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Unlike other meteor showers we’re privy to throughout the year, tonight’s (dubbed the Camelopardalid), is unique for one special reason: it’s never happened before.
The meteors set to streak across our sky in the early morning hours are all the dusty remnants of Comet209P/LINEAR, discovered in 2004. With a tight orbit between the sun and Jupiter, (making a trip through our solar system every five years) the Comet’s debris trail has never intersected our planet due to Jupiter’s intense gravitational pull. Until now.
“We don’t know what the meteor shower’s intensity will be,” Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center told the Washington Post. “If Comet 209P/LINEAR was a poor producer of debris, we’ll see nothing. But if the comet was more active 200 or 300 years ago, we’ll see a decent show. What happens this Saturday morning was determined a few hundred years ago.”
Because of this uncertainty, astronomers are pegging tonight’s rate of meteors from 30-70 per hour (a decent shower) to hundreds and, maybe, just maybe, thousands (a downright meteor storm).
Even if the heavens do not fill up with falling stars, there is another cool feature about the Camelopardalids to get excited about: the ones we do see will last for longer than your average shooting star.
“The meteors are going to be pretty slow,” according to Astronomer Carl Hergenrother. “They’re actually going to last maybe for a second or two. It’s going to look almost like slow moving fireworks instead of the usual shooting stars that we’re used to.”
While any dark sky after sunset will offer opportunities to view this shower, astronomers say the peak times will between 2AM and dawn. So get out there – and have fun!
Photo credit: Shutterstock.com | <urn:uuid:7a55ce5d-a4db-4aac-86f1-c6d0e9b2bb16> | {
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Cardiac catheter, United States, 1950-1970
This catheter is designed to be inserted into the aorta and chambers of the heart by passing it through a vein or artery either in the arm or groin. This procedure can be carried out during an investigation into a possible heart problem or as part of the subsequent treatment. Once situated in the heart it can, for example, be used to measure the pressure of the heart chambers or remove blood samples. The catheter can also be used to inject dye into the arteries and heart when taking an X-ray in order to give the physician a more detailed picture of the heart. This can help in diagnosing heart conditions.
Related Themes and Topics
There are 539 related objects. View all related objects
Glossary: cardiac catheter
A catheter that can be passed into the heart through a vein or artery, to withdraw samples of blood, measure pressures within the heart's chambers or great vessels, and inject contrast media
Glossary: x-ray photograph
An internal image of the body that is produced by exposing a photographic plate to X-rays.
A flexible tube, narrow enough to be inserted into the body, where it is used for withdrawing fluids. Most typically used for extracting urine from the bladder. | <urn:uuid:b58577db-4cc9-49fc-bd8c-cde4f78e8fa0> | {
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There are many uses for using military time in the public world as well as the private one. The main advantage is that there is no room for confusion or misunderstanding the time as it is read off. When using a 12 hour time clock, there is the difference between AM and PM, as well as how some people read the time off. Some will say “It's 9:45 AM.” whereas others will say “It's quarter to 10 in the morning.” These little changes make a difference in how easily it is understood. In reading military time, it's read the same way by everyone, regardless of dialect or traditions. For this reason, it is the universal way to read time.
In business life, understanding times is critical to work production. For that reason, military time is often used in business documents to ensure no confusion. It is precise and always understood as long as the reader knows how to read military time. For example, in business writing, the writer would not put “noon” or “midnight” (though occasionally midnight is used), but rather 12:00 for noon or 00:00 for midnight. There is no need to put AM or PM because that doesn't exist in military time. Therefore, there is already less confusion. Another important element in understanding military time-telling in the business world is the integration of time zones. They are crucial in business documents, seeing as often businesses have various offices in many different zones and keeping everything straight is essential.
In email correspondence, we can see how this would be important. For example, if we had to host a meeting and were bringing in other offices via telephone, the time zone would probably be different from ours. In order to make sure they are able to phone in and join the meeting, the time would have to be listed as well as the time zone, to ensure no confusion. These little details make all the difference in business: a business deal or meeting can easily go bad with a mix up on time, so this 24 hour system is put into place to minimize this risk.
Another equally important business venture that involves time-telling is record keeping. In a business where you need to do case reports, or keep log books, the exact time and place is crucial to ensure reliability if/when they are needed down the road. In a court case or a possible inspection on record keeping, there is no room for error in how time is recorded. For that reason, the business system requires military precision and a universal understanding in time-keeping. As mentioned, this involves the 24 hour clock cycle and the time zones, to ensure no confusion when checking a fact or making an official statement on the record.
Lastly, military time-keeping is useful when using the internet to contact people. With the growing use of Skype, or other similar programs, quite often business meetings will involve people from all over the world. Skype has the feature that it will tell you the time and location of the person you are chatting with, but what good is that when no one knows what the meeting time is? For that reason, one location will host the meeting and will give them a local time (meaning, a local time to the host) that the meeting will occur. They will, of course, include a time zone, and the other members will ensure that they are online when the time occurs in their own zones. It is similar to the example of the phone call, and quite often, these two are interchangeable.
Without a doubt military time is precise, comprehensive, and universal. It serves its purposes in many different businesses and aids in ensuring that people can connect more and without the unnecessary confusion of 12 hour time telling. | <urn:uuid:dd0564c5-c4ea-42c9-a27a-a75d64097832> | {
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Approximately 66 seeds per gram
seed-counts are only a guide, not to be used for accurate calculations.
B and T World Seeds' reference number:
USDA average, annual, minimum temperature Zone:9
Type of plant - annual or perennial, depending on climate
Flower: -23x15cm.,wide funnelf., very pale VIOLET shading darker at edge (WHITE)
Fruit: caps.-3.5cm. dia., glob., 5mm. spines, YELLOW-BROWN seeds
Foliage: ovate, entire or lobed...stem GREY toment...tuber. root
Height in meters: 0.4-1.5
Parts of Datura wrightii are considered toxic.
is included in the following B and T World Seeds flowering plant categories:
6: Bulbous and Rhizomatous Plant Seed List
19: Everlasting and Dried Flower Seeds Australian and Other
31: House and Container Plant Seed List
43: Herbaceous Border Plant Seed List
44: Cut flowers Commercial and other Recommended Varieties
53: Bedding Plant Seed List
62: Mexican Native and Introduced Plants
76: Californian Native Plant Seed List
85: Natives of U.S.South West (Arizona Texas New Mexico)
719: North American Native Ethnobotanicals
Datura wrightii seeds will usually germinate in 7 to 45 days, even under good conditions germination may be erratic. Sow seeds about 3mm deep in a rich and sandy seed sowing mix at about 25°C.
Soak in warm water for a day and a night, sow just below the surface of a sandy - peaty mix, keep at about 25°C, dark and moist (not damp)
Gibberellic acid (GA 3) is often recommended. Vernalized seeds will germinate better if surface sown (ie with sunlight). | <urn:uuid:606c883e-5140-4366-a1ed-d2c20ca1eb28> | {
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Did more than one member of your family become infected with pinworms?
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Can humans get pinworms?
Pinworm infection is an infection of the large intestine and anal area by a small, white parasite that resembles a "worm." The medical name for the parasite is Enterobius vermicularis, but it is commonly termed a pinworm in both the lay and medical literature. These parasites are also termed seatworms or threadworms, and the infections is medically termed enterobiasis or helminthiasis. Pinworms and other parasitic worms (which, as a group, are termed helminths) feed off of the host animal by adsorbing nutrients from the host animal. Pinworm infections are the most common helminth infection that occurs in the US.
Pinworms only infect humans. Dogs, cats, or other animals cannot become | <urn:uuid:5b995adb-bb2e-4bfa-9bad-14d76dc91cc3> | {
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Rehoboam’s Apostasy. 1Once Rehoboam had established himself as king and was firmly in charge, he abandoned the law of the LORD, and so did all Israel with him.a 2So in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem, for they had acted treacherously toward the LORD.b 3He had twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and there was no counting the army that came with him from Egypt—Libyans, Sukkites,* and Ethiopians. 4They captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. 5Then Shemaiahc the prophet came to Rehoboam and the commanders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them: “Thus says the LORD: You have abandoned me, and so I have abandoned you to the power of Shishak.”
6Then the commanders of Israel and the king humbled themselves saying, “The LORD is in the right.” 7When the LORD saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: Because they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them; I will give them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem through Shishak. 8But they shall be his servants. Then they will know what it is to serve me and what it is to serve the kingdoms of the earth. 9d Thereupon Shishak, king of Egypt, attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the house of the king. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made. 10To replace them, King Rehoboam made bronze shields, which he entrusted to the officers of the attendants on duty at the entrance of the king’s house. 11Whenever the king visited the house of the LORD, the attendants would carry them, and then return them to the guardroom. 12Because he had humbled himself, the anger of the LORD turned from him so as not to destroy him completely; in Judah, moreover, there was some good.
13King Rehoboam was firmly in power in Jerusalem and continued to rule. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which, out of all the tribes of Israel, the LORD chose to set his name. His mother’s name was Naamah, the Ammonite.e 14He did evil, for he had not set his heart to seek the LORD. 15f The acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are recorded in the history of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer (his family record). There were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 16Rehoboam rested with his ancestors; he was buried in the City of David. His son Abijah* succeeded him as king.
* [12:3] Sukkites: foreign mercenaries in the Egyptian army.
By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided
solely for the user's convenience. By providing this link, the United
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nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or | <urn:uuid:31545ebc-c7ae-488d-ab40-d01b7b4d5781> | {
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Ability of a surface to resist being worn away by rubbing and friction
The relationship of the weight of the water absorbed be a ceramic specimen subjected to prescribed immersion procedure, to the weight of the dry specimen, expressed in percent.
A substance which, when added to concrete, mortar, or grout, increases the rate of hydration of the hydraulic cement, shortens the time of setting, or increases the rate of hardening of strength development, or both.
A general class of resinous polymers derived from esters, amides or other acrylic acid derivatives.
A term frequently (but improperly) used as a synonym for addition or admixture.
The state in which two surfaces are held together by interfacial forces which may consist of valence forces or interlocking action, or both.
Adhesion between surfaces in which the adhesive holds the parts together by interlocking action.
Adhesion between surfaces which are held together by valence forces of the same type as those which give rise to cohesion.
A material other than water, aggregates, and hydraulic cement, used as an ingredient of concrete or mortar, and added to the concrete immediately before or during its mixing.
Granular material, such as sand, gravel, crushed stone, and iron blast-furnace slag, used with a cementing medium to form a hydraulic-cement, concrete or mortar.
A chemical substance which effectively neutralizes acid material so as to form neutral salts. A base. The opposite of acid. Examples are ammonia and caustic soda.
Any material used as a base over which a finished material is to be installed.
Any fractures in the body of a tile visible both on the face and back.
The adherence of one material to another. Effective bonds must be achieved between the mortar and scratch coat, between the tile and mortar, and between the adhesive and backing.
The force per unit area or length necessary to rupture a bond.
A substance applied to a suitable substrate to create a bond between it and a succeeding layer as between a subsurface and a terrazzo topping or a succeeding plaster application.
Colorless or colored ceramic glaze have a high gloss.
Ceramic tile installation featuring each row offset for half its length.
Obtained by brushing the stone with a coarse rotary-type wire brush.
A trim tile with a convex radius on one edge. This tile is used for finishing the top of a wainscot or for turning an outside corner.
A type of bullnose trim with a convex radius on two adjacent edges.
A plain square joint between two members
Tile that have projections on the bondable side. Many of these projections are round and therefore the term buttonback.
A copolymer of about 98% isobutylene and 2% isoprene. It has the poorest resistance to petroleum oils and gasolines of any rubber. Excellent resistance to vegetable and mineral oils: to solvents such as acetone, alcohol, phenol and ethylene glycol; and to water and gas absorption. Heat resistance is above average. Sunlight resistance is excellent. It's abrasion resistance is not as good as natural rubber. Usually low permeability to gases.
Substance which markedly speeds up the cure of an adhesive when added in minor quantity as compared to the amounts of primary reactants.
A soft, plastic material consisting of pigment and vehicle, used for sealing joints in buildings and other structures where normal structural movement may occur. Caulking compound retains its plasticity for an extended period after application. It is available in forms suitable for application by gun and knife and in extruded preformed shapes
Extra-rich wall mortar.
Usually refers to portland cement which when mixed with sand, gravel, and water forms concrete. Generally, cement is an adhesive; specifically, it is that type of adhesive which sets by virtue of a chemical reaction.
With a glazed finish on the front and a clay “biscuit” backing, ceramic tiles are available in many colours and sizes, in gloss and matt finishes. The higher porosity biscuit of many wall tiles allows the use of readymixed adhesives. Being easier to cut and install than porcelain or natural stone often makes ceramics a more cost-effective option. The use of inkjet printing technology in some ranges adds a natural appearance. Some ceramic tiles can be used on the floor. Due to the manufacturing and firing process, ceramic tiles may vary in tone or size between batches and therefore it is important to ensure that all boxes are marked with the same batch number and tiles from a number of boxes are mixed during fixing. Please ask in branch for details.
A dimension stone, large enough for use in paving. A term commonly used to describe paving blocks (usually granite), generally cut to rectangular shapes.
Commercially prepared grout consisting of carefully graded aggregate, portland cement, water dispersing agents, plasticizers and color fast pigments.
A hard tile surfacing unit made from a mixture of chemicals. The finished surface can be the mixture of chemicals or can be marble chips to create a terrazzo finish. The unit is made hard by the set of the chemicals and the product is not fired as in the manufacture of ceramic tile.
A composite material which consists essentially of a binding medium within which are embedded particles or fragments of aggregate; in portland cement concrete, the binder is a mixture of portland cement and water.
A trim tile having a concave radius on one edge and a convex radius with a flat landing on the opposite edge. This base often is used as the only course of tile above the floor tile.
The cracking which occurs in fired glazes or other ceramic coatings due to critical tensile stresses.
The time required to produce vulcanization of hydration at a given temperature. The cure time varies widely, being dependent on the type of compounding used, the thickness of the product, etc.
Maintenance of humidity and temperature of freshly placed concrete during some definite period following placing, casting, or finishing to assure satisfactory hydration of the cementitious materials and proper hardening of the concrete.
Tile on which the facial edges have a distinct curvature that results in a slightly recessed joint.
A constant load that in structures is due to the mass of the members, the supported structure, and permanent attachments or accessories.
Tile with a ceramic decoration on the surface.
The ratio of the mass of a body to its volume, or the mass per unit volume of the substance. When G.G.S. units are used, the density of a substance is numerically equal to the specific gravity of the substance referred to water a 4 degrees C, the maximum density (1,000) of water. For ordinary practical purposes, density and specific gravity may be regarded as equivalent.
A marred or faded bordered stone conveying an antique or used look.
A type of trim with the same convex radius on two opposite sides.
Concrete or mortar mixtures deposited and consolidated by dry packing.
Placing of zero slump, or near zero slump, concrete, mortar, or grout by ramming into a confined space.
Small areas on the face of tile which have been insufficiently glazed.
A cut tile used as a filler in the run of a wall or floor area.
A 6 inch X 3/4 inch outside corner trim shape. (AC106)
The residue deposited on the surface of a material by the crystallization of soluble salts.
Tile decorated with colored clays inlaid and fired. Also colored tile laid in a wall or floor to form a pattern.
A two-part grout system consisting of epoxy resin and epoxy hardener, especially formulated to have impervious qualities, stain, and chemical resistance, used to fill joints between tile units.
A two-part mortar system consisting of epoxy resin and epoxy hardener used to bond tile to back-up material where chemical resistance of high bond strength is a consideration.
Projected cost of materials and labor for a construction project or portion of a project.
A joint through tile, mortar, and reinforcing wire down to the substrate.
A tile or trim unit that is formed when plastic clay mixtures are forced through a pug mill opening (die) of suitable configuration, resulting in a continuous ribbon of formed clay. A wire cutter or similar cut-off device is then used to cut the ribbon into appropriate lengths and widths of tile.
An area of tile covering a wall or floor. The field is bordered by tile trim.
An expression used to indicate the filling of natural voids in stone units with cements or synthetic resins and similar materials.
The process of kiln-firing ceramic ware prior to glazing.
The process of maturing an unfired ceramic body and its glaze in one firing operation.
The flat trowel is used in conjunction with the hawk for the transferring of mortar from the mortarboard to the wall or to other vertical surfaces. It is frequently used for spreading pure cement on the finished float coat. The flat trowel also is used for spreading mortar on floor surfaces before tiles are set.
A strip of wood about 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/4 inch wide. It is used as a guide to align mortar surfaces.
A ceramic, glazed or unglazed paver, quarry or mosaic tile resistant to abrasion and impact.
Frost proof tile
Tile produced for use where freezing and thawing conditions occur.
Glass mosaic tiles
Tiles made of glass, usually in sizes not over two inches square and 1/4 inch thick, mounted on sheets of paper. Usually sheets are twelve inches square.
A ceramic coating matured to the glassy state on a formed ceramic article. The term glaze also refers to the material or mixture from which the coating is made.
Tile with a fused impervious facial finish composed of ceramic materials, fused into the body of the tile which may be a non-vitreous, semi-vitreous, vitreous, or impervious body. The glazed surface may be clear, white, or colored.
A rich or strong cementitious or chemically setting mix used for filling tile joints.
The grout saw is a saw-toothed carbide steel blade mounted on a sometimes wooden handle. It is used to remove old grout.
A satin smooth surface finish with little or no gloss.
The degree of vitrification evidenced visually by complete resistance to dye penetration.
Has water absorption of 0.5 percent or less.
Trim tile for turning a right-angle inside or outside a wall corner.
Cracks in tile, flat or trim, occurring when the tile is fired. Typically, the cracks are from one outer edge and do not go clear across the tile.
A joint made by overlapping adjacent edge areas of two adherends to provide facing surfaces which can be joined with an adhesive.
A water emulsion of a synthetic rubber or plastic obtained by polymerization and used especially in coatings and adhesives.
A portland cement grout with a special latex additive which results in a less rigid, less permeable grout than regular portland cement grout.
A mixture of portland cement, sand, and special latex additives which is used for bonding tile to back-up material. It is less rigid than portland cement mortar.
A wood strip or metal mesh, which acts as a background or reinforcing agent for the scratch coat or mortar coat.
A long strip of wood marked at the appropriate joint intervals for the tile to be used. It is used to check the length, width, or height of the tile work. A common name for this item is idiot stick.
Leaching is a condition where liquids ooze out of the joint between ceramic tile veneer, regardless of the veneer is grouted or not, and runs down over the tile.
Specifically, calcium oxide, also, loosely, a general term for the various chemical and physical forms of quicklime, hydrated lime and hydraulic hydrated lime.
A sedimentary carbonate rock, composed chiefly of calcite, but sometimes containing appreciable dolomite.
The moving load or variable weight to which a building is subjected, due to the weight of the people who occupy it, the furnishings and other movable objects.
A force provided by weight or mass (gravitational), external or environmental sources such as wind, water and temperature, or other sources of energy.
Marble cut into tile sizes twelve (12) inches squares of less, usually 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch think. Several types of finishes are made, polished, honed, split faced, etc.
Organic tile adhesive.
Mexican paver tile
Terra cotta-like tile, used mainly for floors, and handmade. These tiles vary in color, texture and appearance, from tile to tile and within each tile. They are available in squares up to 12 inches, and in various shapes. These tiles are coated with various types of sealers because of their soft adsorptive characteristics. The coatings provide a wearing surface on the pavers which would otherwise powder away under wear.
The period during which the constituents of a batch of concrete are mixed by a mixer; for a stationary mixer, time is given in minutes from the completion of mixer charging until beginning of discharge; for a truck mixer, time is given in good mixing in a specific speed or expressed in terms of total revolutions at a specific mixing speed.
A term used for tile manufactured by a process which allows the simultaneous firing of the clay with the glaze producing a finished tile with a single firing.
A mixture of cement paste and fine aggregate; in fresh concrete, the material occupying the interstices among particles of coarse aggregate; in masonry construction, mortar may contain masonry cement, or may contain hydraulic cement with lime (and possibly other admixtures) to afford greater plasticity and workability than are attainable with standard hydraulic cement mortar.
The majority of our mosaic tiles are attached to a mesh backing in a 30 x 30cm size. The mesh can be cut to size to provide a cost-effective border or décor strip with any main tile. We recommend using a fine white powder adhesive with mosaic tiles.
Tile assembled into units or sheets by suitable material to facilitate handling and installation. Tile may be face-mounted, back-mounted or edge-mounted. Face-mounted tile assemblies may have paper or other suitable material applied to the face of each tile, usually by water soluble adhesives so that is can be easily removed after installation but prior to grouting of the joints. Back-mounted tile assemblies may have perforated paper, fiber mesh, resin or other suitable material bonded to the back and/or edges of each tile which becomes an integral part of the tile installation. Back-mounted and edge-mounted tile assemblies shall have a sufficient exposure of tile and joints surrounding each tile to comply with bond strength requirements. Tile manufacturers must specify whether back-mounted and edge-mounted tile assemblies are suitable for installation in swimming pools, on exteriors and/or in wet areas.
A slang term for mortar.
Our travertine, marble, slate and limestone ranges are natural products quarried from around the world. These tiles are produced from naturally occuring stone and therefore the colour and patterning may vary quite considerably between tiles – this is a feature of this kind of product.
All natural stones require specific treatment while fixing, including initial cleaning, impregnator sealing and on-going maintenance. It is important all relevant instructions are followed – printed guides are available so please ask in branch for advice. A white powder adhesive should be used for all light coloured natural stones as a grey adhesive may show through and darken the tiles after being fixed.
That degree of vitrification evidenced by relatively high water absorption.
Notched trowels are available in the serrated and square-tooth design. The teeth are made in various sizes. The correct tooth size and depth must be used to apply the thickness of bonding mortar specified. These trowels are used to apply all of the various kinds of bonding materials for ceramic tile. When the teeth become worn, the trowel has to be resharpened or replaced.
The period of time during which the bond coat retains its ability to adhere to the tile and bond the tile to the substrate.
A prepared organic material, ready to use with no further addition of liquid or powder, used for bonding tile to back-up material by the thin set method. Cures or sets by evaporation.
Paper and wire
Tar paper and wire mesh (or metal lath) that are used as a backing for the installation of tile.
Paper mounted ceramic mosaics
Ceramic mosaic tiles mounted on paper. Paper is applied to face of tile in sheets approximately twelve (12) inches wide, twenty-four (24) inches long.
Unglazed porcelain or natural clay tile formed by the dust-pressed method and similar to ceramic mosaics in composition and physical properties but relatively thicker with 6 inch square or more facial area.
The quality or condition of allowing passage of liquids or gasses through a rubber layer.
A material that increases plasticity of a cement paste, mortar, or concrete mixture.
The pointing trowel or pointer is probably the most essential tool in the trade. It comes in sizes ranging from 4 to 6 inches in length, but the 6 inch trowel is the most popular. The tile setter uses this trowel in every phase of the work, especially for straightening tiles on walls and floors, marking floated surfaces, filling small depressions on float coats, buttering tiles and trim work, and placing mortar in areas that are too small the flat trowel. The butt of the handle is used for tapping in tiles that are not on a true plane with the rest of the tile work. The trowel's flat working surface must be protected. The tile setter should not use it to pry or chop hardened materials such as concrete or plaster.
A glossy surface which brings out the full color and character of the stone.
The higher firing temperature of porcelain tiles ensures that they are fully vitrified, producing tiles with enhanced properties which are harder wearing, with increased load ratings and the manufacturing process of unglazed or through body porcelain means that if the tile suffers an impact chip or scratch, the original colour remains. Unglazed porcelain tiles require sealing with an impregnator before grouting. As with ceramic tiles, the manufacturing and firing process may produce a variance in tone or size between batches and therefore it is important to ensure that all boxes are marked with the same batch number and tiles from a number of boxes are mixed during fixing. Please ask in branch for details.
The method of producing glazed ware by which a ceramic body and glaze are matured together in the same firing operation.
The relationship of the open pore space to the bulk volume, expressed in percent.
The period of time during which a material maintains its workable properties after it has been mixed.
The term used to describe mortar that has been placed and allowed to harden prior to bonding tile to it with thin-set materials.
The rubber trowel used for grouting is a non-porous synthetic-rubber-faced float that is mounted on an aluminum back with a wood handle. This trowel is used to force material deep into tile joints and to remove excess material for a perfect finish.
A Carborundum stone that is used to smooth the rough edges of tile.
A term used when a wall surface has developed a slide.
Finish produced by sawing with diamond toothed saws (either circular or gang).
A mixture of portland cement, sand, and water.
(1) A continuous film or penetrant to prevent the passage of liquids or gaseous media; a high-bodied adhesive generally of low cohesive strength to fill voids of various sizes to prevent passage of liquid or gaseous media. (2) A coating used to seal the sand-scratched surface of a primer in order to obtain a smooth uniform paint base over rough metal. Sealers are products of low pigmentation.
Tile with lugs, spacers, or protuberances on the sides. These devices automatically space the tile for the grout joints.
3 percent to 7 percent water absorption.
The condition reached by a cement paste, mortar, or concrete when it has lost plasticity to an arbitrary degree, usually measured in terms of resistance to penetration or deformation; initial set refers to first penetration or deformation; initial set refers to first stiffening; final set refers to attainment of significant rigidity; also, strain remaining after removal of stress.
Maximum interval during which a material may be stored and remain in a usable condition.
Terminology used in some areas for Waterproof membrane.
A measure of the frictional characteristics of a surface.
A flat (although sometimes ribbed on the underside) reinforced concrete element of a building which provides the base for the floor or roofing materials.
T, Y and X shaped, they are used in installation to separate tile on walls and floors. They are manufactured in various thickness from 1/16 to 1/2.
The walls of a tile drainboard or bathtub.
Stone on which the face has been broken to an approximate plane.
The underlying support for the ceramic tile installation.
Hard baked clayware, including tile, of variable color, averaging reddish red-yellow in hue and of high saturation.
A term used to describe the bonding of tile with suitable materials applied approximately 1/8 inch thick.
A term used to describe the piece of stone under a door separating two rooms.
The tile cutter is one of the most efficient and economic tools in the tile setting trade. A popular model is the hand-drawn tile cutting board that is adjustable.
Special pliers that nibble away little bites of ceramic tile to create small, irregular or curved cuts.
The tumbling process gives these tiles softer, rounded edges for a more aged, antique appearance.
An application of a relatively thin layer of mortar primarily used to level out-of-plane surfaces such as concrete slabs.
An expression used to indicate that there has been no filling of natural voids in stone units with cements or synthetic resins and similar materials.
A hard, dense tile of homogeneous composition throughout, deriving color and texture from the materials of which the body is made. The colors and characteristics of the tile are determined by the materials used in the body, the method of manufacture, and the thermal treatment.
Waterproof membrane placed under concrete floor slabs that are placed on a grade.
Cutting of quarried stone perpendicular to the natural bedding plane.
0.5 percent to 3 percent water absorption.
A glazed tile with a body that is suitable for interior use and which is usually non-vitreous, and is not required nor expected to withstand excessive impact.
A membrane, usually made of built-up roofing, to provide a positive waterproof floor over the substrate, which is to receive a tile installation using a wire reinforced mortar bed.
Interior or exterior tiled areas subject to periodic or constant wetting. Examples: showers, sunken tubs, pools, exterior walls, roofs, exterior paving and interior floors.
The wood float is sometimes used in place of the flat trowel for floating mortar. It is good for smoothing small irregularities left on the mortar bed, working the surface of the mortar before troweling on the pure coat, or compacting floor and deck mortar. | <urn:uuid:8cf5401a-41b9-4f7d-8c8c-7fa5432bc5e1> | {
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Diabetic fungal infection causes yellow and thickened nails for many of us with and without type 2 diabetes. But for diabetics it can lead to a serious complication.
Onychomycosis (toenail fungus) may seem to be only an annoying cosmetic issue. But if left alone, thickened yellow toenail fungus can lead to bacterial infection.
That makes it something you cannot ignore, because infections in diabetic feet can end in limb amputation.
So here are things you need to know about toenail fungus, ways to fight it, and why you got it in the first place.
We type 2 diabetics have too much sugar in our blood. Those high glucose levels become AGEs, the destroyers of cells.
Nerve cells and tiny blood vessels in our feet are some of the first to show the damage. That means poor circulation and diabetic neuropathy.
The direct result is toes that don't let you know when they are damaged.
Shoes that are too tight cause repetitive rubbing of toes against them. Also, if you go barefoot you bang your toes many times a day without knowing it.
Since the pain signal is blunted by nerve damage, you do not realize how much trauma your toenails go through daily.
That, many podiatrists think, is the biggest reason you see diabetic fungal infection in your toenails. You do not see onychomycosis in a child's nails because it only becomes a problem as we age.
You have a damaged immune system from diabetes with its increased level of inflammation.
That means you are more likely to get the kind of infections that find cracks in your defenses. Doctors call these opportunistic infections.
So it is cracked and damaged toenails that let the fungus in. But what is a diabetic fungal infection?
Derma means skin, and phyte means eat. Its name tells its story.
The types of fungus that live on human skin (athlete's foot, ring worm, jock itch) are similar to toenail fungus but are not as hard to get rid of.
In diabetic fungal infection of the nails the dermatophytes feed on keratin, the special kind of protein in skin, hair and nails.
They penetrate to the nail bed in damaged nails and make their home there. It is what makes them so hard to kill.
If unsightly nails were the only problem we could just trim our nails short, file down the thickened parts and ignore it after that.
But even though the fungus does not bore down under the skin, it can cause small tears or breaks in your skin surface.
That wouldn't matter so much if you were not diabetic. But since you are, you need to be extra watchful for bacterial infections in your feet.
This is why a podiatrist is important. When you inspect your feet and find the evidence of diabetic fungal infection it's time to get it checked out.
First, your podiatrist will trim and thin down the thickened nails. He might take shavings for a biopsy to be sure what is causing your nails to change color and shape.
There are several causes, although fungal infection is the culprit in about 90% of cases.
The reason it matters is that there are many fungal treatments, and some work better with certain types of infections and will not touch others. It helps your podiatrist pick the right one for your diabetic fungal infection.
No treatment works in a few days or weeks like the jock itch and athlete's foot creams and powders. You'll be using your treatment for up to a year, whether it's a pill or cream.
If it is working, you will begin to see healthy nail growing from your cuticle, but it takes a long time to get rid of all the infected nail.
If the medications do not work, sometimes podiatrists will remove the whole toenail. However, no one likes to do this on diabetic feet.
The danger of nonhealing wounds is too great. It's not worth losing your foot from toenail surgery that backfired.
There is a new laser treatment some podiatrists are using. It is not FDA approved for treating nail fungus, but it has been used in some treatment trials.
The laser penetrates under the nail and basically fries the fungus without hurting the skin underneath.
In the trials it worked beautifully, but there is no proof yet that the fungus will not come right back. However, there are no harmful side effects to this treatment, so podiatrists are free to try it.
Because using laser this way is not an approved treatment, you will have to pay for it out of pocket. No insurance company will cover it yet.
Insurers call it "cosmetic surgery," and that makes it expensive. So until it is accepted therapy, you may not be able to try it.
Here are some ways to protect yourself against fungal infection.
Medium chain fatty acids like those found in coconut oil and real butter are being shown to improve nerve function. They are necessary for many of the important processes in your body.
In addition, coconut oil has ingredients that fight against candidal and fungal infections.
[Go back to the top]
There is no medical evidence that any of the remedies work. But people who have tried them and have success are posting their stories on the web.
None of these will harm you, and they won't cost you much to try. Make sure to have your nails trimmed and thinned down first.
Here are some things you could apply with a cotton swab . Vicks before bedtime (because of the strong smell you probably won't want to use it during the day) is the one I'm trying.
You can apply oregano oil at two drops to a teaspoon of olive oil right onto the nails, or concentrated lime juice. Some have used fresh onion cut into pieces and rubbed directly on the nails.
Or make a paste of turmeric powder (it's a spice) mixed with water, and slather it onto your nails. Wait for it to dry before you rinse it off and dry your feet.
For soaking you could try a foot bath of rubbing alcohol 20 minutes a day. Hydrogen peroxide mixed with an equal amount of water is another remedy.
Some people have used bleach at one capful to a gallon of warm water. A 30 minute soak every day, and then you have to wash the bleach off and dry your feet well.
Others have used Listerine mouthwash for a 20 minute soak. But the most well-known foot bath for nail fungus is vinegar at one cup to every two cups of water. A 15-20 minute soak every day is supposed to work.
No matter what remedy you choose, you'll have to continue it daily for months on end. But the same thing is true of anything used on nail fungus.
Be sure to keep your nails trimmed down so the treatment has a better chance to get to the nail bed.
Most of the creams and powders for sale in stores and online have one of these three chemicals: tolnaftate, undecylenic acid or clotrimazole.
A few are made
with tea tree oil, which is a tested natural fungicide. Just make sure you know the percentage of actual tea tree oil in the product you buy.
Tea tree oil is an antibiotic and fungicide. That means if you use it in a smaller concentration than is effective, it will only make your infection more resistant to treatment. The higher the percent level the better.
You can even buy 100% tea trea oil at health food stores. It has a pungent odor, like camphor, but it does work. In tests it was as effective as clotrimazole on nail fungus.
There are several oral medications available for treatment of onychomycosis. But all of them have a chance of causing liver and kidney problems.
For diabetics, who are probably already on medications that put a strain on those organs, adding another one seems like a bad idea.
But some have gotten good results with Lamisil or Sporanox. They have to be taken for several months, and as with all treatments, you need to be committed to them long term.
The only thing that seems to work truly fast is laser treatment by a podiatrist, but that is not an approved therapy for diabetic fungal infection yet.
The most important thing to remember is to pay attention to your feet. Give them good shoes, diabetic socks and daily care. Diabetic fungal infection comes after letting your toenails take a beating.
You might never know anything is wrong until the problem gets very serious. So watch out for your feet, and they will carry you a long way.
[Go back to the top] | <urn:uuid:c5279237-8c11-4867-8b57-2ddf5e7a44d8> | {
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What is clean sport?
It doesn’t matter whether you’re just beginning in sport or you’re an elite athlete competing on the international stage – clean sport matters!
A culture of clean sport means that sport is fair and competitive. It allows no room for cheats who seek to enhance their performance by taking drugs or using banned methods.
Clean sport means athletes:
- compete on a level playing field.
- are rewarded for their hard-work, talent and skills
- value the spirit of sport
- respect and look after their bodies and their health
- follow the anti-doping rules
- understand the importance of a drug testing regime to catch cheats and protect clean athletes.
If you’re an athlete just starting out you need to understand and respect the key elements of clean sport. You can find out more in these pages.
If you’re competing at a higher level either nationally or internationally, you have certain responsibilities you need to fulfil to help keep your sport clean and drug free. Find out more in our Athletes who may be tested zone | <urn:uuid:235c4ba3-5654-4d6f-924f-2b8bce7aec67> | {
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Minimum Education Requirement: High school diploma or GEDEnlisted
Countless factors can affect the outcome of a mission, including something as simple as the weather. As a Weather Specialist, you’ll predict weather patterns and prepare forecasts, as well as brief pilots and commanders on weather conditions. There are eight weather squadrons around the world supporting our war fighters, which means you could end up doing your job in the United States or overseas.
- Analyze weather conditions, prepare forecasts, issue weather warnings and brief weather information to pilots
- Read and interpret weather satellite imagery, climatology reports, computerized weather prediction models and Doppler weather radar imagery
- Operate a weather radar console and a high-frequency pilot-to-metro radio
- Analyze and forecast weather elements such as clouds, visibility, winds, atmospheric pressure and many other parameters
There are no videos at this time.
Interested in learning more? | <urn:uuid:a5214f32-cb78-4964-b764-7d8eab6e1cd6> | {
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People with high-level spinal cord injuries typically lose control of their arms and legs meaning they can no longer get around without some sort of adaptive assistance device. Quadriplegics have long relied on a type of control system for electric wheelchairs called the sip-and-puff system.
This type of control system allowed the user to move forward and backwards in an electric wheelchair by sipping a straw or blowing into it. A group of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) has devised a new method of controlling a power chair for those who no longer had functionality in their arms and legs. The new system uses the patient’s tongue to control the chair or to control the mouse cursor on a computer screen.
Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at GIT said, "This clinical trial has validated that the Tongue Drive system is intuitive and quite simple for individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries to use. Trial participants were able to easily remember and correctly issue tongue commands to play computer games and drive a powered wheelchair around an obstacle course with very little prior training."
The clinical trial was conducted at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta and involved the attachment of a small magnet, roughly the size of a grain of rice, to the tongue of the patient with a tissue adhesive. The magnet was used as a tracer to allow the magnetic field sensors to register its movements. The users of the system wore sensors that look like headphones on the head to track the magnet.
The researchers say that the nerve that controls the tongue in patients with high-level spinal injury is typically not affected in the injury. Software translates the movement of the magnet into motion for the chair via wireless connectivity with a computer attached to the chair.
The chair motion can be controlled in a constant setting that allows the chair user to move along an arc or in a control method for new users that only allows one motion at a time. According to the researchers, the Tongue Drive system can be used to create as many movement commands as the user can comfortably remember. | <urn:uuid:d54afc5d-8f9f-40ed-8c35-ab85096e4658> | {
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Occasionally, many people get nervous when speaking before a crowd of people or interviewing for new a job. This shyness and occasional nervousness is normal. Social anxiety disorder or social phobia on the other hand is more to this, whereby the fear of embarrassing yourself is so intense that you avoid the situations that can trigger it. With social phobia, you are painfully shy with bad butterflies in the stomach that you are afraid of doing anything that can embarrass you.
People’s perception of social anxiety disorder
In today’s high-tech society, much is changing and everyone is trying to be shred on keeping up with the changes. These changes are gradually affecting how we work, live and even think. Keeping up with today’s society can be demanding and it may affect different people differently. Some people may let the weight of the whole situation rest on their shoulders while others do not really care. For those that think it is a big deal to please the high-tech society, they may end up being extremely careful of what they do and how others see them- they would extremely fear being judged by others, making mistakes and being embarrassed publicly.
Many times, people with social phobia are perceived by others as being withdrawn, shy, quiet, backward, disinterested, unfriendly, aloof, inhibited and nervous.On the contrary, these people are looking for friends, want to be engaged in social interactions and be included in groups. It is the social anxiety that prevents them from doing these things. They are usually dying to be friends with you, be sociable, and approachable but it is the anxiety that holds them back.
Who is usually affected?
About 15 million American adults are affected by social anxiety disorder. Both women and men have equal chances of developing the disorder and it normally starts in childhood and early adolescents.
Some evidence show that genetic factors contribute to it. People with a family history of mental disease are more likely to develop the disorder. Their bodies could be affected by chemical imbalance brought about by multiple sources of prolonged stress. This stress could be as a result of financial obligations, relationship complications or even demise of a loved one. This anxiety disorder may affect the patient so much that they turn to substance abuse as they look for ways of meditating their condition. It is even a difficult situation for the person close to the patient because even telling them that everything is okay may not make sense at that moment.… | <urn:uuid:bc8a263a-ffd2-4667-82a4-08eea234b9de> | {
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Reference work entry
Lithostatic stress; Overburden pressure
The weight of Earth materials in an imaginary vertical column acting on an imaginary horizontal surface at the base of the column.
A simple three-layer model of the Earth (Fig. 1) consists of 12 m of alluvium overlying 18 m of siltstone, overlying granite. An underground structure, such as a tunnel, may be planned at this location at a depth of 50 m, so the geostatic stress at 50 m needs to be computed. Assume that the relative densities (Dr) of alluvium, siltstone, and granite are as listed in Fig. 1; the Dr. of water is 1.0. Mass density is Dr times the mass density of water, which is 1000 kg/m 3. Force is mass times acceleration; weight is mass times the acceleration of gravity; thus, the unit weight of water is 9802.26 N/m 3. Hydrostatic pressure at a depth of 1 m would be 9.802 kPa (the slope of the hydrostatic pressure curve; H in Fig. 1). Therefore, at the base of a 1-m column of alluvium in the example, the unit...
- Coduto DP (1999) Geotechnical engineering; principles and practices. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle RiverGoogle Scholar
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 | <urn:uuid:3503c2d1-0f5b-484b-87d8-5e1d69dda811> | {
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Empathy for military robots could affect outcomes on the battlefield
That’s the conclusion of Julie Carpenter, a Ph.D. in education at the University of Washington. Carpenter interviewed 23 explosive ordnance disposal personnel who regularly used robots on the job. She found that the soldiers often anthropomorphized their robots, assigned them human attributes such as genders and names, and even displayed a kind of empathy toward the machines. >”They would say they were angry when a robot became disabled because it is an important tool, but then they would add ‘poor little guy,’ or they’d say they had a funeral for it,” Carpenter said. “These robots are critical tools they maintain, rely on, and use daily. They are also tools that happen to move around and act as a stand-in for a team member, keeping Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel at a safer distance from harm.”
“You don’t want someone to hesitate using one of these robots if they have feelings toward the robot that goes beyond a tool,” she said. “If you feel emotionally attached to something, it will affect your decision-making.”
Carpenter will publish her findings in a future book on human-robot interactions.
UPDATE: Several interesting discussions have broken out on Reddit, where members of the military are recounting their experiences with robots in the field. Reddit user mastersterling reports that one bot received its own 21-gun salute. Read their stories at /r/technology and /r/military
Watch Miles O’Brien explore modern robotics: | <urn:uuid:7e67867a-4c48-4c0d-b4ad-eb084d7e3c04> | {
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Bringing clarity to CRP testing
Wider use is in the offing for this simple blood test to gauge cardiac risk.
It isn't easy to gauge the health of the heart and arteries. Blood pressure and cholesterol are good stand-ins, but they aren't perfect. That's why researchers have explored hundreds of other tests. The one that has edged closest to widespread use is a blood test for C-reactive protein (CRP). An excess of CRP in the bloodstream signals the kind of steady, low-grade inflammation that accompanies artery-clogging atherosclerosis, a key contributor to cardiovascular disease. The test is called the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) or cardiac CRP test. It defines three categories of risk (see table). | <urn:uuid:37d35ee5-9909-4299-a2b8-8e36ca4bbe17> | {
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Photo Inside a Photo
Open your image in Acorn, File ▸ Open. Duplicate the layer by right clicking on the layer in the layers list and selecting "Duplicate Layer" (⇧⌘D).
Inverse the selection by going to Select ▸ Inverse (⇧⌘I). Hit the delete key. This will leave the "photo" area separate from the background. Deselect (⌘D).
Now, select the bottom image layer by clicking on it in the layers list. Select the Rectangle shape tool in the tools palette. Make sure the fill box is checked and stroke is unchecked. Create a rectangle under the "photo" and on top of the background. If you have a hard time seeing where the "photo" is, turn off the visibility on the background layer by clicking on its visibility eye in the layers list.
When you have your border in place, click on the shape shadow option. You can read more about this under drop shadows. Adjust the shadow placement, blur, and color until you get the effect you want.
Desaturating the background layer will make the photo stand out more. To do this, click on your bottom layer in the layers list to select it, and go to Filter ▸ Color Adjustment ▸ Color Control and adjust the Saturation slider to the left.
An alternative technique is to not use a shape layer at all. Instead, click on the copy of the horse layer and add a drop shadow. | <urn:uuid:604d82b9-ffc7-40b5-b147-5e7c24870c94> | {
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Name of a Marano family living at Lisbon. Gideon Abudiente, about the end of the sixteenth century, is the earliest bearer of this name of whom we have cognizance. His son, together with some other members of the family, emigrated, early in the seventeenth century, to Amsterdam, where they reverted to the Synagogue. From here some Abudientes went to Hamburg, and others to London, where they seem to have borne the double name Gideon-Abudiente; but in England the descendants discarded the second part of the name and called themselves Gideon. In the lists of the Portuguese congregation at Amsterdam, for the year 1675, the names Eliau Obediente, Jeudah Obediente, and Jeudah Raphael Obediente appear.
- De Castro, De Synagoge van de Port.-Israel. Gemeente te Amsterdam, 1875, pp. 51, 54;
- Kayserling, in Monatsschrift, ix. 69;
- Lucien Wolf, The Treves Family in England (reprinted from the Jew. Chron.), p. 15, London, 1896.
A prominent Dutch scholar and mystic; born about the beginning of the seventeenth century; died after 1666. He lived in Amsterdam, and his signature is among the first on the letter of homage sent by twenty-four distinguished men of Amsterdam to Shabbethai Ẓebi in October, 1666.
- Monatsschrift, 1876, pp. 141-143.
A son of
Probably a son of
Portuguese poet and Hebrew grammarian; born at Lisbon early in the seventeenth century; moved to Amsterdam, Holland, about 1624; and died at Hamburg, Germany, February 24, 1688. For some years previous to his removal to Hamburg he lived at Glückstadt, Holstein. He wrote in Portuguese "Grammatica Hebraica," the first part of which appeared in Hamburg, 1633, and included in the fourth part, devoted to Hebrew style, some of his own poems. He also published "Fin de los Dias Publica ser Llegado, y Fin de los Dias Pronosticado por todos los Prophetas," Glückstadt, 1665, treating of the theology of the prophets, in which, according to Da Costa, he seems to follow Shabbethai Ẓebi ("Israel en de Volken," 1873, 2d ed., p. 515). His Hebrew poems are said to exist in manuscript; some of them were published in "Ha-Meassef" (the Hebrew magazine issued in 1785), and reprinted in "Bikkure ha-'Ittim."
- Delitzsch, Zur Gesch. d. Jüd. Poesie, p. 82;
- Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col. 1762;
- Kayserling, in Monatsschrift, ix. 69.
Relative of Moses Gideon Abudiente; lived at the beginning of the seventeenth century; author of Hebrew and Spanish poetry, still in manuscript at Oxford.
- Kayserling, Bibl. Esp.-Port. Jud. p. 8;
- Neubauer, Cat. Bodl. Hebr. MSS. No. 2251, No. 4. | <urn:uuid:4e6469e4-396f-429d-af6d-da17b0988d31> | {
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We live in a time where digitalization has impacted every industry and fundamentally changed the way we work for the better. Tech advancements and investments into artificial intelligence have stimulated job creation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), engineers are expected to be in demand—creating more than 140,000 jobs between now and 2026. An even bigger trend to watch is the nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs that will need to be filled over the next decade, an industry that often intersects with engineering through innovation. With so much growth and opportunity, it’s a great time to be working in STEM.
For employers looking to hire in the field, however, the outlook is a bit more grim. Jobs are being created faster than employers can fill them, highlighting the acute lack of skilled workers in the field. In order to get around this talent shortage, employers will have to start looking toward untapped talent pools to fill the gaps created by this increased demand for STEM talent. And employing more women, one of STEM’s most underrepresented groups, could be the answer.
The State of Women in STEM
It’s been said that “women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world,” and according to the data, it’s not just a saying—it’s a fact. Between 2011 and 2016 there was a 38% increase in STEM-fundamental Bachelor’s degrees awarded to women, and that includes engineering. Yet surprisingly, women still make up just 13% of the existing engineering workforce. Meanwhile, the manufacturing industry has been riddled with the same dilemma.
However, that’s not to say that industry decision-makers haven’t been trying to remedy the problem. In fact, within the last two years, the industry (in partnership with schools) has taken steps to improve enrollment efforts of women. Game-changers like the Manufacturing Institute have promoted initiatives like STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Production) Ahead, which serves to mentor and recognize women, while also leading research efforts tackling this important topic. Programs like this one are changing the perception of women in STEM and catching the eyes of women everywhere.
Although there has been great strides toward progress in these predominantly male-dominated industries, the ultimate end goal still remains a bit out of reach. One of the top 10 engineering degrees for women is industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, according to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), yet women’s talents continue to be underutilized once they hit the workforce. So, what gives?
It’s clear that there’s still a large disconnect between the school and the workplace. In order to resolve the STEM talent gap, the problem must be tackled from all fronts, and that includes schools, organizations, research institutions and the companies themselves—otherwise, the needle on progress won’t move. But in order for any of this change to take place, it needs to first start at the top.
For women to feel truly welcome in STEM workplaces, they need to gain more seats at the leadership table to fill gaps that companies may often miss on their own.
Make a Seat for Women at the Executive Table
Since women make up a small portion of the overall STEM workforce, it’s no surprise that many work environments in these fields leave a lot to be desired in terms of inclusiveness. In fact, 30% of women who have left the engineering profession cite organizational climate as the main reason. To put it simply, you can’t expect any industry run by men and governed entirely by an all-male boardroom to be able to think like a woman, much less advocate for their interests. For women to feel truly welcome in STEM workplaces, they need to gain more seats at the leadership table to fill gaps that companies may often miss on their own.
How many women have leadership positions in your organization? Have your existing female employees even had a chance to break the glass ceiling, let alone crack it? Is it something that your organization has made a top priority? If you answered in the negative, you’re at risk of losing the already limited number of talented women in your organization to a more inclusive competitor, or worse, pushing them away from the field altogether. Fifty-eight percent of workers today agree that their companies don’t currently have enough growth opportunities for them to stay long-term. To get ahead of this, take a hint from California’s Silicon Valley, which just recently (and very publicly) passed a law requiring women to be on corporate boards to improve the state of women across every industry.
Aim for Female Employees to Have Longer Job Tenure
Overall, women have made tremendous strides in education and have made their impact on the national workforce in many great ways. However, it’s not the same tune in STEM-related fields, as progress continues to be slow. Although there is an uptick in engineering degrees earned by women in recent years, the ones who enter the workforce rarely stay. Only 30% of women who earn engineering degrees are still working in the industry 20 years later. Because of this, the Society of Women Engineers recently reported the number of women in engineering fields has remained stagnant for nearly two decades. There’s a multitude of layers as to why, and many women experience different hurdles depending on the STEM industry they’re in.
In order to address them, businesses will have to take an honest look at their current approach and hone their recruitment and retention strategies to encompass more diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives and weave them into their overall brand message. Companies may recruit hard and engage hard, but it won’t mean anything if they can’t attract future leaders of tomorrow.
Common themes across all workplaces play a huge role in the rate of turnover the engineering industry is facing today, and businesses would do well to keep them in mind when revamping their inclusion strategies.
Here are four considerations to think about when you’re drafting your D&I strategy.
1. Women are lacking in leadership roles. Putting a woman on your board of executives is a great first step, but the career pathways of women in your organization need to be made visible. Start by identifying and promoting worthy women employees, not just because of their gender, but because of the skills they possess and accomplishments they’ve accumulated over the years. More than half (61%) of women engineers report that they have to prove themselves repeatedly to get the same level of respect and recognition as their male colleagues.
By identifying and developing female leaders, this shows existing women in your workforce that you’re giving them the credit they deserve and that you respect them just as much as their male counterparts. Implement coed leadership-development programs with a focus on the unique experiences of each gender in the workplace. By understanding the challenges that both men and women face at work every day, comradery among the sexes will improve, and that will translate to stronger, more high-performing teams in the end. Additionally, create a program that requires women and male leadership to engage with engineering students. This can improve company morale and change the perception of female engineers in the eyes of students.
A non-inclusive workplace culture can create roadblocks that create unseen tension among employees of all sexes and hinder a team’s ability to collaborate.
2. A non-inclusive workplace culture. Let’s face it: Many engineering companies are male-dominated, which can create unwelcoming environments for women as a result. If companies are going to get serious about increasing the number of women in the workforce, and truly have an inclusive workplace, they need to make sure everyone feels welcome and included.
Making workplace culture more inclusive can be difficult considering the state of our current social climate. A recent study from Randstad US shows younger employees and male employees are generally less comfortable around the opposite sex at work, which makes sense given that discussions around sexual harassment have risen to the forefront of our public discourse. In fact, 46% of men hold negative views of movements like #MeToo and the #FeministMovement. Roadblocks like these can create unseen tension among employees of all sexes and hinder a team’s ability to collaborate.
Prevent this from happening at your workplace by creating team-building strategies and “get-to-know-you” sessions, and conduct as much business as possible in open forums so workers don’t break off into cliques. This will improve company work culture over time and help your workers feel more comfortable interacting with employees of the opposite sex.
3. Benefits and pay aren’t exactly female-friendly. This is a frequently-discussed women’s issue, and after all these years, it’s still prevalent. Women do not earn the same amount as their male counterparts. Actually, female engineers earn 10% less than their male colleagues overall. Help bridge this gap by committing to equal pay practices in your workplace. If you manage to do so successfully, your company will become a magnet for attracting the kind of diverse talent it needs to achieve its goals.
Another dynamic to consider is offering benefits that support working women. More often than not, women have to balance dedication to their jobs with dedication to their families. Some women even feel pressured to choose. For instance, in one study, more women than men reported wanting better parental leave policies (women: 22% vs. men: 14%) and better onsite childcare (women: 15% vs. men: 6%). Some can argue they are forced to choose work or family and they can’t have both, while men don’t necessarily have this added pressure.
Consider offering benefits that help to retain and engage women at career points where work-life balance becomes more complex, especially if they are valued employees. This is why it can’t be reiterated enough that women should also be a part of the conversation to see what’s valued across the aisle. It won’t necessarily be a simple answer for every employer, but in hearing other viewpoints, you can determine what works best for your organization. And it’s not just about maternity leave, either—companies should also prioritize continued learning and development programs to help female employees diversify their skills and break out of career plateaus. This will improve employee engagement and keep innovative thinkers on their toes while also helping them embark on new career journeys.
4. Lack of new talent coming through the door. We’ve heard it time and time again that stimulating the STEM talent pipeline is the answer—but what does that look like exactly? Gender roles play a major factor in societal views and this impacts how children form attitudes about the careers that they might become interested in.
Create programs where you can partner with schools—from elementary up through the college level—and show students real-world examples of what an engineer does in the manufacturing sector. A large majority of students surveyed (76%) say they don’t know a lot about what engineers do. It’s great hands-on learning for students. Witnessing male and female ambassadors from STEM backgrounds can help feed their curiosity in the field and inspire them to pursue STEM careers in the future. For young girls, seeing women represented in the industry matters significantly, considering that girls are 34% more likely than boys to say that STEM jobs are hard to understand. Seeing female ambassadors can play an important role in improving girls’ perceptions of their own capabilities when the time comes for them to choose their own careers.
Another way to challenge commonly held perceptions about engineering is to talk about what engineers do with the community. Many people outside the industry have no idea what an engineer actually does, let alone the vast amounts of STEM opportunities that are available within the manufacturing sector. Visit classrooms with employees or host a field trip to a plant. The opportunities are endless when it comes to sparking innovation and creativity in students, and the experience can leave a lasting impression on everyone involved.
“Don't just stand for the success of other women—insist on it.” - Gail Blanke
Let’s Get to Work
There’s been a lot of conversation surrounding women in STEM lately, and as Equal Pay Day (April 2) approaches, the conversation is only going to get louder. Within the past year, nearly every industry has been impacted by women and the gender issues they face. Like Gail Blanke once said, “Don't just stand for the success of other women—insist on it.” Don’t just say you’re an equal-opportunity employer; show that you are through your policies, work culture, and best practices. Only then will you nurture an environment that is conducive to both women and men. This isn’t about uplifting one to put another down, but about creating a truly equal work environment that empowers all and allows business to thrive.
Angie Keller is the senior vice president at Randstad Engineering, which specializes in the sourcing and placement of temporary and direct hire professionals in engineering, energy, utilities, petrochemical, manufacturing, information technology, and other technologies industries. Keller’s role leads sales and tenured recruiting teams within Randstad Engineering. Randstad US secures and manages a workforce of more than 100,000 people for thousands of clients each week. | <urn:uuid:8f6b0eb8-fe0f-46a1-8865-67fb94ee52b3> | {
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September 23rd, 2015
On Hugh Mangum
By Sarah Stacke
Inside or outside his photo studio, Hugh Mangum created an atmosphere—respectful and often playful— in which hundreds of men, women, and children genuinely revealed their spirits. Born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, Mangum began establishing studios and working as an itinerant photographer in the early 1890s, traveling by rail through his home state, Virginia, and West Virginia. Mangum attracted and cultivated a clientele that drew heavily from both black and white communities. Though the early-twentieth-century American South in which he worked was marked by disenfranchisement, segregation, and inequality—between black and white, men and women, rich and poor—Mangum portrayed all of his sitters with candor, humor, and spirit. Above all, he showed them as individuals, and for that, his work—largely unknown—is mesmerizing. Each client appears as valuable as the next, no story less significant.
Mangum’s life was brief, yet it encompassed momentous shifts amid a turbulent period in American history. Born in 1877, the year the Civil War’s Reconstruction period ended, Mangum died from influenza in 1922, only three years after the end of the First World War and two years after women gained the right to vote. The personalities in Mangum’s images collectively, and often majestically, symbolize the triumphs and struggles of this pivotal era.
A century after their making, Mangum’s images allow us a penetrating gaze into individual faces of the past, and in a larger sense, they offer an unusually insightful glimpse of the early-twentieth-century American South. What follows are facets of this rich collection.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, women on both sides of the color line began to dismantle the barriers that separated the male and female worlds. As the New Woman of the 1890s emerged, the terms of masculinity and femininity were questioned, causing considerable debate and self-reflection. Women claimed the right to education, found employment in positions that were previously reserved for men, and demanded the right to vote. Many women earned their own wages; some lived independently. Political, religious, educational, social, and work-related clubs, both private and public, were formed by women from all walks of life as they redefined their roles in society and as individuals.
The bicycle played a considerable role in female emancipation and subsequently in fashion, as women preferred clothing that allowed more movement. The bicycle embodied the freedom, independence, and mobility of the New Woman. In 1896, Susan B. Anthony exclaimed, “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel . . . the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
Over the course of thirty years, Mangum used several types of cameras and formats.
He often used a Penny Picture Camera, which allowed multiple and distinct exposures on a single glass plate negative. Depending on the circular or square template, one glass plate might contain anywhere from six to twenty-four images. This was ideal for creating inexpensive novelty pictures as multiple sitters could be photographed on one negative, reducing cost and labor.
Notably, the Penny Picture Camera worked in a step-and-repeat process in which the negative holder was repositioned behind the lens after each exposure. As a result, the order of the images on the negatives represents the order in which Mangum’s diverse clientele rotated through the studio, the negatives reasonably representing an afternoon or day’s work for this gregarious photographer.
There are no indications that Hugh Mangum intended his photographs to serve any political purposes, but it is likely that for many of his sitters, in fact they did. By the turn of the twentieth century, African Americans had long engaged the power of photography in order to challenge racial ideas, as well as to visually create and celebrate black identity. Mangum’s sitters used the images to emphasize accomplishments, prosperity, beauty, and individuality. They shared them with friends and made them the foundation of family photo albums, ultimately shaping their own identities and those of future generations.
Mangum lived during the same period as acclaimed black thinkers like Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Zora Neale Hurston. These were some of the most difficult years in African American history. Although there are no tidy dates separating the phases and forms of racial discrimination, the removal of federal troops at the end of Reconstruction was arguably the advent of Jim Crow laws, and lynching peaked in the 1890s. Yet at the same time Mangum was making portraits, members of the black community were building on the strength of their own values and institutions, and cultivating resistance to laws and customs that excluded them.
During Mangum’s lifetime he likely exposed thousands of glass plate negatives. Most of them were destroyed through benign neglect after his death or are now lost, as were almost all records of the names and dates associated with them. The images that survived—nearly eight hundred glass plate negatives—were salvaged from the tobacco pack house where Mangum built his first darkroom. For decades, the negatives caught the droppings of chickens and other creatures living in the pack house. Today they are in various states of an ongoing deterioration; even the most controlled environment cannot halt the creeping decay. The effect can be poetic, adding a layer of meaning to the image that would otherwise be absent. Some plates are broken and on others the emulsion is peeling away, but the hundreds of vibrant personalities in the photographs prevail, engaging our emotions, intellect, and imagination.
Sarah Stacke is writing a book about Hugh Mangum’s life and work.
All images courtesy of Hugh Mangum Photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Books & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Contemporary reprints by Sarah Stacke. | <urn:uuid:960185bb-bc00-4fe8-992f-3ae174c2dedd> | {
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Biofuel crops bring biodiversity benefits
19 March 2009 by Tom Marshall
Planting crops for biofuel could improve biodiversity in the British countryside as well as helping soften the impact of human carbon dioxide emissions, according to new research.
Harvesting miscanthus grass
The paper, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests that crops like coppiced willow or miscanthus grass can support more wild species than traditional arable crops, particularly in the uncultivated margins around the edges of fields.
These fast-growing crops are grown to be burned in biomass power stations; because this emits only the carbon that the plants absorbed while they were growing, advocates say it could offer a long-term source of carbon-neutral energy.
And there's plenty of room for them in Britain. The UK government has been pushing for more biomass crops to wean Britain off its dependence on fossil fuels. It wants farmers to plant these crops on 1·1 million hectares of land by 2020, compared to just 7500 hectares at the moment.
That target is achievable without seriously affecting our ability to grow food, the researchers say. In all they identified 3·1 million hectares of land that would be suitable, though some of this is on lower grade agricultural land being used to grow food at present so converting all of it to biomass could cause conflict.
This potentially suitable land makes up 39 per cent of the land area of the east midlands and 17 per cent of the south-west - the former region was seen as particularly suitable because of factors like its flatter countryside and smaller areas of landscape classed as sensitive.
The crops could be mixed with traditional arable crops to provide a more varied set of wildlife habitats. "Our research suggests it could be possible to place energy crops within an arable landscape and use them as sources of biodiversity," says Dr Alison Haughton, an ecologist at Rothamsted Research and lead author of the paper.
The researchers tested 16 commercial fields of coppiced willow and 16 of miscanthus grass for biodiversity, measured using indicators like the number of butterflies found in field margins and of other plants growing in the planted area itself. They compared these results with similar measurements taken around 255 arable fields devoted to a variety of crops.
Biofuels and wildlife
They found more butterflies around both crops than around arable fields - on average 60 per cent more in the miscanthus plots, and 132 per cent more around the willow plantations.
There were some exceptions to this pattern, though - for example, butterflies of the family Pieridae, which includes species like the Small White, were less common around both biomass crops. On the other hand, butterflies of the family Satyrinae, which includes the Gatekeeper butterfly, were 370 per cent more numerous around miscanthus and a remarkable 620 per cent more numerous around willow.
Interestingly, despite the magnitude of these percentage differences, additional unpublished analyses show that the difference in total abundance of butterflies between the two biomass crops was not significant - both offer an advantage over arable crops.
Some of the unpublished evidence suggests willow might be a better bet for encouraging biodiversity in Britain than miscanthus grass - for one thing, it is a native tree rather than a type of grass from Asia, and so might be expected to support a larger community of other species.
When the abundance of broadleaf plants was counted, willow and miscanthus supported similar numbers within the crop itself immediately after planting, but the willow pulled ahead once both had become established and had many more broadleaf plants. On the other hand, there was no discernible difference in the number of grasses found in the midst of either crop.
Haughton explains that the team has done more analyses since this study to test the hypothesis that perennial weeds, which persist year after year, should become more common in plantations of willow, which is harvested every 2-3 years, than in miscanthus, which is harvested annually and so is disturbed more frequently. The tests confirmed this hypothesis; annual plants, by contrast, were found in similar numbers in both crops.
Part of these plants' biodiversity benefits may arise because they require less disturbance of the ground than most arable crops, which need annual ploughing and harvesting. This means biomass crops give wild plants and animals a more stable environment.
Sounding out the public
Another part of the study used interviews with the general public to find out their views of biomass planting and its effect on the countryside. Researchers at the University of East Anglia showed the interviewees computer visualisations of biomass crops in different situations and asked what they thought.
In general people were very supportive of biomass crops, though they tended to prefer small blocks of plantings interspersed with other crops rather than vast areas devoted to a single biomass crop. They also seemed to prefer the idea of small local power stations so that lorries of biomass don't have to travel long distances to bring the fuel to where it will be used.
There were some concerns about having a biomass power station nearby, but sensible planting can help address this - Haughton says biomass plants themselves could effectively conceal such a station. "People did have some objections but the problems aren't insurmountable - there is lots of potential to site crops to get round these issues," she explains.
She explains that the team is now planning further investigations into topics like how the distribution and diversity of annual and perennial weeds differs between arable and biomass crops, how big fields of biomass crops should be to maximise biodiversity, and whether butterflies or something else are the best indicator of biodiversity in arable and biomass crops.
Another question she hopes to investigate is how big the uncultivated margin around a field should be, and how it should be managed. Yet another is how management of the crop could be manipulated to improve the biodiversity benefits of miscanthus plantations to a level comparable with coppiced willow.
The study was a collaboration between scientists at Rothamsted Research, the University of East Anglia, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Exeter.
It comes out of the £24m Rural Economy & Land Use (RELU) programme, which aims to draw together research across different disciplines to understand the social, economic, environmental and technological challenges that rural areas face.
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News release from The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
As the warm weather continues, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is issuing advice about how to stay safe in and around water.
Traditionally, the number of accidental drownings peaks during spells of warm weather, particularly when the warm conditions coincide with weekends, school holidays and national celebrations.
RoSPA's advice particularly covers inland waters, such as rivers, lakes, lochs, quarries and reservoirs, which are the most common locations for accidental drownings throughout the year. Figures from the National Water Safety Forum show that in 2010, 420 people died from accidents or natural causes in water across the UK, and, of these, more than half (217) died as a result of incidents in inland waters.
RoSPA believes that leisure should be "as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible", and the accident prevention charity is keen that families get out and about to enjoy the outdoors during the summer. To enable them to have fun and stay safe, RoSPA has put together the following water safety tips:
- Swimming at properly-supervised sites, such as beaches, lidos or swimming pools, is best, although RoSPA appreciates that not everyone can go to these locations
- If you choose to go to an unsupervised site, think through the hazards first and ensure you know what to do if something goes wrong
- Among the hazards to consider are that water can be a lot colder than you are expecting so be careful if you jump in or go for a swim to cool off. Also, there may be strong currents and underwater debris that you cannot see from the bank
- Before you get into the water, consider how you are going to get out again
- Be honest about your swimming ability
- Remember that alcohol and swimming never mix
- Parents and carers: discuss the hazards with your children and remind them that children should never swim alone at unsupervised locations.
David Walker, RoSPA's leisure safety manager, said: "RoSPA's advice is to swim at properly-supervised sites, such as lifeguarded beaches, lidos or swimming pools. However, we appreciate that not everyone can get to these locations and understand the temptation to go swimming in inland waters like rivers and lakes, especially during warm weather.
"Among the hazards to consider at inland waters are that, even on a hot day, water can be a lot colder than you are expecting and there may be strong currents and underwater debris. As well as considering physical hazards like these, it's really important to be honest about your ability to look after yourself and others around you."
See RoSPA's Water Safety for Children and Young People factsheet - www.rospa.com/leisuresafety/adviceandinformation/watersafety/watersafety-children-young-people.aspx - for more safety tips and advice about rescuing someone who gets into difficulty in water. | <urn:uuid:fdf1b66b-033b-47c0-aeab-4d2c42e0324b> | {
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How neighborhoods shape life with diabetes
By Reuters Health
People with diabetes who live in poor communities with limited access to exercise facilities or grocery stores may have a harder time managing their symptoms than diabetics living in more affluent areas, a U.S. study suggests.
Communities with lower employment, income and education that have scant resources to support exercise and healthy eating have long been linked to an increased risk of developing diabetes. For the current study, however, researchers focused on 15,308 patients who already had diabetes to see if their neighborhoods might impact how well they lived with the disease.
Still, the findings add to the evidence that it can be much harder for patients in poor neighborhoods with limited resources to manage diabetes and other chronic diseases.
“It might be that those with worse pre-existing disease or risk moved to this poorer neighborhood,” said Dr. Rita Hamad, a researcher at the University of California San Francisco who wasn’t involved in the study.
“That means the neighborhood isn’t causing their worse diabetes; they already were at risk because of personal characteristics,” Hamad said by email.
Read More: Reuters.com
Link to the Study: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2017/12/15/dc17-1200
Usually shortened to just diabetes. Sometimes called sugar diabetes. Look at Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes for more informationSugarScience Glossary
Diseases which last months or years, do not go away on their own, and are usually managed and not cured. For the first time in history diseases that are not caused by infection (non-communicable diseases) are causing more injury and death worldwide than are those caused by infection. In the US this has been true for decades but the rest of the world is catching up as our diet and lifestyle are becoming more common globally.SugarScience Glossary | <urn:uuid:0c0d9d13-bc34-47f1-ad6a-efb22e5980d5> | {
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There are seven species of sea turtle, the largest and rarest being the leatherback. The shell or carapace can grow 8 feet (2.4 m) long and the entire turtle can grow to 9 feet (2.7 m) long.
There are distinct differences in the shells of each of the species of sea turtle. Most often you can tell by the arrangement of scute design. These are bony plates arranged on the head and shell of the turtles. The leatherback is different from the other sea turtles. The shell of the leatherback is dark brown or black and designed with hundreds of bony plates that are covered with a rubbery, leathery skin. There are yellow or white spots on the leatherback’s throat and on the flippers of the young turtles. The leatherback turtle does not have incrustations of barnacles like many other sea turtles. Scientists have discovered this may be due to the oily skin of this reptile.
The habitat of sea turtles is mostly warm, tropical water. Their range is from the Gulf to the Atlantic, South America, Northern Europe, and in the Pacific Ocean as well. Some sea turtles such as the green turtle like shallow water where it can find a great abundance of food. Sea turtles are fast swimmers underwater. They must surface to breathe but can stay underwater for up to five hours.
The female sea turtle will come to shore to lay her eggs. The site is called a rookery. She will dig a hole in the sand using all four flippers. When she has her pit excavated, she will lay approximately 100 eggs and then cover them up. She will then hide the nest by flipping sand all around the site. When satisfied, she will make her way back to the sea. She will return to the beach several times each season to lay another clutch of eggs. It takes two to four months for the baby turtles to hatch.
The hatchling is approximate 2-3/4 inches (7 cm) when born. They dig to the surface of the sand and instinctively make their way to the sea. This is a very dangerous journey because of predators such as birds, man, and dogs. It has been estimated that only 2 out of the 100 young will survive the first year.
Most of the adult sea turtles feed on sea grass and algae. The young turtles feed on salpa, jellyfish, sea snails, and other soft-bodied animals. Their jaws can cut through the toughest vegetation or animal.
Sea turtles expel salt from their body by a gland near their eyes. Tears secreted from the gland make the turtle look sad and they were nicknamed the crying turtle.
Chelonia • Dermochelidae
Weight: 80 to 1,900 pounds (36–860 kg)
Length: 23 inches to 9 feet (58 cm–2.7 m)
Life Span: 40 to 50 years
Special Design Feature: The sea turtle cries tears to keep its eyes bathed with saltwater while laying eggs out of the sea.
Did You Know? Sea turtles can stay underwater for up to five hours. | <urn:uuid:0f508841-9508-4e3b-a5b4-900795ae7917> | {
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If you just want to test yourself on the basic information in the course, these could be useful. Each time you take and score a practice test, you should also do an evaluation of your mistakes that will inform your studying going forward.
Were there specific content areas where you missed a significant number of questions? Notice which questions gave you the most trouble and why.
Try not to spend more than a minute on each multiple-choice question. Did you have trouble interpreting and analyzing scenarios on the test even though you knew the background information?
This book of practice questions is also useful because the questions faithfully replicate the new design of the test. That means an hour and thirty minutes for each section. Try to find similar problems in your textbook, review book, or online so that you can practice your skills.
These questions are at the end of the section, and they will probably take you longer to solve than most multiple-choice questions. You should also print out the test so that you take it in the right format. There are many sites with AP Bio practice questions available.
Learning Express Question and Question Practice Tests These are a couple more old-format multiple-choice tests with answers included at the end. Just be wary of major differences in your scores from test to test so that you can accurately assess your readiness for the final. How to Use AP Biology Practice Tests This section is full of all the advice you need to follow to use AP Biology practice tests effectively during both your first and second semesters in the class.
Use the short reading period to look over all eight free-response questions and see which ones will be easiest for you to tackle. Make a ton of careless mistakes? Learn more about how AP credit works in college. You should also check out my complete AP Biology review guide for more advice on how you can use online resources to study specific units of the course.
Tests have the same number of questions as the real multiple-choice section. There are no free-response questions.
The remedy for this is more practice. Have a calculator on hand as well.In this article, I'll list all the practice tests for AP Biology that you can find online and give you a few tips on how to use them effectively as study aids for both the AP test and any in-class tests you have throughout the school year.
AP Biology Course and Exam Description—June This is the core document for this course. It clearly lays out the course content and describes the exam and the AP Program in general. Start studying AP BIO essays.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Advanced Placement Biology.
you may wish to visit the University of Georgia AP Biology web site. Advanced Placement Biology - The official AP Biology site at the College Board. AP Biology at Aragon HS - Links to many interesting biology sites.
Recent Essay Questions and Standards.
This edition includes changes to the AP Biology Curriculum Framework, which are the result of review by the AP Biology community and the AP Biology Development Committee, in conjunction with ETS test. (KAR) and trimethylbutenolides (TMB) are water-soluble compounds found in smoke that are deposited in the soil as a result of a fire.
KAR and TMB bind to receptor proteins in a seed.Download | <urn:uuid:cfdfb62e-a9c4-4b0a-9a54-d92e66446d97> | {
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Linum lewisii. This drought tolerant perennial forms clumps of tall, slender stems with narrow, inconspicuous leaves. The plants are crowned with clusters of lovely, pale blue, cup-shaped flowers. Use Lewis Flax in xeriscaping schemes or in larger containers – it is hardy and durable. Plants grow to around 90cm (36″) tall and bloom from mid to late summer. The stems make an interesting and airy touch to flower arrangements. This plant is often used for erosion control and its seed capsules are attractive to wild birds. All flax varieties can become established in the right conditions by spreading their seeds. However, they do not spread by rhizomes and are not considered noxious or weedy. | <urn:uuid:f18fec0f-16b0-40d6-bf8f-742ff5ed758e> | {
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The Making Of Kong (1933)
From American Heritage.com comes THIS ARTICLE by Tom Huntington all about the people behind the 1933, 'KING KONG', and how it was made:
Even before it was made, the original King Kong was becoming a legend. “Because of the highly secret methods of filming used, the picture is being made on a closed stage and admittance is strictly forbidden,” read a notice at RKO Studio in the summer of 1932. The studio’s head of production was David O. Selznick; his assistant, Merian C. Cooper, was running Production 601. “I knew they were making something,” remembered the director George Cukor. “I would see them making it for what seemed like years and years, and we thought, dear old Coop, he’s making this preposterous picture."Read the complete article HERE. | <urn:uuid:f6cabea2-7baa-48d5-abc0-d84377538a91> | {
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This book explains the origin and the meaning of the names of Scotland?s hills, as well as how to pronounce them. It also brings together many of the legends and stories behind particular hill names. A thoroughly researched, completely revised and expanded second edition which builds on the success of its predecessor - Scottish Hill and Mountain Names. Many new names are detailed, including a significantincrease in the coverage of Borders hill names and old forms of many hill names from 17th and 18th century maps brought to bear in explanations. The hills of Scotland are a significant part of the landscape and the names of these hills reflect the rich social and cultural history of Scotland over the past 500 years and all who have been there. These names are alegacy of the past and this book opens the door to this fascinating world.
This book is a resource covering the finest walks, treks and climbs to be found in Scotland, written by an award-winning author. From the rolling hills of the Southern Uplands to the great granite plateaus of the Cairngorms to the jagged peaks of Torridon and the Cuillin hills on the Isle of Skye, Scotland has a rich variety of wild landscapes and terrain that is perfect for many activities. Scotland's lochs, forests and rivers offer spectacular scenery and a tranquility that visitors embrace time and time again. Author Chris Townsend was the first person to complete a continuous round of all the Scottish Munros and Tops. He has also walked across the Scottish mountains from coast to coast 14 times, and has served as the President of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland. With superb photography and an exceptional level of detail throughout, this book is an ideal all-embracing guide for the mountain adventurer.
An adventure across a thousand miles of Scotland's mountains. In this personal guide to the triumphs, hardships and perils of scaling the Munros, Landsberg brings the joys and pitfalls of hill-climbing to life. Landsberg's adventures are presented in vivid detail, with insights ranging from encompassing the wonder of unique experiences like seeing the birth of a deer to the mundane delight of the flavour of sandwich he had on a given day. Throughout his account, Landsberg provides an in-depth insight into his growing obsession with climbing the Munroes and its effect on his physical, emotional and spiritual development. With insights on the history, culture, ecology and geology of Scotland's mountains and guides to Gaelic place names, mountain safety and an analysis the science of walking, this book provides a complete guide for anyone looking for adventure in the Highlands, and is sure to inspire anyone who reads it to go climb a rock!ExcerptOne day I walked into these mountains, and I never came all the way back. For though Scotland's mountains may not be the highest in the world, they are certainly amongst the most awe-inspiring and enchanting. From the towering pinnacles of Skye, to the high rolling plateau of the Cairngorms; from the bonnie braes of Ben Lomond to the weeping cliffs of Glencoe; from the rocky battlements that encircle Loch Arkaig, to the gentle folds of Ben Lawers as it spills down to Loch Tay: here are offered scenes of unrivalled splendour, landscapes of unparalleled variety, and a magic ground for personal connection, inspiration, and transformation. These are places of accessible adventure - we leave behind the safety of the lush glen to cross the swooping moor, clamber up through craggy corridors, and with silver chuckling burn then spatey cascade as our sometime guide we reach at last the grand summits of these lands. Here beneath a hundred rainbows lie a hundred pots of gold - unclaimed scenic ingots that are yours for the taking and to which I hope to lead you, on a journey for body, for mind, and perhaps for something deeper.
The Cairngorms: A Secret History is a series of journeys exploring barely known human and natural stories of the Cairngorm Mountains. It looks at a unique British landscape, its last great wilderness, with new eyes. History combines with travelogue in a vivid account of this elemental scenery. There have been rare human incursions into the Cairngorm plateau, and Patrick Baker tracks them down. He traces elusive wildlife and relives ghostly sightings on the summit of Ben Macdui. From the search for a long-forgotten climbing shelter and the locating of ancient gem mines, to the discovery of skeletal aircraft remains and the hunt for a mysterious nineteenth-century aristocratic settlement, he seeks out the unlikeliest and most interesting of features in places far off the beaten track. The cultural and human impact of this stunning landscape and reflections on the history of mountaineering are the threads which bind this compelling narrative together.
Author: Carole Hough
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date: 2016-05-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
In this handbook, scholars from around the world offer an up-to-date account of the state of the art in different areas of onomastics, in a format that is both useful to specialists in related fields and accessible to the general reader. All known languages make use of names, most commonly to identify individual people and places. Since Ancient Greece, names have been regarded as central to the study of language, and this has continued to be a major theme of both philosophical and linguistic enquiry throughout the history of Western thought. The investigation of name origins is more recent, as is the study of names in literature. Relatively new is the study of names in society, which draws on techniques from sociolinguistics and has gradually been gathering momentum over the last few decades. The structure of this volume reflects the emergence of the main branches of name studies, in roughly chronological order. The first Part focuses on name theory and outlines key issues about the role of names in language, focusing on grammar, meaning, and discourse. Parts II and III deal with the study of place-names and personal names respectively, while Part IV outlines contrasting approaches to the study of names in literature, with case studies from different languages and time periods. Part V explores the field of socio-onomastics, with chapters relating to the names of people, places, and commercial products. Part VI then examines the interdisciplinary nature of name studies, before the concluding Part presents a selection of animate and inanimate referents ranging from aircraft to animals, and explains the naming strategies adopted for them.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Scotland is a comprehensive, illustrated reference guide to Scotland. It presents an overview of the country in a wide perspective: its varied landscapes, towns and their buildings, its past and present, and above all its people, their occupations and pastimes. This encyclopedia also provides an illustrated portrait of Scotland now and in the past, covering history, the arts, industry, science, commerce, medicine, sport, politics, religion, architecture and popular culture. The aim of this encyclopedia is to give a wide range of information in an accessible form. Many topics are given extended entries, such as the main cities, the clans, the Enlightenment, language, the law, parliament, golf and whisky. Entries are cross-referenced, and each topic has been researched and reviewed by experts in their field. For additional information there is a list of further reading, lists of Scottish festivals and societies, and maps indicating the changes to local government boundaries both in 1975 and in 1996.
Author: David Mills
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Release Date: 2011-10-20
Includes a representative selection of some 17,000 major place-names from the whole of the British Isles: England, Scotland and the Scottish islands, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
This one-of-a-kind encyclopedia shines a spotlight on more than 200 animals and their wondrous fleece. Profiling a worldwide array of fiber-producers that includes northern Africa’s dromedary camel, the Navajo churro, and the Tasmanian merino, Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson include photographs of each animal’s fleece at every stage of the handcrafting process, from raw to cleaned, spun, and woven. The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook is an artist’s handbook, travel guide, and spinning enthusiast’s ultimate reference source all in one. | <urn:uuid:f7d22218-c2cb-4925-b153-bb9c1230628a> | {
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It's the new year, 2013, and I will start it with some sort of "hardcore skeptic bashing".
Needless to say, it's not the first time when you can read a text on this blog that could be described in this way. Your humble correspondent is balanced when it comes to the catching of mistakes spread by "alarmists" as well as "skeptics", "believers" as well as "infidels", and so on.
The glass greenhouses resemble the greenhouse effect in the sense that they make it harder for the heat to escape. However, the methods to achieve so are different. The greenhouse mechanically stops convection; the greenhouse effect reduces the escaping thermal radiation by absorption and re-emission of some of it downwards.
Roy Spencer wrote the following text today:
In reality, the greenhouse effect doesn't depend on the sunlight at all. Also, as Spencer says, it would work even if the atmosphere were absorbing the visible (solar) radiation more proactively than the infrared (thermal) radiation from the Earth.
The wrong idea that the sunlight is essential for the greenhouse effect is actually widespread – and some slightly misguided and mixed-up popular presentations of the greenhouse effect (in movies, perhaps on both sides) may be blamed for this situation. The first Google hit I get for greenhouse effect definition is the free dictionary.com and it also says that it's essential for the Earth to allow the incoming light to get through.
Let me reformulate Spencer's six basic "corrections of generally popular misconceptions" in my words:
- Greenhouse effect requires a warm surface but the origin of the heat may be arbitrary, e.g. geothermal, not necessarily solar. This differs from the popular delusion that the sunlight has to be there to drive the essential processes in the greenhouse effect.
- To determine the temperature at a given place, one must consider both incoming and outgoing energy. At thermal equilibrium, these fluxes (in the opposite directions) are equal. This contrasts with the general misconception that only the incoming energy matters.
- Entropy still increases, in agreement with the second law of thermodynamics, despite the preserved increased temperature difference. The usual misconception seems to assume that the thermal exchange has to lead to the equal temperatures everywhere (higher entropy) – and this thermal exchange becomes stronger when we add the infrared absorption etc. However, in reality, significant temperature differences may be created with a tiny flow of energy per second as long as the energy loss is even smaller i.e. as long as you insulate the surface well enough which is what the greenhouse effect does.
- Infrared absorption rate and infrared emission rate are almost always (for each layer of the air) very different from one another. This contrasts with some (mainly) skeptics' incorrect idea of a perfect balance. When you derive the rates, they're different because the emission rate grows with the fourth power of the absolute temperature while the absorption rate doesn't. What the absorption rate may depend upon is the amount of radiation around which may depend on the fourth power of the layer that emitted the heat which is mostly a hotter layer (closer to the surface) – that's really why the absorption mostly wins. Also, you can't derive the equality between the two rates from equilibrium because there are many other terms (convection etc.) that must be added to the budget when you demand that the budget is balanced. The infrared radiation-related terms don't have to cancel and usually don't cancel by themselves.
- Radiation going up and radiation going down from a layer aren't equal, either. This is a similar point as the previous one. The emission of radiation mostly depends on the "last molecules" on the surface and their temperature and the molecules at the top of a thin layer are slightly cooler due to the lapse rate (note that the temperature outside the flying aircraft is chilly) which means that in this discipline, the radiation going downwards slightly wins again. Despite Roy Spencer's explanation of the origin of the asymmetry, the first commenter Docmartyn seems to pretend that he hasn't seen any explanation.
- The existence of the lapse rate requires the greenhouse effect by itself. In the previous points, I suggested the point that the lapse rate is a necessary condition for the asymmetries that allow the greenhouse effect to operate. Once the greenhouse effect operates, it increases the insulation of the surface which means that the lapse rate becomes even larger. But the opposite causal relationship holds, too. There wouldn't be any lapse rate to start with – no cooling with the altitude – if there were no greenhouse gases (mostly water wapor) in the atmosphere. The lapse rate is close to the adiabatic one which arises because the colder air at higher altitudes is heavier (at the same pressure) so it drops down, shrinks (because the pressure is higher at lower attitudes), and heats up (squeezing a gas makes it hotter). But you see that this mechanism only works if the air at higher altitudes is actually colder then the air near the surface – and the greenhouse-effect-induced heating from the surface up is a necessary condition.
The skeptics mentioned in the previous paragraph make the right first step – to question and look for possible symmetry arguments and related arguments that could imply that the overall effect (the strength of the would-be greenhouse effect) is obliged to be zero. Some of them think that they have found such arguments but all such arguments are ultimately wrong even though one could argue that the reasons why these arguments are wrong are somewhat subtle. In some sense, you could say that the necessary asymmetries (pre-requisites) for the greenhouse effect resemble Sakharov's conditions for baryogenesis – and Sakharov had to be pretty smart to realize that they're necessary and (in principle, if you don't care about the magnitude) sufficient.
Now, every effect that can't be proved to be zero (by symmetry arguments etc.) is guaranteed to be nonzero; particle physicists call this rule "Gell-Mann's totalitarian principle" (everything that isn't forbidden is mandatory: I remember pre-1989 Czechoslovakia, too).
Still, I find it a bit frustrating that almost all the comments on Spencer's blog show the commenters' lack of understanding of the basic physical mechanisms here. Some people say that Spencer hasn't explained the origin of the downward/upward radiation asymmetry – he has. Other people claim that the greenhouse gases reduce the insulating ability of the atmosphere – the truth is the opposite. And there are lots of comments that just uncritically repeat variations of some of the "symmetry myths".
Commenter Nullius in Verba claims that the lapse rate could exist even without the greenhouse gases because of the Hadley cells. This claim is still wrong but it is really, really subtle. I think that the relevant comment here is that even the existence of the Hadley cell circulation depends on the assumption that the temperature of the air depends on the altitude – that's why the winds have altitude-dependent velocities (including direction). One needs a pre-existing lapse rate again and the greenhouse gases – heating from the surface – is necessary for that, too. Quite generally, the temperature's dependence on the latitude is thousands of times smaller than the dependence on the altitude so it would be strange to imagine that the latter is "caused" by the former. The vertical gradients are primary and they're caused directly by the (mostly) "vertical" (mostly) radiation effects – solar radiation and the greenhouse effect. The lapse rate already enters as a pre-existing condition to any sensible derivation of the Hadley cells. Another argument: you may ask how high the troposphere (with the lapse rate) is – i.e. where is its upper boundary, the tropopause. You will find out that the tropopause is determined by a balance between the downward (solar) radiation and the upward (mostly thermal) radiation and without the greenhouse effect, the tropopause would drop to the surface, a flaw that no Hadley cells could really "lift".
Finally, I find it sort of necessary to add the disclaimer that the existence of the greenhouse effect – something that has been known to physics since the 1824 arguments by Joseph Fourier – is extremely far from having any evidence that any dangerous climate change is behind the corner. What's important is how strong these effects are. We find out that the water vapor in the atmosphere is responsible for roughly 30 °C of warming near the Earth's surface while all other greenhouse gases may add 3-5 °C or so.
All these gases are contributors to the normal climate we know and love and hate, depending on the weather and our mood. If you want to study the temperature changes due to changes of the greenhouse gases, you find out that the concentration of the main contributor – water vapor – may be changing and these changes may be important for the regional climate change etc. but there's no reason to expect any trend or our contribution to this trend because the average global water vapor concentration in the air tends to quickly return to the equilibrium that is dictated mainly by the temperature. And the changes of the non-water greenhouse gases lead to pretty much negligible changes of the temperature – probably well below one Celsius degree since the beginning of the industrial revolution.
As we often say, the question whether the carbon dioxide may have a substantial effect depends on the existence of large positive feedbacks – that would amplify the "bare effect" 3 times or 5 times or more. The overall feedbacks are almost certainly not positive and large, at least not this large. I have presented tons of arguments over the years. Let me offer you a simple new one. If the greenhouse effect were amplified by a brutal multiplicative coefficient, this amplification would probably apply to the greenhouse effect caused by water, too. But the bare greenhouse effect caused by the actual water vapor in the atmosphere may be shown to be close to 30 °C and we may empirically exclude that the greenhouse effect from water adds 100 or 150 °C. So we may apparently rule out a 3-fold or 5-fold amplification of the CO2 greenhouse effect, too. | <urn:uuid:0ad76e76-ec6b-4a66-83a6-f79ff98beb0e> | {
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Volumetric analysis is a practical approach towards accurate measurement of concentration, molecular mass, purity percentage, formula of compounds, percentage composition of an element and stoichiometry of a chemical equation. It involves 3 important techniques. The first one is the use of apparatus like burette, pipette and volumetric flasks. These are specially made to offer the highest degree of accuracy. The second aspect is the use of balance in weighing. Most balances come with a minimum and a maximum range – both in terms of weight measured and decimal places correctly reported. The third aspect is the use of appropriate indicators.
Volumetric analysis can further be classified into 3 techniques depending on the nature of reactions:
Acid-Base titrations which involve the reaction of an acid and a base.
Redox titrations which includes redox reaction between analyte and titrant as the key reaction.
Complexometric titration which involves the formation of a coloured complex compound.
- Volumetric analysis depends on the use of accurate apparatus like burette, pipette and volumetric flasks.
- Accurate weighing of substances is the key to accurate results.
- Indicators are often required for establishing the end-point in a volumetric analysis.
- Acid-Base titrations, Redox titrations and Complexometric titrations are the major techniques in volumetric analysis.
Essential terms for volumetric analysis
In order to carry out accurate and precise volumetric analyses, one needs to know the following terms associated with it:
- MOLARITY: “The number of gram moles of a solute dissolved per liter of solution”.
Molarity (M) = Wsolute/Msolute × 1/Vsovent (L)
Where, Msolute = Gram molecular weight of solute.
- MOLALITY: “The number of moles of the substance dissolved in 1kg of the solvent”.
Molality (m) = Wsolute/Msolute × 1/Wsovent (Kg)
- NORMALITY: “The number of gram equivalents of the substance dissolved per liter of the solution.
Normality = Wsolute/Esolute × 1/Vsovent (L)
Where, Esolute = Gram equivalent weight of solute.
- TITRATION: “The procedure of ascertaining the volume of one solution essential to react entirely with a definite volume of another solution of known concentration”.
- TITRANT: “The solution of known concentration (strength)”.
- TITRATE: “The solution whose concentration (strength) to be ascertained”.
- INDICATOR: “The reagent which specifies the endpoint or equivalent point of the titration”.
Apparatus and essential reagents
Volumetric analysis is always performed with solutions made with distilled or deionized water.
Volumetric analysis requires highly accurate graduated apparatus like burette, pipette, graduated flasks etc. which should be rinsed properly with distilled or deionized water. These must not contain any contaminants and must not be rinsed with hot water. Hot solutions should not be used for measurement with burette or pipettes.
Burette is used to deliver accurate volumes of liquid within its range. Before using the burette, it must be checked against presence of any air bubble within the liquid. Burette can be read up to two decimal places and the normal convention is to read the lower meniscus for clear liquids/ solutions and upper meniscus for dark colored solutions/ liquids.
A pipette can be used to draw a definite volume of liquid and transfer it to the conical flask/ beaker etc. The liquid should be allowed to drain out from the pipette on its own and some portion remains inside it which should be drained out by touching the tip of the pipette to the mouth of the conical flask/ beaker. The most important thing to notice is that one should never blow the liquid that remains.
Graduated flask (Volumetric flask) is used to prepare solutions of known strength.
Indicators are used to determine the end points i.e. the completion of reaction. Most of the titrations require external indicators for detecting the end points which essentially means the change in pH of the system. Some of the common examples of indicators are:
Phenolphthalein for strong acid vs strong base reactions.
Methyl orange for strong acid vs weak base reactions.
Starch for titrations involving iodine and thiosulfate.
Potassium chromate and fluorescein for Silver nitrate titrations.
Many non-acid-base titrations require the maintenance of a constant pH throughout the titration and in such cases, buffer solutions may be used for the purpose.
After the experimental part is done, the results are calculated using the volume of reactant consumed. The amount of analyte is determined using the formula:
Ca = Ct Vt M / Va
Ca is the concentration of analyte, expressed in molarity.
Ct is the concentration of titrant, expressed in molarity.
Vt is the consumed volume of the titrant, expressed in liters.
M is the molar ratio of the analyte versus the reactant, obtained from the balanced chemical equation.
Va is the pipetted out volume of the analyte, expressed in liters.
- Modern Abc Chemistry by Dr. S.P. Jauhar | <urn:uuid:8ff42c28-5f38-4dd5-9ff6-f07a1b0681ea> | {
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MARCH 8, 2018 | INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY | NATIONAL OREGON DAY | NATIONAL PEANUT CLUSTER DAY | NATIONAL PROOFREADING DAY
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
International Women’s Day is observed annually on March 8th. This global day celebrates the cultural, political, social and economic achievements of women. The day also brings international awareness to gender parity. According to the World Economic Forum, global gender equality is estimated to be achieved by 2133.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Organize or participate in a Pledge For Parity, #PledgeForParity, campaign. More information can be found at this website. There are also many events going on worldwide. Use #InternationalWomensDay when posting on Social Media.
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. www.internationalwomensday.com
International Women’s Day origins can be traced back to the early 1900’s. Find out more about the history of the day by visiting InternationalWomensDay.com
NATIONAL OREGON DAY
On March 8, National Oregon Day recognizes the 33rd state to join the union.
Also known as The Beaver State, Oregon’s climate enjoys the warm Pacific air west of the Cascade Mountains and in the lush Willamette Valley. More extreme temperature ranges are experienced in Oregon’s high desert.
Populations of Nez Perce, Chinook, Mollalla, and others settled along the Columbia River Gorge, Klamath Basin, and points east. Many of the first European explorers to arrive sought the elusive Northwest Passage
The Corps of Discovery Expedition followed the Colombia River Gorge, reaching the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805. They would winter at Ft. Clatsop. Soon, pioneers would follow along what would become the Oregon Trail.
The gorge was created from volcanic lava flows and glacial floods. Windsurfers flock to the Columbia due to the powerful, steady winds off of the Cascade Mountains. Kayaking, biking, hiking, skiing and many other outdoor adventures can be found up and down the Gorge, but its icy crown is Mt. Hood. The Stratovolcano’s last eruption occurred in 1865 and was named after Lord Samuel Hood.
South along the Cascade Range, a sleeping volcano forms the mysterious Crater Lake. A well-planned hike along the trails to the remote brilliant, blue waters of the deepest lake in the U.S. is worth the effort. The pristine volcano is a wonder to see. Eastern Oregon takes on the color of a sunset in the undulating Painted Hills near Mitchell.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Explore all the wonders of Oregon! Join National Day Calendar as we celebrate the 33rd state’s history, people and culture. Uncover hidden treasures and explore Oregon’ diverse landscapes! Use #NationalOregonDay to share on social media.
NATIONAL PEANUT CLUSTER DAY
March 8th is National Peanut Cluster Day! Melted chocolate mixed with peanuts make a perfect combination for a sweet and salty deliciousness!
Two things had to happen for peanut clusters to even exist. First, a method had to be invented for the cocoa bean to be processed and transformed into what we know as chocolate. That process wasn’t widely used until about the late 1890s and just about the same time the second extraordinary thing happened; agriculture found a way to grow the peanut and bring it to the public with steal tools and steam power.
It didn’t take long for confectioneries to add the now readily available peanuts to melted chocolate. The sheer simplicity of the salty peanuts added to sweetened chocolate is a mouthwatering temptation few can resist, even today.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Peanut clusters are an easy to make snack that can be ready in just minutes. Melt the chocolate. Add the peanuts and stir them together. Drop them by spoonfuls into a “cluster” on waxed paper or foil and let them harden and then ENJOY!! Remember to share! Use #PeanutClusterDay to post on social media.
Within our research, we were unable to identify the creator of National Peanut Cluster Day.
NATIONAL PROOFREADING DAY
National Proofreading Day is observed each year on March 8th. This day was created to bring awareness to the importance of proofreading.
National Proofreading Day promotes mistake-free writing. Carefully review all your letters and documents to make a positive and professional impression.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Be sure to proofread anything you write and use #NationalProofreadingDay to post on social media.
National Proofreading Day was created by Corporate Trainer Judy Beaver. March 8, her mother’s birthday, was chosen to honor her and her love of correcting people.
About National Day Calendar
National Day Calendar™ is the authoritative source for fun, unusual and unique National Days! Since our humble beginnings on National Popcorn Day in 2013, we now track nearly 1,500 National Days, National Weeks and National Months. In addition, our research team continues to uncover the origins of existing National Days as well as discover new, exciting days for everyone to celebrate.
Whether you want to celebrate your favorite mail carrier and flip flops, share your joy for bacon and chocolate cake or enjoy our office favorite Jody’s Gourmet Popcorn on National Popcorn Day, stay in-the-know by signing-up for our e-mail updates, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Don’t find yourself unprepared for Talk Like a Pirate Day or Answer the Phone Like Buddy the Elf Day – join us as we #CelebrateEveryDay! | <urn:uuid:288a8352-e2b5-4063-b770-bc60034cb3f9> | {
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In time, Bringham Young became the Mormon leader and led the Mormons further west ultimately to the Salt Lake Valley.
What are the Tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?
According to the Mormon website, there are six key points that believers must adhere to in the Mormon Church: a) "God Is Our Father" (God is the "Father of our spirits," humans are "created in His image" and humans have a "divine nature and destiny"); b) "We lived with God" (before people were born they lived with God and hence, "All persons on earth are literally brothers and sisters in the family of God"; c) "Earth Life Is Part of God's Plan" (the lives of people are purposeful, and by coming to Earth -- through Jesus Christ -- God's plan for us is "…to gain a physical body and learn to choose between good and evil"); d) "Jesus Christ Is The Way" (God sent his Son to be our "Savior and to show us the way to live according to God's plan"); e) "We Can Find Happiness" (by following God's plan people are assured of finding "happiness and enduring life's challenges"); and f) "We Can Live With God Again" (if we live according to the teachings of God through Jesus, "Our lives will not end when we die") (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).
How do the Mormons Differ from members of other Christian Faiths?
For one thing, the Mormons are the only major religion in the history of the United States that has ever engaged in the practice of polygamy. Michelle Gibson notes that polygamy was referred to as a "barbaric aberration" by the Republican Party in 1856 (the Republican Party at that time was the liberal party). In fact, the political platform of the Republican Party in 1856 called for a "prohibition of 'those twin relics of barbarism -- Polygamy, and Slavery" (Gibson, 2010, p. 281). Of course there are still some sects of Mormons today that do practice polygamy, albeit the main church in its setting as a supposed mainstream Christian church no longer practices polygamy.
Martin Johnson and Phil Mullins explain that there are many similarities and differences between Mormons, Roman Catholics, and Protestant faiths. In this article the authors collected data from 405 adults attending church in one of 12 congregations that represent six denominations. Johnson notes at the beginning of the article that "Evangelicals have chided Mormons for not really being Christians" and for not truly accepting the Bible (Johnson, et al., 1992, p. 51).
Others downplay the differences between Mormon "peculiarities" and still others suggest that Mormonism "…is a radically different stream that has matured from an obscure cult into an authentically new religious tradition" (Johnson, 51).
One thing Mormons have in common with several other denominations is that they hold that their church "is the true church and that their construal of the Christian message is alone accurate" (Johnson, 53). Mormons believe, as do other faiths, that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the Bible is a "very important sacred text"; moreover it is true with Mormons as it is with other faiths that not every member of the church buys into every tenet. In fact, "official rhetoric" from the church leaders may not be fully accepted by members, especially when "church leaders' teaching… are out of step with broader social-cultural views" (Johnson, 52).
In their survey, Johnson and colleague found that 85% of Mormon respondents "strongly believed" in the following statement: "The teachings of my church are more correct and true than those of any other church." Eleven percent of Mormon participants in the survey "agreed" with that statement. The Roman Catholic respondents were the only other group out of the six denominations that had a majority to agree with the above mentioned statement; 56% of Roman Catholics agreed (23% "strongly agreed" and 33% "agreed") (Johnson, 58).
The Mormons accept the following ideas in their "official church doctrine": a) the pre-mortal existence of spirits; b) eternal marriage; c) non-biblical scripture (that came from the gold plates found by Smith); and d) the existence of "modern prophets" (Johnson, 60). Did the Roman Catholic and Protestant participants in this survey buy into the four church doctrines mentioned above? "They were generally uncertain, or they disagreed with the items included with this factor," Johnson reports.
Hence, since conservative Protestants (evangelicals, for example) showed a "basic disapproval of these items" that Mormons wholeheartedly agree with, it is fair to say that Mormons so not line up with fundamentalist and conservative Protestants, Johnson concludes.
Meanwhile, Tim Heaton and Sandra Calkins write that Mormons' view of birth control dovetails quite seamlessly with the practices of other Christians. Surveys taken in 1965, 1970, and 1975 show that: a) Mormons are "at least as likely" as white Protestants to use birth control; b) Mormons are "less likely" to be current birth control users than Catholics or Protestants; c) 50% of Mormons delay using birth control until after the first child and 25% of Mormons delay using birth control until after the second child; and d) like the U.S. population, Mormons "…as a whole adopt modern effective methods of contraception" (Heaton, et al., 1983, p. 102).
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will always be controversial to some extent because of the mystery of the "plates" that were reportedly found in upstate New York, and because of the lingering negative image of their practice of polygamy. However, the literature regarding Mormonism reveals a denomination that practices, for the most part, traditional Christian teachings, and moreover, the American society was established in part because Pilgrims wanted freedom to worship any way they desired to worship. That Constitutional guarantee is to be respected by all faiths and all peoples, including those who may disagree with the Mormons.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (2011). Our Eternal Life. Retrieved August 11,
2011, from http://lds.org/plan/print/our-eternal-life?lang=eng.
Gibson, Michelle. (2010). "However Satisfied Man Might Be": Sexual Abuse in Fundamentalist
Latter Day Saints Communities." The Journal of American Culture, 33(4), 280-294.
Hardy, Grant. (2005). The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition. Chicago: University of Illinois
Heaton, Tim B., and Calkins, Sandra. (1983). Family Size and Contraceptive Use Among
Mormons: 1965-75. Review of Religious Research, 25(2), 102-114.
Johnson, Martin, and Mullins, Phil. (1992). Mormonism:… | <urn:uuid:a69dfbe3-3e24-4dc8-9cd8-c7b0b79ba693> | {
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Height: 6.500 cm
Diameter: 7.500 cm
Gift of Professor John Ruskin; Funded by Sir Alfred Biliotti
GR 1872.3-15.136 (Vases A 846)
Room 12b: Greece: Mycenaeans
Ialysos cup with swans and fishes
Mycenaean, 1350-1300 BC
From Tomb 38, Ialysos (modern Triánda), Rhodes, Aegean Sea
Pottery cup decorated with swans, fishes and sacred horns
Mycenaean 'Pictorial Style' vases were produced between about 1400 and 1150 BC, mainly in the Argolid (the area round Mycenae that was the heartland of Mycenaean culture). Chariot scenes, birds, bulls and fish were favourite subjects. They were painted in a lively style in red or red-brown paint on a buff background.
Large 'Pictorial Style' vessels - mainly bowls and kraters - were exported to the east Greek islands and to Cyprus, where they were particularly popular. This cup, from a Mycenaean tomb on the island of Rhodes, is unusual for its small size. The decoration is interesting, though, because it seams to show a Mycenaean vase-painter's view of the realms of sea and sky. Below the central encircling band fish swim, while above it are birds.
Amongst the birds are stylized bull's horns. These were a sacred symbol in Minoan Crete, where bulls were clearly important in a religious context. The motif was adopted by the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland, whose culture was much influenced by the older Cretan civilisation.
The cup was placed in a tomb, and while it may have had earlier use the religious imagery perhaps shows that it was made specifically for this purpose.
E. Vermeule and V. Karageorghis, Mycenaean pictorial vase paint (Cambridge, Mass.; London, Harvard University Press, 1982)
D. Williams, Greek vases (London, The British Museum Press, 1999) | <urn:uuid:b5ed900a-678f-42da-b9bd-7a6d0568ade1> | {
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The concept of value is kind of a funny concept when you really think about it. There are so many people on this earth, and we all have a different system when it comes to determining what is important to us. In general, the three things that most of us value the most include our lives, our families and our jobs. Now that is a very broad sense of it of course, granted, within each of those aspects, everyone will, again, have a very different value system.
And what is that system based on? What gives value to something? For most people, value is derived from our upbringing, our experiences and our education. It is a concept that differentiates us from others and without a doubt causes many debates, but who says those debates and differences have to be a bad thing?
In fact, more often than not, if we meet someone who has the same values as we do, there are still plenty of subjects to get into a debate about. And this is because we all have different experiences and we all bring a different point of view to a relationship.
Now let’s say that you highly respect another individual. You both have the same values in life, you know their past, you would probably even say that you respect their opinion. That being said, would you respect their criticism? Would you keep an open mind when it came to their critique of your work? Is it only because you know them?
Why is it that we will value the criticism of a friend, but we all too quickly, shy away from the criticism of a stranger? Do they not hold the same value? Perhaps it is the mere fact that they don’t know us, they don’t know our experiences. But in reality, you don’t know their experiences or level of expertise either.
All too often we seem to equate the word value with respect. In some way, this seems to justify ignoring the opinions of someone we don’t know or perhaps for personal reasons, don’t really care what their opinion is. Just because it can be hard to respect someone you don’t know, does that mean that we should automatically find no value, or worth in their opinion? And that is what criticism really is, right? It’s an opinion.
What if we could find value in every opinion, of every criticism we ever received. Imagine how enriched our lives would be, if we could put value to everyone’s opinion, no matter who it is coming from. | <urn:uuid:aa6f8a96-67da-4c7a-a453-3b5d64929116> | {
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By Gabriel García Márquez
Translated by Edith Grossman
The Later Fiction of Gore Vidal: 1962-Present
In 1964, with the publication of Julian, Vidal re-emerged as a best-selling and critically praised novelist. He would continue to publish fiction regularly for the rest of his career. During this same period, he has published numerous books of collected essays and has earned a second reputation as a trenchant commentator on politics, history, literature and culture. Vidal never returned to writing introspective, contemporary novels of the sort he did for a brief time in the 1940s. Rather, he became known as a historical novelist more concerned with ideas than psychologies, and also as the creator of some wild, satirical, post-modern narratives, including Kalki, a novel of a death cult that made a nice companion piece to his 1954 novel Messiah. Finally, this period of his career saw the emergence and completion of his American Chronicles, seven books that occupy their own place in his canon.
Bertolt Brecht, 50th death anniverssary
Bertolt Brecht's first plays were written in Germany during the 1920s,
he was not widely known until much later. Eventually his theories
of stage presentation exerted more influence on the course of mid-century
theatre in the West than did those of any other individual. This was
largely because he proposed the major alternative to the Stanislavsky-oriented
realism that dominated acting and the "well-made play" construction
that dominated playwriting.
Brecht's most important plays, which included Leben des Galilei (The Life of Galileo), Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children), and Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (The Good Person of Szechwan, or The Good Woman of Setzwan), were written between 1937 and 1945 when he was in exile from the Nazi regime, first in Scandinavia and then in the United States. At the invitation of the newly formed East German government, he returned to found the Berliner Ensemble in 1949 with his wife, Helene Weigel, as leading actress. It was only at this point, through his own productions of his plays, that Brecht earned his reputation as one of the most important figures of 20th-century theatre.
Certainly Brecht's attack on the illusive theatre influenced, directly or indirectly, the theatre of every Western country. In Britain the effect became evident in the work of such playwrights as John Arden and Edward Bond and in some of the bare-stage productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Western theatre in the 20th century, however, has proved to be a cross-fertilization of many styles (Brecht himself acknowledged a debt to traditional Oriental theatre), and by the 1950s other approaches were gaining influence. | <urn:uuid:d060b787-d728-4133-9820-43a26f55e102> | {
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First published in 1925, the Winnie the Pooh stories made Pooh into the world’s most loved and trusted bear. Pooh, a bear of “very little brain,” is always searching for honey. The heartwarming tales of Pooh and his friends in 100 Acre Woods were based on the stuffed animals owned by the author’s son, Christopher Robbins. Disney first introduced film audiences to the lovable Pooh in 1966.
The Winnie the Pooh key ring collection includes Pooh and his friends gloomy Eeyore, bouncy Tigger, and cute Piglet who tries to be brave. The colorful Pooh key chains are available in two types: traditional pictures of the well-known characters and the young characters as “Disney Cuties.” | <urn:uuid:5865ac48-f6ef-40a1-a357-9726343f85e6> | {
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Attack on pearl harbor usa in world war essay
The attack on pearl harbor was a surprise military strike by the imperial japanese navy air service the attack, also known as the battle of pearl harbor, led to the united states' entry into world war ii the japanese military leadership referred to the attack the pearl harbor papers. Pearl harbour is a lagoon harbour on the island of o'ahu, hawaii most part of the harbour is a naval base for the united states navy and it is also the headquarters of united states pacific fleet. The japanese attack on pearl harbor at 7:55 am, december 7, 1941, was one of the most important events in united states history it prompted the united states government to join world war ii in both the pacific and the european theaters. On dec 7, 1941, japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the american pacific fleet at pearl harbor in hawaii, drawing the united states into world war ii. Ask a typical american how the united states got into world war ii ask him why the japanese attacked pearl harbor how us economic warfare provoked japan's attack on pearl harbor by robert higgs | may 1. Prior to the world war ii, usa did not consider japan as its enemy and the us polity or citizenship however, their descendants became citizens by birth and successful in farming and business the pearl harbor attack by the japanese gave the unit this essay expounds on japanese.
On dec 7, 1941, a surprise japanese attack on pearl harbor stunned military commanders on dec pearl harbor is the birthplace of 'greatest more than 2,300 us service members and civilians were killed in the strike which brought the united states into world war ii. Essay services select product type generic essay world war ii and the attack on pearl harbor that the best thing that could happen to a country is to lose a war to the united states pearl harbor all but guaranteed that that very thing would happen. What is the historical significance of pearl why did the japanese attack pearl harbor when they knew they first and foremost it was the triggering event for the us entry into the second world war prior to the attack, the us congress would have rejected an appeal by the president to. A summary of japan and pearl harbor in history sparknotes's world war ii (1939-1945) japanese admiral who planned surprise attack at pearl harbor hirohito the united states prepares for war. Spring japanese training for pearl harbor attack starts3 0111 us military intelligence loses track of japanese fleet4 world war ii in the aftermath of pearl harbor the us congress put to work eight different commissions18 historical investigation pearl harbor 7.
The dawn strike on pearl harbor prompted the us to enter world war ii democracy dies in darkness sections home what if japan never attacked pearl harbor but the united states was not yet formally in war the attack on pearl harbor in december gave roosevelt all the ammunition he. It was the first decisive defeat for the united states in world war ii drew japan into the attack on pearl harbor following the essay's publication the attack on pearl harbor failed to sight, or destroy. This sample essay discusses how the attack on pearl harbor in 1941 was a calculated move on behalf of the the consequences of pearl harbor aircraft carriers attack on pearl harbor battleships japan japanese empire military navy pearl harbor second world war ultius united states ww2. Should the united states have entered world war ii before the bombing of pearl harbor five paragraph essay outline 22 3 attack on pearl harbor the united states enters world war ii, 1939-1941 june 1940 france. Pearl harbor, conducted by japanese aircrafts was the bloody beginning of an awful war between japan and the united states it was an unannounced, brutal attack upon the united states naval base in pearl harbor, hawaii.
Free pearl harbor papers, essays, and as a result of this attack, the united states entered world war ii and four japanese internment after pearl harbor - on december 7,1941 japan raided the airbases across the islands of pearl harbour the sneak attack targeted the. Pearl harbor research paper congress passed a resolution declaring that a state of war existed between the united states and japan after the pearl harbor attack, japan still set out to capture and seize power over neighboring islands and countries. American history high school or advanced middle school heather deiches- wasemann involvement in world war i hearings before the joint committee on the investigation of the pearl harbor attack 79th congress/ 1st. Pearl harbor history and information the attack resulted in the loss of 2,403 american lives and the start of world war ii for the united states but hours before the tragedy donated artifacts of world war ii and pearl harbor-the attack on pearl harbor occurred over 75 years.
Attack on pearl harbor usa in world war essay
World war ii (1939-1945) world war ii not enter the war until after the japanese bombed the american fleet in pearl harbor, hawaii, on december 7 among the war's major turning points for the united states were the battle of midway. Find out more about the history of pearl harbor, including videos after the pearl harbor attack congress reciprocated, declaring war on the european powers more than two years after the start of world war ii, the united states had entered the conflict access hundreds of.
- Commentary and archival information about pearl harbor from the new york she served on the front lines during world war ii and korea and less than two weeks after the attack on pearl harbor, a memo sent to the times's publisher helped kick-start one of our most beloved features by.
- Readers will be left with a great deal to think about and consider new aspects of the attack that are illuminated in zimm's book this excellent analysis is a definitive critique of the japanese planning and execution of the attack for any serious student of the pacific war.
- History essay on pearl harbor but a rude awakening of a nation losing a war it was a surprise attack at 7:55 on december 7th 1941, japanese military forces at pearl harbor attacked the united states of america clubs, parties.
- On the 7th of december, 1941, the japanese forces made a surprise attack on pearl harbor, hawaii this action forced the united states of america (usa) into world war 2. | <urn:uuid:4e16d8cb-8653-4182-a7dc-e6837b59c6c3> | {
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Science Committee Agrees Mars is Ultimate Destination; Disagrees on Timing
On Feb. 27, the House Science, Space & Technology Committee held a hearing entitled, "Mars Flyby 2021: The First Deep Space Mission for the Orion and Space Launch System?"
Members of Congress agreed that Mars was the ultimate destination for NASA's human exploration program, but differed on whether NASA would be ready to support a human flyby mission to Mars in time for a 2021 launch.
If NASA did embark on the flyby mission, it would be able to take advantage of a unique alignment between Earth and Mars in 2021, cutting the Mars trip down to one and a half years. However, in addition to finishing development of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion capsule, NASA would also need to complete development on a more powerful upper-stage rocket engine, as well as a crew-habitation module. | <urn:uuid:893e8421-3157-4c49-bec3-a5395cc5b6db> | {
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Racial Disparities in Special Ed.: How Widespread Is the Problem?
Are too many minority students being placed into special education who don’t need to be there? And, once enrolled, are they kept in isolated classrooms or punished more severely than their peers?
For 423 school districts in the 2015-16 school year—the most recent year for which complete federal statistics are available—the answer was yes.
That’s about 3 percent of the nation’s 14,500 or so school systems. More than 20 states documented no disproportionality in their districts that year, according to an analysis by the Education Week Research Center.
So are states underestimating the problem? Are they even using the best methods to measure the status of these students?
Those questions are at the heart of a policy debate that is pitting the actions of a formerly hands-on U.S. Department of Education under the Obama administration against new leadership, under President Donald Trump, that says it wants to get out of states’ business.
Which view prevails has real financial implications for many of the nation’s school districts, though the complexity of the issue has kept it under the radar except for those steeped in special education rules and finance.
How We Got Here
The background: In its waning days, the Obama administration issued a policy that would require states to take a standardized approach to monitoring how their districts identify and serve minority students with disabilities. The administration’s rationale was that all states should use a similar yardstick when it comes to investigating if districts are identifying and punishing minority students at markedly higher rates than their peers—what the law calls “significant disproportionality.”
That marked a change in practice that had been in use since 1997. When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was reauthorized that year, it said states should monitor these issues, but left it up to them to figure out how.
There’s money involved, too. When the IDEA was last revisited by Congress, lawmakers said that districts with problems must also set aside 15 percent of their federal special education money on remedies. For the 423 districts identified in 2015-16, that amounted to more than $211 million.
Minorities in Special Education: Which Districts Are Out of Line?
States have been required to monitor their districts for racial and ethnic disparities in special education since 1997, but few districts nationwide have been identified as having a problem. Here’s a look at which districts identified themselves in the 2015-16 school year, which offers the most recent federal data.
No one knows yet how many of the nation’s districts might be identified for disproportionality under the standardized monitoring process. Though the rule was finalized in December 2016, it doesn’t go into effect until the 2018-19 school year. But it’s almost certain that the number of districts flagged would be more than 3 percent. (An early Education Department analysis based on a draft of the rule estimated that around half of U.S. school systems could be identified as having significant disproportionality. When the final rule was published, the department said that analysis was no longer valid.)
The Trump administration, on the other hand, has declared that it doesn’t want the federal government dictating policy to states. In December, the Education Department published a notice saying that one of its regulatory priorities would be rolling back implementation of the new rule for at least two years.
It’s not just the Trump administration that may not like this rule. Back when it was still under debate, Senate Republicans were casting it as an example of departmental overreach. “Congress was clear that such decisions are best left to the states, whose differences in population size and composition did not support a one-size-fits-all approach,” lawmakers said a 2016 letter signed by the Republican members of the Senate education committee.
If the rule is put on hold or retracted entirely, states would be left generally to their own devices when it comes to monitoring their districts, as has been the case since the late 1990s. That would likely mean a continuation of a trend where some districts have to divert a portion of their federal dollars to address an identified issue, while similar districts in other states would escape that fate because they are being evaluated under different rules.
Different States, Different Results
Sometimes those differences across state lines can be stark, the Education Week analysis found.
States are supposed to look at a handful of concerns: whether minority students are wrongly placed in special education, if they end up in certain disability categories out of proportion to their peers; and if they are placed in restrictive settings, suspended, or expelled out of proportion to their peers. Districts can be identified in more than one area.
Of the 423 districts identified with disproportionality in 2015-16, 78 were in just one state: New York. However, that represents only about 11 percent of the Empire State’s school systems. Rhode Island had the highest concentration of identified districts—32 out of 61, or nearly 53 percent.
Discipline was flagged in more than half of districts across the country that were identified as having disproportionality—233 of the 423 school systems identified had problems in that area.
Sixty-eight districts were identified as having disproportionality in whether students were placed in special education. Separately, 186 districts were identified as having significant disproportionality in placing students in certain categories, such as emotional/behavioral disturbance.
Only 33 districts were found to have placed minority students in restrictive settings out of proportion to their peers.
The small percentage of districts identified for disproportionality in 2015-16 is not unusual. The Government Accountability Office took a look at this topic five years ago. Using 2011 data, it found that about 2 percent of school districts were identified as having disproportionality in one or more areas, and five states accounted for half the districts identified. In 2015-16, five states—California, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, and Rhode Island—had 60 percent of the identified districts. Then, as now, school districts in the Midwest and Mountain West were generally not identified by their states as having issues.
New Set-Aside Allowances
The new rule put out by the Obama administration came with other changes. Before the rule was finalized, the 15 percent set-aside could not be used for programs aimed directly at special education students. The point was to address problems in the general education system before they resulted in a misidentification or harsh punishment.
However, the new rule will allow a portion of the set-aside to be spent on programs that benefit students with disabilities.
That was great news for the 147,000-student Charlotte-Mecklenburg district in North Carolina, said Ann Stalnaker, the district’s special education director. The school system has been identified as having disproportionality in the way it disciplines minority students with disabilities, as well as its placement in restrictive settings of African-American students with emotional disturbances. But it could not spend any of its 15 percent set-aside directly on those identified problems. Instead, the money went to behavioral support programs, graduation coaches, and other initiatives intended to help the entire student body.
In a district so large, the money can only fund a portion of those districtwide initiatives. However, the set-aside—about $4 million—is enough to be a noticeable chunk out of the district’s funds for special education, Stalnaker said.
“It’s not a bad thing that we’re looking at issues of equity, we need to be mindful of this,” Stalnaker said. But “it sure would be nice for us to spend some of that money on children with disabilities.”
States Figuring Out Next Steps
In the meantime, states and districts are moving forward with their planning.
Rhode Island has convened public hearings, experimented with different formulas allowed under the new process, and is ready to move forward, said J. David Sienko, the state director of special education. Unlike many other states, it anticipates that it will have fewer districts identified moving forward.
His state has seen the monitoring process as an “exciting opportunity.”
“We’re having conversations across the aisle with our general ed. partners in ways that we never had before. It forced people to look at their practices—are we providing enough intervention; is special ed. the only intervention this child needs?” Sienko said. “I don’t think it was time poorly spent.”
In contrast, Nebraska is a state that would see a major increase in the number of districts flagged for disproportionality the new rule. In the 2015-16 school year, one district was identified. Currently, the state is projecting that around 80 of its 245 districts might be found to have significant areas of concern, generally in discipline, said Steven Milliken, the state’s director of special education.
Nevertheless, the rule “has given us some information about districts that need good quality staff development,” Milliken said, and he thinks that it is worth keeping.
“The department has been flexible in letting states develop their interpretation of their new guidelines. They were saying we’ll look at each state individually, and I think that’s what made it good.”
Vol. 37, Issue 19, Pages 1, 22Published in Print: February 7, 2018, as How to Measure Bias in Spec. Ed. Crux of Fight Over Federal Rule | <urn:uuid:3364b94e-4c83-4af5-87c8-a9a5c2bd583f> | {
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Much has been made of the planetary configurations at the time of the Winter Solstice in 2012, which is the date usually associated with the end of the Mayan Calendar. One theory is that the Maya conquered, enslaved, and abused so many people thet it lead to a revolt of such magnitude that it wiped out the entire culture, so that no one was left to continue the calander. In that case the end of their calendar has no significance for us other than a warning against aggression.
However the fact is that the transiting Sun will be passing opposite the Galactic Centre and on June 26, 2010, which is also considered the completion of the 26,000 year Precession of the Equinoxes cycle, and some say it also signifies the end of a 104,000 year cycle. There seems to be a 2012 hysteria brewing, and if you scan the Internet or believe the marketing campaign behind the movie "2012," you might be forgiven for thinking so. Dozens of books and fake science websites are prophesying the arrival of doomsday that year, by means of a rogue planet colliding with the Earth or some other cataclysmic event.
Besides fearing a rampaging planet, the worriers think the sun might lash out at the Earth with some calamitous electromagnetic force if there is a Polar Shift in 2012. They also fear that an alignment between the Earth and the center of our galaxy could unleash catastrophe.
Such hysteria usually indicates a lack of understanding of the meaning of current events in the light of larger cycles (remember Y2K?). But if we are at the end of a cycle, it offers us an opportunity to gain an overview of out times cycle and to learn from it as we begin a new paradigm.
About 5,000 years ago, at the end of the last great Ice Age, the first towns appeared on earth. For a long time before that, humans had followed migrating herds of animals living off fertile grasslands left as the receding ice melted. Humans learned that by planting seeds of grain along the edges of rivers that overflowed each spring they could settle down and live in one place. At the end of the great Neolithic revolution, the first cities appeared when the development of agricultural techniques assured surplus crop yields large enough to sustain a permanent population.
Other important changes happened at this point. No longer did each family survive or perish by being lucky at hunting and gathering. They changed from being migratory clans of hunters to agricultural communities and some could now hope for the security of a home and a job. Architecture was born, partly In order to store the grain. And in order to protect and distribute the grain, a new form of government was needed including the military. And with the advent of money and a merchant class an important new paradigm evolved.
This paradigm has had a dual nature. Wealth has fostered a leisure class yielding art, music, education, literature and science and many of our greatest accomplishments. But at the same time wealth has brought greed, war, and exploitation of people and the environment, to the point it has become unsustainable.
It is this unsustainability that marks the end of a 5000 year paradigm of domination. Serious damage to the environment is accompanied by economic distress, war and terror. Personal debt soars as personal income diminishes. As old values fail, there is less deference to anyone or anything. Little is sacred when everything is for sale to the highest bidder. If change is upon us and institutions and traditions seem to be failing, maybe it to make room for the new.
The appropriate mode of feeling and behavior and believable role models are hard to find. The media has degenerated into dehumanizing ultra-violence and sleazy pandering. Everywhere we see depictions of not very nice people being not very nice to each other. A child that has never been shown respect has no respect to offer others. Globally there are about 10 million people incarcerated and basically discarded.
Illness and disease is rampant, and much of this is because simple, wholesome food is too scarce. Over 90 percent of our food supply has been tainted or degraded by profiteers. About one third of the world population lives in abject poverty and hunger. Many people who could be growing some of their own food don’t know how, and don’t even understand the value of it. They have been brainwashed so that they actually prefer junk food.
Great wealth has been concentrated so that a small group of people now have assets equal to a similar number of nations. Although they may deny or not even understand the big picture and their role in it, they basically control most of the world’s food supply, energy, medicine and military. Their individual wealth is so great that they rely on cadres of experts who engineer ever greater profit efficiencies, at the expense of consumers.
It sometimes seems that we are drowning in dufus and confusion. We live in a world that is out of balance, and we know it. But what is to be done? How can it be made right?
“The soul screams for nurturance.” -Deepak Chopra
At such a time between two great paradigms, there is unprecedented opportunity for synthesis and interpretation. To gain overview we must not lose sight of the fact that the old must give way to the new. When something wears out, it has to be discarded, replaced. As the old paradigm decays it is a death and rebirth. Grief is the appropriate response to death. But after a pause to re-evaluate, we move on.
Crisis brings both danger and opportunity. Danger arises when old values start to collapse and there is a knee jerk reaction of panic and clinging to old stuff. Fundamentalism of all sorts may run rampant. But wisdom includes while ignorance excludes. And moving toward our fear is ultimately going to be beneficial.
The old wisdom stories - mythology, legend, and folklore -- can be used to explore inner states. There is a close parallel between the mythical imagination and dreams, the unconscious, emotional dynamics as they represent forces of the psyche. After we have wandered around theologically and philosophically, this can give us back a sense of transcendence, a new way of seeing the radiance of life.
Stories and myths can help people see the major transitions in their lives, such as those that occur naturally as we age, as transformative opportunities. Joseph Campbell's model of the hero's initiatory journey is very upsetting and it's sometimes terrifying -- is that what you have grown familiar with is no longer working as it once did. It's falling apart. The maps are not showing us where we need to go. The compass is spinning. It's time for something to break."
Mr. Campbell points out that this sequence of events is present in many of the great wisdom stories from all times and places. And if we would ponder these stories and how they show the way through these challenges, we can deal with them better. It will give us hope and guidance in the process. The whole point is that we have a good deal of wisdom to gain in the difficult thresholds of passage.
The pattern is very much the same in the folk tales. Some are darker than others, but they make the same point: first of all, that you are not alone; this has happened before. There are maps. Prepare to be scared, it's not the end of the world. Prepare to be stronger than you knew.
In order to start doing something new you may first have to stop doing what you have been doing. Real rehabilitation does not mean putting things back like they were, or going around in a dead, closed circle. It means going to a new level, as in a dynamic spiral or helix. All venerable traditions extol a balance between polarities and teach that honoring body, mind and spirit is the way to harmony and growth. The main difference between science and spirituality was that in spirituality you look within (subjectively), while scientists look to external sources (objectively). But now, scientists are beginning to look within, to solve external scientific problems, because new information is coming out that does not make sense under the old science.
Einstein said that he chose what to pay attention to using his intuition. The initial goal of science was, of course, not to separate science and spirit, but instead to understand nature. Materialism, which is the theory that physical matter is the only reality and that everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in scientific terms. According to this way of thinking, physical well-being and worldly possessions became the greatest good and had the highest value in life. The world was thought of as a machine, and there was no need for God or metaphysics / spirituality. Even the idea of the unknowable was disallowed for a time.
Reductionism is sometimes seen as the opposite of holism. Scientists sought to understand behavior and disorders try to reduce experience to its most basic parts-and assume that those parts are universal, that people develop and think in the same ways according to a standard set of "rules." In the process, they neglect models-such as wholeism, emergence and Gestalt, and instead see human experience as varied and individualistic.
In the early 20th century, scientist like Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger and other founders of quantum theory discovered that the physical universe is essentially non-physical. It seems to arise from a field that is even more subtle than energy, a field that seems to be more like intelligence or consciousness than matter. These are ancient metaphysical teachings, and metaphysics has no problems with these ideas.
Thinking falls into one of two primary modes of thinking: digital or analog.
If you think of it in terms of light switches, digital is a typical switch. It
has two positions- on or off. Analog is like a dimmer; it can be either on or
off, but it can also be turned to any level of light or darkness in between.
The one thing not controlled by the mighty is information. As we move into the age of information there is great hope for the future. Soon almost all human knowledge will be digitized and made available through search engines. Every book and song ever published, all science, history and cultural achievements can be researched instantly.
Computing capacity has been doubling about every two years, so that in another decade or two it will far exceed our own brainpower, at least numerically. But the ability to quantify does not automatically yield wisdom. In fact it seems to have at least temporarily distracted us from the ability to qualify. More is not always better when balance is what is needed.
We are a mystery and we live in mystery, and we know it – some of us. If we get far enough away from the trees to see the forest, we may find a new sense of awe and wonderment. We live in a universe that creates stars and galaxies and planets like our own where magnificent mountains, oceans are teeming with amazingly elegant life forms in great profusion. And just as the flowers of the field and the birds of the air have a rightful place here, so do we, if we can but recognize it.
The design of all this is exquisite beyond our understanding. So if we, in our ignorance make a mess of things, eventually things will be put right again. Perhaps even now on a newer planet orbiting a distant star, a few cells of blue-green algae are beginning anew the slow process of evolving eyes and ears and brains that are the universe becoming aware of its own magnificence.
science always needs funding which too ofen plays into the idea that
might makes right. Totalitarian despots seek to gain control of science
by compelling a few scientists, but
their own despotism eventually brings them down.
Walt Whitman wrote that is is obvious there is more to a man that what is seen between his hat and his shoes. And it is ever more apparent that reality cannot always be weighed, measured, and quantified with old fashioned tools. What is hopeful about the next paradigm is that reality is obviously more intricate and subtle than we had imagined.
If the unsustainable must eventually fail, along with the institutions that support it. And hopefully our species will come to appreciate what is sustainable. Hopefully 2012 will have been a turning point in that respect. | <urn:uuid:1c3ff7a6-b81d-443d-92e4-9c0c14d4c9d6> | {
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Positioners are precision instruments which should be put away and cared for in like manner to maintain a strategic distance from harm or issues. Put away in unique transportation bubbles, components should be put away in an ecologically controlled land, i.e., pristine, trendy (15-26°C, 60-80°F) and dry, out of direct daylight or climate present.
When the air supply to the positioner is connected and turned on, inside air drain is going to continue to keep the entry of dampness and confirm the unit from ingestion. It’s prescribed that the air supply left on by any means occasions. the steel is the frequent material. The Stainless Steel Flange 10K, PN, ANSI (which is also known as “หน้าแปลนสแตนเลส ” in the Thai language ) manufactured from stainless steel would be quite popular in many areas as its extended service time.
• If components are introduced quickly, turn, and depart on, the air distribution.
• If positioners have to be put away out, fix all spreads that might have slackened in shipment, make sure all open fenced area passage targets are sealed.
Positioners should be wrapped and fixed air and watertight with desiccant within the plastic, units should be safely secured with an obscure cover rather than introduced to direct daylight, snow or rain.
Units should have all ports fixed and be protected from a direct introduction to climate. For long-haul stockpiling or overseas shipment, units need to be fastened with vinyl and desiccant.
At the point when components are put away in hot, damp atmospheres, the day daily warming/cooling cycle will create air grow/contract and be attracted throughout the positioner lodging. Reliant on the nearby temperature varieties, mugginess and dew targets and time off, buildup could occur and accumulate inside pilot valve bringing on inconsistent disappointment or operation due to erosion and water. The potential for buildup injury is very high in southern atmospheres and bothered if components are introduced to coordinate daylight. | <urn:uuid:805de299-fbd5-4f93-8f79-804129e147b4> | {
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Ajax is a term that refers to the use of a group of technologies together:
- XHTML (or HTML), CSS, for marking up and styling information.
- The XMLHttpRequest object to exchange data asynchronously with the web server.
- XML is commonly used as the format for transferring data back from the server.
The classic web application model works like this: Most user actions in the interface trigger an HTTP request back to a web server. The server does some processing (retrieving data, crunching numbers, talking to various legacy systems) and then returns an HTML page to the client. It’s a model adapted from the Web’s original use as a hypertext medium.
This approach makes a lot of technical sense, but it doesn’t make for a great user experience. While the server is doing its thing, what’s the user doing? That’s right, waiting. And at every step in a task, the user waits some more.
Obviously, if the Web is designed from scratch for applications, users will not wait around. Once an interface is loaded, why should the user interaction come to a halt every time the application needs something from the server? In fact, why should the user see the application go to the server at all?
An Ajax application eliminates the start-stop-start-stop nature of interaction on the Web by introducing an intermediary (an Ajax engine) between the user and the server.
Instead of loading a webpage, at the start of the session, the browser loads an Ajax engine, this engine is responsible for both rendering the interface the user sees and communicating with the server on the user’s behalf. So the user is never staring at a blank browser window and an hourglass icon, waiting around for the server to do something.
Who’s Using Ajax:
All of the major products Google has introduced over the last year [Google is making a huge investment in developing the Ajax approach].
Flickr, A9, Netvibes, del.icio.us, meebo, Remember The Milk..
and alot more of Web 2.0 sites..
These projects demonstrate that Ajax is not only technically sound, but also practical for real-world applications. This isn’t another technology that only works in a laboratory. And Ajax applications can be any size, from the very simple, single-function [Google Suggest] to the very complex and sophisticated [Google Maps].
The biggest challenges in creating Ajax applications are not technical. The core Ajax technologies are mature, stable, and well understood. Instead, the challenges are for the designers of these applications: to forget what we think we know about the limitations of the Web, and begin to imagine a wider, richer range of possibilities.
It’s going to be fun. | <urn:uuid:bf4f92c1-a8f1-496e-82a2-deb55fee0479> | {
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Most people in America consider North Korea as an inherently aggressive nation and a threat to global security.
Media disinformation sustains North Korea as a “rogue state”.
The history of the Korean war and its devastating consequences are rarely mentioned. America is portrayed as the victim rather than the aggressor.
North Korea lost thirty percent of its population as a result of US led bombings in the 1950s.
US military sources confirm that 20 percent of North Korea’s population was killed off over a three year period of intensive bombings:
“After destroying North Korea’s 78 cities and thousands of her villages, and killing countless numbers of her civilians, [General] LeMay remarked, “Over a period of three years or so we killed off – what – twenty percent of the population.”
It is now believed that the population north of the imposed 38th Parallel lost nearly a third its population of 8 – 9 million people during the 37-month long “hot” war, 1950 – 1953, perhaps an unprecedented percentage of mortality suffered by one nation due to the belligerence of another.” (See War Veteran Brian Willson. Korea and the Axis of Evil, Global Research, April, 2002)
Official South Korean government sources estimate North Korean civilian deaths at 1,550,000
During The Second World War the United Kingdom lost 0.94% of its population, France lost 1.35%, China lost 1.89% and the US lost 0.32%.
During the Korean war, North Korea lost 30 % of its population. In the words of General Curtis Lemay:
There are no innocent civilians. It is their government and you are fighting a people, you are not trying to fight an armed force anymore. So it doesn’t bother me so much to be killing the so-called innocent bystanders. (emphasis added)
Reflect for a few minutes on these figures: If a foreign power had bombed the US and America had lost thirty percent of its population as result of foreign aggression, Americans across the land would certainly be aware of the threat to their national security emanating from this unnamed foreign power.
Now put yourself in the shoes of the North Koreans, who lost 30 percent of their population as a result of 37 months of relentless US bombings.
From their standpoint, the US is the threat to Global Security.
Their country was destroyed. Town and villages were bombed. General Curtis Lemay acknowledges that “[we] eventually burned down every town in North Korea anyway, someway or another, and some in South Korea too.”
There is not a single family in North Korea which has not lost a loved one.
Everyone I talked with, dozens and dozens of folks, lost one if not many more family members during the war, especially from the continuous bombing, much of it incendiary and napalm, deliberately dropped on virtually every space in the country. “Every means of communication, every installation, factory, city, and village” was ordered bombed by General MacArthur in the fall of 1950. It never stopped until the day of the armistice on July 27, 1953. (See War Veteran Brian Willson. Korea and the Axis of Evil, Global Research, April, 2002)
For the people of North Korea, in their inner consciousness as human beings, the aggressor, which inflicted more than two million deaths on a country of 8-9 million (1950s) is the United States of America.
These facts continue to be concealed by the Western media to sustain the “Axis of Evil” legend, which portrays North Korea as a threat and “rogue state”, to be condemned by the “international community”.
Genocide is defined under the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) as the
“the deliberate and systematic destruction of, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group”. Article 2 of this convention defines genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”
What is at stake is an act of genocide committed by the US. During the Korean War an entire civilian population was the target of deliberate and relentless bombings, with a view to destroying and killing a national group, which constitutes an act of genocide under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. | <urn:uuid:c9f2e9c1-96dd-4e3e-a32a-42987208c407> | {
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|Spend the time||outdoors|
iPhone, Android device, or a computer with Internet access.
Precipitation ID Near the Ground (PING)
|Develop radar technologies to detect precipitation|
|Report precipitation with your Android and iPhone|
The National Severe Storms Laboratory needs YOUR help with a research project!
If you live in the area shown on the map, the Precipitation Identification Near the Ground project (PING) wants YOU to watch and report on precipitation type.
PING is looking for young, old, and in-between volunteers to make observations—teachers, classes and families too! We have collected tens of thousands of observations since 2006, already making PING successful because of your help.
PING volunteers can spend a little or a lot of time making observations. The basic idea is simple: the National Severe Storms Laboratory will collect radar data from NEXRAD radars in your area during storm events, and compare that data with YOUR observations.
Why? Because the radars cannot see close to the ground, we need YOU to tell us what is happening. Scientists will compare your report with what the radar has detected, and develop new radar technologies and techniques to determine what kind of precipitation—such as snow, soft hail, hard hail, or rain—is falling where. | <urn:uuid:5124abc4-cc48-4324-988d-f97faaaa8d23> | {
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What is the big deal with carbon?
What is the big deal with carbon?
Why are they called fossil fuels?
Because the fuel in your gas tank comes from the chemical remains of prehistoric plants and animals!
All living things on Earth contain carbon. Even you contain carbon. Lots of it. If you weigh 100 pounds, 18 pounds of you is pure carbon! And plants are almost half carbon!
With so much carbon, why isn't everything black and sooty? How can dogs be white and trees green? Because carbon, an element, combines easily with other elements to form new materials. The new stuff, called compounds, are quite different from pure carbon.
An atom is the tiniest possible particle of any element, like carbon or oxygen. A carbon atom combines easily with two oxygen atoms to make the compound carbon dioxide.
"C" stands for carbon, "O" stands for oxygen, so carbon dioxide is often called "C-O-2, and written "CO2." CO2 is a gas. It is invisible. CO2 is really important.
Read on to learn how carbon gets into living things in the first place.
How does carbon get into living things?
Plants take in CO2. They keep the carbon and give away the oxygen. Animals breathe in the oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.
Plants and animals depend on each other. It works out well. For hundreds of millions of years, plants and animals have lived and died. Their remains have gotten buried deep beneath Earth's surface. So for hundreds of millions of years, this material has been getting squished and cooked by lots of pressure and heat.
So what happens to all this dead plant and animal stuff? It turns into what we call fossil fuels: oil, coal, and natural gas. This is the stuff we now use to energize our world. We burn these carbon-rich materials in cars, trucks, planes, trains, power plants, heaters, speed boats, barbecues, and many other things that require energy.
How does the carbon get out of living things?
When fossil fuels burn, we mostly get three things: heat, water, and CO2. We also get some solid forms of carbon, like soot and grease.
So that's where all the old carbon goes. All that carbon stored in all those plants and animals over hundreds of millions of years is getting pumped back into the atmosphere over just one or two hundred years.
Did you know that burning 6.3 pounds of gasoline produces 20 pounds of carbon dioxide? Want to know how?
Is carbon in the air good, bad, or just ugly??
Here's the big, important thing about CO2: It's a greenhouse gas. That means CO2 in the atmosphere works to trap heat close to Earth. It helps Earth to hold on to some of the energy it gets from the Sun so the energy doesn't all leak back out into space.
If it weren't for this greenhouse effect, Earth's oceans would be frozen solid. Earth would not be the beautiful blue and green planet of life that it is.
So, CO2 and other greenhouse gases are good—up to a point. But CO2 is so good at holding in heat from the Sun, that even a small increase in CO2 in the atmosphere can cause Earth to get even warmer.
Throughout Earth's history, whenever the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has gone up, the temperature of Earth has also gone up. And when the temperature goes up, the CO2 in the atmosphere goes up even more.
NASA's research satellites are studying how much carbon plants take out of the atmosphere and how carbon moves around the planet.
Check out the Climate Time Machine to see how CO2 and temperature have changed together through history. | <urn:uuid:a78df3a9-e9ab-43e3-a7b5-69952a61a598> | {
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During all of the debate of the removing of the Confederate flag in certain states, many things have been on my mind. This issue in particular has reminded me of certain stories from our past. One of which being about the Cherokee people:
“When Andrew Jackson became president (1829–1837), he decided to build a systematic approach to Indian removal on the basis of these legal precedents.
To achieve his purpose, Jackson encouraged Congress to adopt the Removal Act of 1830. The Act established a process whereby the President could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. As incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to travel to their new locations and start new lives and guaranteed that the Indians would live on their new property under the protection of the United States Government forever. With the Act in place, Jackson and his followers were free to persuade, bribe, and threaten tribes into signing removal treaties and leaving the Southeast.
In general terms, Jackson’s government succeeded. By the end of his presidency, he had signed into law almost seventy removal treaties, the result of which was to move nearly 50,000 eastern Indians to Indian Territory—defined as the region belonging to the United States west of the Mississippi River but excluding the states of Missouri and Iowa as well as the Territory of Arkansas—and open millions of acres of rich land east of the Mississippi to white settlers. Despite the vastness of the Indian Territory, the government intended that the Indians’ destination would be a more confined area—what later became eastern Oklahoma.
The Trail of Tears (Robert Lindneux, 1942)
The Cherokee Nation resisted, however, challenging in court the Georgia laws that restricted their freedoms on tribal lands. In his 1831 ruling on Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall declared that
“the Indian territory is admitted to compose a part of the United States,”
and affirmed that the tribes were
“domestic dependent nations” and “their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian.”
However, the following year the Supreme Court reversed itself and ruled that Indian tribes were indeed sovereign and immune from Georgia laws. President Jackson nonetheless refused to heed the Court’s decision. He obtained the signature of a Cherokee chief agreeing to relocation in the Treaty of New Echota, which Congress ratified against the protests of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay in 1835. The Cherokee signing party represented only a faction of the Cherokee, and the majority followed Principal Chief John Ross in a desperate attempt to hold onto their land. This attempt faltered in 1838, when, under the guns of federal troops and Georgia state militia, the Cherokee tribe were forced to the dry plains across the Mississippi. The best evidence indicates that between three and four thousand out of the fifteen to sixteen thousand Cherokees died en route from the brutal conditions of the “Trail of Tears.”
Andrew Jackson is in those days was a known Indian killer, and yet today is so glorified, and his image honored on the place of our $20 bill. Why should the Confederate flag be removed, which was in truth a symbol of the separation of the states, but is also a reminder of the issue of slavery, while this man’s face remains on our bill? As dirty as it seems for this bit of history to be swept under the rug and forgotten, you do not see Native Americans rioting in the streets or screaming ” Death to White Supremacy!” Or “Native lives matter!” Or asking that his image be removed. Our history though not 100℅ pure, is important and should not be tampered with or taken away. My point in bringing up the history of former President Andrew Jackson and my ancestors, is to give an example of the fact that there are many people groups that can take symbols, or pieces of our history as an offence. We have all been wronged at some point. What will be left if we remove all that does not please everyone? What diversity will our Nation have? Symbols like the Confederate flag and Andrew Jackson’s face are not the cause of racism today. In reality, the U.S is the most culturally diverse and accepting of all nations. Reminders of the civil war, corrupt leaders like Andrew Jackson can serve to show us our fallen nature as human beings, and be a warning to us that where there is too much power given, power will corrupt. Constant accountability and perseverence is required to protect liberty and freedom in a land. History should be the thing that impassions us to fight to protect every belief and freedom we deserve, not the thing that we try to pretend did not happen. What of the lives that were lost in the civil war? What of the grandchildren and great grandchildren of war heros of the southern states? Should their freedom to fly their flag be infringed upon, because it offends a man from the north who is flying his ancestor’s flag freely? I can only imagine how I would feel if part of my family heritage were taken away. If the Campbell tartan was outlawed because they oppressed fellow lowlanders in the past. I would be outraged because I myself had committed no crime! I would be hurt, and protesting. A symbol of your heritage is not a crime and should not be treated as one. Especially perhaps when it is found offensive because of something that happened a hundred years ago.
U.S history is important to keep, every detail. So that the mistakes and victories alike, are never forgotten and can serve as lessons for today. So that we may honor those who’s lives were lost defending what we so easily let go of today- Liberty.
I am very much afraid that the only purpose of bringing up this issue at this time is to cause more division between us all, and to pave the way for more laws against “that which offends”.
That will lead to things which I am absolutely certain we do not want.
We will never all agree on every issue and belief. The only thing that the removing of that which offends, can serve to do is cause more division between us, and more laws against our freedom of speech and RELIGION.
It MUST stop here.
Every decision that is made should be made with our future in mind as well as the present.
Infringing on freedom will never lead to anything but pain and suffering.
Freedom is a gift from God, our Creator, and no man has the right to take it away. | <urn:uuid:9ea348c6-3caf-431d-b099-fbafd49bd8f5> | {
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The Google dictionary defines self-confidence as “a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities, and judgment.” It is a sense of self-efficacy, in which we recognize our skills and strengths and the ability to succeed. It is a feeling that we are “behaving virtuously, that we’re competent at what we do” (Mindtools.com). It has to do with the value we attribute to ourselves. Self-confidence eliminates much of the need to perform in a certain way to get people to like us. It is connected to our social networks, the activities in which we take part, and what we hear others say about us.
Healthy self-confidence, commonly used synonymously with self-esteem, is very much about balance. On the one extreme are under-confident people, who avoid taking risks, think badly of themselves, underestimate their abilities, and base their behavior on what others think of them. On the other extreme are the overly-confident, who are often narcissistic, have a sense of entitlement, believe they are always right, and will not tolerate disagreements. (We probably know some people like this, and they drive us crazy.) Both extremes can be harmful to the person and those around them and can lead to destructive behavior.
In his blog post on Psychology Today, Michael J. Formica cautions against the “feel-good” version of the self-esteem movement so prevalent today. He says that the commonly held view today links self-esteem with happiness, but in the process of seeking self-esteem we have merely managed to create a generation of overly-inflated egos that have been shielded from failure and negative experiences. He argues that this falsely elevated self-esteem is an “ultimately destructive influence.” Others have gone further to say that inflated self-esteem brought about by the “everyone’s-a-winner” approach does more harm than good (see Cytowic, 2012, “The Key to Self-Esteem”). Finally, Formica suggests that we return to an idea of self-esteem built on character and performance, leading to an “authentic and grounded sense of self” in the next generation. Thus, in fostering self-esteem, we do not want to create a proud and faulty self-image. The desire is to foster in ourselves and others a realistic self-confidence.
One career-building resource lists these qualities of a self-confident person:
“Doing what you believe to be right, even if others mock or criticize you for it.
Being willing to take risks and go the extra mile to achieve better things.
Admitting your mistakes, and learning from them.
Waiting for others to congratulate you on your accomplishments.
It is evident why these qualities would be valuable for youth (and for any adult). Self-confident youth are less likely to engage in destructive behaviors and give in to negative peer pressure. Building a good self-image can be essential during a time in life when many teens struggle with themselves physically and socially.
The good news is that healthy self-confidence is something that can be developed and fostered. Cytowic says that one of the keys to this is accomplishment. He says,
The solution to this muddle is actually simple: If you want self-esteem, then do estimable things. Accomplishments and know-how can’t be handed out or downloaded into someone’s brain . . . They must be earned through individual effort. It is the endeavor that generates a sense of pride and inward esteem.
Carl E. Pickhardt suggests encouraging “multiple pillars of self-esteem” by helping your teen to look at multiple aspects of their life for identification and evaluation (friends, sports, academics, hobbies, family, etc.). Encourage them to learn from their mistakes to do better next time, instead of getting lost in a cycle of harsh self-evaluation and criticism. Pickhardt quotes what he calls his favorite prescription for strong self-esteem:
There’s a lot of talk about self-esteem these days…It seems pretty basic to me. If you want to feel proud of yourself, you’ve got to do things you can feel proud of. Feelings follow actions.
“Confident people inspire confidence in others” (Mindtools.com). You can help teens by modeling healthy self-confidence yourself by providing a good example of self-confident behavior and attitudes. Provide teens opportunities to try new things. Encourage them in areas where they are strong. Help them to find positive sources of identity and self-worth.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion
Do you agree with the doctors quoted above that the self-esteem movement has taken a destructive turn? Why or why not?
What is the difference between a faulty or over-inflated self-esteem and healthy self-confidence? How are each developed?
What are the potential negative effects of under-confident and over-confident views of self?
How would you define your current level of self-confidence? How does it affect your attitudes and behaviors in positive and/or negative ways?
How can you encourage healthy self-confidence in those around you? Can you think of other ideas beyond what was mentioned in this Overview?
How does your faith or religious view affect your self-confidence or what you think a self-confident person should look like?
Self-confidence should be based in a realistic view of self, in which a person recognizes both his strengths and weaknesses, can learn from his mistakes and failures, and can accurately assess his abilities and use them to work toward success.
We should be wary of over-inflated confidence that is not based in an accurate self-estimation. Many believe that the current self-esteem movement (which says that every child is a star and a winner) has lead to a generation of children and young adults who severely over-estimate their abilities and warn of the dangers of this reality.
Healthy self-confidence is built in part by accomplishment and experiences. The words and estimation of people close to us can have a positive and negative effect on self-confidence.
Self-confidence is something that can be developed and fostered in ourselves and others. We should seek ways to build healthy self-confidence in our young people. This cannot be done outside of relationships. | <urn:uuid:0431f70d-5053-4ab2-8947-d39b775170fb> | {
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Want to wirelessly upload hundreds of movies to a mobile device in a few seconds? Researchers at Georgia Tech have drawn up blueprints for a wireless antenna made from atom-thin sheets of carbon, or graphene, that could allow terabit-per-second transfer speeds at short ranges.
“It’s a gigantic volume of bandwidth. Nowadays, if you try to copy everything from one computer to another wirelessly, it takes hours. If you have this, you can do everything in one second—boom,” says Ian Akyildiz, director of the broadband wireless networking laboratory at Georgia Tech. | <urn:uuid:a719699a-aac9-4aa3-862b-550f0c2a2d97> | {
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On Guerrilla Warfare
Four points must be considered under this subject. These are:
How are guerrilla bands formed?
How are guerrilla bands organized?
What are the methods of arming guerrilla bands?
What elements constitute a guerrilla band?
These are all questions pertaining to the organization armed guerrilla units; they are questions which those who had no experience in guerilla hostilities do not understand and on which they can arrive at no sound decisions; indeed, they would not know in what manner to begin.
The unit may originate in any one of the following ways:
a) From the masses of the people.
b) From regular army units temporarily detailed for the purpose.
c) From regular army units permanently detailed.
d) From the combination of a regular army unit and a unit recruited from the people.
e) From the local militia.
f) From deserters from the ranks of the enemy.
g) From former bandits and bandit groups.
In the present hostilities, no doubt, all these sources will be employed.
In the first case above, the guerrilla unit is formed from the people. This is the fundamental type. Upon the arrival of the enemy army to oppress and slaughter the people, their leaders call upon them to resist. They assemble the most valorous elements, arm them with old rifles or whatever firearms they can, and thus a guerrilla unit begins. Orders have already been issued throughout the nation that call upon the people to form guerrilla units both for local defense and for other combat. If the local governments approve and aid such movements, they cannot fail to prosper. In some places, where the local government is not determined or where its officers have all fled, the leaders among the masses (relying on the sympathy of the people and their sincere desire to resist Japan and succor the country ) call upon the people to resist, and they respond. Thus, many guerrilla units are organized. In circumstances of this kind, the duties of leadership usually fall upon the shoulders of young students, teachers, professors, other educators, local soldiery, professional men, artisans, and those without a fixed profession, who are willing to exert themselves to the last drop of their blood. Recently, in Shansi, Hopeh, Chahar, Suiyuan, Shantung, Chekiang, Anhwei, Kiangsu, and other provinces, extensive guerrilla hostilities have broken out. All these are organized and led by patriots. The amount of such activity is the best proof of the foregoing statement. The more such bands there are, the better will the situation be. Each district, each county, should be able to organize a great number of guerrilla squads, which, when assembled, form a guerrilla company.
There are those who say: 'I am a farmer', or, 'I am a student'; 'I can discuss literature but not military arts.' This is incorrect. There is no profound difference between the farmer and the soldier. You must have courage. You simply leave your farms and become soldiers. That you are farmers is of no difference, and if you have education, that is so much the better. When you take your arms in hand, you become soldiers; when you are organized, you become military units.
Guerrilla hostilities are the university of war, and after you have fought several times valiantly and aggressively, you may become a leader of troops and there will be many well-known regular soldiers who will not be your peers. Without question, the fountainhead of guerrilla warfare is in the masses of the people, who organize guerrilla units directly from themselves.
The second type of guerrilla unit is that which is organized from small units of the regular forces temporarily detached for the purpose. For example, since hostilities commenced, many groups have been temporarily detached from armies, divisions, and brigades and have been assigned guerrilla duties. A regiment of the regular army may, if circumstances warrant, be dispersed into groups for the purpose of carrying on guerrilla operations. As an example of this, there is the Eighth Route Army, in North China. Excluding the periods when it carries on mobile operations as an army, it is divided into its elements and these carry on guerrilla hostilities. This type of guerrilla unit is essential for two reasons. First, in mobile-warfare situations, the co-ordination of guerrilla activities with regular operations is necessary. Second, until guerrilla hostilities can be developed on a grand scale, there is no one to carry out guerrilla missions but regulars. Historical experience shows us that regular army units are not able to undergo the hardships of guerrilla campaigning over long periods. The leaders of regular units engaged in guerrilla operations must be extremely adaptable. They must study the methods of guerrilla war. They must understand that initiative, discipline, and the employment of stratagems are all of the utmost importance. As the guerrilla status of regular units is but temporary, their leaders must lend all possible support to the organization of guerrilla units from among the people. These units must be so disciplined that they hold together after the departure of the regulars.
The third type of unit consists of a detachment of regulars who are permanently assigned guerrilla duties. This type of small detachment does not have to be prepared to rejoin the regular forces. Its post is somewhere in the rear of the enemy, and there it becomes the backbone of guerrilla organization. As an example of this type of organization we may take the Wu Tat Shan district in the heart of the Hopeh-Chahar-Shansi area. Along the borders of these provinces, units from the Eighth Route Army have established a framework or guerrilla operations. Around these small cores, many detachments have been organized and the area of guerrilla activity greatly expanded. In areas in which there is a possibility of cutting the enemy's lines of supply, this system should be used. Severing enemy, supply routes destroys his lifeline; this is one feature that cannot be neglected. If, at the time the regular forces withdraw from a certain area, some units left behind, these should conduct guerrilla operations in the enemy's rear. As an example of this, we have the guerrilla bands now continuing their independent operations in the Shanghai- Woosung area in spite of the withdrawal of regular forces.
The fourth type of organization is the result of a merger between small regular detachments and local guerrilla units. The regular forces may dispatch a squad, a platoon, or a company, which is placed at the disposal of the local guerrilla commander. If a small group experienced in military and political affairs is sent, it becomes the core of the local guerrilla unit. These several methods are all excellent, and if properly applied, the intensity of guerilla warfare can be extended. In the Wu Tat Shan area, each of these methods has been used.
The fifth type mentioned above is from the local militia, from police and home guards. In every North China province, there are now many of these groups, and they should be formed in every locality. The government has issued mandate to the effect that the people are not to depart from war areas. The officer in command of the county, the commander of the peace-preservation unit, the chief of police are all required to obey this mandate. They cannot retreat with their forces but must remain at their stations and resist.
The sixth type of unit is that organized from troops that come over from the enemythe Chinese 'traitor' troops employed by the Japanese. It is always possible to produce disaffection in their ranks, and we must increase our propaganda efforts and foment mutinies among such troops. Immediately after mutinying, they must be received into our ranks and organized. The concord of the leaders and the assent of the men must be gained, and the units rebuilt politically and reorganized militarily. Once this has been accomplished, they become successful guerrilla units. In regard to this type of unit, it may be said that political work among them is of utmost importance.
The seventh type of guerrilla organization is that formed from bands of bandits and brigands. This, although difficult, must be carried out with utmost vigour lest the enemy use such bands to his own advantages. Many bandit groups pose as anti-Japanese guerrillas, and it is only necessary to correct their political beliefs to convert them.
In spite of inescapable differences in the fundamental types of guerrilla bands, it is possible to unite them to form a vast sea of guerrillas. The ancients said, 'Tai Shan is a great mountain because it does not scorn the merest handful of dirt; the rivers and seas are deep because they absorb the waters of small streams.' Attention paid to the enlistment and organization of guerrillas of every type and from every source will increase the potentialities of guerrilla action in the anti-Japanese war. This is something that patriots will not neglect.
Many of those who decide to participate in guerrilla activities do not know the methods of organization. For such people, as well as for students who have no knowledge of military affairs, the matter of organization is a problem that requires solution. Even among those who have military knowledge, there are some who know nothing of guerrilla regimes use they are lacking in that particular type of experience. The subject of the organization of such regimes is not confined to the organization of specific units but includes all guerrilla activities within the area where the regime functions.
As an example of such organization, we may take a geographical area in the enemy's rear. This area may comprise many counties. It must be sub-divided and individual companies or battalions formed to accord with the sub-divisions. To this 'military area', a military commander and political commissioners are appointed. Under these, the necessary officers both military and political, are appointed. In the military headquarters, there will be the staff, the aides, the supply officers, and the medical personnel. These are controlled by the chief of staff, who acts in accordance with orders from the commander. In the political headquarters, there are bureaus of propaganda organization, people's mass movements, and miscellaneous affairs. Control of these is vested in the political chairman.
The military areas are sub-divided into smaller districts in accordance with local geography, the enemy situation locally, and the state of guerrilla development. Each of these smaller divisions within the area is a district, each of which may consist of from two to six counties. To each district, a military commander and several political commissioners are appointed. Under their direction, military and political headquarters are organized. Tasks are assigned in accordance with the number of guerrilla troops available. Although the names of the officers in the 'district' correspond to those in the larger 'area', the number of the functionaries assigned in the former case should be reduced to the least possible. In order to unify control, to handle guerrilla troops that come from different sources, and to harmonize military operations and local political affairs, a committee of from seven to nine members should be organized in each area and district. This committee, the members of which are selected by the troops and the local political officers, should function as a forum for the discussion of both military and political matters.
All the people in an area should arm themselves and be organized into two groups. One of these groups is a combat group, the other a self-defence unit with but limited military quality. Regular combatant guerrillas are organized into one of three general types of units. The first of these is the small unit, the platoon or company. In each county, three to six units may be organized. The second type is the battalion of from two to four companies. One such unit should be organized in each county. While the unit fundamentally belongs to the county in it was organized, it may operate in other counties. While in areas other than its own, it must operate in conjunction with local units in order to take advantage of their manpower, their knowledge of local terrain and local customs, and their information of the enemy.
The third type is the guerrilla regiment, which consists of from two to four of the above-mentioned battalion units. If sufficient manpower is available, a guerrilla a brigade of from two to four regiments may be formed.
Each of the units has its own peculiarities of organization. A squad, the smallest unit, has a strength of from nine to eleven men, including the leader and the assistant leader. Its arms may be from two to five Western-style rifles, with the remaining men armed with rifles of local manufacture, fowling-pieces, etc., spears, or big swords. Two to four such squads form a platoon. This too has a leader and an assistant leader, and when acting independently, it is assigned a political officer to carry on political propaganda work. The platoon may have about ten rifles, with the remainder of its four of such units from a company, which, like the platoon, has a leader, an assistant leader, and a political officer. All these units are under the direct supervision of the military commanders of the areas in which they operate.
The battalion unit must be more thoroughly organized and better equipped than the smaller units. Its discipline and its personnel should be superior. If a battalion is formed from company units, it should not deprive subordinate units entirely of their manpower and their arms. If in a small area, there is a peace-preservation corps, a branch of the militia, or police, regular guerrilla units should not be dispersed over it.
The guerrilla unit next in size to the battalion is the regiment. This must be under more severe discipline than the battalion. In an independent guerrilla regiment, there may be ten men per squad, three squad per platoon, three platoons per company, three companies per battalion, and three battalions to the regiment. Two of such regiments form a brigade. Each of these units has a commander, a vice-commander, and a political officer.
In North China, guerrilla cavalry units should be established. These may be regiments of from two to four companies, or battalions.
All these units from the lowest to the highest are combatant guerrilla units and receive their supplies from the central government. Details of their organization are shown in the tables.
All the people of both sexes from the ages of sixteen to forty-five must be organized into anti-Japanese self-defence units, the basis of which is voluntary service. As a first step, they must procure arms, then they must be given both military and political training. Their responsibilities are : local sentry duties, securing information of the enemy, arresting traitors, and preventing the dissemination of enemy propaganda. When the enemy launches a guerrilla-suppression drive, these units, armed with what weapons there are, are assigned to certain areas to deceive, hinder, and harass him. Thus, the defence units assist the combatant guerrillas. They have other functions. They furnish stretcher-bearers to transport the wounded , carriers to take food to the troops, and comfort missions to provide the troops with tea and rice. If a locality can organize such a self-defence unit as we have described, the traitors cannot hide nor can bandits and robbers disturb the peace of the people. Thus the people will continue to assist the guerrilla and supply manpower to our regular armies. 'The organization of self-defence units is a transitional step in the development of universal conscription. Such units are reservoirs of manpower for the orthodox forces.'
There have been such organizations for some time in Shansi, Shensi, Honan, and Suiyuan. The youth organizations in different provinces were formed for the purpose of educating the young. They have been of some help. However, they were not voluntary, and confidence of the people was thus not gained. These organizations were not widespread, and their effect was almost negligible. This system was, therefore, supplanted by the new-type organizations,. Which are organized on the principles of voluntary co-operation and non-separation of the members from their native localities. When the members of these organizations are in their native towns, they support themselves . Only in case of military necessity are they ordered to remote places, and when this is done, the government must support them. Each member of these groups must have a weapon even if the weapon is only a knife, a pistol, a lance, or a spear.
In all places where the enemy operates, these self-defence units should organize within themselves a small guerrilla group of perhaps from three to ten men armed with pistols or revolvers. This group is not required to leave its native locality.
The organization of these self-defence units is mentioned in this book because such units are useful for the purposes of inculcating the people with military and political knowledge, keeping order in the rear, and replenishing the ranks of the regulars. These groups should be organized not only in the active war zones but in every province in China. 'The people must be inspired to co-operate voluntarily. We must not force them, for if we do, it will be ineffectual.' This is extremely important.
In order to control anti-Japanese military organization as a whole, it is necessary to establish a system of military areas and districts along the lines we have indicated.
In regard to the problem of guerrilla equipment, it must be understood that guerrillas are lightly-armed attack groups, which require simple equipment. The standard of equipment is based upon the nature of duties assigned; the equipment of low-class guerrilla units is not as good as that of higher-class units. For example, those who are assigned the task of destroying rail communications are better equipped than those who do not have that task. The equipment of guerrillas cannot be based on what the guerrillas want, to even what they need, but must be based on what is available for their use. Equipment cannot be furnished immediately but must be acquired gradually. These are points to be kept in mind .
The question of equipment includes the collection, supply, distribution, and replacement of weapons, ammunition, blankets, communication materials, transport, and facilities for propaganda work. The supply of weapons and ammunition is most difficult, particularly at the time the unit is established, but this problem can always be solved eventually. Guerrilla bands that originate in the people are furnished with revolvers, pistols, rifles, spears, big swords, and land mines and mortars of local manufacture. Other elementary weapons are added and as many new-type rifles as are available are distributed. After a period of resistance, it is possible to increase the supply of equipment by capturing it from the enemy. In this respect, the transport companies are the easiest to equip, for in any successful attack, we will capture the enemy's transport.
An armory should be established in each guerrilla district for the manufacture and repair of rifles and for the production of cartridge, hand grenades and bayonets. Guerrillas must not depend to much on an armory. The enemy is the principal source of their supply.
For destruction of railway tracks, bridges, and stations in enemy-controlled territory, it is necessary to gather together demolition materials. Troops must be trained in the preparation and use of demolitions, and a demolition unit must be organized in each regiment.
As for minimum clothing requirements, these are that each man shall have at least two summer-weight uniforms, one suit of winter clothing, two hats, a pair of wrap puttees, and blanket. Each man must have a pack or a bag for food. In the north, each man must have an overcoat. In acquiring this clothing, we cannot depend on captures made by the enemy, for it is forbidden for captors to take clothing from their prisoners. In order to maintain high morale in guerrilla forces, all the clothing and equipment mentioned should be furnished by the representatives of the government in each guerrilla district. These men may confiscate clothing from traitors or ask contributions from those best able to afford them. In subordinate groups, uniforms are unnecessary.
Telephone and radio equipment is not necessary in lower groups, but all units from regiment up are equipped with both. This material can be obtained by contributions from the regular forces and by capture from the enemy.
In the guerrilla army in general, and at bases in particular, there must be a high standard of medical equipment. Besides the services of the doctors, medicines must be procured. Although guerrillas can depend on the enemy for some portion of their medical supplies, they must, in general, depend upon contributions. If Western medicines are not available, local medicines must be made to suffice.
The problem of transport is more vital in North-China than in the south, for in the south all that are necessary are mules and horses. Small guerrilla units need no animals, but regiments and brigades will find them necessary. Commanders and staffs of units from companies up should be furnished a riding animal each. At times, two officers will have to share a horse. Officers whose duties are of minor nature do not have to be mounted.
Propaganda materials are very important. Every large guerrilla unit should have a printing press and a mimeograph stone. They must also have paper on which to print propaganda leaflets and notices. They must be supplied with large brushes. In guerrilla areas, there should be a printing press or a lead-type press.
For the purpose of printing training instructions, this material is of the greatest importance.
In addition to the equipment listed above, it is necessary to have field-glasses, compasses, and military maps. An accomplished guerrilla group will acquire these things.
Because of the proved importance of guerrilla hostilities in the anti-Japanese war, the headquarters of the Nationalist Government and the commanding officers of the various war zones should do their best to supply the guerrillas with what they actually need and are unable to get for themselves. However, it must be repeated that guerrilla equipment will in the main depend on the efforts of the guerrillas themselves. If they depend on higher officers too much, the psychological effect will be to weaken the guerrilla spirit of resistance.
The term 'element' as used in the title to this section refers to the personnel, both officers and men, of the guerrilla army. Since each guerrilla group fights in a protracted war, its officers must be brave and positive men whose entire loyalty is dedicated to the cause of emancipation of the people. An officer should have the following qualities: great powers of endurance so that in spite of any hardship he sets an example to his men and be a model for them; he must be able to mix easily with the people; his spirit and that of the men must be one in strengthening the policy of resistance to the Japanese. If he wishes to gain victories, he must study tactics. A guerrilla group with officers of this calibre would be unbeatable. I do not mean that every guerrilla group can have, at its inception, officers of such qualities. The officers must be men naturally endowed with good qualities which can be developed during the course of campaigning. The most important natural quality is that of complete loyalty to the idea of people's emancipation. If this is present, the others will develop; if it is not present, nothing can be done. When officers are first selected from a group, it is this quality that should receive particular attention. The officers in a group should be inhabitants of the locality in which the group is organized, as this will facilitate relations between them and the local civilians. In addition, officers so chosen would be familiar with conditions. If in any locality there are not enough men of sufficiently high qualifications to become officers, an effort must be made to train and educate the people so these qualities may be developed and the potential officer material increased. There can be no disagreements between officers native to one place and those from other localities.
A guerrilla group ought to operate on the principle that only volunteers are acceptable for service. It is a mistake to impress people into service. As long as a person is willing to fight, his social condition or position is no consideration, but only men who are courageous and determined can bear the hardships of guerrilla campaigning in a protracted war.
A soldier who habitually breaks regulations must be dismissed from the army. Vagabonds and vicious people must not be accepted for service. The opium habit must be forbidden, and a soldier who cannot break himself of the habit should be dismissed. Victory in guerrilla war is conditioned upon keeping the membership pure and clean.
It is a fact that during the war the enemy may take advantage of certain people who are lacking in conscience and patriotism and induce them to join the guerrillas for the purpose of betraying them. Officers must, therefore, continually educate the soldiers and inculcate patriotism in them. This will prevent the success of traitors. The traitors who are in the ranks must be discovered and expelled, and punishment and expulsion meted out to those who have been influenced by them. In all such cases, the officers should summon the soldiers and relate the facts to them, thus arousing their hatred and detestation for traitors. This procedure will serve as well as a warning to the other soldiers. If an officer is discovered to be a traitor, some prudence must be used in the punishment adjudged. However, the work of eliminating traitors in the army begins with their elimination from among the people.
Chinese soldiers who have served under puppet governments and bandits who have been converted should be welcomed as individuals or as groups. They should be well-treated and repatriated. But care should be used during their reorientation to distinguish those whose idea is to fight the Japanese from those who may be present for other reasons.
Chapter 6: The Political Problems Of Guerrilla Warfare | <urn:uuid:65c2a1b8-60de-4a35-8b63-05ed7ad1e103> | {
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If you get to know the types of testing functional steps, you will be able to easily understand what functional testing is. You see, functional testing is defined as one of the software development stages. This is part of black box testing wherein the functionality of the software is tested one by one. Of course there are many types of testing functional steps so as to assure that the test is done properly. These are the ones you must be able to understand so that you will be able to come up with the right results.
The first types of testing functional step would be to identify the many different functions of the software. You see, from the onset of the plan to create a software, it is very important that the future functions of the programs be identified and listed. This way, when the software development begins, there will be a guideline that will be followed in the sense of the functions that the programs that it has to perform. When it comes to this part of the types of testing functional steps, it is important that these functions are identified as they will be the ones tested.
Next part of the types of testing functional steps is to create and establishment of the inputs needed to test the functions of the software. You see, there may be a lot of different kinds of input that can be used for this. But it is best that you are able to come up with the ones that will return the output that you desire to be able to see whether or not the functions are working right.
Of course, if input has already been made, a list of the desired output would be the next types of testing functional steps. Remember that you do not create the output. You will merely need to write down what kinds of output will come up when the inputs you have established have been given. This will allow you to see whether or not the software is functioning right.
After you already have identified the inputs and outputs that you will be expecting, the types of testing functional step to follow would be to create the test case. In other words, you will need to enter the inputs that you have established and see there if the software will be coming up with the right expected outputs.
Lastly, as you are already able to get the software to function, you must go on the types of testing functional step that will let you compare your notes. You have already written down what you are expecting the software to do right? Now you have tested them already per functions. Did the software return the right values? Did it give you the right outputs? From here, you can then adjust your software basing on how you want it to react. This way, you will be able to make sure that the functions will be working right as well. | <urn:uuid:b8e8753e-b1d0-4f06-9248-102d85b492db> | {
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Evolution of El Niño: December 1996 - August 1997
The diagrams below show the evolution of the El Niño event in 1997 as monitored from the oceans. El Niño traditionally refers to the area of warm water off the South American coastline which can warm by between 2°C and 8°C during an event. The first diagram shows a slice through the ocean at the equator - looking from the surface to the depths of the ocean, starting in December 1996, then showing March, June and August 1997. It shows the progression of eastward-travelling pulses of warming from the central to eastern Pacific. This resulted in a warming of the sea surface waters of up to 4°C by August 1997.
The next diagram looks at a horizontal slice across the top of the Pacific ocean, showing sea surface temperatures starting in December 1996, then showing March, June and August 1997. The spread of warm water at the surface evolves very quickly and by August 1997, waters are up to 4°C warmer than normal for a large expanse of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
For more information on El Niño, see also | <urn:uuid:5cd7e852-415d-421a-b2f5-514e1bb69421> | {
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This third edition aims to extend the fields of action involved in the development of an ecological and sustainable society from all the areas of knowledge. That is why the theme set for the IIIrd CICSE 2017 makes a clear reference to all parts involved thar have something to contribute to reach these common goals:
"Sustainable development and rehabilitation in architecture, urban planning and engineering"
Preserving both PRINCIPAL AIMS of the previous edition:
To obtain an overview of the environmental problems that arise from the construction activity, focusing on refurbishment as an alternative to the current crisis in theconstruction sector, as well as on actions designed to minimize environmental effects on the environment.
To offer training for professionals and technicians on alternative solutions with new materials, considering eco-efficiency, which minimize environmental impact and can be incorporated into their own designs and buildings.
Topics of Submission
Sustainable Renovation of Buildings and Neighbourhoods, the proper management of construction and demolition waste and the opportunities for their recycling and reuse will be taken into consideration in this block; as contributing to minimize the consumption of natural resources for the manufacture of construction products and the environmental impact caused by the dumping of construction waste.
Minimizing the consumption of material resources, energy consumption and CO2 emissions in construction through environmental impact indicators.
Sustainable planning and urban development, for an ordered and sustainable growth.
Energy efficiency, actions of the processes of energy consumption that can contribute to the energy saving and efficiency of primary energy consumption and to optimize the energy demand of the facility, equipment or energy consuming systems, pursuant to Royal Decree 56/2016 of 12 February.
Sustainable engineering, optimization and eco-efficient improvement of facilities, structures, systems and industrial processes that are part of the contemporary construction.
Eco-economy, by means of the viability of proposed eco-efficiency through the knowledge of their optimal costand amortization.
Architecture and society, the social implications of architecture for building a sustainable model.
Sustainable building, new thematic topic for this congress edition. Built projects that incorporate mechanisms to improve the sustainable development of the construction.
- Important Dates
- Contact Information
- Sponsored By
- Higher Technichal School of Architecture
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You can control what other accounts can do on your computer in a few different ways. In this section we'll show you some tweaks in the Group Policy Editor and also show you how to restrict access to the Control Panel, which will stop other people from fiddling about with such important things as your System Settings.
21. Use Group Policy Editor
Windows XP Professional Edition includes the Group Policy Editor, which is a very powerful tool that enables you to configure what permissions and access each account has. This isn't available in the Home Edition.
To launch it, Choose 'Start > Run' and enter gpedit. msc in the 'Open' bar. Click 'OK'. Expand 'User Configuration' in the left-hand pane. You'll see subfolders for 'Software settings', 'Windows settings' and 'Administrative templates'.
By expanding these, you can find a range of options to configure. Expand 'Administrative templates', followed by 'Control panel'. Here you can alter what appears in the user's control panel.
One particularly useful setting is the one that prohibits access so you can stop other users changing your settings. Double-click 'Prohibit access to the control panel' in the right-hand pane. This opens a dialog. Select 'Enabled' and click 'OK'. Choose the 'Explain' tab to find out more about this setting.
Each setting listed here has three options for configuration. 'Not configured' means you'll make no change to the current setup. 'Enabled' turns the setting on, and 'Disabled' turns it off again. It's worth exploring the various configurations you can make, but make sure you're fully backed up before you do so.
22. Restrict folder access in Group Policy Editor
In Group Policy Editor you can restrict folder access by disabling Simple File Sharing and then right-clicking the folder you would like to protect and selecting 'Properties'. Move to the 'Security' tab and you're ready to restrict folder access.
Now 'Add' and then select the user you would like to restrict. Tick the top box in the 'Deny' column to prevent the selected user from accessing, viewing or modifying the files in the folder you selected.
23. Restrict hard drive access in Group Policy Editor
You can restrict access to certain hard drives by clicking 'Start > Run', typing 'gpedit. Msc' and pressing [Enter]. In the User Configuration section, you'll need to navigate to 'Administrative Templates\Windows Explorer' to choose the hard drives you want to restrict.
24. Lockdown the Start menu
To restrict access to the Start menu, navigate to the Start menu and taskbar section and you can add restrictions. Disabling the Run command and search function can help prevent other users from locating system files.
Note: You may find that the changes you make in the Group Policy Editor do not seem to be carried out immediately. You can force a refresh of the settings by opening a command prompt ('Start > Run' and type 'cmd') and typing 'gpupdate' before clicking [Enter].
If you find you can't access the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), make sure that you're logged on as an administrator, since limited accounts can't access this tool. Remember, Group Policy Editor is only included with Windows XP Professional.
25. Limit control panel access
Before you disable any Control Panel items, we advise creating a shortcut for easy access. Open the Control Panel, highlight all the applets and drag them to your desktop to create shortcuts. If you're using Windows XP Home Edition, you'll need to edit the Registry to disable access to certain Control Panel applets. Click 'Start > Run', type 'Regedit', then click 'OK'.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. Click 'Edit > New > DWord Value' and name it 'DisallowCpl'. Give it a value of 1.
To disable applets in the control panel go to 'Edit > New > Key' and name it 'DisallowCpl'. Click 'Edit > New > String' and name it '1'. Double-click to set the value to the name of the applet to disable using the list in the box above.
Beneath the Control Panel tree entry you'll see four more folders that you can use in order to customise which Control Panel tabs are made available.
26. Encrypt an entire folder
Instead of restricting other users you could always just encrypt important folders in Windows XP. You need to select the folder to encrypt by right-clicking 'Start > Explore'. Navigate to the directory then right-click it and select 'Properties'.
Click 'Advanced' and check 'Encrypt Contents' to secure data. Click 'OK > OK'. This will encrypt the currently selected folder. Windows XP can apply this setting to just the files contained or to all the files and folders.
You'll be prompted to confirm whether you wish to apply encryption to just the selected folder, or to also encrypt its subfolders. Choose the option that suits you and then click 'OK'. In Windows XP it's easy to tell which files have been encrypted - all encrypted files are coloured green, and compressed files are blue.
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Viruses and Hoaxes
A virus is a computer program that could cause damage to your system. They are usually sent to a person via e-mail as an attachment. Once the reader opens the attachment, the virus can infect the computer and automatically send more e-mails to others in the e-mail address book to futher spread the virus. Action should be taken to remove viruses from a computer. Prevention (do not open unknown attachments, for example) should always be exercised.
The links below will bring you to the Sophos website which will give specific information about each virus and the tools to remove same.
A hoax is usually sent via e-mail telling the reader of some incredible event of either a positive or negative nature. For example, a reader might receive an e-mail saying to delete file xyz from their computer or that if they forward an e-mail x number of time that they will collect money. These types of e-mails are hoaxes and should be deleted. Do not take any action or forward a hoax.
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The Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Training enables students to do just that. A community health educator is often targeted on their speedy neighborhood striving to serve the general public. The Well being Schooling Code of Ethics has been a piece in progress since approximately 1976, begun by the Society of Public Health Schooling (SOPHE).
Any mixture of planned studying experiences using proof based mostly practices and/or sound theories that provide the opportunity to accumulate information, attitudes, and abilities needed to undertake and keep healthy behaviors” Report of 2011 Joint Committee on Well being Education & Promotion Terminology.
Well being Science Journal, Well being Systems and Policy Analysis, Health Care Present Opinions, Primary Healthcare Open Access, Health Schooling Analysis, Well being Training and Conduct, American Journal of Well being Training, International Quarterly of Community Health Schooling.
Well being education in Poland is not mandatory, but research has shown that even with implantation of well being education that the adolescents of Poland had been nonetheless not selecting to live a well being lifestyle. Use evidence-primarily based analysis to advocate for insurance policies and programs that promote optimistic social change related to the well being of individuals and communities.
Medical or professional health schooling research are not inside the scope of the journal’s themes except they are directly related to the broad space of changing health behaviors and the conditions that affect well being. Apply health education principles, theories, and models to create professional communication and set up optimistic public relations.… Read More | <urn:uuid:f47eb2b9-9b0f-4c14-949a-973f671bd15a> | {
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Paper that is one of a series written to inform the development of equality outcomes for the Scottish Government. Guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) states that a range of relevant evidence relating to equality groups and communities should be used to help set equality outcomes that are likely to make the biggest difference in tackling inequalities.
In this film, Doug, a gay man with physical disabilities is in residential accommodation eight miles away from his friends and family. Doug carefully considered when to ‘come out' within residential care and explains that this is a continual process because of the high turnover of residential care staff.
Report on homophobia and transphobia carried out in South Yorkshire that represents a collaborative piece of work between Sheffield Hallam University, Chilypep and the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health.
Report that presents key findings from a study of public attitudes towards discrimination and positive action. Based on data from the Scottish Social Attitudes survey (SSA), the study aimed to:
• Measure the extent and character of discriminatory attitudes in Scotland in 2010
• Assess the extent of support for positive action to try and achieve equality for different groups
• Examine how attitudes have changed over time.
Briefing that explores what personalisation means for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people. It looks at some of the main issues and examples of good practice. | <urn:uuid:d9929126-6fb9-4467-98c4-a0cf98848822> | {
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Mycotoxins in ruminant livestock: gut health and the hidden threat from ergot alkaloids
05-Sep-2016 | PDF file - by AnparioDownload PDF Now!
It has been suggested in the literature that when considering taxonomic classes of pathogens, fungi pose the greatest threat to animal and plant health (Fisher et al., 2012). One rationale for this is the harmful effects that mycotoxins exert on animals. Mycotoxins are low molecular weight, secondary fungal metabolites. They are commonly produced by the mycotoxigenic species of fungi belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Claviceps spp. and contaminate crops and forages both pre and post-harvest. However, mycotoxin production is not limited to the aforementioned genera of fungi but is extended to species belonging to the Alternaria, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Diplodia and Trichoderma genera, to name a few (Gallo et al., 2015). When appropriate environmental conditions for fungal growth are presented, crops can become infected with fungi and consequently contaminated with mycotoxins. When an animal is exposed to mycotoxins, through either inhalation, skin contact or predominantly ingestion, then health, productivity and fertility can all be adversely affected, significantly increasing the cost of production.
To Download the Full Whitepaper, please complete the form to the right | <urn:uuid:4d71ea1f-5e39-499b-9265-38ba5f236c27> | {
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Some users with Android devices complain about the issues with their device's compass. It occurs when user launch Google Maps and try to get directions, then user is prompted to calibrate your compass before you can proceed.
The basic solution is to hold the device in front of arm's length and move it around in a figure-8 pattern. The phone will collect all of the data it needs to properly calibrate the compass, so it wil not have any issues with Google Maps.
Compass calibration works by detecting the magnetic field intensity of earth. Sometimes, due to strong interference from other electronic components like speaker magnets in the phone, compass sensor may get wrong information about the magnetic poles of earth and can point in wrong direction.
In order to resolve, it prompts users to recalibrate compass by rotating in figure-8 direction so that it can check the magnetic intensity of earth in all directions. From that data, it records the actual poles of earth.
The calibration process separates the internal and external contributions to the magnetic field by checking at how the field changes as the phone is rotated. For example, in one orientation the magnetic field from the magnet in the speaker will add on to the Earth's field, but when the mobile device is rotated in the opposite direction, the two fields will partially cancels it out.
The magnetometer in the device collects the data in order to get an accurate calibration. | <urn:uuid:c2771365-399b-4922-a901-babfa5abfaf0> | {
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An output device is an electronic device that can print, display, or send signals that are easily interpreted by the user. Basically, an output device serves to show to operator of the computer the operations that just made.
That is, the output device communicates with us to show the result of our work, that can easily observe them through the monitor or printer, the two most commonly used output peripherals. There is also a third type of output device, commonly known as speakers or headphones, which allow us to hear what the computer has to say.
As mentioned, the most common output peripherals are the monitor and printer. That’s why then we will know some of its most important technical features.
Our PC monitor is certainly the most important device of our equipment, since without it we could not know what is happening in the computer.
This display device is constituted by several luminous dots called pixels. The amount of pixels which determines the graphic resolution thereof; the higher it is the number of pixels, the higher the resolution, since if the same image is reproduced on a larger number of viewing points, will greatly improve the detail.
There are two main types of monitor, the so-called CRT, or “Cathode ray tube“, and new flat panel monitors, which we can find on the market two variants, LED or LCD.
CRT monitors are the oldest monitor type, virtually obsolete now in the market, and it is almost impossible to find one of them, except in the used market. This is because they have been replaced by LCD monitors or LED, which grant a long series of advantages over CRT.
LED monitors or LCD monitors also use very different technology to that used with CRTs monitors, and offer many advantages over the way the data is presented on the screen, since they are larger and generally in widescreen format.
The printer is one of the most important output peripherals as they were designed to perpetuate the results of the data processed by the computer on paper.
Unlike in the case of the monitor, the printer is not an essential device, but is especially important when we need to represent the information processed by the PC in paper in the form of lists, graphs, drawings, and other images.
Currently there are several types of printers, the most widely used at the time are the laser and multifunction printers, a special class of device that meets scanner, copier and printer in single device.
Note that we can find other types of printers, which are used in more specialized areas. Among them we can mention the color laser printers, plotters and billboards printers, all used in the graphic area, and dot matrix printers, although a fairly old technology still widely used by businesses, mainly due to the cheapness of supplies.
If you want to know even more about printers, click on this link.
Speakers or headphones are devices that allow us to hear the sounds produced by the computer such as notifications, warning sounds, and of course, our favorite music. All these sounds are produced by the system audio board.
The speakers, along with the headphones, are the most used devices for listening to music through the audio player of your operating system.
Today we can find several types of speakers, including standard two-channel speakers, and multichannel speakers that can handle sounds from sound cards with 6 or 8 audio outputs. | <urn:uuid:1a4bbe18-85ec-4832-b939-5ec64d6b8701> | {
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2017 has been a year of high-profile data breaches, bringing data security to the forefront of public attention once again, and going some way to damaging the trust placed in organisations to look after personal data.
Data breaches can cause long-lasting damage to an organisation’s reputation, but it’s not just about brand image – organisations have a legal responsibility to keep data safe, with heavy penalties a possibility for those that fail to.
With so much at stake, what can organisations do to secure their data against threats?
The role of HR
While data security is an IT issue from a technical standpoint, HR departments have a key role to play in making sure that data security measures are baked into an organisation’s design and roles. This includes ensuring that the right skills are developed to improve the effectiveness of controls, and that people processes are followed when enforcement is necessary.
Breaches are often caused by bad practice or employee oversight, such as working on public networks, losing a device containing sensitive information, or weak access controls. Recently a USB stick containing sensitive Heathrow security data, including details of the Queen’s route to the airport and security measures, was found on a London street, highlighting the precariousness of unencrypted devices.
While it’s difficult to totally remove the human factor from data security, weaknesses can be kept to a minimum with effective training. It is HR’s responsibility to ensure that everyone is crystal clear on the importance of data handling and security, and the damage that a breach can cause.
The triple A’s of network security
It is vital that your organisation has effective control over access to its network, and the ability to track the activity of users. To this end, the “AAA” best practice helps organisation’s control access in three steps: Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting.
Authentication – this is the process of verifying that someone is who they say they are. Despite the emergence of more high-tech methods of user authentication, passwords are still one of the most effective ways of protecting information. A strong password policy acts as a first line of defence against would-be hackers.
Simple strategies such as enforcing periodical password changes, blacklisting common passwords, setting a minimum password length, or outlining password complexity requirements will go some way to mitigating the risk of someone assuming your identity.
Weak password recovery validation mechanisms are also an issue to consider – for example when the information required to reset a lost password is too easily guessed, especially using social media posts or online databases.
You can also go a step further with two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of security by requiring user-specific information alongside the traditional password. This extra layer could be provided by a code from a security token, a smartphone app, SMS, or even biometrics.
Authorisation – this is the process of granting or denying access to a user, and enables organisations to control which data can be seen by which people by assigning different authorisation levels. Essentially, this allows you to limit user access only to the data needed for the performance of their work. The process of validating access when staff change roles or during off-boarding is often only as effective as the HR processes.
Accounting – this is the process of recording and documenting user activity on a computer network for audit purposes. Auditing should be a key part of any GDPR programme; after all, in the event of a breach, the last thing you want is to find that auditing wasn’t turned on, or that the breach had been going on for months with nobody checking the logs.
The AAA framework is such an effective way of monitoring and recording an action that its steps are used in many non-IT situations. Take most transactions, for example – your credit card confirms who you are (authentication), your bank then confirms that you have an active account with sufficient funds (authorisation), and the receipt records the fact that the transaction took place (accounting).
Encryption is a process that changes information to make it unreadable to anyone unauthorised to access it. The only way to effectively read encrypted data is by using a key or passphrase, which then decrypts the data into a readable form. Data encryption won’t stop your system being hacked, but it will make it much harder for anyone to use the data they steal, acting as a last line of defence against hackers.
Data can be encrypted when in transit, i.e. when being sent from one place to another, or when at rest, i.e. in storage. Encryption of data in transit is now seen as standard, with encryption of data at rest seen as increasingly important.
The nature of data security threats, as well as the measures designed to prevent them, are constantly changing. Make sure that you stay up to date with the latest news around vulnerabilities, data breaches and hacking trends. Learn from these events and change your systems accordingly.
Organisations are increasingly focussing on compliance with internationally recognised security standards such as ISO 27001 and ISAE3402. These provide independent assurance that an organisation’s controls have been designed and implemented to adhere to a specific set of criteria. And by checking certificates and receiving clean security reports such as SOC 2, you can build assurance in your supply chain.
SOC 2 assurance is carried out by independent and qualified auditors, with reports based around core principles and criteria that are assessed for objectivity, measurability, completeness and relevance to exacting auditing standards. A SOC2 Type II report includes transparency on an assessment and can be used to help external auditors provide assurance that an organisation is compliant with legal frameworks such as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX).
Where other assurance standards (such as ISO 27001) simply require you to pass periodical audits, providing a data security snapshot at the time of assessment, SOC 2 uses evidence from transactions over a long-lasting period to validate internal practices. An annual report covering a 12-month period ensures controls are checked on a continuous basis, and is the top level of independent assurance.
Organisations investing in a SOC 2 report should make sure they are familiar with the scope statement and controls matrix outlined in the report, as these are critical to understanding the actual results of the audit.
Here at MHR we take data security very seriously. As a result, we now offer full SOC 2 Type II audit reports to our customers, with a total of 105 controls.
Our customers can also make use of our transparent data encryption (TDE) service, ensuring all data is fully protected when in transit.
If you are a customer of MHR and would like more information on any of these services, please feel free to contact your Business Development Manager, or alternatively please contact us at [email protected] or call 0115 945 7713. | <urn:uuid:5b7027cb-9186-4539-860c-a36b7e22d532> | {
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Over the years, psychologists and researchers have carried out numerous studies into how advertising works. All recognised that for a marketing message to work, it must be meaningful to its recipients. Messages must be targeted at the right audience; be capable of gaining their attention; be understandable; be relevant; and be acceptable.
With this in mind, researchers set out to develop an agreed model of the advertising process. Unfortunately, no single model has been agreed and there are a number of theories which compete to have prominence.
Petty and Cacioppo (1983) developed the elaboration likelihood model which has helped to explain how cognitive processing, persuasion and attitude change occur when different levels of audience involvement are present. Elaboration refers to the extent that the recipient has to develop and refine the information they receive for decision-making to occur. If the message recipient is highly motivated or has a high level of ability to process the information, elaboration is said to be high. If the recipient’s ability to process information is poor or their motivation is weak, elaboration is said to be low.
Thus the ELM model identifies two cognitive processes in the minds of recipients; a central route where the recipient is active and involved and a peripheral route where the recipient is passive and unengaged.
With the central route, a message will persuade using the quality of the argument proposed. For example, when you buy a house or a car, you will be highly involved. In such a situation consumers would be expected to read brochures and reviews prior to purchase. They may want an opportunity to try out the product e.g. a test drive of a car.
Under the peripheral route, the recipient should not be expected to process complicated information or to engage in significant cognitive processing. Communications using the peripheral route should use cues to attract the attention of recipients.
Peripheral cues could involve the use of a celebrity to advertise products. For example, Walker’s use of Gary Lineker to sell their crisps or Nespresso using George Clooney to advertise their coffee machines. The aim is that when consumers see Lineker, they think crisps; they see Clooney, they think coffee.
In high involvement transactions the presence of a celebrity is at best of minor significance to the consumer’s decision to purchase.
So the first decision of an advertiser is to choose a form of promotion which matches the level of cognitive processing expected of consumers.
An advertisement which seemed to break the rules of the ELM model was Jaguar’s use of Tom Huddleston, Sir Ben Kingsley and Mark Strong to advertise their cars. Purchasing a car is a highly involved process, clearly using these celebrities would have little impact in the consumer’s decision to purchase a Jag.
Competing with the ELM model are eclectic models of advertising. Four eclectic models have been developed each of which has a digital and an analogue component. These four models represent the four key ways in which advertising works.
- The Persuasive Framework – Analogue – this framework assumes that advertising works rationally and that a ‘brand works harder for you’. This framework assumes that consumers purchase items using a rational sequential decision-making process such as AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action). Consumers are persuaded to purchase through the development of unique selling propositions (USPs). The persuasive framework is used heavily in the promotion of blockbuster movies. Studios raise awareness of coming releases by using press interviews, film festivals and conventions. They create interest by releasing videos of stars on location filming and through releasing teaser trailers. They create desire through the release of longer trailers, star-studded premieres and star interviews. Finally they issue a call to action through television advertising which encourages consumers to book cinema seats in the weeks before a film is released. The onset of digital media has added a further element to the persuasive framework; that of encouraging consumers to search for further information e.g. the use of scanning codes in advertisements, e.g. Shazam, so that if the consumer scans the advertisement with their mobile phone, they are directed to the products website.
- The Involvement Framework – Analogue – Involvement-based advertisements work by drawing the audience into the product by eliciting emotional forms of engagement. A consumer’s passage to the brand occurs because ‘it means more to them’. This could involve the use of shared values, aspirational values or by personalisation the brand e.g. the use of celebrities. The digital element of the involvement framework encourages people to play. This is about content creation and giving the impression that consumers are helping to control the brand. So Brompton Bikes allow consumers to effectively design their own folding bicycle by offering 1200 different product options which can be combined to individualise their cycles. The involvement digital framework also includes opportunities such as blogs, social media and crowd-sourcing.
- The Salience Framework – Analogue – This part of the model relies on advertisements being different and therefore standing out from that of competitors. There is a danger that being too different can actually put consumers off. For example, some consumers are put off by the Go Compare advertisements (with the fat tenor) because they find them annoying. The Digital element of the salience framework is to attempt to create viral content which is shared and discussed by consumers.
- The Sales Promotion Framework – This element only has an Analogue element and works in that consumers believe that they will be rewarded by their purchase. Advertisements are aimed at generating sales and shifting product. Sales promotion advertisements are invitations to consumers to engage in price promotions or to get additional benefits (e.g. free servicing on a car).
Jones, Macdonald and Ehrenberg (1991) advocate a strong and weak theory of advertising.
The strong theory of advertising assumes that messages work in that they are capable of affecting a degree of change in the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of consumers. This theory argues that advertising can persuade a consumer to buy a product which they have never previously purchased and that long-run purchasing behaviour can be developed. The strong theory operates through the use of psychological techniques which alter the behaviour of passive consumers. Often this involves a hierarchy of effects model.
Increasingly, academics looking at the psychological effects of advertising are finding that the strong theory of advertising does not reflect consumer practice – despite the fact that it is so prevalent in modern advertising practice. Ehrenberg (1997) argues that consumer purchasing works on the basis of an Awareness – Trial – Reinforcement framework. That for a consumer to purchase, they must be aware of he product, to repeat purchase they must have tried the product and that to get them to continually purchase you must reinforce the consumer’s decision to purchase. In recent years, a further step has been added to this model: Nudge. This is the use of cues to nudge consumers into a certain form of activity. One nudge example is the promotion of Five a Day, the government programme to encourage consumers to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to increase the amount of roughage they consume. Therefore for nudge to work, advertisements should increase the level of reinforcement to get habitual consumers to increase their consumption.
This is the Weak Theory of Advertising. it agrees with the strong theory that advertising is capable of improving people’s knowledge of products. However the weak theory argues that consumers are not passive and only respond to advertisements where they have some prior knowledge of the product. Consumers need to have some awareness of a products characteristics before they respond to advertising. Therefore that amount of information which is actually communicated is limited. There simply isn’t enough time in the standard television advertisement (lasting roughly 30 seconds) to impart lots of information. For example, who actually reads the statutory small print in a television advertisement for unsecured loans?
As the time allotted to such advertising is short; and because consumers can switch off their cognitive ability to import information; advertising should be used to reinforce existing attitudes.
Those advocating the weak theory of advertising argue that the strong theory is wrong to assume that consumers are passive. Under the weak theory, consumers should be treated as active participants in the message and that they are capable of high levels of cognitive processing. They argue that the strong theory of advertising assumes consumers are unintelligent and apathetic.
As you can see, there are a number of competing psychological theories as to how advertising works in the minds of consumers. I think the most prominent thing to take out of this research is that you must match your promotional activity to the type of product you are trying to sell. If you are selling cars of mortgages, a focus on technical specifications may be appropriate, the use of a film star to promote them may be a waste of time and money. If you are selling snack foods or leisure goods, you need advertising which is either fun or glamorous. | <urn:uuid:67e70eea-6480-46e4-ae95-a9b0857d0129> | {
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Afroza’s story: refusing marriage, choosing education
By Naimul Haq
NATORE, Bangladesh, January 2010: Twenty young girls clap and sing in harmony under a large tin shed as neighbours cast curious looks. The chorus becomes louder and louder as the girls sing a clear message: ‘Girls, don’t get married before you are 18’.
In Biprohalsha village in Natore district, some 200 km north-west of Dhaka, the girls are hosting one of their twice-monthly gatherings which are part of UNICEF’s adolescent empowerment project. One of the main subjects of discussion is child marriage, a phenomenon that is all too common in Bangladesh where rates of teen marriage are among the highest in the world.
The song has a particular resonance for Afroza Khatun, a 17-year-old college student who leads the group. Recently, in the face of custom and community pressure, Afroza bravely refused her marriage proposal.
The problem of early marriage
“Early in September a relative from adjacent Bujangacha village came to see my father to propose my marriage with the owner of a small shop. A day later I told my parents that I wanted to complete my studies in college,” said Afroza.
Three-quarters of girls in Bangladesh are married before age 18 and one-third are married before age 15. The prevailing belief is that as girls grow older they may go astray, making it difficult for their parents to find suitable grooms. “We wish to send a clear message to our parents and the traditional village matchmakers that it is illegal for girls to get married before the age of 18 and illegal to pay dowry,” said Nazma Khatun, a student of class nine and a member of Afroza’s adolescent group.
Every month several workers from BRAC, UNICEF’s partner in the field, hold courtyard meetings with mothers, fathers and senior members of the community. They discuss issues such as reproductive health, dowry, and the benefits of delaying a girl’s marriage and allowing her to complete her education.
Seeking support from the community
Afroza and her friends from the adolescent group asked senior members of their community to help her convince her parents to delay her marriage until she was at least 18 years old.
The first person they went to was Sharathi Biswas, programme organiser of BRAC: “I reminded Afroza’s parents about our previous meetings in which they had agreed to respect teenage girls’ rights and avoid early marriage.”
A local union council member, Md Hazrat Ali Mandol, also intervened on Afroza’s behalf. As a council member, Mandol has considerable influence in the community and he strongly supports girls waiting until they are 18 to get married.
Afroza also had help from a local religious leader, Abdur Razzak, who said: “I had organized a meeting of senior members of the community to condemn those who agree to get their daughters married before the age of 18. In this case, I think we could easily convince Afroza’s father.”
A victory for child rights
Afroza’s father Md Akram Hossain recalls how he eventually agreed to his daughter’s request: “Refusing the proposal was a big challenge for me. Traditionally, a marriage proposal for a growing girl is welcomed, because it is not easy to find well-off grooms. I knew I would face criticism but I decided to turn down the proposal keeping in mind my daughter’s desire for higher education”.
UNICEF, in partnership with BRAC, has been implementing the adolescent empowerment project across Bangladesh since 2001. The programme reaches almost 100,000 adolescents and aims to build confidence and knowledge, particularly among girls, so that they can actively participate in decisions that affect their lives.
Afroza’s marriage could be prevented only because her community was well aware of the laws and rights of adolescent girls. As Afroza walks along the bank of a small pond next to her mud house, she talks about her future plans: “I know many proposals will come along, but as long as I have the support of the community and my parents, I am not thinking about marriage for the time being. I wish to do well in my studies and one day I see myself as a teacher”. | <urn:uuid:2ec7603c-ae38-4de4-8016-2a1c4bb64fd9> | {
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The Cmd class provides a simple framework for writing line-oriented command interpreters. These are often useful for test harnesses, administrative tools, and prototypes that will later be wrapped in a more sophisticated interface.
A Cmd instance or subclass instance is a line-oriented interpreter framework. There is no good reason to instantiate Cmd itself; rather, it’s useful as a superclass of an interpreter class you define yourself in order to inherit Cmd‘s methods and encapsulate action methods.
The optional arguments stdin and stdout specify the input and output file objects that the Cmd instance or subclass instance will use for input and output. If not specified, they will default to sys.stdin and sys.stdout.
If you want a given stdin to be used, make sure to set the instance’s use_rawinput attribute to False, otherwise stdin will be ignored.
A Cmd instance has the following methods:
Repeatedly issue a prompt, accept input, parse an initial prefix off the received input, and dispatch to action methods, passing them the remainder of the line as argument.
The optional argument is a banner or intro string to be issued before the first prompt (this overrides the intro class member).
If the readline module is loaded, input will automatically inherit bash-like history-list editing (e.g. Control-P scrolls back to the last command, Control-N forward to the next one, Control-F moves the cursor to the right non-destructively, Control-B moves the cursor to the left non-destructively, etc.).
An end-of-file on input is passed back as the string 'EOF'.
An interpreter instance will recognize a command name foo if and only if it has a method do_foo(). As a special case, a line beginning with the character '?' is dispatched to the method do_help(). As another special case, a line beginning with the character '!' is dispatched to the method do_shell() (if such a method is defined).
If completion is enabled, completing commands will be done automatically, and completing of commands args is done by calling complete_foo() with arguments text, line, begidx, and endidx. text is the string prefix we are attempting to match: all returned matches must begin with it. line is the current input line with leading whitespace removed, begidx and endidx are the beginning and ending indexes of the prefix text, which could be used to provide different completion depending upon which position the argument is in.
All subclasses of Cmd inherit a predefined do_help(). This method, called with an argument 'bar', invokes the corresponding method help_bar(), and if that is not present, prints the docstring of do_bar(), if available. With no argument, do_help() lists all available help topics (that is, all commands with corresponding help_*() methods or commands that have docstrings), and also lists any undocumented commands.
Instances of Cmd subclasses have some public instance variables: | <urn:uuid:5ebb9153-0d44-4544-babb-c16e86c03cbc> | {
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Red Cedar: New Hampshire's Big Tree for January 2008
By Anne Krantz, Cooperative Extension
January 16, 2008
While measuring a humongous sycamore tree last fall to update the New Hampshire
Big Tree records, we spied another enormous tree growing nearby in front
of the charming 1785 cape home in Merrimack. In fact it soared so high above
the 35-foot house that it looked like a doll house.
The coniferous tree was a symmetrical cone shape but not that familiar.
It had slender scale-type evergreen needles but instead of little cones
found on arborvitae, it had pretty blue berries like junipers. We measured
it: 88 feet tall with a trunk that measured 81 inches around and a nice
crown with a 50-foot average crown spread.
Not until we checked references did we determine for sure that this magnificent
tree was a native Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), and easily
the New Hampshire state champion. It must be as old as the house.
This evergreen tree is confusing to identify because it grows in varied
shapes; sometimes a tall narrow column, sometimes with multiple trunks,
and sometimes broad at its base forming a cone-shape. To confuse matters
more, two forms of needles or scale-like foliage can grow on the same tree.
It is difficult to know what to call the foliage but young twigs may have
prickly pointed needles while later growth is thin thread-like twigs composed
of three-sided overlapping scales.
Unlike all other trees, neither junipers nor cedars have buds that burst
open in the spring with the season’s new growth. These trees seem
to grow imperceptibly with no obvious way to distinguish the two-to-six
inches of annual growth. Growth does occur at the tips of the branches
with a slightly lighter color than the mature scales covering the twigs.
The seasonal growth occurs from May to the end of June and then hardens
off to the scale form.
But most confusing is its name; it isn’t really a cedar but with
its distinctive grey-blue berries that look like wild blueberries, it belongs
to the Juniperus species. These fleshy blue berries are unexpectedly bright
green inside and contain one or two small round seeds. The pretty berries
persist through the winter, making the greens attractive for Christmas
The usefulness of Latin names in horticulture is apparent for the various
cedar trees. The word cedar is used to name three different species of
trees in New Hampshire and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources
Conservation Service, lists 44 cedar entries.
William Cronon, in his fascinating book, “Changes in the Land, Indians,
Colonists and the Ecology of New England” (Hill & Wang, 2003)
explains the “natural tendency for the colonists to apply European
names to American species which only superficially resembled their counterparts
across the ocean.” It seems that hemlock was simply called fir, and
hickory was called walnut. The lucrative exported market for cedar trees
led enterprising settlers to confuse “native juniper with European
cedars for the same economic reasons, so that the red cedar has carried
a misleading name ever since.” Of course, the importers in Europe
never saw the foliage or berries, just the logs and wood.
In addition to the red cedar (Juniperus species), the colonists discovered
the native Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) that grows in
swamps, and our native arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) or Northern white
cedar. Its scale-like foliage is flat, and instead of blue berries has
small cones that produce seeds.
And finally there is the common juniper shrub (Juniperus communis), that
always has the prickly-type needles. The widely-exported western red cedar
(Thuja plicata) from the Pacific Northwest and Canada and used in house siding
and shingles is an arborvitae. All these trees belong to the cypress family.
Jon Nute, Hillsborough Cooperative Extension educator, forest resources,
simplifies the confusion.
“Because New Hampshire is such a long state north to south, straddling
different forest zones, we have three cedars that can be found in the state,” he
says. “Our spruce fir forest north of the White Mountains contains
the Northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis). south of the White Mountains,
the Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) can be found, mostly associated
with old fields. Also in southern New Hampshire, the more unusual Atlantic
white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) is found in only about 22 wetlands in
Today, red cedar is often seen popping up in old pastures or in hedgerows
where birds drop the seed. It’s a ‘pioneer’ species that
sprouts and grows in sun and tolerates all kinds of soils except very soggy
sites. It grows vigorously until overtaken by hardwoods that shade it out
causing growth to slow and eventually die out.
Young trees with multiple trunks are very vulnerable to ice storms that
splay the stems apart ruining their neat shape. When used in landscaping,
it’s best to prune to a single trunk. Some homeowners winterize their
junipers and red cedars shrubs by tying them together with rope (a spiral
of rope wound around the tree from the top works).
In colonial times, red cedar was valued for split rail fences and outdoor
uses because it doesn’t rot. It was popular for exported shingles and
clapboards as it is lightweight as well as resistant to rot. Lightweight
roofs made it possible for American houses to be built with thinner walls
than houses of the Old World.
Red cedar has stringy bark. Its heartwood has a distinctive reddish color
and the wood is typically striped with darker and lighter bands. It became
so popular for pencils that rails from fences were removed and recycled
into pencils. Although it burns nicely, it is so slow growing that it’s
not an important fuel source. However, where the tree has invaded the dry
Midwest it can be a fire hazard with its very flammable bark.
Oil of Juniper, distilled from the wood and leaves of several species, is
used in perfumes and in medicines such as diuretics. The distinctive fragrance
is thought to deter moths, and cedar chests and closets became an important
use of the wood. It has a fresh, balsamic, woody pine needle odor and is
used with citrus room sprays and in masculine outdoorsy perfumes, aftershaves,
and spicy colognes.
The berries are edible (in small amounts) and Irma Rombauer in the Joy of
Cooking says: “Three to six per serving are prized for seasoning
game, bean dishes, and certain alcoholic drinks like gin. In fact, one-half
teaspoon of these berries soaked for a longtime in a marinade, or cooked
long in a stew, gives a seasoning equivalent of a quarter cup of gin.”
Cedar apple rust causes unsightly, orange, oozing, golf ball-sized galls
to grow on the cedar tree in the spring, releasing spores that cause rust
spots to grow on the leaves and fruit of apple trees. Commercial apple growers
remove cedars adjacent to their orchards. The galls can easily be trimmed
off the cedar tree, or can be sprayed with a fungicide to prevent transmission
to nearby apple trees. However, this disease threat to the once booming apple
industry in New Hampshire, along with the usefulness of cedar for rail fences
and shingles, probably accounts for the relative scarcity of large cedar
trees in New Hampshire today.
Should you encounter one that looks to be taller than 88 feet with a trunk
over two feet in diameter, contact the NH Big Tree State Coordinator, Carolyn
Page, [email protected], 603-664-2934. To view the list of New Hampshire
county champion trees, visit the NH Big Tree Web site at: www.nhbigtrees.org UNH Cooperative Extension and the NH Division of Forests and Lands sponsor
the NH Big Tree program in cooperation with the National Register of Big
Trees through American Forests. | <urn:uuid:3fdf5eb5-2db1-43a6-bf22-1375e237b762> | {
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- King Adolf Frederick of Sweden died of digestion problems in February 1771. This sounds straightforward enough until we discover how this came about. The king had gorged on a huge meal of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and champagne. Oh, and 14 servings of his favourite dessert, semla – a traditional Swedish sweet roll, served in a bowl of hot milk. He is now remembered in his homeland as “the king who ate himself to death.”
- Draco was an early Greek politician who enjoyed success as a lawmaker and orator and became known for the harshness of his laws. While giving a speech to a large crowd they engaged in the custom of honouring speakers by throwing their clothes at them. As the reams of hats and cloaks piled on top of Draco he was smothered to death. Some view this as a demonstration of “death by popularity” while others believe it wass actually all part of a plot to rid the land of the harsh lawmaker.
- Everyone knows Australia contains some of the most dangerous animals in the world, but this death doesn’t involve one of thousands of lethal creatures of the country, but instead a camel. John Horrocks was a pioneer and explorer of the land in the 19th century, and was keen to introduce camels to Australia. However, one day the camel he was riding shifted its weight, and the pack he was carrying struck Horrock’s gun, causing it to go off. Horrocks was hit and died of his injuries, but before he shifted his mortal coil he managed to give orders for the camel to be executed.
- The safety of the self-balancing electric scooters known as “Segways” has often been under dispute. The company behind them is especially keen to promote the device as a safe, environmentally friendly alternative to other means of transport. However, in 2010 Jimi Heselden, the owner of the company, lost control of a new Segway he was testing and managed to drive the vehicle straight off a cliff into a river. He did not survive the fall.
- Arrichion was a famous pankratiast, or wrestler, in Ancient Greece, but he won his final championship in a very unusual way. During the final of the games his opponent managed to get Arrichion caught in a deadly ladder hold. As the champion was being choked he looked to his trainer, who discouraged him from submitting, so instead the wrestler shifted his body into an even more painful position. He managed to twist his opponent’s foot painfully and forced him to submit. However, just as his foe submitted Arrichion died from asphyxiation, but this didn’t stop his corpse being declared victor.
To discover more interesting historical tales, pick up a copy of All About History today. | <urn:uuid:4db636f8-e8c3-4a95-a4b5-78ff3a09d206> | {
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Author(s): Zvi Gitelman
In Religion or Ethnicity? fifteen leading scholars trace the evolution of Jewish identity. The book examines Judaism from the Greco-Roman age, through medieval times, modern western and eastern Europe, to today. Jewish identity has been defined as an ethnicity, a nation, a culture, and even a race. Religion or Ethnicity? questions what it means to be Jewish. The contributors show how the Jewish people have evolved over time in different ethnic, religious, and political movements. In his closing essay, Gitelman questions the viability of secular Jewishness outside Israel but suggests that the continued interest in exploring the relationship between Judaism's secular and religious forms will keep the heritage alive for generations to come (Rutgers University Press).
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Year of Publication: 2009 | <urn:uuid:474d43b8-9eb7-4644-988a-2a317c6c1dbb> | {
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OceanSide church of Christ
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THE GAP THEORY
The opening words of the Scriptures directly from the Holy Spirit state, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1,2). This is easy enough for an elementary student to understand; however, when “scholars” start analyzing, it suddenly becomes a difficult doctrine that challenges the very integrity of Holy Writ. That doctrine is, “The Gap Theory.”
The Gap Theory alleges that there is a gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 in which there lived successive generations of plants, animals, and perhaps even pre-Adamic men. Some even say that God destroyed this original creation because of a Satanic rebellion and the wording of Genesis 1:2 would be better rendered as, “the earth became waste and void.” There are four basic arguments that Gap Theorists use: (1) It is said that the Hebrew word “created” (bara) in Genesis 1:1 refers to the original formation of matter from nothing, but the Hebrew term “made” (asah) in Genesis 1:16 actually suggests a different idea. (2) It is argued that the word “was” (hayah) in Genesis 1:2 really means, “became” so that a vast corruption is implied. (3) Gap theorists believe that the cataclysm which occurred was on the earth and was the direct result of Satan’s rebellion against God. (4) Gap theorists believe that there was a pre-Adamic creation of both non-human and human forms. Each of these arguments will be examined below.
First, the falsity of the gap theory is seen by an incorrect rendering of the Hebrew words, “bara” (create) and “asah” (make). These two words are often used interchangeably in the Scriptures when God is the one referred to as creating or making. For example, God is said to have “created” the fish and birds (Gen. 1:21); but, He “made” the animals and creeping things (Gen. 1:25). Furthermore, God “made” man in His own image (Gen. 1:26) and “created” man in His own image (Gen. 1:27). So, the Hebrew term “bara” does not always mean to create something from nothing.
Second, the gap theory is false because there is no basis for interpreting “was” as “became” in Genesis 1:2. It should be noted that no biblical scholars have ever translated “was” as “became” in this verse. Henry Morris, in his book Scientific Creationism, observed that in only six of its 264 occurrences in the Pentateuch is it rendered “became.” He further stated that another Hebrew word (haphak) would have been better used here if the idea of a change from some previously different state was to be conveyed.
Third, the gap theory is false because there is no evidence in the Scripture for Satan’s rebellion on earth resulting in a great cataclysm. It is a fact that Satan was created (not as evil), led a rebellion of “his” angels in Heaven, and was cast down to Hades (Col. 1:16; Mat. 25:41; 2 Pet. 2:4). However, this did not occur on earth and no cataclysm resulted from this.
Fourth, the gap theory is false because it implies that death was in the world before Adam. The theorists believe there was a race of people who were completely wiped out before the creation of Adam and Eve. Yet, this is a direct contradiction of New Testament teaching which reveals that sin and death entered the earth as a result of Adam’s sin (1 Cor. 15:21; Rom. 8:20-22; Rom. 5:12). Furthermore, the apostle Paul stated, “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). Thus, there was no man before Adam—he was first.
So, the conclusion is thus: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1,2). God created all things at the beginning of time on earth. There was no gap.
~Derrick Coble via WEST SPARTA: THE MESSENGER | <urn:uuid:1b8ee176-0803-4599-bad7-21b4e484f4d3> | {
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Yosemite Valley, California
Photograph by Larry Fellows, Arizona Geological Survey
Glaciers carved this steep-walled valley, now occupied by the Merced River, in California's Yosemite National Park. Waterfalls cascade down the valley's steep walls, carved away by the massive, slow-moving blocks of snow and ice.
Nile River Valley, Egypt
Photograph courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Standing in stark contrast to the surrounding desert, vegetation lines the fertile Nile River Valley as it runs northward through Egypt. The city of Cairo is a gray smudge visible where the river widens into its fan-shaped delta.
Khumbu Valley, Nepal
Photograph by Jon Arnold Images/Alamy
Majestic Himalayan peaks surround Gokyo Lake in Nepal's Khumbu Valley. Valleys are scoured and washed out by the conspiring forces of gravity, water, and ice. They all take the form of a U or a V.
Porsmork Valley, Iceland
Photograph by Travelfile/Alamy
Porsmork Valley is part of Iceland's rich landscape and host to thousands of plant species. Glacial valleys, such as this one, have wide valley floors usually littered with loose rock and boulders left behind by the massive moving ice slabs.
Rhine River Valley, Germany
Photograph by Bernd Mellmann/Alamy
Lighted boats ply the Rhine River through Saint Goar, Germany. The town sits in the central Rhine Valley, parts of which were declared a U.N. World Heritage site. The area's castles, historic towns, and vineyards give it historic and cultural significance.
Wailua Valley, Hawaii
Photograph by Chris Johns
A fishing boat is moored off the north shore of Molokai, Hawaii, near the Wailua Valley. The area is virtually impenetrable—boats are the primary means of access to the valley. These coastal mountains contain the world's highest sea cliffs.
Danum Valley, Borneo
Photograph by Mattias Klum
Mist hangs over the forests of Danum Valley in northeastern Borneo. Home to the rare Borneo pygmy elephant, the valley was unsettled by humans before it received official protection as the Danum Valley Conservation Area.
Yangdi Valley, China
Photograph by Raymond K. Gehman
Rice paddies stretch over Yangdi Valley in Guangdong Province, China. Over time, huge slabs of soluble rock formed drainage passages that allowed water to sculpt the valley's unique topography.
Edna Valley, California
Photograph by Michael S. Lewis
Neat vineyards stripe Edna Valley in San Luis Obispo, California. Growers here say the valley's east-west orientation allows coastal fogs to roll in at night, cooling the grapes so that they mature slowly while keeping sufficient acidity.
Ouri Valley, Chad
Photograph by George Steinmetz
Massive, disorderly rock formations jut from the orange Saharan sand of Chad's Ouri Valley. This desert valley is bordered by the Tibesti Mountains.
Wildlife in Luangwa Valley, Zambia
Photograph by Frans Lanting
Snow-white cattle egrets drift in to feed on the insects stirred up by a herd of African buffalo in the lush Luangwa Valley of Zambia. Hippos, elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, and scores of other species flourish in this savanna-woodland watershed, watered by the Luangwa River. Every year the river floods and spills onto the surrounding land, making the broad valley impassable by road for nearly six months.
National Geographic Channel
Wednesdays at 9P and 9:30P
Meet a group of backwoods Alabama geniuses who tackle problems with hillbilly ingenuity.
Wednesdays at 10P and 10:30P
Travel across America with host John Bowler as he seeks out the weirdest inventions.
Fridays at 8P, 9P, and 10P et/pt
Get up close with some of the world's most fascinating underground communities, from gangs to cults to organized crime families.
National Geographic Magazine
Buried in the English countryside. Anglo-Saxon in origin. Who hid it and why?
There was only one way scientists could unlock the mystery of the famous iceman. Take away his ice.
As the global population soars toward nine billion by 2045, this corner of Africa shows what's at stake in the decades ahead. | <urn:uuid:d3991f79-6d37-40b7-89ab-59c676a7fc3e> | {
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October is unofficially known as the start of the “holiday season;” countries all over the world are holding festivities to celebrate a wide variety of holidays. From Mother’s Day in Malawi to Armed Forces Day in Egypt, there are any number of holidays to observe this October.
On October 3rd, you can throw up your hands and give a shout for Gaecheonjeol, also known as National Foundation Day. This South Korean holiday celebrates the founding of Gojoseon, the first Korean state, in 2333 BC. It was declared a national holiday in 1909 and the date was finally fixed on October 3rd in 1949. On this day, the Korean people are led by the head of state in a prayer service dedicated to the founding gods and the gods of the harvest. Afterward, they eat a traditional soup called Seolleongtang made from ox bones and cuts of beef.
October is Thanksgiving time, if you’re in Canada that is. Not to be outdone by Americans, our neighbors to the North have their own version of this holiday celebrated in October. The first Thanksgiving in Canada was observed in 1879 as a chance to give thanks over the many blessings bestowed on the Canadian people. The festivities and foods include parades, football games, and lots of turkey and pumpkin pie.
One of the most popular holidays in October is Oktoberfest. On October 12th, 1810, King Ludwig I married Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen and threw a party to celebrate in the fields (Wiesn) outside the gates of Munich. Oddly enough, the main attraction at this celebration was a horse race, not beer. In fact, beer didn’t make an appearance at Oktoberfest until 1892. Today, Oktoberfest has turned into a 16 to 18-day festival with over 6 million attendees who drink close to 7 million liters of beer each year.
In Thailand, on October 23rd, the people celebrate King Chulalongkorn Day. You may know him better as King Rama V, the fifth monarch of Siam. Born in 1868, he ruled (officially) from 1873 to his death in 1910. During his reign, he enacted several major reforms in education, military, and the railway. He is also responsible for abolishing slavery in Siam; a feat he accomplished without any bloodshed. The Thai people celebrate this holiday by placing wreaths and gathering around the various statues and monuments dedicated to this forward-thinking monarch.
Ever heard of the country of Nauru? It’s a small island in Micronesia that today hosts a population around 10,000. However, the native Nauru people have come close to extinction twice, with total populations falling below 1,500–considered the minimum needed to sustain a sub-population or race. To celebrate their twice miraculous return from the brink of extinction, they celebrate Angam Day on October 26th. In Nauruan, Angam translates into “celebration” or “coming home.”
Of course, you can’t mention holidays in October without mentioning Halloween. This holiday traces its roots back to Ireland and the ancient festival of Samhain, celebrated by the Celts to mark the end of the Harvest. The tradition of dressing up in costume to go trick-or-treating started in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales around the 16th century, but it wasn’t adopted widely in the US until the 20th century.
In between pulling your sweaters out of storage and ingesting pumpkin spice everything, take some time to celebrate all the amazing holidays around the world this October! | <urn:uuid:6689324b-9a85-4a4c-abf6-753112b44685> | {
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Throughout history, human beings have been strangely fascinated by the monstrous and the macabre. In Horror and the Holy, a study of the classic horror story, Kirk Schneider explains the compelling power of such tales as a result of our thirst for the sacred, and identifies elements of the holy in familiar blood-curdling yarns.
True horror arises when the mundane becomes unexpected and when the contained breaks free of its confining chains to become unlimited. Anything boundless tends to become terrifying, argues Schneider. It is infinitude, which draws us to the unsavory, infinitude that lurks behind dread. Sheer bliss, paradise, or Nirvana therefore always has the potential to turn into horror, as limits fall away and the boundless expanses of infinity open up. While ecstasy is a glimpse of the infinite, terror is full disclosure.
Drawing upon a detailed and telling analysis of eleven well-known horror stories, Dr. Schneider finds that a spiritual understanding of life can be attained through horror. Classic horror steers a middle path between fanaticism and despair: the path of wonderment. Horror teaches us that human personality is paradoxical; that revulsion and disgust are the obverse of excitement and freedom, and that both poles are vital to individual, social, and ecological well-being.
Number Of Pages: 164
Published: 1st December 2013
Edition Number: 1 | <urn:uuid:11a125f2-3ee2-4809-8bd0-004c14128d45> | {
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The Making and Unmaking of a Saint
Hagiography and Memory in the Cult of Gerald of Aurillac
2013 | 320 pages | Cloth $79.95
Religion | History
View main book page
Table of Contents
Note on Names
Maps 1 and 2
Introduction: Hagiography, Memory, History
Chapter 1. Prolegomenon on the Dating and Authorship of the Writings about Gerald of Aurillac
Chapter 2. The First Saint Gerald
Chapter 3. The Second Saint Gerald
Chapter 4. Saint Gerald and the Swell of History
Chapter 5. Saint Gerald and the Ebb of History
Chapter 6. The Modern Cult of Saint Gerald
Conclusion: Memory, Sanctity, Violence
Appendix 1: Translation of the Vita sancti Geraldi brevior
Appendix 2: The Manuscripts of the Vita Geraldi
Excerpt [uncorrected, not for citation]
Hagiography, Memory, History
High up in the French Alps, near the end of a twisting mountain road that snakes farther and farther up a steep mountainside from the village of Auris-en-Oisans, sits the medieval chapel of Saint-Giraud. No record survives of its origins: its first mention dates from 1454, when the bishop of Grenoble stopped there on his visitation through the district. It was never a parish church, and perhaps not a priory, although a sizable pile of stones next to the chapel hints that another structure, perhaps a residence, of which there is no historical recollection, once stood nearby. The chapel may be much older, since the bishop noted how deteriorated it appeared, and he ordered it restored. When I visited it in 2009 it showed only signs of decay—birds had even nested behind the altar. The chapel sits alone in its spectacular setting: abandoned, forgotten, silent (see fig. 1). No one with whom I spoke in the village could recall any event happening there, and no one knew anything about the Saint Gerald to whom the chapel was dedicated. The story of this little chapel is in many ways the story of Saint Gerald himself.
We know very little that is certain about Gerald of Aurillac. He was probably born in the middle of the ninth century and died in the early tenth. He spent most of his life in the mountainous region of Auvergne in the center of what is now France, which was then part of a larger Frankish empire. He belonged to one of the families of landowners and warriors that would become Europe's nobility. He seems never to have married or had children, so before he died he left some or perhaps all of his wealth and lands to a monastery that he founded at the site that would become the modern city of Aurillac in the modern département of Cantal.
Within a generation of his death, Gerald was remembered as a saint. His piety and temperance in everyday life, his reputation for goodness and fair-mindedness, his chastity and pacifism, all contributed to his reputation—as did the reports of miracles he performed both during his lifetime and after his death. Within a century of his death the monastery he had founded and dedicated to Saint Peter and perhaps also to Saint Clement bore his name instead, as did a few dozen churches elsewhere, some in substantial towns like Limoges and Toulouse, others as far afield as Catalonia and Galicia. Without a formal process of canonization for saints yet in place, Gerald's saintly memory was crafted, disseminated, and preserved especially through the biographies, sermons, and prayers written about him—hagiographical writings that were carried across the south of France and as far as Paris and Normandy, Venice and Lombardy.
Gerald's status as a lay saint was highly unusual. His was an age in which Christian sanctity was mostly equated with the life of the cloister or cathedral. It must have been difficult to imagine a lay male saint at a time when the basic features of manhood—eager participation in sex and violence—contravened Christian ideals so sharply. The result was a certain "anxiety" in relating Gerald's sanctity, as Stuart Airlie puts it. Perhaps that anxiety took shape in the mind of the hagiographer, attempting to reconcile the values of the court to those of the cloister and offering a new model of lay holiness, as Barbara Rosenwein would have it. Or perhaps it derived from Gerald himself, as Janet Nelson suggests, unable to come to terms with the requirements of a secular masculinity but unwilling to abandon his worldly life fully.
In the end, it may have been that equivocation that "undid" Gerald's saintly memory. Other saints rose to prominence in the last centuries of the Middle Ages and beyond who exhibited a more inspiring or advantageous saintliness. The declining fortunes of the monastery of Aurillac also lost for Gerald the principal guardians of his memory. So forgotten was he in many of the places he had once been revered that new legends were crafted about him, tales at times vastly different from his original story. In the late nineteenth century, even as some revived Gerald's memory, his cult acquired new features in keeping with idealized recollections of the medieval past. That is the trajectory of this book.
In contrast to Gerald's obscurity among modern Catholic believers, the saint of Aurillac has attracted considerable scholarly attention, in part simply because there are only a handful of figures from the central Middle Ages for whom as rich a hagiographical tradition survives. The longer version of the Vita Geraldi (known to scholars as the Vita prolixior) has long been held to be the original version authored by Odo of Cluny in about 930; it has received the lion's share of academic interest. Recent scholarship has added a sermon for Gerald's feast day to the authentic writings of Odo. Relatively neglected is the briefer version of the vita (known as the Vita brevior), dismissed by most as uninteresting, overly condensed, and composed by some unknown and easily ignored forger in the late tenth century. Recently, additional miracle stories have been brought to light, composed no earlier than 972, and assigned to a second forger. Regrettably, these assumptions about dating and authorship are wrong, and I begin by correcting these errors, arguing that the briefer version of the Vita Geraldi belongs to Odo of Cluny, while the longer version, as well as the sermon and additional miracle stories, came from the hand of the infamous forger Ademar of Chabannes sometime in the 1020s.
Apart from these medieval texts, there is little else that survives from which to reconstruct the historical memory of Gerald of Aurillac. The monastic library at Aurillac that would have contained the best and most detailed records was sacked twice, at the hands of Aurillac's townspeople in 1233 and again by Protestant Huguenots in 1567. Further losses happened during the French Revolution. Only a handful of manuscripts survive from the medieval library. Others survive elsewhere, especially at archives near the former priories that once belonged to the monastery of Aurillac, but there, too, little remains. The later chapters in this book, then, represent something of the challenge of reconstructing historical memory without much in the way of historical documentation—and a bit on the methods by which it might still be done.
The complicated meanings attached to Gerald's sanctity are the heart of this book. Gerald's position between court and cloister placed him in the vanguard of a new broadening of saintly ideals for men: he was, insofar as we can tell, the first to be venerated as a saint for having lived a good life without having become a bishop or theologian, a monk or hermit, and his biographers both medieval and modern have pointed out this distinction. There were other noble lay male saints who lived before Gerald and who were revered for their holiness, it is true, but the writings about these men mostly date from much later centuries, and many of them were also remembered as martyrs, so they serve to confirm rather than to challenge Gerald's precocity. Nonetheless, the tensions within Gerald's model of sanctity are patent enough. On the one hand, one might see in Gerald the quintessence of the ethical code that all men of his era were exhorted to follow: to be both good Christians and good citizens. On the other hand, Gerald's embrace of an ascetic lifestyle, his avoidance of sex, and reluctance to engage in battle were things that Carolingian piety would never have presumed. Both of these assessments may be fair. Perhaps like all saints, Gerald was at once a model for others and inimitable.
The two sides of Gerald's sanctity, his adoption of a monastic life while remaining outside the cloister and his renunciation of violence even while leading armies, served specific and important—if different, and historically contingent—needs for his hagiographers. Nonetheless, the placement of such equivocation within the legend of Gerald may have contributed to his undoing as a saint in the centuries after his death. After all, if a life lived in this world can be holy, why sacrifice oneself to an ascetic life? And if some forms of violence may be permissible to a good Christian, what others might also be? Gerald gave no easy answers to these questions. It is worth noting that the reshapings of Gerald's legend in modern times often functioned as correctives to this ambiguity, redirecting Gerald's memory into less uncertain channels.
This book is also, then, about the legacy that Gerald's medieval hagiographers left behind. Before popes took control of the canonization process in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, hagiography provided a principal occasion for the commemoration of saints. Yet despite the subject's importance, it is not entirely clear how these writings should be read. Scholars once saw in legends about the saints the projection of a past society's heroic ideals. Many are now increasingly reluctant to assume that saints' lives provide an unobstructed glimpse into any past society. The elusiveness and even outright unreliability of medieval hagiography have been brought home in a singular manner in the career of Ademar of Chabannes, who plays a central role in this book. Ademar forged a set of documents that described the life of a saint who never lived with a status that he never held and a history of devotion to him that never happened, and did it so successfully that only in the twentieth century was the deception uncovered.
In this book I offer my own readings of hagiography and religious art as well as new ways of thinking about the central role that individuals have played in the production of saints. I attempt, in particular, to restore to medieval hagiographers their proper role in the crafting of the historical memory of saints. Jay Rubenstein laments the stereotype that medieval writers lacked "textual sophistication." Instead, he encourages us to conjecture how even in the Middle Ages the truism that "all biography to some extent is autobiography" still applies: "The narrative of a person's life grows out of beliefs of how a life ought to be lived, and a person's beliefs about how a life ought to be lived inevitably relate to that person's own life."
Sadly, Rubenstein dismisses medieval hagiography from this consideration. According to him, hagiographers were too restricted in their ability to present a "sense of a 'self'" and their writings are formulaic and uninteresting. Rubenstein might be forgiven for such an opinion, given his work on Guibert of Nogent, one of the most colorful and least conventional of medieval authors, but others have shared it. Paul Fouracre and Richard Gerberding, for example, conclude that medieval hagiography tended "to draw upon a common stock of conventions and to borrow wholesale from other texts, especially the Bible," to such an extent that its "language . . . does not reveal any layer of social reality different from that formally expressed," indeed, so much so "that it is almost impossible to find within it any sub-text of opposition or dissent." Even while they admit to considerable variety and even originality in hagiographical texts, they assert that the conventions of the genre could not really be abandoned, since they were integral to the author's purpose in making the individual recognizable as a saint. For this reason, the truly unique elements had to be manipulated into standard shapes.
Oddly, this dismissal seems to be a step back from the position that Fouracre had taken only a few years earlier when he admitted that there were conventions to hagiography, but argued that medieval hagiographers were also constrained from rote formulaicism by the living memories of the saint or a popular tradition, however dubiously founded. He also noted that, since authors were free to choose some models over others, even "the manner in which each work drew upon the range of available conventions may in itself be revealing." Indeed, he concluded that "the old was used to give legitimacy to the new," so the very conventions of hagiography might help to disguise what was most problematic within the life of the saint.
Hagiography can indeed bear the weight of modern critical scrutiny, as I hope to show through the example of Saint Gerald. But it cannot be done by imputing to hagiographers an unvarying piety that effaces them as writers. Rather, we must see them as bringing to their writings the richness of their interior lives. My book thus seeks to answer Walter Pohl's call for postmodern readings of medieval manuscripts. Rather than pit the different textual traditions about Gerald against each other, trying to explain away variant readings, I wish to exploit, even relish the differences between them, a science that Pohl calls "textual archeology." Through this, I hope to reveal the hagiographer behind the hagiography, and to challenge especially the notion that medieval hagiographers wrote only with the most transparently pious of intentions.
I have been particularly inspired by the work of Kathleen Ashley and Pamela Sheingorn on the cult of Sainte Foy of Conques. They call their study of medieval hagiography a "social semiotics" since they seek to understand each layer of Sainte Foy's legend through the texts about her, even when the authors of these texts were little known, or anonymous, and the historical contexts in which they were created and recreated are not well understood. Amy Remensnyder, too, has written about Sainte Foy in ways equally important to me, especially for her demonstration, through religious articles preserved at Conques, that material objects might both safeguard pious memories and rechannel those memories in substantially new directions.
Especially in the last chapter I make use of visual images of Saint Gerald: they have become an important modern means of remembering him. I speculate about the messages that these images may have carried to viewers, given what we know of the era in which they were crafted and displayed and what we can conjecture about those who revered these images. Yet the ambiguity of any visual symbol is perhaps especially pronounced in religious art, which is intended first and foremost to facilitate transcendence through devotion beyond the specifics of the visual. We can learn something of the intertextuality behind hagiographical art. Accordingly, I have felt free to speculate about this religious imagery as communicating a shared awareness and articulating a group identity.
Writings and rewritings about saints, however plentiful or imaginative, embellished or censored, sophisticated or sensationalized, could not guarantee the preservation of social memory, and many are the saints whose memory was lost in the Middle Ages or beyond and who returned to "bones and ashes." The first abbess of the medieval monastery of Gandersheim in Saxony, for example, a woman named Hathumoda who lived about the same time as Gerald, was quickly forgotten and her cult neglected despite the vita written about her. A number of recent studies have mapped out the recollections of a medieval saint's life through time, watching the ebb and flow of shifting social ideals and historical circumstances, although most have confined themselves to the evolution of a saint only to the end of the Middle Ages. Tracing the evolution of Saint Gerald's cult through a thousand years of history provides a much broader scope within which to view such changes. Insofar as I know, such efforts have really only been attempted for the greatest of the Christian saints. Still, "like all living organisms," Moshe Sluhovsky writes in his study of Saint Geneviève of Paris, "saints and their cults are born, live, succeed or fail, and—more often than not—die." He characterizes Geneviève as "a success story" because she "remained relevant" to many even as she was "made and remade by them"; Gerald was not.
How Gerald suffered his fate, falling into obscurity and near nothingness, is in some ways a fundamental question of this book. How is a saint forgotten? Or, more precisely, how could the memory of a holy man like Gerald, buttressed with the official and tangible sanction of biographies and believers, statues and shrines, cease to be known, his stories cease to be told, and his monuments cease to be visited? The study of historical memory is much in vogue among scholars, but we are still struggling with how to analyze the loss of memory. Because we deal with so distant a past, medievalists are perhaps better acquainted than most with the ways in which memories are composed, recomposed, and sometimes left to decompose across time. Still, new events are always cemented into place by fixing them within familiar patterns, and old traditions are bent and reshaped by new social realities.
Lawrence Kritzman suggests that the study of the past, in revealing a world that no longer exists, whether real or imagined, through a glance that is either nostalgic or condescending, helps to reinforce our sense of being modern and our essential difference from what has come before us. The study of Saint Gerald has accomplished that much for me, I readily admit, but it has also provided me with a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how much we are like the inhabitants of the past as well as how much we are no longer like them, perhaps more than we would often care to admit. I hope that in what follows I might provide my readers with the same unsettling experience. | <urn:uuid:6e51640c-89c7-4865-923e-4484d63f9f0c> | {
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Winter Vegetable Feature: Kale
You’ve probably heard about the health benefits of cruciferous vegetables. Multiple population studies have linked consumption of these healthy veggies with lower rates of various types of cancer. If you’re like me, the headlines about the wonders of cruciferous vegetables have inspired you to incorporate more broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts into your diet. But there’s another member of this family of vegetables that’s increasingly popular and happens to be my personal favorite: kale. (Does it make me odd to have a favorite crucifer?)
Kale is a remarkably nutritious food, so much so that the British government encouraged its citizens to plant it in their gardens during World War II when rationing made getting enough nourishment a challenge. And recently, the natural grocery chain Whole Foods developed a system called ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) to rate the nutritional value of foods on a scale of 1 to 1000 — and awarded kale a perfect 1000! (The only other foods to rank this high were mustard/turnip/collard greens and watercress.)
Here’s what you get in a one-cup serving:
- An astounding 778% of the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for vitamin K, which the body needs for healthy blood coagulation and to metabolize calcium.
- 85% of the RDI of vitamin A, necessary for healthy vision, immune strength, and the integrity of skin and mucous membranes.
- 49% of the RDI of Vitamin C, which also aids immune function and is needed for the health of connective tissue.
- 20% of the RDI of manganese, a mineral that plays a role in bone, joint, and skin health.
- 2 grams fiber, which is necessary for normal digestion and reduces the risk of heart disease.
- Only 28 calories!
Kale is a hardy, cold-loving vegetable that’s in season right now. In fact, the plant gets sweeter once it’s been exposed to a frost, so look for it all winter long in the produce aisle of your favorite grocery store.
You can also grow your own kale. The plant is so pretty it’s sometimes grown ornamentally, particularly the purple or ruffled varieties, which are edible as well. You can plant kale in your yard or in raised beds, but the vegetable also grows well in the Tower Garden, a vertical, aeroponic growing system that’s perfect for rooftops, patios or balconies. It’s easier than traditional gardening because there’s no soil, no weeds, and no ground pests to threaten your crops.
Once you’ve bought (or picked) a bunch of kale, what can you do with it?
- Kale is delicious sautéed plain or with a little onion. You can eat it just like that, or cook your sautéed kale into a nice quiche.
- Raw kale makes a good base for a hearty salad, tossed with carrots and chopped apple.
- Throw a couple leaves into a fruit smoothie for a nutritional boost no one will even be able to taste.
- Or mix it with mashed potatoes for the Irish favorite colcannon.
- One of my favorite ways to eat kale (which I mentioned in my pumpkin blog post) is in a hearty soup made with pumpkin and sausage. If you’re a vegetarian, substitute red beans for the sausage.
Finally, here’s an easy, kid-friendly way to serve kale: Make kale chips! Shred a head of kale into strips, place on a baking sheet with olive oil and salt, and bake at 275 degrees for twenty minutes, tossing after ten minutes. These are crispy and delicious as is, but you can also add your favorite seasoning. Chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast all work well.
Have you ever tried cooking with kale? What are your favorite ways to eat it?
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Want to leave a comment? We'd love to hear it. Please note that all comments are moderated. Anything resembling spam will be deleted. Try to make this a meaningful conversation for all involved. | <urn:uuid:0814ad9e-9703-423e-90e6-926fa3346c47> | {
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We have all heard of Srinivasa Ramanujam, the great Indian mathematician, but if I mention D R Kaprekar, you’ll ask me, Kaprekar who?
Dattaraya Ramchandra Kaprekar was a schoolteacher in Nashik (Maharashtra). This 1905-born received his secondary school education in Thane and studied at Fergusson College in Pune. In 1927, he won the Wrangler R. P. Paranjpe Mathematical Prize for an original piece of work in mathematics. He had no formal postgraduate training and working alone, discovered several interesting properties of numbers.
Initially, his ideas were not taken seriously by Indian mathematicians. International fame arrived late in 1975 when Martin Gardner wrote about Kaprekar in his column Mathematical Games for The Scientific American. Today his name is well-known and many other mathematicians have pursued the study of the properties he discovered.
Though he is credited with the discovery of Devlali Numbers, Harshad Numbers and Demlo Numbers, the most famous of his discoveries is the Kaprekar Constant.
Most numbers can be generated by adding another number and its digits. For instance, take 23. It is 16 + 1 + 6. Take 70. It is 62 + 6 + 2. Now try the same thing with 20. Now matter what you do, it is impossible to generate 20 in this manner. Thus 20 is a Devlali Number. The first 20 Devlali Numbers are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 20, 31, 42, 53, 64, 75, 86, 97, 108, 110, 121, 132, 143, 154, 165, 176, 187, 198, 209 and 211.
A Harshad number is one divisible by the sum of its digits. Take 23. As it is not divisible by 2 + 3 = 5, it is a non-Harshad Number. However, 70 is, as it can be divided by 7 + 0 = 7. The numbers 1 to 9 are all obviously Harshad Numbers. The next 25 Harshad numbers are 10, 12, 18, 20, 21, 24, 27, 30, 36, 40, 42, 45, 48, 50, 54, 60, 63, 70, 72, 80, 81, 84, 90, 100 and 102.
I found the Demlo Numbers too complicated for me but Kaprekar Constant, the jewel on the Kaprekar crown, is fascinating. It is a really mysterious number, though at first glance, it might not seem so obvious.
Take any four-digit number with at least one digit different from the rest.(That is, not 1111, 2222, ...). Write down the largest and the smallest numbers that can be formed from its digits. Subtract the smaller number from the larger to get a new number. Repeat the operation for the result obtained. If you carry one the process, you will find that it ends in a number that repeats itself. Let us call this repeating number the kernel of this operation for that number.
For instance, let's take 2010, the current year. The largest number we can make with these digits is 2100, and the smallest is 0012 or 12. The process is: 2100 – 12 = 2088 >> 8820 – 288 = 8532 >> 8532 – 2358 = 6174 >> 7641 – 1467 = 6174 >> 7641 – 1467 = 6174 >> … We find that the kernel of 2010 is 6174 and have reached the kernel in three steps.
Okay, you reach a kernel, so what?
Now take 2005. The operation yields 5200 – 0025 = 5175 >> 7551 – 1557 = 5994 >> 9954 – 4599 = 5355 >> 5553 – 3555 = 1998 >> 9981 – 1899 = 8082 >> 8820 – 0288 = 8532 >> 8532 – 2358 = 6174 >> 7641 – 1467 = 6174 >> 7641 – 1467 = 6174 >> …
This time it has taken a few more steps to reach the kernel from 2005, but are you surprised that the kernel is the same, namely 6174? Sheer coincidence, you and I would have thought.
Kaprekar thought differently. He discovered that this simple operation led to the surprising result that the kernel cannot but be 6174! Every four digit number where the digits aren't all equal reaches 6174 under Kaprekar's process. It's marvellous, isn't it? Kaprekar's operation is so simple but uncovers such an interesting result.
Is this as special as 6174 gets? Well, not only is 6174 the only kernel for the operation, it also has one more surprise up its sleeve.
Let's try again, starting with a different number, say 1789. Here we go: 9871 – 1789 = 8082 >> 8820 – 0288 = 8532 >> 8532 – 2358 = 6174.
When we started with 2010 and 1789, the process took us to 6174 in three steps, but 2005 took seven steps. In fact, you reach 6174 for all four-digit numbers that don't have all the digits the same and in at most seven steps.
For three-digit numbers, the same phenomenon occurs. Application of Kaprekar's operation to the three digit number 753 gives the following: 753 – 357 = 396 >> 963 – 369 = 594 >> 954 – 459 = 495 >> 954 – 459 = 495 >> 954 – 459 = 495 >> … The number 495 is the unique kernel for the operation on three digit numbers, and all three digit numbers reach 495 using the operation.
How about other numbers? Let try it out for a two digit number, say 28. We have 82 – 28 = 54 >> 54 – 45 = 9 >> 90 – 09 = 81 >> 81 – 18 = 63 >> 63 – 36 = 27 >> 72 – 27 = 45 >> 54 – 45 = 9 >> 90 – 09 = 81 >> 81 – 18 = 63 >> 63 – 36 = 27 >> 72 – 27 = 45 >> 54 – 45 = 9 >> … It doesn't take long to check that all two digit numbers will reach the loop 9 → 81 → 63 → 27 → 45 → 9. Not quite as impressive as three and four digit numbers, which have unique kernels.
There is no kernel for Kaprekar's operation on five digit numbers. But all five digit numbers do reach one of the following three loops:
71973 → 83952 → 74943 → 62964 → 71973
75933 → 63954 → 61974 → 82962 → 75933
59994 → 53955 → 59994
It will certainly take a lot of time to check what happens for six or more digits, and this work becomes extremely dull! I’d rather play Solitaire than meddle with numbers like Kaprekar did!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
I was looking for a Khalil Gibran quote. I knew it was there in one of the paperbacks I have, but did not recall which one. I went to my study looking for it.
The books were in a total disarray. Giving up the search for the quote for the time being, I decided to rearrange them on the shelves in some order so that one would not have to launch a search the next time.
As I dusted the books one by one and put them in their assigned places, a book caught my attention. It was a Malayalam paperback: ‘Vasco da Gaamayum, Charitrattile Kaanappuranngalum’ (Vasco da Gama and the Unseen Pages of History) by Sathyan Edakkad. I am not much of a history buff and did not recall having purchased it. My wife Bhawani is interested in history, but it was very unlikely that she would have purchased a book written in Malayalam.
It appeared to be a new book, not read by either of us. How did it reach here? I wondered. Bhawani refreshed my memory, Santanu had dropped it in your bag at the Fort in Kannur.
My Bengali friend Santanu and his wife Arundhati were on a ten-day visit to Kerala. Santanu was a colleague and we have known each other for over three decades. Santanu had taken an early severance and turned to writing and translation and had published a few books, which, I guess, were a modest success.
Though they had lived for a while in Kerala as Santanu was employed here, they had not had the chance to ‘experience’ Kerala. We decided to drive down from Trivandrum (in the southern tip) where we lived, to my hometown Kannur (500+ kms to the north) with a few pitstops. They would stay with us in Trivandrum for a couple of days, travel the longish stretch with us over three days and stay with us and my mother in Kannur for a few days.
While in Kannur, we went round seeing places of interest in and around Kannur like the Pazhassi Project, the Arackal Museum, the Muzhappilangad beach (Arundhati quips that the name is as hard as the beach. The beach, in case you did not know, is so hard that you can drive cars on the sand at 60 kmph!) and the like.
One of our destinations was the recently beautified premises the St Angelo’s Fort on Kannur Beach. A seashore fort, it's a photographer's delight, etched against the blue sky. The spirit of the past still echoes within the walls of this fort and continues to enthrall its visitors.
As soon as we crossed the moat (apparently built to protect the fort from aggressors) and entered the premises made up of massive laterite stones built on a rocky promontory, a young policeman accosted us. His epaulet had a brass plaque which read TOURIST POLICE.
The sergeant was very friendly. He asked us if it was the first time we were visiting the fort. He told us the chequered history of the fort in brief. As he walked us through the endless corridors of the fort, up the turret and through the manicured lawns, the spool unreeled: how it was built in 1505 by Dom Francisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy of India and how it changed hands many times over..
Almeida had refused to accept the appointment of Afonso de Albuquerque in 1509 as the new Portuguese governor. Desperate to continue as the boss of what he considered ‘the gains of his hard work’; he went to war with Albuquerque and imprisoned him in this fortress. After three months of confinement, Albuquerque went on to become the governor when the mutiny was suppressed with the arrival of a larger fleet from Portugal in October 1509.
In 1663, the fort was captured by the Dutch from the Portuguese. They sold it to Ali Raja (of the Arackal Dynasty) of Kannur. After the ascendancy of the British in Malabar, in 1790, the British seized control of the fort, renovated and strengthened it and transformed into their most important military station in Malabar.
We were surprised and impressed by the cop’s knowledge. We could not resist the temptation to ask him how he learnt all this. He said he was shocked at the ignorance surrounding the earliest European fort in India. When he was posted there, he said, the impression among the locals was that it was Tipu Sultan who had constructed the fort! As a tourist cop, Sathyan had to face a barrage of questions about the fort from visitors to which he had no answers. That made him brush up his history. He spent a lot of time reading up history and became a walking encyclopedia on the fort and its legends.
As we complimented him on his interest and knowledge and thanked him and wished him well, he smiled shyly and said, ‘I have written a book exploding the myth of Vasco da Gama’s landing at Kappad in 1498.’ I leafed through the copy he showed me. The book, written in Malayalam, challenged a basic historical assumption. ‘Two of Vasco da Gama’s sailors landed at Kappad,’ Sathyan says in the book, ‘but Gama stepped ashore 12 km north, at a place called Panthalayini Kollam.’
Santanu asked him, ‘How much does this book cost?’ Sathyan named the price. Santanu, who cannot read Malayalam, bought a copy. As I wondered why, he said, ‘This is the least that a struggling author can do to encourage another.’ | <urn:uuid:255a303d-b6de-454a-83c8-644348ab68d2> | {
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Philippines Typhoon - 2013
What Oxfam is doing
Oxfam is working on the islands of Cebu, Leyte and Samar. We have reached over 590,000 people with emergency relief during the first three months of the response. This includes supplying clean water to more than 200,000 people in Tacloban by supporting the government to repair and fix broken pipes.
Oxfam has provided people with hygiene kits, sanitation services, cash support, water kits, rice seed, shelter materials, kits for pregnant women, hygiene education and cleaned waste and debris. We are also helping to prevent diseases, such as dengue and malaria spreading, in cooperation with the Department of Health in Tacloban.
We are supporting fishers and coconut farmers, particularly women, whose means of earning a living have been decimated by the typhoon and we are poised to provide start-up capital for small businesses, as well as equipment such as fishing nets and kits, seeds and fertiliser.
Oxfam believes that, now is the time to focus on bolstering longer-term support to boost income so people no longer need to rely on emergency aid. It is crucial people are given the help they need to recover their ability to earn a living through replacement of or compensation for lost equipment or savings, as well as training and start-up capital.
Super typhoon Haiyan (locally Yolanda) is another deadly warning of what much of the world can expect unless we can minimize climate change.
- Around 14 million people have been affected, some 6,000 killed, and an estimated 4.4 million displaced. Despite the massive logistical challenges and widespread destruction, the relief effort has helped millions to survive.
- Major gaps remain, however, especially in rural and hard to reach areas. Like most disasters, typhoon Haiyan has hit the poorest and the most vulnerable people the hardest. 4 out of 10 families in the affected provinces were living below the poverty line before Haiyan hit. Many families lived from small-scale agriculture, fishing and from low paid jobs and micro-enterprises in towns and cities.
- The typhoon affected a third of the country's rice growing areas and missing the current planting season will potentially leave millions of people without their staple food.
- Longer-term support is needed to help communities build back better and protect people against future shocks. The Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY) plan issued by the Philippines government on 18 December outlines many positive principles and intentions. However, it lacks a bold vision for significantly tackling poverty and inequality.
To view the captions, click to enlarge the slideshow.
Oxfam needs your immediate help and will ensure that your donation is used effectively and efficiently to help people in the Philippines overcome this crisis: | <urn:uuid:806d005f-3e2b-4708-8e0f-2f7d42ed9149> | {
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NASHVILLE (AP) A team of scientists at Vanderbilt University have been given an award from Popular Mechanics magazine for a discovery that could someday replace the common light bulb, the researchers say.
Led by Vanderbilt associate professor Sandra Rosenthal, the team nearly a year ago discovered a new way to make solid-state lights that produce white light. They say the finding could replace the common light bulb and cut the world's electricity consumption in half.
"We were actually working on something else when this discovery was made," Rosenthal said. "But I think good accidents happen in science a lot more often than scientists want to admit."
The latest award from the magazine is one of several the team has won for experimenting with quantum dots — tiny semiconductor crystals of cadmium selenide that absorb light and generate a charge.
Research associate James McBride, who at the time of the discovery was studying the way quantum dots grow, had asked Michael Bowers repeatedly to make batches of smaller and smaller crystals.
Bowers, a graduate student in chemistry, put the nanocrystals into a small glass cell and illuminated it with a laser, expecting to see blue light. Instead he saw white.
The surprise discovery was that the tiny crystals can absorb blue light produced by light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and emit a warm white light.
The researchers say if they can learn how to get the quantum dots to consistently produce white light more efficiently, then quantum-dot-coated LEDs could someday replace light bulbs.
The team is currently working on ways to make the LEDs brighter. Although LEDs are found in accent lighting and flashlights, they are not white enough for general, light-bulb-like use.
The team published a scientific paper on the discovery in fall 2005. Bowers is now writing a second paper that could be published next spring or summer.
Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:3f935aff-3d77-4e8f-b493-b16f1d273d6e> | {
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Even with appropriate antibiotics, the skin infections can take months to clear, researchers said.
All of the patients involved had other diagnoses before physicians identified the real culprit, Mycobacterium chelonae, according Lisa Drage, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues at the American Academy of Dermatology meeting.
In all cases, the M. chelonae isolates proved susceptible to macrolide antibiotics.
"The incidence of rapidly growing mycobacterium associated with tattoos is unknown, and the world's literature is limited," the investigators concluded in a poster presentation.
"Our series highlights the variable clinical presentation and delayed diagnosis of rapidly growing mycobacterial infections," they continued.
"While tissue culture is the gold standard for diagnosis, isolation of rapidly growing mycobacterium remains a challenge. Treatment of M. chelonae should be guided by susceptibility studies and may be required for up to six months."
Most pathogenic species of nontuberculous mycobacteria have been associated with skin and soft-tissue infections. However, the rapidly emerging mycobacteria, which include M. chelonae, have become increasingly important causes of localized cutaneous infections, the investigators said.
Dr. Drage and colleagues described a community outbreak of M. chelonae associated with tattoos traced to a single artist at a single establishment. The index case was a 49-year-old man, who developed red papules within a tattoo on his upper left arm within a week of application.
Despite the skin eruptions, the man had a second tattoo applied to the left side of his chest. Within two weeks, more than 100 small pustules and red papules developed within the chest tattoo site.
Following punch biopsy of the chest site, histopathologic examination revealed lymphohistiocytic infiltrate, but no organisms were identified on staining. Acid-fast bacilli smears also were negative. Culture of the specimen grew M. abscessus/chelonae, subpecies chelonae.
The investigators began empiric therapy with clarithromycin, and susceptibility testing confirmed sensitivity to macrolides. The skin lesions had improved at three-week follow-up and continued to improve but did not completely clear until six months.
A review of medical records revealed five additional cases of M. chelonae infection associated with tattoos from October 2007 to May 2008. All of the cases arose within two weeks of tattoo creation. However, the median time from tattoo to diagnosis was 17.6 weeks.
The skin lesions had a variable appearance that included pink, red, and purple papules; scaly papules; granulomatous papules; lichenoid papules; pustules; and plaques. All of the lesions were concentrated in an area of gray wash within the tattoo.
All of the patients sought medical care as soon as the skin eruptions occurred, and they were treated unsuccessfully with topical and oral antibiotics and topical steroids. Subsequently, M. chelonae was isolated from three biopsy specimens, two tissue cultures, and one swab culture of a pustule.
Four patients were treated with clarithromycin and one with azithromycin. The sixth patient was lost to follow-up. All of the treated patients had complete clearance of skin lesions and have had no recurrences.
The investigators concluded that physicians should consider rapidly growing mycobacterial infections in any patient who has skin lesions that arise within a new tattoo.
|Dr. Drage reported no financial relationships.|
Zalman S. Agus, MD Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
American Academy of DermatologySource Reference: Drage L, et al "An outbreak of Mycobacterium chelonae infections in association with tattoos" J Am Acad Dermatol 2009; 60(suppl): Abstract 205. | <urn:uuid:2fb831a0-b91c-4269-86a8-a0eb56097e57> | {
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The Danube River is the longest river in Europe, and it will soon receive a new environmentally sensitive sewage treatment plant set on cleaning up its waters. Known as “The Living Danube”, the plant is set to be the most advanced wastewater treatment plant project in Budapest, Hungary, and it will also boast a beautiful green roof.
The 10,000 square meter green roof has been designed as a flat, green surface that will absorb airborne dust and similar impurities. The roof will also drown out noise whilst retaining up to 90% of water – preventing rainwater from draining into the sewer. The rooftop vegetation will also absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen, and as an added benefit, it will protect the structure from temperature fluctuations and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, extending its useful life-span considerably.
The primary material in construction will be more than 78,000 square meters of DuPont Typar SF Geosynthetic, a product made of spunbonded, non-woven fabric consisting of 100% polypropylene filaments. Its high tensile properties and excellent water permeability make it a widely used building material that is also used in road building, drainage systems and inversion roofing.
Bellavics László, a founder of the Hungarian Green Roof Builder Association who designed the “Living Danube” green roof, said, “We have been working with DuPont Typar for over 10 years. Our long-term experience shows the main benefit of DuPont Typar is its unique, thermally-bonded structure which brings an exceptional mechanical strength and durability of the geo-synthetic and longer life to the green roof where it is installed. Another advantage is that its pores do not clog with soil particles, which guarantees its long-term filtration ability.”
via Clean Technica
Image © Flickr melalouise | <urn:uuid:888f450a-30fe-408d-89a6-1de52a752ba2> | {
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Since the 1990s, more emphasis has been placed on securing the rights of historically neglected and marginalized groups, including the indigenous communities in Latin America and elsewhere. Indigenous people number about 370 million in some 70 countries. They frequently have inadequate access to clean water and other resources and may be pushed into fragile or degraded ecosystems. Compared to the general population of their countries, they have higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, less access to education and limited participation in the government and social systems that affect their lives
Fortunately, an international human rights framework that has been evolving since the 1990s offers greater protection for these vulnerable groups. In the last decade, legally-binding conventions, world programmes of action, the international human rights treaty bodies and special rapporteurs have brought increasing attention and protections to advance their rights.
Practical guidelines and human rights standards for implementation of national policies and programmes have been developed. In some regions, such as in Africa, Asia and the Americas, specific conventions and forums focusing on the rights of indigenous people have highlighted discrimination against these groups. Civil society networks have mobilized and established advocacy groups to protect their rights. The International Indigenous Women's Forum, for instance, is a platform for advocacy and mobilization on their rights.
Much of UNFPA's work on the rights of indigenous peoples is focused in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. For instance, UNFPA contributed to the participation of 21 indigenous women from eight South American countries in the Beijing +10 Summit review and in the 4th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May, 2005.
In Brazil, UNFPA provided support to a 2005 report, Satere-Mawe, The Portrait of an Indigenous People, conducted with the active participation of the native Brazilians. It is a preliminary analysis of conditions affecting some 8,500 people whose traditional way of life is being eroded by economic pressures and the devastation of large parts of the Amazon.
Bolivia is home to some 35 different indigenous groups, many of whom live in remote mountainous areas. For many years UNFPA has supported a literacy project that reaches indigenous women with content on sexual and reproductive health and gender equality. Through the project, more than 120,000 indigenous women have learned about reproductive rights, safe motherhood, prevention of violence, and gender equality and equity. The project has emphasized the respect for traditional values and beliefs, promoting the relevance of cultural diversity, participation and dialogue.
In Ecuador, UNFPA provided technical and financial support for Jambi Huasi and the Ministry of Health to organize an international seminar on the application of an intercultural perspective to maternal health.
In Panama, the Fund worked with the Government and indigenous women's associations to improve access to quality sexual and reproductive health care, integrating a human rights perspective as well as a respect for cultural norms and beliefs about reproductive health.
In Paraguay, UNFPA has been carrying out interesting initiatives with indigenous people, applying a crosscutting ethnic, gender and generational perspective. For example, a study on the Mbya, who were traditionally hunters and gatherers, is being conducted, and includes a systematization of Mbya's experiences in sexual and reproductive health care, their myths and culture. Community participation, especially that of Mbya male midwives and traditional women midwives is being incorporated into this research.
In a speech at the 2007 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Director of the Asia and the Pacific region at UNFPA outlined some of the programmes for indigenous people that are taking place in that region. | <urn:uuid:47694430-0eec-4f17-b063-ad862bd10274> | {
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|This article relies too much on references to primary sources. (February 2015)|
|Initial release||May 26, 1998|
|Stable release||3.09.1 (aka. 3.91) / September 30, 2013|
|Written in||C++, Assembly|
|Operating system||Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, MS-DOS, Atari|
|Platform||i386, MIPS, AMD64, ARM, PowerPC, m68k|
|License||GPL with exception for compressed executables|
UCL has been designed to be simple enough that a decompressor can be implemented in just a few hundred bytes of code. UCL requires no additional memory to be allocated for decompression, a considerable advantage that means that a UPX packed executable usually requires no additional memory.
UPX (since 2.90 beta) can use LZMA on most platforms; however, this is disabled by default for 16-bit due to slow decompression speed on older computers (use
--lzma to force it on).
UPX supports two mechanisms for decompression: an in-place technique and extraction to temporary file.
The in-place technique, which decompresses the executable into memory, is not possible on all supported platforms. The rest use extraction to temporary file. This procedure involves additional overhead and other disadvantages; however, it allows any executable file format to be packed.
The extraction to temporary file method has several disadvantages:
- Special permissions are ignored, such as suid.
argvwill not be meaningful.
- Multiple running instances of the executable are unable to share common segments.
Unmodified UPX packing is often detected and unpacked by antivirus software scanners. UPX also has a built-in feature for unpacking unmodified executables packed with itself. The default license for the existing stubs explicitly forbids modification that prevent manual unpacking. Most antivirus products will raise an alarm when UPX header is detected.
- Linux/i386 a.out
- Linux/ELF on i386, x86-64, ARM, PowerPC
- Linux/kernel on i386, x86-64 and ARM
- Mach-O/ppc32, Mach-O/i386 (even produced by Google Go since 3.09)
- Windows/PE exe files containing native x86 (32-Bit) code
- Windows/PE exe files containing native AMD64 (64-Bit) code - still experimental
- UPX on SourceForge.net
- UPX at Freecode
- UPX 64bit compiled Version on SourceForge.net (upx308w-x64-dev.zip) | <urn:uuid:e82e4808-cdda-4ad2-aafa-d322891e5415> | {
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An organic rich source rock from which hydrocarbons were generated.
This study of 181 wells provides insight into the connectivity of textural attributes.
The Marcellus Formation was deposited during the Middle Devonian Period about 390 million years ago in the Appalachian Basin of Eastern North America. The Appalachian Basin was formed as the result of the collision of Avalonia with Laurentia (pre-historic North America). This collision marked the onset of the Acadian orogeny and the formation of the northern Appalachians.
This mountain building event caused the Appalachian Basin to subside and fill with sediment. Erosion of the newly formed mountains slowly deposited sediments in this deep water, low-energy, poorly-oxygenated environment and resulted in an organic rich source rock from which hydrocarbons were generated.
This Marcellus study provides a petrophysical and geological analysis of 181 Marcellus wells that allows insight into the connectivity of textural attributes of the wells with NULOOK Shale Vision and NUVIEW 3D Reservoir Vision. Also available to coincide with the study is a GeoTextural rock properties log that depicts the brittleness of the formation. | <urn:uuid:839c39ea-5290-44ce-a994-7fb61377fae8> | {
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"url": "http://www.nutechenergy.com/Regional-Studies/Marcellus-Regional-Shale/"
} |
Short biography on Joseph Stalin, a world leader.
Šim darbam šodien ir īpaša akcijas cena! *
- Parastā cena:
- € 2,49
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- € 2,04
- € 0,45 (18%)
Joseph Stalin was a dictator of the U.S.S.R from 1929 until 1953. He rose from poverty to become ruler of the country that covered one sixth of all the land area of the world. Stalin had unusual personality traits, he was very intimidating (productive and feared), influential (spreading Stalinism), and very dominating (control over industry).
Stalin ruled by intimidation for most of his years in office. He didn't allow anybody to say anything about his ideas. Stalin killed all that had helped him rise to power because he thought they would threaten his rules. Stalin was responsible for m…
E-pasta adrese, uz kuru nosūtīt darba saiti:
Saite uz darbu: | <urn:uuid:d8ec4fd9-19f4-4ab3-809f-97269859f807> | {
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"int_score": 3,
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"url": "https://www.atlants.lv/eseja/short-biography-on-joseph-stalin-a-world-leader/532583/"
} |
Note: Calculation can be based on any 3 items above. If no results after click "Calculate" button, then the data provided is impossible to shape a triangle.
|Calculation can be based on the coordinates of the three points of the triangle:|
Note: If no results after filling in all coordinates, then the data provided is impossible to shape a triangle.
|Circumscribed Circle Radius:|
|Inscribed Circle Radius:|
|Height of a:|
|Height of b:|
|Height of c:|
|Angle Bisector of a:|
|Angle Bisector of b:|
|Angle Bisector of c:|
|Median of a:|
|Median of b:|
|Median of c:|
Triangle has three sides and three angles. The sum length of any two sides is longer than the length of the other side.
All angles of a triangle always add up to 180 ̊C.
|Law of Cosines||
a2 = b2 + c2 - 2 × b × c × CosA;
b2 = a2 + c2 - 2 × a × c × CosB;
c2 = b2 + a2 - 2 × b × a × CosC;
a × b × Sin(C) / 2 or
c × b × Sin(A) / 2 or
a × c × Sin(B) / 2
|Angle Bisector of Side a||2 × b × c × Cos(A/2) / (b + c)|
|Angle Bisector of Side b||2 × a × c × Cos(B/2) / (a + c)|
|Angle Bisector of Side c||2 × a × b × Cos(C/2) / (a + b)|
|Median of Side a ( ma )||ma2 = (2 * b2 + 2 * c2 - a2) / 4|
|Median of Side b ( mb )||mb2 = (2 * a2 + 2 * c2 - b2) / 4|
|Median of Side c ( mc )||mc2 = (2 * a2 + 2 * b2 - c2) / 4|
|Circumscribed Circle Radius||
a / ( 2 * sin (A)) or
b / ( 2 * sin (B)) or
c / ( 2 * sin (C))
|Inscribed Circle Radius||
a × Sin(C/2) × Sin(B/2) / Cos (A/2) or
b × Sin(A/2) × Sin(C/2) / Cos (B/2) or
c × Sin(A/2) × Sin(B/2) / Cos (C/2)
All three angles of a triangle always add up to 180 ̊C. Triangle has three types based on its three angles.
has an angle > 90 ̊C.
has an angle = 90 ̊C.
all angles < 90 ̊C.
Triangle has three types based on the equality of its three sides.
all sides are equal, all angles are 60 ̊C.
two equal sides.
no equal sides and angles. | <urn:uuid:0ddffef6-22ef-407e-b50c-c2fef0c0c45b> | {
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Did you know that Thomas Jefferson designed sundials and thought that a book of trigonometric tables was one of his most valuable books? And that Benjamin Franklin made a "modest" proposal for an extension of the noon-day sundial canon? Join Fred Sawyer, eminent sundialist and president of the North American Sundial Society as he explores sundial history with the United States founding fathers George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in three video presentations. The videos are taken from a presentation he made two years ago at the annual meeting of the NASS in Indianapolis. See these videos at: http://www.sundials.org/index.php/dial-links/videos/historic-sundials
Learn more about sundials, their construction and their history by joining the North American Sundial Society. Go to http://www.sundials.org/index.php/join-nass/join-nass and join now. | <urn:uuid:693fdeba-7757-4b60-88a1-131a4a5408e1> | {
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When you buy something you expect it to work. That unfortunately is not always the case. Products may have defects or other problems that aren’t discovered until well after they have been sold. Consumers aren’t aware of the problems until they are harmed or if a recall is made public. This is a scary situation, especially when some of those defects can cause death.
Most products are recalled when it is discovered that they can cause serious harm or even death. Recalls prevent further harm to consumers, and are most effective when ordered before the general public is harmed. The problem with recalls however, is that many people do not lean about them until they attempt to buy replacement parts or accessories. There are better ways to learn about a product recall.
Depending on how popular an item is, a simple web search may reveal if the product has been recalled. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is a popular website for product recalls. The website is a governmental site that lists products that have been recalled. There are also websites devoted to specific types of product recalls such as children’s items, health products and even pet food. Regularly visiting these sites will keep you knowledgeable on published recalls.
Check With the Store
Many stores maintain a recall list for their customers. If you suspect that something you have purchased has been recalled try calling the store where you purchased it and asking them first. Some stores will maintain the list online, while others such as Wal-Mart keep a big book of recalled items with customer service.
Contacting the store where you purchased the item is also a good idea because many times the recalled product will have to be returned to that same store. Contacting the store to see if the item has been recalled will also give you the opportunity to find out what to do with it.
Register The Product
Registering your product is probably the easiest way to learn about product recalls. When you register your product, you aren’t just giving the manufacturer your information; you are giving them the opportunity to contact you if something goes wrong with the product.
If you don’t register your product, the company has no way of letting you know personally when a product has been recalled. They will be required to notify the stores that are selling their product, but it then becomes your job to learn about it from the store.
Save yourself the trouble by registering your product when you get it.
Product recalls are an unfortunate aspect of consumer goods. While it is good that we have them, their success is limited. They may prevent public harm, but they only work when people know about them.
Think you have a product liability case? Talk with our San Antonio personal injury lawyers at The Begum Law Group and get a free case review. Learn what steps you can take next after a free legal consultation. | <urn:uuid:05bab644-eab5-40ae-96bf-06df4d07c4bf> | {
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Broadcasters are examining voiceprint technology as a way of accessing and exploring their digital services, but habit may be the biggest barrier to adoption, writes Amelia Kallman.
Have you ever gone to sign into an account and ended up typing every password you’ve ever used only to give up and make a new one that you’re just going to forget again next time?
Wouldn’t it be great if you could simply say your name and forget about passwords and pins altogether? Soon this fantasy may be reality.
While speech recognition technology traces back to the debut of IBM’s Shoebox at the 1962 World’s Fair, recognising sixteen words and numbers zero to nine, it’s only been in the last few years that it has entered the mainstream with voice assistants such as Siri, Cortana, and Alexa.
People are able to speak one-hundred-fifty words per minute, versus typing only forty words per minute, and research predicts that within three years 50% of all searches will be done by voice.
But now, with recent innovations from companies like Microsoft and Fujitsu, the voice might also hold the key to increased security, personalisation and better customer experiences. Just this week Microsoft released a report that they have been able to reduce the failure rate of speech recognition by machine from the previous record of 5.9%, which was equal to that of humans, down to 5.1%, exceeding human talents.
Though a remarkable achievement, they recognise there are still significant challenges to address. These include achieving the same levels of recognition to humans in noisy environments, dealing with bad phone or internet connections, recognising filler phrases such as ‘uh’, ‘um’ and ‘er’, deciphering intent, and overcoming accents and dialects.
One area where there has been increasing improvement is in biometric identification using voice identification. Biometrics uses physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, iris and face recognition, and ‘voiceprints’ to authenticate and identify interactions against pre-stored biometric data.
Last week, the BBC revealed it is experimenting with voiceprint technology to access and explore their digital services, such as the iPlayer.
The proof of concept allows a user to sign in and navigate the system with speech stating your name and a short phrase.
Artificial intelligence (AI) matches your unique vocal characteristics, such as pitch, tone, and patterns, to a biometric template stored in the cloud, granting you access to your personal account and training the machine to remember your personal preferences.
In addition, the prototype lets you use your voice as a remote control, and ask questions like, ‘What’s going on in the world?’ or ‘Are there any new comedy specials I haven’t seen?’ to which the system responds with an action.
With more than a third of people regularly forgetting and asking for new passwords, the BBC isn’t the only company exploring less frustrating alternatives.
A recent survey conducted by SecureAuth found that 66% of cyber security professionals have been tasked with replacing the password routine.
Google’s Project Abacus is testing a password-free login system for Android phones that aims to eliminate passwords and pins for users by the end of this year. It is based on a “test score” that uses personal data like voice, speech, patterns, location, and biometrics gathered through embedded sensors to calculate a continuous score. If a score is disrupted by inconsistencies, additional security measures will be activated.
But how unique are our voices really? The accuracy of biometric identification can be measured by the ‘False Acceptance rate’, or the likelihood that a security system will incorrectly accept an access attempt by an unauthorised user.
In Beijing, Fujitsu Research and Development Centre have developed high-precision voiceprint authentication technology where the error rate of identity is about 2.2% based on only three seconds of speech. With the average personal verification questions used by customer service professionals taking longer than sixty seconds, this technology could increase efficiency and security, while building more trusted and sustainable customer relationship.
The technology is quickly advancing, but behaviour and habit may prove the biggest barriers to widespread adoption. Whilst 90% of people have tried voice commands and activations, only 6% have done it in public, indicating that the speed, efficiency, and effectiveness of this technology has not yet outweighed the perceived potential for failure and embarrassment. Companies must be able to prove the value of voice technology to their customers, and replacing the need to remember and recall passwords may just be the best place to start.
Amelia Kallman is a futurist, speaker, journalist, author, nightclub owner and director of the first virtual reality burlesque show. | <urn:uuid:4927b6b5-d5cd-43ed-a81f-7b3363b88e59> | {
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Chapter 6, Verse 17-18
"And the city shall be banned - it and all therein - for Hashem, save Rachav the innkeeper...." When studying this verse we discover a serious problem in its structure. It begins with a ban on the city, continues with the inclusion of the city's belongings and concludes with a direction for the ban. Why wasn't the verse written in order, calling for a ban on the city and its belongings for Hashem? In addition, we find Rachav's preservation mentioned in exception to the ban. Wasn't this ban, in essence, a dedication to the Sanctuary of all usable items? Accordingly, how could the preservation of Rachav's life be regarded an exception to the ban?
All of this suggests that, in actuality, there were two bans, a dedication to the treasury and the total destruction of the city. The notion of the ban was that everything bear the identity of Hashem. The silver and gold which could physically serve Hashem in His Sanctuary were dedicated to the treasury. However, the city itself and all remaining therein could not identify with Hashem this way. They therefore served Hashem in a unique manner, through total destruction.
We now understand the order of the passage and its hidden message. It begins with a general ban on the city referring to its dedication to the treasury of Hashem. This follows the Torah's basic ruling of a ban as is stated in Vayikra (27:28) regarding one's acceptance of a general ban on his items. But the passage continues with a ban on the city proper and all therein. Obviously, the city itself could not be dedicated to the treasury and some other dimension must have been meant here. This ban refers to the total destruction of the city and its belongings restricting them from all usage thereafter. The verse then brings everything together and identifies both of these dimensions as done for the sake of Hashem. Regarding the dimension of the city proper Rachav was the exception to the rule. Although everything inside was totally destroyed Rachav and her family were spared.
Why was the city's destruction considered an act of dedication to Hashem? The general practice of the land's conquest did not call for destruction and devastation. What was significant about Yericho that warranted such destructive behavior?
The Torah considers the seven Canaanite nations the most destructive influence in the world. Regarding them the Torah states, "Totally destroy them; do not allow any soul to live" (Devorim 7:2, 20:6). Their mere existence is threatening to the fiber of the Jewish nation. They were so steeped in their idolatrous ways that there was no recourse for such people. Accordingly, anything identified with them presented a potential threat to the Jewish people and their religious ideology.
The general practice of conquest allowed the Jewish people to take hold of the Canaanite cities. They were commanded to conquer the city and destroy its inhabitants. The city was then converted into a Jewish settlement leaving behind no trace of idolatry. Yericho, being the first to be conquered, was treated differently. Through its conquest Hashem announced His presence in the land. The sanctity of Hashem repels all opposing forces and His sacred presence certainly does not allow for any trace of idolatry. Yericho was declared Hashem's arrival point to the land which by definition called for the removal of all existing associations. The entire city and all therein were consequently destroyed and Yericho was established a monument to Hashem. Its devastated state reflected Hashem's clear intention to remove all idolatrous influence from His land. Eventually, the land would become totally identified with Hashem, reflecting His perfect glory through every facet of the land.
"But you should guard the ban lest you destroy yourselves by violating the ban through which you will render the Jewish camp devastated and you will ruin it." The Jewish people were sternly warned against violating this ban. Why was this ban - self-imposed by Yehoshua - treated with such severity? The commentators (see Radak, Mtzudos) deduce from this passage that the warning was twofold. Firstly, they were personally restricted from violating the ban. Secondly, each person was sternly commanded to guard the ban by preventing others from violating it. It seems as if the people's lives were at stake if anyone partook of the spoils of Yericho.
The general practice of war was to partake of its spoils. After all, major efforts were expended to capture the enemy, thus entitling the victor to reap the fruits of his labor. The war of Yericho was, by definition, of a different nature. The Jewish people exerted no effort in this war and claimed no credit for any part of the victory. The entire credit was owed to Hashem Who, by announcing His presence, destroyed everything in His path. Rightfully, all results of this war belonged to Him and deserved to bear His identity. Even the slightest infraction of this would reflect the Jewish nation's involvement. This, in addition to being incorrect, could potentially undermine the entire effect of this war. It was necessary for Yericho, the leading victory of the people, to be viewed as the total act of Hashem. If any inaccuracy occurred regarding the recognition of Hashem's involvement, the potential existed for this error to expand to greater proportions. This would ultimately cause Hashem to remove His involvement from the people, a development which would devastate them.
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Kollel Toras Chesed of Skokie
3732 West Dempster
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Phone: 847-674-7959Fax: 847-674-4023 | <urn:uuid:fd94d0ab-d125-4902-a820-db008ea0a25b> | {
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SRINIGAR, INDIA — ``If there be Paradise on Earth,`` wrote a Mogul ruler centuries ago,
``this is it; oh, this is it!`` To the uninitiated, the emperor`s enthusiastic assessment of the charms of Kashmir may smack ever so slightly of Madison Avenue hyperbole.
But for those who`ve been to India`s northernmost state-nestled in the snowy arms of the Himalayas-the Mogul`s description is hard to fault.
Snowcapped peaks surround the Vale, or valley, of Kashmir like a panoramic post card. In the spring, rice paddies spread across the valley like a lush green carpet and shikaras (gondola-style boats) skim quietly across the lily pads that fill Dal Lake.
There is a tranquility here of centuries gone by, a gentle cadence of living that has yet to be hurried along by the pressures of the 20th Century. Which is not to say that Kashmir has been untouched by the modern world. For 40 years, since Indian independence, Kashmir has been a territory sometimes violently disputed by the governments of India and Pakistan.
Typically, Kashmiris simply shrug off the ongoing standoff. They are a proud people, and some of them see their land as a country apart-a detachment that stems at least partly from the fact that although Kashmir was conquered by the Moguls in 1587, it was never incorporated by the British into colonial India.
The British, however, did leave a legacy of sorts in Kashmir. Like the Mogul emperors before them, the colonial British rulers flocked to the cool heights of Kashmir when the scorching heat of Delhi became too much to bear.
Kashmir`s maharajah refused to allow the British to own land or build on it, but the British came up with the creative alternative of living on houseboats on Dal Lake. Today, houseboats are still a popular form of housing, especially among tourists.
History seems to have a hold on Kashmir; walking along a lakeside road next to an ox-drawn cart or prowling through the jumble of alleys and leaning buildings of Srinigar, the capital of Kashmir, is like entering a time warp that leads to medieval days. It`s a feeling that`s not far from the truth:
Parts of Srinigar have actually survived from the Middle Ages.
The narrow, twisting streets of old Srinigar are hemmed in by multi-story buildings, yellowed and crumbling from age and the sun. Children call to each other from rickety balconies, while their grandparents sit at windows and watch the foot and ox cart traffic below.
Women in dark veils are a reminder that Kashmir is a predominantly and devoutly Muslim state; hidden from the eyes of men and strangers, they shop in small stalls, buying richly colored spices and flamboyant silks.
Another world, another time, a place apart. There is a mystery to Kashmir, a sense of one`s having stumbled into a secret garden.
The Mogul emperor wasn`t far from the truth:
``If there be Paradise on Earth . . .`` | <urn:uuid:26504d65-46e3-4518-83d9-f9bc3c4b8953> | {
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Dehydration is a frequent problem faced by people exercising. It normally happens when a person is trying to do more than the body can handle, best known as going “over the limit”. But what is dehydration and what are the best ways to prevent it?
Dehydration is a serious condition caused by the excessive loss of water from the body.
In the majority of cases, it can be prevented by drinking plenty of water or sports drinks such as Gatorade and PowerAde. However, people with more intense workouts may consider taking electrolytes to prevent muscle cramps, headaches, dizziness or fainting.
An electrolyte is any substance such as acids, bases or salts that dissolves in water to give a solution an electric current, generating energy for the human body. Electrolyte drinks contains high levels of two key minerals: sodium and potassium. These drinks are the best way to replenish the body’s water and electrolyte levels after dehydration caused by extreme exercising conditions.
Most electrolyte products come in powder form and can be easily mixed with water and should be drunk before, during and after exercising. Tablets and products in liquid form (droppers) are also available.
Electrolytes products are generally not needed for light to moderate workouts but you may want to consider taking it if you experience diarrhea, vomiting, or intoxication. Electrolytes are highly recommended in serious cases of diarrhea or after stomach disorders such as food poising or vomiting, preventing headaches and dizziness caused due to the lack of minerals in the system.
|Elete – All Natural Electrolyte Add-In Economy Refill Bottle – 18.3 oz.|
|Elete – All Natural Electrolyte Add-In Pocket Bottle – 24.6 ml.|
|Trace Minerals Research – Electrolyte Stamina Tablets – 300 Tablets| | <urn:uuid:1c2824aa-e56b-4bb5-98e4-46f0f98a2b02> | {
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- Published on Saturday, 30 November 2013 02:39
- Written by Zainol Aabideen Qorbani Lahiji
Why are some deeds such as sacrifice, forgiveness and chastity considered proper and others such as injustice, lying, megalomania, and treason condemned? What are the criteria behind these judgments? Scholars have differing concepts toward these issues. Each one has a specific view on these questions depending on their world-views. Some of these conceptualizations follow:
1-The School Of Personal Sensuality:
Both in the past and at the present there have been philosophers who believe in nothing except pleasures of life. They say, "The future is uncertain; death might arrive at any moment and may destroy our life. Therefore, we should make best out of our time."
The forerunner of this school was Socrates’ student named Aristocles.
According to this school, any action which satisfies man's temporary pleasures is considered an ethical action albeit in its satisfaction some other people get hurt.
But this approach to life degenerates man to the status of an animal and disregards the Hereafter. Too much involvement in the mundane enjoyments does away with security in life and the poor will suffer the most.
Since material pleasures can not satisfy man's spirit, and their satisfaction is neither possible nor beneficial, therefore to found ethical deeds over transitory desires is one step toward nihilism and avoidance of ethics.
2- Epicurism Or Personal Expedience
Epicure, the Greek philosopher (270-341 BC), too, put personal interests as the foundation of ethics. He did not mean temporary or transitory pleasures, however. He is after a pleasure which either lacks later suffering or involves little amount of suffering. He believes man should shun a suffering which does not contain pleasure either now or later.
Epicure has divided pleasures into three groups:
a) Natural and necessary pleasures, such as eating, drinking and sleep;
b) Unnatural but unnecessary pleasures, such as sexual drive;
c) Natural but unnecessary pleasures, such as desire for fame and money.
Epicure, then, goes on to say that the first type of pleasures should
be fulfilled to a rational degree. The means to these ends should also be employed.
But, according to Epicure, the second type of pleasures should also be satisfied normally. Going to extremes in this regard will lead to troubles.
But, the third type of pleasures which are neither natural nor necessary should be avoided altogether.
As you will see, the last hypothesis is more moderate, well-founded and wise than the previous one. However, it suffers from the following defects:
a) In this notion all aims are directed toward personal worldly interests. Whereas, according to the premises of the notion of the abstractness of self, the avoidance of the integument into material desires in this world may lend a better and flowery chance in the other world. This fact is not included in this notion, however.
b) This notion, like the previous one, reduces man's status to that of animal's in that it is concerned only with personal interests and not with collective interests and has shunned man's heavenly status altogether and has emphasized beastly stomach – filling, anger and lusts. Man, on the other hand, could, through training his skills, soar into the heavens and make the impossible seem attainable.
c) In this notion, the ethical goodness is defined only in the fulfillment of personal interests ignoring common interests as a whole.
The unnaturalness of this view is clear when we observe that others have a right to live like ourselves, too. How is it feasible to enjoy one's interests by destroying other people's rights?
d) A person's interests vary greatly according to one's status. They vary as well with individuals. Therefore, man's interests could not get regularized. On the contrary, ethical orders are highly systematic and well – organized, or else they would bring out chaos.43
43. The Bases of philosophy (Mabani-e Falsafe) p 374.
The philosophy of ethics, pp 62-68.
Husn wa Qubh ‘Aqli (Rational soundness and unsoundness) p 125.
Adapted from: "Imam 'Ali's First Treatise on The Islamic Ethics and Education" by: "Zainol Aabideen Qorbani Lahiji" | <urn:uuid:8685a29a-5221-4e5c-aace-874a6b6091bf> | {
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If things went according to plan and the Fourth Avenue subway tunnel connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island, proposed in 1912, was actually built, would Staten Island have become as urban as the other four boroughs?
We’ll never know, because like so many other ideas tossed out by the MTA and its forerunners, this one got shelved.
Okay, it did get off the ground a little bit. In 1923, the Brooklyn Transit Company began digging a tunnel under Owl’s Head Park in Bay Ridge that would connect the Fourth Avenue line to Staten Island off St. George.
The Depression ended that. In the early 1960s, community leaders proposed adding subway tracks to the under-construction Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
But anti-mass transit Robert Moses, Triborough Bridge Authority boss at the time, wasn’t going to let that happen.
[Black and white map, above left, reveals the original 1912 tunnel plan] | <urn:uuid:b19bd289-dd4b-468d-a9fe-952dfc5cbf3b> | {
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Can you imagine what would happen if something was thrown out of the International Space Station into the Earth’s orbit? What changes would it encounter and how would it enter the Earth’s atmosphere, if it does at all? These are quite intriguing queries and today, we provide you with some answers.
Astronauts sometimes jettison objects from the space station. These objects first, interact with the upper atmosphere and their orbit gradually decays. The object begins with the same orbital parameters as that of the ISS. The drag in the low earth orbit is subtle and depends on the shape and the mass of the object. It has been seen that the orbit decays faster for objects that have a lower mass to area ratio. With a gradually increasing orbital decay rate, the object would reenter the atmosphere in days or months, but never more than a year.
A Russian spacewalker was sponsored by a company in 2006 to hit a golf ball during an activity. The ball, weighing only a tenth of an ounce, stayed in the Earth’s orbit for a few days. A paper airplane, on the other hand, has even lesser weight so, it is expected to do the same.
A Japanese project was initiated to design a paper airplane that could be released from the ISS. The idea came from Takuo Toda, president of the Origami Paper Airplane Association in Japan. He asked Suzuki to study the possibility of building a paper airplane that could reenter the atmosphere. A lot of aerospace engineers thought that the plane would burn out. Objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere from space begin at speeds of Mach 20. These speeds cause a massive object, like a shuttle, to get an increased temperature up to 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit by the time it drops to an altitude of 37 miles. For something as light as the paper airplane, the heating would be much less as it will slow down to a Mach 6 at an altitude as high as 62 miles.
A small company had developed a method of coating a paper with heat-resistant glass while it was still able to be folded comfortably. A three-inch long plane, folded like a space shuttle, was thus created and tested. The test was performed in a Mach 7 airflow inside the University of Tokyo’s hypersonic wind tunnel. The plane survived aerodynamic heating of up to 400 degrees for 10 seconds which gave Suzuki an incentive to move forward with the project.
The real challenge was to figure out where these planes would land on the surface of Earth. While some people anticipated paper airplanes falling from the sky in the near future; sadly, the project was not continued further.
We would like to know your take on what would happen. Comment below! | <urn:uuid:c6043d7f-305c-4a0b-8c9f-1eff1944b026> | {
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Socks are a great way to use your handspun yarn, and a great way to push your boundaries in spinning and acquire new skills. A pair of socks isn’t a huge and unwieldy project, and the commitment to knit them isn’t tremendous — but they’re varied and versatile. There is no one canonical way to make socks happen, no single set of attributes that make for the ideal pair. As a wearer of socks, you probably have several types — and if you’re a knitter of socks, “several types” may be an understatement. Those things said, though, we can make a few generalizations about socks.
1. Socks must stretch sufficiently to allow them to be pulled on over wider parts, and then once in place, settle down and fit snugly without leaving excess fabric to bunch up and get uncomfortable.
2. Socks are a structured, fitted garment; they need to retain that structure in order to work well as socks.
3. Socks are ideally not itchy and scratchy. Nobody likes to have irritated feet.
4. Socks need to be able to breathe; hosiery which doesn’t allow for air movement can compound, or even cause, all sorts of discomforts and woes.
5. Socks are commonly worn with shoes. In fact, it could be said that socks function as an important buffer between foot and shoe, protecting both from interacting in such a way as to potentially damage each other (say, by keeping shoes from chafing or blistering your feet, and keeping skin oils and so on from piling up in your shoes). As such, socks are subject to wear and tear often not encountered by other fitted garments.
So, then, we need sock fabric to be stretchy, but still bounce back; stable enough to hold its structure; not itch or irritate, and allow air and moisture to pass through; and we need the fabric to be able to take a beating from friction.
To address the first elements — stretchy and bounces back — we choose a knitted fabric, or sometimes a crocheted fabric, over a woven one. Knits are, by and large, the stretchiest fabrics. Knitting or crochet allows us to address structure by using numerous different sock designs, shaping that fabric as we create it, incorporating the structural elements into it from the ground up, rather than by cutting and seaming as we might with other fitted garments. Doing this creates a finished product which doesn’t have the same weaknesses as a garment whose structure and fit come from cutting fabric and seaming it up, and this helps with our final point about taking a beating.
In between those things, we have a lot of room to play with materials in order to address points 3 and 4 — not being scratchy, and being breathable and comfy. If we’re looking at commercial sock materials from the mill, we now have an incredible range of options, sock yarns of every imaginable variety, yarns that aren’t billed as being for socks but make great socks anyway, luxury fibers, rugged fibers, blends, you name it. The modern day is a sock yarn buyer’s paradise. So why, then, would we want to bother spinning our own sock yarn? Especially, some might say, when we know that these are going to be garments that will be subject to lots of wear and tear. Why not just buy sock yarn and be done with it? Why invest the time?
Well, here’s the thing. When it comes to producing yarn, absolutely nothing is faster than the mill. But that doesn’t mean what the mill produces is actually better — it’s just faster to produce, viable to sell in large quantity, and thus readily available and easy to replace, and as a final result, cheaper. It definitely saves you time to simply buy sock yarn.
Of course… it would save you even more time to simply buy socks. And you know, that might be good enough — in the same way it might be good enough to buy a ready-made birthday cake already decorated, or a shirt that fits great except for the sleeves being too long (but you just roll ’em up so it’s not a big deal). Truly, it is good enough, which is why most people do, in fact, wear machine-knit, mass-produced socks.
This is where my mother would point out that her father never did; he would only wear the socks my grandmother knit for him. Mere storebought socks, he insisted, were a clearly inferior product. Mass-produced socks wouldn’t fit just right, wouldn’t wear well, suffered premature structural failure due to cost-cutting measures like seaming up toes instead of grafting, and weren’t even really worth repairing given the quality of materials, the likelihood of repeated failure, and the frequency with which repairs would be required.
You have to understand that my grandfather, a Cold War era nuclear physicist, was the kind of guy who took a methodical and scientific approach to everything in his life — I have no doubt that he performed extensive and rigorous testing in order to reach these conclusions, likely even documenting his process and presenting his evidence to my grandmother when determining he’d only wear handknit socks. This was a man who explained his beliefs about table manners to me with a discourse on the economy of motion as applied to eating. If you knew Clark, you knew that if he made an assertion, you could take it to the bank.
But I digress! I’ll take it as a given that those of us reading (or writing) this piece will accept handknit socks as high-quality and worth making and wearing. By extension, then, it is reasonable to propose that handknit socks should be made with the absolute finest of materials — at which point we must question whether mass-produced yarn is, in fact, the very best thing available for socks. My grandfather would tell me that I need to draft, then conduct, an experiment using good scientific method, then make my findings available for peer review, in order to determine this for sure, but I’m going to make simple assertions based on my own body of anecdotal evidence instead.
I said earlier that you can’t beat the mill for speed and volume. And that’s true; you can’t. However, you can beat it for quality, and here are a few reasons why.
Durability isn’t a mass-producer’s first priority. Hey, everybody knows this. If you’re in the business of selling something you manufacture, you want to be sure you’ll be able to keep selling it. If you were producing something which never wears out, then once everyone has bought it, your sales dry up; you need people to keep buying it, which means it needs to wear out.
Unparalleled excellence isn’t a mass-producers most essential goal either. A mass producer does need to have a product of sufficient quality to make you want to buy it, and it needs to cost less to buy it than it would cost you to make it. But that’s as good as the product needs to be. It is prohibitively costly to routinely exceed your needed quality guidelines as a mass producer.
Given sufficient market saturation, mass-produced goods own the market entirely and hand-produced goods don’t compete. Mass-produced goods are faster, cheaper, easier to come by, and good enough. Since you can get replacements easily and cheaply, you don’t care if it doesn’t last forever. In a very practical sense, it really doesn’t matter.
Large scale production finds savings in economies of scale. But what does this mean for yarn? Well, for example, getting more yardage from less weight of fiber means you make more money from the same raw materials. However, getting more yardage from less weight of fiber doesn’t necessarily mean a superior yarn for all purposes. Using less twist means the equipment spends less time producing the yarn (and lower-twist yarns tend to contain less fiber as well, actually) — again, this doesn’t necessarily mean a superior yarn.
Actually, for sock applications, it pretty uniformly means an inferior yarn. Less fiber in the yarn, and less twist, both mean a yarn that is more prone to wear, by pilling or shedding fiber and becoming threadbare. Such yarns will often tend to be less resilient as well, and prone to losing any elastic qualities more quickly. For lots of purposes, this really doesn’t matter, but I maintain that for socks, it does. If I’m going to handknit socks, I want them to last longer than storebought socks, and be worth repairing, and for it to be possible to repair them.
Now, mind you, there are mill-produced sock yarns out there which posess superior wear properties; but unfortunately many don’t. As a sock knitter, you may have experienced this, where some socks lasted really well and others were thrashed the first time you washed them. When you’re buying yarn, you’re at the mercy of the market choosing your materials; but when you spin your own, you are in complete control of these quality elements. What’s more, learning to spin your own sock yarn, and becoming familiar with how it feels and behaves, enables you to very quickly assess mass-produced offerings and predict how they’ll wear — a benefit to you even if you don’t always spin your own sock yarn.
Speaking of being at the mercy of the market, how many mass-produced sock yarns can you name that are made from blends of merino, silk, and angora? What if you wanted some? Supposing you found it, do you like the colours, and is it the right gauge for the socks you want to make? No? Well… why settle? As a handspinner, you could have exactly the yarn you want, produced on a one-off basis for just this exact pair of socks you have in mind — and you can rest assured it’s produced to the specifications you want. And you can have it in the quantity that you want.
Coming from the flip side of things, what if you have just a few ounces of a fiber you really like, but you aren’t sure what to do with it? Well, socks are a great and flexible project that doesn’t use a ton of yarn (and therefore doesn’t use a ton of fiber either). Consider spinning sock yarn. Even if, in the final analysis, you decide you don’t want socks from that fiber, then there are a number of other things you might do with sock yarn — and people who’d probably love to swap you something else for it (the yarn world isn’t exactly devoid of sock knitters, after all).
So now we’ve covered “why spin sock yarn!” Tune back in soon for more in our series about spinning sock yarn. Next up: colour! | <urn:uuid:04fccb31-bbc1-44e1-9fd8-82d3c2599804> | {
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A prime goal of PLATO will be to detect a large number of planets, down to the terrestrial regime in size, and with well-determined masses and radii, and hence bulk densities, with unprecedented precision. Bulk density is a testable quantity to probe the input physics, constrain planet formation models, and evaluate simulated planet population distributions.
There are a good number of planets for which the bulk density has been measured till today, as shown in the drawing below.
The ‘Standard Model’ of planet formation predicts formation of Eart-like rocky planets within the ice line (~ 3-4 AU) and giant planets beyond, where the amount of condesable solids is sufficient to reach the critical core mass for rapid gas capture. Subsequent evolution includes inward migration by interaction with the gaseous disk and, possibly, eccentricity excitation and migration due to planet-planet scattering, potentially followed by circularization due to tidal interaction with the star.
Most of the planets with measured bulk density are close-in planets. In fact, by selecting those of them with orbital period longer than 80 days (i.e., the period of the planet Mercury), we remain with a small sample made with only two transiting exoplanets with measured RV masses (orange dots), and an additional five (red dots) with TTV mass determinations.
Only a few additional planets from K2, TESS, and CHEOPS are expected to fill this diagram. Thus, while we will be able to compare planet population synthesis models with observational data for planets at small orbital distances, the picture will remain very limited for planets on longer orbits (i.e. orbits undisturbed by their host star and with potentially temperate surface conditions) until PLATO provides the capability to probe these large orbital distances.
PLATO will be the first mission to cover the parameter range of small, characterised (mass, radius, bulk density, age) planets with sufficiently large detection statistics to provide direct observational constraints on formation models and their predictions, as well as the dynamical evolution of young planetary systems.
The capability of discovering and get the density of small planets with period longer than 80 days, makes PLATO unique among the other projects. PLATO will allow us to study planets in regions where they form. | <urn:uuid:0673c755-fcd1-48fb-9cd0-5f632da08403> | {
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Information for 14567IIED
Association ANDES: Conserving indigenous biocultural heritage
The Association for Nature and Sustainable Development (ANDES) is an indigenous NGO that seeks to defend indigenous rights to genetic resources, traditional knowledge and landscape character in Peru. It was established in 1995 with volunteer staff and no funding, and has grown considerably over the years. It now works with 39 indigenous rural communities, many of whom live in conditions of poverty or extreme poverty. It has successfully bridged traditional Quechua principles with modern organisational models to assert indigenous rights to heritage in practical terms by establishing a new form of protected areas known as Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Areas (IBCHAs). These are locally and sustainably managed through community associations; form the basis for local enterprise (agricultural and cultural eco-tourism); involve and benefit marginalised groups; unite communities; encourage participation by and negotiation with indigenous people; and create a model for future protection and development. The Potato Park was the first IBCHA, and brings six Quechua communities together to protect a 12,000 hectare area as a micro centre of origin of the potato and other native Andean crops characteristic of Andean food systems. The approach also depends on close collaboration with formal and informal Quechua technicians in researching, training and developing adaptive management models for indigenous biocultural heritage – a ‘project’ rather than ‘service’ approach that works with local politics and local organizations.
Follow the links below for more about our work on Biocultural heritage. | <urn:uuid:9a230efc-6f71-4efd-9120-0642881a973d> | {
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India is planning to enhance its meteorological forecasting capability to more accurately predict severe weather in a localized manner.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences will send a proposal to the government for spending 20 billion rupees ($308 million) in five years to install more radars, supercomputers and special observatories, said M. Rajeevan, secretary of the ministry.
The modernization program will help the country forecast rain in a small geographical area. In August, the heaviest rainfall since 2005 killed a dozen people in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, and disrupted stock and bond trading and halted a suburban train network that carries about 8 million people a day. Local residents and civic authorities struggled to cope as most roads were submerged and commuters waded through waist-deep floodwater.
“Urban cities are a serious problem, so we are starting an urban meteorology program,” Rajeevan said in an interview in Chennai on Monday. “There are challenges in terms of predictions.”
Accurate and targeted weather forecasts are critical in India, where rain is the lifeline for about 880 million villagers who directly or indirectly depend on farming for a living. India is the world’s second-biggest grower of rice, wheat and sugar.
Source: Economic Times. | <urn:uuid:7990b0bd-4bbd-4720-b354-203c9b6d0eba> | {
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For most, school is over and the warmer weather has arrived. This is an exciting opportunity to get out and enjoy the sun. By taking our fitness training outdoors we can add new challenges, get closer to nature, and enjoy the most out of summer.
Chances are, there’s a trail for jogging, biking, and walking relatively close to you. Trails are great for challenging workouts. Here is an example of how to turn an average jog or walk into a full-body exercise routine.
Begin with a fast walk or slow jog for 2–3 minutes.
- Rotate your torso by twisting side to side, moving the feet as you twist.
- March forward with knees rising up to your hips, then march with heels curling to the back of the legs.
- Add a deep lunge with a twist by lunging forward, drop the opposite arm down by the front foot and twist towards the leg as you reach the other arm up. Switch legs and reach with the other arm. Do this for a few reps.
- With a wide leg stance and making sure your knee is in line with the ankle, lunge side to side and add arm movements by reaching the arm in front and up overhead. Side lunges open up the hips, shoulders, and side body.
Jog or fast walk for 3–5 minutes and then add in these moves along the way.
Walking lunges with twist:
With arms in front, walk forward into a lunge. To add some core work, twist your torso towards the same side as the front lunging leg. Remember to turn the chest to the side rather just the arms. Continue with walking lunges for one minute. Return to your jog.
High knee jogs and hamstring curls:
Take 30 seconds to perform a high-knee jog, bringing you knees up to your hips as many times as you can. It’s not a race so the longer it takes for you to move forward the better. Follow this by kicking the heels to the back of the legs as you jog forward for 30 seconds. Repeat the moves two more times then take a rest by walking or go right back into your jog.
Find a hill steep enough to add difficulty to your run/walk. Sprint up the hill and slowly jog down. You can repeat this going back and forth from sprinting and jogging. The sprints help build explosive strength and adds intensity, while the slow downhill jog makes your legs work to fight against gravity. Be careful running down hill.
Step-ups on stairs:
If you are able to find a low bench or a set of stairs nearby, perform step-ups first with one leg then switch to the other.
Hold onto the stair railing for balance. Stand on the edge of the stair and rise up onto your heels. Drop the heels down towards the ground then repeat about 30 seconds.
Finish your jog or fast walk and take time to cool down, do some static stretches, and enjoy the scenery.
—Submitted by Florence S., University of Saskatchewan | <urn:uuid:d633cae2-b7ba-4eaa-bef2-cf1a038f3aaf> | {
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Tiny, active and curious, mice make excellent pets for families who can give these the attention and variation in environment they need. Mice love to play and to hide and build nests. They need to exercise as well, and most mice enjoy running on an exercise wheel. Wheels should be made of sturdy plastic or metal, and shouldn't have rungs that mice tails can get caught in. If your mouse is active on his wheel, it may develop a squeak. The wheel isn't broken, but the axis joint may need some lubrication.
Remove the wheel from your mouse's cage.
Clean the wheel well with soap and water.
Dry the wheel with paper towels.
Apply a few drops of the animal-safe lubricant at the point where the centre of the wheel attaches to the stand.
Spin the wheel a few times to distribute the lubricant.
Wipe away any excess lubricant using the paper towel.
Replace the wheel into your mouse's cage. | <urn:uuid:17725e31-7209-4379-9892-083878685519> | {
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What You Need to Know About Ocular Myasthenia Gravis
Ocular myasthenia gravis occurs in men and women of all ethnic groups. Although myasthenia gravis usually affects women under 40 and men over 60, it can occur at any age. Ocular myasthenia gravis is not directly inherited, nor is it contagious.
What Are the Symptoms?
The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Symptoms of ocular myasthenia gravis affect the muscles that control eye and eyelid movement. Common ocular myasthenia gravis symptoms include:
- Drooping of one or both eyelids (ptosis)
- Blurred vision due to weakness of the muscles that control eye movements
- Double vision (diplopia) due to weakness of the muscles that control eye movements.
Ocular myasthenia gravis symptoms vary in severity.
Weakness is a common symptom of many disorders, which is why ocular myasthenia gravis is often misdiagnosed in people who experience mild weakness. Therefore, a delay in diagnosis of one or two years is not unusual in cases of ocular myasthenia gravis.
In order to diagnose ocular myasthenia gravis, healthcare providers will:
- Review the patient's medical history
- Review the patient's physical and neurological examinations
- Look for symptoms such as impairment of eye movements.
Tests that are used to confirm an ocular myasthenia diagnosis include the following:
- Blood test
- Edrophonium test
- Nerve conduction study
- Single fiber electromyography (EMG).
(Click Myasthenia Diagnosis for more information on the tests that used to diagnose ocular myasthenia gravis.) | <urn:uuid:40ea398e-0bc9-471a-a3f9-2e7e3047aaf0> | {
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Buildings, especially schools and tall buildings, often perform fire drills to inform and prepare citizens regarding how to react to the making fire. Purposely commencing damaging fires constitutes arson and is particularly a criminal offense in most jurisdictions.
You know it’s the perfect time to recover, but in which to get started on? Obtain our "After The Fire: Cleaning Up" whitepaper to learn more about recovering from a fire – both of those the structural damage and emotional damage.
SERVPRO Franchise Gurus are dedicated to responding instantly once you have to have assist with a fire or water damage event. A fast response lessens the damage, restrictions further more damage, and reduces Price.
Any enemy struck while already on fire will take additional damage. The higher the Enchanting talent, the greater damage dealt. Takes advantage of
The moment ignited, a chain response have to occur whereby fires can sustain their own personal heat through the further more release of warmth Electrical power in the process of combustion and will propagate, supplied You will find there's constant supply of the oxidizer and gasoline.
The damaging consequences of fire contain hazard to life and house, atmospheric air pollution, and h2o contamination. If fire eliminates protective vegetation, hefty rainfall might bring on an increase in soil erosion by water.[five] Also, when vegetation is burned, the nitrogen it includes is produced in the environment, compared with things for instance potassium and phosphorus which stay in the ash and are quickly recycled into the soil.
In case the oxidizer is oxygen from your bordering air, the presence of a pressure of gravity, or of some related force a result of acceleration, is necessary to generate convection, which gets rid of combustion solutions and brings a source of oxygen towards the fire. Devoid of gravity, a fire quickly surrounds itself with its personal combustion goods and non-oxidizing gases with the air, which exclude oxygen and extinguish the fire.
Operate under the direction of Arson Investigators to aid fire damage restoration expert services securely: protected evidence, debris manipulation, transportation and storage, and many others.
Outside of the seen structural damage, contents In the composition needs to be evaluated for Restoration dependant on a number of elements together with:
A fire can quickly convey an organization’s functions into a sudden halt, influencing the business enterprise and its customers.
Smoke soot damages partitions that have not been burned by flames. Going through a fire is often devastating, and Paul Davis understands that the cherished possessions and memories are at stake. As fire restoration professionals, we focus on soot and smoke damage at the same time.
This enchantment may be acquired by disenchanting a weapon of any sort Using the Fire damage enchantment by now imbued. This enchantment can make the enchanted weapon glow pink and established any enemy it strikes on fire, and carry on to burn off for just a number of seconds.
SERVPRO Franchise Experts clean up and restore your home get more info applying specialized devices and cleaning tactics. Their “restore initial” mentality lessens interruption and gets you back again to your daily life.
In case you’ve just skilled a fire or smoke damage at your house or organization, Then you definately have to have Experienced help. That’s why we’re here at all hrs, every single day on the yr that can assist you Get well – 24/7, 365 days a calendar year. | <urn:uuid:8cd512ba-824d-434b-b315-94f95c484056> | {
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Family: Iguanidae (iguanid lizards)
Other common names: horny toad
Spanish name: camaleón
Up to 10 species of horned lizards occur in the Sonoran Desert region, from the 2¾ inch (69 mm) long round-tailed horned lizard (P. modestum) to the 5 inch (127 mm) long Texas horned lizard (P. cornutum). With squat, flat, toad-like bodies (Phrynosoma means “toad-body”) and thorn-like projections at the rear of their heads, horned lizards are easily distinguished from other lizards. The projections differ in size and arrangement from one species to another. Along the sides of the body, fringe-like scales occur in one row, two parallel rows, or they may be absent. Males have enlarged post-anal scales, and during the breeding season, a swollen tail base.
Horned lizards are found throughout the Sonoran Desert region from near sea level up to 11,300 feet (3440 m). Some species are widespread, such as the round-tailed and Texas horned lizards which occur in several U.S. and Mexican states, while the flat-tailed horned lizard (P. mcalli) is restricted to southwestern Arizona, extreme southeastern California, a small part of northeastern Baja California and the upper neck of northwestern Sonora, Mexico.
Horned lizards are found in extremely diverse habitats. The flat-tailed horned lizard occurs in areas of fine sand, while the short-horned lizard (P. douglassii) is found in shortgrass prairie all the way up into spruce-fir forest. The most common species in the Arizona Upland subdivision is the regal horned lizard (P. solare), which frequents rocky or gravelly habitats of arid to semiarid plains, hills and lower mountain slopes.
The diet of some horned lizards consists of specific insects, while other species are more catholic in their tastes. Not only does P. solare prefer ants, it has a strong preference for harvester ants, which may make up to 90 percent of its diet. As diets go, ants are low return items because so much of their body consists of indigestible chitin. Thus, the regal horned lizard must eat a great number of ants to meet its nutritional needs. This diet requires space, which is why the stomach of the regal horned lizard may represent up to 13 percent of its body mass.
Ant-eating horned lizards usually capture their prey with their sticky tongues rather than grabbing it with their jaws. In addition, they have modified skeletal morphologies, such as shorter teeth and reduced diameter of the bones of the lower mandible.
Horned lizards are no exception to the general rule that lizards are not attracted to dead insects as food—the ants must be alive and moving for the lizard to show interest in them as prey. Harvester ants can bite and have a potent venom, but apparently this has little effect on the esophagus or stomach of the lizard. However, when faced with swarming ants the lizard will make a hasty retreat, for these little invertebrates can kill an adult horned lizard.
Most species of horned lizards lay eggs between May and August, with clutches ranging from 3 to 45 depending on species. Even with such high numbers of eggs only around 2 from each clutch will reach sexual maturity. The short-horned lizard bears live young. This is considered an adaptation to living at higher elevations, where eggs may be at risk due to low temperatures, and egg development might be slowed considerably.
The body form and armor of the horned lizard cost it speed and mobil-ity, but they confer great advantages as well. Small animals, such as snakes, have more difficulty with a horned lizard’s wide, thorny body than with a smooth, slender lizard. In fact, when confronted by a snake, a horned lizard will continually present the largest part of its body to the snake. Some horned lizards are difficult to distinguish from rocks; thus they avoid detection by would-be predators. In response to a threat, a horned lizard may play dead, or it may run away and then suddenly turn around to face its attacker, hissing or vibrating its tail in leaf litter. Several species can rupture small capillaries around their eyes and squirt a bloody solution at would-be predators. These fluids, beyond coming as a surprise, can be irritating to the mucous membranes of some predators.
The large, flat body surface of the horned lizard also works well as a solar collecting panel: at cooler temperatures, the lizard will orient its body to maximize the amount of exposure to the sun. When it gets too hot, the horned lizard will burrow into loose soil. Initially, the lizard uses the scales on the front edge of its lower jaw to literally cut into the earth as it vibrates its head into the ground. Then it will shake and shimmy its body into the soil until almost none of it is above the surface. | <urn:uuid:852b665f-06bc-4646-b6ee-5986148a3830> | {
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You are here
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Today, Secretary Moniz dedicated a new supercomputer—one of the world’s fastest and most energy efficient—at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The high-performance computer for energy and the environment is not only one of the top 100 supercomputers in the world, but it is also one of the most energy efficient for its size.
The supercomputer is a 503 TFlops (trillion floating-point operations per second) computer that enables researchers to apply complex model simulations for advanced energy and environmental technology development. This is a unique tool tailored for engineering calculations in support of fossil energy research.
“This new capacity will give us the computational muscle to accelerate the development and design of large scale chemical looping reactors and carbon capture technologies that will allow us to use fossil fuels more cleanly,” said Secretary Moniz. “It will ensure that NETL remains on the forefront of this research, which is critical not only to our economic future but to the environment as well.”
Capable of running simulations ranging from the molecular level to modeling entire power plants and natural fuel reservoirs, the new computer provides enhanced visualization, data analysis, and data storage capabilities that will enable researchers to discover new materials, optimize designs, and predict operational characteristics.
All of the computational, visualization, network hardware, and primary storage servers are installed in a state-of-the-art modular datacenter, greatly improving its efficiency. It provides the new computer with one of the lowest power utilization efficiency (PUE) infrastructures available, at times using only 1 percent of total electrical consumption to cool the equipment. The increase in efficiency translates to electrical energy cost savings of approximately $450,000 annually.
NETL’s supercomputer’s key areas of application include multiphase computational fluid dynamics, computational chemistry, computational geophysics, and computational materials research. | <urn:uuid:b0d88150-33e3-4f7e-9ae7-96dd59ce7189> | {
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