiny molecular grappling hooks to attach to it. These hooks would also sink into the pitted surface of the pan and hold on tight. Then regular nonstick coating was sprayed on. The polymers cling to each other just fine - it's everything else they have a problem with - and so the two would stick together. As for the ceramic sand, that was transferred to the final layer of the coating, to toughen it up so it wouldn't come off too easily.
The problem with all nonstick coatings is they soften as they heat. If food burns in the pan, the pan is heated too high, or if it isn't loaded with enough food, the sticky coating comes off all on its own. I am a lackadaisical cook, often wandering off to read and coming back to some severely carmelized onions. While other people are more careful, almost everyone has overheated a pan at least once. I'm willing to bet even the best cooks have at least one scraped up, formerly nonstick frying pan lying at the back of their cupboards and sulking. So the best way to reply to the old joke, if you don't want to get into chemistry, is just saying, "You think teflon sticks to the pan?"
Top Image: Kanko
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Self-charging battery both generates and stores energy
Nanosilicon rapidly splits water without light, heat, or electricity
Hybrid energy harvester generates electricity from vibrations and sunlight
Rational design can improve hydrogen fuel cell efficiency
Dutch company launches new-generation urban wind turbines
Materials scientists make solar energy chip 100 times more efficient
(Phys.org) —Scientists working at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) have improved an innovative solar-energy device to be about 100 times more efficient than its previous ...
Big beats bolster solar cell efficiency
(Phys.org) —Playing pop and rock music improves the performance of solar cells, according to new research from scientists at Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London.
Breakthrough iron-based superconductors set new performance records
(Phys.org)—The road to a sustainably powered future may be paved with superconductors. When chilled to frigid temperatures hundreds of degrees Celsius below zero, these remarkable materials are singularly ...
New device achieves self-biased solar hydrogen generation through microbial electrohydrogenesis at lab scale
A novel device that uses only sunlight and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas could provide a sustainable energy source while improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment.
Researchers generate electricity from viruses
Imagine charging your phone as you walk, thanks to a paper-thin generator embedded in the sole of your shoe. This futuristic scenario is now a little closer to reality. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence ...
Folding light: Wrinkles and twists boost power from solar panels
Taking their cue from the humble leaf, researchers have used microscopic folds on the surface of photovoltaic material to significantly increase the power output of flexible, low-cost solar cells.
Powered by seaweed: Polymer from algae may improve battery performance
(PhysOrg.com) -- By looking to Mother Nature for solutions, researchers have identified a promising new binder material for lithium-ion battery electrodes that not only could boost energy storage, but also ...
Replacing batteries may become a thing of the past, thanks to 'soft generators'
Battery technology hasn't kept pace with advancements in portable electronics, but the race is on to fix this. One revolutionary concept being pursued by a team of researchers in New Zealand involves creating ...
Solar-thermal flat-panels that generate electric power
(PhysOrg.com) -- High-performance nanotech materials arrayed on a flat panel platform demonstrated seven to eight times higher efficiency than previous solar thermoelectric generators, opening up solar-thermal ... | <urn:uuid:daf0e877-df91-49f2-9d43-1f63c059b6a7> | {
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Archive of 2010 PsycEXTRA® Sample Searches Podcasts
Step Your Game Up
Turns out print could have been just a whistle-stop in human development. At least, technologies other than print are being hailed as a much more efficient means of communication for accelerating the reach and speed of human achievement. Online video, self-organizing groups on the Internet, and mobile devices are all contributing to a synergistic revolution that is occurring at lightning speed.
Researchers who need the latest information from a spectrum of sources in addition to print can find PsycEXTRA's content invaluable. For example, a search in PsycEXTRA limited to videos as the source, keywords "online," "web," or "Internet" and "innovation," and 2008 through 2010 yields fascinating results, among them the following:
Chris Anderson: How Web Video Powers Global Innovation (2010). In his theory of crowd accelerated innovation, Anderson enthusiastically promoted online video as the perfect ecosystem for creative progress, as it takes advantage of video's speed, universal reach, and appeal to passionate groups of viewers. You need just three things: a crowd, which the web provides; "light," or open visibility, which the videos themselves provide; and a passionate response, which comes from the right receptive viewers. The result is powerful feedback loops in which viewers are able to combine elements from and compare themselves with the best in a field.
Anderson provided compelling examples of how effectively and quickly online video has raised the bar in pursuits from breakdancing to cell biology research to transforming a trash pile in Africa's biggest shantytown into a garden that is feeding more than 30 families. Already, the idea has been borrowed and applied to everything from games to online learning to real estate photography.
Related research comes in The Child-Driven Education (2010), a web site video clip distributed by TEDGlobal that features education scientist Sugata Mitra, who discussed the most frustrating paradox of modern education: Those who need good education the most don't get it.
To counter the problem, Dr. Mitra conducted a series of global experiences that showed that children with access to the Internet can teach themselves effectively. He simply embedded a computer in a wall in a New Delhi slum where children barely went to school. Now the children not only learn, but they teach each other. Importantly, he found a single child in front of a single computer is not able to do what a group of children with access to the Internet can in a self-organizing educational system.
Yet another video in the TED series, How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World (Shirky, 2010), defined "cognitive surplus" as "shared online work we do with our spare brain cycles." Kicked off by a crisis mapping experiment in Kenya in which one researcher asked for help from others using their computers and mobile phones to provide a map of election abuses when the media had blocked coverage, the aggregated efforts were able to provide an accurate map.
The technique has since been used to track snow cleanup in DC and in Haiti to track the aftermath of the earthquake. It went from a single idea in East Africa in the beginning of 2008 to a global development in less than three years.
The Ghost in the Machine
The owner of the company that makes the Segway died recently from injuries suffered in a fall after driving his Segway off a cliff. If you remember the massive buzz that surrounded the unveiling of the Segway, billed in 2002 as the "future of human transportation," and the collective yawn and giggle that its appearance elicited, then there is something almost tragic — as well as ironic — in the fall of this modern man–machine centaur.
To use the Segway as segue in our annual tribute to Halloween, humankind often teeters on the lip between innovation's possibilities and consequences and often drives blithely ahead. A researcher with a scientific and mechanical bent, let's call him Dr. Frankenstein, interested in braving that divide might be interested in what he could find in the PsycEXTRA database to push the human–machine nexus in the "spooky" area of artificial intelligence.
Specifically, what research is available on speech recognition by electronic "others," like a computer, mobile device, or car, in which a person talks and the device listens, comprehends, and responds? In what format might you find results?
By searching the word "patent" in an Any Field search with "speech recognition" or "artificial intelligence" as keywords, our scientist would get a robust 13 results.
Among those results are the following:
- "Emotion Recognition Method and Device" (Oudeyer, 2008) details a patent for a method of detecting an "emotion conveyed in a voice signal," which comprises sequential steps outlined as a series of filtering vocal signals and extracting sound properties.
- "Adjustable Resource Based Speech Recognition System" (Bennett, 2010) is a method of recognizing a speech utterance from a user at a network server system. The US Department of Commerce described the method as a "real-time speech recognition system that includes distributed processing across a client and server for recognizing a spoken query by a user."
- "System and Method for Processing Sentence Based Queries" (Bennett, 2010) describes invention systems and methods for processing sentence based queries presented to a search engine using phrase analyses. Sentence based queries from a user are analyzed to determine appropriate answers from an electronic database.
- "Internet Based Speech Recognition System With Dynamic Grammars" (Bennett, 2010) is for a speech-enabled World Wide Web based computing system that "allows a user to interact with content associated with a web page and select items of interest using speech as a mode of input. Dynamic grammars can assist in the recognition operations to improve speed and comprehension."
All of these systems are geared toward ever-improving real-time, interactive communication that "emulates a human dialog experience." Would you find that useful, Dr. Frankenstein? How 'bout you, Hal?
The Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe
It's now been 5 months since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill killed 11 workers and created the biggest oil leak ever to occur in U.S.-controlled waters. By the time the spill was finally capped in mid-July, its consequences had altered virtually every part of life in the Gulf States, and people throughout the country were deeply affected by the unfolding tragedy. Economically, the Gulf States have been devastated, with fisheries, tourism, and the oil drilling industries particularly hard hit. The scope of the environmental disaster's effect on sensitive wetlands and marine life will take years to assess. And the damage to vibrant local populations like long-time resident Cajun families and newer immigrant Vietnamese and Latino communities may well be incalculable.
Part of PsycEXTRA's mission is to make resources available to the public that will help them in a crisis. What sorts of resources might someone seeking help find in the database specific to this crisis?
A search of the database for "oil spill" or Deepwater or "Gulf disaster" that is limited to the past year returns 42 results. Among these, are 11 fact sheets or brochures that address issues or problems that affect specific population groups. They include:
- Health Department Reminds Residents of Health Information Related to Gulf Oil Spill
- Oil Spill Dispersant (COREXIT ®EC9500A and EC9527A) Information for Health Professionals
- Tips for Coping With the Oil Spill Disaster: Managing Your Stress
- Tips for Dealing With Grief: Due to the Oil Spill Disaster
- Tips for Oil Spill Disaster Response Workers: Possible Signs of Alcohol and Substance Abuse
- Tips for Talking to Children & Youth About the Oil Spill Disaster: A Guide for Parents and Educators
- Traumatic Incident Stress: Information for Deepwater Horizon Response Workers and Volunteers
These materials help the readers identify the issues, recognize symptoms, and understand that they aren't alone in the reactions of grief, stress, confusion, or ill health they may be experiencing. In addition, they provide material help in the form of hotlines, web sites, and offices that are able to assist them resolve issues and find help.
The Politics of Day Care
One of PsycEXTRA's most fascinating uses is as a historical archive, a snapshot of where we were on a given issue at a certain time. For instance, it can be easy to forget how today's custom was yesterday's controversy. Today most preschool children routinely spend time in a child care facility of some sort. Yet a battle royal raged in the 1970s in the national arena over day care. Attempts to legislate a comprehensive national policy were attacked for reasons ranging from economics, to politics, developmental psychology, and morality.
The PsycEXTRA database has more than 2,200 records on child care issues. But limiting our results to the window of the 1970s and federal legislation, we find material on the Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971.
Reported in the Division of Developmental Psychology Newsletter (1973), we find attacks on Professor Urie Bronfenbrenner, one of the experts who testified in defense of the child development provisions of the Act. Conservatives reacted by claiming the professor intended to "destroy motherhood by encouraging day care," and two congressmen misquoted him in the Congressional Record as having written "Recognizing that communal forms of upbringing have an unquestionable superiority over all others, we are faced with the task…of expanding the network of such institutions at such a pace that within fifteen to twenty years they are available—from cradle to graduation—to the entire population of the country." (The quote was a translation of a Soviet authority quoted in one of the professor's books.) When Bronfenbrenner took exception to being called a communist, the spokesman for the Emergency Committee for Children apologized, but he did so saying Bronfenbrenner's "attempts to pass the legislation…led us to believe that the quote was not an altogether unfair summary of your views." The legislation passed in both houses but was vetoed by President Nixon.
Controversy continued to follow attempts to enact child care legislation. A new bipartisan child development bill was introduced and reported (APA Monitor; 1972) to specifically address Nixon's objections, including what he described as the "family-weakening implications of the system it envisions." What came to be known as the Child and Family Services Act, introduced in 1974 and reintroduced in 1975, also sought to soften the controversial points and emphasize the primacy of the family (APA Monitor, 1974).
Yet another APA Division newsletter (Division 7, 1976), reported that Senator Walter Mondale, sponsor of the legislation, in frustration warned that distorted attacks on the bill continued. Misinformation circulated included that "this legislation would somehow give children the legal right to disobey their parents and somehow prohibit parents from providing religious training to their children." Neither version of the bill was enacted.
Nor do we have a clearly defined national policy in the area of child care to this day.
By a show of hands, who thinks that sending a person to prison is likely to rehabilitate her and make her less likely to commit a crime when she gets out? In the United States, 1 in 100 adults is in prison or jail, a rate five to eight times that of Europe or Canada. And our prisons are too often a revolving door. That is especially true for the roughly 1 million women who make up the fastest growing segment of the criminal justice system.
A search of the PsycEXTRA database using the terms women, prison*, and recidivism or rehabilitation returned more than 100 results.
Among them were a number of sources that focused on the statistics of incarceration. A "Prisoners in 2008" (the last year for which all statistics are completed) by the Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin (2009) presented data on prisoners in federal, state, and military correctional facilities broken down by gender and ethnicity. A 2009 APA Convention presentation by Robinson and Güss, "Life Inside and Outside of Prison: Recidivism of Female Prisoners" reviewed recent statistics on women. That study conducted a literature search on female prisoners' recidivism rates and found that 85% of women prisoners were back in the prison system within 18 months of their release.
Many sources document how the prison system is failing women. In "Inequality in Prison" (2009), Clark noted that in the American criminal justice system, gender-specific services are not available. Institutions may have a policy of being gender-neutral, but in prisons, "'gender-neutral' usually means male." In most jurisdictions, though their needs are often greater, women are offered fewer programs than men. For example, the study cited a parenting program offered at 27 men's prisons that is offered at just 2 women's prisons, and even at those 2 it offers fewer resources than men's programs.
Over the past 10 years, the female prison population is up 81% (vs. 45% for men), with 75% having mental health problems (vs. 55% for men), and 78% having substance abuse problems. There are also few programs to help women increase their economic opportunities. Asked about women inmates' opportunities when they leave jail and prison, the codirecter of the Center for Gender and Justice quoted one of his inmates: "There are two employers out there for us: One is the drug dealer and the other is the pimp."
The evidence-based practice movement has become an important feature of health care systems and health care policy. This month, we're going to take a look at information in the PsycEXTRA database on evidence-based practice, which integrates individual clinical care with the best available clinical research. To fine-tune a search for specific sources in the database, we're going to focus the search by using controlled language, the content provider field, and the document limit. Specifically, we're researching recent conference abstracts that focus on the use of evidence-based practice with children and adolescents and for which the American Psychological Association is the content owner.
Our search combines Evidence Based Practice as an index term and American Psychological Association as content owner. The search limits by document type to conference abstract and by age group from birth to 17 years. Finally, we use the date field to restrict the search to 2005 to 2010.
The search yields 19 results, which make clear how widely evidence-based treatment is used. Among the results are the following:
In "Theory- and Evidence-Based Assessment—Treatment Links" (2009), Berninger examined how evidence-based practice is used with children in Grade 1 to 7 to treat early intervention for at-risk readers and writers and treatment for reading and writing disabilities.
"Perspective on Residential and Community-Based Treatment for Youth and Families" (Hopkins, Kamins, Happ, & Hunt, 2009) reviewed a multidisciplinary workgroup on residential treatment of children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance, which concluded that there was an overreliance on residential treatment and an underreliance on evidence-based alternative treatments.
"Evidence-Based Treatments for Postdisaster Trauma Symptoms in Latino Children" (Costantino et al., 2007) reported on a study that was part of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Treatments and Services Consortium set up to do youth research related to the September 11th attacks. The study explored the evidence-based treatments that had been used with Latino children and concluded that cognitive behavioral treatment was less effective for Latino children.
These are just a few of the many areas in which evidence-based treatment has become the gold standard for treatment the past few years.
Avatars—All the World's a Stage
Once, if one was born short, stocky, and gray-eyed, then nature was destiny, and one was likely to remain gray-eyed, stocky, and short. Not any more. Or, at least, one's options have changed in the increasing number of virtual worlds where avatars roam. Avatars are a computer user's representation of him- or herself through the form of an alter ego, for whom appearance and gender, even species, are choices. And those other-selves are being used in a variety of ways now, beyond gaming. What information is there in PsycEXTRA that could be used to develop research on use of avatars?
If we combine the keyword avatar with variants of the term virtual (for example, Virtual Classrooms or Virtual Reality) found in the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, we find a number of results. Many of them focus on how an avatar can be used in teaching.
One example is "Drawing Students In" (DeAngelis, 2009), a newsletter article from the Monitor on Psychology, in which a James Madison University psychology professor who is a short blonde holds office hours as a tall redhead in a Second Life classroom. She sometimes also conducts class from Second Life, and does so as a rat or an African grey parrot to emphasize her animal behavior experience.
In another Monitor article ("Can Second Life Therapy Help With Autism?," 2009), DeAngelis also reported on how avatars can be used to treat those with Asperger's syndrome or other autism spectrum disorders by helping them to learn social skills in a virtual environment.
Yet another innovative use of avatars pedagogically was presented in a conference abstract from the 2008 APA Convention. Titled "Head Start Children Improve in Emotion Recognition Following Computer Training" (Perez et al.), the study developed an avatar tutor for use with preschoolers to aid in their socio-emotional development. By using a computer generated tutor, the child is able to experience the visual and auditory components of natural language in a controlled environment that seeks to generalize to the child's everyday life.
The avatar is the most conspicuous online manifestation of people's desire to try out alternative identities or project some private aspect of themselves. As reported by the New York Times ("The Job Interview, Starring Your Avatar," Villano, 2008), they are now even being used in job interviews by a handful of companies. The Harvard Business Review (Hemp, 2006) also noted the incredible potential of avatars in marketing.
These are just a few of the many research areas opened up by virtual selves that have developed in the past few years. These and other materials on this emerging topic can be found in the PsycEXTRA database.
The Bully Pulpit on Anti-Bullying
There has been a spate of high-profile bullying cases in recent years. Most recently, in March nine Massachusetts teenagers were charged for taunting and physical threats against a high school freshman so extreme they drove her to hang herself. Bullying is not new, but there are some who suggest that adolescent bullying has actually gotten worse in recent years, thanks in part to the new tools available through social networking and text-messaging.
Turning to the APA PsycEXTRA database, what would we find on the topic? A search using the Index Terms "Bullying" OR "Aggressive Behavior," limited by Age Group to those from 6 to 17 years and to results published within the past 2 years yielded 110 results, among them, the following:
- A US Department of Education report, "Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009" (Dinkes, Kemp, Baum, & Snyder, 2009) presented the most recent data available on school crime and student safety drawn from a variety of data sources. The sources included national surveys of students, teachers, and principals and compared indicators of crime and safety across population subgroups over time.
- A US Department of Justice National Criminal Justice Reference Service bibliography, "Internet Crimes Against Children: An Annotated Bibliography of Major Studies (Lewis, Miller, & Buchalter, 2009), reviewed the findings from the past 10 years for bullying-related incidents.
- A report from Child Trends, "Assessing Bullying: A Guide for Out-of-School Time Program Practitioners" (Sidorowicz, Hair, & Milot, 2009), included information on how to measure bullying and promote positive peer conflict resolution techniques. The report included The Peer Relations Questionnaire (PRQ) for Children, designed to assess students' tendency to bully, to be bullied, or to help others.
- A press release from the State of Maryland, "State Board Approves Model Policy Designed to Curb Bullying Behavior" (2009), announced the state's policy on bullying behavior and the requirement that school systems submit copies of their own anti-bullying policy to the State Superintendent.
PsycEXTRA is a resource for academic research, but it is also a good resource for "news you can use" in your everyday life. For example, in the wake of wide-scale emergencies in the last several years—from terrorist attacks and power failures to hurricanes, earthquakes, and recent snow emergencies—the topic of preparedness is one that hits very close to home. PsycEXTRA can help with the practical details of how an individual or family should prepare for when an emergency occurs.
Let's look at some specifics. If you searched using the index term "Emergency Preparedness" and limited your findings to the past five years, you'd come up with a list of about 120 results. Among those, there is a 2009 New York Times article, "How to Prepare for an Emergency" (Romano) that discussed emergency organizations' suggestions to homeowners and renters on how to think through possible scenarios and prepare for emergencies.
The Family Psychologist, a newsletter for the Society for Family Psychology, looks at the issue in "Children and Families in the Context of Disasters: Implications for Preparedness and Response" (Pfefferbaum & North, 2008). The article examined the emotional and behavioral effects of family adaptation to disasters and made specific recommendations for preparedness among different categories of family members (for example, between parents, parent to child, between siblings) both prior to and in the aftermath of a disaster. Suggestions on resources for mental health, trauma, and exposure to media coverage were included.
There is increasing evidence of the significance of diverse factors, including age, gender, and culture and cohort, as determinants of emergency or disaster outcomes for individuals. PsycEXTRA provides information specifically for various populations, from conference presentations on psychological issues for seniors in disasters (Gutman, Gibson, & Kloseck , 2009) to newsletter articles on community emergency response training specifically for Native American communities (Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, 2008). These two articles were also linked to federal government and Red Cross emergency plan-ahead resources.
It's Time to Stand Up and Be Counted
We are now in 2010, and as for the past 220 years, any year that ends in a zero brings the decennial US Census. As the Census Bureau states, "the future of your community starts with a look into its past." And the Census Bureau, both through the decennial Census and the additional surveys it conducts, provides a fascinating and unique source of research data. You may access a variety of material from the Census Bureau in PsycEXTRA.
One of the searchable fields in PsycEXTRA is Content Owner, so entering "census" in the field will bring up reports and press releases produced by the US Department of Commerce Census Bureau. The data provide a snapshot of an area or population at a given moment in time on a host of issues ranging from changes in poverty rate and other economic studies, to home ownership patterns, to percentage of mothers and older workers in the labor force, to portraits of our diversity as a nation, including racial, ethnic, and ancestry groups.
Virtually all Census publications in PsycEXTRA are also a doorway to invaluable source material. For example, a press release titled "Fewer Mothers With a Recent Birth Rely on Government Assistance Than in 1996" (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008) reported on recent trends of new mothers participating in six public assistance programs. The press release also links directly to a Census Bureau web site that includes a Survey of Income and Program Participation, information on the surveys and their content, reports from the data, detailed data sets and historical data, and information on the source of data and accuracy of the estimates, including standard errors and confidence intervals.
So contribute to the 2010 snapshot of America and march to the mailbox with your filled out census form! We can't go forward until you mail it back.
Go Forth and "Multiply"
When then-President of Harvard Lawrence Summers made comments at a 2005 Cambridge conference suggesting that women may not have the same innate abilities in math as men, it created an uproar among some members of the academic community that continues to this day. In the ensuing years, a number of researchers have examined the facts of the so-called "gender gap" in math. What resources are there in PsycEXTRA on this topic?
A search using the terms Mathematical Ability OR Mathematics Achievement and Human Sex Differences OR Human Females from the APA Thesaurus yields intriguing results from a variety of sources. For example, in a Monitor on Psychology article (Price, 2008), results showed that the genders perform at the same level when girls or women have the right educational tools and role models. Fact sheets for each of the 50 states reporting the 2009 mathematics results for children in Grade 4 (U.S. Department of Education) that provide information comparing students by gender show little difference between the genders in most states.
However, that equality changes with the introduction of the gender stereotype that "men perform better than women at math." Mathematics and gender stereotype are the subjects of a number of conference abstracts and presentations. At the 2009 APA Convention, authors Cvencek, Meltzoff, and Greenwald reported new measures in "Girls and Math: Stereotypes and Math Self-Concepts in Young Children," that allow the examination of cultural stereotypes in the development of math self-concepts.
Steinberg, Okun, and Aiken (2009), at the APA convention, reported that situational cues that make math stereotypes relevant showed that mention of gender stereotypes adversely affected the performance of high math ability women. Likewise, authors Dar Nimrod and Heine (2007) presented findings reporting that women performed more poorly completing math tests following a manipulation in which they were told that sex differences in math have genetic basis. | <urn:uuid:b4eb0879-5e52-43c3-8720-e73c87c88f91> | {
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Begin the lesson by assigning students to either read or view Twelve Angry Men. Distribute the following questions beforehand. These same questions may serve as the basis for either group or class discussion of the play/film.
The right to trial by jury is specifically mentioned in the Constitution of the United States in Article III and Amendments V and VI. Relying on Amendment XIV, the Supreme Court has determined that the provisions in the Constitution apply in state criminal courts. In practical terms, this also means that Supreme Court decisions relating to the right to trial by jury also apply in state courts.
Carefully review the rights guaranteed to individuals accused of criminal acts and, in the process, make two lists: (1) provisions that relate directly to the right to a trial by jury and (2) provisions that the jurors themselves should take into account in their deliberations.
Working from these lists, the class as a whole should discuss which of these constitutional provisions were raised by Twelve Angry Men and whether the play/film enabled them to understand better the importance of these rights. During the discussion, students should be encouraged to make specific references to the play/film.
The relevant provisions in the Constitution of the United States can be found at:
One of the questions raised during the deliberations by the "twelve angry men" was the legal representation that had been provided for the young man accused of murdering his father.
In 1963, the Supreme Court handed down the first in a series of cases dealing with the constitutional right to counsel. The case of Gideon v. Wainwright drew widespread attention, especially with the publication a year later of Gideon's Trumpet by New York Times legal affairs correspondent Anthony Lewis. The book was made into a film in 1980.
Of particular interest is Abe Fortas' oral argument before the Supreme Court in defense of the right to counsel, in particular the need to provide counsel for those unable to afford a lawyer. This can be accessed on the Oyez.org website.
This clip (about an hour in length) can be assigned as homework or played in class, depending on students' access to the internet and/or class time that may be available for this purpose. | <urn:uuid:adfd7eda-ef47-491c-ad25-dd1fd8865618> | {
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is working to make the production, distribution and sale of fresh produce safer. Now, after a rather bad nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Agona (think "agony" ) bacteria in papayas from Mexico, it has announced a special focus on imported produce from this country.
The Salmonella-contaminated Mexican papayas made at least 99 people ill in 23 states in the U.S. (assume that about 3% of cases are actually reported, so there were a lot more). The recall occurred on July 23, by Agromod Produce, Inc. of Texas, and the papayas were sold in the U.S. and Canada by wholesalers and retail stores under brands of Blondie, Yaya, Mañanita, and Tastylicious.
Let's remember that the United States is importing much more fresh produce than it exports. Mexico is the primary supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S. We get quite a variety from across the border, including tomatoes, avocados, grapes, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, green beans, papaya and melons.
So, Mexico has not been singled out because produce from there is especially risky, but because we get so much from there. But naturally, we have indeed had a lot of outbreaks in Mexican produce (and herbs) over the years. This one in papayas is just the latest. And there will be more.
To your good health, | <urn:uuid:50364e13-15ce-46dc-b3ae-9d34246c973b> | {
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innovation through innovation™
mind your distance fog calculation
8 months, 1 week ago Edited by d7samurai on Sept. 6, 2018, 12:58 p.m.
the use of distance fog helps convey a sense of scale / distance and atmosphere (literally) in your game's rendered environments.
the other day, upon changing the camera's field of view in my renderer, i noticed something was off. i had absentmindedly been using the depth value, i.e. "distance into the scene", to drive the attenuation of objects for my distance fog effect.
in the above top-down illustration the pink arrows represent the depth values of two objects. the one on the right is farther away and therefore has more fog between it and the camera, which in turn means it should be more faint.
let's focus on one.
now, imagine what happens if the player pivots to the right..
relative to the camera, it means the object is orbited around the player, ending up to the left. it also means its depth value - or z value, the distance along the camera's view axis - becomes smaller. when using the depth value to control the fog effect, this causes the object to be rendered as if much closer to the player (in terms of attenuation).
in the following slides, a purple arrow indicates a camera rotation in world space. a cyan arrow indicates the corresponding movement of the object in camera space (aka view space), i.e. how the object would move relative to the camera during the rotation.
so, as the camera rotates clockwise in world space, the object is rotated anticlockwise around the camera in view space. during this motion, the object's depth value - which, remember, is its distance along the camera's view axis - decreases and the depth-controlled attenuation of the object will cause it to transition from faint to clear as it moves away from center of view.
when viewed through the camera, it would look like this: first, you'll see a faint object (indicating it's far away) straight ahead.
then, as you turn right (purple arrow), the object will move leftwards in your view (cyan arrow). at the same time it will become clearer / less attenuated, even though the world distance (and implicitly the amount of fog) between you and the object remains the same. this is not what we want. it causes a disconnect with the purpose of the effect, namely to act as a spatial cue and provide atmospheric presence. here, rather than a consistent environmental feature, something that's actually present in the world, the fog instead becomes an ambiguous camera-relative effect that makes the environment seem "unstable".
in my case, the reason i hadn't noticed this slip-up earlier was that my field of view was too narrow for the attenuation error to become pronounced (objects would disappear out of view before getting orbited close enough to be severely affected).
however, once i changed to a wide angle view, it became apparent..
the right way, of course, is to use the actual distance between the camera and the object (green arrow) to calculate the fog attenuation
rather than the depth value in view space (pink arrow)
which produces the proper results:
cases in point:
this one uses the incorrect "distance into the scene" approach, i.e. rendered depth aka z-value along view axis (it is most noticeable during sharp turns - where the camera movement is closest to a pivot - in scenes with a long view distance):
and here's the fixed version:
and the one from the initial screenshot
software development should be a creative exercise, not a technical ordeal
mind your distance fog calculation
8 months, 1 week ago
The videos illustrate the problem very well, and it seems like an easy mistake to make. | <urn:uuid:d7138b22-f8d1-4b0c-a1e3-f7013c316896> | {
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The days of women in IT enjoying the same earning power as men still remain some way off, with female workers continuing to earn thousands less than their male colleagues every year.
According to research published today by the Chartered Institute of Management (CMI), the IT sector has the largest pay gap of any industry.
The difference between the typical annual salary of men and women working in the IT industry currently stands at £17,736, with women working in IT earning an average of £32,751 compared to £50,487 for men, the research found.
Women in IT are however seeing a better rate of pay increase than their male counterparts, with average salaries growing by 2.1 per cent compared to 1.4 per cent for men in the past 12 months. However, at these rates, it will take 63 years for women to catch up.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Women in IT face largest gender pay gap of any industry on silicon.com. | <urn:uuid:22134a4c-26c4-43a4-a2ca-0ce4ba465812> | {
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from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A North American orchid (Aplectrum hyemale) bearing a single leaf and yellowish-brown flowers clustered in a raceme. Also called Adam-and-Eve.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. An American orchidaceous plant (Aplectrum hyemale) whose slender rootstock produces a solid corm filled with glutinous matter.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. An American orchidaceous plant (Aplectrum hyemale) which flowers in early summer. Its slender naked rootstock produces each year a solid corm, filled with exceedingly glutinous matter, which sends up later a single large oval evergreen plaited leaf. Called also Adam-and-Eve.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An American orchid, Aplectrum hiemale, producing every year on a slender rootstock a corm an inch in diameter, filled with an extremely glutinous matter, which has been used as a cement, whence the name.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. North American orchid bearing a single leaf and yellowish-brown flowers
From the use of the sticky substance in its corm as a cement.(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
putty + root (Wiktionary)
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Reprinted on Blind World: November 1, 2003.
Originally Published by the BBC: April 27, 2001.
By The BBC's Keith Adams,
BBC News Online.
Blind World Editor's Note:
This article was originally published by the BBC in April of 2001.
Owing to the recent articles in the news, relating to dog genetics, and their relationship to human genetics, and current research being done on human disorders of the eyes, it was decided that we would reprint this article on Blind World at this time, to provide some history and background on where we are today with this research, helping to put things into their proper perspective for our readers.
Dogs born blind because of an inherited disorder have had partial vision restored by revolutionary gene therapy.
There are hopes that the technique might eventually help the small number of children born with the rare condition.
The advance, headed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, is published in the journal Nature Genetics.
It is the first time that such gene therapy has proved successful in a large animal.
The condition Leber congenital amaurosis means that children are born either with severely-reduced vision or near-blindness.
The problem is caused by a defect in a gene called RPE65.
This is vital in helping to correctly construct the photo-receptors in the eye which convert light into nerve signals.
Flaws in the gene mean they do not work and the retinas gradually degrade.
The researchers took retinal cells from blind dogs with this genetic disorder.
These were then "infected" with a virus carrying a correct copy of the RPE65 gene.
Viruses reproduce by incorporating their own genes into the genetic structure of host cells, and those used in gene therapy have been modified so they carry no disease threat.
The "infected" cells were then injected back into the eyes of the dogs.
The dogs performed well on various tests to see how the eyes were performing.
The eyes responded as well to light and dark stimuli as the eyes of healthy dogs.
The treated animals also managed to avoid obstacles in dim light.
The researchers said they were "optimistic" about restoring some form of vision to children with the condition.
But the team say that long term safety trials on the therapy would have to be completed before testing on humans could begin.
There are still question marks over the safety of gene therapy, although some trials in other fields have been completed in humans with mixed results.
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The Sword of Tiberius
The so-called Sword of Tiberius is on display in Room 70, the Wolfson Gallery of the Roman Empire. It perfectly embodies Roman visual language and political propaganda, tied up with Rome’s foreign wars and the imperial succession.
The sword was discovered in 1848 near the river Rhine, outside the German city of Mainz, which in antiquity was a vast legionary fortress and military command centre for the German frontier.
The scabbard is astonishingly well preserved and intricately detailed. The figurative scene on top is key to its meaning. In the centre is an enthroned male in classicising, divine garb with two attendant figures behind. Before him stands another male in military armour. They both have clear portrait features and were meant to be recognisable.
The Museum’s own labels used to say otherwise, but having followed the heated arguments about its iconography and context over the years, I am with those who recognise here the emperor Tiberius (r. AD 14–37), seated, receiving his adopted son Germanicus, commander-in-chief of the Roman army of the Rhine. The goddess Victory is to his left, and another deity, probably Mars, to his right. Clearly, this refers to a major military triumph in Rome’s German wars.
In truth, this is elaborate political spin, masterfully crafted both in intellectual concept and physical form. Under the emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC–AD 14), three entire legions had perished in Germany. First Tiberius, and then Germanicus, led punitive expeditions that resulted in a series of inconclusive, ever more Pyrrhic victories. Tiberius was clever: seeing the futility of these wars, he simply declared victory, granted the ambitious, gung-ho Germanicus a triumph and recalled him to Rome. As Augustus’ stepson, Tiberius had long been overlooked for the succession and was then forced to accept Germanicus as his own crown prince in uneasy competition with the hugely popular, younger man.
One likes to think that this elaborate weapon belonged to a high-ranking officer, but this is by no means assured. What looks like gold and silver is in fact mostly tinned brass. The bigger story is clear – the new monarchy’s legitimacy derived in large part from constant battlefield victories, and the absolute personal loyalty of the new professional military was crucial. Giving to the troops a powerful message of wise leadership by a united imperial family helped achieve this, and the army had the craftspeople to do so beautifully. | <urn:uuid:4906f230-f11a-4fc5-9395-be2ff9a45ac4> | {
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Purpose: The objective of the present study was to determine the association between oral disease, access to dental care and social class in a random sample of five-year-old preschool children in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 551 five-year-old children who were randomly selected from preschools. Oral health status was assessed using the decayed, missing or filled teeth (dmft) index as well as the presence of visible plaque, gingivitis and supragingival calculus. Oral examinations were performed by two examiners (j > 0.80). The clinical outcome variables were dental caries, filled and missing teeth, dental pulp exposure due to caries, dental root fragment, visible plaque, gingivitis and supragingival calculus. Social class was assessed using the City Hall database. Results: Children without caries represented 63.9% of the sample. Mean overall dmft was calculated to be 1.56, and the decayed teeth component was the highest in all of the social classes. Missing teeth, caries with pulp involvement and dental root fragment had higher proportions and the filled teeth component had the lowest proportion in children from the lowest social class. Visible dental plaque was present in 45.4% of the children. Except for the filled teeth component, all of the clinical outcome variables had a significant association with social class status (P < 0.001), regardless of childs gender. Conclusions: Oral disease in the primary dentition and access to dental treatment are affected by social and cultural factors.
Keywords: dental caries, oral health, preschool children, social class | <urn:uuid:781eba72-1961-421d-a1d3-361b5f3bdd52> | {
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The first President, George Washington, warns the nation in his Farewell Address, that love of power will tend to create a real despotism in America unless proper checks and balances are maintained to limit government power:
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free Country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective Constitutional spheres; avoiding in the exercise of the Powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.
About this Quotation:
What does the first president of a new nation, spawned by violent revolutionary war against the world’s mightiest imperial power, say upon his departure? George Washington in 1796 warns his fellow countrymen (blacks and women could not vote at this time) “the habits of thinking in a free Country” should prevail and that the division of powers between the different “spheres of government” (i.e. branches) should be jealously guarded. But he suspected that this would not be the case over time and that one branch of government would prevail over the others (a new monarch?) and that this would be “the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.” Another unheeded warning like Eisenhower’s. | <urn:uuid:a15ed601-3e8a-4869-a721-3fd56fc13277> | {
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Radars operating at microwave frequencies are capable of imaging Earth’s surface independently of the weather and local time of day. For this purpose, both TanDEM-X and TerraSAR-X use an active antenna consisting of an array of transmit-and-receive modules designed for rapid changes in the direction of the radar beam as well as programmable antenna characteristics. Electromagnetic wave polarisation and other radar parameters may even be varied from one pulse to the next. All this makes synthetic aperture radar technology flexible enough to be used for testing innovative, experimental operating modes.
The routing of the radar transmit-and-receive signals permits separating the two halves of each antenna electrically in the direction of flight and, consequently, separating radar signal reception by each half of the antenna. This facilitates gathering fully polarimetric data for classifying objects such as houses or trees, as well as along-track interferometry. Moreover, the architecture permits routing of calibration signals through the entire radar hardware chain except for the radiating waveguides, which consist of metallised carbon-fibre reinforced plastic for inherent stability. The calibration signals are used to determine correction factors for optimising the stability of measurement data when they are processed on the ground.
The solid-state mass memory on TanDEM-X has a capacity of 768 gigabits, to cope with the enormous amount of data for the digital elevation model. This is twice the memory capacity of TerraSAR-X. In the last phase of the development of TerraSAR-X, the design of the synthetic aperture radar instrument was modified to permit the continuous exchange of synchronisation pulses in order to ensure the consistent operation of the two synthetic aperture radars in bistatic mode.
TanDEM-X operating modes
It is possible to operate TanDEM-X independently (monostatic mode) as well as in sync with TerraSAR-X (for example, in bistatic mode). Operational digital elevation model generation is planned to be performed using bistatic interferometry, which is characterised by the illumination of a scene by one transmitter and the simultaneous measurement of the same scene with two receivers. This avoids temporal variations of the ground surface characteristics between measurements, which would reduce the achievable height measurement performance. In the bistatic mode the TanDEM-X interferometer is operated with two independent oscillators. Uncompensated oscillator noise will cause substantial interferometric phase, and consequently height, errors. To correct for these phase errors and also to enable synchronisation between the two synthetic aperture radar sensors, the TanDEM-X-specific synthetic aperture radar instrument features provide a scheme for exchanging synchronisation information through a dedicated link. This comprises a set of six horn antennas, optimally distributed to ensure full solid-angle coverage with low phase disturbance. The communication consists of a periodic exchange of synchronisation chirp pulses that are compressed as normal synthetic aperture radar pulses and provide, after proper evaluation, the differential phase behaviour of the satellite oscillators. This enables the phase correction of the interferometric system in the on-ground processing chain.
Synthetic aperture radar interferometer
Conventional radar satellites operate using the principle of synthetic aperture radar. The radar transmits pulses of microwave energy and these are reflected from Earth's surface to be received again by the radar. The distance of the satellite from Earth’s surface can be calculated from the round-trip transit time of the signals. As the satellite orbits Earth, the radar illuminates a strip of ground beneath it and records the reflected signals sequentially. After intensive signal processing a two-dimensional image of the area is generated. The received echo signals also contain information about the properties of the reflecting surface, such as its roughness.
Synthetic aperture radar interferometry is a further development of this basic technique. The target land area is imaged from two different positions. The principle is similar to human stereoscopic vision, where depth perception – determining the distance of an object from the viewer – is achieved by viewing the object from slightly different angles with a pair of eyes. The ‘radar eyes’ are located on the satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X, which are orbiting Earth in close formation.
Because the satellites are a set distance or 'baseline' apart each other, the 'path length' that the signal travels as it is reflected back from each point on the ground will differ slightly for each of them – and by measuring these differences precisely enough, elevation information can be derived. This is done by using the wave properties of the radar pulse and examining the relative time shifting of the waves due to the differing path lengths. This is also called 'phase difference measurement'. The result of performing these measurements for each point over an area of Earth’s surface is an interference pattern called an interferogram. From the measured differences in path length, the desired height information is obtained, with interference 'fringes' that resemble contour lines on a conventional map.
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Arctic storms more rampant than previously believed
A new study suggests that about 1,900 cyclones churned across the top of the world each year from 2000 to 2010, leaving warm water and air in their wakes - and melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.
That's about 40 percent more of these Arctic storms than previously thought, according to the study of vast troves of weather data that previously were synthesized at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC).
A 40 percent difference in the number of cyclones could be important to anyone who lives north of 55 degrees latitude - the area of the study, which includes the northern reaches of Canada, Scandinavia and Russia, along with the state of Alaska.
The finding is also important to researchers who want to get a clear picture of current weather patterns, and a better understanding of potential climate change in the future, David Bromwich, Ph.D., professor of geography at The Ohio State University and senior research scientist at the Byrd Polar Research Center, said.
The cyclone study was presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December, in a poster co-authored by his colleagues Natalia Tilinina and Sergey Gulev of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Moscow State University.
"We now know there were more cyclones than previously thought, simply because we've gotten better at detecting them," Bromwich, who amassed the weather database and consulted on the cyclone study, said.
"We can't yet tell if the number of cyclones is increasing or decreasing, because that would take a multi-decade view. We do know that, since 2000, there have been a lot of rapid changes in the Arctic - Greenland ice melting, tundra thawing - so we can say that we're capturing a good view of what's happening in the Arctic during the current time of rapid changes," Bromwich added.
(Posted on 17-01-2014)
Free Yearly Horoscope: Select your zodiac sign | <urn:uuid:e7edd397-7054-4e6e-a3e6-db1de692a06a> | {
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First things first: what is TTS? TTS or Text-to-Speech technology converts text into spoken speech. If you know Siri or those handy voice GPS directions on smartphones, then congratulations! You’re already acquainted with TTS.
Since 1000 AD, humans have strived to create synthetic speech, but it didn’t enter the mainstream until the mid 1970s – early 1980s when computer operating systems began implementing it. Walt Tetschner, leader of the group that produced DECtalk in 1983, explains that while the voice wasn’t perfect, it was still natural sounding and was used by companies such as MCI and Mtel (two-way paging). Not to mention Stephen Hawking, who uses DECtalk for his voice!
Through the efforts of voice actors, linguists, engineers and more, natural-sounding synthetized speech is brought to life. In fact, as TTS becomes easier and clearer to understand, many more people have adopted TTS. Which bring us to the subject of this article…
Who uses TTS?
People with visual and reading impairments were the early adopters of TTS. It makes sense: TTS eases the internet experience for the 1 out of 5 people who have dyslexia, low literacy readers and others with learning disabilities by removing the stress of reading and presenting information in an optimal format.
We’re progressing toward a more accessible Internet of the future. Already, many forward-minded content owners and publishers offer TTS solutions to make the web a place for all. Businesses and buildings are required to provide entryways for wheelchair users and those with limited mobility – shouldn’t the Internet be accessible for everyone, too?
Yet, as technology evolves, so have the uses and the users of TTS. You may not need TTS, but you’ll certainly want it! TTS can make life easier and make you more efficient.
The teaching style, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), follows in the same vein to help all learners be successful. Teachers of all grade levels who promote UDL use a combination of auditory, visual and kinesthetic techniques through the use of technology and adaptable lesson plans. Another useful way to use TTS in the classroom is for proofreading.
Even if you identify as a kinesthetic or visual learner, science says adding an auditory method may help you retain information. Who would say no to that?
Readers on the Go
If you’re like me, you may wish there were more hours in a day. When I want to catch up on the news, podcasts and audiobooks only take me so far. So, if there’s an in-depth profile in The New Yorker or a longform article from The Guardian that I want to read, TTS recites it for me – freeing me up to drive, exercise or clean at the same time. Or you may just prefer listening to reading. According to leading experts in technology, online content will soon be automatically converted to audio so that more people can enjoy content on the go.
The life shortcuts TTS can provide are endless – from reading recipes while you cook to dictating instruction manuals when assembling furniture. The only limit to how much it can help is your own imagination!
My grandmother has avoided upgrading from her first mobile – a flip phone circa 2004. Understandably, she wants to avoid straining her eyes from all the small text. TTS can alleviate this issue for her (and others) and introduce her to smartphones and the wonderful world of emoji (no TTS necessary).
Visually impaired readers
It’s not simply seniors who want to avoid straining their eyes on screens. Many people have mild visual impairments or suffer from sensitivity to light. As someone with chronic migraines, I count myself in this category. Thanks to TTS, I can be more productive on days when staring at screens seems like a pain too much to bear. In fact, medical studies advise that exposure to light at night, particularly blue light from screens, has adverse health effects. It not only disrupts our biological clocks, but it may increase cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity rates. TTS offers users a safer way to take in text.
Foreign Language Students
Studies show that listening to a different language aids students in learning the new dialect. TTS can help with that. ReadSpeaker is an international TTS software company, featuring over 50 languages and more than 150 voices. Their voices derive from native speakers. With ReadSpeaker, foreign language students can get a feel for pronunciation, cadence and more. One feature that’s especially helpful in this regard is the ability to have words highlighted as they’re read aloud. With this feature, students can feel confident in their pronunciation of new vocabulary.
New generations raised in multilingual households may understand their (grand)parent’s language, but they may not feel fluent enough to read, write or speak it. This is common in many communities, where the home language is not studied in school. For second and third generations who want to maintain or strengthen their bonds to their mother lands, ReadSpeaker can make articles, newspapers, and other literature accessible and understandable through speech.
Those with Severe Speech Impairments
A speech-generating device (SGD), which is also known as a voice output communication aid (VOCA), can be used for those who have severe speech impairments and who would otherwise not be able to communicate verbally. Grouped under the term “augmentative and alternative communication (AAC),” SGDs and VOCAs can now be integrated into mobile devices such as smartphones. Stephen Hawking, who suffers from ALS, and also renowned film critic Roger Ebert, are among the most well-known users of SGDs using TTS technology.
So, who uses TTS? Many people, for many different reasons! TTS has boundless benefits for its users, and if you’re not one of them, you could be!
Article written in collaboration with writer Mira Barnum. | <urn:uuid:0a4cc68c-d238-4b3d-97f9-a407f452a00f> | {
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The Gradient Vector
The most common first approach to differential calculus in more than one variable starts by defining partial derivatives and directional derivatives, as we did. But instead of defining the differential, it simply collects the partial derivatives together as the components of a vector called the gradient of , and written .
We showed that these partial derivatives are the components of the differential (when it exists), and so there should be some connection between the two concepts. And indeed there is.
As a bilinear form, our inner product defines an isomorphism from the space of displacements to its dual space. This isomorphism sends the basis vector to the dual basis vector , since we can check both
That is, the linear functional is the same as the linear functional .
So under this isomorphism the differential corresponds to the vector
We can remove the function from this notation to write the operator on its own as
We also write the gradient vector at a given point as , where we have to remember to parse this as evaluating a function at the point rather than as applying the operator to the value .
Now, under our approach the differential is more fundamental and more useful than the gradient vector. However, there is some meaning to the geometric interpretation of the gradient as a displacement vector.
First of all, let’s ask that be a unit vector. Then we can calculate the directional derivative . But the linear functional given by the differential is the same as the linear functional . Thus we also find that . And we can interpret this inner product in terms of the length of and the angle between and :
since the length of is automatically .
The cosine term has a maximum value of when points in the same direction as so that . That is, the direction that gives us the largest directional derivative is the direction of . And then we can calculate the rate that the function increases in this direction as the length of the gradient .
So for most purposes we’ll stick to using the differential, but in practice it’s often useful to think of the gradient vector to get some geometric intuition about what the differential means. | <urn:uuid:3530a67d-ed6f-4653-a183-989c46fb3cd1> | {
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Patience, or solitaire as it is known in the US and Canada, is a genre of card games that can be played by a single player. Patience games can also be played in a head-to-head fashion with the winner selected by a scoring scheme.
In the US, the term solitaire is often used specifically to refer to solitaire with cards, while in other countries solitaire specifically refers to Peg solitaire. Both Solitaire and Patience are sometimes used to refer specifically to the Klondike form of Patience.
The purpose of patience generally involves manipulating a layout of cards with a goal of sorting them in some manner. However it is possible to play the same games competitively (often a head to head race) and cooperatively.
Patience games typically involve dealing cards from a shuffled deck into a prescribed arrangement on a tabletop, from which the player attempts to reorder the deck by suit and rank through a series of moves transferring cards from one place to another under prescribed restrictions. Some games allow for the reshuffling of the deck(s), and/or the placement of cards into new or "empty" locations. In the most familiar, general form of Patience, the object of the game is to build up four blocks of cards going from ace to king in each suit, taking cards from the layout if they appear on the table.
There is a vast array of variations on the patience theme, using either one or more decks of cards, with rules of varying complexity and skill levels. Many of these have been converted to electronic form and are available as computer games. Examples of variants on the familiar Patience theme that may be played with an ordinary packet of cards include Bisley and Prince Albert. Basic forms of Klondike solitaire and FreeCell come with every current installation of Microsoft Windows, apart from Windows 8, wherein six unique card games can be downloaded for free in its app store in the form of the Microsoft Solitaire Collection.
The game is most likely German or Scandinavian in origin. The game became popular in France in the early 19th Century reaching England and America in the latter half. Patience was first mentioned in literature shortly after cartomantic layouts were developed circa 1765. The earliest known recording of a game of patience occurred in 1783 in the German game anthology Das neue Königliche L'Hombre-Spiel. Before this, there were no literary mentions of such games in large game compendiums such as Charles Cotton's The Compleat Gamester (1674) and Abbé Bellecour's Academie des Jeux (1674).
There is a tradition in Germany to use "patience" as a guide to the future. This assumes that a person’s luck will vary and important matters should not be initiated when the cards are not favourable. If there are no wins for a number of tries it spells caution. If you win at the first try times are good, thus the immediate future can be used for important decisions.
The first collection of patience card games in the English language is attributed to Lady Adelaide Cadogan through her Illustrated Games of Patience, published in about 1870 and reprinted several times. Other collections quickly followed such as Patience by E. D. Cheney (1869), Amusement for Invalids by Annie B. Henshaw (1870), and later Dick's Games of Patience, published by Dick and Fitzgerald. Other books about patience written towards the end of the 19th century were by H. E. Jones (a.k.a. Cavendish), Angelo Lewis (a.k.a. Professor Hoffman), Basil Dalton, Ernest Bergholt, and Mary Whitmore Jones.
- List of patience games
- Glossary of Patience terms, not including peg solitaire.
- Patience sorting, a computer algorithm
- Software Patience games:
- Lee, Sloane & Packard, Gabriel. 100 Best Solitaire Games: 100 Ways to Entertain Yourself with a Deck of Cards. ; New York, N. Y.: Cardoza Publishing, 2004. (ISBN 1-58042-115-6)
- Arnold, Peter. Card Games for One. London: Hamlyn, 2002 (ISBN 0-600-60727-5)
- Moorehead, Albert H. & Mott-Smith, Geoffrey. The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games. New York: Bantam Books, 1977 (ISBN 0-553-26240-8)
- Crépeau, Pierre. The Complete Book of Solitaire (a translation of Le Grand Livre des Patiences). Willowdale, Ontario: Firefly Books, 2001. (ISBN 1-55209-597-5)
- Marks, Arnold & Harrod, Jacqueline. Card Games Made Easy. Surrey, England: Clarion, 1997 (ISBN 1-899606-17-3)
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Solitaire.|
|Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Solitaire card games|
- Patience at DMOZ
- Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Solitaire or Patience, by Adelaide Cadogan, 1914, from Project Gutenberg
- Games of patience for one or more players, second series, by Mary Whitmore Jones, about 1898, original book-scan from Archive.org
- "Patience". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- Kabale at DMOZ | <urn:uuid:27b8c867-31b3-4d43-b6e8-c4d439da58c4> | {
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Empa spin-off develops innovative fungal product
Control of pest fungi – without harming the environment
In Europe, some 30 million wooden poles are used by telecommunications companies and electricity utilities. Every year, hundreds of thousands of these poles have to be replaced due to the occurrence of copper-tolerant, wood-destroying fungi. This results in millions in terms of costs. The problem is likely to worsen in the future, since the copper fixation agent chromium, (which is carcinogenic in a certain chemical form), and the wood preservative boron, are restricted by law. In addition, the authorisation for Switzerland will expire in 2019. In Germany, even stricter regulations have already been put in place. Since the use of boron has largely been discontinued, in certain regions the defects appear early, after only six to eight years and the wooden poles have to be replaced for safety reasons.
As part of a CTI project, Swisscom AG, together with Francis Schwarze, a researcher at Empa and founder of MycoSolutions, have selected a(Trichoderma harzianum) fungus that improves soil and plant regeneration after attacks on wooden poles. Copper-tolerant fungi thus lose their ability to produce oxalic acid in the soil and are no longer able to infect the copper-impregnated wooden poles. This can significantly extend the service life of the poles. Like baker's yeast,Trichoderma harzian is categorised as a Class 1 organism; it is neither harmful to humans nor the environment.
In early April, the Empa researchers also published a "Proof-of-Concept" in the renowned industry journal "PLOS ONE"; this Proof-of-Concept was the evidence that proved the approach to this new method of integrated wood protection actually works. Along with researchers from the Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg im Breisgau and the Universitat Politècnica de València, Empa doctoral candidate and biotechnologist Javier Ribera was able to demonstrate through in vitrotests that selected Trichoderma fungi are able to significantly reduce the damage from copper-tolerant, wood-destroying fungi.
The new, environmentally-friendly, integrated wood protection method can also reduce the amount of non-degradable copper that is harmful to soil organisms and leached into the ground. Processes that reduce the use of copper are entirely in line with the sustainability requirements of Swisscom AG and the action plan of the Swiss Federal Council on reducing risks from pesticides.
With a longer service life for the wooden poles, the new fungal product also leads to fewer disruptions and to significantly lower maintenance costs in the long-term. In addition, Swisscom is well-prepared in case the legislature someday intensifies regulations for the impregnation of wood poles. Results from international field tests have already yielded encouraging results. MycoSolutions CEO Reto Vincenz and his team want to cooperate with electrical power plants and other interested parties in the course of further field tests. Experiments with additional inoculation of wooden poles are planned.
Phone +41 58 765 49 87 | <urn:uuid:78de0604-e134-44cd-9bf6-247b146c2071> | {
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Have you ever wondered why a Dalmatian was the Fire Department's mascot?
The tradition of Dalmatians dates back to centuries ago, though now they only serve as mascots.
Dalmatians played a vital role every time firefighters raced to a blaze. It all dates back to when firemen used horse-drawn carriages instead of firetrucks. People realized that Dalmatians would run along side horses and defend the horses from dogs or other animals that could spook or attack the horses during the ride.
Dalmatians often ran in pairs with one on either side of the coach, or close behind the horses. When the alarm sounded, the dogs would run out of the firehouse, barking to let bystanders know that they should get out of the way because the fire wagon would soon come by. Once the wagon was on the street, the Dalmatians would run beside it. The Dalmatians became even more important when the horses reached the fire. The horses were afraid of the fire and the presence of the Dalmatians distracted and calmed the horses as they pulled the wagon closer to the blaze. The Dalmatians also stood guard at the wagon to make sure no one stole the firemen's equipment or horses.
After the invention of firetrucks, Dalmatians were no longer needed by firemen, though some firehouses kept the dogs around as companions to preserve the traditions. Dalmatians continue to guard the firemen's equipment, but instead of running alongside fire trucks, they ride inside of them. The dogs are also known to catch and kill rats that have taken up residence in firehouses. | <urn:uuid:1df29eb0-9cd1-4fe4-a876-0c5a1dec4831> | {
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Artist's rendering of an astronaut performing a tethering maneuver at an asteroid. The Space Exploration Vehicle is close by, with the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle docked to a habitat in the background. / Gannett/Florida Today/NASA
NASA's human spaceflight program is destined to limp forward or even fizzle out unless political leaders can finally agree on a long-term plan for where and how humans should explore space, two policy experts said Thursday.
"What you're seeing in the current debate over priorities really is the residual of 40 years of failure to reach consensus on what the U.S. should be doing on space, and particularly in human spaceflight," said John Logsdon, professor emeritus at George Washington University.
"We're currently in a very, very fragile situation, particularly as it regards human spaceflight," added Scott Pace, a professor and director of the same university's Space Policy Institute. "It is not at all inevitable that human spaceflight will continue as we look in the years ahead."
In a teleconference with reporters about the direction of U.S. space policy, both described NASA as suffering from "drift" in direction.
House and Senate committees have passed competing versions of NASA authorization bills, with proposed funding for next year ranging from about $16.8 billion to $18.1 billion.
The lower House total factors in automatic budget cuts called sequestration, while the higher Senate total assumes those cuts won't happen.
The House would prevent NASA from pursuing a mission to capture an asteroid for astronauts to visit in 2021, while the Senate only directs the agency to take steps toward an eventual Mars mission.
The key human spaceflight differences center on where exploration missions should go, and whether NASA should either help develop multiple commercial systems for rides to the International Space Station or choose one.
"On the human spaceflight side, the sense of drift, or the sense of lack of consensus, still is fairly serious," Pace said.
Pace advocates for international partnerships on missions to or near the moon, rather than the proposed "one-off" missions to an asteroid or Mars that offer few opportunities for collaboration anytime soon.
Such a "geopolitical" approach, he said, would align emerging nations' interests with our own and provide a strategic rationale, not just that of a space enthusiast.
Logsdon said the current stated goal of going to Mars "takes us in a particular direction that's been there for half a century or more without really much debate of whether it's the right direction."
He criticized President Barack Obama for failing to invite international leaders to work together to define a new future for the space program.
The Obama administration tried to offer a new direction for NASA in 2010, but bungled its rollout and failed to overcome congressional backlash, resulting in unsatisfactory compromises, they said.
"What's missing is a sense of strategy, of strategic purpose for this organization," said Logsdon. "What should it be doing?"
If no coherent long-term plan is formed and exploration by default centers on the International Space Station, Pace said that when the station is de-orbited "there will be an end to U.S. human spaceflight, and an end to a near-term government market for the commercial sectors."
But given strong industrial and regional interests in the programs, Logsdon said he anticipates "some form of limping through human spaceflight effort that is more similar than different than what we've done for the past four decades."
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Experts: NASA's focus on human spaceflight in 'drift' | <urn:uuid:53fd79d3-343b-4165-a2ab-7b3efe83375f> | {
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The term Christ is a title; it is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament term messiah and means anointed one. It is applied to Jesus as the anointed one who delivers the elect from their sin. Jesus alone is the Christ. As the Christ, He has three offices: Prophet, Priest, and King. As Prophet, He is the mouthpiece of God (Matt. 5:27-28) and represents God to man. As Priest, He represents man to God and restores fellowship between them by offering Himself as the sacrifice that removed the sin of those saved. As King, He rules over His kingdom. By virtue of Christ creating all things (John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17), He has the right to rule.
Christ has come to do the will of the Father (John 6:38), to save sinners (Luke 19:10), to fulfill the Old Testament (Matt. 5:17), to destroy the works of Satan (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8), and to give life (John 10:10, 28). Christ is holy (Luke 1:35), righteous (Isaiah 53:11), sinless (2 Cor. 5:21), humble (Phil. 2:5-8), and forgiving (Luke 5:20; 7:48; 23:34). | <urn:uuid:4c51fcaa-28fa-4790-b59f-6613aa508583> | {
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Curtis Eriksmoen, Published January 05 2014
Did You Know That: Lynn Frazier went from football field to political arena
Lynn Joseph Frazier was born Dec. 21, 1874, to Thomas and Lois (Nile) Frazier, on a farm north of Owatonna, Minn. The Fraziers soon relocated to another farm near Alexandria, Minn. In 1881, Thomas purchased a small farm in Pembina County, N.D.
In the fall of 1892, Lynn accepted the position of teacher at a rural elementary in Pembina County. He later enrolled at the Mayville Normal School and, after graduating in 1895, taught school for two more years.
In 1897, Lynn Frazier enrolled at UND, hoping to become a physician. Because of his strong build and maturity, Frazier was invited to play on the football team his sophomore year.
The highlight of the season occurred Nov. 11, when the team traveled to Minneapolis to play the University of Minnesota football team. UND lost 0 to 15, but holding the opposition to only 15 points was hailed as a “moral victory.”
In 1899, Frazier was chosen to be captain of the team. UND won all six games, outscoring their opponents at a ratio of nearly 36 to 1.
In 1900, Frazier was again named captain. In 1901, he was co-captain. During those two years, UND had respectable teams, but did not dominate.
Frazier worked his way through college, graduating with honors from UND in 1902 and returned to his farm, planning to operate it full time.
Frazier lived the life of a successful agrarian during the next few years, but rural unrest began to grow throughout much of the state. Many farmers believed that they were being exploited by big-money interests out east, primarily the railroads and grain dealers. To counter this, a movement began to obtain a state-owned terminal elevator.
In 1915, when members of the state legislature announced that they were introducing a bill for the creation of a state mill and elevator, Gov. Louis B. Hanna declared that he was against it and “successfully encouraged the legislature to vote against a bill calling for its authorization.”
As a result, farmers revolted, and 500 of them marched on Bismarck. This movement quickly gained the support of many people, and by the end of the legislative session on March 5, 1915, more than 30,000 farmers had joined the group, the NPL, which became an active and powerful force in North Dakota politics.
According to Elwyn Robinson’s book “The History of North Dakota,” the goal of the NPL leadership was to “enter the Republican primary (in 1916), gain control of the state government and enact its program.” Frazier was suggested for the NPL’s gubernatorial candidate.
At the Republican primary on June 20, 1916, Frazier received 39,246 votes, Usher Burdick received 23,862 votes, and John Fraine received 9,780 votes. In the general election, Frazier won in a landslide, garnering 79 percent of the votes cast.
For a man who had never previously run for political office, Lynn Frazier would spend the next quarter of a century in the political limelight.
(We will continue the story about Lynn Frazier next week.)
“Did You Know That” is written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen of Fargo. Send your suggestions for columns, comments or corrections to the Eriksmoens at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:c6a4cfe5-5244-4dec-bf42-a06db157898f> | {
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Economic techniques are one of the most necessary that every society needs to develop in each country. Nonetheless, since China’s economic system — and the function of its government within it — operates in another way than much of the rest of the world, that country is effectively in a position to export and provide its products rather more cheaply to a lot of its trading partners.
Partly, the controversy has turn into all the more heated as a result of countless allegations — in the form of trade circumstances and other trade complaints and disputes — levied by the US and EU in opposition to China since its accession to the WTO in 2001, basically maintaining that China does not yet operate as a market economic system.
The country’s key software for that has been to over-produce products corresponding to steel and aluminum, and since Beijing’s plan to shift to a consumption-led domestic economic system has cooled these days, those products make their means into China’s export market.
In other words, many parties are concerned that China’s international trade actions, and how they replicate the interplay between its government and its domestic economic system, could belie Beijing’s insistence that the country has outgrown its non-market economic system status.
This is mainly as a result of the two components used for purposes of comparison — the exporting country’s residence” prices, and its costs of production — are both too skewed in a non-market economic system as a result of heavy governmental involvement. | <urn:uuid:deddf937-9206-49ff-8e36-3c43e9479198> | {
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In a study that could have implications for California, an expensive set of wildlife crossings in a Canadian national park are in fact being used by the animals they were built for.
The Trans-Canada Highway winds through Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada for about 80 miles. Over much of its length, the Highway is a divided high-speed four-lane that poses a serious risk to animals attempting to cross it. In the 1990s the Canadian government installed a number of wildlife crossings in the park, some of them elaborate, vegetated overpasses, to provide animals safe access to habitat across the highway.
A study published Wednesday indicates that some of the park's largest, most endangered wildlife -- including the beleaguered Alberta grizzly bear -- is indeed using the crossings. And not just for foraging: genetic testing shows that the wildlife crossings are allowing grizzly and black bears to find mates on the other side of the road.
Banff's network of wildlife crossings is the most extensive in the world, with 44 crossing points ranging from simple culverts to broad, vegetated overpasses like the one shown above. Researchers Michael Sawaya, Steven Kalinowski, and Anthony Clevenger of Montana State University at Bozeman installed hair collection snags across the crossings, essentially a strand of wire that collected samples of fur from black bears and grizzlies availing themselves of the over- or underpasses.
They then compared the genetic makeup of those samples with three years' worth of samples from the bear population on both sides of the Trans-Canada Highway to determine whether the bears using the crossings were mating successfully. And the results, published Wednesday in the Royal Society's biological journal "Proceedings B," showed that black bear genes now move across the highway as though the road wasn't even there. Almost half -- 47 percent -- of black bears using the crossings mated successfully.
Grizzlies are apparently helped less by the crossing network: of the big bears using the crossings, only 27 percent bred successfully. But even the grizzlies' lower cross-road breeding success rate is enough to forestall reproductive isolation due to the road, which means less chance that the already beleaguered bears, listed as Threatened by the Alberta provincial government, will suffer from inbreeding.
One male black bear was so enthusiastic about the broader horizons offered by the crossings that he sired 11 cubs with five different female bears during the course of the study. And Sawaya suggested in an interview with the science website phys.org that grizzlies' success rate may climb once the bears get used to the crossings, especially if mothers instruct their cubs in the finer points of using them.
Wildlife crossings are big news in California these days. A proposed $10 million crossing of the Ventura Freeway in the western San Fernando Valley may be crucial for the long-term survival of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, as we've reported on a few occasions. Route 17 through the Santa Cruz Mountains is another bad place to be a puma crossing the road, with at least six reported fatalities in the last few years between Los Gatos and the summit.
Mule deer and black-tailed deer are another large mammal that often falls victim to California road traffic. And as the California Wildlife Crossing site shows, California has its own issue with black bears failing to cross highways successfully.
Until this week's paper was published, wildlife managers had essentially been working on common sense in advocating for better wildlife crossings: little study had been done on the actual benefits to genetic connectivity the crossings could provide. It's always risky to extrapolate from one group of animals in one place to different species in a wholly different place, so the Banff study may not apply directly to all California wildlife.
But still: it's data we didn't have, and that's likely to help bolster arguments for making our highways safer for wildlife. | <urn:uuid:d4250181-6d86-4390-ab1f-b1a10ff5d88d> | {
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Overpasses and underpasses help pronghorn navigate their 6,000-year-old migration route between Grand Teton National Park and the upper Green River basin. This strategy is being applied in many states in North America.
A Bioblitz at Blodgett Peak Open Space - it was a fun citizen science event - (click on the images to enlarge)
M-56 Wolverine met his end in N. Dakotata
M-56 was spotted on Mt. Bierstadt in 2012 by Cameron Miller, wildlife photographer.
After treking from Grand Teton National Park through Wyoming and Rocky Mountain National Park, M-56 was seen by Cameron Miller on Mt. Bierstadt in 2012. M-56's radio collar was still working and so wildlife officials could psoitively idetnify him. Later his collar stopped functioning and no one knew where he was. By spring 2015 he had traveled back north to end up in N. Dakota where he was shot by a rancher who alleged the critter was harassing his cattle. He was positively identified as M-56.
His journey of several thousand miles shows how resilient and vigorous these aniamals are and also higlights the need for porteced cores and connecting wildlife passages to ensure that they will be around in the future.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Releases Wildlife Priorities Plan
The Denver Post reported: "Colorado unveiled wildlife-saving priorities for the next decade, aiming to ensure survival of 210 imperiled species including lynx, wolverines, prairie chickens, frogs, ptarmigan, and spotted bats.
A state "Wildlife Action Plan" calls for increased monitoring and research, and habitat restoration, to reach the goal of not having to list the species for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have signed off on Colorado's plan, making the state eligible for $1 million a year in federal grants.
"Our primary goal is to keep common species common — to preclude the need to list them as endangered species," said Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologist Eric Odell, manager of species conservation programs for the state." | <urn:uuid:f99b5559-9554-4294-ad2b-72666df018fa> | {
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An adjustable picture of a transformer on which you can vary input voltage and the number of turns on each coil. Useful description of mutual inductance. Great for revision, or teaching without the ...
The site shows a circuit diagram of an AC circuit and the graphical representation of voltage across the capacitor and the inductor
Birds can sit on power lines that have extremely high voltage, find out how they can do this and survive.
This applet simulates a common physics "gedanken" or thought experiment. A wire placed in a magnetic field. The student is asked to calculate the flux and voltage if the field changes or the wire ...
Animated tutorial on basic electricity and magnetism including static charge, moving charge, voltage, resistance, and current. Requires flash.
Georg Simon Ohm (1789 - 1854) was a German physicist who's research stated that the current flow through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference (voltage) and inversely ...
Create a circuit by dragging components (battery, bulbs, wires, resistors, voltmeter, ammeter) on to a circuit board. You can use the ammeter and voltmeter to check the current and voltage at ...
If an electric current flows through a conductor in a magnetic field, the magnetic field exerts a transverse force on the moving charge carriers which tends to push them to one side of the conductor. ...
The primary variable for determining the severity of electric shock is the electric current which passes through the body. This current is of course dependent upon the voltage and the resistance of ...
Showing 21 - 29 of 29 | <urn:uuid:daa64b36-ed82-41c9-968c-ce0919cfdca6> | {
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Albert Einstein Quote
The FORMULATION of the problem is often more essential than it’s solution.
The Process of Problem Definition
Understand the Business Situation – Identify Key Symptom =>
Isolate the problem from the symptoms
Write Managerial Decision Statement and corresponding research purpose
Determine the unit of analysis?
Determine Relevant Materials
State research questions / objections / hypothesis
Limitations of Observations in General
– Observations can describe the event that occurred but cannot EXPLAIN why that event occurred.
– Observations over long periods is EXPENSIVE or even impossible
Researcher Needs to Understand
the decision makers objectives for conducting research.
the business context in which the decision maker operates objectives
informal gathering of background information to familiarize the researcher and manager with the decision-making environment situation.
1) Develop many alt problem statements
2) think about potential solutions
3) Use free-associated techniques to generate lists of ideas
4) be open minded
the sign (indicator) that something is wrong
the actual reasons (possible causes) for the discrepancy between what is (current situation) and what is desired.
Process of Problem Definition
1) Understand the Business Decision
2) Isolate Symptoms from Problem
3) Write Managerial Decision Statements and Corresponding Research Objectives
4) Determine Unit of Analysis
5) Determine Relevant Variables
6) State Research Questions and Objectives
capture the researchers understanding of the decision makers objectives (reasons) for seeking the research.
Unit of Analysis
The target population from whom data needs to be collected to serve the research objectives. (individuals, customers, competitors, etc..)
Anything that may assume different values among members of the target population.
Categorical of Continuos
Dependent or Independent
an unproven statement about the nature of relationships between variables or possible solution to a problem.
can take on a range of **quantitative** values.
Indicates membership in some group.
Also called CLASSIFICATORY variable.
a process outcome or a variable that is predicted and / or explained by other variables.
A variable that is expected to influence the dependent variable in some way.
Goals that the research is designed to achieve.
Questions for which the research is designed to provide answers.
The researchers translation of the managerial (marketing) problem into a specific inquiry.
A WRITTEN statement of the research design (strategy blueprint) that oftens also includes.
Contents of the Research PROPOSAL
Purpose of the research
Presentation of Results
For Management (the Client) // Functions of a Research Proposal
1) Evaluation: it helps the client to evaluate the ability of the research to accomplish its objectives.
2) Choosing research suppliers: client judges quality of different research suppliers from their proposals
3) Judgement Standard
It is a standard for determining if the research was conducted as planned.
Functions of a Research Proposal // FOR THE RESEARCHER
Thinking Ahead: it forces the researcher to think through the different stages of the research process.
Bidding Document: it serves as the researchers bid to offer a specific service.
Functions of a Research Proposal // For Both Parties
Communication: it serves as a means of communication between the researcher and the client (decision maker)
Written Contract: it serves as a written contract that can always be referred to.
the systematic process of recording actual behavioral patterns of people, objects, and events as they happen.
LIMITATIONS on Observation of Human Behavior
– Cognitive phenomena cannot be observed.
– Interpretation of data may be a problem.
– Not all activity can be recorded.
– Only short periods can be observed.
Observer BIAS possible.
– Possible invasion of privacy.
Nature of Observation Studies // VISIBLE OBSERVATION
observation in whiche the observers presence is known.
Nature of Observation Studies // HIDDEN Observation
observation in which the subject is unaware that observation is taking place.
Advantages of Observation over Surveying:
Data are free from distortions, inaccuracies, or other response biases
Data are recorded when actual and nonverbal behavior takes place.
Benefits of Observing Human Behavior
– Communication is not necessary
– Data not distorted by self-report bias
– No need to rely on memories
– nonverbal behavior data may be obtained
– certain data may be obtained more quickly
– environmental conditions can be recorded
– may be combined with survey to provide complementary evidence.
observation provides an additional source of information that helps explain other research findings.
the amount of time it takes to make a choice. Used as a measure of preference.
straightforward attempt to observe and record what naturally occurs.
Observation in which the investigator creats an artifical environment in order to test a hypothesis.
Env. may increase the frequency of certain behavior patterns to be observed.
a distortion of measurement resulting from the cognitive behavior or actions of a witnessing observer.
Record events subjectively
Record events inaccurately
Interpreting Observation data incorrectly.
Ethical Issues of Human Observation
Respondent’s right to PRIVACY
Contrived observation as ENTRAPMENT
Researchers feel comfortable collecting obersvation data if:
– commonly performed in public
– setting assures anonymity
– observed person has agreed to be observed
Observation of Physical Objects
Artifacts: made and consumed withing a culture that signals something meaningful.
Inventories: count and record physical inventories.
Content Analysis: systematic observation and quantitative description of manifest content of communication.
TV / Radio
Website Traffic (Click through rate)
Scanner based consumer panel
Measuring Physiological Reactions
Eye Tracking Monitor
Pupilometer (measures pupil)
Psychogalvanometer: measures involuntary changes in electrical resistance of skin. Assumes physiological changes accompany emotion.
Voice Pitch Analysis.
Easier to collect, many sources, and cheap to get
Secondary Data (What is it?)
recorded prior to and for a purpose other than the current research project.
Disadvantages of Secondary Data
– Maybe outdated.
– Units of Mesaurement might need to be converted.
– Lack of accuracy
primary data method based on communication with representative of sample of individuals.
people who verbally answer an interviewers questions
Survey that emphasized contacting respondents who are a repre. sample of target pop.
Census vs Sample
Type of Data in Market Segmentation?
Type of Data in Customer Satisfaction?
Type of Data in Advertising Testing
Advantages of Surveys
Disadvantages of Survey
Classifying Survey Research Methods
– By Method of Communication (Personal v Telephone)
– By Degree of Structure (Unstructured Disguise)
– By time Frame (Cross Sectional vs Longitudinal)
Limit on responses (MC)
No limit on response
assume respondent is willing to answer
Assume the purpose of the study must be hidden (drugs)
Undisguised (Direct) Unstructured
Survey with open ended questions to discover new answers
Cross Sectional Studies
data collected at single point in time (only once, but could be a six month window)
Data collected at different points in time using:
– Successive (different samples in a tracking or cohort study)
– same sample in panel study
Random Sampling Error
Systematic Error (BIAS)
Sample biases that result from respondent action or inaction
Error caused by improper admin (execution) of research tasks
stat differences between the results of a survey in which the sample includes only those responses and a survey that would include those who failed to respond for various reasons (not home, refusal, self selection)
deliberate falsification or unconscious misrepresentation
Acquiescence Bias (Response BIAS)
tendency to agree with everything interviewer says
Extremity Bias (Response BIAS)
tendency to use extremes in response
Interviewer Bias (Response BIAS)
interviews presence affect response
Auspices Bias (Response BIAS)
knowledge of sponsor of research affecting response
Social Desirability bias
acceptable answers rather than truth
Categories of Admin Error
Sample Selection Error: improper sample design or procedure
Data Processing Error: incorrect into or bad programming
Door to Door
Mall Intercept Interviews
Advantages of Personal Interviews
2) probe complex questions
3) more willing respondents, time wise
4) reduction in rate of nonresponse (completing questionnaire
5) possibility of visual aide
6) High response rate
Disadvantages of Personal Interviews
Respondents cannot be anon
maybe need for several callbacks
most widely used commercial survey method
Telephone Interviewing Systems
– Central Location Interview: normally through WATS (wide area telecom service). allows supervision and control
– Computer Assisted: (CATI): usually includes: phone number selection, auto dialing, sample selection, auto callback, reporting on # of completed interviews
– Computerized voice activated: computer assumes all responsibility for interviewr
Advantages of Telephone Interview
– high speed of data collect
– inexpensive compared to personal
– better anon
– releatively higher respondent cooperations and lower nonresponse compared to personal interview
DisAdvantages of Telephone Interview
– problems in getting good samples
– answering machines
– respondents ability to easily hangup
– inability to use visual aide
– need for shorter forms of questioning
– DO NOT CALL LISTS
respondent reads and fills out questions.
Distribution of Self Admin
– mail or postal
– drop off
Advantages of Self Admin
– geographic flexibility
– low cost
– respondent convenience
– respondent anon
DisAdvantages of Self Admin
– absence of interviewer (loss of control, misinterpretation, no visual aid)
– standardized questions
– takes long time to get data
– short questionnaire
low response rate
– no assurance that the person the survey was meant for actually took it
Response Rate Issues in Postal
number of completed and returned surveys divided by number of eligible people contacted
prestige of sponsor
color of paper
type of postage
Increase in response rate over control group:
Prior tele calls (19%)
Pocket Knife (15%)
Anon (in company) (20%)
Anon external (10%)
Follow ups (12%)
eh. bad cause people dont really have fax anymore but quicker and cheaper than trad mail
Electron Self Admin
2) Internet (Web HTML)
4) On site comp
5) Disk by Mail
Advantages of Electron Self Admin
1) Speed of Distribution
2) Low Cost
3) Faster response
4) greater flex
5) less paper
DisAdvantages of Electron Self Admin
2) lack of anon
3) different types of computers and users
4) difficulties for email novices
Advantages of Internet Survey
– cost effective
– visual appealing / interactive
– accurate real time data
– easy callback
– flexible / personalized
DisAdvantages of Internet Survey
– non widespread use of internet in general pop
– difference in capabilities / computer skills
– lack of security of personal info
Protesting Survey Instruments
– Pre-Testing: screening procedures that involves trial run with a group of responds to iron out problems
– Basic Way to PreTest:
>screen with other professionals
>have client review final questionnaire
>collect data from small pool
– protect public from misrepresentation and exploitation
– protect privacy
– no deception
– inform respondents of purpose
– matain honesty / confidentiality
– maintain objective | <urn:uuid:291aeb63-352f-42d6-89db-2fd82899e2b8> | {
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The Prices and Incomes Accord was an agreement between the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Labor Party government of Prime Minister Bob Hawke and Treasurer (later Prime Minister) Paul Keating. Employers were not party to the Accord. Unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged action to minimise inflation and price rises. The Government was also to act on the social wage. At its broadest this concept included increased spending on education as well as welfare.
This was seen as a method to reduce inflation without reducing the living standards of Australians. At the beginning of the Accord, only one union, the New South Wales Nurses Federation , voted against the Accord. The Accord continued for the whole period of the Labor Government through seven stages including, after 1993, Enterprise Bargaining.
There were a total of 8 accords.
The original accord was designed to tackle the problem of stagflation and to reduce the number of industrial disputes. It included half-yearly wage increases indexed to the CPI, and supported the introduction of Medicare
Bob Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia, described the Accord as a centralised system of wage fixation, for the purpose of economic recovery:
As far as wages are concerned, the Government will participate in the conference on wage fixation scheduled to be held in the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. We will base our approach to that Conference on the conclusions of the Summit and on the prices and incomes accord. In that context, I would point out again that all at the Summit agreed that if a centralised system of wage fixing is to work, there must be an abstention from sectional claims except in special and extraordinary circumstances. Let me say that my Government's interpretation of what constitutes such circumstances is the common -sense interpretation and leaves no room for selfish claims from maverick sections of the trade union movement. Participants at the Summit Conference recognised that if restraint in incomes is to be exercised, then it should be exercised universally. In that spirit of equitable sharing of the burdens of recovery the Summit also stressed the need for restraint in non-wage incomes such as dividends, professional fees and the like.
The election of John Howard in 1996 dramatically changed the ideological position of the Australian government. The Liberal government was opposed to any wage fixing. This government's core beliefs were that the free market should determine wages, whilst the government should focus on tight monetary policy and avoid budget deficit. This began a period of increased hostility between the government and the union movement in Australia and marked the end of the Accord period.
Criticisms of the Accord generally come from the right within Australia, who claim that it kept real wages stagnant for over ten years. In this view, the Accord was a policy of industrial peace, class collaboration and corporatism.
Today, in my remarks on this Bill, in particular, I speak on behalf of the unemployed. Again, as I do not represent an existing interest group dependent on government protection or largesse and am not fearful of a cessation of benefits, I do not feel obliged to congratulate the Prime Minister (Mr Hawke) on his capacity to assemble and charm the group of people most likely to provide willing or conscripted endorsement of the disgraceful deal cooked up between the ALP and the Australian Council of Trade Unions before the election. This so-called accord-this deal-was and is a recipe for the continuing exclusion of 10 per cent or more of the work force from the opportunity to earn gainful reward for employment.
The only policy they had for controlling wages during that period and since has been to use the bludgeon of unemployment to reduce wage claims. That was a deliberate act of policy. The former Government pursued budgetary and monetary policies designed to make it more difficult to advance wage claims. As we saw, under such policies an unemployment rate of 10 per cent was needed to bring wage claims down to their present state, one in which virtually no increases at all are taking place. | <urn:uuid:a49c173f-7030-48d2-94bd-b6a1f8b76156> | {
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Original Research ARTICLE
Negative learning bias is associated with risk aversion in a genetic animal model of depression
- Section of Neurobiology, Department of Neuroscience and Division of Biology, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
The lateral habenula (LHb) is activated by aversive stimuli and the omission of reward, inhibited by rewarding stimuli and is hyperactive in helpless rats—an animal model of depression. Here we test the hypothesis that congenital learned helpless (cLH) rats are more sensitive to decreases in reward size and/or less sensitive to increases in reward than wild-type (WT) control rats. Consistent with the hypothesis, we found that cLH rats were slower to switch preference between two responses after a small upshift in reward size on one of the responses but faster to switch their preference after a small downshift in reward size. cLH rats were also more risk-averse than WT rats—they chose a response delivering a constant amount of reward (“safe” response) more often than a response delivering a variable amount of reward (“risky” response) compared to WT rats. Interestingly, the level of bias toward negative events was associated with the rat's level of risk aversion when compared across individual rats. cLH rats also showed impaired appetitive Pavlovian conditioning but more accurate responding in a two-choice sensory discrimination task. These results are consistent with a negative learning bias and risk aversion in cLH rats, suggesting abnormal processing of rewarding and aversive events in the LHb of cLH rats.
The LHb, a key regulator of monoaminergic brain regions (Amat et al., 2001; Ji and Shepard, 2007; Hikosaka et al., 2008), is metabolically and synaptically hyperactive in helpless rats (Caldecott-Hazard, 1988; Shumake et al., 2003; Li et al., 2011, 2013). Furthermore, the LHb is activated by unexpected losses of reward and inhibited by unexpected gains of reward (Matsumoto and Hikosaka, 2007). Based on these findings, we hypothesized that helpless rats would be more sensitive to decreases in reward size and less sensitive to increases in reward size than control rats.
We tested this hypothesis by measuring how quickly cLH and WT rats switched their preference away from a response which was unexpectedly decreased in reward value (downshift test) or toward a response which was unexpectedly increased in reward value (upshift test) (Roesch et al., 2006). These tests allow one to measure sensitivity to decreases and increases in reward independently while controlling for differences in non-specific learning rates. We also measured risk-based choice in cLH and WT rats. We predicted that cLH rats would be more risk-averse than WT rats since either a greater sensitivity to decreases in reward value or a decreased sensitivity to increases in reward value would produce risk-averse behavior. Consistent with the hypothesis, we found that cLH rats were more sensitive to downshifts in reward size, less sensitive to upshifts in reward size, and more risk-averse than WT rats. cLH rats also showed slower appetitive Pavlovian conditioning yet more accurate choice in a two-choice sensory discrimination task. These results are consistent with a negative learning bias in cLH rats which predisposes them to risk-averse behavior.
cLH (n = 11) and WT (n = 13) rats were trained to press a centrally-located lever for presentation of light cues which directed them to the left or right for sucrose solution reward. There were three different light cues: a left light cue that signaled reward delivery on the left (forced-choice), a right light cue that signaled reward delivery on the right (forced-choice), and a double light cue (lights on left and right illuminated simultaneously) that signaled reward delivery on either side (free-choice). Rats were required to headpoke into the correct reward port during the forced-choice trials to initiate reward delivery, otherwise the trial was scored as an error and no reward was delivered on that trial. Forced-choice trials were used so the rats continued to sample both sides during manipulations of reward size, and free-choice trials were used to determine their preference for either the left or right sides (Roesch et al., 2006).
To measure rats' sensitivities to increases or decreases in reward size, rats were trained with an equal amount of reward on the left and right sides and then given upshift and downshift tests. During an upshift test, the size of the reward was increased on each rat's non-preferred side and the rate at which they changed their side preference during choice trials was used as a measure of their sensitivity to increases in reward size. During a downshift test, the size of the reward was decreased on each rat's preferred side and the rate at which they changed their side preference was used as a measure of their sensitivity to decreases in reward size. We first used large differences in reward size (two boluses of sucrose solution on side A vs. four boluses of sucrose solution on upshifted side B; 2 vs. 1 bolus for the downshift; see Materials and Methods) and found no difference in cLH and WT rats' sensitivities to the changes in reward size (ANOVA: all Fs < 3, P > 0.05, data not shown; see Materials and Methods for description of statistical analysis). However, when using smaller changes in reward size (three vs. four boluses for the upshift; three vs. two boluses for the downshift), cLH rats were faster to switch their preference during the downshift (Figures 1A, S1) but slower to shift their preference during the upshift (Figures 1B, S1; ANOVA: interaction between rat group and shift type, F(1, 23) = 17.8, P < 0.0001; 3-way interaction between rat group, shift type, and trial block, F(3, 69) = 3.5, P = 0.02). After each of the downshift and upshift sessions, rats were given another session to test their ability to discriminate the sizes of the rewards used during the shifts. There was no difference between cLH and WT rats' abilities to discriminate the sizes of the rewards used during the downshift (preference for side delivering more reward: cLH, 78 ± 5%, WT, 73 ± 4%, P = 0.44, Student's t-test) or the upshift (preference for side delivering more reward: cLH, 69 ± 5%, WT, 75 ± 3%, P = 0.28, Student's t-test), suggesting that cLH and WT rats have similar abilities to discriminate reward magnitudes in these conditions. There was also no difference between the groups in baseline preference for the downshifted or upshifted side during the downshift or upshift sessions (baseline preference during downshift: cLH, 60 ± 10%, WT, 56 ± 6%, P = 0.68; upshift: cLH, 85 ± 7%, WT, 87 ± 3%; P = 0.74; Student's t-tests). These results suggest that cLH rats have a negative learning bias—they are more sensitive to decreases in reward but less sensitive to increases in reward than WT rats.
Figure 1. Negative learning bias in cLH rats. (A) cLH rats switched their preference away from the downshifted side more quickly than WT rats. (B) cLH rats switched their preference toward the upshifted side more slowly than WT rats. **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05. Student's t-tests on individual trial blocks. Error bars indicate s.e.m.
To test if the negative learning bias in cLH rats led to risk-aversion, we measured rats' preferences for either a “risky,” variable-sized reward option (one or seven boluses) or a “safe,” constant-sized reward option (two boluses) on free-choice trials. If cLH rats are risk-averse, they should choose the variable/risky option less than WT rats. We measured variable/risky choice under three conditions—when the variable/risky option delivered more reward on average than the constant/safe option, the same amount of reward, or less reward on average than the constant/safe option. These conditions not only vary in the amount of expected reward on the variable/risky side but also in the amount of risk associated with the variable/risky option (risky better > even > safe better), where risk is defined as the variance of the reward size (Markowitz, 1952). Consistent with the hypothesis, cLH rats chose the variable/risky side less than WT rats [Figure 2A; ANOVA: main effect of rat group, F(1, 23) = 10.0, P = 0.002; main effect of risk condition, F(2, 46) = 48.1, P < 0.0001; interaction between rat group and risk condition, F(2, 46) = 2.5, P = 0.09]. cLH rats modulated their decision-making in accordance with the expected reward on the variable/risky side, suggesting that cLH rats are able to calculate expected reward normally and use this information to guide their decision-making. We note that the difference in risky choice between cLH and WT rats only reached statistical significance in the “risky better” condition—the condition with the most risk associated with the variable/risky option (Figure 2B).
Figure 2. Risk-averse choice in cLH rats and its relationship to negative learning bias. (A) cLH rats chose the variable/risky side less than WT rats (averages of variable/risky better, even, and constant/safe better conditions used for comparison between groups). (B) cLH rats chose the variable/risky side less than WT rats in the variable/risky better condition, when risk was greatest. (C) Learning bias is correlated with risky choice. (D) Same as (C) with symbols denoting cLH (filled circles) and WT (open circles) groups. *P < 0.01. Student's t-test. Error bars indicate s.e.m.
To determine if a negative learning bias predicted risk-averse behavior, we first computed a learning bias score from the rate at which rats changed their preference in the upshift and downshift tests (see Materials and Methods). If a rat changed its preference faster after an upshift than downshift, its learning bias score would be positive. If it changed its preference slower after an upshift than downshift, its learning bias score would be negative. We then computed the correlation between the rats' learning bias scores and their average risky choice scores and found a significant positive relationship between learning bias and risky choice (Figures 2C,D; r = 0.5, P = 0.01, n = 24 rats; r = 0.59, P = 0.053, n = 11 cLH rats). This relationship is consistent with the idea that a negative learning bias in cLH rats contributes to their risk-averse behavior.
We found other differences between cLH and WT rats that were consistent with abnormal reward processing in cLH rats. cLH rats showed slower Pavlovian conditioning during initial light-reward pairings [before rats were trained to press a lever for light presentation; Figure 3A; ANOVA: main effect of rat group, F(1, 23) = 43.5, P < 0.0001; main effect of session number, F(4, 92) = 25.7, P < 0.0001; interaction between rat group and session number, F(4, 92) = 3.3, P = 0.01], however, once lever training was complete, cLH rats were more accurate on forced-choice trials (when they had to respond to one of the lights after a lever press; Figure 3B) with even, constant reward sizes on both sides. This was not due to more motor impulsivity in WT rats since there was no difference in reaction times between lever press and entry into the reward receptacles between the two groups (Figure 3C) and WT rats were actually slower to respond to the insertion of the lever than cLH rats (cLH, 0.58 ±.03 s; WT, 0.73 ±.06 s; P < 0.05). Forced-choice accuracy was correlated with a negative learning bias (r = 0.49, P = 0.01, n = 24 rats), but Pavlovian conditioning was not (average Pavlovian conditioning accuracy for first three sessions vs. negative learning bias, r = −0.34, P = 0.11, n = 24 rats).
Figure 3. Pavlovian conditioning and forced-choice accuracy. (A) Slower Pavlovian conditioning in cLH rats. (B) cLH rats responded more accurately during forced-choice trials with even, constant reward sizes on both sides. (C) Reaction time from lever press to sucrose delivery port during same forced-choice trials as in (B). *P < 0.01. Student's t-test on individual sessions in (A). Error bars indicate s.e.m.
Here we show that cLH rats have a negative learning bias when responding to small changes in reward size and this negative learning bias is associated with risk aversion. We also found that cLH rats show impaired appetitive Pavlovian conditioning yet more accurate forced-choice responses after a lever press.
The lesser sensitivity to an increase in reward size in cLH rats is consistent with impaired appetitive Pavlovian conditioning and other studies that found altered sucrose consumption (Sanchis-Segura et al., 2005; Shumake et al., 2005) and less operant responding for reward in a progressive ratio test (Vollmayr et al., 2004). Together, these findings indicate that cLH rats are less sensitive to reward than control rats. Less responding during a progressive ratio test is also consistent with our finding that cLH rats are more sensitive to decreases in reward size, since progressive ratio tests measure operant responding after repeated omissions of reward.
Our results are also consistent with a study that found a negative bias in cLH rats' interpretation of ambiguous cues (Enkel et al., 2010a). In this study, rats were trained to press a lever to avoid shock in response to one sound and to press another lever to get reward in response to another sound. During the test, rats were given sounds that were perceptually between the two trained sounds (i.e., ambiguous cues). cLH rats chose the negative, shock-avoidance lever more often than control rats during presentation of the ambiguous cues. Notably, this result and our finding of greater risk aversion in cLH rats are consistent with a pessimistic bias in cLH rats, since both behaviors can be explained by a greater tendency to expect a negative outcome. Given the association we found between risk aversion and learning bias, we hypothesize that cLH rats choose pessimistically and this is due to excessive learning from punishments and impaired positive reinforcement learning, perhaps because of altered processing of punishments and rewards in the LHb.
Not only were cLH rats faster to shift their responses toward the bigger reward during the downshift sessions, they were also more accurate than WT rats on the forced-choice trials. These two observations might be causally related since there was a positive relationship between forced-choice accuracy and negative learning bias. Accordingly, since errors also involve unexpected decreases (omission) of reward, cLH rats may be more sensitive to errors and learn more from them. We note that learning from errors is particularly instructive once an animal understands the constraints of the task, but not as informative during the initial stages of learning, when exploration is needed to determine which behaviors will be rewarded. This may be why cLH rats were not more accurate (in fact, they were less accurate) during Pavlovian conditioning, when rewards were more instructive than errors. cLH rats may have been less accurate during Pavlovian conditioning because they are less responsive to reward (Vollmayr et al., 2004; Sanchis-Segura et al., 2005; Shumake et al., 2005), although we note that we found no significant relationship between positive learning bias and accuracy during Pavlovian conditioning.
Importantly, differences between cLH and WT rats were found on the downshift and upshift tests only when we used small changes in reward size. When big changes in reward size were used, there was no difference in the rate at which the groups changed their response preference. Possibly, this is because the big changes in reward size were too obvious and recruited explicit memory systems (such as the hippocampus) that may function similarly in cLH and WT rats, masking differences in implicit reward memory function (governed by the basal ganglia). We also note that congenitally non-helpless rats were not tested in our experiments. It would be interesting to determine if differences in their behavior are opposite to those of cLH rats on the tests reported here.
Although cLH rats were bred for learned helplessness, there are many differences in behavior between cLH and WT or non-helpless rats besides helplessness—sucrose consumption (Sanchis-Segura et al., 2005; Shumake et al., 2005), operant responding for reward (Vollmayr et al., 2004), reaction to stress (King et al., 1993, 2001; Enkel et al., 2010b), fear conditioning and extinction (Shumake et al., 2005), response to novelty (Shumake et al., 2005), negative ambiguous-cue interpretation (Enkel et al., 2010a), and now negative learning bias, risk aversion, appetitive Pavlovian conditioning, and response accuracy. This suggests that disposition to helpless behavior is associated with several other differences in behavior, many of which are similar to depressive symptoms (Hasler et al., 2004; Roiser et al., 2012). It remains unclear why breeding rats for helplessness would produce rats with these other differences in behavior. One possibility is that greater sensitivity to negative events (i.e., punishment) in some rats predisposes them to be more sensitive to the shock that induces helplessness, while lesser sensitivity to rewarding events predisposes them to be less sensitive to the termination of shock during helplessness testing. This negative learning bias may also explain many of the other behaviors listed above. A better understanding of the core neurobiological mechanisms underlying the behavior of cLH rats will help shed light on the precise nature of the behavioral differences seen in cLH rats and perhaps the etiology of depression. Given that cLH rats have altered processing of increases and decreases in reward size and lateral habenula hyperactivity, it will be especially interesting to determine how the LHb of cLH rats processes increases and decreases in reward size.
Materials and Methods
Male, adult, age-matched cLH and WT Sprague-Dawley (Harlan) rats were used. Rats were singly-housed and kept on a 12/12 h light-dark cycle (lights on/off at 6 am/6 pm). Rats were water restricted and given access to water for 90 min/per day, following the end of each training or test session. All procedures involving animals were approved by the Institute Animal Care and Use Committees of the University of California, San Diego.
All training and testing was done in standard rat operant chambers (Med Associates Inc.). A houselight provided constant, low-level illumination. Recessed sucrose delivery ports with infrared beams that detected head entry were located on the left and right sides of the chamber. Two lights, used as conditioned and discriminative stimuli were located a few centimeters above the ports, one light above each port. One retractable lever was located between the ports. Sucrose solution was delivered to a well in each port via a programmable pump.
First, rats were given five sessions of Pavlovian conditioning that lasted 60 min each. During the first two sessions, lights located over the left and right sucrose delivery ports were illuminated randomly (one at a time), 15 s after the start of the last trial, with the exception that the delivery of sucrose must have been consumed before the next light was illuminated. Two boluses of 20 μ l of 10% sucrose solution were delivered concurrent with light illumination in the port underneath the illuminated light. No further lights or sucrose were delivered until after the rat entered the correct port for > 500 ms (i.e., drank the sucrose solution). If the rat entered the wrong port after light illumination, the trial was scored an error but the rat could still get sucrose solution by subsequently entering the correct port. The cue light was only turned off once the rat responded to the correct port. The final 3 Pavlovian conditioning sessions were similar to the first 2 except that sucrose delivery was contingent on the rat responding to the correct port and therefore sucrose delivery started only after the rat entered the correct port. If the rat responded to the wrong port, the light was turned off, no sucrose was delivered, and the trial was scored an error.
After five sessions of Pavlovian conditioning, rats were trained to press a lever for illumination of one of the cue lights. If they responded to the correct port after light illumination, two boluses of sucrose solution were delivered, as in the last 3 Pavlovian conditioning sessions. During initial training, the lever was not retracted after a lever press, but after the rat began to press the lever, it was given another session in which the lever was retracted after a lever press and reinserted 6 s after sucrose consumption. After a rat pressed the lever at least 100 times in 60 min, it started baseline lever-pressing sessions. During six sessions of baseline lever-pressing, rats pressed the lever and randomly received one of three cue lights: left light (forced-choice) which required a response to the left reward port, right light (forced-choice) which required a response to the right reward port, or both lights (free-choice) after which they could respond to either side to get reward. Responses to the wrong side during forced-choice trials were scored an error and resulted in light off and no sucrose delivery for that trial. These sessions lasted 60 min and were used to determine rats' accuracy and reaction time during forced-choice trials (Figures 3B,C). All subsequent sessions were similar to these sessions, but varied in the amount of reward given on each side.
After six sessions of baseline lever-pressing, rats were given an upshift session with a large increase in reward size. During these sessions, baseline preference for the left and right sides was determined during the first 21 free-choice trials. Reward size was then increased from two to four boluses on each rat's non-preferred side, while reward size remained at two boluses on the preferred side. The session ended after 180 total trials (60 free-choice, 60 forced-left, and 60 forced-right). The same reward sizes (4 and 2) were used for the entirety of the following session (similar to the end of the upshift test). Next, the rats were given a downshift session with a large decrease in reward size. During the baseline period which ended after 21 free-choice trials, rats continued with four and two boluses of reward. After the baseline period, the side which delivered four boluses was downshifted to one bolus of reward. The session ended after 180 total trials.
After the first large upshift and downshift tests, rats were trained for two sessions with three smaller boluses (~15 μ l each) of sucrose solution on each side. Next, rats were given a small downshift session in which the side opposite to the one manipulated during the large shift sessions was downshifted from three boluses to two boluses of reward after a baseline period that ended after 21 free-choice trials. The session ended after 240 total trials (80 free-choice, 80 forced-left, and 80 forced-right). We used more trials during the smaller shifts than the larger shifts because we anticipated that rats would be slower to shift their preference after a small change in reward size. After one further session with three boluses of reward on one side and two boluses of reward on the other to measure reward magnitude discrimination, rats were given a small upshift session. This session was similar to previous shift sessions except that the side delivering two boluses of reward was upshifted to four boluses of reward after the baseline period. The following day, rats were given another session with the same difference in reward size as was used during the upshift session—three and four boluses of reward, delivered on the same sides as during the upshift session—to measure reward magnitude discrimination.
Before risk aversion training, rats were trained with two boluses of reward as used initially. During risk aversion training, one side was randomly designated the risky side and the other side was the safe side, which always delivered two boluses of reward. Half the cLH and WT rats started with the “risky better” condition in which the risky side produced one bolus of reward 75% of the time and seven boluses of reward 25% of the time on average. The other half started with the “safe better” condition in which the risky side produced one bolus of reward 90% of the time and seven boluses 10% of the time. Rats were given 3 risk aversion training sessions, followed by two test sessions which were identical to the training sessions. Next, the risky and safe sides were switched for each rat and they were given three more training sessions, followed by two test sessions. Risky choice scores during the free-choice trials from the four test sessions were averaged together for each rat to produce a single score for that condition (risky better or safe better). Next, the risky and safe sides were switched again and the rats were given five total sessions (three training, two test as before) in the “even” condition, in which the risky side delivered one bolus 5/6 of the time and seven boluses 1/6 of the time. The risky and safe sides were switched again and rats were given five more sessions as before. Finally, rats were tested in their last remaining condition (either risky better or safe better) as described previously.
Side preference was normalized for each rat by dividing side preference during each trial block by side preference during the baseline block. The baseline block consisted of 21 free-choice trials, blocks 1 and 2 consisted of 20 free-choice trials, and block 3 consisted of 19 free-choice trials.
Learning bias was defined as:
ΔU – ΔD
Where ΔU = the change in preference during the upshift (during block 1)
And ΔD = the change in preference during the downshift (during block 2)
For Figure S1, side preference was computed for each rat as a running average of the side chosen on the indicated trial and 5 trials before and after the indicated trial (11 trials total).
Student's t-tests were used with P < 0.05 deemed significant. For analysis of the upshifts and downshifts, we performed an analysis of variance with 3 factors—rat group (cLH or WT), shift type (downshift or upshift), and trial block (baseline, block 1, block 2, block 3)—followed by Student's t-tests. For analysis of the risk aversion tests, we performed an analysis of variance with 2 factors—rat group (cLH or WT) and risk condition (risky better, even, and safe better)—followed by Student's t-tests. For analysis of Pavlovian conditioning, we performed an analysis of variance with 2 factors—rat group (cLH or WT) and session number (1,2,3,4,5)—followed by Student's t-tests.
Steven J. Shabel, Ryan T. Murphy, and Roberto Malinow designed the experiments. Steven J. Shabel and Ryan T. Murphy performed the experiments. Steven J. Shabel and Roberto Malinow analyzed the data. Steven J. Shabel and Roberto Malinow wrote the manuscript.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Funding was provided by NIH MH091119 to Roberto Malinow.
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: http://www.frontiersin.org/journal/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00001/abstract
Figure S1 | Behavior during downshift and upshift sessions (same data as shown in Figure 1, but values have not been normalized to baseline period). (A) Choice of initially preferred side during downshift test in cLH and WT rats. (B) Choice of initially preferred side during upshift test in cLH and WT rats.
Amat, J., Sparks, P. D., Matus-Amat, P., Griggs, J., Watkins, L. R., and Maier, S. F. (2001). The role of the habenular complex in the elevation of dorsal raphe nucleus serotonin and the changes in the behavioral responses produced by uncontrollable stress. Brain Res. 917, 118–126. doi: 10.1016/S0006-8993(01)02934-1
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Hikosaka, O., Sesack, S. R., Lecourtier, L., and Shepard, P. D. (2008). Habenula: crossroad between the basal ganglia and the limbic system. J. Neurosci. 28, 11825–11829. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3463-08.2008
Ji, H., and Shepard, P. D. (2007). Lateral habenula stimulation inhibits rat midbrain dopamine neurons through a GABA(A) receptor-mediated mechanism. J. Neurosci. 27, 6923–6930. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0958-07.2007
King, J. A., Abend, S., and Edwards, E. (2001). Genetic predisposition and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder in an animal model. Biol. Psychiatry 50, 231–237. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3223(01)01071-X
King, J. A., Campbell, D., and Edwards, E. (1993). Differential development of the stress response in congenital learned helplessness. Int. J. Dev. Neurosci. 11, 435–442. doi: 10.1016/0736-5748(93)90017-8
Li, B., Piriz, J., Mirrione, M., Chung, C., Proulx, C. D., Schulz, D., et al. (2011). Synaptic potentiation onto habenula neurons in the learned helplessness model of depression. Nature 470, 535–539. doi: 10.1038/nature09742
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Keywords: lateral habenula, reinforcement learning, depression, helplessness, cLH, risk aversion, reward, behavior
Citation: Shabel SJ, Murphy RT and Malinow R (2014) Negative learning bias is associated with risk aversion in a genetic animal model of depression. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8:1. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00001
Received: 20 September 2013; Accepted: 02 January 2014;
Published online: 16 January 2014.
Edited by:Fritz A. Henn, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, USA
Reviewed by:Markus Bauer, University College London, UK
Daniela Schulz, Stony Brook University, USA
Copyright © 2014 Shabel, Murphy and Malinow. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Steven J. Shabel and Roberto Malinow, Section of Neurobiology, Department of Neuroscience and Division of Biology, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. CNCB, Room 220, La Jolla, CA 92093-0634, USA e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] | <urn:uuid:4c8f49cc-fcee-47d5-aaae-7206f7ce6633> | {
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Priroda module (77KSI) at a glance:
The module Priroda was a Russian equivalent of NASA's Mission to planet Earth. The spacecraft was intended for a wide range of remote-sensing experiments. As its military sister ship, the module Spektr, Priroda stuck on the ground for years due to luck of funds.
As it happened with Spektr, the Priroda's mission was revived, when NASA signed up for a series of flights onboard Mir. The last module of Mir, completed a decade-long assembly of the Mir space station, delivering unprecedented amount of scientific payload.
Along with remote-sensing equipment the module was carrying the hardware for material processing, meteorological and ionosphere research, as well as equipment for US, French and German experiments.
The propulsion system onboard Kristall featured small 11D458 and 17D58E thrusters developed at NIIMash.
Soon, after Priroda successfully reached the orbit on April 23, 1996, a failure in its electrical supply system cut in half the amount of energy available onboard. Since in its final configuration the Priroda had no solar panels, the module had only one attempt of docking with Mir, before loosing all its power and maneuverability. Given the fact that several previous modules had to abort the initial docking attempts, the ground controllers were extremely nervous about the situation. Fortunately, the Priroda docked to Mir flawlessly on April 26, 1996.
Onboard Mir, the module reportedly required a considerable amount of power for its full-scale operations. Due to limited power supply during the last expedition to Mir in 2000, the cosmonauts had never had a chance to activate the module's payloads.
Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
An isolated view of the Priroda module in its original design. Credit: TsPK
The Priroda module with its research radar antenna deployed onboard Mir. Credit: NASA
A training mockup of the Priroda module. Copyright © 2000 by Anatoly Zak
The view of the science instruments installed on the exterior of the Priroda module. Copyright © 2001 by Anatoly Zak | <urn:uuid:4a8de77b-7e12-461e-8b82-0a0c40205f24> | {
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Noah was a righteous man who lived amid great wickedness. Almost all the people on the earth spent their time doing evil things, and they would not listen when Noah taught them the gospel. Noah warned the people that if they did not repent, a mighty flood would come upon the earth and destroy them. But they paid no attention to his words, and Noah’s heart ached with sorrow because he knew that their evil ways would lead to their destruction.
For one hundred twenty years Noah tried to convince the people to repent. At that time many men who lived on the earth were so tall and powerful that they were called giants. They and others tried to kill Noah, but the Lord was with him and protected him.
Finally the people were so wicked that the Lord told Noah: “The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth.”
He commanded Noah and his family to build a huge wooden ark and to gather into it animals, birds, and insects of every kind, both male and female. “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.”
The people laughed and mocked Noah’s family building the ark, and they jeered at the sight of the animals being guided into it. Though Noah grieved at seeing how wicked the people had become, he knew that he was doing the right thing in obeying the Lord’s commandment.
The laughter soon faded as the sky grew dark and the low rumblings of thunder could be heard. Drops of rain began to fall, and then a great storm arose that continued for many days. Water covered the whole earth, even the highest mountains; there was nothing visible but water as far as the eye could see. Every living thing “that creepeth upon the earth” was destroyed except for Noah’s family and the animals they had gathered. As the rain poured and the waves crashed around them, the Lord protected them in the safety of the ark.
After forty days and forty nights, the rain finally stopped. After another one hundred fifty days, the waters began to dry up. After many more days, Noah and his family were able to leave with the animals and settle upon the land. Noah built an altar to give thanks unto the Lord for protecting his family. | <urn:uuid:510b7df4-b62b-4223-8456-8b3a71fe13c5> | {
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INTRODUCTION: September 28 is celebrated internationally as right to know Day. In spite of the fact that India has won its battle of independence in 1947 making democracy its weapon, unfortunately, the truth was something else. The power was handed over to the politicians and democrats, not to the common man then. In India, following a nationwide campaign led by grassroots and civil society organizations, the Government passed a landmark Right To Information Act in 2005. It is an Act ” to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens “. RTI mandates timely response to citizens’ requests for Government information. It is a initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to provide a RTI portal Gateway to citizens for quick search of information.
The idea that Government withhold information for the public has become outdated. During the last decade, many countries have enacted legislations on freedom of information. In India, the Official Secrets Act 1923 was enacted to protect the official secrets. The new law intend to disclose information replacing the ‘ culture of secrecy ‘. It will promote public accountability which will trim the malpractices, mismanagement, abuse of discretion and bribery etc.
OBJECTIVES: The object of RTI is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government. The Act is a big step towards making the citizens informed about the activities of the Government. Social Activist Aruna Roy has described India’s RTI as ” the most fundamental law this country has seen.”
EFFECT OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION: While the debate on corruption in the country rages on, the RTI Act is fast growing as an effective anti- corruption tool.
Jan Lok Pal Bill gained tremendous public support with citizens coming out on the streets of Delhi, Bangalore and other cities to voice their anger over corruption. Where RTI has been used by journalists and the media, the law has a broad base of users. Earlier right to freedom of speech and expression is granted under Article 19(1) of Constitution, but it requires fair and efficient procedure to make the freedom of information work. In the first three years, 2 million RTI requests were filed. The first and well known movement was by Mazdoor Kissan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in Rajasthan for the access to village accounts. Case studies and media reports shows that RTI is being used to redress individual grievances, access entitlements such as Ration Cards and pension. The RTI has paved way for informed citizenry which would strengthen the democratic Government of India. With this Act, we can use our right to speech and expressions and control the Government activities effectively. The idea of open Government is becoming a reality with the implementation of RTI Act. The RTI can be called a success only if the bureaucracy accepts that they have constitutional to serve into.
PROVISIONS OF RTI: Section 3 says all citizens shall have right to information. The Act enforces a duty upon the public authorities to disclosed all information. In V.S.Lee V. State of Kerala.. the remedy provided by Parliament is that wherever there is substantial financial support, the People, have the right to know or information. Section 4(2) states that every public authority shall take constant steps to provide information suo moto to the public. Thus, the authorities have to give information voluntarily so that the public have minimum resort to use this Act. The public authorities also have to disseminate (making known or communicated the information to the public through notice boards, newspapers, public announcements, media broad casts, internet and inspection of offices of public authority) information widely in any form which is easily accessible to the public. Information can be obtained by request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in official language of the area U/S 6. Here, the person has to give fees, and if request can’t be made in writing, the Central PIO and State PIO shall render all assistance to make request in writing form. If the information has been provided correctly or within time, it may be made available by appeal or complaint to the Information Commission U/S (8(a) 1). In The Registrar General V. K.U. Rajasekar, it was held that Section 8 of RTI specially deals with the cases of exemption from disclosure or information when such information affects prejudicially the sovereignty and security of India etc. Section 5 says every public authority shall within 100 days of enactment of the Act, designate as many as officers as the Central Public Information Officers or State Public Information Officers.
Section 6 permits person to obtain information in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area from the designated officers. The person need not to give any reason for the request. Section 7 requires the request to be disposed of within 30 days provided where information sought for concerns the life or liberty of a person, the same shall be provided within 48 hours. Section 7(7) before taking any decision for furnishing the information, the designated officer shall take into consideration the representation made by the third party U/S 11. Section 7(9) exempts granting information where it would divert the
Resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety and preservation of the record in record. U/S 8,it is important to note that the Act specifies that intelligence and security organisations are exempted from the application of the Act. However, it is provided that in case the demand for information pertains to allegation of corruption and human rights violations, the Act shall apply even to such institutions.
RIGHT TO INFORMATION AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT: The RTI is a fundamental right as in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution is now a well settled proposition. It has been discussed by Supreme Court in Number of cases, it has been read into Article 14.(Right to equality), 19(1)(a) freedom of speech and expression and Article 21 (Right to life) through cases such as Bennet Coleman V. Union Of India, Tata Press Ltd. V. Maharashtra Telephone Nigam Ltd. Etc. The same Articles were also interpreted in Kharak Singh V. State of U.P., Govind V. State of M.P. ETC. to include within their scope a right to privacy.
A plain reading of Section 11 suggests that for the section to apply the following three conditions must be satisfied (I) if the PIO is considering disclosing the information (ii) the information relates to the third party (iii) the third party treated the information to be confidential, the third party to be consulted and a notice to be sent to that party. Section 19 provides two tier system of appeals- First appeal and Second appeal. Any person who is aggrieved by the decision of the Central PIO and State PIO within 30 days can prefer First appeal before the First Appellate Authority. This authority shall be an officer who is senior in rank to the Central PIO and State PIO. An appeal can also be made by third party. The Second appeal lies before the State or Central Information Commission against the decision of the First Appellate Authority. It has to be filed within 90 days. As per Section 19(7), decision of Central or State Information Commission is final. The Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media and governance. In Nirmal Singh Dhiman V. Financial Commissioner Revenue, Section 23 says that no court shall entertain any suit, application or other proceeding in respect of any order and no order shall be called in question, otherwise than by way of an appeal. In case, the complainant was aggrieved against the non-supply of information by the Public Information Officer.
CRITICISM: The Act has been criticized on several grounds. It provides for information on demand, but does not sufficiently stress information on matters related to food, water, environment and other survival needs. It does not emphasize active intervention in educating people about their rights to access information. Another thing is allowing for file notings except those related to social and development projects to be exempted. File notings are very important when it comes to the policy making of the Government.
CONCLUSION: By enacting the RTI, India has moved from opaque and arbitrary system of Government to the beginning of an era where there will be greater transparency and to a system where the citizen will be empowered. The real Swaraj will come not by the acquition of authority by a few but by the acquition of capacity by all to resist authority when abused.
“KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, INFORMATION IS POWER, THE SECRETING OF INFORMATION MAY BE AN ACT OF TYRANNY CAMOUFLAGED AS HUMILITY.” | <urn:uuid:67519da1-3c02-457f-bb0a-656ee41fc891> | {
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The Savage History Of Jihad In India
May 20, 2013 • by Moderator • in Muslims WorldWide
PHOTO (not included).
Sahibzadah Ajit Singh (17 years old) at the battle of Chamkaur Sahib
Note On The Picture Above: At the Battle of Chamkaur Sahib, 40 Sikhs fought the army of the Emperor Aurangzeb said to number about 100,000 soldiers. Aurangzeb was a notorious fanatic who carried on a lifelong policy of forced conversions. The picture shows Sahibzadah Ajit Singh, aged 17 years, engaging the enemy. In this battle, Sahibzadah Fateh Singh aged 14 also laid down his life in battle. This battle ranks as the absolute apex of Sikh heroism.
By Maha Sabah
Mr. Sabah is of the muslim faith.
Editors’s Note: Jihad In India met ferocious resistance from the Sikh Faith. The Sikhs and the Islamic invaders fought for nearly 300 years and at the end of the period the Sikhs had prevailed. Ahmed Shah Abdali made the last of his eleven invasions into India around 1763 and returned disheartened never to return to India again. Effectively, a long period of muslim domination of India had come to an end.
The prime characteristic of Islam and Christianity is the denial of individual conscience. They are systems which are based on complete coercion. If you are not a Muslim or a Christian you will go to hell. Throughout history whenever these two religions have gained the upper hand they have committed horrific barbarities against people who are not adherents. Sikhs in the Punjab must understand the historical record of Christianity and understand the fundamental intolerance of this religion as it tries to deceive it’s way into the Punjab. Extreme caution is urged. Due to the well known historical record of Islamic conversions in Punjab, muslims refrain from attempting conversion here. Sikhs are not aware of the sordid killing history of Christians.
Prologue: Sufi Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), wrote several letters to the courtiers of Akbar and Jehangir protesting their “liberal policies towards Hindus”
Here is an excerpt from letter No. 163:
“…The honour of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims… The real purpose of levying jiziya (religious tax) on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in grandeur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honour and might of Islam…”
Forced Conversions to Islam
In his “Discovery of India” Jawaharlal Nehru (erstwhile Prime Minister Of India) appears to attribute the conversion of Hindus to Islam to Islam’s purported egalitarian character and hence its ‘mass appeal’: ” The idea of brotherhood of Islam and of the theoretical equality of its adherents made a powerful appeal, especially those of the Hindu fold who were denied any semblance of equal treatment.”
But strangely, India’s demographic data stands in complete contradiction to such a conclusion. From Punjab and Haryana in the North to the Gangetic Plains, and to Bengal, Hindu communities include members of all castes – including those that should have been most amenable to conversions to Islam. If Islam had truly been perceived as the vehicle for liberation from a petrified caste society as Nehru had claimed, surely there could be no Hindus left at the lower ends of the caste spectrum – especially after five centuries of Islamic rule.
Furthermore, such a speculation appears to be contradicted by another of Nehru’s assertion (concerning Muslim Rajputs) which seems more historically accurate: “It is worth noting as a rule, conversions to Islam were group conversions…Among the upper castes individuals may change their religion…almost an entire village would convert…group life as well as well as their functions continued as before with only minor variations with regards worship etc.”
If entire villages converted and maintained their former practices, how could the conversion have had any tangible effect on any prevalent social hierarchies? Moreover, as Nehru himself implied, the conversion of the lower castes followed the conversion of the upper-castes such as the Rajputs. This is quite in line with the observations of Arab historian Ibn Khaldun who noted that conversions to Islam amongst the masses followed the conversion of the elites. In other words, the subjects followed the religion of the rulers – and not the other way around, as was gratuitously implied by Nehru.
Yet, such an ahistorical view has continued to receive wide currency, and has been echoed by numerous Indian intellectuals and government-supported historians and has been reinforced by another commonly held notion that Hindus converted to Islam peacefully and voluntarily and were won over by enlightened Sufis.
In fact, a careful perusal of the historical record suggests that the observations of Ibn Khaldun apply as much to India as they did to North Africa and the Middle East. Surviving records point to most conversions being preceded by military victories by Islamic invaders or local interlopers. While some conversions may have been of a purely voluntary nature, most were coerced, or were, at least of an opportunist character. Furthermore, the historical record provides numerous instances of conversions that were a result of violent terror or blackmail.
And unsurprisingly, when Islamic invaders/rulers left or were subsequently defeated, the converted population returned almost en masse to their former faiths.
Referring to statements made by E. Denison Ross (who along with Eileen Power wrote and edited a 26 volume series on India: The Broadway Travellers), K.S. Lal concludes that after the recall of the Arab General bin Qasem from Sindh, Islamic power in Sindh declined rapidly and the neo-converts reverted to their original faith.
That mass conversions to Islam took place after violent invasions and massacres is documented by several historians of the Khalji period (late 12th-13th C) including K.S. Lal. When Bakhtiar Khalji marched into Bihar and destroyed the university centers at Nalanda, Vikramshila and Odantapuri (Magadh) and massacred the Buddhist monks, the Buddhist masses turned to Islam or Brahminism. K.S. Lal also refers to Malik Kafur, the victorious general of Alauddin Khalji, who gave the Raja of Dwarsamudra a choice between Islam, death or payment of a huge idemnity.
Such threats were neither uncharacteristic nor unusual.
K.S. Lal notes how during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq there was even greater insistence on the vanquished Hindu princes to embrace Islam. During the Warangal campaign all the eleven sons of the Raja of Kampila were forced to become Muslims.
In the Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi, it is recorded that when Firoz Tughlaq invaded Jajnagar (Orissa), he captured the son of the Rai of Sikhar, converted him to Islam, and gave him the name of Shakr Khan. During his campaigns in the Saurasthra region of Gujarat, Mahmud Beghara attacked the Raja of Girnar in 1469, even though he had been paying regular tribute. Although he offered considerable resistance, he was eventually compelled to convert to Islam and was bestowed the title ‘Khan-i-Jahan’. In 1473, the Raja of Champaner died in a valiant attempt to fend off an attack, following which his son was forcibly converted to Islam and given the title ‘Nizam-ul-Mulk’.
Such practices continued during Mughal rule under Jehangir, Shah Jehan and Aurangzeb.
In the Gangetic plain, when local Hindu chieftains or royal feudatories were subjugated after they had rebelled against the Mughal authorities (or their agents), they were coerced into converting, (along with their clans and other loyal followers).
Forcible conversion during war became common iduring the reign of Shah Jehan. When Shuja was appointed governor of Kabul, the rebellion of Jujhar Singh yielded a rich crop of Muslim converts, mostly minors. His young son Durga and his grandson Durjan Sal were both converted to become Imam Quli and Ali Quli
It is therefore no surprise, that in UP (prior to partition) there were as many (or more) Muslims amongst the landlords and the elites than amongst the lower castes.
Scheduled castes who were considered impure because they handled corpses or performed janitorial duties were looked down upon by the Muslims elites no less than their Hindu counterparts.
In contrast, when local rulers were successful in resisting the Islamic rulers, there is simply no record of any conversions having taken place. For instance, the Kateheriyas of the Bareilly/Aonla region remained undefeated till the reign of Akbar, but it was only when Bareilly fell to the Afghan Rohillas that there is any notable record of conversions to Islam.
Likewise, in Gonda and Bahraich, there was staunch resistance to the Islamic invaders.
At different points in time, rulers emerged from amongst the local tribes and castes and during Mughal rule, Raja Dutt Singh refused to pay taxes to the Mughal authorities.Later Raja Jai Singh of Gonda refused to pay the customary tribute to the Nawabs of Awadh. After his death in battle, his wife Rani Phul Singh administered the region for some months before she was murdered by rivals to the throne.
Because there were no major victories recorded by the Islamic invaders in these districts, there are no early records of conversions to Islam, and this appears to be a trend that prevailed throughout the plains of what is now Uttar Pradesh.
In many other districts of UP (such as Kannauj, Etawah and Mainpuri) resistance and rebellion against the imperial Islamic rulers of Delhi persisted right up to Mughal rule, thus limiting the number of conversions. K.S. Lal estimates that the proportion of Muslims in India was probably less than 2% prior to 1400 and may have risen to 10-11% by 1600 and to 14-15% by 1800 and this obviously included those that had arrived with the invaders and other Islamic migrants.
By and large, areas that came under victorious Islamic invasions more frequently saw a proportionally greater percentage of Hindus convert than areas that virtually escaped defeat at the hands of Islamic invaders, thus refutating the Nehru claim that Islam held any sort of mass appeal amongst Hindus chafing under a repressive caste system.
Nevertheless, it may be useful to explore further detail as to how, in 400 years, the Muslim percentage had grown seven-fold.
The Tarikh-i-Firishta records that Sultăn Sikandar Butshikan of Kashmir (AD 1389-1413) persecuted Hindus and issued orders proscribing the residence of any other than Muslims in Kashmir “Many of the brahmins, rather than abandon their religion or their country, poisoned themselves; some emigrated from their native homes , while a few escaped the evil of banishment by becoming Mahomedans. After the emigration of the bramins, Sikundur ordered all the temples in Kashmeer to be thrown down”
Sikh archives note how Guru Tegh Bahadur helped save Kashmiri Hindus who were fleeing from slaughter during the reign of Sher Afghan Khan, the viceroy in Kashmir, who had launched a campaign of mass murder against Kashmiri Hindus who refused to embrace Islam.
Historians of Bengal have noted how during the reign of Jalaluddin Muhammad (converted son of Hindu Raja Ganesh, 1414-1431) a large number of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam. British historian Dr. Wise observed that the only condition he offered were the Koran or death, forcing many Hindus to flee to Kamrup and the jungles of Assam.
And contrary to the widespread myth about Sufis only converting through peaceful means, both Prof. Abdul Karim and Dr I.H. Qureshi refer to the activities of militant and warrior Sufis who forced conversions from amongst the Hindus and Tribals of Bengal (and what is now Bangladesh). Other Bengali historians have recorded how rulers and landlords unable to deposit land revenues by the proscribed date were forced to convert.
(It is also recorded by Jamali how Raju Qattals efforts to convert Nahawan, the Darogha of Uchch led to the latter’s resistance and murder by Sufi zealots.)
Most significantly, K.S. Lal refers to the widespread scourge of mass enslavement and the ensuing forced conversions that resulted during the reign of the Khaljis and Tughlaqs. Alauddin Khilji was reputed to own 50,000 slaves some of whom were mere boys, of which many were captured during war.
Chroniclers such as Ziyauddin Barani record how the Delhi Slave Market was constantly replenished with fresh batches of slaves. “Firoz Tughlaq had issued an order that whichever places were sacked, in them the captives should be sorted out and the best ones (fit for service with the Sultan) should be forwarded to the court”. “Soon he was enabled to collect 180,000 slaves”.
Under Firoz Tughlaq (1351-88) the state openly became an active agent of conversion and Tughlaq ordered his subordinates to convert Hindus to Islam. In his memoirs Fatuhat-i-Firoz Shahi, he acknowledged how he rescinded the Jiziyah to lure people into converting.
Likewise, Gujarat’s Ahmad Shah (1411-1442), collected the Jiziyah with such strictness, that it brought a number of converts to Islam.
Early in his reign Shahjahan had appointed a Superintendent of converts to Islam, thus setting up a department for the special purpose of making converts. The one common practice was to make terms with the criminals. The Hindus of the Punjab, Bhimbar, Bhadauri and Sirhind were all offered remission of their sentences provided they accepted the true faith. Thus common criminals were converted to Islam.
Earlier, Jahangir had banned his Muslim subjects from embarcing Hinduism even of their own free will. He severely punished Kaukab, Sharif and Abdul Latif who, under the influence of a Sanyasi, showed inclination for Hinduism.
Thus, while Hindu rulers were frequently coerced into coverting, there was no freedom for Muslims – even converts to voluntarily embrace Hinduism.
Even Tipu Sultan – who has been held up by several historians as a great patriot, as a “liberal” and “secular” ruler was not free from a Jihadi mentality as is evident from these quotes from his correspondence:
In a letter dated January 18, 1790 to Syed Abdul Dulai, Tipu writes: “With the grace of Prophet Mohammed and Allah, almost all Hindus in Calicut are converted to Islam. Only on the borders of Cochin State a few are still not converted. I am determined to convert them also very soon. I consider this as Jihad to achieve that object” .
A day later, in a letter sent to Budruz Zuman Khan, Tipu wrote: “Don’t you know I have achieved a great victory recently in Malabar and over four lakh Hindus were converted to Islam? I am determined to march against that cursed ‘Raman Nair’ very soon (reference is to Rama Varma Raja of Travancore State who was popularly known as Dharma Raja). Since I am overjoyed at the prospect of converting him and his subjects to Islam, I have happily abandoned the idea of going back to Srirangapatanam now” (K.M. Panicker, Bhasha Poshini, August, 1923).
It is evident, the Nehruvian view of Islam in India is considerably at odds with the actual evidence. One can only hope that honest and serious authors of Indian history take into account the truth in its entirety and not rely on the speculations of those whose views on history have been shaped more by personal dogmas (or ideological prescriptions) than a genuine knowledge and understanding of the actual historical record.
Romantic and sentimental notions abound regarding Sufi orders in India and elsewhere. However, fulsome praise of the Sufi movement needs to be balanced (and qualified) with the awareness that many Sufi leaders were neither liberals nor Islamic heretics as projected. Some were militant, hard core Jehadis as is evident from some of the following quotes:
Sufi Ahmad Sirhindi (1564-1624), wrote several letters to the courtiers of Akbar and Jehangir protesting their “liberal policies towards Hindus”
Here is an excerpt from letter No. 163:
“…The honour of Islam lies in insulting kufr and kafirs. One who respects the kafirs dishonours the Muslims… The real purpose of levying jiziya on them is to humiliate them to such an extent that they may not be able to dress well and to live in gran- deur. They should constantly remain terrified and trembling. It is intended to hold them under contempt and to uphold the honour and might of Islam…”
Excerpt from another letter:
“…The abolition of jizyah in Hindustan is a result of friendship which (Hindus) have acquired with the rulers of this land… What right have the rulers to stop exacting jizyah? Allah himself has commended imposition of jizyah for their (infidels’) humiliation and degradation. What is required is their disgrace, and the prestige and power of Muslims. The slaughter of non-Muslims means gain for Islam… To consult them (the kafirs) and then act according to their advice means honouring the enemies (of Islam), which is strictly forbidden…”
“The Shariat prevails under the shadow of the sword (al Shara’ tahat al-saij) – according to this (saying), the Shariat can triumph only with the help of mighty kings and their good administration…”
“..The only longing which this recluse (meaning himself) cherishes is that the enemies of Allah and his Prophet should be roughed up. The accursed ones should be humiliated, and their false gods disgraced and defiled. I know that Allah likes and loves no other act more than this. That is why I have been encouraging you again and again to act in this way…”
(Quotes from Sita Ram Goel’s The Story of Islamic Imperialism)
Maha Sabah writes:
Sita Ram Goel has observed: “History should not be distorted and falsified to serve the political purposes of a Hindu-baiting herd.” He has also argued that Muslims should evaluate the Islamic history and doctrines in terms of rationalism and humanism “without resort to the casuistry marshalled by the mullahs and sufis, or the apologetics propped up by the Aligarh and Stalinist schools of historians”.
Battle Of Chamkaur Sahib
Picture: courtesy of http://www.Sikhiart.com
(Picture not included)
References and Bibliography:
1. Ibn Khaldun: The Muqaddimah (An Introduction to History) trans. Franz Rosenthal, edited and abridged by N. J. Dawood; Bollingen Series, Princeton
2. Kishori Saran Lal: Indian Muslims: Who are they?, Voice of India, New Delhi
3. K.S. Lal: History of the Khaljis, 1290-1320 (Forward by Muhammad Habib)
4. Yahiya Sarhindi, Tarikh-i-Mubarak Shahi
5. Satish C. Misra, The Rise of Muslim Power in Gujarat (Bombay, 1963), p.175
6. Lahori, Badshah Nama
7. Districts of India: History sections from Bareilly, Bahraich, Gonda, Etawah and Mainpuri oertaining to local/regional resistance to Islamic conquest
8. Muhammad Qăsim Hindű Shăh Firishta : Tărîkh-i-Firishta, translated by John Briggs under the title History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India, first published in 1829, New Delhi Reprint 1981
9. Hoshiarpur District Administration: Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur and the plight of Kashmiri Hindus threatened with death
10. R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Raychaudhuri, and Kaukinkar Datta: An Advanced History of India.1946
11. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1894, Pt. III, p.28
12. Abdul Karim, Social History of Muslims in Bengal, pp.136-38, 143-146.
13. Jamali, Siyar-ul-Arifin (Delhi, 1311 H.), pp.159-60
14. Satya Krishna Biswas, Banshasmriti (Bengali), Calcutta, 1926, pp.6-10.
15. Shams Siraj Afif: Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi
16. Ishwari Prasad, Qaraunah Turks, p.331
17. Fatuhat-i-Firoz Shahi of Firoz Tughlaq, E and D, III, p. 386.
18. Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, I, p.171.
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Eastern Railway was formed on 14th April, 1952 by integration of the East Indian Railway consisting of Sealdah, Howrah, Asansol and Danapur Divisions and the entire Bengal Nagpur Railway. Later on, the portion of BNR stretching from Howrah to Visakhapatnam in the South, Howrah to Nagpur in the Central area and upto Katni in the North Central Region were separated from Eastern Railway and formed as South Eastern Railway with effect from 1st August 1955. After redistribution and construction of new lines over a period of time, Eastern Railway as on 30th September 2002, was stretched over 4245.61 kilometers. Subsequently i.e. on 01-10-2002, three divisions viz. Dhanbad, Mughalsarai and Danapur have been separated from Eastern Railway to create new East Central Railway zone with headquarters at Hajipur. Thus, Eastern Railway now consists of 2414 Route Kilometers spread over four divisions viz. Sealdah, Howrah, Asansol and Malda.
The area served by Eastern Railway is important to the economy of the country, as apart from serving the most densely populated region in the country, this Railway serves the area rich in minerals, agriculture and industry.
This Railway has three major Workshops situated at Jamalpur for wagon repairs, periodic overhaul (POH) of diesel locomotives, manufacturing of cranes and tower-wagons; Liluah for POH of coaching & freight vehicles and Kanchrapara – for POH of electric locomotives, EMU Locals and coaches.
This Railway has 1346 route kilometers electrified on 25 KV AC traction out of a total of 2414 route kilometres.
Eastern Railway extends to Bangladesh border in the East upto Lalgola, Benapole and Gede. Malda and Kiul to the North, Namkhana near Ganga Sagar to the South and Asansol and Jhajha in the West.
Starting from Howrah, the trunk route of Eastern Railway runs 221 kms. to Sitarampur from where it takes two directions towards Delhi, one via Patna and other via Dhanbad, Gaya. Both these routes meet again at Mughalsarai Station of East Central Railway.
To serve the long distance passenger traffic, the Railway operates fast long distance Mail/Express trains, the pride of place being occupied by Rajdhani Express, which was introduced for the first time on Indian Railways between Howrah and Delhi over Eastern and Northern Railways in 1969.
On the suburban front, Howrah and Sealdah divisions of Eastern Railway are catering to the needs of large portion of Greater Kolkata suburban passengers. Most of the suburban routes are electrified and multiple EMU’s are running.
Eastern Railway has also been the pioneer in introducing Diesel Multiple Units service for the first time in the country. To meet the requirements of suburban passengers, this service was introduced in those sections which are not electrified.
On other electrified routes, Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMU) have been introduced for passenger services in non-suburban areas. This service is widely appreciated by the commuters.
Eastern Railway loads about 50 Million Tonnes freight in addition to carrying heavy long distant passenger and heavy local traffic.
At present, out of the total originating traffic of Eastern Railway, coal constitutes about 65-70%. The major Power Houses & Industries of Eastern and North India depend on the coal loaded on Eastern Railway.
Apart from coal, this Railway also transports Iron and Steel products from Durgapur and Burnpur, Stone from Pakur and Jamalpur, Cement from Durgapur and host of other merchandise including Jute, Tea, Textile, Automobiles, agricultural produce etc. at various stations.
The POL installation at Rajbandh and Budge-Budge, Cement plants at Durgapur and the industrial complexes at Asansol, Durgapur, Chittaranjan, Burnpur and industrial suburbs of Kolkata and Howrah are served by this Railway.
Eastern Railway has the honour of having a railway museum at Howrah spread over an area of 4 acres. It was inaugurated on April 07, 2006. Presently about 25,000 visitors in every month enjoy the rich heritage of railway in this part of the country. It has become a must visit for the tourists and railway enthusiasts.
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Abortion as such is not discussed in the Bible, so any explanation of why it is not legislated or commented on is speculative. One possibility is that the cultural preoccupation with procreation evident in the Hebrew Bible ruled out consideration of terminating pregnancy. Archaeological evidence indicates that in ancient Israel the infant mortality rate was as high as fifty percent. It is also possible that, given the diet and living conditions at the time, female fertility was low. Male control of reproduction and a belief that numerous decendants are a sign of divine blessing are also found in the Bible. These factors support the view that abortion would not have been common.
Alternatively, it can be argued that abortion was practiced without censure. Many women died in childbirth, a strong incentive to avoid carrying a pregnancy to term. Bibilical legislation, as in Leviticus 27.3–7, indicates that the lives of children as well as women were not valued as highly as those of adult men, while no value whatsoever was given to a child under the age of one month. There is no indication that a fetus had any status.
A key text for examining ancient Israelite attitudes is Exodus 21:22–25: “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman's husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” Several observations can be made about this passage. The Hebrew text at v. 22 literally reads “and there is no harm,” implying that contrary to current sensibilities, the miscarriage itself was not considered serious injury. The monetary judgment given to the woman's husband indicates that the woman's experience of the miscarriage is not of significance, and that the damage is considered one to property rather than to human life. This latter observation is further supported by the contrast with the penalties for harm to the woman herself.
Several texts have been influential in late discussions of abortion. Both Jewish and Christian traditions have regarded the divine command “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1.28) as demanding a high rate of procreation incompatible with abortion in a non‐life‐threatening situation. Like Leviticus 27, later rabbinic teachings differentiated between life under and over the age of one month, while relying on biblical injunctions to respect and choose life in determining that abortions could be performed to preserve the life of the mother. Christians opposed to abortion have referred to Luke 1.41–44 as evidence that a child is cognizant in the uterus.
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How hot is genealogy DNA testing these days? The largest DNA testing laboratory, Family Tree DNA, posted that, as of Wednesday, they had a total of 361,933 records. According to biotechnologist Tyrone Bowes, "It is the size of this database that facilitates the pinpointing of one’s ancestor, as many of the surnames associated with Ireland are well represented." In 2003, when commercial DNA testing first became available, Bowes, a Dubliner, jumped at the chance to have his family tested. He discovered that his ancestors were "Native Irish," along with the name of their clan and where they lived for hundreds of years. This discovery, combined with his passion for history, geography and biotechnology, led him naturally to become a genetic genealogist, helping people to find their "genetic homeland" via their DNA test results.
Through my own training in aboriginal spiritual practices and quantum physics, I have become convinced that we carry the "experiences" of our ancestors in our DNA and that we are always working through these inherited patterns. While researching our last Q&A, with Irish psychotherapist Martine Brennan, I ran across Bowes’ new website, IrishOrigenes.com. I have been watching his venture with increasing interest, so I contacted him to give us a preview of what services he will be offering. -- Alannah Ryane, Genealogy Producer
TheWildGeese.com: I understand that once someone has their "37 marker Y Chromosome" DNA test results, your website can provide information that helps people to make sense of their results, and, in the process, pinpoint where their medieval ancestors’ lived.You also provide a medieval map of the old Irish Clans and their territories. Could you please describe these services for us?
Tyrone Bowes: Yes, everything on the website was produced to assist anyone with Irish ancestry in interpreting their DNA test results and in the process help pinpoint where their Irish ancestors lived. To achieve this, I have constructed two databases. The largest, containing nearly 5,000 individual images, is an Irish surname distribution database. The surnames are taken from MacLysaght’s “Surnames of Ireland” and the data used to construct each image is taken from the 1911 census of Ireland.
Each image shows the distribution of a Surname throughout the 32 Counties of Ireland, and hence where it originates. They also detail the ethnicity, that is whether the Surname is of Irish, Norman, Viking, Scottish, English, Welsh, Gallowglass (mercenary Scottish), or later Planter origin. In the case of Irish surnames, information is also supplied on the number of distinct clans that used a particular surname. For example, there is only one clan that used the surname Sullivan and that surname is found concentrated in the Southwest [of Ireland], where it originates, while there are four distinct clans that used the Donohoe surname, found concentrated in four separate locations in Ireland. Since castles are an a actual physical reminder of a clan or of a family’s long historical presence in an area, I constructed the second database, called ‘Clans and their Castles,’ which consists of 401 images and shows the location of 1,375 castles associated with 401 of the most prominent clans and families.
I also supply three maps that are available to purchase called the “Surnames of Ireland,” “Clan Territories of Ireland,” and the “Castles of Ireland.” Each surname on the Surnames Map has been placed in the area where it concentrated in 1911. Since Ireland remained essentially an agrarian society, surnames could still be found in the areas where they originated. The idea is to stick pins on the surnames that occur as a genetic match, see a pattern emerge (with the pins clustering in a particular area) and literally reveal your genetic homeland, the area where your ancestors lived for centuries.
The Clan Territories Map details the areas of influence of over 400 of the most prominent Irish clans and Norman families at the time of King Henry VIII and prior to the later Elizabethan conquest and the destruction of the clan system in Ireland. The territories were literally reconstructed from the location of the 1,375 castles, which I could pinpoint using Google Earth and which I could connect historically to a particular clan or family.
It proved impossible to detail both the territories and all the castle information on one map, and I had, therefore, to construct a separate ‘Castles of Ireland Map’ which details each castle’s local name, the clan or family that either built it or was associated with it, and the precise geographical coordinates which one can put into Google Earth and zoom in and explore the remains of the castles where your ancestors lived.
There are also some open-access case studies that demonstrate how I made sense of some people’s results, and a sort of You Tube tutorial. I have also written some descriptive text on the colonization of Ireland and the science of surnames.
TheWildGeese.com: On your website, you describe "Native Irish Gaels" as Ireland's inhabitants prior to the Vikings in 795 A.D. After 800 A.D., they were the first European country to adopt surnames describing one's affiliations, whereas the English surnames denoted one's profession. You also stated that some people could actually trace their DNA back to the ancestor who was first granted that name! Have you run across anyone who has discovered this?
Bowes: Remarkably, science has demonstrated that after nearly 1,200 years there is a 50 percent chance that as a male you retain the same (or similar sounding) surname to the one that your direct male ancestor first picked! In fact, for once Ireland has been leading the research in this scientific field. Irish researchers showed for example that 50 percent of people with the surname Sullivan were descended from a single individual, the first to call himself Sullivan, the Sullivan ‘Adam,’ so to speak, and that the other 50 percent had an association with the surname that has arisen as a result of what’s called a non-paternal event, usually an adoption or through infidelity. So 50 percent of the people for whom I complete case studies are, indeed, related to their surname’s founding ancestor.
Only through DNA testing will you reveal which 50 percent of the population you belong to! But matters can be complicated by the fact that many clans used the same surname. For example, there are many different O’Connor clans and Donohoe clans found in different locations. But, again, the DNA test results can determine which one you descend from, as the surnames of the people you match are a snapshot of your ancestor’s neighbors.
For example, I did a case study on an individual called Donohoe: His matches were to surnames found only in the Southwest, where there was a cluster of Donohoes in 1911 in an area associated with a medieval Donohoe clan territory (centered upon the town of Killarney). His ancestor was the founder of this Donohoe clan -- he could not have been a descendent of any of the other of the Donohoe clans found in Cavan, Wexford and Galway, as his surname matches cluster in that single location in County Kerry! I have actually used his results on the YouTube video to demonstrate the process.
Dr. Tyrone Bowes with sons Alexander, Fraser and Callum.
TheWildGeese.com: Why are your services based on the results of only the "37 marker Y Chromosome" test, and what exactly is that ?
Bowes: The Y chromosome is the bit of DNA that is passed from father to son, it’s what makes males male, so to speak, and since DNA mutates, a son’s DNA will be ever so slightly different from his father’s. Scientists can look at 37 bits of the Y chromosome from different males and see how well they compare (or match) and therefore determine how distant their shared ancestry lived, after all if we go back far enough we are all related. The more markers you match with someone else, the closer in time your shared ancestor lived. For example, if you match someone in 36 of 37 markers, then your shared ancestor lived possibly within the last 200 years, while if you match in 34 of 37 markers your shared ancestor lived much further back in time. Pinpointing your Irish ancestors to an area using the Y-DNA test result exploits the link between the Y chromosome, surnames and land, all of which are usually passed from father to son. It is our notable Irish heritage that actually facilitates the whole process! Surnames in medieval Ireland denoted who you were, where you were from and to whom your allegiances lay. It mattered who you were in Irish society and surnames were literally a reflection of your genealogy, denoting one as Mc’ or O,’ the son of or grandson of. You had to have been someone special to be given a surname. These surnames stand in stark contrast to English surnames, which denoted your trade, where you were from, or a notable personal feature. Finally, land, where do I start with land? One cannot stress its importance to the Irish psyche, it is probably most notable recently in the massive property bubble that developed in the mid-1990s, as Ireland finally experienced a sort of late industrial revolution. Or one can just look at the film “The Field,” which starred Richard Harris, John Hurt and Tom Berringer, to understand its importance. Or you can examine how Ireland has discriminated against members of the ‘landless’ Travellers community, whose strong family ties and feuds reflect aspects of the old clan system. The result is that Irish people have an obsession with land and remained in areas even after conquest by Vikings, Normans, and later Planter settlers, merely switching a Gaelic chief for a Norman or English lord. Land was still passed from father to son, as was the surname, which, by the 20th century, was merely anglicized. So, by 1911, surnames were still in the areas where they arose, and since clans usually evolved from neighboring clans with whom they were related, this means that the surnames of the people you match upon DNA testing are literally a snapshot of your ancestor’s neighbors from over 1,000 years ago.
TheWildGeese: Finding our Irish ancestors who lived 1,000 years ago is exciting, but if you do not have any male relatives, what are our options?
Bowes: You can also trace your maternal ancestry, but in the absence of a maternal transmission of surnames or land it can be more difficult. Each of us receive mitochondrial DNA from our mothers and only our mothers, and one can similarly look at different bits of this DNA and compare it with others and determine how long ago a shared maternal ancestor lived. However, for it to work, it would require the large-scale testing of Irish women living in Ireland. I suppose as time goes by and more and more people get tested, the more we can decipher the story of our maternal line.
TheWildGeese.com: What are all the membership services you offer, what new services will be offered in the future, and how much does your membership cost?
Bowes:Although the databases will be open to the public, there still is a membership option, this is now lifelong in duration and as of mid-March a membership package includes all three maps (Surnames, Clan Territories, and Castles) for $99. With that, I also offer advice via e-mail on queries regarding surnames that members often have.
The maps can be purchased individually, and one can also commission me to do a personalized case-study, which costs $149.99. These can be quite delicate affairs as people often come to me wanting their results to reflect a link to a specific area.
What we often overlook is that 40 percent of people with Irish ancestry today will be related to people who may originally have been marauding Vikings, conquering Normans, English, or Welshman, mercenary Scots, or even later English and Scottish planters. If this is so, then the surnames of one’s genetic matches from DNA testing could lead back to the United Kingdom, Scandinavia or even the continent -- one must approach the process with an open mind.
I am taking a break from making thematic maps of Ireland, but I will certainly be making more, and am currently considering themes, like ‘Battles fought on Irish soil.’ What really got me interested in that was the ‘Battle of Affane,’ which I discovered when researching castles, was one of the last private battles fought on Irish soil between the two principal Norman families -- the Butlers and the Fitzgeralds in 1565. Queen Elizabeth the 1st was furious when she discovered that her own subjects had fought a private battle -- the chief of the Butlers was her first cousin. I suppose it was a case of the Normans or old English adopting bad Irish habits. Both families fought each other that day with their own Irish allies (the O’Kennedys and Fitzpatricks with Butler, and the MacCarthys and O’Sullivans with Fitzgerald) and each with their own supply of mercenary Scots to boot, and using Irish Gaelic law as a justification. Truly a case of the Normans becoming more Irish than the Irish.
I have also nearly completed a Scottish and English Origenes website, these are much smaller affairs and are designed to assist people with ancestry in these countries in interpreting their DNA test results. Since the Scots adopted a similar Clan system is is also quite easy to pinpoint a Scottish Genetic Homeland, while in England it can be more difficult and can require a lot of work.
I am also working on a Castles and Clan Territories App for tourists coming to Ireland and wishing to explore their Irish heritage. Lastly, I am seeking funding for a TV series called “Origenes” that will take members of the Irish diaspora and unravel the story of their Irish ancestors as revealed through their DNA test results. WG
PRODUCER'S NOTE: My distant cousin Danny Martin, who provided the theme song for my video series "By Her Roots," has Y-chromosome DNA test results from Family Tree DNA. "By Her Roots" focused on our search for our "most distant ancestor," Peter Martin, who helped build the Canadian town of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1749. Family lore stated he was from the Martin tribe of Galway. We took up the generous offer of Irish Origenes founder Tyrone Bowes to do an assessment of my cousin's Y-DNA test -- Alannah Ryane | <urn:uuid:059bfcbb-d5aa-45be-8648-9eb6309f24b9> | {
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Almost two years ago, President Obama issued an executive order establishing a governmentwide initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workforce. “Our nation derives strength from the diversity of its population and from its commitment to equal opportunity for all,” the order reads. “We are at our best when we draw on the talents of all parts of our society, and our greatest accomplishments are achieved when diverse perspectives are brought to bear to overcome our greatest challenges.”
So what is the federal government’s record on diversity and inclusion in the eyes of its employees? Are there groups that are experiencing the workplace differently than others? The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and consulting firm Deloitte set out to answer these questions in the latest “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” analysis of data collected in a 2012 employee survey.
At the broadest level, the government is doing a laudable job on these issues, with a few points of concern. There was parity between men and women in overall satisfaction and commitment to their jobs and organizations, with men scoring 64.3 and women scoring 63.9 out of 100. Women, however, expressed lower satisfaction by roughly four points in the areas of empowerment and fairness—an issue worth exploring.
Likewise, while there was parity in the satisfaction and commitment scores among white, black, and Hispanic or Latino employees—those groups scored 64.4, 64.9, and 64.4 points, respectively—Native Americans and multiracial employees were less positive, scoring 58.3 and 56.9, respectively. Asian employees expressed the highest satisfaction levels, scoring 68.8.
While it is a positive sign that many ethnic and racial groups are experiencing the workplace similarly, agencies should try to understand the perspectives of multiracial and Native American employees to determine why their satisfaction scores are lower.
The data also highlight another area agencies should explore: Employees with disabilities scored 58 for overall satisfaction, a full 7.2 points less than those without disabilities.
In addition to overall satisfaction and commitment, the analysis also examined employee perspectives on how well agencies convey support for diversity. In the aggregate, employees did not give their agencies particularly high ratings on diversity, with a score of only 55.5 out of 100. White and Asian employees gave the highest ratings, with scores of 60.1 and 61.1, respectively. But many minority groups gave much lower marks. Native American and multiracial employees, in particular, were the least positive about support for diversity, with scores of 48.4 and 51.7.
Employees with disabilities also responded less favorably when asked about diversity issues. A little more than half of employees with disabilities felt their managers worked well with people of different backgrounds and even fewer felt that policies and programs promoted diversity in the workplace. Given the importance of diversity to the Obama administration, there is more work to do.
As revealing as this governmentwide analysis is, there is much more insight to be gained by looking at specific agencies. For example, while the satisfaction and commitment score was similar for men and women across government, women were less satisfied by at least four points at the Labor Department and Army. Women were 13.1 points more satisfied than men at the Federal Election Commission.
Agency leaders should examine the survey data to determine whether there are differences in employee perceptions that can be attributed to gender, race and ethnicity, disability or other factors. If so, agencies need to examine why these employees are not experiencing the workplace the same way as their colleagues and involve them in developing a strategy to build a more inclusive environment.
Lara Shane is vice president for research and communications at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. | <urn:uuid:f539cd93-9b58-4aa2-89ec-499cad9e8828> | {
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Hepatic amyloidosis refers to the deposition of amyloid in the liver. Amyloidosis belongs to a group of disorders, all sharing a common feature: the pathologic and abnormal deposition of the fibrous protein amyloid into various tissues of the body, disrupting normal functioning of these areas. The accumulation of amyloid often occurs secondary to an underlying inflammatory or lympho-proliferative disorder. For example, when lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, are produced in excessive quantities, amyloidosis can be a reaction to this condition. Or, it can occur as a familial disorder. Familial amyloidosis has been described in certain breeds of cats, including the Oriental shorthair, domestic shorthair, Siamese, Burmese, and Abyssinian.
Amyloid is a hard, waxy, substance that is the result of tissue degeneration. In this case, amyloid accumulates in the liver and occurs secondary to inflammatory or lymphoproliferative disorders (where lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, are produced in excessive quantities), or as a genetically acquired familial disorder.
Multiple organs are commonly involved. Clinical signs are usually associated with renal (kidney) involvement. Or it may be associated with high liver enzymes, severe enlargement of the liver, coagulation disorders, liver rupture leading to hemoabdomen (blood in the abdomen), and/or liver failure. Liver amyloid accumulation is often insidious.
Oriental shorthair and Siamese cats are the most commonly predisposed breed to be affected with hepatic amyloidosis. This disease has also been reported in Devon Rex and Domestic Shorthair cats, though rarely. Hepatic amyloid is a familial disorder in Abyssinian cats, with liver signs predominating. The Siamese breed is usually less than five years of age when symptomatic signs of liver disease appear. In other breeds, the typical age for diagnosis is more than five years of age.
You will need to give a thorough history of your cat's health and onset of symptoms. The history you provide may give your veterinarian clues as to which organs are being primarily affected. Your veterinarian will perform a complete physical exam, with a blood chemical profile, a complete blood count, an electrolyte panel and a urinalysis. These basic fluid tests are essential diagnostic tools for ruling out other causes of disease. The complete blood count will show any anemia which might be present due to internal bleeding or long-term disease, or it may indicate infection. The blood chemical profile may show kidney and liver abnormalities, and the urinalysis may show renal disease.
A clotting profile should also be performed on a blood sample to check the liver’s functionality. X-ray and ultrasound imaging may also reveal abnormalities in organs where amyloid might be collecting. If necessary, a minor surgery can also be performed to collect a sample for biopsy of the liver and/or other organs.
Cats with swelling in the joints should have joint taps taken. Cytology – a microscopic examination of the cells present in the fluid - of these samples can be performed to confirm or rule out the presence of malignancies in the cells. The composition of any fluid that has built up in the abdomen can also be analyzed at the laboratory.
There is no cure for amyloidosis, but supportive care is very helpful. Blood transfusions should be administered if your cat has recently lost a lot of blood. Fluid therapy and possible diet changes will need to be undertaken. Each patient should have its diet tailored to suit the organ function that is being affected most. If feline patients have a fractured liver lobe, surgery may be necessary.
This syndrome is difficult to treat and has a guarded to poor prognosis. Most animals will have episodes of fever and cholestasis, where bile cannot flow from the liver to the duodenum (small intestine). Some cats will benefit from medication, with resolved clinical signs and diminished hepatic amyloid. However, cats surviving liver hemorrhage eventually succumb to renal failure. Your veterinarian will schedule follow-up appointments with you for your cat as is necessary to monitor its organ function.
A medical condition involving excessive thirst
Referring to the liver
The prediction of a disease’s outcome in advance
The failure of the kidneys to perform their proper functions
An in-depth examination of the properties of urine; used to determine the presence or absence of illness
Extreme loss of blood
The study of the laws of inheritance n living things; may also be referred to as breeding
The fluid created by the liver that helps food in the stomach to be digested.
The process of removing tissue to examine it, usually for medical reasons.
The first part of the small intestine; can be found between the pylorus and the jejunum
An inflammation of the lining of the heart
A condition of the blood in which normal red blood cell counts or hemoglobin are lacking. | <urn:uuid:055dee91-7965-4298-9e10-c7cc3052b988> | {
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Colima Volcano (aka the Volcán de Fuego) is one of the westernmost volcanoes in Mexico’s Volcanic Axis, which straddles the country from west to east. The Volcano’s summit is only 8 km (5 miles) from the inactive Nevado of Colima volcano, Mexico’s sixth-highest peak, which rises 4260 m (13,976 ft) above sea level. (Curiously, despite their names, the summits of both volcanoes are actually located in the state of Jalisco and not the state of Colima.)
The elevation of Colima Volcano is officially given as 3820 m (12,533 ft) above sea level. In the past 400 years, it has been the most active volcano in Mexico, having erupted at least 30 times since 1576.
It is also considered to be one of the country’s most dangerous volcanoes. Numerous villages in its shadow keep a wary eye on its level of activity, and emergency evacuations have become a regular event in the past fifty years.
On a geological time-scale, the volcano first erupted about five million years ago in the Pliocene period, long after activity ceased at the nearby, and higher, Nevado de Colima. It quickly developed into a large volcano which partially blew apart or collapsed during Pleistocene times to form a caldera, five kilometers across. A new cone developed inside the caldera. This is the Volcán de Fuego we see today.
The cone is built mainly of pyroclastic materials (ashes and volcanic bombs) of andesitic composition together with some basaltic lava, making it a classic example of a composite volcanic cone.
Historically, the eruptions of the volcano have fallen into a definite cyclical pattern with periods of activity, each lasting about 50 years, interspersed with periods of dormancy. The first cycle of activity (after the Spanish arrived in Mexico) was between 1576 and 1611. Major eruptions occurred in 1680 and 1690, and further complete cycles occurred between 1749 and 1818, and from 1869 to 1913. Most geologists agree that current activity is part of the fifth cycle, which began in 1961.
A three year sequence of prior activity (2003 to 2005) is shown on this series of NASA satellite images.
In each major cycle, the first results of renewed activity force new lava into the existing crater, forming a dome. Once the crater has filled up, any additional lava is ejected from the crater and flows down the volcano’s flanks. If the lava is unable to escape (relieving the underground pressure), the dome is liable to explode, which is exactly what happened a few days ago:
- Reportan destrucción del domo del Volcán de Colima (Spanish language news report)
- Spanish language TV report
As on several previous occasions, once the subterranean pressure that caused the activity has been relieved, activity should cease, and the volcano will enter another less dangerous dormant phase. Even during this phase, a plume of hot gas often billows out from the volcano.
The dome that was destroyed in January 2013 began to build in 2007. The explosive activity on 6 January and 10 January 2013 left behind a new crater 220 meters (720 ft) across and about 50 m (165 ft) deep. According to the Jalisco-Colima Scientific Committee (which oversees the hazard analysis posed by the volcano), the events of 6 and 10 January emitted an estimated 1.5 million cubic meters of material, which formerly formed the dome. The 10 January explosion, which occurred at 21:40 hrs local time, sent incandescent material down the west flank of the volcano. An ash column rose about 3000 meters into the air before traveling north-eastwards on the wind towards the city of Ciudad Guzmán.
Thermal imaging shortly after the 10 January explosion showed that the temperatures in the crater are below 200 degrees Centigrade, which indicates relatively little gaseous build up and limited risk of further major explosions. Even so, a prudent 7.5 km exclusion zone is being maintained around the volcano.
Update (29 Jan 2013):
Another explosion at 3:58 am on 29 January 2013 created a plume of ash and cinders that rose more than 3000 meters above the volcano. The ash fell of nearby villages, including Los Mazos, Ejido Atenquique, Tuxpan and Huescalapa.
The area around the volcanoes is described in more detail in chapter 15 of “Western Mexico, a Traveler’s Treasury” (4th edition; Sombrero Books, 2013).
- Mexico’s highest volcanoes
- Alert level rises as Popocatepetl volcano starts to erupt (April 2012)
- Update on the activity of Popocatepetl Volcano (May 2012)
- The story of Paricutín volcano in Michoacán
- Mexico’s geomorphosites: the volcanic spine of Tequila Volcano, Jalisco
- The eruption of El Chichón volcano in 1982
- How has the movement of tectonic plates affected Mexico? | <urn:uuid:93218373-a45a-488b-a8a7-edae1fa1da9a> | {
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In the summer of 1971, nine college-age men with no criminal records were arrested on charges of armed robbery and imprisoned in Palo Alto County Jail. Their crime? Signing up for a study on the psychological effects of prison life, conducted by Professor Zimbardo of Stanford University.
Nine other volunteers (also college-age men with no criminal records) were involved in the study, on the other side of the bars, as guards. They were assigned in threes to work eight-hour shifts as guards for the makeshift Palo Alto County Jail (actually in the basement of the Psychology building at Stanford).
The website I linked to in the first paragraph is Dr. Zimbardo's own website about the experiment, and I'd encourage you to take a look at the slideshow about the experiment.
The experiment was slated to run for two weeks, but it was halted prematurely after only six days, because of the horrifying transformation of the "prisoners" into subhuman monsters or psychological basketcases, the "guards" into brutal authoritarians, and Zimbardo himself into prison administrator! Basically here's what happened: The situation into which each participant was placed transformed him into filling that role, despite his lack of criminal record, authoritarian credentials, or prison administrator experience. Zimbardo was particularly horrified by how even he had been changed, going from research psychologist to prison superintendent. At one point, when he heard a rumor that the prisoners were planning an escape, instead of "record[ing] the pattern of rumor transmission and prepar[ing] to observe the impending escape," he took steps to foil the escape![*]
Another seminal experiment in social psychology was conducted by Stanley Milgram at Yale University. After World War II, Milgram wondered what drove Nazi war criminals such as Adolf Eichmann to perform such cruel acts. So he formulated some experiments to answer the following questions: "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"
The Milgram experiment "measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience." Participants were told by the supervising scientist that the experiment was testing the effect of punishment on learning. They were to be the "teacher," using electric shocks to teach another participant (actually a confederate), the "learner," some sets of words. The teacher and learner were placed in separate rooms where they could communicate but couldn't see each other. If the learner got the words wrong, the teacher was to shock them, and the voltage went up after each wrong answer. The teacher was given a reference shock of 45 V before the learning experiment began, so that he/she could know what the learner was experiencing.
In reality, the learner in the other room experienced no shocks. But he knew the voltage of the shocks being administered by the teacher, and acted accordingly, screaming, rapping against the wall, and when the voltage exceeded a certain threshold, no response to the question and no further complaints.
If at that point the teacher wished to stop, the supervising scientist told him/her to continue, using verbal prods of increasing pressure with each protest. The experiment stopped after the teacher still wished to stop after four verbal prods, or after the teacher had given the maximum 450-volt shock.
How many people administered the 450-volt shock? Surely only the most psychotic people would be cruel enough to do such a thing to a suffering human being! In fact, 65% of the forty subjects of the first experiment administered that 450-volt shock, although most were uncomfortable or hesitant to do so. But with the prodding of the supervising scientist, they administered the shock even though it clearly conflicted with their conscience. Interestingly, while many offered to return the check they were receiving for participation in exchange for quitting the experiment, no one demanded that the experiment as a whole be stopped.
These experiments show that good people can be placed in situations where they will perform evil acts. But I think there are a lot more interesting conclusions that can be reached from these experiments, and I will talk about them in my next post. | <urn:uuid:3098f569-f721-4e91-b52c-2f4d4fbcf4f9> | {
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At a recent meeting, one of the faculty members reported on a research article she had read regarding a musical staircase. What she said was that in the experiment researchers set up a system whereby a staircase played music while an escalator in close proximity did not. They wanted to determine whether people would prefer to take the musical staircase rather than the escalator; which is what reportedly happened. What’s dangerous is the application of the results of that research to classrooms: online courses should have music and other forms of entertainment. It seems to be a logical conclusion, until you look at the studies on cognitive load, and you consider that the individuals on the stairs weren’t trying to learn anything.
So, without going into cognitive load theory, let me give you some other scenarios to consider: Have you ever been shopping in a store where you are very much aware of the music playing? Are there times when you liked the music and times when all you wanted was to get out? Have you ever pulled up one of those web pages that plays music the minute you hit the page, and desperately wanted to turn the music off? I know that even if I like a particular song, I would not want it to play every time I entered my course page, or any page for that matter unless I was going there to specifically hear that song. And students don’t want to be confronted with music every time they access a course either.
Extraneous matter: images, audio, video, animation, etc, meant to simply make a course more appealing without actually providing academic content not only are unnecessary and create a poorly designed course, but they can actually make the material more difficult to learn. At the very least, they are distracting and/or annoying. The massive amount of research on Cognitive Load confirms this, but in reality so should common sense.
I met with a student the other day who told me she spent 40 minutes looking at a particular image in a course trying to figure out what she was supposed to take from the image, only to come to the conclusion that it was simply there as a decoration. Ah! 40 minutes! Some of us will do the same thing, but only momentarily, trying to decode the presence of a particular photo. The need to figure it out is intrinsic to our nature but uses essential energy and time that should be used to understand and process the required content.
So, while a staircase with lovely music, or a restaurant with violins, or snow flakes falling in a window may attract and hold our attention, they will distract students in a course. Context is everything. | <urn:uuid:1ff45eee-9642-4402-a4ef-286d08bc4cf8> | {
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Significant progress has been achieved in the fight against 17 neglected tropical diseases, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The neglected diseases are a group of tropical infections which are especially endemic in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. These diseases include Dengue, Trachoma, Rabies, leprosy, and river blindness (Onchocerciasis).
The report, "Sustaining the drive to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases" says new momentum has shifted the world closer to the elimination of many of these conditions that take their greatest toll amongst the poor.
The report reveals that the eradication of guinea worm, for instance, is in sight with only 521 cases reported between January and September 2012 compared with 1006 confirmed cases for the same period in 2011, likewise trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) to less than 7000 in 2011 from a as high as 30 000 annual cases at the turn of the century.
Rabies has been eliminated in several countries, with WHO eyeing regional elimination of this preventable disease by 2020. A new strategy which involves the early detection and use of antibiotics to treat Buruli ulcer has drastically reduced suffering and disability from this chronic and debilitating skin condition.
"In 2010 alone, 711 million people received treatment for at least one of the four diseases (lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases) targeted for preventive chemotherapy, which involves the widespread delivery of safe, single-dose, quality-assured medicines as preventive treatment," the report stated.
“The prospects for success have never been so strong, many millions of people are being freed from the misery and disability that have kept populations mired in poverty, generation after generation, for centuries,” Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO said.
Dr Chan added that “the challenge now is to strengthen capacity of national disease programmes in endemic countries and streamline supply chains to get the drugs to the people who need them, when they need them.”
However the report says dengue posed a new threat in 2012 - “dengue ranked as the fastest spreading vector-borne viral disease, with an epidemic potential in the world, registering a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the past 50 years." | <urn:uuid:33fd3974-fd5a-42ed-93db-d769567a1b84> | {
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When you are trying to learn how to play better baseball, you must be open to consistently learning new strategies and fundamentals. Each time you progress in the ranks, there are always expectations set and new tactics to learn. So, in essence you can always learn something. This article is here to teach you a few helpful tips to better your game.
Test out a few bat weights to find the one that’s right for you. If a bat is heavy, you’ll slow down your swing, but gain some power. Too slow, though, and you may never catch up with the pitches. You’ve got to strike the right balance, especially if you’ve got a flame thrower on the mound.
Sliding is an important skill that many baseball players do not know how to do. You cannot be afraid of the dirt. A perfect slide involves timing. You want your foot to hit the base as quickly as possible. Practice sliding daily until you can accurately judge when to begin your slide for maximum distance.
If you’re serious about baseball, practice every day. The pros make baseball look easy, but they get to that point through hard work. It takes a daily commitment to any sport to be great at it, and baseball is no exception. Decide the position you desire to play and practice hard.
The kind of glove you choose to use is crucial. There are gloves made for each position. For instance, a catcher’s glove and an outfielder’s glove vary by shape and size. To ensure you handle the ball according to your position, be sure you are equipped with the appropriate glove.
The bat angle is important in baseball. The bat needs to be about 45-degree angle with the knob of that bat pointing towards the opposite batter’s box. All proper swings start here, regardless of their starting position. This is because the bat is in the pitched ball’s plane. Unnecessary movements are avoided during swings by using this starting bat angle.
If you are coaching kids, you have to make sure your practice sessions are enjoyable. Here are a few techniques you can use to make sure everyone has a good time. Be certain all the kids have a chance to participate equally. Get the parents to join the game occasionally. Try out new drills from time to time so no one gets bored. Give both positive and negative feedback. End the practice with something fun.
If you are a third base coach, there are certain things you have to attend to. For example, you have to decide whether to send runners home or hold them at third base. You must let runners know if they should slide into third or come in standing. You need to assist the runners by informing them when to run and remind them of how many outs there are.
When you are coaching a kids’ baseball team, you must realize that you are very important to the team members. You are teaching them about baseball and about life. Be sure to give plenty of positive encouragement along with any correction. Remember that your players will make mistakes and that encouragement will get a lot better performance out of them than criticism. Make the goals for your team members realistic. Always present a positive and upbeat demeanor.
Are you now ready to play some baseball with your team? Taking the tips you’ve read about out there with you on the field will help you play a much better game. Your teammates are counting on you as well as your coach, and you just might make that play that everyone talks about after the game. | <urn:uuid:c8363ac1-a378-44e4-a4a9-38b829836f3c> | {
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Editor’s note: This event has been canceled due to adverse weather, which has affected the presenter’s travel plans.
It may seem out of place for a world-renowned oceanographic department to be part of a research institute situated in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, hundreds of miles from the ocean, but studying the world’s major bodies of water is more than just mapping coral reefs or swimming with dolphins.
Laura Landrum, an oceanographer with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, said that within her division, there is a major focus on scientific research in the areas of climate and climate change. She said it’s primarily a global focus, but other research institutions take results from NCAR’s models and downscale them to show the regional impact on local climate of everything from burning fossil fuels to consumption of plastics.
As part of the Colorado Mountain College Speaker Series, Landrum will present two talks on Friday, March 7, in Breckenridge. The first will be targeted toward the younger crowd.
“We’re going to talk about the water cycle, water and the Earth and a little bit about climate in the region, at well,” Landrum said of the children’s talk. “And some of the work I have done with Antarctic sea ice and how a warming plant is changing the water cycle, changing the climate.”
The adult-focused talk will explore how carbon dioxide is changing the climate and changing things for the ocean, Landrum said, and what NCAR is studying in relation to climate change.
Our impact on the ocean
Landrum said the global climate is changing everywhere, from the oceans to land-locked areas such as Summit County. We’re all connected, and though we may not live near an ocean, how we use our resources has an impact on the world’s water.
“Climate impacts weather,” she said. “Most of the surface of the Earth is covered in ocean and about 98 percent of the planet’s water is in ocean water. If you warm the world, for example, you warm the ocean, change the chemistry in the ocean, and that influences climate and weather patterns, even in Colorado.”
The chemistry and temperature of the oceans are being changed by greenhouse gases, Landrum said, primarily carbon dioxide. As part of her second presentation, the oceanographer will demonstrate a couple of experiments that show these impacts.
“Anything we do impacts the carbon dioxide levels,” she said. “Burning fossil fuels, consumption of and use of plastics, pollution — energy use as a whole affects that. We use chemicals on our lawns, fertilizers, anything we put into rivers, into the water, flows downhill into the ocean. We can change the coastal chemistry of river outlets by what we put into the river and whether or not the water makes it to the ocean.”
Examples in our backyard
Landrum used the Colorado River as an example. Very little of the water that begins in the river at its headwaters gets from Colorado to the ocean, which has a direct effect on the estuaries at the mouth of the river.
“We have a lot of water in the mountains, but we can have droughts, wildfires,” she said. “Our day-to-day lives are impacted by the water cycle, whether we get a lot of rain and snow in a year. People in Colorado are familiar with the basic weather patterns that impact our precipitation and when we get that precipitation can be impacted by climate.”
It’s important for all of us to remember that we’re part of a global planet, Landrum said, and that our personal actions are part of a bigger picture.
“I also like to convey that there’s a lot of work that we do as oceanographers that’s really exiting,” she said. “I do oceanography in a way that people don’t think about, with climate models. I have a fantastic job; it’s really fun. I get to answer questions, and it’s in an arena that I care about.”
Landrum said she loves getting kids excited about the fun jobs you can do with science, technology and math. She also encourages people of all ages to visit the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder to take a tour and learn more about the research that is conducted there.
“The more education we have, the more we can be concerned and educated citizens, making conscious decisions in our own lives with how we vote, how we spend our money and what we care about,” she said. | <urn:uuid:da3470af-40f5-42bb-bbdc-0fbb77d39ec3> | {
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One hundred years since women gained the right to vote we launched Trailblazers: World War One’s Inspirational Women – a nationwide project about inspirational women from the First World War and their impact on the societies around them. Trailblazers encourages young people to explore the incredible lives of women from the First World War, to discover Trailblazing women in your locality, and to develop as future Trailblazers.
This is the second part in a series of notes I have produced for my CIE A level History students on the core content for the International Option. The notes are designed to match each key focus question and the content is exactly in the order as it appears in the syllabus. The information comes from a range of sources, including academic books and articles.
Set of notes on the historiography of the Cold War for Paper 3 (CIE) from both scholastic and academic sources. The notes cover the major schools of thought with regards to the Origins of the Cold War, as well as the events themselves. These notes can serve as a reference point for both students and teachers alike.
This document contains 42 pages of detailed notes on the Cold War 1950-1975. It is designed for CIE History 9389 and matches the key focus questions of the syllabus, but it is also in line with the IB 20th century syllabus. The information comes from both scholastic and academic sources and the topic has been well-researched. It can serve as a teacher's handbook or revision notes for your students. Feel free to edit as you like.
This 1 week scheme of work involves taking a closer look at the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 and it's devastating effect on Pompeii. Lessons include researching different types of volcanoes, group drama tasks (acting out events and reactions to the eruption), watching a time-lapse clip of how events unfolded etc..
A useful revision guide that teaches all the content needed for paper 1 of iGCSE CIE modern world history. The information is condensed from a range of sources, in easy-to-read bullet point notation so that students can revise efficiently and effectively. There are planned practice questions at the back of each section, anticipating the type of questions which could come up in the exam.
A thorough-yet easy to understand presentation on Mary Tudor, her upbringing and her reign. Suitable for KS3 lesson use. 10 slides.
This 17 booklet gives information about dyslexia and how teachers and teaching assistants can support student's within the classroom. The booklet includes: - A quiz to show understanding - Explains what dyslexia is and why its important to identify - How it effects reading and writing, amongst other information
Who were the vikings
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Welcome to Help Me Teach. | <urn:uuid:8478aeaf-1042-464f-ad18-a0be6cfbeb6b> | {
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Information for the Newly Diagnosed
What Does "Newly Diagnosed" Mean?
For many, being newly diagnosed finally gives a name to having some unexplained symptoms. Often before a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a person might experience various symptoms, such as visual problems, numbness, or weakness, for example. Not knowing what is wrong and what might happen next is both worrisome and frightening. Once someone has been newly diagnosed with MS, he or she may actually feel a sense of relief in knowing the reason behind the different symptoms. From here, learning more about the disorder and its treatments will be of great help toward developing a positive plan for the future.
MSAA offers a collection of "Multiple Sclerosis information" (MSi) online educational videos and webinars. These are easy to access through MSAA's website by selecting the topics that are of interest to you. For individuals who are newly diagnosed, or who are experiencing initial symptoms and have yet to be diagnosed, a portion of these MSi videos and webinars may provide helpful information for you. These include:
While finally getting a name for your symptoms may give you a sense of relief, you may also still feel frightened and confused. After all, MS can be quite unpredictable with its hallmark flare-ups and remissions. You may feel you have lost your compass, your perspective, and everything experienced now is under the cloud of this new label of an "MS patient."
But while you may have been diagnosed with MS, this does not change who you are. You still look the same, have the same family and friends, and you have the same thoughts and dreams. When MS enters the picture, it usually requires some adjustments, but most people can still enjoy a full and productive life.
For more information about MS and people who are living well with this disorder, MSAA's free Lending Library may be of help. Among the many resources that may be borrowed from the library is the book, Multiple Sclerosis: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (TJ Murray, CS Saunders, and NJ Holland, fourth edition, Demos Medical Publishing, 2013). In this book, the authors state: "The disease should not be in control - you are in control of your life, your attitudes, your relationships, your approach to problems, your interests, and your activities." They advise readers to get more information about MS, to beware of misinformation, and note: "People with MS are happiest and at their best when they live as normally as possible and carry out the activities they enjoy... if you feel like climbing a mountain and do not have symptoms and problems that limit you, go for it!"
Encouraging Information about MS
MS is not contagious, and in general, does not usually shorten one's life expectancy. Some individuals, particularly those who are significantly inactive, may experience the typical complications of a prolonged chronic illness (such as infection or pneumonia). Living a healthy lifestyle (under the direction of your doctor) in terms of diet, exercise, preventative healthcare, and not smoking, can help you to feel your best.
Since the early 1990s, many long-term treatments and symptom-management therapies have become available - which makes living with MS more controllable and comfortable. A 21-year prospective study of individuals (with relapsing-remitting MS) who began treatment with a disease-modifying therapy early in the disease, found that they experienced a longer lifespan than those who did not begin treatment as early.
Research is ongoing around the world with many new, promising treatments on the way. Several new disease-modifying therapies are either under review by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or are currently in clinical trials for eventually submission to the FDA, with the hope of receiving approval for the long-term treatment of MS.
MSAA is available to provide a number of vital programs and services, such as valuable and understanding phone consultation, informative and motivational publications and website, MRI assistance, equipment programs, and shared-management tools. These tools for encouraging patients to take an active role in the management of their MS include: My MS Resource Locator (an extensive database of specialized MS services); My MS Manager™ (a free application for iPhone and Android platforms to help individuals and care partners track details about their MS); and S.E.A.R.C.H.™ (materials to help patients and their healthcare team work together in identifying the most appropriate long-term treatment). MSAA also has a blog, "MS Conversations," featuring timely, interactive discussions of topics that are important to the entire MS community.
Things You Can Do
Some people who are newly diagnosed may experience confusion or even a sense of anger toward medical professionals and others, who may be providing you with too much information too quickly... or conversely, too little information. You will need time to adjust to the new diagnosis, so take things in at your own pace. You may want to know all you can right away, and if so, consulting reliable resources will provide you with accurate information on everything you need to know. On the other hand, you may want to learn about the disease a little at a time, and that is okay too. The important things are that you have confidence in the members of the healthcare team you have selected for your care, and that you follow their treatment recommendations.
When you visit your neurologist or other healthcare professional, prepare yourself by writing a series of questions and concerns in advance. You may even decide to interview the healthcare professionals before you make a definite selection. In addition, you should be keeping your own personal health journal, as you are the best reporter of your symptoms to your healthcare professionals.
Questions that may be helpful when seeing members of your healthcare team include:
Participating in a support group for newly diagnosed individuals can also be therapeutic. However, please keep in mind that some groups of people may work better for you than others. Finding a group that is a good fit for you is very important. Additionally, personal feelings may not always be appropriate for group settings, and sometimes these need to be processed alone, or with a member of your healthcare team, versus discussing them with a group of individuals you are still getting to know.
Including Your Family and Friends
Most family and friends will try to be supportive, but at times they might not know what to do. They may need reassurance from you, to find out how you are coping with your new diagnosis and any symptoms you may be experiencing. A few friends or family members may even look at you differently, because they don't understand how difficult this may be for you. This brings up the fact that many MS symptoms are "invisible," so while you might be experiencing numbness or extreme fatigue, you will still look the same to those around you.
Having open discussions with family members and friends - when you are ready - can greatly help with their understanding of MS and your feelings. Explain to your family that you are still the same person that you were before the diagnosis. Share with them that you may have good days and bad days - and that you welcome their support through this process. If they can be present for you and simply listen, the experience will be life changing for everyone involved.
If You Have Children, What Should You Tell Them?
Being honest and open with your children is the best plan. They know when you are secretive or elusive and that becomes more frightening, coupled with the keen ability of a child's imagination. Remember that a child's attention span is short. Find out what your child already knows and then share pieces of basic information in an age-appropriate way as tolerated during the course of several days or weeks.
Explain to your child that you are still the same person. Families are always evolving and changing, just like life, but family members can support one another and overcome obstacles. By sharing your experiences in coping with MS, you are teaching your child about the journey of life. Be sure to emphasize support systems like extended family, teachers, and friends who really care. Children learn that families can work together to solve problems and move beyond a crisis.
MSAA offers two children's books, Mommy's Story and Daddy's Story, both of which address this important and delicate subject. These books are suitable for children ages three to seven.
Developing a Plan is Key
Developing a comprehensive plan of care, one that is not limited to multiple sclerosis, is vitally important. This should be done together between you and your healthcare providers. Such a plan includes management of overall health issues that should not be neglected. Most importantly, patients need to be very careful not to blame every symptom on multiple sclerosis. Be sure that your healthcare team (including your primary care physician and/or your neurologist) is advised of any symptoms you are experiencing, all treatments you are receiving, and any other conditions you may have.
Components of a comprehensive care plan may include the following topics, many of which are addressed on MSAA's website as well as Multiple Sclerosis information (MSi) online educational videos and webinar series:
Employment Concerns - Things to Consider
An employee with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis should consider whether or not to disclose his or her diagnosis to his or her employer. In disclosing your diagnosis, it may be easier for you to receive the accommodation necessary to continue to be effective in your position. However, there may be some risk in disclosure. Employers sometimes, due to their lack of knowledge about multiple sclerosis, may view the diagnosis negatively, and disclosure may in fact place the employee's job at risk. The good news is that a variety of resources is available to assist employees with these complex decisions.
Many people choose to work for reasons greater than money alone. The interaction with others, the feeling of completing a well-done task, and the need to feel valued in society, all make a paycheck so worthwhile. Individuals with MS may find that symptoms such as increased fatigue, limited mobility, and visual changes may impact their ability to work. While the symptoms of MS can often be managed, job accommodations may be necessary to continue to work productively.
Some people with MS remain in their jobs with little or no modifications to their present working situation, while others may decide to leave their current position to be retrained to do something else. Fortunately, government funding is available for individuals with disabilities to receive the help they need to enter, re-enter, or remain in the workforce. This assistance enables men and women with MS to find the right occupation, work environment, work schedule, and game plan for their unique circumstances.
For more information on employment, please read the following articles from MSAA's magazine The Motivator: "Employment Strategies" and "Breaking Up is Hard to Do".
For More Information and SupportMSAA can help in many ways.
|Last Updated on Tuesday, 04 November 2014 11:33| | <urn:uuid:52568b1f-e4ca-46ae-94e9-62f2fd08b0f1> | {
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SCIENCE and SENSORY EXPLORATION area for TODDLERS:
This week I am introducing a TODDLER Science and Sensory Exploration Area for my Toddlers. They like the sensory activities so much that I decided to expand on their interests. I took a big box, hot glued my 1.50 a yard sensory material on all sides of it. Then, I made 4 smaller boxes to keep individual activities in and sorted so the children can learn to sort and put things back. I added bright materials to each small box inside and out and then re-inforced the strength on the inside with more cardboard panels or strips (depending on how strong the box was). The first box (daisies) has free tiles for siding samples in it hot glued back to back. I got these at Lowes in the siding sample isle. The second box (turtles) has free counter top tile samples in hot glue back to back. I put them on a double strand of yarn. They have different textures and colors when they are touched. The third box (60's flowers) has the same as the second one but different colors and textures. The fourth box (the colorful diamonds) has our sensory jewerly rounds in it made from our salt playdough recipe and hardened for texture feeling. Then I added an egg carton with rocks that have some defaults in them, hot glued them down so the children could feel the lines, circles and odd touches of them and also added a magnifying glass so they could see these imperfections as well. The whole exploration center cost me 1.00 for the magnifying glass and .50 for the rocks from Dollar General Store. A "new" science and sensory hands on area to add for a little cost. | <urn:uuid:08a536df-6938-4ec3-9157-afa57f91ce5d> | {
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Judogi is the official Japanese name for the conventional attire utilized for Judo method as well as competitors.
A judogi is rather much like a karategi as it shares a typical beginning. Jigoro Kano obtained the initial Judogi from the Robe as well as various other Japanese garments around the turn of the 20th century, and also, thus, the judogi was the very first modern-day martial-arts-training attire. For many years, the sleeves as well as trousers have actually been extended, the product as well as fit have actually altered, the typical natural cotton is currently a blonde white, as well as blue Judogi have actually appeared; nonetheless, the attire is still really near to that utilized 100 years earlier. Various other fighting styles, significantly Martial arts, later on took on the design of training attire that is made use of in Judo.
A judogi consists of 3 components that are normally reduced from various textiles: an extremely hefty coat (uwagi), lighter canvas trousers (shitabaki), as well as a cotton belt (obi). Though just like the much shorter designs of robe, an uwagi will usually be made from heavy-weight cotton or cotton mix. Almost the most affordable as well as lightest uwagi are reduced from woven cotton, just like, yet a lot more firmly woven compared to, terrycloth. A lot more costly competitors as well as hand-made judogi will certainly typically evaluate numerous kilos when ended up. Because of the nature of judo technique, they frequently have larger sewing and also double-layered knee spots to offer resilience. The obi’s various shades represent the various rankings in judo.
Close sight of a judogi
In competitors, judogi dimensions as well as fit are purely specified by the IJF policies of judo (see listed below). These guidelines specify sleeve as well as pant size along with the looseness of the fit; in competitors, the umpire could invalidate a rival for using an uncomfortable judogi that could be utilized for benefit. On top of that, different companies as well as occasions supervise such issues as the add-on of business and also team/national spots and also rivals’ names. All affordable judogi should be tidy as well as devoid of openings, rips, or too much wear.
In main nationwide or worldwide competitors just white or blue judogi are permitted. Rivals have to have readily available both shades due to the fact that one participant in each suit is assigned to put on a blue gi while the various other puts on a white gi. Many judo courses will certainly allow trainees to use either shade, although white is the standard shade that is frequently chosen as well as white suit far better with the customs of judo as well as Japanese society. Much less usual shades, consisting of red as well as black, can be located in much less official or specific circumstances. | <urn:uuid:a4388cfa-10e0-4ec5-aa03-4c0ea431545c> | {
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|Here we explain how to replace a chain on a derailleur-equipped bicycle so that you can install a new chain when yours wears out. Bicycles with derailleurs use a chain that normally cannot be removed unless you separate one link with a chain tool (photo, left), a special bicycle tool that lets you push a pin out of the chain (more about this procedure later).
The techniques used to replace a chain will also help you repair one should you or a riding companion have a problem on the road or trail. For example, as long as you carry a chain tool, it's a fairly simple matter to repair something as serious as a broken chain, which would otherwise leave you stranded.
How do you know when to replace a chain?
You can purchase the Park Tool Chain Checker and use it, or you can measure the chain for wear. On a new chain you'll be able to measure exactly 12 inches between 2 chain pins. If the distance measures 12 1/8 inches or more, your chain is worn out and should be replaced.
Recommended Tools and Parts:
|It's important to check your chain every few months and replace it before it's too far gone. If you just keep riding, you'll wear the chain, cassette and even the chainrings. When you replace your chain regularly, your other drivetrain components will last a lot longer, which saves you money. You'll also enjoy smoother shifting and pedaling if you always keep a good chain on your bike.
Note that if you wait too long you'll probably need at least a new cassette (or some new cogs) to go with your new chain, and perhaps a new chainring. You'll know this is the case because when you ride your bike with the new chain you'll experience a skipping sensation while pedaling. This skipping is caused by the new chain slipping on worn cogs. Skipping is dangerous and you should replace the cassette immediately.
There are 3 types of chains named and described below. Though there are similarities, each type requires a slightly different technique for replacement. You can click the links below to jump to that type of chain or you may want to read about all of them so you'll be able to replace/repair any chain. That way, if you carry a chain tool on rides, you'll be able to rescue your friends if theirs break. Here are the chain types:
Type 1. Chain joined with special replacement pin
On this chain a special pin is inserted that takes the place of a stock pin. This is the way modern Shimano and Campagnolo chains work. The special replacement pin (sometimes 2) is supplied with the new chain so look for it and don't lose it when you open the package.
Type 2. Chain joined with special connecting link (sometimes called a "master" link)
Here the chain is joined by a special link that has 2 outer plates with protruding pins that are inserted into the chain rollers, aligned to fit together and then snapped tight by pushing on the pedals. The special connecting link is supplied with the new chain. Look for it in the package.
Type 3. Chain joined by any pin
The traditional method of joining a chain is to push any pin out just far enough to be able to flex the chain to separate the ends. Though most chains today use the special pins or link, this is still a good thing to understand, because you can use this approach to get home should you break a chain and not have a replacement pin or link for the repair (you should repair the chain correctly when you get home).
Purchasing And Sizing The Chain
Once you realize you need a new chain and you're ready to stop riding long enough to replace it, use your chain tool to push any pin completely out of the chain. Chain tools differ. If yours has two grooves for holding your chain be sure to rest the chain so that you're pushing against the sturdier one, which is usually at the back of the tool (photo, right). This is important, because if you seat the chain on the middle groove and try to drive out the pin, you may break that part of the tool.
Once the pin is extracted, you can take the chain off the bike. At this point you can count each link to determine how many are on your chain. Or, you might choose to simply bring the chain in to us and let us do the math. Either way, your new chain has to be the same length as your old in order to work correctly on your bicycle. Plus, it must be compatible with your drivetrain. For example, a 9-speed chain should be used with a 9-speed drivetrain, a 10-speed with a 10-speed, and so on. If you have any questions about chain compatibility, just ask. In general it's best to use the same type of chain you had before.
Routing The Chain Through The Derailleurs
When you have a new chain correctly sized for your bicycle, you're ready to begin installation. First, route it through the rear derailleur by passing it beneath the lower pulley and up around the right side of the top pulley and then back, around and over the cassette. Be sure the chain isn't resting on anything but the pulleys and that it forms a backwards S where it passes through the pulleys (photos, below: notice that in the one marked "wrong," the chain is dragging on the metal cage).
Next, pull the chain through the front derailleur cage and around the bottom bracket (don't place it on the small chainring yet). You should end up with the chain looking like the one in the picture below (with the exception that the chain is resting on the frame, not on a chainring):
Joining The Chain
To prevent this weakness Shimano and some Campagnolo chains use special replacement pins when the chain is installed new or when one is removed and re-installed. These replacement pins have pilots that allow installation without damage to the pin or the outer plate. The pilot is then broken off or removed before riding. These pins come with the chains along with instructions for their use. Tip: It's a good idea to carry a spare pin for roadside repairs.
Drive the replacement pin into the chain (this will push the pilot part of the pin out the other side). To make sure you don't push the pin too far, stop and check your progress a few times as you turn the tool. Stop pushing the pin with the tool when the pin end you're pushing on protrudes the same amount as the neighboring pins.
To finish installing the pin, break off the pilot, which will snap off if you grab it with pliers and bend. On some chain tools, you can also slip it into the head of the tool and twist to snap it off (photo, left).
Now that the chain is joined, check the connection for a tight link. It should pivot at the roller without resistance. If it binds, it may cause skipping and shifting problems. To free a stiff link, grasp the chain with your hands straddling the stiff link and flex the chain laterally, which will free the outer plates that got pinched during pin installation causing the stiff link.
Campagnolo makes a special tool for installing the 10-speed chain. If you don't have this tool, it's especially important to press down on the chain at the pin to keep it seated in the chain tool. Use your thumb to hold the link in place as you insert it.
After the pin is fully inserted, simply pull outward to remove the pilot (photo). Check the freshly connected link by flexing it to feel for tightness that may cause shifting problems. The link should pivot as freely as the others. If not, grasp the chain with your hands straddling the tight link and gently flex laterally to free the link.
The special link comes in two pieces (photo a). To join the chain install one piece through the inside face of chain and install the second piece through the outside of the other chain end. Engage the two pieces so that the link pins fit into the special link's plate holes (photo b).
Then pull the chain to lock the link. The best way to do this is to place the chain on the chainring and pedal hard by hand to lock the special link. Be sure to inspect the special link before riding to ensure it's securely locked.
Note: Some special links are reusable, while others are disposable and should be replaced after each removal. Check the manufacturer's instructions or ask us to figure out which you have.
To join this type of chain, the pin must be in the position shown in the photo below, which is how they come from the factory. To join the ends of the chain, insert the roller end and then slightly flex the chain laterally to get the chain end with the pin to spread a bit wider. At this point you will be able to push and snap the roller end in place as the tip of the pin engages the hole in the roller.
The next step is to press the pin into the chain with the chain tool. Push the pin far enough so it protrudes the same amount as neighboring pins.
|Repairing A Bent Chain
If you notice an intermittent skipping or roughness as you pedal, you may have bent a portion of your chain. This can happen if a stick gets grabbed by the drivetrain and you don't notice it and keep pedaling. To fix it, stop and find the bad section by backpedaling with your hand and watching for the bad links passing through the rear derailleur pulleys. They should stand out as they pass over the pulleys.
Pull back on the chain to get the bad spot where you can see it. To fix it, you'll need to hold the chain on either side of the bent link and twist. You can use your hands or pliers or whatever tools you have in your seat bag. With gentle pressure and a little trial and error you should be able to straighten the bent section enough to be able to ride without problems. It's a good idea to replace damaged links when you get home because they're weakened are more likely to break under load.
Repairing A Broken Chain
The most common cause of chain failure is an improperly installed pin, a common mistake when putting on a new chain. So, the best way to prevent chain breakage is to read and carefully follow the instructions for installing the different types of chains in this article.
To fix a broken chain, use your chain tool to remove the link that failed and then rejoin the chain ends with whatever method is available to you.
If you're carrying a special replacement pin or link in your seat bag, use it to reassemble the chain ends. Otherwise, trim the chain so there's a roller on one end and an outer plate with pin on the other. Join them by snapping the ends together and driving home the pin (more).
It's also possible to get home on a make-shift repair such as joining the chain with a piece of wire or even string, found on the road. You'll have to pedal carefully, but, with luck, it just might allow you to ride most of the way home.
Keep in mind that if you must remove links when repairing a chain, it shortens the chain and compromises shifting. So, as you ride home, avoid gears that approach the chain's full capacity, such as the large chainring/large cog combination. To prevent this problem consider carrying a section of spare links in your seat bag. Tip: If you had links left over when you sized your chain, save these: They're perfect for repairs.
We proudly use, carry and sell Park Tools. Park has been manufacturing bicycle-specific tools since 1963 and is currently the world’s largest bicycle tool manufacturer. A long-term dedication to quality, innovation, and customer service has made Park Tool the first choice of professional and home bicycle mechanics around the world. This article has been specially edited for us and includes information and photos provided courtesy of Park Tool USA. | <urn:uuid:e168dc35-76f8-4ce1-9bd9-bdb0be979c73> | {
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The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has designated sericea lespedeza as a noxious weed in the state. The declaration was made to protect the quality of the state’s agricultural and other land.
NDA Director Greg Ibach said the weed poses a threat to native ranges, pastureland and other natural areas. The weed is a perennial that grows well in grasslands, pastures, roadsides and drainage areas. It is found mainly in southeastern Nebraska and can be spread by wildlife and livestock.
Infested areas that are used for hay production accelerate the spread of the weed into new areas.
Sericea lespedeza joins a list of 11 other noxious weeds. They are Canada thistle, leafy spurge, musk thistle, plumeless thistle, purple loosestrife, spotted knapweed, diffuse knapweed, saltcedar, phragmites, Japanese knotweed and giant knotweed.
Anyone with questions should contact their local county weed control superintendent. Questions also may be directed to the NDA Noxious Weed Program manager at 402-471-6844. | <urn:uuid:20fdd992-62b5-479e-aef2-58b5c7406895> | {
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The Ten Commandments of the Old Testament are as famous as Big Ben or the Grand Canyon, but a Christocentric view, ingrained in modern Western civilisation, has led us to ignore the significance of parallel strictures which emerged independently in other cultures and societies throughout history, some predating the Godlaws of Moses.
Recently, a study led by Professor Will Bushstenstance (pronounced bùsh-stùn-stùnce) of the University of Reetus concluded that the earliest known spiritual commandments are those of the Kushti people of Central Genevieve. And the study shows striking similarities between the essential nature of their laws and those handed down by God unto Moses, not least of which is the fact that in both cases there are ten codes, or commandments. The sad thing is that although we know the Kushti's commandments numbered to ten, only six of the ten survive.
What is surprising about the similarities between the Kushti codes and the Ten Commandments is that the closest the Kushti came to worshipping anything at all was their association of the Sun with Time. It must be clarified, however, that although they realised that they were dependent on the Sun in its mastery of Time, they did not worship it, and did not believe it was ‘alive’ in any conventional sense. It was just there, and its coming and going dictated their days and their nights, their Life and their Death. This crucial distinction means that the Kushtian codes are, in some cases, more like philosophical statements or perceived truisms rather than outright commandments.
Here, then, is a transcript of excerpts taken from the chapter of Professor Bushstenstance’s study that relates to the six survivors of the “Ten Stones of Kushti”.
The ‘Ten Stones of Kushti’, or rather six of the stones, were discovered over 150 years ago, but only recently have carbon-dating techniques been advanced to the stage where they can give us an idea of the true age of these precious artefacts. The results, when they came, astonished the academic world and discredited much scholarly work undertaken since their discovery. The stones are now known to be over 73,000 years old, from an epoch which we could never have believed was so spiritually advanced………and so below are set out the six codes contained by the surviving stones, with some analysis of what they meant to the Kushti in the context of their society:
‘The Ten (Six) Stones of Kushti’ by Professor Williard Bushstenstance DIP, UrE, KOC, iN(M), Ma., RSe.
1. Neither the forest a river, nor the river a forest make.
This seemingly nonsensical script from the first stone is in fact purely allegorical. It addresses the Kushti's use of their environment, and the ecology of the area they inhabited. The Kushti were primarily forest people, whose settlements emerged alongside the winding river of Kontusis. They would have understood this code to have been a warning against the over-use of the natural resources of the forest, against the felling of tress which would make the forest as flat as a river. Conversely, it warns against the over-crowding of the river with boats, jetties, and polluting waste - the imagery is that of the tall boats of the Kushti making the river a forest of masts, the possibility of which was prevented by laws emanating from this code. More than any of the other codes, this shows the Kushti to be deeply aware of the importance of the ecological balance around them.
2. You neither skirt of mud nor hut of grass shall make; but skirt of grass and hut of mud create.
Rather like the 'never build a castle on sand' wisdom of more modern times, this is simply a caution to the Kushti that everything in life has its proper use, and to meddle with this order was to risk either looking foolish or worse, to court disaster. The example used in the codes would have struck the Kushti most vividly, as forest fires were common, and a grass hut in such conditions would be turned to ash in an instant. Likewise, it would be difficult to hunt the beasts of the forest with speed and stealth wearing a mud skirt.
3. Only the Sun can bleach the blood of Man.
An allegorical reference to Time and Death. The 'bleaching of the blood' was an early Kushti ritual used to purge the grief left behind by a dead member of the tribe. The blood would be drained from the dead body and mixed with a bleaching agent from local plants. It would not whiten the blood but would turn it a pale pink, and this was said to send the spirit of the deceased away so as not to haunt the survivors with unbearable grief. This code put a stop to this primitive practice by stating that only Time, as represented by the Sun, can heal the pain of loss, and that Time is the natural and essential ingredient to the passing of grief.
4. The Sun dictates when comes the Night, but soon returns with its vital Light, but when it goes and never comes back, the Earth will dress its Dead in black.
An ominous reminder of Man's reliance on the Sun as a source of Life, and its power over Life and Death. The Kushti did not worship the Sun, but believed that by treating the Earth around them with respect, that the Sun would be encouraged to keep it alive and promote Life. The Kushti believed, however, that one day the Sun would disappear and never return, and that would be the end of all life on Earth. The closing phrase, 'the Earth will dress its Dead in black' refers to the darkness of the world after the Sun's departure, resulting in the Death of all Life.
5. To be afraid is to be alert.
This was a crucial tenet of forest life for the Kushti. Surrounded by venomous and aggressive creatures (snakes, lions, spiders, vampire bats), as well as troubled by marauding alien tribes, the ulitmate duty of the Kushti of both sexes was to be on guard. In this, fear was not something to be criticised but commended. It was not seen as cowardice but as a crucial component in remaining alert enough to protect oneself and ones fellows. If a man was not afraid of the forest, they believed, he would be casual and fail to spot danger when it lurked. It was therefore quite usual for a respected member of the society, when they died, to be honoured with a pyre around which his fellows chanted the words, "He was afraid" - a genuine tribute.
6. The newborn child has bathed in the Wisdom of Amnios. Do not wash it away.
The Kushti came to believe that Wisdom, the power to discern Good from Bad (the concept of Evil did not exist in their culture), was most plentiful in the newborn child, and that Wisdom was lost gradually in life's toils, rather than gained with age as is commonly supposed in most of the world today. Thus, a baby was not washed, but swaddled for months in the dried fluids of its deliverance. As the child grew older, its possession of Wisdom was considered diminished, but still sufficient for it to attract the devoted attention of the elders, who were required to show respect and deference to the young of the society. In addition, whilst older tribesmen were kept under strict control and discipline by their youngers, and looked after in a domestic environment much like we would raise children, the younger ones, from the age of 3 upwards until their 21st birthday, would do the work, hunt the food, and make all of the important decisions of council. Those between the ages of 21 and 30 bred, whilst anyone over 30 was, as has been stated, treated much as we would treat a child. The average life expectancy is estimated to have been around 45 years. Their equivalent of what we would call a monarch, was chosen by selecting the baby whose traces of birth fluids remained longest on its skin. This baby would reign as King or Queen until it reached the age of 2, at which point it was required to abdicate and a new baby selected according to the process outlined above. The former monarch, still only 2 years old, would then be diverted into a river-based career. No one quite knows why a river-based career was mandatory for an outgoing monarch, but every indication is that this was invariably the case. Although we may view with amusement and astonishment this strange practice, it should be noted that the Kushti never declared war on another tribe, and that they valued learning, rather than territorial expansion, as their main societal aim.
When an ex-monarch became an old riverman or boatwoman, they would often say that they had little or no recollection of their time on the throne, and this was taken by the Kushti as further proof of the decaying power of age.
In summary then, in an impressionistic sense, the Kushti followed these pseudo-imperatives:
Neither the forest a river, nor the river a forest make.
You neither skirt of mud nor hut of grass shall make; but skirt of grass and hut of mud create.
Only the Sun can bleach the blood of Man.
The Sun dictates when comes the Night, but soon returns with its vital Light, but when it goes and never comes back, the Earth will dress its Dead in black.
To be afraid is to be alert.
The newborn child has bathed in the Wisdom of Amnios. Do not wash it away.
And so ends just a brief excerpt from one of the foremost academic texts of our lives. One wonders, had he really existed, what Jesus would have made of the Kushti. | <urn:uuid:751d39e8-0645-4778-8068-ae5e6c066b79> | {
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Make a Plan
Hurricanes don’t only affect people living along the coast. They can still cause damage even if you live hundreds of miles from the shore. If you’re in an area where hurricanes are a risk, you need a plan.
CDC can help you make an emergency plan. Go to Make a Plan: Develop a Family Disaster Plan for help.
Even if there's no risk of a hurricane right now, make sure you and your family are prepared.
- Stock up on emergency supplies for your home and car.
- Write down emergency phone numbers and keep them near every phone in your house or on the refrigerator. Program them into your cell phone, too.
- Buy a fire extinguisher and make sure your family knows where to find it and how to use it. Read the National Fire Protection Association's tips for using fire extinguishers.
- Find out where the nearest shelter is and the different routes you can take to get there if you have to leave your home.
- Make sure that everyone in your family knows what the warning sirens in your area sound like — and what to do if they go off.
Wondering what supplies to buy before a hurricane? Check out Get Supplies for a complete checklist of everything you’ll need.
- Page last reviewed: May 1, 2014
- Page last updated: August 8, 2014
- Content source:
- National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH); Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR); Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, Injury, and Environmental Health (ONDIEH); National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP); National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)
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The Dinosaur Fossil Pit
Fossil Tracks of the Coelophysis
The fossil tracks housed in the dinosaur pit of Lincoln Park Public Library were discovered in the
Spring of 1965 during the construction of the Clear View Golf Course, at a place called Tom's Point.
A lot of excitement was caused by this discovery.
Scientists came from the Paterson Museum and the Museum of Natural History in New York to see
what had been found and decide how important it was. They said it was the biggest discovery that
has ever been made on the East coast, comparable to the one made in New Mexico. Indeed, so many
tracks were found that researchers dubbed it "the dance hall of the dinosaurs.” The find was
announced on television news broadcasts, and people came from many places to the small
community of Lincoln Park.
COELOPHYSIS ~ Footprints were discovered in Lincoln Park. | <urn:uuid:44cbe8ed-dd08-4813-a486-d7c8e5fb56cb> | {
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Sanhkara. Sankhara is mental constructions/mental formations. Dependant upon ignorance, Sankhara arises. Worldly beings are bound up with the continual cycle of ignorance and resulting sankhara.
We are human beings, social creatures deeply connected with one another in terms of perception and reactivity. This is the nature of the human condition. As such, sanhkara may arise in reaction to external circumstances such as the speech of another, even when the speech is not ill-intended. We may simply misunderstand or misinterpret. Similarly, Sankhara may arise by virtue of intentional wrongful speech from another, which we in ignorance take personally, or which by virtue of some other manifestation of ignorance results in affliction.
Nobody else is responsible for our personal mental constructions/mental formations. Nobody else controls our sankhara.
The Teaching. Yet the Buddha teaches:
(Related topic with reference.)"Having performed a verbal act, you should reflect on it... If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful verbal act with painful consequences, painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, lay it open to the Teacher or to a knowledgeable companion in the holy life. Having confessed it... you should exercise restraint in the future. But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction... it was a skillful verbal action with happy consequences, happy results, then you should stay mentally refreshed and joyful, training day and night in skillful mental qualities."
The Buddha teaches that verbal acts can lead to the affliction of others. Even though one cannot be responsible for another’s sankhara, one nevertheless bears personal responsibility for speech which afflicts others. We have the capacity to harm others, through our actions, and through our words.
Source.The accusation has been made that the application of the terms kusala and akusala are oriented only towards an individualistic goal, making the motivation for abstention from violence a selfish one. But it can be argued that the distinction between altruism and egoism breaks down for anyone truly following the Noble Eightfold Path. There are also many textual references to the inherent importance of harmony, justice and compassion in society to balance those passages which seem to be solely individualistic. Harmony and justice are recognized as worthwhile in themselves as well as a prerequisite for the spiritual progress of society's members. Hence, in society, violence is to be eschewed because it brings pain to beings with similar feelings to oneself:
All tremble at violence,
Life is dear to all.
Comparing others with oneself
One should neither kill nor cause others to kill.
Dhp. v. 130
On the level of personal analogy, men and women are to condemn violence. It is an analogy which demands metta (loving kindness) and karuna (compassion) of the human being. They call on a frame of mind which cannot remain insensitive to suffering in others or untouched by the agony produced by violence. Non-violence, therefore, arises through the urge to prevent anguish in others:
Comparing oneself with others in such terms as "Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I" (yatha aham tatha ete yatha ete tatha aham), one should neither kill nor cause others to kill.
Snp. v. 705
The Buddha, however, did not credit all people with this level of awareness. He is recorded as saying that shame and fear of blame protect the world, and if there were not these forces, the world would come to confusion and promiscuity. Not all beings rally to the call for compassion on the grounds that others have like feelings to themselves or that harmony in society is necessary. Therefore, some texts invoke the concepts of heaven and hell, rewards and punishments, to control violence.
Through our speech, we can create a hostile environment.
Error. It is error to assert that in all instances, only others are to blame when one’s speech is misunderstood. The definition and meaning of words are not black-and-white. Words and phrases, by their very nature, are prone to ambiguity and alternative plausible interpretations. For example, statutory interpretation and contract interpretation are areas of study, because even lawmakers and highly paid attorneys who take great pains to say exactly what they mean often say things in a manner which is ambiguous and open to alternative valid interpretations. This is the nature of language. Moreover, in a diverse society with people of various backgrounds, we may not be able to predict how our words are interpreted by another. To always blame the listener for misunderstanding, by virtue of his or her purported “lack of ability to comprehend” or purported “illiteracy,” is a cop out and contrary to the approach which is Dhamma. Worse, it can be a way of blaming the victim, and it can justify bullying. Those who create a hostile environment by their words are themselves responsible for the words they speak.
How praiseworthy if one comes to the realization that one speaks unkindly or insensitively to others without shame or fear of blame. Such a realization can help one to make a change for the better, and to perform kamma in the future which does not so frequently afflict self and/or others. What an unfortunate, miserable circumstance if one's habit is to speak unkindly or insensitively to others without shame or fear of blame, and if one instead blames everyone else for the harmful effect of one's words.
When we blame others for their reactions to our harsh, insensitive, unkind words, we commit error and miss an opportunity to practice Dhamma by recognizing the truth about that which has arisen. We are not responsible for the other’s sankhara. We are responsible for our kamma, and we experience the fruits of such kamma. Failure to recognize that one’s volitional actions in the form of insensitive speech can cause harm to others is a failure to understand Dhamma and basic reality.
Being mindful of this, Dhamma guides us toward an acknowledgement that our Kamma may be skillful or unskillful, and may lead to the affliction of others or not lead to the affliction of others. Dhamma teaches one to take personal responsibility for one’s volitional actions of speech, to reflect upon whether one’s actions have led to self affliction, affliction of others, or both, and if we recognize that our actions/speech have led to such affliction, then to endeavor to act more skillfully in the future. Dhamma does not teach that one should deny personal responsibility and blame others, and compound the affliction by engaging in further insensitive speech.
Dismissing comments about “insensitive speech” as mere political correctness, or as an attempt to censor others or control others, or as mere “complaints,” or as “meta discussion,” or as being “holier than thou,” is evasive and disrespectful, as well as harmful to oneself and others. The teachings on Right Speech call for us to recognize that the words we speak and write may lead to affliction of others, and to know our kamma. Insensitive speech is to be avoided, not commended and encouraged.
Source.I am aware of my wish to foster happiness and reduce suffering for myself and for others.
I am aware, too, of the imperfections that may hinder this wish.
Where my actions have caused suffering, may I be forgiven.
Where my actions conflict with those others would choose, may they understand.
I am grateful that the next in-breath marks a new beginning. | <urn:uuid:51bff2e5-6d35-452c-bbde-a66083d406ff> | {
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Scientists conduct a variety of research in Antarctica, including studies on climate change, astronomy, geology, earth science, marine biology and astrophysics, according to WonderfulAntarctica.com. The continent's forbidding environment, with winter temperatures dropping as low as 76 degrees below zero and summer temperatures rising to approximately 32 F, and its lack of native population make Antarctica a choice location for scientists to study the forces of nature in pure, untouched terrain.Continue Reading
The massive Antarctic Ice Sheet, which has a surface measurement ranging from 1.2 million square miles in the summer months to 7.3 million square miles in winter, holds 70 percent of Earth's fresh water and provides scientists with valuable information regarding ice formation, global warming, the delicate balance of the planet's weather systems and climate change.
Scientists also have a lengthy history of astronomy research in Antarctica. According to University of New South Wales astronomer Michael Burton, Antarctic astronomy studies began in 1912 with the continent's first meteorite discovery. In the unique Antarctic environment, the air is cold, dry and calm, providing scientists with Earth's clearest window into space and enabling them to compile valuable data. Part of a United States research project, the powerful South Pole telescope looks into the cosmos for clues to unlock the mysteries of the formation of the universe.Learn more about Environmental Science | <urn:uuid:409d3411-798b-4d3f-92f5-4125197c3dc5> | {
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Our brains go through remarkably flexible periods in childhood when they can form new connections in a flash and retain information at a rate that leaves adults (or at least me) both impressed and also deeply jealous.
Now neurobiologist Carla Shatz, PhD, has developed a drug that at least in mice can briefly open that window for making new connections in the adult brain. It works as a sort of decoy, tricking other molecules in the cell into binding to it rather than to the “real” protein on the neuron’s surface. Without the bound molecules, the protein on the neuron’s surface releases its brake on synapse formation.
There are still a number of hurdles to overcome before the drug could work in people. The human version of the protein she studied is slightly different than the mouse version, and she had to inject the drug directly into the mouse brain. She would need to find a way of delivering the drug as a pill before it could be useful in people.
Despite those hurdles, the possibilities are exciting. From a story I wrote on the possible uses for such a drug, which she had tested in a form of blindness in mice:
This model that the team studied in mice directly applies to forms of blindness in people. Children who are born with cataracts need to have the problem repaired while the vision processing region of the brain is still able to form new connections with the eyes. “If the damage isn’t repaired early enough then it’s extremely difficult if not impossible to recover vision,” Shatz said.
If a version of the decoy protein could work in people, then kids born with cataracts in countries with limited access to surgery could potentially have their cataracts removed later, receive a drug, and be able to see. Similarly, the window could be briefly opened to help people recover from stroke or other conditions.
Previously: How villainous substance starts wrecking synapses long before clumping into Alzheimer’s plaques, “Pruning synapses” and other strides in Alzheimer’s research
Image, which shows neurons of the visual system in mice that have formed new connections, courtesy of the Shatz lab | <urn:uuid:3f70ac36-c11a-4be3-9bc6-1dccc2e65766> | {
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|Who are the Karen People of Burma|
The Karens are generally thought to be one of the Mongolian tribes that traversed the central Asian plains, some moving further east into the vast lands of China, others turned south into South Western China and Burma and further down south into Northern Thailand.
They were simple and peaceful, and were thought to be the first Mongolian tribe that entered Burma - even before the Mon, Talaing and the Burman. As they migrated to what is called Burma today they were pushed further and further south by the later tribes until they got separated into different areas of Burma and Thailand, namely the Pegu Yoma, the Deltas, Tenasserim and later into the hills of Tenasserim and into the hills of Thailand.
After the British conquered Burma in the early 18th century, they found that the Karens made very good and loyal soldiers and were very disciplined. In time the bulk of the British army recruited from the different tribes were the Karen. It should be noted that for obvious reason, the Burman were not recruited into the British armies. When in the early 1930s, there were rebellion against the British rule, the British used the Karen Battalions to successfully crush the
When the British evacuated Burma during WW2, the Burman took advantage of the situation by attacking hundreds of Karen villages, burning their churches - a large percentage of the Karens were Christians - their granaries and paddy fields, slaughtering women and children and plundering. The Karen had hardly any defense because the bulk of the Karen military evacuated with the British. Nevertheless, the karen retaliated and the communal riot had to be stopped by the invading Japanese army.
However, the Karen today are ready to acknowledge that the Burman is also a fellow human being and a fellow member of the nation and try to live in harmony with their Burman neighbor. Today, it is the politicians that will instigate any animosity between between the two peoples. The Karen are fighting today under the banner of KNU, the Karen National Union. But the Karen are not fighting for their survival alone, but for the entire country - including the Burman opposition party, the National League for Democracy under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, presently under house arrest.
|Sypnosis of the Modern Karen|
During the days of British rule in Burma the British government used Karen soldiers to quell rebellion and contain mutiny by nationalistic elements among the Burmese. The British depended on the Karen for their loyalty and honesty and used Karen soldiers and police forces extensively on many occasions to keep law and order.
The Karens were thought to be one of the earliest settlers in Burma traveling down from the North, many authors believed, from Mongolia or the Gobi desert, and settled down in the Deltas of the Irrawaddy. Later migrants like the Burmese and the Talaings drove many Karens into the hills of the Pegu Yoma and many others migrated down south to the Tenasserim while others crossed into Thailand. After the British occupied lower Burma they recruited Karens into the British colonial army and later used these soldiers to help conquer upper Burma. This undoubtedly is one reason the Burmese in general do not trust the Karen.
During WW II, the Karen army serving in the Burma Rifles remained loyal and retreated with the British army to India. But karen population in large tracts, villages and towns and suffered loss of life and property at the hands of Burmese riffraff's recruited by the Japanese into a national army named the Burmese Independent Army (BIA) along their march into Burma. The BIA bombed churches in the Tavoy area while service was still in progress. Karen communities in other villages and towns were attacked by the BIA which committed indiscriminate killings of Karen civilians including women and children. Many prominent Karen civic and church leaders were brutally murdered. This started a general communal clash between the Burmese and the Karens all because the BIA started the killings and looting which was retaliated by Karens who lost their loved ones and properties. The BIA cited their reason for the killing to the loyalty of the Karens to the British. True, the Karen as a whole remained loyal to the British and many villages were raised to the ground by the Japanese because the Karens harbored British spies and agents during the occupation. But rebel against the Japanese they did not.
The Karen soldiers who retreated with the British now returned to Burma with the allies and fought shoulder to shoulder with other ethnic soldiers like the Kachins and the Chins to drive out the japanese Imperial Army. At this point those responsible for bringing the Japanese into Burma also revolted against the Japanese and joined forces with the allies.
The Karens were highly spoken of and praised for their bravery and loyalty and it was no wonder that after all that happened during the war, the Karens were looking forward to being rewarded with a state of their own because Burma was demanding independence from the British and the Karens certainly did not wish to be ruled by the Burmese. It must be noted at this point that although the Karens do not trust Burmese politicians, they have no animosity against the general Burmese population. Even those who have been victimized or have had abhorring experiences at the hands of the Burmese are forgiving.
The Karens felt the utmost unbelief and let down by the British when Burma was granted independence without any consideration for the future of the Karen people. The ensuing demonstration and political in fight by the Karens finally led to incidents and clashes led to the Karen insurrection. It is however odd that the Karen uprising started without the Karen firing the first shot. The first shot and many more shots thereafter were fired by the Burmese levies, a private army of the then Prime Minister U Nu, Is it not obvious therefore that the Karens were forced by the hand of the Burmese premier to defend themselves to be named rebels?
The Burmese people are not the enemies of the Karen people. Politicians and the military dictators are the enemies of the Karen people.
|Saw Ba Thein Sein's Memorial|
On June 14, 2009, Drucie Batin and family held a memorial service for Drucie's father, Saw Ba Thin Sein, in Denver Colorado. Saw Ba Thin Sein was the chairman of the Karen National Union. Born in 1927, Saw Ba Thin Sein joined the Karen Revolution in 1949. He served the KNU in various positions since 1963 when he was appointed Education Minister. In 1984 he became the General Secretary ans was elected Chairman at the KNU Congress of 2000. Saw Ba Thin Sein served as Chairman until his death in May of 2008. Saw Ba Thin Sein was honored by many organizations and people for his strong leadership and dedication to the Karen and all Burmese people in their struggle for freedom and equality.
The memorial service included Karen music and dance as well as a large banquet after the service. During the service, three Certificate of Appreciation were awarded to individuals that have helped Karen refugees in the Denver area. The three recipients were:
She was able to smuggle her two daughters out with her. Inge then lived in Vienna for two years before returning to Colorado, getting BA and MA degrees and becoming a school teacher. She taught in Boulder Valley Schools, married Howard Sargent, wrote a book and, together with her second husband, founded Burma Lifeline in 1996 to help refugees from Burma survive in Thailand. An international feature film, based on Inge's book "Twilight over Burma" is in the works. The military government of Burma has never acknowledged that they killed Inge's first husband in 1962.
Ever since, Jack has made mission trips back to the Mae Sariang, becoming involved with Karen people in Burma, the Thai refugee camps, and here in the Denver area. He generally takes a medical team who treat illnesses at many Thai Karen villages, and help spread the Gospel. He also has worked with members of the Karen National Union in Thailand, and in IDP camps on the Burma side of the border. Jack is the founder and president of the Colorado Burma Roundtable Network (CBRTN.ORG). The purpose of this organization is to carry on the work informally begun in Thailand and Burma, and to assist the refugees from those regions who resettle here in the Denver area.Jack has been married to the former Evelyn Marie Bruner for the past 44 years. They have been blessed with 4 Children and 10 grandchildren. They reside in Elizabeth, Colorado.
Maria Sanchez RN, PhD
Maria is director of Realizing our Community, a Colorado Trust grant whose mission is to create an environment that promotes and sustains a diverse and vibrant community. Maria has worked for many years with diverse populations in the Greeley community, including Karen, in the health care and insurance industries.
Saw Ba Thin Sein, was a man whom I never knew existed for the majority of my life. It was not until a little more than a year ago that I discovered such a man existed. Through his extended family, I not only learned for the first time the injustices that were occurring in Burma, but I also learned there was a man with incredible determination to bring justice and freedom to his fellow Karen people. In my opinion, a great man is one who dedicates his life to the well being of others. Saw Ba Thin Sein is one of many few men that can truly be remembered in this way, nothing less than a great man. Today, we do not mourn his death, but celebrate. Not only his life, but his relentless efforts for a people and a cause he believed in. In 2003, he stated that, “For the Karen people to develop freely, they must have educational, health, economic and cultural freedoms, and the full rights of self-determination and democracy.” Those who stand here today have fought hard and have been fortunate enough to have those privileges where they stand. I am not, and will never be worthy to speak on behalf of this great man. But if I had to guess what his message would be today based on what I have learned of him, I would say that he would want all the Karen to embrace all opportunity that they are fortunate enough to bestow upon. Embrace, and never take for granted. Flourish your cultural freedoms, and educate not only yourself, but your neighbors as well. I am a neighbor that has been educated after years of not knowing about the Karen. Now that I know, I try to educate others. One by one each and every Karen can grant the wishes of the late Saw Ba Thin Sein by uniting for their rightful cause. Although he is no longer
|Additional information, including more photos, can be found on our FKPB page on Facebook. If you are a member of Facebook, feel
free to become a fan of the page so you can keep up to date on the activities of Friends of the Karen People of Burma, Inc.
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About Wireless Sensor, Wireless sensors are used in industrial settings for monitoring data in a production flow. They are equipped with transmitters that read signals from instruments or environments and convert it into a radio transmission. These sensors are considered to be standard measurement tools that convert these wireless signals into informative data that can be analyzed. The optimization of technology has resulted in these sensors getting lighter, smaller, smarter, power-efficient, and cheaper. A wireless sensor is a device that measures and detects any kind of physical properties and indicates, records, or responds to it. Wireless sensors consist of transmitters that read signals from instruments or environments and converts it into a radio transmission signal.
Analysts forecast the Global Wireless Sensor Market to Grow at a CAGR of 19.55% During the Period 2017-2021.
Download PDF Sample of Wireless Sensors Market@ http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/275433
Covered in this report
The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global wireless sensor market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.
The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:
Global Wireless Sensor Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.
Browse Full Report with TOC: http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-wireless-sensors-market-2017-2021
- Honeywell Process Solutions
- General Electric
- Yokogawa Electric
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Other prominent vendors
- Ambient Micro
- Aruba Networks (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise)
- BAE Systems
- Cisco Systems
- Dust Networks
- NXP Semiconductor (Freescale Semiconductor)
- Industrial Scientific Corporation (ISC)
- Microsemi Corporation
- Mitsubishi Electric
- OmniVision Technologies
- Rockwell Collins
- Schneider Electric
- Silicon Laboratories
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Deployment of next-generation LTE network.
- Uncertainty regarding reliability and data security.
- Energy harvesting devices powering wireless sensors.
Key questions answered in this report
What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?
What are the key market trends?
What is driving this market?
What are the challenges to market growth?
Who are the key vendors in this market space?
What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?
Table of Contents
PART 01: Executive summary
PART 02: Scope of the report
PART 03: Research Methodology
PART 04: Introduction
PART 05: Market landscape
PART 06: Five forces analysis
PART 07: Market segmentation by application
PART 08: Market segmentation by product
PART 09: Geographical segmentation
PART 10: Key leading countries
PART 11: Decision framework
PART 12: Drivers and challenges
PART 13: Market trends
PART 14: Vendor landscape
PART 15: Key vendor analysis
PART 16: Appendix
List of Exhibits
Exhibit 01: Key applications of wireless sensors
Exhibit 02: Global sensor market by technological standards 2015
Exhibit 03: Segmentation of wireless sensors
Exhibit 04: Global wireless sensors market 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 05: Five forces analysis
Exhibit 06: Wireless sensors: Segmentation by application
Exhibit 07: Global wireless sensors market: Segmentation by application 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 08: Global wireless sensors market by application 2016-2021 (% share)
Exhibit 09: Global wireless sensors market by home automation 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 10: Global wireless sensors market by energy 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 11: Global wireless sensors market by industrial segment 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 12: Global wireless sensors market by healthcare segment 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 13: Global wireless sensors market by defense and surveillance 2016-2021 ($ billions)
Exhibit 14: Global wireless sensors market by others segment ($ billions)
Exhibit 15: Global wireless sensors market: Segmentation by type 2016-2021 (% share)
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Most Angelenos are familiar at least in passing with the story of how the Department of Water and Power (DWP) essentially dewatered Owens Lake so as to fill the growing city's water mains in 1913 and after. What they may not know is that the story isn't over. In November, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) ruled that according to data from lakebed monitors, the DWP was solely responsible for the horrendous air quality in the Owens Valley caused by dust blowing off the dry lake.
DWP's response? They're trying to get rid of the monitors.
The water diversions, which forever altered the environment in the Owens Valley, are the Original Sin in Los Angeles' creation myth. Environmentalists and regulators have spent much of the last half century trying to make DWP address some of the mess it's created in the Valley. Once a wildlife-rich saline lake ranging from 20-60 feet deep and around 110 square miles in extent, Owens Lake -- or its desiccated lakebed -- is now the nation's largest single point source of particulate matter pollution.
In November, the California Air Resources Board ruled that despite DWP's grudging release of enough water to wet much of the lakebed, thus controlling dust, just under three square miles of unwetted lakebed still released copious amounts of so-called "PM-10" pollution into the Owens Valley airshed, threatening the health of residents from Bishop to Ridgecrest.
The ruling was seen as vindication for the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (APCD), which has maintained for years that the vast majority of the District's PM-10 problem can be traced to DWP's water diversions. Predictably, DWP disagrees. In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court Eastern District of California in early November in which DWP protests APCD dust control orders, the utility refers to the prospect of allowing more water to reach Owens Lake to mitigate dust pollution as a "waste":
Specifically, the mitigation measures ordered by the District, through the APCO, require and thereby deprive the City of 95,000 acre-feet of water that is wasted to control dust on the Owens Lake bed. 95,000 acre-feet of water is more water than is consumed by the City of San Francisco in one year.
That lawsuit by DWP names the Great Basin APCD, CARB, the California State Lands Commission, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the EPA as defendants, claiming that the APCD has issued dust control orders capriciously while ignoring the Lands Commission and BLM, who own much of the lakebed. DWP's contention is that as owners of 10 square miles of the lakebed, the BLM and Lands Commission ought to be held responsible for controlling dust from that part of the lakebed. Which would be a compelling argument if not for the fact that DWP's dewatering is the reason any dust comes off of the lakebed anyway.
DWP also claims it ought to be able to cross-examine witnesses at evidentiary hearings held by the ACPD.
And now, in apparent response to CARB's reliance on data from air quality monitors to assess the origin of the Valley's horrendous PM-10 problem, DWP has sent an eviction notice to APCD for three of those monitors sited on leased DWP land. A letter sent to APCD November 29 by DWP's Director of Water Operations Martin Adams, and included in the board packet for APCD's Board meeting on December 13, orders the District to "peaceably vacate and discontinue use of Dirty Socks, Mill Site, and North Beach Monitor sites within 30 days of the date of this letter, or December 29 2012." Adams wrote that the three monitors "erroneously justify the issuance of numerous control orders," and that "LADWP will no longer allow the use of its land to support Great Basin's biased efforts to impose sole responsibility for controlling dust in the Owens Valley on it. [sic]"
The move might have gone unnoticed in the world outside the Owens Valley were it not for the reporting of independent journalist Benett Kessler at local news outlet Sierra Wave.
It's unlikely that DWP's petulant move will help it much, in the long run. APCD will likely find replacement sites for the three air quality monitors. And this latest gambit comes in the context of a legal and administrative quarrel that puts DWP on one side and the APCD, CARB, the EPA, the BLM and the California Lands Commission on the other.
Besides which, evicting the air quality monitors sends a clear signal that DWP knows the more data society has, the more likely we'll decide DWP is responsible for the problem. Clamping down on more data is what you do when you know you're wrong.
More importantly in the long term, though, the ratepayers in whose interests DWP claims to be acting are very different from those who first welcomed Owens River water to the L.A. Basin. Los Angeles has become one of the more environmentally conscious cities in the nation, sympathetic to wildlife and water conservation issues and keenly aware of the effect of PM-10 pollution on society's most vulnerable people.
No one likes to pay higher water bills, but if DWP thinks its Los Angeles ratepayers are on board with being used as an excuse not to act responsibly in the Owens Valley, the utility may well be in for a big surprise.
Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. Director of Desert Biodiversity, he writes from Joshua Tree regularly at his acclaimed blog Coyote Crossing and comments on desert issues on KCET weekly. Read his recent posts here. | <urn:uuid:71fda092-f0b2-4cb9-9554-158cf5cc0a91> | {
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Paul, a little boy, hears from his mother that they are an unlucky family. In his house, he permanently hears the echo of the need for more money. He decides that he won’t be unlucky and asks his rocking-horse about the winners in horse races, which he learns about from the gardener – a secret he shares with his uncle. Paul gathers a large amount of money for his mother, but it doesn’t seem to be enough, and getting more becomes an obsession that leads him to a brain fever that eventually kills him. His mother is left with 80,000 pounds and no son. (Source taken from Penguin Readers)
Now take a few minutes to think about the ideas below.
– The expression “to keep up with the Joneses” means trying to own as much as the people around you in order to demonstrate your social superiority. Do you think the expression suits the story well? In what sense do you think Paul’s mother tries to keep up with the Joneses? Is it just that or does her behaviour also have to do with a feeling of personal failure?
– “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” – This expression is similar to our saying “Mas vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando”. Just so you know, the English expression has its origin in medieval falconry (= cetrería), when it was much more valuable to have a bird in the hand (the falcon used for hunting) than the possible preys that could be awaiting in the bush. Maybe even more interesting is the fact that the original expression was almost a literal version of the one we use today in Spanish (a bird in the hand is worth ten flying at large). The latter is not used today though.
– “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a story that deals with obsession with riches (=wealth). Paul’s mother believes her husband is unlucky because he doesn’t earn enough money, and that she is also unlucky for having married him. Paul believes he is unlucky because his mother has told him so. What motivates the characters throughout the story is, thus, money. However, Paul’s pursuit of money is not selfish (on the contrary to his mother’s). He desires money just because he believes that it is the only way of making her mother happy and of stopping the voices from screaming that “there must be more money”. When Paul wins a large amount of money, he discovers there is no way of dying down the desire for money and basically goes crazy in his attempt to win even more, what leads to a fever and, ultimately, to his death. Do you relate to any of the characters in the story? What would you do if you were in Paul’s shoes and had the chance of helping someone getting money they don’t need but which they think they do need?
– In connection with the previous idea, you should think about how money destroys love (Paul’s mother feels her children have been forced on her and she doesn’t love them much because she feels money is more important), then childhood (instead of just playing like any other boy, Paul goes to horse races and gambles, betting money on horses as if he were an adult), and finally life itself (Paul dies in the end as a consequence of desiring more money).
– Paul is a strange and unusual boy. By riding a toy horse, his rocking-horse, he can guess which horse is going to win the next race. Thanks to this uncanny power he has, Paul gets to believe he is not as unlucky as his mother tries to convince him he is. However, by riding the toy horse, Paul also walks steadily to his death. Doesn’t it sound ironic and sort of sad that what seems to be Paul’s lucky charm is, in the end, the cause of his fate?
All right… I think that’s all for today. I didn’t want to write that much but I guess I got all excited and lost track of how lengthy this was becoming. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the reading or, at least, that you learnt something new.
Take care and see you tomorrow! | <urn:uuid:f9b33f00-ddd7-45ca-835b-9ad108da1a3a> | {
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(Ah- gah- STAH –key)
By SCMG Ellyn Pelikan
One of the most striking and versatile perennials in the garden, Agastache is a member of the mint family (lamiaceae). It punctuates its surroundings with bold toothy lanceolate greenish gray leaves and stiff upright stalks of two lipped blossoms in spikes of white, mauve, lavender, peach, pink and orange. Blooming usually lasts from midsummer to frost.
Also called hyssop or hummingbird mint, it can range in size from 12” to well over 4’ tall for giant hyssop. It is a favorite plant for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden and is known as a nectar plant.
Agastache prefers low fertility soils on the alkaline side of the pH scale. If lavender grows well for you, so will Agastache. Good drainage is a must. It loves a sunny spot in the garden and deep infrequent waterings after it is established.
Agastache is a much loved plant in the cottage garden. Small varieties may be
planted in drifts along front borders and larger ones at the back of a boarder make spectacular statements. Intermingle Agastache with Cosmos, Echinops (globe thistle), Monarda (bee balm), Rudbeckia (cone flower and black-eyed Susan), Tanacetum (feverfew), Leucanthemum (shasta daisy), Helenium (sneezeweed) Achillea (yarrow) and sun loving herbs of all kinds. Agastache can also be planted with brassicas such as cabbages, Brussels sprouts and kale, or other food crops including Beta vulgaris (Swiss chard), Rumex acetosa (sorrel) and summer vegetables. It is a standout mixed with silver or gray plants.
When different varieties are grown together they may cross-pollinate and may not produce plants true to the parent plant. Deadheading and removing volunteers helps prevent cross-pollination.
A repestris (licorice mint): 36-42” high, 2 ft wide, coral flowers.
A. foeniclum (anise hyssop or giant blue hyssop): Anise scented to 4’ tall by 2’ wide. Give this plant room! Blue to purple flowers.
A. rugosum (Korean hyssop): 2’ tall by 1’ wide. Wrinkled green leaves, violet flowers, minty fragrance, Tolerates wetter feet than most varieties.
A. Mexicana ‘Kiegador’ (AcapulcoÔ series) orange-16-18” tall 1-ft.wide, orange flowers, minty leaves, Great in drifts at the front of a border.
Don’t pass up this fabulous perennial. Low maintenance, versatile, and pleasing to the eye, Agastache is a star in any garden. | <urn:uuid:11ae2940-9d4d-41a2-917a-8a0e62746986> | {
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A Texas teen is fighting for his life, hoping to become the second-known person to recover from rabies without a vaccine.
Doctors suspect Zach Jones, a high school sophomore, was bitten by a rabies-infected bat that flew through his bedroom window more than a month ago.
"He is such a healthy, strong boy, and we all know he's going to get through it," said Demi Ward, Jones' friend. "He doesn't deserve it at all."
The rabies virus is transmitted in an infected animal's bite, but also when its saliva comes in contact with someone's eyes, nose or open wound.
Ten people in the United States have died of rabies since 1998, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Today, Jones is in critical condition, undergoing a unique treatment at Texas Children's Hospital. Doctors are administering the same treatment used on Jeannie Geise, the world's first-known person to survive rabies without getting a vaccine.
Two years ago, doctors treated the 14-year-old Wisconsin native by inducing a coma, and administering powerful anti-viral drugs.
Geise and her family spoke to Diane Sawyer during her recovery.
"This is a miracle of hope and prayer," John Geise, Geise's father, told Sawyer.
Rabies had always been fatal before Geise's case, so Jones' doctors turned to her doctor for advice.
"What we decided to do was induce coma to keep the brain from killing the boy and then allow the immune system to catch up," said Rodney Willoughby, Geise's doctor.
Today, the Geise family is back home in Wisconsin, and is praying for Jones.
"I would say keep believing and never lose hope," Jeannie Geise said.
"You have to keep believing that he's going to be fine," John Geise said. "No negative. Everything has to be positive. That's what got us through it. If somebody asks us what are the chances? You say 100 percent he's going to pull through."
Jones' classmates are undergoing rabies tests to make sure the virus did not spread through a kiss or a shared drink, although doctors doubt that happened. Meanwhile, his parents wait to see whether the miracle cure that worked for Geise will work for their son. | <urn:uuid:27997d1b-2070-481c-b106-115cf8168e38> | {
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This is a lengthy tutorial that starts by showing a very detailed set of guidelines to draw the skeletal structure of the hand, and then begins to simplify that formula into something usable. In the end you should have gained a much greater understanding of how to draw hands.
Hands are often labeled as the hardest part of the human body to draw. The hand has a very complex bone structure that can bend in many ways. By learning the underlying structure, drawings of the hand will improve. Firstly, let’s take a look at an x-ray of the hand. This will be my basis for devising a set of formulas to draw by. Right away, you can see that the palm consists of a large number of small bones that can easily be simplified into just one, but beyond that simplification will be harder. Another thing to discover right away is the overall size of the hand in comparison with the rest of the body. I’ll just tell you… the height of the hand is the height of the head from the chin to the hair line. The width of the hand is half of the width of the face including about half of the ear. Of course, these measurements are when the fingers are tight together and the thumb is tucked in. All of these measurements are approximately the same for all humans including yourself… try it!
First, for overall proportion, draw a face that is proportionate to your drawing and mark the hairline. Out from the head shape; create your box based on the measurements discovered in step 1. Divide that box in half horizontally and into four pieces vertically. To start with a basic idea of where the middle finger will sit, divide the right half of the box in half, then divide that division in half once more to get one fourth of that half, or one eighth the overall width of the box and make a line there. The middle finger should align to this more or less when we’re done. After you have your outline, erase the head shape.
The ulna and radius are part of the forearm and aren’t included in this study, but the ends of them connect to the hand, so just keep in mind what the ends of them look like for now. As you can see, I went ahead and also added the palm of the hand. Instead of drawing all those bones out, I simplified them all to a lemon shape. To find the measurements of the lemon, see that I’ve gone to the halfway mark of the lower fourth of the guideline plus a bit… you can eyeball this, or if you want, you can see that it is actually ¼ of the way up the next division.
The next part is pretty easy to just eyeball. Just extend the lemon shape out on the top and bottom like shown. Note that there is a slant on the right side. To get this slant, see that the top is around ¼ to the left in the guideline box section that contains it and the bottom just about touches the right side of the box.
Simply eyeball five circles that will follow the palm shape. Each one should touch the side of the next aside from the thumb one. I just want to drop a side note and mention that while you are doing this very complex hand formula, make sure you keep an eye out of things that will help you when you begin to simplify. Each artist is different and the formulas will help each individual best when they make it their own. Don’t think of these shapes as what they really are; think about what they look like to you. This looks almost like a part of a cartoon foot to me at this stage. Those kinds of things are far easier to remember than just thinking of it as the end point of a metacarpal!
The next part is an important concept to get. I divided the next section of the box into half and found that the knuckles follow a curve that is very easy to obtain. Simply draw a guideline from one corner to the next and then straight along the top line of the next half. Each circle will be drawn below the line.
The next step is to get the thumb. As you can see, I drew a line from corner to corner again, but this time I extended it outward. When the line is even with the halfway mark you can see labeled with “x” you have the top of the 1st metacarpal. The lines labeled “x” show that the length there is also equal.
In this step, I’ve connected the ends to make the bones and also just added the bottom parts of the middle phalanges. They just touch the other circles already drawn around the same size. Take note that the bones do curve inward very slightly, but they have thickness to them even in the center.
This step is likely the hardest. You’ll want to make special note of the curve. Notice that it roughly matches the contour of the curve beneath it, but it is wider. Also, you can see that the proximal phalanges are not necessarily perfectly aligned straight with the metacarpals. You can also see that the middle and proximal phalanges combined equal the length of their corresponding metacarpals. If you look, you will see by the divisions in the guideline box, the curve is actually increases by 1/16 of the height of the entire guideline for each finger until the index finger where it is about even. Finally, you will want to note that for the thumb, the metacarpal equals the distal phalange plus the proximal phalange.
As before, I’ve drawn circles above and below the curve to indicate the bone ends. I’ve also shown that the thumb joint will follow the same angle as before from the middle finger.
Things start to become a bit repetitive here, which is a good thing. Again, we have the same curve. The curve will rest around ½ the height of the proximal phalanges above the last.
Now is time to draw circles above and below the guide line one last time before finally capping off the fingers with some distal phalanges. You’ll see that the distal phalanges will equal the height of the middle phalanges.
Thus ends the study of the hand and begins the task of simplifying what we know into something easily remembered and something we can quickly recreate and remember.
Once again, at the end of the ulna and radius draw that lemon shape. The lemon is an easily remembered shape.
Next Draw out the squarish bone and circle that is there the thumb attaches. Next, take your lemon’s width and that will give you how far above the lemon to put the first curve. Notice how the curve pretty much matches the curve made by the lemon and square bone? That’s handy! All joking aside, remember that the top there is wider than the lemon shape by around 1/4, and it is centered over the lemon.
Draw the circles and leave some gaps. From them, draw centerlines of the bones to give yourself an idea where they are going. Extend the lines outward to indicate the location on the middle phalanges. Recall that these will be half the length of the metacarpals.
Continuing onward, I’ve added in the curves. There will be three of them, and each will be ½ the distance apart of the previous.
In this step, I went ahead and finished out the fingers and added width to the bones. I also extended the curves to meet the thumb. Notice how Each one matches the angle of the upper-right side of the lemon? The angle is about the same. From here out it is smooth sailing!
There you have it… because I understood the bone structure of the hand on a higher level, I was able to drastically reduce the number of steps required to draw it. You should take this as a start and begin to find your simplifications until less and less steps are needed.
Here is a look at the skin added on to the bone structure we just created from memory. Even without knowing all the muscles you can already see that the hand looks pretty good!
I really help that this guide helps you to better understand both the bone structure of the hand and also gives you an idea of how to go about devising a formula to begin to learn to draw things accurately from memory. Please let me know how this worked for you and drop me any suggestions I might use in any further guides of this nature!
Hand X-Ray photo was taken from: [ LINK ] | <urn:uuid:d011d99f-1268-4263-8dd6-8a0ad6475eef> | {
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A Bloomberg New Energy Finance report shows that U.S. carbon dioxide emission levels are at the lowest since 1994. The drop in emissions was helped by the renewable energy capacity in the U.S. nearly doubling from 2009 to 2012.
The report states the cumulative installed solar, wind, geothermal and biomass based energy sources reached 85.7 GW in 2012. In 2009, the U.S. had 43.5 GW of capacity from the same sources.
Carbon emissions have fallen by 13 percent from a high of 6.02 gigatons in 2007, according to the report. In addition, U.S. energy consumption fell 6.4 percent from 2007 to 2012 as more energy efficient builds were constructed and older, less efficient buildings were retrofitted with new technology.
Read more emisisons and environment news | <urn:uuid:fd112dc7-1254-4db2-a656-b76012865167> | {
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What does Boxing Day have to do with boxing?
1940, from of German Panzerdivision "armored unit," from Panzer "tank," literally "armor," from Middle High German panzier, from Old French panciere "armor for the belly," from pance "belly, stomach," from Latin pantex (genitive panticis) "belly" (see paunch).
series of battle tanks fielded by the German army in the 1930s and '40s. The six tanks in the series constituted virtually all of Germany's tank production from 1934 until the end of World War II in 1945. Panzers provided the striking power of Germany's panzer (armoured) divisions throughout the war. | <urn:uuid:52de3ae0-648f-4281-8620-a1f6639dd7d6> | {
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Rising Damp Control
Rising Damp Control
Rising damp is distinct from other forms of dampness and moisture, such as rain penetration and condensation, which require different methods of treatments compared to rising damp control solutions & systems used by damp-proof specialists, such as an injected damp-proof course, a physical damp-course & the electrical lectros electro-osmosis damp-proofing system which is ideal for stone cottages and barn conversion projects. Rising damp problems are not limited to the UK, but are found throughout the world where there is moisture present in the earth below a building.
Rising damp is the upward movement of moisture through damp walls, and sometimes floors, by capillary & diffusion action from below the ground. It occurs at ground floor level in lower portions of external and interior partition walls. The height to which rising damp will rise depends on the size of the capillaries within the building material, the amount of moisture in the ground (water table level) and the evaporation rate from either face of the wall surface. As a general rule, the smaller the capillaries of the structure the higher the water will rise. However, the height of rising damp usually does not extend much further than approximately 1 meter above ground level. Modern buildings, in Great Britain, prevent & control rising damp in houses with a system of damp proofing barriers – a physical damp proof course (DPC) has been required in walls since 1875 and damp proof membranes (DPM) in floors from the 1960’s. Most old buildings lack these and therefore rising damp can occur. However, the presence of a damp proof course does not guarantee that rising damp will not occur. If the continuous run of the dpc has been bridged or broken then dampness can appear in the wall.
Rising Damp Symptoms
Rising damp is fairly slow to develop and may be present for several years before any symptoms become apparent. Eventually it may show as a tide-like damp stain on the wall with little or no damage above, but below the paint may be blistering, wallpaper stained and peeling, the wall plaster damaged and skirting boards showing signs of timber decay. External signs of rising damp are darkening of the lower brickwork, white salt marks and even spalled (damaged) brickwork. Floors can display moist patches and damp staining.
Rising Damp Surveys & reports for mortgage providers where a damp inspection has flagged up dampness on a home buyers valuation survey & for home owners applying for loans from equity release companies.
Before considering the installation of a chemical damp-proof course to cure rising damp, the Damp Aid specialist surveyor will carry out a rising damp survey to assess the damp problem and ascertain the exact cause of the dampness or moisture and establish the need for rising damp treatment. Factors such as high external ground levels, poor surface drainage, defective gutters and down pipes can all cause the damp-proof course to be bridged, leading to the symptoms of rising damp. (How extensive is Rising Damp?) By addressing any or all of these defects and allowing the damp wall to dry out naturally, then in most cases the need & cost for the installation of a chemical damp-proof injection or damp proof course (dpc) is avoided. Only as a last resort, is a chemical damp-proof course installed. Should the Damp Aid surveyor, after carrying out a rising damp inspection both internally and externally, and eliminating all other causes such as condensation and penetrating damp, diagnose rising damp, then he will assess the extent of the dampness and the need for re plastering. A damp report and/or damp quotation will be provided outlining the most cost effective solution or remedial treatment to the damp problem. The pre-purchase damp survey & report issued will satisfy the mortgage loan providers & all other major lenders.
Mis-diagnosis of “Rising Damp”
We are often asked to inspect properties which have been reported to have “rising damp” (usually stated in a homebuyers report that the walls are showing signs of damp). More often than not it is found that the wall plaster is in contact with a solid floor, therefore “bridging”. Residual moisture in the floor is drawn up into the wall plaster by the wick effect resulting in high damp meter readings during surveys or sometimes even damp staining. The removal of the defective wall plaster is all that is required, ensuring new plaster is not in contact with the floor.
Moisture meters, used to test walls for damp, do not really measure moisture content in walls They measure electrical conductance, and will give a high meter reading on any material which allows an electrical current to flow through it. When testing for damp, care should be exercised to ensure that there is no interference from certain materials. Foil under wall paper (was commonly used to help combat condensation) and clinker blocks (made from coal ash with a high carbon content) will always cause very high readings even if the wall is in fact bone dry.
Rising Damp Treatment
As rising damp control experts we will carry out the most appropriate damp proof treatments to cure any rising damp problem. Inserting a chemical damp-proof course (DPC) to control rising dampness involves the drilling of the brickwork / mortar to pre-determined depths of external and/or internal walls and then injecting the damp-proof course fluid. The installation of a chemical damp-proof course in a house provides an impermeable damp proof barrier at low level in many structures from older stone built cottages, to brickwork in Victorian & modern houses to prevent further rising damp occurring. This is the most common form of damp-proofing treatment used by chemical injection dpc contractors when controlling damp in homes nowadays and is considered to be the most cost effective rising damp control method of installing a damp-proof course in a house.
Cost of Treating & How toTreat Rising Damp in old Houses.
We are often asked – How do damp surveyors check and test walls for rising damp, how much does rising damp treatment cost / How much does a chemical damp-proof course cost to install in old houses? The average cost of treating rising damp or the cost of installing a damp course (damp proofing) varies depending on the type of property i.e. terrace, bungalow semi-detached, house, flat etc. Firstly, a damp survey has to be carried out by a fully qualified C.S.R.T. specialist damp surveyor to correctly identify the dampness and determine if it really is rising damp, and in need of damp-proof treatment. Other sources of moisture have to be eliminated, such as penetrating damp, condensation, plumbing leaks etc. before even considering if rising damp is present in a property. The construction of the building also has to be taken into consideration. Therefore there is no standard cost for damp proofing a house, as each individual property is different from the next. Damp proofing prices differ between each individual timber and damp proofing remedial company and the type of damp proofing system used for controlling rising damp. Many properties we surveyed resulted in no damp proof course injection being required therefore substantial savings were made compared to the average cost of damp-proofing and woodworm treatment to a house. This can easily amount to thousands of pounds.
Treatments & Rising Damp Control Options For Controlling Rising Damp in External & Internal Walls
There are other alternative damp-proofing systems & damp treatment methods available for controlling rising dampness such as:
Diffusion System. This damp control system involves the slow diffusion of a damp proofing cream into the mortar joints of brick or stone walls, which then forms a water repellent barrier to prevent further rising damp.
Electrical Osmotic damp-proof course system (Electro-Osmosis). This a chemical free environmentally friendly damp proofing option for controlling rising dampness involves inserting a continuous titanium band in the mortar joints and the insertion of electrodes. This electro-osmotic damp-proofing system method relies upon an electrical supply to prevent further dampness from rising up the wall, but the band and electrodes are easily damaged. It is worth bearing in mind, that during the selling of your house or the buying of a property which has an osmotic electrical damp-proofing system installed, it should be switched off before the home buyer / valuation surveyor tests the walls for dampness, as high moisture content meter readings will be recorded during a rising damp survey ( these high readings are often mis-diagnosed as rising dampness) giving a false impression that possible rising damp is present, thus incurring potential costs for unnecessary remedial damp-proofing work. This damp-proof course system was introduced to Britain by W J Holmes of Rentokil and was installed in many houses by Rentokil in the UK between 1962 and 1974 before being superseded by the ever popular injected damp-proof course method used for rising damp control.
Physical Membrane or Physical damp-proof course insertion (DPM) which, although effective, is laborious and disruptive to install and there is risk of damage to the structure. This dpc is also difficult to insert into party walls and impractical with random stone rubble walls.
Building Research Establishment (BRE) Good Repair Guide 6 – Treating Rising Damp in Houses – January 1997
BRE Digest 245 – Rising Damp in Walls: Diagnosis and Treatment – January 1981
RICS Books (p.151) – Remedying Damp – by Ralf Burkinshaw
Building Research Advisory Service – Technical Information Leaflet TIL 47 – August 1982
Estates Gazette – Understanding Housing Defects – 1998
BRE Good Repair Guide 5 – Diagnosing the Causes of Dampness – January 1997
English Heritage – The Repair of Historic Buildings – by Christopher Brereton
Birmingham, Cheshire, Chester, Wrexham, Lancashire, Liverpool, London, Manchester,
Merseyside, Middlesex, North Wales, Shropshire, South East England, West Midlands, Wirral & Yorkshire | <urn:uuid:94e39d37-8b6f-48cf-bc61-1a4cf3f64619> | {
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Make a Balance
Learn how you can use a plastic hanger and some paper cups to make a balance and compare the mass of different objects!
What You Need:
- Plastic coat hanger
- String or yarn
- Two paper cups
- Wooden skewer
What You Do:
- Ask an adult to carefully poke two holes in each cup using the wooden skewer. The holes should be a little below the cup’s rim and directly across from each other.
- Cut two pieces of string about two feet long. They need to be the same length.
- Make a cup handle: Use the skewer to push an end of one piece of string through one of the holes in one cup. Tie the end in a knot so it is securely attached to the rim of the cup. Push the other end through the hole on the opposite side of the cup and tie it.
- Do the same thing with the other cup and piece of string. The loops of string on each cup need to be exactly the same length so that the cups will hang evenly on your scale. Before you tie the second side, check to make sure they are the same.
- Find a place to hang your scale. You need a place where it can hang freely without bumping into anything. A shower curtain rod works well. Have an adult tie a piece of string to the hanger’s hook and tie the other end around the curtain rod so that the hanger is easy for you to reach.
- Now hang the loop of each cup on one of the small clothing hooks on each side of the hanger. The hanger should be balanced and the cups should hang down at equal levels on each side.
- Now you can experiment with your balance! What happens if you add an object to the cup on one side but not the other? Can you find an object to put in the other cup that will make the cups balance again?
You just made a balance. You can use it to compare the the mass of different objects. All things are made up of matter. Mass is a measure of the amount of matter that an object has, or how much “stuff” it is made up of.
How does the balance work? Since the paper cups are the same size and made from the same material and the strings you used were the same length, the hanger balanced evenly because each side had the same mass. Notice that if you take one cup off, the balance tips so that the side without the cup goes up in the air! That’s because the mass from the other cup is pulling down on the hanger. When you put the cup back on, the hanger is balanced again and the cups are level.
If you place a quarter in the cup on the left, the balance tips. The coin adds more mass to the left side, so it tips down and the right side with the empty cup goes up. If you put a dime in the cup on the right, its mass will push the cup down. It has less mass than the quarter, though, so the right side will still be higher. If you add a penny to the cup on the right, the mass will change even more and the balance will move again. This time the cups should balance. Now the mass in each cup is the same (or almost the same) and the cups balance each other again. A quarter has the same mass as one dime plus one penny! You can compare the mass of lots of different objects with this balance.
Do you know the difference between mass and weight? Mass is a measure of how much matter is in an object, but weight is a measure of how much gravity is pulling on the object. Gravity is a force that affects us all the time. (You’ll learn more about it later. For now, you just need to know that there is less gravity on the moon than there is on Earth.) When you stand on a bathroom scale, it tells you how much you weigh. It doesn’t tell you how much mass you have. A scale measures how much force is pushing down on it. When you stand on it, it measures how much gravity is pulling down on you while you are pushing down (in other words, standing) on it. If you could go to the moon and stand on your bathroom scale, you would find that you weigh much less than you do on Earth, because there would be less gravity pulling down on your body as you stand on the scale.
So, what do you think would happen if you could use your hanger balance in space, where there is less gravity pulling on objects? Since your balance only compares the mass of objects, not their weight, you would get the same results on the moon as you do on earth! Even on the moon, a quarter on one side of your balance would still have the same mass as a dime and penny on the other side of the balance. The coins would weigh less on the moon, but their mass would not change! Objects still have the same mass—amount of “stuff” in them—no matter how much or how little gravity pulls on them.
Ball vs. Feather
Which object do you think will fall to the ground faster, a ball or a feather? Test it out and learn why with this experiment.
What You Need:
- a small ball
- a feather or a tissue
- two sheets of paper
What You Do:
- Hold the ball in one hand and the feather or tissue in the other.
- While standing up, hold your arms out in front of you with the backs of your hands facing up.
- Open both of your hands at the same time and watch the objects fall. Which one reaches the floor first?
- Now try dropping the ball and a sheet of paper (hold your hand flat under the paper and then pull your hand out to let it drop). Which one makes it to the floor first?
- Crumple one sheet of paper into a ball. Drop the paper ball and the full sheet of paper at the same time. What happens?
- Now drop the ball and the paper ball at the same time and notice what happens.
Even though you dropped both objects from the exact same height, the ball hit the ground much sooner than the feather (or tissue). You probably found that the ball also reached the floor before the sheet of paper. Can you explain why? In step 5, you probably found that the paper ball hit the floor several seconds before the sheet of paper did. Both pieces of paper had the same mass, so why did one get to the floor before the other? You can try it again if you like, to see if you can get the sheet of paper to reach the ground at the same time as the ball of paper, but you will find that the ball always gets there first! The results of step 6 might have surprised you even more. The paper ball reached the floor at the same time as the regular ball! How is that possible?
Even though it seems like heavier objects (or objects with more mass) would fall to the ground fastest, that isn’t always true. Mass and weight do not determine how quickly an object will fall to the ground. It’s easy to think that the ball will fall first because it has more mass. To understand this, you need to know what makes objects fall. The force of gravity is what causes objects to fall. If you throw or kick a ball into the air, it will eventually come back down, because gravity is pulling down on it. All objects actually fall at the same speed, because gravity pulls on them equally, no matter how heavy they are! That explains why the paper ball and the regular ball landed on the floor at the same time, but why didn’t the sheet of paper, tissue, or feather fall as quickly?
Well, it turns out that objects will only fall at the same speed if no other force is acting on them. So they started out falling at the same speed, but after falling a few centimeters, the air started pushing up against the objects just as gravity was pulling down on them. Since a ball is round and smooth, the air couldn’t resist it very much and the force from gravity that was pulling down on it was still stronger than the force of the air pushing up against it. However, the feather, tissue, and paper were affected by air resistance. Air that was caught underneath the objects pushed up against them and their fall was slowed down.
The shape of an object has a lot to do with how much air resistance will affect it. Think about a parachute falling to the ground. Why do you think it falls to the ground slowly enough to keep a person from getting hurt when he or she lands on the ground? It’s because of the air that gets caught under the parachute and pushes back up against the force of gravity that is pulling it down. The air actually slows the parachute down as it is falling!
To learn more about mass, weight, and gravity, visit this Teaching Tip. | <urn:uuid:81abe5e8-c3fb-444d-a9e6-7bd9b695c3b4> | {
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Bicycle-shaped signals, which are common overseas, now used in at least 16 U.S. cities.
Drivers in bike-friendly cities may be doing double takes, as bicycle-specific traffic signals pop up alongside the traditional round red, yellow and green signals controlling intersections.
At least 16 U.S. cities, including Austin, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C., have installed the lights, which feature a bicycle-shaped signal, according to an October study commissioned by the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. They signals are common in Germany, Sweden and Australia, according to the study.
The reason for the new signals? Bicyclists can be at risk when entering an intersection on a yellow light that allows enough time for cars to clear the intersection, but not for bikes, the study found. Even traditional green lights may not allow enough time for a bicyclist starting from a stopped position to make it across. Bicycle signals can also help prevent collisions when a motorist is turning right and a cyclist is going straight, by allowing the cyclist a few seconds head start.
Some bicycle signals stand alone, while others are incorporated into regular traffic signals. Some are timed, while others are activated when a bicyclist approaches the intersection, the study found.
Gary Obery, Oregon Department of Transportation senior traffic engineer, said bicyclists have to obey the signals like any vehicle would a regular traffic light. He also said there is not a current national standard for these signals since their use is still growing.
"At some point they will appear in our national standards, but that process involves trying things out and seeing what works best," he said. At least two states have passed laws setting out rules and regulations for them. California was the first, in the early 2000s. Last year Oregon lawmakers approved Senate Bill 130, adding bicycle-only signals to the state's list of traffic control devices.
The signals are being used in cities that are trying to make streets more bicycle friendly and in intersections that are more complex, Obery said.
Chicago officials announced the city's first bicycle-specific traffic signal in August. Atlanta got its first bike signal in October. In November, Oregon's capital city of Salem joined four other Oregon communities with bicycle traffic signals.
"It's a great progressive move that Salem is putting their first light in," said Brad Bahr, an avid cyclist who works at South Salem Cycleworks. "They are beneficial for motorists and cyclists," he said, adding that they also help cars to be aware of the bicycle traffic.
Salem resident Joel Cleland, 39, rides his bike two miles to and from work each day. His route takes him past the new signal.
"It's a lot quicker and easier to make my way through that intersection now," Cleland said. "I've never waited more than 20 seconds for the new light to turn green."
The bicycle signal cost $1,000 to install in Salem, according to assistant city traffic manager Tony Martin.
Loew and Perez also report for the Statesman Journal, Salem, Ore. | <urn:uuid:dd80a755-5e59-40aa-896a-cec1444338c2> | {
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Goslar (gôsˈlär) [key], city (1994 pop. 46,190), Lower Saxony, central Germany, at the northern foot of the Harz Mts. Since its founding in the 10th cent. Goslar has been a mining center. Today, copper, lead, zinc, iron, and sulfur are mined. Manufactures of the city include textiles, clothing, and chemicals. Goslar was a favorite residence of many early German emperors and was the scene of several imperial diets. It long was a member of the Hanseatic League and was a free imperial city until 1802, when it passed to Prussia. Goslar was awarded to Hanover in 1815 but was regained by Prussia in 1866. The city has preserved much of its medieval character. The Zwinger, a round tower built in 1517, is a remnant of its old fortifications. The Kaiserpfalz, a large Romanesque palace, was built (mid-11th cent.) for Emperor Henry III. There are several Romanesque and Gothic churches, a Gothic city hall (15th cent.), and many half-timbered houses, including the noted Brusttuch (1526).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:87316241-130a-45c6-aabc-7e6cc561b843> | {
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23a. The Red-Shame of Menn Followeth Here
It was then came to them great Menn son of Salcholga, he from Renna ('the Waterways') of the Boyne in the north. Twelve men with many-pointed weapons, that was his number. It was thus they came, and two spearheads on each shaft with them, a spear-head on the top and a spearhead at the butt, so that it made no difference whether they wounded the hosts with the points or with the butts.
They offered three attacks upon the hosts. Three times their own number fell at their hands and there fell twelve men of the people of Menn. But Menn himself was sorely wounded in the strait, so that blood ran crimson on him. Then said the men of Erin: "Red is this shame," said they, "for Menn son of Salcholga, that his people, should be slain and destroyed and he himself wounded till blood ran crimson red upon him." Hence here is the 'Reddening Shame of Menn.'
Then said the men of Erin, it would be no dishonour for Menn son of Salcholga to leave the camp and quarters, and that the hosts would go a day's journey back to the north again, and that Menn should cease his weapon-feats on the hosts till Conchobar arose out of his 'Pains' and battle would be offered them at Garech and Ilgarech, as the druids and soothsayers and the knowers of the men of Erin had foretold it.
Menn son of Salcholga agreed to that, to leave the camp and halting-place. And the hosts fell back a day's march for to rest and wait, and Menn went his way to his own land. | <urn:uuid:33471232-9bee-4569-854c-fc4be55f923c> | {
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As some 20,000 Union troops charged out of the fog and burst into the Mule Shoe salient at Spotsylvania Court House, Va. on May 12, 1864, Confederate resistance collapsed beneath the onslaught. Union soldiers swept up 3,000 prisoners, including the cane-wielding Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson and Brig. Gen. George Steuart, who led a mixed North Carolina-Virginia infantry brigade.
Pvt. John Haley of the 17th Maine Infantry credited the two generals’ capture to “two privates from our regiment”; the captors actually were Sgt. Samuel Haskell of Co. C and Poland and Pvt. John Totman of Co. A and Harpswell.
Federal regiments intermingled and the command structure fell apart as Union troops enthusiastically “drove the enemy back for a mile,” a New York Times special correspondent later reported. The distance was actually about a half mile; before Hancock’s divisions could reach the Mule Shoe’s southern entrance and split the Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate Brig. Gen. John Gordon created a patchwork line that slowed the Union attack.
The battle’s outcome hung in the balance; “every Confederate realized the desperate situation and every Union soldier knew what was involved,” Haley realized. “For a time, every soldier was a fiend. The attack was fierce — the resistance fanatical. We captured one of their strong entrenchments, but it was done in a tempest of iron and lead, in a rain of fire.”
Gordon counterattacked at 5:30 a.m. His men gradually pushed the disorganized mass of Union soldiers north; 17th Maine survivors fell back and “sought shelter from the storm behind stumps and trees, anything that offered a suggestion of safety,” Haley said.
“The force of the [Union] blow was spent, so far as [Winfield Scott] Hancock’s [Second Corps] troops were concerned,” he noted. “If we held our own, we should do well, and we were soon tested in this regard, as Lee concentrated his forces with a view to hurling all he could spare against this spot to recapture it.”
At 6 a.m., the Union’s Sixth Corps attacked the Mule Shoe’s northwestern defenses. At an angle in the lines, savage Confederate resistance piled up Union troops outside the earthworks. Unable to enter the salient or withdraw from it while under the hail of enemy lead, the Sixth Corps men fought, bled, and died throughout the morning and afternoon.
Almost wiped out during Col. Emory Upton’s May 10 charge at Spotsylvania, the now company-sized 5th Maine Infantry and its brigade (led by the now-brevetted Brig. Gen. Upton) “went into action on the ‘double quick,’ under a galling and severe fire, and took up a position to the right of the” Bloody Angle, wrote Lt. George Bicknell , the regiment’s former adjutant. He based his detailed report on the testimony of surviving comrades.
There weren’t many. Nineteen bullets struck Capt. Frank Lemont of Co. K and Greene; his body, or what little was left of it, was recovered, at least. “Other officers and men fell here … while fighting bravely, and against all hope,” Bicknell wrote.
Also part of the Sixth Corps, the 6th Maine Infantry lost 16 men at the Mule Shoe. The regiment had also suffered terrible losses during Upton’s May 10 charge.
Elsewhere inside the Mule Shoe, Federal soldiers leaped into captured trenches and exchanged rifle fire at almost pointblank range with attacking Confederates. The New York Times reporter believed that “the whole army of Lee flung itself in five desperate efforts to recapture” the Mule Shoe.
Haley demurred. “Before 10 A.M. they (Confederates) made no less than eight charges to retake the salient, showing the tremendous importance of the place,” he noted. “The Rebels fought like devils, seeming to despise danger.”
The 17th Maine’s survivors and other Union troops still inside the salient “couldn’t advance, to retire was almost as difficult,” Haley said. Union regiments “became gloriously mixed, and it was impossible to find anything resembling organization,” so the Union soldiers assembled “a few here, a few there, fighting under anything or anybody, or nobody, or not at all.”
No intense Civil War combat lasted as long as did the hell that consumed the Mule Shoe on May 12-13, 1864. Haley described the battle as “the fiercest fight waged; the oldest soldier has never witnessed its like.
“Lee’s forces made charge after charge. Lines didn’t give way, they melted away,” he said. “The dead lay in heaps and others took protection behind them. Pandemonium swept right and left, and the earth was literally drenched in blood.
“Confederates sprang over the works and fought with the bayonet and clubbed musket till they were pinned to the earth,” according to Haley. “Federals hurled themselves over [the earthworks] and pushed the lines back a few rods, but were soon swallowed up by the rebound.”
The 17th Maine fought inside the Mule Shoe, likely near its apex. Just to the west, at the bend in the Confederate lines that will be forever known as the Bloody Angle, men on both sides “were shot and stabbed through crevices and holes between the logs,” recalled Brig. Gen. Lewis Grant, who led the 2nd Brigade of the Sixth Corps’ 2nd Division. Comprised of five Vermont regiments, the outfit was also known as the Vermont Brigade.
“Men mounted the works, and with muskets rapidly handed them, kept up a continuous fire until they were shot down, when others would take their places and continue the deadly work,” Grant said.
The carnage was almost indescribable, but witnesses like Haley tried. “All around that salient was a seething, bubbling, roaring hell of hate and murder,” he said. “In that baleful glare men didn’t look like men. Some had lost or thrown away hats and coats. Some were gashed and cut, and looked like tigers hunted to cover.”
“So terrific was the death grapple … that at different times of the day the rebel colors were planted on one side of the works and ours on the other, the men fighting across the parapet,” the New York Times reporter wrote.
Throughout the murky daylight — fog and gun smoke and rain often obscured lateral visibility — and into Thursday’s appalling darkness, Confederates bought with their blood and lives the necessary time for comrades to construct a new defensive line across the Mule Shoe‘s base. Along the earthworks, and especially at the Bloody Angle, the dead, dying, and wounded piled atop each other on both sides of the defenses. Union soldiers would later find the casualties stacked several layers deep; hard pressed by the dead weight above them, the first soldiers to fall simply vanished into the mud.
The next day, many wounded survivors would be found because someone noticed a heap of dead men twitching, a grasping hand suddenly thrusting into the air, or a moan escaping from where slain soldiers lay.
The carnage was incredible, even by Civil War standards. The bullets and cannonballs fired point blank ripped and shredded men and horses and felled thick trees; a modern battlefield sign indicates where gunfire knocked down a 22-inch oak.
Both sides hustled ammunition to the fighters; some Union troops figured that they fired 300-400 bullets before the shooting eased around midnight. During the next few hours, Confederate survivors quietly retreated to their new defensive line, reached today by Anderson Drive at the Spotsylvania battlefield. The exhausted Confederates awaited new Federal attacks.
The ferocious battle at the Mule Shoe battle lasted 22-23 hours, “a most awful day” according to Haley. Not before or since has such intense combat lasted so long on North American soil.
According to Houghton, the 17th Maine lost “three enlisted men, killed … and forty enlisted men, wounded, and ten missing.’ Himself wounded, Houghton was the regiment’s only commissioned casualty during the long fight.
Dawn on Friday, May 13 revealed the frightful cost. Between the Mule Shoe and other fighting that had taken along the Spotsylvania lines during the last 24 hours, Grant had lost about 9,000 men, Lee about 8,000.
“The scene of the conflict, from which I have just come, presents a spectacle of horror that curdles the blood of the boldest,” the New York Times reporter wrote later that morning.
“The angle of the works at which Hancock entered, and for the possession of which the savage fight of the day was made, is a perfect Golgotha,” he wrote. “In this angle of death the dead and wounded rebels lie, this morning, literally in piles—men in the agonies of death groaning beneath the dead bodies of their comrades.
“On an area of a few acres in rear of their position lie not less than a thousand rebel corpses, many literally torn to shreds by hundreds of [Minie] balls, and several with bayonet thrusts through and through their bodies, pierced on the very margins of the parapet, which they were determined to retake or perish in the attempt,” the astounded reporter described the scene.
“The morning of the thirteenth, found us still in possession of the captured works,” according to Houghton. “The scene, in our front, was one of the most horrid and revolting that was ever our fortune to behold; the dead and wounded of both armies literally, covered the ground for miles.
“Words are inadequate to convey any idea of the horrid spectacle,” Houghton said. “Some of the parties were riddled with musket balls.”
“The one exclamation of every man who looks on the spectacle is, ‘God forbid that I should ever gaze upon such a sight again,’” the New York Times reporter cited a saying heard frequently among the Union survivors.
If you enjoy reading the adventures of Mainers caught up in the Civil War, be sure to like Maine at War on Facebook and get a copy of the new Maine at War Volume 1: Bladensburg to Sharpsburg, available online at Amazon and all major book retailers, including Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble. —————————————————————————————————————–
Brian Swartz can be reached at [email protected]. He would love to hear from Civil War buffs interested in Maine’s involvement in the war. | <urn:uuid:3221cec8-e9b1-465c-b08e-1a894624a7dd> | {
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Leadership can be seen as the art of adjusting people's behavior to maximize their potential.
The greatest leaders are allies of their team members, working alongside them rather than bearing over them.
Dale Carnegie recognized the demand for leadership training about a century ago and began teaching personal success and public speaking classes that became immensely popular.
He and a team of researchers developed a curriculum based on lessons they learned from the lives of great leaders like Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln, along with insight from psychology texts.
Carnegie's most famous work, "How to Win Friends & Influence People," which was published in 1936, is a collection of his core teachings. Its insights into human nature are as relevant today as they were then.
We've summarized what Carnegie said the best leaders, from presidents to small-business owners, practice regularly.
1. They ease into criticism.
Leaders need to point out when their team members aren't meeting expectations or need to be disciplined, but this should be done in a graceful way that doesn't plant the seeds of resentment, Carnegie said.
This can be done by recognizing the accomplishments of the individual in question before pointing out a flaw. "Beginning with praise is like the dentist who begins his work with Novocain," Carnegie wrote.
2. They call out minor mistakes indirectly.
Unless one of the people below them makes an egregious error, it is worth giving the other person the benefit of the doubt, Carnegie said.
He cited an anecdote about steel magnate Charles Schwab. Schwab was passing through one of his mills when he noticed employees smoking by a sign demanding they refrain from the activity on the premises. Rather than furiously pointing at the sign, Schwab gave the men some cigars and cordially said he'd appreciate it if they smoked them outside.
3. They recognize their own mistakes in front of their team.
The best leaders, Carnegie said, do not lionize themselves, appearing as if they were flawless.
"Admitting one's own mistakes — even when one hasn't corrected them — can help convince somebody to change his behavior," Carnegie wrote.
4. They know when to use suggestions instead of direct orders.
Carnegie learned that the industrialist Owen D. Young, rather than barking commands to his subordinates, would lead them along with suggestions ("You might consider this...") or questions ("Do you think this would work?").
"He always gave people the opportunity to do things themselves; he never told his assistants to do things; he let them do them, let them learn from their mistakes," Carnegie wrote.
5. They respect others' dignity.
Whether leaders are giving employees a demotion or letting them go, they need to recognize that person's dignity and not humiliate them, Carnegie said.
And even from a practical standpoint, it's in a leader's favor to remain on good terms with an employee who didn't work out, since it's possible they will cross paths again, and a single irate former employee can have motivation to ruin their former boss' reputation.
6. They praise every achievement and improvement.
"Abilities wither under criticism; they blossom under encouragement," Carnegie wrote. Be lavish with praise, but only in a genuine way, he advised.
"Remember, we all crave appreciation and recognition, and will do almost anything to get it," he said. "But nobody wants insincerity. Nobody wants flattery."
7. They expect excellence.
If leaders have earned the respect of their followers, they can get them to improve when they falter without much effort.
Carnegie said that "if you want to improve a person in a certain respect, act as though that particular trait were already one of his or her outstanding characteristics."
8. They make challenges seem easier than they are.
The best leaders are able to break down the most difficult tasks into ones that their team can readily overcome.
They remain optimistic and encouraging, Carnegie said, minimizing anxiety among their followers and pushing them to success.
9. They make their followers happy to do their bidding.
Napoleon inspired his troops' morale by liberally doling out titles and commendations, similar to the way Google recruits and retains top talent with unparalleled employee benefits.
Whether in the battlefield or the office, the best leaders find ways to instill passion into their followers, so that their tasks become enjoyable. | <urn:uuid:28fec092-7f3b-415c-bf8b-645249796947> | {
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Endorsed by many organizations, including the National Governors' Association, SBM is being tried in districts of varied size and wealth. But so far, we have only a small bit of knowledge about how to make SBM work.
Decentralized management has a longer history in the private sector, however. For several decades, organizations have been implementing high-involvement management, a practice that like SBM decreases centralized control to encourage self-management by employees.6 Studies of decentralization in the private sector suggest that high-involvement management is most appropriate in organizations where the work (like teaching in schools) is complex; is best done collegially or in teams; involves uncertainty in its day-to-day tasks; and exists in a rapidly changing environment.
Research on the private sector also points out that control over four resources needs to be decentralized throughout the organization in order to maximize performance improvement:
The brief draws from a national study of school-based management being conducted by Priscilla Wohlstetter and Susan Albers Mohrman for the Finance Center of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) and is based on a series of commissioned papers (see sidebar). Researchers are studying public schools, private schools and private companies, that have decentralized in order to identify strategies that can improve the implementation of school-based management and enhance school productivity.
Research on the private sector shows large-scale change, such as decentralization, cannot be simply installed. Rather it unfolds over time through a gradual learning process. Therefore, the transition to SBM is best approached by establishing structures and processes that enable groups of people to discuss new directions, try new approaches, and learn from them. The second part of this finance brief offers strategies for managing the change to school-based management.
Experience from the private sector suggests that to effectively implement school-based management, districts need to design plans that not only transfer real authority to school sites but also expand the definition of SBM to include control over information, knowledge and rewards. Drawing from successful decentralization approaches in public schools and in the private sector, strategies for decentralizing resources in each of these four areas are discussed below.
Power. The main focus of school-based management has been the decentralization of power. The question is, Who at the school site is the power given to? Power is shifted most often from the central administration to a council at the school site. Councils may be composed of administrators, teachers, parents, community members and sometimes students. In this way, SBM empowers groups who typically have not had much power in managing schools.
The idea of using SBM as a vehicle for giving more authority to classroom teachers is common. Indeed, SBM often is seen as synonymous with empowering teachers. Most districts that instituted SBM through collective bargaining such as Dade County, Florida and Los Angeles, California provided teachers with majority representation on site councils. In doing so, districts simultaneously decentralized power to the schools and elevated teachers' influence to higher levels in the organization.
It may be, however, that group empowerment is not the most effective means of school management. Studies of effective public schools agree that a strong central leader, like the principal, is key to successful management. An effective leader can set the school's vision, serve as an instructional leader, coordinate reform efforts and rally support for the school. A few districts such as Edmonton, Canada and Prince William County, Virginia have empowered the school principal under SBM. This model also is used by independent elite schools that tend to have high student achievement: power belongs to the head.
A second concern in designing SBM is what powers should be given to school sites. SBM programs generally delegate at least some control over budget, personnel and curriculum decisions, however, some SBM programs limit control to only one or two of these areas. Budgetary powers usually are the first to be decentralized.
Some private sector organizations have increased performance by establishing small self-managing production units with full authority over resources, including budget and personnel. Following this model, the most effective SBM programs would be ones where schools are given lump-sum budgets to allocate according to local needs and the authority to hire and fire school staff, including principals and teachers.
The transfer of power in the private sector occurs through various strategies. Each strategy aims to empower the organization's employees, which in education would be mainly teachers and administrators. One strategy is self-contained teams, made up of employees who produce a defined product or deliver a service to a defined set of customers. Within schools, teams might be defined by grade level or academic department. Such teams could be given the authority to make resource trade-offs and to manage the way they perform their jobs.
A second strategy that also breaks big companies into smaller units is the creation of mini-enterprises. Mini-enterprises in schools could be groups of students organized into "houses" or "cadres" and taught by teams of teachers, similar to school designs advocated by Theodore Sizer and Henry Levin. In the private sector, each mini-enterprise typically is empowered to make decisions about resource allocation and is given incentives to optimize performance.
A third approach is to use special purpose, or parallel structures. Quality improvement teams, often made up of employees at varying levels, and union/management committees have been used to build consensus among employees with different responsibilities on what organizational improvements should be made and how changes should be designed.
Finally, companies in the private sector have used representative task teams to enable operating units to have input into decisions that are best done uniformly throughout the organization for reasons that include economies of scale, demands of the marketplace or legal requirements.
School districts that are implementing school-based management should consider these additional mechanisms for participation and involvement. As pointed out, each is suitable for a different purpose. SBM plans should create participative mechanisms that are geared toward improving specific areas such as curriculum, teaching, and day-to-day operations.
Knowledge. In the private sector, three kinds of knowledge and skills are important to decentralized management. First, employees need training to expand their job skills and increase the breadth of their perspective, so that they can contribute in more ways to the organization and more knowledgeably to decisions about improvements. Secondly, individuals need teamwork skills for participating in high-involvement management: problem-solving, decision-making and communication skills. Finally, individuals need organizational knowledge. This includes budgeting and personnel skills, as well as an understanding of the environment and strategies for responding to changes in the environment.
School districts under SBM have given at least some attention to the first two areas. Districts routinely offer training, primarily to school-site councils, on how to organize meetings and how to develop consensus, although perhaps not with sufficient attention to the particular kinds of issues and problems council members will face. In addition, districts pay some attention to expanding teachers' knowledge about the instructional and programmatic changes of the schools, including knowledge about teaching, learning and curriculum. Such efforts, however, are not necessarily considered part of SBM and usually provide much less professional development than is needed.
Districts under SBM have done even less to develop general organizational skills among SBM participants. This is a serious shortcoming, given the focus in many districts on decentralizing functional tasks, such as budgeting and personnel. There also has been an absence of training for district office personnel whose roles likewise change under SBM. Thus, school districts implementing decentralized management need to encourage a wider variety of training experiences that support new operating practices in both the district office and school site.
A common practice in many districts is to have district offices provide training and consulting services to the schools. Implicit in such plans is the belief that central office staff have the knowledge that individuals at the site lack. Sometimes this is true, but often it is not. A few districts have recognized the need to draw upon the knowledge of educators at the school site. For example, Dade County established the Dade Academy for the Teaching Arts which offers training that is planned and operated exclusively by teachers for teachers. Some districts under SBM, such as Chicago, Illinois, and Edmonton, Canada, allow schools to purchase staff development services from experts outside the district.
Although there is yet very little research about the role of new knowledge in SBM, lessons from the private sector suggest that participants in the process need a complex understanding of both decentralized school governance and instructional reform. However, it does not appear that the only strategy for increasing knowledge lies in moving curriculum and instruction experts from the central office to the schools. Rather, studies indicate that the more promising approaches are joint efforts. These efforts draw upon the knowledge of teachers, administrators and outside experts and feature ongoing staff development in which participants at all levels enrich the system with their acquired knowledge and insight, while drawing on new sources of understanding.
Information. Power can only be decentralized if the individuals to whom power is entrusted have access to the information necessary to make good decisions. In the private sector, as well as in public education, much information historically has been available only at the top of the organization.
Companies practicing high-involvement management have developed ways to collect and share information about organizational goals, finance and cost structures, environmental issues, the customer and organizational performance. The companies provide trend and "benchmark" data to allow units to compare their performance over time, and with other organizational units and other organizations in the field. Further, they find ways to disseminate innovations that are occurring in their organization and in other organizations that are dealing with the same issues.
Public schools implementing decentralized management have not focused much attention on sharing information among participants, particularly at the school site. Indeed, the major focus in districts under SBM appears to be how information is shared vertically between individual schools and the district office, and whether schools are adhering to regulatory policies. Many districts provide schools with standardized test data.
School districts under SBM, however, are only beginning to provide sites with the information about organizational performance needed to develop school-based plans, for instance. To the extent schools are expected to meet districtwide goals, individuals at the school site need information about their performance relative to those goals. In addition, schools, like companies, must have information about their performance relative to other schools, whether or not they are competing with others as in a market-based choice plan.
Finally, schools need information about the extent to which they are meeting their clients' parents and students needs. All such information, moreover, needs to be available to schools in a timely fashion, so that modifications can be made inroad to improve organizational performance.
A mission statement is one tool that can be used by educators at the school site to help them to define school goals, measure progress toward reaching the goals, and to share information with the community-at-large. Research in the 1980s on effective schools found many of them have written mission statements defining the school culture and environment. Such information also is prevalent at independent schools whose survival depends on their ability to communicate unique attributes to prospective parents and students. Independent schools also stress business information since sound finances, information about tuition, salaries, enrollments, sources of income and types of expenditures also are crucial to the schools' survival.
Besides the content of information, how information is transmitted to the school community is important. With public schools, informal methods of communication are most prevalent: parent-teacher conferences, collegial sharing among teachers, and ad hoc meetings with visible, accessible administrators. By contrast, independent schools tend to favor more formalized approaches for transmitting information. Explicit written codes of conduct have become the norm.
Procedures dealing with conflict management, faculty compensation, job descriptions, strategic plans, and methods and timetables for meeting goals are typically written down and distributed to the school community. This written information is one way heads of independent schools communicate the school's mission to the community.
Studies in the 1980s of effective public schools suggest that they also transmit formal written information about performance expectations for students and staff, but not to the extent of independent schools.
School districts under SBM need to develop more systematic and varied strategies for sharing information at the school site, as well as with the district office and with other schools serving similar student populations. Portfolio assessments, such as those used in Vermont and districts such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rochester, New York, and San Diego, California, may be one way to broaden information systems and provide feedback on school productivity.
Rewards. Translating decentralized reward structures of business to education is probably the greatest challenge to SBM. Skills-based pay schemes in decentralized private sector organizations reward employees for the knowledge and skills they possess. In education, reward systems tend to use indirect, proxy measures of knowledge and skills, namely the years of education and experience a teacher has accumulated.7
Decentralized management plans in the private sector often include components that reward employees collectively for performance. A key lesson from the private sector is that decentralized management is most effective when there is consensus on performance measures and units can be held accountable for performance. Employees need to see the relationship between pay and performance. Such conditions, however, do not often exist in education. Furthermore, it is understood in the private sector that high performance will lead to greater profits, but funding in public education is rarely affected by evidence about performance.
Few districts engaged in SBM have decentralized financial rewards. Teachers continue to be paid on a standardized salary scale and districts continue to allocate funds on a per pupil basis. The issue of performance-based rewards in schools is elusive for many reasons, including the multitude of purposes that various stakeholders have for the schools, the value differences that divide educators and the community, and the resistance of teachers and teacher organizations to the concept.
For example, policymakers often like the idea of rewarding successful schools with more resources, but budget constraints often would oblige them to allocate less to schools that are failing, an untenable approach to school improvement. Competitive merit pay plans exist in a few places. However, the systems tend to differentiate little among teachers and schools, and tend not to last over time.
Several districts actively involved in SBM continue to develop districtwide career ladders. However, such reforms typically are not skills-based pay schemes but strategies for increasing the pay of teachers who take on more work. For example, both Cincinnati, Ohio and Rochester identify lead teachers who assume special responsibilities and earn extra pay.
Monetary rewards are not the only extrinsic (or external) motivator available. Other possibilities include sabbaticals or opportunities to pursue full-time studies. In addition, prestigious mentor teacher positions could be created to help guide less experienced teachers. Another possibility would be to provide teachers with opportunities to further their education through professional conferences, classes at local colleges and universities, or involvement in teacher networks focused on some aspect of curriculum, teaching and assessment.
It is clear from research about work in schools that an effective reward system also must include opportunities for achieving intrinsic (internal) rewards. There is substantial evidence that although pay is an important concern, many teachers are motivated strongly by intrinsic factors such as achieving success with students or enjoying collaborative work with peers.
Consider, for example, teachers in independent schools who are paid considerably less than their public school counterparts. The evidence suggests non-monetary factors an environment conducive to learning, seeing positive results in student performance and control of the classroom motivate these teachers.
School districts under SBM need to devise new approaches both extrinsic and intrinsic to reward participants. Rewards can motivate individuals to use their enhanced resources (power, information and knowledge) to further districtwide and school-based goals. Rewards also can be used to align the goals of people at the district office and school sites who have different preferences and value different outcomes.
The transformation eventually involves all organizational components, including strategy, structure, technology, processes, rewards and other human resources systems. All of these components need to fit with the new way of managing and with each other.
Large-scale change is threatening to the people involved, because it entails new roles and responsibilities and because it challenges traditional assumptions and values. The change process has to be carefully managed. Several change management strategies are discussed below.
Vision. Large-scale change such as a transition to SBM is such a disruption of the status quo of an organization that it will not be successful unless a compelling case is made for it. Districts embarking on SBM should be very clear about the need for change and the ultimate purpose of the change process.
In the private sector, need is clearly established by the marketplace by the changes that are required to successfully compete and to meet the demands of customers. School districts will have to make a case for the need for change based on gaps in the schools' abilities to meet demands being placed on them and to provide educational services needed by their communities.
Understanding the need for change is the first step in a transition. Having a vision of what the change entails and what it is trying to accomplish is the next. This includes defining high performance in a manner that can be agreed to by the various stakeholders who become partners in the effort. An explicit focus on educational outcomes frames the change to SBM in a way that replaces issues of who gains and who loses power. Developing a shared vision of the organization links people together and provides goals and criteria for change activities and ongoing decisions. School districts and the schools within them should involve stakeholders at all levels in forming the vision, and then in giving it substance at the local level. Superintendents and principals will play a key role in making this happen.
Change structures and roles. In school-based management, creating and empowering the site council often has been the main change intervention. The council is expected to make decisions to change the nature and effectiveness of the education that goes on in the school. Thus, councils become change agents in schools, and should be educated accordingly. They will have to know how to design change in the school and how to manage the dynamics of change, including the natural stages of transition and the resistance that is associated with it.
In addition, as implementation unfolds, the council will likely spawn other change structures to develop and implement new approaches, and the work of various change groups will have to be coordinated and nurtured.
In the private sector, multi-stakeholder steering groups have needed education regarding their own group process, organizational design principles and change management approaches. Although SBM councils often receive training in group process, a more extensive set of skills and knowledge will be required, if the council is to play out its potential to spur meaningful change and improvement in the school.
The role of school management principals and superintendents has not received much attention in SBM plans. Private sector experience has found that such roles are pivotal in successful decentralization. The management role changes from directive and control-oriented to a role that involves creating an empowering environment in which teachers can easily try out new approaches. The new role includes facilitating and coaching for high performance, ensuring that proper resources are in place, making certain that the development needs of participants are addressed, and freeing teachers up to make changes so that school sites truly become the focus of continuous improvement.
Superintendents will have to actively model new leadership roles, set expectations and provide feedback to district-level managers and school principals about the change expected in how they perform their roles. Principals, as the heads of organizational units, will have to provide leadership in the organizational transition, and model and reinforce the new behaviors. Increasingly, principals will find themselves exerting leadership in collective forums, such as councils, where their influence is exercised as a group member rather than hierarchically.
The role of teachers also changes in a fundamental way. Although they have always managed their own classrooms, SBM implies an extension of their focus to include participating in shaping the school environment, creating the school vision, working with other stakeholders to determine goals and objectives, and taking responsibility for resource allocation and use. Their influence shifts from individual control over their classroom domain to influence exercised in a variety of collective forums, including councils, problem-solving groups, and various kinds of work teams.
Other roles also change extensively. Participation by parents, students and other community stakeholders on school councils implies a basic shift from advocating personal viewpoints to participating in a forum that must take a schoolwide view and address the concerns of many different stakeholders.
This will require considerable team building to develop trust and willingness to work through differences and develop a consensus.
Even the role of district staff changes from planning and overseeing various aspects of school functioning to becoming responsive service groups whose customers are the operating units in the schools. Increasingly these groups will exist to support changes emanating from the schools rather than to initiate change that will be rolled out to the schools.
In sum, the transition to SBM involves extensive change in roles that must be accompanied by intensive development of new skills and capabilities. It cannot be understood simply as a transfer of power. Rather, it is the establishment of new and vital roles for many stakeholders, and it will not succeed unless development is planned and resources are provided.
Resources. In the private sector, the transition to decentralized management has been found to unfold over a minimum of three to five years, during which the capabilities of the organization are gradually enhanced and the systems, processes and structures are brought slowly into alignment with the new decentralized vision. This process requires a tremendous amount of resources: time, energy and money. It is an investment in the capabilities of the organization.
Among the key resources are time and money for the extensive skills-development process required to support the new way of functioning. Development of individuals' capabilities and team development of the various councils and other collaborative structures require finding expertise to help with the process and time for it to occur. Schools will have to find ways to free-up participants for such development.
In addition, school districts will have to invest in the development of new site-based information systems, including measurement and feedback systems, financial and budgeting systems, and new reward systems. The development of these systems will take expert time, but also should be done in a participative way so that the various stakeholders understand and help shape them. Again, this involves freeing up people to participate.
States could devise a timeline for transferring budget and personnel authority to school sites and require full transfer by some specified date.
Local districts could exercise oversight over outcomes rather than process. Districts also could take the lead in redefining the role of the central office as supportive rather than compliance-oriented, and encourage the development of new structures at the school site to move power closest to those responsible for educating groups of students.
States could develop a prototype information system of fiscal, student, teacher and outcomes data that includes all the key elements needed to engage in SBM. States also could devote resources to disseminating information about educational innovations to SBM participants throughout the state.
Local districts or consortia of local districts could design the computer systems needed to make information available on-line to each school site about how resources are being utilized, satisfaction indicators, achievement indicators, and other relevant measures, so that schools could track trends and compare themselves with similar school units.
Knowledge and Skills
States could set aside, over a five-year time period, a fixed percentage of total education revenues (2-3 percent) for professional development that is more in line with skills development budgets at the most productive private companies.
Local districts could initially use those funds to train council members, district and school leaders, and teachers in their new roles and responsibilities. Over time, the funds could be given to schools for use in ongoing, site-based professional development activities.
States could devote resources to developing templates for a pay system that would include skills-based pay, cost reduction gainsharing for schools that are able to increase performance while decreasing costs, and other forms of group-based performance pay, like Kentucky is in the process of doing. A state-mandated accountability system could peg performance rewards to a structure of goals and legitimate performance measures.
Local districts could offer to pilot the new pay system in individual schools for which the district has waived personnel regulations, including union contracts. Individual schools, in turn, would have the flexibility to design specific features of the pay system that would make it operational at their school site.
School-based management is an organizational approach that expands the local school site responsibility and authority for the improvement of school performance. Ideally, it provides local mechanisms for the introduction of new approaches to education that result in enhanced outcomes and that better fill the needs of the local community.
The implementation of SBM represents a fundamental and systemic organizational change to increase the local presence of four key resources: power, information, knowledge and skills, and performance-based rewards. In schools, SBM has been approached largely as a political phenomenon involving the transfer of power to local councils.
Studies of decentralization in the private sector, however, have indicated that decentralization of power is most likely to lead to performance improvement if accompanied by organizational changes that enhance the information, knowledge and skills of local participants and that align the reward system with clearly articulated desired outcomes. This policy brief recommends that states and local districts become active in creating the conditions for effective implementation of SBM.
6 For a complete discussion of the concept of high involvement management see, The Ultimate Advantage (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992) and High Involvement Management (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986), both by E.E. Lawler.
7 For a detailed discussion of alternative skills-based pay systems in education, see Odden, A.R. & S. Conley. "Restructuring Teacher Compensation Systems, " In Odden, A.R. (Ed.), Rethinking School Finance: An Agenda for the 1990s (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992). | <urn:uuid:734e061f-386b-40b5-a759-e1275c46f148> | {
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The National Assessment of Educational Progress
Archive New York NAEP News - NAEP 2010
Who will take NAEP?
One hundred and seventy-two schools in New York State have been selected by the United States Department of Education (U.S.D.O.E.) to participate in NAEP during the 2009-10 school year. Schools located outside of New York City were sent notification during July and August 2009 informing them what grades and subjects will be assessed. Schools selected for NAEP within the New York City school district will be contacted by the New York City Department of Education. From each selected school, a sample of students will be chosen by the U.S.D.O.E. to participate in the designated NAEP assessment.
What is NAEP?
NAEP 2010 will assess United States history, civics, and geography. In some schools, a paper-and-pencil pilot study in writing will be conducted in Grade 4 and a computer-based study in writing will be conducted in Grades 8 and 12. In addition, some Grades 4 and 8 schools will be selected for a special study in mathematics.
When will NAEP be administered?
NAEP will be administered country-wide in selected schools between January 25 and March 5, 2010. Schools who will be participating in NAEP have already been notified of their assessment date.
Where can you find additional information?
Measuring Student Progress for over 40 Years
NAEP began in 1964 with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to set up the Exploratory Committee for the Assessment of Progress in Education. The first national assessments were conducted in 1969. Voluntary assessments for states began in 1990 on a trial basis, and in 2002 and 2003, selected urban districts participated in the assessment on a trial basis. In 2003, the first NCLB-mandated NAEP assessments in reading and mathematics were administered. | <urn:uuid:8150f80e-15ff-46d1-8c06-beb79e752455> | {
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There is much debate about how humans' decision-making compares with that of other primates. One way to explore this is to compare species' performance using identical methodologies in games with strategical interactions. We presented a computerized Assurance Game, which was either functionally simultaneous or sequential, to investigate how humans, rhesus monkeys and capuchin monkeys used information in decision-making. All species coordinated via sequential play on the payoff-dominant Nash equilibrium, indicating that information about the partner's choice improved decisions. Furthermore, some humans and rhesus monkeys found the payoff-dominant Nash equilibrium in the simultaneous game, even when it was the first condition presented. Thus, Old World primates solved the task without any external cues to their partner's choice. Finally, when not explicitly prohibited, humans spontaneously used language to coordinate on the payoff-dominant Nash equilibrium, indicating an alternative mechanism for converting a simultaneous move game into a sequential move game. This phylogenetic distribution implies that no single mechanism drives coordination decisions across the primates, while humans' ability to spontaneously use language to change the structure of the game emphasizes that multiple mechanisms may be used even within the same species. These results provide insight into the evolution of decision-making strategies across the primates.
Along with the dispositions to trust and reciprocate, and the propensity to exchange, the human ability to coordinate activities is a pillar upon which the flourishing of the species is built. The ability of two individuals to coordinate (literally to mutually arrange) an activity presupposes, first, that two individuals cognize that the outcomes of their actions are interdependent. Second, successful coordination assumes a shared attention and agreement on the ends to be achieved by mutually arranging a pair's activities. Within the Pleistocene tribe or the modern small group of family, friends and neighbours, these conditions are almost trivially met as personally known individuals share the habits, knowledge and beliefs about the methods and possibilities necessary to coordinate successfully. But what happens when modern strangers face a novel task of playing a simple 2 × 2 normal-form game (NFG) of coordination? How well can the personally unknown extend to each other the assumptions of interdependent decisions and agreement on the ends? As van Huyck et al. suggested, not as robustly as we might hubristically expect. The question then becomes more interesting when posed of our primate relatives. Do we share the ability to cognize actions as interdependent and to share attention on the ends achieved?
There is little research addressing the question, but what there is indicates that several primates may share these abilities with humans. For instance, in one Ultimatum Game study with chimpanzees , the apes' decisions were dissimilar from human-typical behaviour . However, a subsequent study found that the protocol designed for chimpanzees led to a similar outcome in humans . Our previous work investigated the Assurance Game, which is a well-known model of social interactions . We found that while humans found payoff-dominant outcomes more readily than did either capuchin monkeys or chimpanzees, pairs of all species were able to find these outcomes, indicating that selection has favoured similar outcomes (if not similar cognitive mechanisms) across these three primates . Moreover, we found that chimpanzees with greater experience in cognitive testing found the payoff-dominant outcome far more readily than did chimpanzees with little or no cognitive testing experience, indicating that, as with humans, experience may play a role in outcomes.
For the current study, we chose to investigate the Assurance Game using a computerized methodology. This provided a number of advantages for further research. First, there is a long history in comparative research suggesting that the format in which one presents the same kind of task to non-human animals can have radical effects on performance. For example, spatial discontiguity between response loci and stimuli was recognized as an obstacle to learning in animals [7–9]. However, training primates to use a joystick gets past that problem of discontiguity and produces markedly different patterns of results [10,11], and the same may be true for performance in economic games. Thus, comparing our previous results to those from a computer task may help to highlight factors that affect decision-making.
Another advantage of a computerized task is the abundance of data with respect to other cognitive abilities that are relevant. This allows us to not only consider a priori whether species might be able to solve the task, but if our predictions are proved false to reconsider how the subjects might perceive the game. Considering cognitive mechanisms, success in the game seems to require, at minimum, an ability to respond flexibly (e.g. contingent upon one's partner's decisions) and, related to this, an ability to inhibit (e.g. avoid the temptation of a short-term payoff). Considering first the role of phylogenetically widespread learning mechanisms, a number of primate species, including the rhesus monkeys and capuchin monkeys who participated in the current study, have shown substantial behavioural flexibility in responding to game-like tasks presented on computer screens. These include tasks that involve behavioural inhibition, tracking of relative rates of reward for different responses, and even information-seeking behaviour [12–15]. These skills, along with the monkeys' clear interest in maximizing their food intake during these tasks, indicate that comparative assessments of cooperation using computer tasks are likely to provide compelling data for understanding the emergence of cooperation in humans.
However, despite equivalent performance on basic learning tasks (e.g. two choice discrimination and learning set tasks), not all primates are equally adept at performing higher-level cognitive tasks. Relevant to this task, rhesus monkeys, but not capuchin monkeys, show evidence for metacognitive monitoring during psychophysical judgement tasks and information-seeking paradigms . This suggests a species difference in monitoring ongoing performance. Thus emerges a potentially important way to determine which cognitive mechanisms are important; it is possible that rhesus and capuchins would do equally well on games of coordination where contingencies for responses are clearly presented (that is, in a situation similar to a basic learning task), while diverging in performance when immediate cues are not present. Finally, it is possible, although we think unlikely, that even higher-order cognitive mechanisms are involved, such as theory of mind, which could be activated in this case owing to the social nature of the task. If this is the case, we expect humans to outperform the other species , despite some basic perspective abilities that have been seen in rhesus monkeys . Thus, testing these species on the Assurance Game may shed light on not only performance levels, per se, on the game, but also the nature of the game itself from the perspective of the individuals playing it.
To explore these issues in more detail, we here investigated the role of information in coordination decisions among three primate species: humans (Homo sapiens), rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). We redesigned the typical NFG methodology [1,20–22] specifically to work across species, holding the methodology as constant as possible (see §2 for details). We had two hypotheses for the current work. First, based on our prior results with the exchange version of the task, we expected all species to be capable of successfully navigating the task, but we predicted that a higher percentage of human pairs would find the payoff-dominant outcome when compared with the monkey species. Our second hypothesis was that outcomes would change as the task parameters varied. Specifically, we predicted that if pairs could see each other's choices prior to making a decision, the task could be solved by a cognitively simpler matching rule, meaning that all species would perform equally well. On the other hand, we predicted that in the situation in which their partners' choices were not available, higher-order mechanisms might be required, separating the species based on their aptitude at the tests of cognitive abilities we proposed above as relevant to this task (that is, humans performing better than the other primates).
(a) General methods
(i) The Assurance Game
The game we used was a common game of coordination called the Assurance Game, sometimes referred to as the Stag Hunt Game. The reward structure was such that mutual Stag play was the most beneficial (four units each), mutual Hare play resulted in a low payoff (one unit each) and the uncoordinated payoff of playing Stag when one's partner plays Hare was unrewarded, while the individual who played Hare received one unit. This game has two pure strategy Nash equilibria: (Stag, Stag), which is the payoff-dominant equilibrium (the outcome that maximizes payoff to both individuals), and (Hare, Hare), the outcome which is payoff-dominated. This well-known coordination game is interesting to economists because strategical uncertainty plays a key role in the selection of the equilibrium, yet the players' objectives are aligned (for a summary, see ). In the Assurance Game, the objectives may be the same (Stag, Stag), but the question of strategical interest is how sure a given player is that the other player will play Stag when he or she plays Stag. Evidence from coordination game experiments with humans indicate that the payoff-dominant equilibrium is not a focal point with repeated interactions, as in van Huyck et al. , nor with anonymous play with different individuals, as in Cooper et al. .1
We explicitly incorporated a number of features common to non-human studies but different from traditional NFG experiments with humans to facilitate cross-species comparisons. First, subjects received no verbal instruction or pre-testing so that individuals had to discover the payoff structure during the course of the game (note that there were only two options from which to choose, and thus four possible outcomes). Second, all subjects, including humans, had participated in other experiments in the laboratory prior to this study, so they were aware that decisions would result in tangible rewards (e.g. food or cash). Third, subjects were paid on a trial-by-trial basis, in case the immediacy of receiving rewards on each trial affected behaviour. Fourth, for most treatments (see exception below), subjects sat directly next to one another and were not anonymous, so subjects could potentially communicate [24,25] (we saw no attempts to communicate between the primates). Fifth, neither humans nor rhesus monkeys received any pre-tests designed to assess Assurance Game understanding, so all subjects, including humans, had to discover the payoff structure during the course of the game. Capuchins had previously participated in an exchange-based version of the task , but had no additional training. Finally, we manipulated whether they could see their partners' decisions to investigate how information affected decision-making.
(ii) General computerized design
Decisions were made by choosing one of two icons on each side of a split computer screen, one of which represented Stag (a red square) and one of which represented Hare (a blue circle). Icons were presented in a vertical distribution, with the order of presentation randomized both across trials and across individuals within the same trial. Subjects of all species made a choice using a joystick. We chose to study their behaviour as naturally as possible, and so did not constrain the order of play or the timing of decisions. Once both subjects had made a choice, each subject received (or not) rewards dependent on both what they chose and what their partner chose, following the payoff structure of the assurance experiment.
There were two conditions: Synchronous, in which subjects did not know what their partner had chosen until both choices were complete, and Asynchronous, in which decisions were revealed as they were made (e.g. subjects potentially had information about their partners' responses). To block any information transfer in the Synchronous condition, the joystick itself was occluded and the cursor did not move; when the joystick was manipulated, both options and the cursor disappeared simultaneously, and both subjects' choices were displayed simultaneously once both decisions had been made. Thus it was, to our knowledge, impossible to determine the partner's behaviour by observation in this procedure, other than knowing that one's partner had made a choice. In the Asynchronous game, the procedure was identical, except that choices were displayed as they were made, so that their partner could see their choice and potentially use the information when making their decision.
(iii) Non-human primates
All non-human primates were socially housed at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University. Rhesus monkeys were all adult males who were moved to a specially designed paired testing area. Capuchin monkeys were socially housed in multi-male, multi-female social arrangements and voluntarily separated into an adjacent cage for testing, to limit distractions. Only adults were tested, always with members of their social group, and in multiple pairings from within the same social group whenever possible. No individual was ever food- or water-deprived for testing. During test sessions, pairs did not always finish a trial block, and pairs completed different numbers of blocks during each testing session. Thus, the number of trials varied across both pairs and sessions.
The capuchins and the rhesus monkeys were used to somewhat different testing schedules, so to avoid changing their schedules and causing unnecessary stress, we initially proceeded using their typical schedules. Rhesus monkeys were given 6 h testing sessions consisting of 60-trial blocks with a 30 min interval between blocks. Pairs could complete as many trial blocks as they chose. Capuchins were initially given a single 40-trial session per day, as per their norm, but of four pairs, only one achieved the Stag-Stag outcome in the Asynchronous version, and even this pair did not maintain it. We then implemented a more rhesus-like schedule, except with 2 h test sessions (they became agitated if left in their testing cages for any longer), at which point all reached the Stag-Stag outcome. For more detail, see the electronic supplementary material.
The non-human primates did require some training to learn using the split screen (a novel experimental feature) and to make choices within the same time frame. This occurred through a two-stage training process. First, two monkeys worked together to learn that they had to both hit a single target on their side of the screen before both would receive a food pellet. Then, they had to progress to a point where they would make those same responses within a 5 s window from the initial presentation of a trial. Note that these training stimuli were not those used in the Assurance Game, and there was no choice behaviour on the part of the primates. There was only one icon on the computer screen, which could be contacted with the cursor. This training was used to teach them which half of the screen presented their choices (and outcomes), and to teach them that they needed to respond relatively quickly when a trial was presented. This training assured that, at minimum, subjects knew that (i) rewards were not given without both individuals making a response and (ii) they could control only their cursor. Although, of course, we cannot know how the monkeys actually interpreted the task, we do know they at least understood how to generate responses that might bring rewards, and what limitations had been imposed.
Capuchin monkeys. Based on our previous research , we knew that the capuchins would have more difficulty with the task than did the humans. Thus, we started all capuchins with the Asynchronous version of the task and, once they had learned it, gave them the Synchronous version. The subjects had far more difficulty with this, so to verify that they were still able to do the basic task, we repeated the Asynchronous version. Finally, we repeated the Synchronous version to see if the extensive experience had increased their skill level.
Rhesus monkeys. Half of the rhesus monkeys were started on the Synchronous and half with the Asynchronous version. All of the subjects on the Synchronous version succeeded, and so we did not return them to the Asynchronous version (see §3 and table 2). Subjects that started on the Asynchronous version were subsequently run on the Synchronous version.
Undergraduate subjects were recruited from the general student body at Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA. Subjects were randomly recruited via an email system and paid $7 for showing up on time, plus what they earned in the experiment. Each subject had participated in at least one economic experiment sometime prior to this session (participating in a previous study involving NFG experiments or the Assurance Game disqualified individuals as a participant) so that they had experience with receiving actual payment for their decisions in this laboratory. No subject participated in more than one pairing or more than one version of the task.
The humans' only instruction on the Synchronous treatment was limited to the following six points:
— Have you participated in an economic experiment before? (Both must reply with a ‘yes’ to participate.)
— In this experiment, you will be making decisions using a joystick attached to a computer. Use the left thumb pad to make a decision.
— As the experiment progresses, you may be paid in quarters by the machines next to your computer.
— Please collect the coins in the yellow cups provided so as to not clog up the machines.
— These are the only instructions you will receive in the experiment. Once the experiment begins, the experimenter will not be allowed to answer any questions until the experiment is over.
— Do you have any questions before the experiment begins?
Subjects initially began with the Synchronous task, as described above. Pairs of participants, who were the only two individuals in the room, sat next to one another at a single computer and used a joystick. The lack of anonymity enhances the likelihood of achieving the Pareto-dominant outcome. Pairs received payment in quarters (from a coin dispenser, an analogue to the primates' pellet dispenser) and payoffs were in the same ratios as those of the monkeys (accumulated coins were converted into large bills at the conclusion of the experiment). However, the results of this game indicated that language was an important characteristic in determining the pairs' outcomes (see §3 for details), thus a true comparison between the conditions could not be done. While we could have simply asked participants not to talk with each other during the game, this differed from the other primates, who could communicate to the fullest extent of their abilities, and may have led to an awkward social environment. Thus, we instead investigated the Synchronous/Asynchronous comparison using an alternative procedure.
This procedure was based on a typical NFG procedure with a 2 × 2 matrix of payoffs and strategies. For the NFG treatments, the game and payoffs were the same; however, participants were isolated at individual study carrels playing on their own computer against an anonymous opponent drawn from among the other participants in the room. To hide who was partnered with whom, rewards accumulated and were paid out at the end of the session, rather than using a coin dispenser after each decision (the noise from coin dispensers would have served as a cue). As with the monkeys, in the NFG Synchronous version, both partners' choices were displayed simultaneously to both players after both decisions had been made, while in the NFG Asynchronous version choices were displayed to both players as they were made. As an additional benefit, having results in a traditional NFG procedure allowed us to see how our Synchronous results with humans compared with typical NFG experimental procedures (e.g. involving instruction).
(v) Synchronous version
Fifty-two undergraduate subjects participated in the study in pairs (i.e. in 26 separate sessions).
(vi) Normal-form game synchronous and normal-form game asynchronous versions
One hundred and eighteen undergraduate subjects were recruited by the same protocols above, except that 12–24 people participated at the same time. Fifty-eight people in three sessions of 22, 24 and 12 participated in the NFG Synchronous treatment and 60 people in three sessions of 24, 24 and 12 participated in the NFG Asynchronous treatment. The subjects were simultaneously seated in a computer laboratory at visually isolated carrels and instructed not to talk to one another. They then read self-paced instructions on how to participate in the experiment. These subjects were privately paid their total accumulated earnings at the conclusion of the experiment; they did not receive payment as they made each decision to avoid possible cuing to one's partner's identity.
Statistics are non-parametric owing to small sample sizes. Primate results are based on individual analyses, while for humans we include both individual analyses and inferential statistics that allow generalizations about the population. This difference in approach is because fewer monkeys were available for the study, as few are sufficiently well trained for computerized testing. All statistics are two-tailed.
Note that in many cases both χ2 and Fisher's exact tests were impossible owing to the large number of cells with zero values. Thus, to determine whether a pair showed a pattern in their decision-making, we considered it meaningful if the subject showed an 80 per cent or greater preference for one of the four options (for the pair; chance was actually 25% in this case) or one of the two options (for the individual; chance is 50%). This percentage is significant for a binomial test for 20 trials and, as all of our subjects had at least 40 trials (and for pairs, chance was 25%, not 50%), this represented a conservative estimate for what constituted a significant pattern to their decision-making.
(a) Non-human primate results
Both monkey species did very well in the Asynchronous task. All capuchins began with the Asynchronous version owing to previous results indicating that they would have trouble finding the payoff-dominant outcome . One pair reached the payoff-dominant outcome in our initial 40-trial sessions and the other three did so when switched to 60-trial sessions (see §3). Three of the rhesus monkey pairs (composed of four unique individuals) first played the Asynchronous game. Two reached the 80 per cent Stag-Stag criterion within a single session (table 2) and the third pair did so in the second session.
Despite this similarity, the monkeys differed in their outcomes in the Synchronous task. None of the capuchin pairings showed any preference for playing Stag-Stag (or any other outcome) when tested in a novel pairing on the Synchronous task. To see if this was due to a lack of understanding of the task, we reran the Asynchronous version with the capuchins. Eight monkeys were paired in multiple pairings (with a range of 1–3 partners per individual; table 1) for a single session consisting of as many trials as they chose to complete in 2 h (mean = 253 trials). All but one pair chose Stag-Stag at least 80 per cent of the time (range: 80.6–96.1%; table 1) and the exceptional pair chose Stag-Stag 71 per cent of the time. Nonetheless, when retested on the Synchronous task, outcomes remained poor. Stag-Stag was maintained in only one of the five pairs that had been tested together previously (table 1). Intriguingly, the exceptional pair showed the lowest frequency of Stag-Stag outcomes in the Asynchronous test, and the pair that had not previously been tested together also more often played the Stag-Stag outcome (table 1). Note that capuchins' poor performance occurred despite both previous experience with the Assurance Game and introductory experience in the presumably easier Asynchronous version of the game.
On the other hand, the two pairs of rhesus monkeys that were tested first on the Synchronous version quickly found the Stag-Stag outcome. Although it took them slightly longer to reach the 80 per cent criterion than the pairs that played the Asynchronous version first, both pairs did so within four trial blocks, and at the same frequency as those pairs that first played the Asynchronous version (table 2). Note that they accomplished this despite never having had the opportunity to match a partner's play after having seen it, ruling out this simple associative mechanism.
Finally, the two rhesus pairs that showed the highest frequency of Stag-Stag choices in the Asynchronous game were subsequently given the opportunity to play the Synchronous version. One pair maintained a preference for playing Stag-Stag, while the other started at a lower level of Stag-Stag choices and subsequently declined further. This seemed to be primarily owing to one individual who began preferentially choosing Hare. Thus at least one pair was able to maintain the Stag-Stag outcome when switched to the Synchronous task.
(b) Human results
Among 27 human pairs in the Synchronous condition, 22 ultimately settled on Stag-Stag and five settled on Hare-Hare. What was notable was the perfect correlation between outcomes and pairs' discussions. Although all pairs spoke to each other, textual analysis of video recordings revealed that not every pair spoke about the game. Among the five pairs who settled on Hare-Hare (range: 34–36 Hare-Hare choices in 40 trials; table 3), not a single pair spoke about the game (henceforth, non-communicators), while among the 22 pairs who spoke about the game (henceforth, communicators), every pair ultimately settled on Stag-Stag, choosing it in at least seven of the last 10 choices (13 pairs did so on every one of these choices). One-third of communicators chose Stag-Stag a minimum of 80 per cent of the time overall (range: 32–39 Stag-Stag choices) and more than half (55%) did so at least 70 per cent of the time. No non-communicators ever played Stag-Stag, indicating that they did not explore the decision space as thoroughly as did the other pairs (or the monkeys).
Given the larger human sample size, we can consider variation using inferential statistics. The overall payoff between communicators and non-communicators differed by a factor of 3 (independent samples Mann–Whitney U-test, p < 0.001, mean ± s.e. payoff per trial for pairs of communicators: $1.48 ± 0.08; non-communicators: $0.47 ± 0.002). Moreover, among communicators, there was an increase in payoff between the first quartile and last quartile (Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, p < 0.001, quartile 1 mean ± s.e.: $0.98 ± 0.11; quartile 4: $1.89 ± 0.03). On the other hand, among non-communicators, the payoffs increased across these quartiles only because the decrease in number of Stag choices stabilized payoffs at one quarter for each individual by the fourth quartile (Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, p = 0.039, quartile 1 mean ± s.e.: $0.44 ± 0.01; quartile 2: $0.50 ± 0.00). Thus, sociality is not synonymous with coordination; humans had to actually discuss the game in order to benefit from language. Moreover, humans were not intrinsically better than the other primates at the Synchronous condition. They appeared to use communication to turn the Synchronous game into an asynchronous game, giving humans an additional mechanism for coordination.
Based on these results, humans played the NFG Synchronous and NFG Asynchronous versions using a more traditional NFG set-up that prohibited discussion (see §2). One-third (10 of 30) of the pairs in the NFG Asynchronous game chose Stag-Stag at least 80 per cent of the time. Intriguingly, an additional four of these pairs chose Hare-Hare 80 per cent or more (and one other did so 78% of the time), an outcome that we never saw in either of the monkey species. This could indicate that the non-human primates are more likely to explore the decision space than are humans, or that humans are more likely to persevere on responses that are rewarding. In the NFG Synchronous game, only four (14%) pairs chose Stag-Stag this often, while 10 (35%) pairs chose Hare-Hare. Thus, the frequency of Stag-Stag and Hare-Hare choices flipped between the two conditions.
Considering the data quantitatively, the overall payoffs do not differ between the games (Mann–Whitney U-test, z = 1.47, p = 0.14), although there is a non-significant trend for the players in the NFG Asynchronous game to earn more by the fourth period than do players in the NFG Synchronous game (Mann–Whitney U-test, z = 1.85, p = 0.0643). Moreover, the number of Stag-Stag choices was greater in the NFG Asynchronous treatment than in the NFG Synchronous treatment (Mann–Whitney U-test, z = 1.9, p = 0.0574), and twice as many partnerships failed to ever play Stag-Stag in the NFG Synchronous when compared with the NFG Asynchronous treatment (10/29 versus 5/30). Considering the games individually, participants showed a trend towards playing Stag-Stag more often than Hare-Hare in the NFG Asynchronous game (Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, z = 1.86, p = 0.0624), but not the NFG Synchronous version (Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, z = 0.46, p = 0.6818). Subjects improved over the course of both treatments, earning more money in the fourth quartile than in the first (NFG Asynchronous: Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, z = 4.26, p < 0.001 NFG Synchronous: z = 3.42, p = 0.0006). Nonetheless, as with the other two primate species, humans were better at finding the payoff-dominant outcome when an opportunity to coordinate was presented (e.g. sequential play).
Finally, comparing humans' results from the non-human primate format (which was the Synchronous treatment) to the NFG Synchronous format, the pairs' payoffs were higher when they could talk (mean payoffs for the Synchronous treatment: $1.63; NFG Synchronous treatment: $1.07; Mann–Whitney U-test, z = 2.62, p = 0.0087). On the other hand, by the end of the game, subjects did equally well when they could see each other's decision as it was made as when they could talk (comparing fourth quartile payoffs in the Synchronous and NFG Asynchronous treatments; Mann–Whitney U-test, z = 1.00, p = 0.3179; table 3). Thus, subjects were equally able to use language or sequential moves without language to coordinate on the Stag-Stag outcome and achieve the same level of payoffs across procedures.
(c) Does finding Stag-Stag mark a change in behaviour?
The above results assess individuals' tendency to find the coordinated, Stag-Stag solution. That is, to what degree do they explore the problem space and encounter Stag-Stag as an option? A second way to consider these data is to determine the frequency with which they played Stag-Stag after having found it for the first time. Considering first the monkeys, there is no evidence that finding Stag-Stag was sufficient to alter their behaviour. Among capuchins, no pair ever had a single trial block (60 trials) in which they did not play Stag-Stag at least once (see electronic supplementary material, results for details), yet despite this not a single pair was able to successfully solve the Synchronous version of the task. Rhesus monkeys similarly played Stag-Stag in every trial block, yet it was rare for a pair to settle on Stag-Stag before the third trial block (see electronic supplementary material, results for details).
Humans showed a similar pattern. In the Asynchronous task, most players who found Stag-Stag did so quickly (within the first four trials), yet only three (12%) of these pairs played nothing but Stag-Stag after finding it. In the Synchronous task, no pair ever exclusively played Stag-Stag after finding it (for details of both conditions, see electronic supplementary material, results). Thus, we find clear indication that in neither of the two computerized conditions do pairs' payoffs change meaningfully after finding the first Stag-Stag outcome, indicating that these results cannot be explained by a lack of knowledge about the payoff matrix. Similarly, sitting next to one's partner did not affect the frequency with which individuals stayed on the Stag-Stag payoff. Of the 22 pairs that played Stag-Stag at some point, only one played nothing else after finding that outcome. Four additional pairs played Stag-Stag all but one or two times, possibly indicating that they were either jointly exploring the parameter space or individually exploring potentially increased outcomes (see electronic supplementary material, results).
Our results indicate that generalizing the decision-making outcomes of primates into one in which species are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than others is not sufficiently nuanced. Instead, we find that the results vary in interesting ways depending on context. Considering our second hypothesis first, all species were able to more easily solve the task in the Asynchronous than in the Synchronous conditions. Although these studies were explicitly designed to investigate outcomes, not mechanism, we are able to use these results to posit necessary mechanisms. Thus, it seems probable that this boost in performance was due to the availability of simple rules, such as matching-to-sample , which could not be used in the Synchronous task since the partner's behaviour was hidden. This indicates that it is possible to solve this task with a suite of fairly simple behavioural mechanisms. We also note that, without other data, this would indicate phylogenetic continuity among the primates, and thus, when considered with the Synchronous results, emphasizes the utility of using multiple methods to assess behaviour and cognition.
On the other hand, not all species were able to solve the Synchronous task. No pair of capuchin monkeys ever solved this task, even after experience (successfully) solving the Asynchronous task. Thus, the capuchins' inability in the Synchronous pairing was not due to a failure to understand the task outcomes. Instead, we think that the best explanation for the decline in performance in the Synchronous task is probably related to the fact that they could no longer see their partners' decisions and use a simple strategy such as matching. These results also imply that the one pair's success in the previous, exchange version was probably due to the fact that they could see their partners' choices. On the other hand, some rhesus monkeys and humans found the payoff-dominant outcome in the Asynchronous task, and required very few trials in order to do so. Thus, Old World primates outperformed New World primates, rather than humans outperforming non-humans.
This has several very important implications when considering the mechanisms required to solve the Assurance Game. First, of course, the task can be solved using fairly simple learning-based mechanisms when appropriate cues are available (e.g. the Asynchronous task). Second, the high performance of both rhesus and humans implies that the presence of theory of mind is not required. Although one can see how the ability to predict one's partner's behaviour would be useful, it seems the task can be solved without it. It will be interesting to see whether this remains true in more complex games that lack a mutually beneficial payoff-dominant outcome. Finally, in the absence of cues, it seems likely that other more complex cognitive abilities are required to solve the task. We note that these results are particularly strong given our choice of a New World monkey species. Capuchins have an unusually large (for a monkey) brain-to-body ratio , a general high ability in cooperative tasks [28,29], and equal rhesuses in many learning tasks (see §1). Any of these might have led to the prediction that capuchins would cluster with the Old World monkeys, even if uniquely among New World primates. On the other hand, despite the capuchins' apparent advantages (for solving this task) over other New World monkeys, cognitive differences favouring rhesus monkeys over capuchins have been seen in other recent tasks involving higher-order cognitive abilities, such as metacognition [16,30].
Our final intriguing result is that outcomes in these games (and, in particular, the inefficiencies in decision-making) were based on an inability to coordinate on the payoff-dominant outcome, not an inability to locate it owing to a lack of exploration of the problem space. None of our subjects, including humans, immediately reverted to the payoff-dominant choice after having first experienced it. This was true whether they could or could not see their partners' choice when it was made and, in the case of humans, whether or not they could talk to their partner. This observation is clearly contrary to what would be expected if finding the payoff-dominant solution is the only thing required to solve this game. Moreover, this result indicates that there are really two aspects involved in successful performance. First is exploring the parameter space and locating the payoff-dominant outcome. In this, we saw great variability within each species, as indicated in our analysis of their overall results. Second is the ability of pairs to coordinate on that outcome once they have found it. This is explored in our analysis of the choices following the first Stag-Stag play. The data indicate that both of these aspects of the Assurance Game present challenges to all three species; obviously individuals who do not fully explore the parameter space may never find the payoff-dominant outcome, but even after this has been found, coordination is not assured.
While we are strongly in favour of testing additional primates (and non-primates) of all taxa, given these data, we predict that evidence will continue to favour a New World / Old World split in decision-making outcomes. We are also enthusiastic to see how the inclusion of different game features that may require other abilities, such as theory of mind, will affect species' play. We predict that such studies will serve to illuminate not only the phylogeny of decision-making, but also the cognitive requirements of different decision-making situations, as illustrated by various economic games. In particular, some rhesus monkeys were notable for their success, a pattern of results that clearly deserves additional investigation. One possibility for investigating these mechanisms is to see whether humans and rhesus monkeys differ in the flexibility with which they can switch between strategies. This question is more than academic; if humans and rhesus monkeys are using similar mechanisms (e.g. a cognitive homology), then we know that humans' abilities are built on a shared foundation that extends back at least as far as the split with Old World monkeys. On the other hand, if humans and rhesus monkeys have converged on similar outcomes despite using different cognitive mechanisms to reach those outcomes, then we can begin to investigate what shared social or ecological factors in humans' and rhesuses' environments selected for these outcomes.
Finally, uniquely among the primates, language is an important mechanism for solving coordination tasks in humans, much as additional information was used by all species in the Asynchronous task. In other words, we hypothesize that humans may use communication to transform a Synchronous task into an Asynchronous one by providing information about future moves. This may indicate that some underlying mechanisms, such as the ability to increase performance when cues are present, are conserved between humans and other primates, albeit with differing specific mechanisms. We also think the most likely explanation for the humans who did not communicate about (and thus did not solve) the task is not that they were incapable of doing so. Even subjects who did not solve the task spoke to one another. Instead, we propose that they thought that they had solved the task, did not see the necessity of exploring other options, and so did not converse about it. Future research aimed at determining which factors cause these different reactions may help to clarify both individual (e.g. personality) and contextual (e.g. social) factors that affect humans' ability to coordinate in such situations.
The picture that is emerging makes it clear that humans are not alone in their ability to find efficient, payoff-maximizing outcomes in a coordination game. Moreover, other species' behaviours can be measured using the same experimental mechanisms common in humans—that is, economic games—and results can be made comparable when procedures are equalized across species, including humans. Future work should be done to investigate how cognitive mechanisms interact with game structure, and whether there is homology in the underlying cognitive mechanisms or instead whether similar outcomes are reached in analogous ways. Finally, it will be interesting to see whether this similarity in outcome remains in other, more challenging decision-making situations.
This research was funded by NSF HSD grant SES 0729244 to S.F.B., B.J.W. and M.J.B. S.F.B. was additionally funded by NSF CAREER award SES 0847351; M.J.B. was additionally funded by NSF grants BCS-0924811 and BCS 0956993, and NICHD grants HD-38051, HD-061455 and HD-060563; and B.J.W. was additionally funded by NSF SES 0833310. We thank Betty Chan, Theodore Evans, Audrey Parrish and Kate Talbot for assistance with data collection at the LRC, Jennifer Cunningham for subject recruitment and data collection at Chapman University, and Jeffrey Kirchner for software programming at Chapman University. We additionally thank the animal care and enrichment staff for maintaining the health and wellbeing of the primates and making this research possible. All authors contributed equally in experimental design, data collection, analysis and writing. The authors declare no competing interests.
↵1 Though we should note that the former experiment involves more than two players with more than two potential actions, and the latter experiment uses a 3 × 3 coordination experiment.
- Received August 24, 2011.
- Accepted October 20, 2011.
- This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society | <urn:uuid:bd73c00e-9fef-4d48-ab55-b750caf937d0> | {
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