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A new Hospital for Special Surgery study suggests that the current rehabilitation used for patients undergoing tendon-bone repairs such as rotator cuff repair may be partially to blame for the high rates of failed healing after surgery. Experiments in a rat model of this injury suggest that immobilizing the limb for four to six weeks after surgery, rather than quickly starting physical therapy, improves healing.
"Before we did this study, we thought that delaying motion for a short period of time, seven to ten days, and then starting physical therapy would be the most beneficial to tendon healing. However, from the data in this study, it appears we should be immobilizing our patients for longer periods of time," said Scott Rodeo, M.D., principal investigator of the study and co-chief of the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City.
Carolyn Hettrich, M.D., MPH, who was an HSS resident when she conducted the study, will present the study July 14 at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), held in Baltimore.
The rotator cuff is a set of a four small muscles in the shoulder that allow the upper arm to rotate. When a rotator cuff is torn, the tendon part of the muscle tears away from the bone of the upper arm. During a repair surgery, a surgeon reattaches the tendon to the bone and a surgery's success is dependent on how well the interface between the tendon and bone heals. Studies have shown that 20%-40% of patients undergoing rotator cuff surgery have failed healing. These patients have poorer outcomes, including decreased strength and decreased range of motion.
Rehabilitation after rotator cuff surgery usually consists of immobilizing the shoulder in a sling for seven to ten days, physical therapy with passive and assisted motion for six weeks, followed by physical therapy with active motion for six weeks. However, there is little data on the optimum rehabilitation program, and clinicians recognize there is a delicate balance between minimizing movement after surgery to protect the repair and allowing movement to prevent joint stiffness.
To explore the timing of post-operative rehabilitation, investigators at HSS conducted experiments using a rat model of patellar tendon injury and repair. The investigators used a small metal frame to hold the joint in place and then used a specially designed motorized device to precisely apply loads of strain. One group of rats received a low load 50 times per day (analogous to a leg extension with no weight), another group received a moderate load 50 times per day and a third group had their joint immobilized for the entire study period. The animals were studied at 4, 10, 21, and 28 days.
The researchers found that rats that had their joint immobilized had the best healing with significantly less fibrocartilage or scar tissue than rats in the other two groups. Scar tissue is weaker than original tissue, and oftentimes scar tissue forms at the interface between bone and tendon during tendon repair surgery. The rats that were immobilized also had better connective tissue organization, higher load to failure, better bone mineral density, and fewer dead cells in the area that was operated on. During the healing and inflammatory process, there is a regeneration and remodeling of tissues, which sometimes involves cell death that can lead to inflammation.
"Very surprisingly, all of the data supported immobilization. The biomechanics, the histology, everything," said Dr. Hettrich. "The rats that were immobilized and didn't have any load through that period of healing did the best. This study suggests that we might want to consider immobilizing human patients for a little bit longer to let some of the post operative inflammation calm down, because excess inflammation might be having a harmful effect."
The investigators suggest that the best path to recovery for patients undergoing rotator cuff surgery might be to keep individuals in slings for six weeks and then start with passive motion therapy. However, studies are needed in humans to test this hypothesis and make firm clinical recommendations.
Dr. Hettrich is now an assistant professor of orthopedics in sports medicine at the University of Iowa. Dr. Rodeo's laboratory will be presented with the Cabaud award for the study at the annual AOSSM meeting. The award is given to the best basic science/laboratory research paper at the meeting.
|Contact: Phyllis Fisher|
Hospital for Special Surgery | <urn:uuid:54e976d9-ad35-4e2a-a818-ea0bb71ebb01> | {
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William Golding's novel "Lord of the Flies" has many examples of irony, several of which are rooted in statements the young boys make about order and culture, which they later fail to uphold. One of the most obviously ironic quotes comes from the violent antagonist Jack who, early in the book, states, "We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages."Continue Reading
Situational irony can be defined as a circumstance in which what occurs is the opposite of what is expected. Most of the irony in Golding's "Lord of the Flies" is built on the premise that the boys stranded on the island were reasonably civilized and educated before they arrived. Over the course of the novel, they gradually devolve from having a loose but functional democracy to warring primal tribes that hunt, torture, and kill their enemies. This warlike primal culture is also ironic because the plane that stranded them was meant to evacuate them from a fictional war-torn Europe.
The interactions and developments of individual characters are also ironic. Jack, the refined choir leader, ends up leading the more savage tribe, even after issuing elitist statements. Simon, the smaller boy with fainting fits, is the only one to see the true nature of the "beast" that fell from the sky. Piggy, who is ostracized for his weight, asthma, and eyesight, is necessary for their survival because only his glasses can start their fire.Learn more about Classics | <urn:uuid:3082f7da-394f-427f-8661-915928de0dae> | {
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Exam board: AQA
- The research process in Sociology
- Quantitative and qualitative methods
- Secondary sources of data
- Planning a research project
- The role and structure of the education system
- Explanations of differing educational achievement
- Different sociological approaches to families
- Role and authority relationships in families
- Changing patterns of fertility and life expectancy
- Marriage, cohabitation and divorce
Unit 1 assessed through practice exam question in class. Each practice question will be peer assessed and teacher assessed.
Mini project and presentation conducted in Summer term of Year 10. Assessed through peer assessment and teacher assessment. Not part of overall grade.
Final assessment through Paper 1 exam in June of Year 11. 1 hour 30 minutes long. 50 per cent of overall GCSE grade.
Crime and Deviance
- Different explanations of crime and deviance
- The extent of crime and use of data to study this
- Social distribution of crime
- The impact of crime and deviance
- The impact of the mass media
- The mass media and power
- The mass media and socialisation
- Media representations
- Ways of participating in the political process
- Social factors, participation and power
- The welfare state
- Government attempts to tackle social problems
- Defining social inequality and stratification
- Social class as a form of stratification
- Gender, ethnicity and age
- Wealth, income and poverty
- Different sociological explanations of poverty
- Major debates about social stratification
Unit 2 assessed through practice exam question in class. Each practice question will be peer assessed and teacher assessed.
Final assessment through Paper 2 exam in June of Year 11. 1 hour 30 minutes long. 50 per cent of overall GCSE grade.
For further information on PHSE please contact Mrs M McKinnell [email protected] | <urn:uuid:066ce1d2-fbbe-4f1a-9f3f-7aaca0fabf3e> | {
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Lymington and the Napoleonic Wars
‘Lymington and the Napoleonic Wars 1793—1815’ is a subject of which few Lymingtonians would claim more than a passing acquaintance. However, Jude James, President of the Society, gave an in-depth and extremely well-researched talk to the January meeting of members detailing the major impact on the town and its inhabitants during this important period in our history.
At national level, fears ran high among the governing class, that the revolution in France might be imitated here by disaffected radicals This was a period of considerable turmoil in the country when there were many changes occurring or anticipated. War with France would be a costly enterprise and so it proved, for in 1798 parliament decided on a novel solution of introducing ‘a war emergency income tax’. At a more practical level , there was the requirement to identify all farms close to the coast and ascertain what livestock, crops and agricultural equipment each possessed so that in the event of invasion, arrangements could be made for these assets to be moved inland and so prevent any invader from benefitting from their availability. The speaker provided an example from Newtown Park farm.
At that time, Lymington was a traditional small port and market town, governed by a mayor and burgesses, supported by relevant town officers. The salt industry continued to operate throughout the time of war and notwithstanding that the majority of the goods were obtained from France, so did the smuggling, leading to the murder of a Lymington custom officer, Charles Colborne. But what was to bring the war home, dramatically, to the local population was the arrival, mostly after 1793, of considerable numbers of disaffected royalist supporters of Louis XVI who became known as the Loyal Emigrants. This influx of, not only soldiers, but also their families and supporters put a considerable strain on both accommodation and resources of the area; Buckland Farm was earmarked as one of their barracks. However, In June 1795 these Loyal Emigrants were moved to Portsmouth from where they sailed in British ships to Quiberon Bay, there to join forces with royalist sympathizers on the mainland in an attempt to overthrow the French Revolutionary forces. This expedition turned out to be a complete failure with heavy royalist losses. Only remnants of the army returned to England.
The departure of the majority of the Loyal Emigrants saw the arrival of some 2000-3000 (mainly) Dutch troops to supplement the many English militia regiments in the area and who had been recruited to defend the southern coast. It was not until 1802 that the Dutch troops left Lymington and only by 1814 that all the foreign troops had departed and the town could return to some form of normality.
What was life like for Lymingtonians during this time? With a population of only some 2700 inhabitants the presence of Loyal Emigrants followed by mercenary continental troops and coupled with our own militia created an obvious problem. This was exacerbated by a succession of bad harvests which forced up bread prices to an unprecedented level causing an adverse affect on the community, particularly the poor. But life went on. The marriage increases reflected the influx of the ‘temporary visitors’. Interestingly the Dutch troops were highly regarded for ‘their decent and orderly behaviour’ Despite this there were two murders, one when a French soldier was killed in an affray with British ‘tars’ in a Woodside pub.
Jude fleshed out the story with a number of fascinating cameos of incidents describing the wide range of events which occurred in the town during this period. The talk was enthusiastically appreciated by the audience.
The next meeting of the Society will be held on Friday 22 February at 7 15pm when the speaker will be Colin Piper whose subject will be ‘Rights of Way—Past, Present and Future’. | <urn:uuid:d41bd363-8172-4605-8646-ac803fabe7ed> | {
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Skybox (video games)
|This article does not cite any sources. (August 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)|
|Part of a series on:|
|Video game graphics|
A skybox is a method of creating backgrounds to make a computer and video games level look bigger than it really is. When a skybox is used, the level is enclosed in a cuboid. The sky, distant mountains, distant buildings, and other unreachable objects are projected onto the cube's faces (using a technique called cube mapping), thus creating the illusion of distant three-dimensional surroundings. A skydome employs the same concept but uses either a sphere or a hemisphere instead of a cube.
Processing of 3D graphics is computationally expensive, especially in real-time games, and poses multiple limits. Levels have to be processed at tremendous speeds, making it difficult to render vast skyscapes in real time. Additionally, realtime graphics generally have depth buffers with limited bit-depth, which puts a limit on the amount of details that can be rendered at a distance.
To compensate for these problems, games often employ skyboxes. Traditionally, these are simple cubes with up to 6 different textures placed on the faces. By careful alignment, a viewer in the exact middle of the skybox will perceive the illusion of a real 3D world around it, made up of those 6 faces.
As a viewer moves through a 3D scene, it is common for the skybox to remain stationary with respect to the viewer. This technique gives the skybox the illusion of being very far away, since other objects in the scene appear to move, while the skybox does not. This imitates real life, where distant objects such as clouds, stars and even mountains appear to be stationary when the viewpoint is displaced by relatively small distances. Effectively, everything in a skybox will always appear to be infinitely distant from the viewer. This consequence of skyboxes dictates that designers should be careful not to carelessly include images of discrete objects in the textures of a skybox, since the viewer may be able to perceive the inconsistencies of those objects' sizes as the scene is traversed.
The source of a skybox can be any form of texture, including photographs, hand-drawn images, or pre-rendered 3D geometry. Usually, these textures are created and aligned in 6 directions, with viewing angles of 90 degrees (which covers up the 6 faces of the cube).
As technology progressed, it became clear that the default skybox had severe disadvantages. It could not be animated, and all objects in it appeared to be infinitely distant, even if they were close-by. Starting in the late 1990s, some game designers built small amounts of 3D geometry to appear in the skybox to create a better illusion of depth, in addition to a traditional skybox for objects very far away. This constructed skybox was placed in an unreachable location, typically outside the bounds of the playable portion of the level, to prevent players from touching the skybox.
In older versions of this technology, such as the ones presented in the game Unreal, this was limited to movements in the sky, such as the movements of clouds. Elements could be changed from level to level, such as the positions of stellar objects, or the color of the sky, giving the illusion of the gradual change from day to night. The skybox in this game would still appear to be infinitely far away, as the skybox, although containing 3D geometry, did not move the viewing point along with the player movement through the level.
Newer engines, such as the Source engine, continue on this idea, allowing the skybox to move along with the player, although at a different speed. Because depth is perceived on the compared movement of objects, making the skybox move slower than the level causes the skybox to appear far away, but not infinitely so. It is also possible, but not required, to include 3D geometry which will surround the accessible playing environment, such as unreachable buildings or mountains. They are designed and modeled at a smaller scale, typically 1/16th, then rendered by the engine to appear much larger. This results in less CPU requirements than if they were rendered in full size. The effect is referred to as a "3D skybox".
In the game Half-Life 2, this effect was extensively used in showing The Citadel, a huge structure in the center of City 17. In the closing chapters of the game, the player travels through the city towards the Citadel, the skybox effect making it grow larger and larger progressively with the player movement, completely appearing to be a part of the level. As the player reaches the base of the Citadel, it is broken into two pieces. A small lower section is a part of the main map, while the upper section is in the 3D skybox. The two sections are seamlessly blended together to appear as a single structure. | <urn:uuid:3083fff5-c6be-4f03-ad07-185107dd811c> | {
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Trace the Numbers - 0-10 was designed to provide practise in forming numerals for Foundation and Year 1 students.
This activity is excellent for fast finishers and rotations.
Forgot your password?
Not a Member? Join the Teach This Community | <urn:uuid:5a8b7f54-852a-492f-823c-838ef91699a1> | {
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A Brookings paper out this week (here) does something a set of papers have sought to do recently – that is make projections about the future of global poverty.
These kind of papers have significant policy implications because it is only by understanding both the future scale and anticipated locations of poverty that properly informed debates can be had on the scale and objectives of future international aid. And of course the whole post-2015 debate is mushrooming (see the latest here).
In a new paper, we, meaning Peter Edward and myself, add to the debate by looking across a wide range of scenarios and methods to see the level of uncertainty and bias built in to these kind of forecasts.
We have three conclusions across a range of scenarios and approaches that somewhat tally with the Brookings paper but with some quite important differences.
First, ending extreme poverty is plausible but the level of uncertainty is enormous.
Across a wide range of scenarios, using different assumptions and methods, we find that it is plausible that $1.25 and $2 global poverty will reduce substantially by 2030. However this is by no means certain.
Different methods of calculating and forecasting poverty numbers give very different results as do an approach which takes account of changes in inequality.
Uncertainties over future, and even current, poverty levels are especially high for India and China (where half of the world’s poor people currently live).
While it is likely that poverty in those countries will reduce dramatically by 2030 it is difficult to have much certainty over just how large those reductions will be. Because of these uncertainties it is possible to conceive, under different growth scenarios and different assumptions about future inequality, that $2 poverty could be eradicated in India and China by 2030 or that it could be at or above current levels.
Second, don’t get too hung up on fragile states (at least not as the OECD defines them) because global poverty may well not be concentrated in such countries in the future – at least it is not a given.
Depending on what happens to inequality much of world poverty could still be in Middle Income Countries (MICs) but better still maybe it’s time to dump such aggregate classifications by income and fragility (both conflate so many different types of countries it raises questions about their usefulness).
If we take the groupings for a moment, currently most poverty is in middle income countries (MICs) and even when China and India are removed from the picture poverty is still more or less evenly divided between MICs and low income countries (LICs). Even with those two countries excluded the forecast poverty reductions in the remaining MICs are not so large, nor so certain, as to justify in themselves the view that poverty in the future will be a matter for LICs primarily.
In fact, once recategorisations are taken into account it seems that poverty outside India and China will remain roughly evenly distributed across MICs and LICs in 2030.
And looking to other possible classifications it may be that the World Bank’s shorter list of ‘fragile situations’ that emphasizes conflict/post-conflict countries is more useful but even then the UN’s widely used Least Developed Countries (LDCs) categorization might be just as useful or more so.
Further, we find certain kinds of method produce a bias towards moving global poverty into fragile states simply by the approach taken.
Third, it is startling just how much difference changes in national inequality could make – suggesting support for greater attention to this is the key implication of all these future projections.
Forecasts of global poverty are very sensitive to assumptions about inequality. In one scenario, we found that the difference between poverty estimated on current inequality trends versus a hypothetical return to ‘best ever’ inequality for every country could be an extra billion $2 poor people in 2030.
Taking a different scenario – one of optimistic economic growth, $2 poverty could fall from around 2 billion today to 600m by 2030 – if every country returned to ‘best ever’ inequality.
However, if recent trends in inequality continue it could rise there could be an additional 400m $2 poor in 2030 compared to today.
In sum, despite all these uncertainties there is benefit in using the available data to attempt to estimate global poverty in the future.
What actually matters is recognizing the uncertainty and bias and taking the time to look across a wide range of scenarios, approaches and assumptions for commonalities in future projections and then to be informed by that rather than the next set of poverty projections. | <urn:uuid:f442bfdc-61f1-4e26-94b5-2059a5b9bbbc> | {
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Named for the Russian family who created the original recipe, the food dish became known as Stroganoff by the French when it was made in France. When Stroganov was first created in Russian kitchens, it was made with cubes of beef. Eventually, the recipe used slices of beef and thereafter many variations of this food dish were created which changed the ingredients slightly from the original recipe. Mustard and tomato paste have been considered as optional ingredients while beef, sour cream, onions, and butter have remained the traditional ingredients in the recipe. Other terms used to describe Stroganov include Strogonoff and Estrogonofe which are names originating in South America. | <urn:uuid:b1ef9d6e-b767-406b-acb7-07fd6b423537> | {
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Cyrene was one of the great cities of the classical Greek world, comparable to Athens, Miletus, Syracuse, and Corinth. It was founded by people from the small island of Thera (Santorini), who first settled on another small island, off the African shore, before they settled on the mainland. When the colony proved successful, other settlers came, who founded Barca, Taucheira, and Euesperides (Bengazi). Ptolemais and Apollonia were originally the ports of Barca and Cyrene, but eventually became cities in their own right.
Being Greek cities, they looked to the sea. The Arkesilas cup, which was discussed on this blog the day before yesterday, illustrates the international contacts: to Greece of course, but also to the west. There were trade contacts with Carthage, Egypt, Phoenicia, and the inhabitants of the oases in the Sahara. Ostrich eggs and elephant tusks prove contacts with people much further, beyond the Sahara. The inhabitants of Cyrenaica were very international. There were also native Libyans, who must have shared characteristics with the Psylloi and the people from Slonta.
[Read more on the blog of Ancient History Magazine] | <urn:uuid:e509f7ab-59fd-4bf4-9e1f-0a03dce12a32> | {
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There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country's total area is approximately 260 square miles, and its population is approximately 107,000 according to the 2000 census. Most Protestant denominations, as well as the Roman Catholic Church, are present on the four states of the country. The most prevalent Protestant denomination is the United Church of Christ. Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Salvation Army, Assembly of God, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and adherents of the Baha'i Faith also are represented. On the island of Kosrae, 99 percent of the population are members of the United Church of Christ; on Pohnpei, the population is evenly divided between Protestants and Catholics; on Chuuk and Yap, approximately 60 percent are Catholic and 40 percent are Protestant. There is a small group of Buddhists on Pohnpei.
Most immigrants are Filipino Catholics who join local Catholic churches.
On the island of Pohnpei, clan divisions mark religious boundaries in some measure. More Protestants live on the Western side of the island, while more Catholics live on the Eastern side.
Missionaries of many faiths work within the country, including Seventh-day Adventists and Mormons.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. The Government at all levels strives to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors. The Bill of Rights forbids establishment of a state religion and governmental restrictions on freedom of religion. There is no state religion.
Foreign missionary groups operate without hindrance in all four states.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion.
There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
The generally amicable relations among religions in society contributed to religious freedom.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government in the context of its overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights. Representatives of the Embassy regularly meet with the leaders of religious communities in the country. | <urn:uuid:496a436d-d0b6-42dd-917a-c164673def98> | {
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On this day in 1831, Confederate General Edward Aylesworth Perry is born in Richmond, Massachusetts. The transplanted Yankee led a Florida brigade during the Civil War, and served as governor of the state after the war.
Perry received his education at Lee Academy in Massachusetts and Yale University. In 1852, he moved to Georgia to teach school and study law. After a sojourn in Alabama, he settled in Pensacola, Florida. When the war erupted, Perry took up arms for his adopted state, becoming a captain in the Pensacola Rifle Rangers. His company was later absorbed into the 2nd Florida Infantry.Perry participated in the occupation of the Pensacola navy yard before joining the Confederate army in Virginia.
The 2nd Florida fought in the 1862 Peninsular Campaign, defending Yorktown, Virginia,in the face of General George B. McClellan’s invading Union army. Perry become the regiment’s commander when Colonel George Ward was killed near Williamsburg, Virginia, and Perry led the unit through hard fighting during the Seven Days’ Battles in June 1862. Three months later, the Floridians fought at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland and suffered heavy losses. Perry was promoted to brigadier general and received command of two other Florida regiments. He fought at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, but typhoid fever caused him to miss the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,in July 1863, where his brigade lost more than half of its men.
Perry returned to command, but was seriously wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia inMay 1864. He was forced to relinquish control of his brigade, and afterrecovering spent the rest of the war commanding reserve troops in Alabama. He served as governor of Florida from 1884 to 1888, and in that post signed a bill providing pensions for Confederate veterans. Perry died from a stroke on October 15, 1889, in Kerrville, Texas, and wasburied in St. John’s Cemetery in Pensacola. | <urn:uuid:f89af84b-2cca-469a-8e0a-6c450d011dc2> | {
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A Bad Case of Bullying: Using Literature Response Groups
|Grades||3 – 5|
|Lesson Plan Type||Standard Lesson|
|Estimated Time||Three 40-minute sessions|
This lesson provides an opportunity for students to reflect upon and personally relate to a teacher read-aloud of a narrative story. The lesson could be used with other stories; however, A Bad Case of Stripes allows for a personal connection by having students reflect on similar situations or emotions in their own lives. Acceptable behaviors and ways to prevent bullying in the classroom and school are also discussed.
- It's My Life: Beat the Bully: In this online interactive game, students answer a series of questions about dealing with bullying.
- It's My Life: Story Strips: In this online interactive activity, students choose a story strip situation that describes a school bully and fill in the character bubbles with how they think the scene would play out.
Spiegel, D.L. (1998). Silver bullets, babies, and bath water: Literature response groups in a balanced literacy program. The Reading Teacher, 52(2), 114-124.
- Literature response groups allow students to explore issues of common interest and relate what they have read to their own lives.
- Social interactions invite readers to extend their thinking and prolong their involvement with the text.
- Students may write their responses to literature first; the discussion with the group often leads to further clarification and readers return to their journals with expanded ideas. | <urn:uuid:33a26bb4-f72b-454a-be22-ac098f67d37b> | {
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Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
Given almost any measure, whether compared against history or the rest of the world, most of us in the United States today are among the wealthiest one percent of people. If that is true, how should we think about our wealth from a biblical perspective?
Why then, the condemnations of the rich in Scripture?…The issue isn’t really wealth or poverty…God’s concern is for righteousness and justice.
Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll also posits in one article that “rich or poor, it’s righteousness that really matters.” Driscoll goes on to explain that the Bible talks about four kinds of people when it talks about wealth, stewardship, and righteousness:
1. The righteous rich.
The righteous rich see their wealth as a blessing from God. They work hard, invest wisely, and abstain from obtaining wealth in sinful ways, like stealing or taking advantage of others. Such people spend their money righteously, generously sharing their abundance with those in need.
2. The unrighteous rich.
The unrighteous rich obtain wealth through sinful means such as stealing and extorting. They spend their money in sinful ways and do little if anything to help people in need. The most legendary biblical example is Judas Iscariot, who stole money from Jesus’ ministry fund.
3. The righteous poor.
The righteous poor work hard for the little money they have, spend it wisely, and share their pittance with others in need. Jesus is the most obvious biblical example of someone who was both righteous and poor.
4. The unrighteous poor.
The unrighteous poor are people with little or no money because they are lazy or spend foolishly. They do not give to God or others. The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about such people, calling them “fools” and “sluggards.”
What qualities must one possess to be considered in the first category? Old Testament scholar Christopher J.H. Wright writes the following summary points emerging from his reflections on the Old Testament’s discussion of wealth. In the Old Testament, the righteous rich are those who:
1. Remember the source of their riches (Deuteronomy 8:17-18, 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, Jeremiah 9:23-24).
2. Do not idolize their wealth (Job 31:24-25).
3. Recognize that wealth is secondary to many things, including wisdom, personal integrity, humility, and righteousness (I Chronicles 29:17, Proverbs 8:10-11, 1 Kings 3, Proverbs 16:8, 28:6).
4. Use their wealth with justice (Psalms 15:5, Ezekiel 18:7-8).
5. Make their wealth available to the wider community through responsible lending (Deuteronomy 24:6, 10-13).
6. See wealth as an opportunity for generosity (Deuteronomy 15, Psalms 112:3, Proverbs 14:31, 19:17, Ruth).
7. Use wealth in the service of God (2 Chronicles 31, Ruth).
8. Set an example by limiting personal consumption, and declining to maximize private gain from public office (Nehemiah 5:14-19).
Examples of the righteous rich in the Old Testament include men like Abraham, Boaz, Job, David, Solomon, and Nehemiah.
Above all, it is because such a person is marked by the very first principle of wisdom, namely fear of the Lord, that the blessings he enjoys are not tainted with wickedness and the whiff of oppression.
“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,” for if riches also come his way by God’s grace, then the declaration of Psalm 112:3 can be affirmed of him, without contradiction:
Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
The question we must ask ourselves is, “are we among the righteous rich?”
What do you think? What does the Bible say about how people should live with the blessings of wealth? Leave your comments here.
Sign up to get the ‘Creativity. Purpose. Freedom’ Blog delivered to your inbox daily. | <urn:uuid:cde997a5-495c-42b9-964a-9cb470ad4c80> | {
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In South Africa, legislative jurisdiction regarding the conservation and management of wildlife is shared between the national and provincial governments. The Constitution mandates that “[n]ature conservation, excluding national parks, national botanical gardens and marine resources,” is one of the functional areas in which there is concurrent national and provincial legislative jurisdiction. The governments of South Africa’s nine provinces exercise substantial legislative and executive jurisdiction over issues of the conservation and management of wildlife in the country, including regulation of imports and exports.
However, the national government also wields significant legislative power over the protection of wildlife, largely to create national uniformity in affording such protection. One demonstration of this power is the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) of 2004 and its subsidiary legislation, which put in place protections for various species that are threatened or otherwise in need of protection. It also provides the authority for consolidating fragmented biodiversity legislation in the country through the establishment of national norms and standards specific to certain particularly vulnerable animals. A notable example is the National Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants in South Africa (NNSMESA). One purpose of this document is to set uniform norms and standards so that “the management of elephants is regulated in a way that is uniform across the Republic” and takes into account the country’s international obligations. There is also a similar 2005 draft document on sustainable use of large predators, including cheetahs and leopards. The other major piece of legislation through which the national government protects animals is the Animals Protection Act (APA). This law is aimed at preventing cruelty to animals, including wild animals.
This report discusses these two national laws.
II. NEMBA and Subsidiary Legislation
A. Vulnerable Species and Restricted Activities
NEMBA prohibits anyone from engaging in a “restricted activity” involving any listed “threatened or protected species” (listed species) without a permit. It authorized the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to establish lists of species that are threatened or in need of national protection, further subdividing the class of “threatened” species into those which are “critically endangered,” “endangered,” and “vulnerable.” The Minister issued NEMBA Regulations in 2007 that contained such lists. Accordingly, three members of the cat family (acinonyx jubatus (cheetah), panthera leo (lion) and panthera pardus (leopard)) were listed as vulnerable species in that they are “[i]ndigenous species facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, although they are not critically endangered species or an endangered species.”
Restricted activities with regard to the listed species include
(i) hunting, catching, capturing or killing any living specimen of a listed threatened or protected species by any means, method or device whatsoever, including searching, pursuing, driving, lying in wait, luring, alluring, discharging a missile or injuring with intent to hunt, catch, capture or kill any such specimen; . . .
(iv) importing into the Republic, including introducing from the sea, any specimen of a listed threatened or protected species;
(v) exporting from the Republic, including re-exporting from the Republic,
any specimen of a listed threatened or protected species;
(vi) having in possession or exercising physical control over any specimen of a listed threatened or protected species;
(vii) growing, breeding or in any other way propagating any specimen of a listed threatened or protected species, or causing it to multiply;
(viii) conveying, moving or otherwise translocating any specimen of a listed threatened or protected species;
(ix) selling or otherwise trading in, buying, receiving, giving, donating or accepting as a gift, or in any way acquiring or disposing of any specimen of a listed threatened or protected species; or
(x) any other prescribed activity which involves a specimen of a listed threatened or protected species.
NEMBA further authorizes the Minister to prohibit engaging in any activity “that may negatively impact the survival of listed threatened or protected species” or engaging in such activity without a permit. For instance, the NEMBA Regulations stipulate various prohibited activities in relation to large predators (cheetahs and leopards are the only members of the cat family in this list). These include hunting
- a “put and take animal”;
- in a controlled environment;
- with the use of any tranquilizer, narcotic, or other immobilizing agent;
- in an area near a holiday facility for such animals;
- with the use of a gin trap; or
- without first obtaining a written affidavit from the owner of the land where the animal is located indicating the length of time the animal has been on the property and that it is not a “put and take animal.”
The NEMBA Regulations also prohibit the purchase, acquisition, sale, supply, or export of any live cheetah or leopard with one exception: a person may purchase, acquire, sell, supply, or export any of these animals if he can provide an affidavit or other written proof indicating the purpose of the transaction and that the animal is not going to be used for prohibited hunting activities.
However, it is important to note that the above-noted prohibitions that the NEMBA Regulations impose with regard to certain activities and methods involving cheetahs and leopards are inapplicable to an animal bred or kept in captivity “which has been rehabilitated in an extensive wildlife system; and has been fending for itself in an extensive wildlife system for at least twenty-four months.”
The violation of any of the above-referenced provisions of NEMBA is an offense punishable by fines and/or up to five years of imprisonment. If the conviction is for an offense regarding a listed threatened or protected animal, the applicable fine could reach up to three times the value of the animal. A person convicted under any of the above-referenced provisions of the NEMBA Regulations is also subject to a fine in the amount of 100,000 South African Rand (ZAR) (about US$11,255) and/or up to five years of imprisonment.
There are two forms of permits: a regular permit and a standing permit. A key difference between the two is their period of validity. A regular permit is issued for a maximum of one year, while a standing permit may be issued for up to thirty-six months. However, a possession permit to keep a big cat in a private home, which is categorized as a regular permit for the purposes of this report, may be issued for a span of fifty years. A permit holder may apply for renewal before the expiration of an existing permit.
Another key difference between the two types of permits involves conditions of eligibility. Only certain individuals or organizations may seek a standing permit to conduct restricted activity involving a big cat. These are operators of commercial exhibition facilities (this includes zoological gardens), persons conducting registered captive breeding operations, persons operating a registered nursery, operators of registered sanctuaries or registered rehabilitation facilities, operators of registered scientific institutions, land owners of registered game farms, and registered wildlife traders. Certain restrictions apply to each permit.
Others may only apply for possession permits, game farm hunting permits, or personal effects permits. A person wishing to obtain a big cat to have at home may apply for a possession permit. The NEMBA Regulations state that “[a]ny person may apply for a possession permit for having or conveying” a big cat “if that person does not intend to carry out any other restricted activity with that specimen.” Registered nurseries may also apply for a possession permit. This permit enables a person to “buy, transport or convey and keep in his possession” a big cat obtained from a registered nursery. Similarly, landowners of registered game farms may apply for game farm hunting permits, and registered wildlife traders may apply for personal effects permits.
A permit-issuing authority (this may be the national Department of Environmental Affairs or a provincial department, depending on the applicant and the animal involved) appears to have wide discretionary powers. When approached for a permit, an issuing authority may
- require the applicant to provide “any additional information,”
- require an applicant to “comply with such reasonable conditions” before issuing a permit,
- issue a permit subject to certain conditions, or
- refuse to issue a permit.
The discretionary powers of the issuing authority, however, are not completely unfettered. A notable example of the limits is the requirement that its decisions be consistent with all applicable national laws and policy, as well as international laws binding on South Africa. The issuing authority is also required to issue a decision within twenty working days from the day an application for a permit is made. If it approves an application for a permit, the issuing authority is required to issue one within five working days after the decision. In addition, if it rejects an application for a permit, the issuing authority is obligated to provide the reason to the applicant in writing. Significantly, a decision of an issuing authority is appealable to the Minister of the Department of Environmental Affairs, who either rules on the appeal him or herself or sends the appeal to a panel.
The NEMBA Regulations provide that a registration is required for working as a wildlife trader and for operating a captive breeding operation, commercial exhibition facility, nursery, scientific institution, sanctuary, or rehabilitation facility. In addition, for a nursery to apply for a nursery possession permit, a registered wildlife trader for a personal effects permit, and a landowner of a game farm for a standing permit, they need to be registered accordingly. All individuals seeking to engage in an activity for which a registration is necessary are required to submit an application on the prescribed form and provide all the necessary supporting documents. If granting the application would affect the rights of third person, the applicant is required to give such person due notice to make an objection.
When considering a registration application, an issuing authority is required to take various factors into consideration. For instance, the issuing authority is expected to ensure that its decision is consistent with all applicable legal requirements. When the registration involves a specimen for a captive breeding operation, commercial exhibition facility, game farm, nursery, sanctuary, or rehabilitation facility, or for wildlife trading, the issuing authority must take into account the applicant’s preparedness to microchip or mark the specimen.
Once the issuing authority receives an application for registration, it is required to take a number of actions, including ordering the inspection of the facility to be registered and making a written recommendation to grant or reject the application. If the recommendation is to grant the application, the recommendation should include any applicable conditions. Once it makes a decision on the application, the issuing authority is required to provide written notification within ten working days to the applicant and to anyone who may have submitted an objection to the application. If the issuing authority refuses to approve the application or approves the application but attaches conditions, it must, upon the request of the applicant, provide reasons for its decision. It is also under obligation to notify applicants whose application has been denied that they have the right to appeal.
If the issuing authority approves an application for a registration, it is required to issue a registration certificate within ten working days after approval.
The NEMBA Regulations impose several compulsory conditions for obtaining a registration certificate for captive breeding operations, commercial exhibition facilities, and rehabilitation facilities. The holder of a registration certificate for any of these operations is required to prevent hybridization and/or inbreeding; keep a studbook, where appropriate; and report back to the issuing authority on these matters annually. In addition, if the registered commercial exhibition facility is a travelling exhibition, the person to whom the registration certificate is issued must inform the province to which the exhibition is travelling at least two months ahead of time.
III. The Animal Protection Act (APA)
The APA, which protects against cruelty to both domesticated and wild animals, appears to have some relevance to big cats, including those possessed privately or kept in zoos. The APA defines animals broadly to include “any equine, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, fowl, ostrich, dog, cat or other domestic animal or bird, or any wild animal, wild bird or reptile which is in captivity or under the control of any person.” It criminalizes various actions against these animals that amount to cruelty. Such actions include instances in which a person
b) . . . confines, chains, tethers or secures any animal unnecessarily or under such conditions or in such a manner or position as to cause that animal unnecessary suffering or in any place which affords inadequate space, ventilation, light, protection or shelter from heat, cold or weather; or
c) Unnecessarily starves or under-feeds or denies water or food to any animal; or . . .
e) being the owner of any animal, deliberately or negligently keeps such animal in a dirty or parasitic condition or allows it to become infested with external parasites or fails to render of procure veterinary or other medical treatment or attention which he is able to render or procure for any such animal in need of such treatment or attention, whether through disease, injury, delivery of young or any other cause, or fails to destroy or cause to be destroyed any such animal which is so seriously injured or diseased or in such a physical condition that to prolong its life would be cruel and would cause such animal unnecessary suffering; or . . .
m) conveys, carries, confines, secures, restrains or tethers any animal —
- under such conditions or in such manner or position or for such a period of time or over such distance as to cause that animal unnecessary suffering; or
- in conditions affording inadequate shelter, light or ventilation or in which such animal is excessively exposed to heat, cold, weather, sun, rain, dust, exhaust gases or noxious fumes; or
- without making adequate provision for suitable food, potable water and rest for such animal in circumstances where it is necessary; or
n) without reasonable cause administers to any animal any poisonous or injurious drug or substance; or . . .
q) causes, procures or assists in the commission or omission of any of the aforesaid acts or, being the owner or any animal, permits the commission or omission of any such acts; or
r) by wantonly or unreasonably or negligently doing or omitting to do any act or causing or procuring the commission or omission of any act, causes any unnecessary suffering to any animal.
A person convicted of animal cruelty charges is subject to a fine and a prison term of up to twelve months, or imprisonment for up to twelve months without a fine. Additional penalties may be imposed, including ordering the animal involved to be destroyed if the court deems it cruel to keep it alive, depriving the person of ownership of the animal in question, or even declaring the person unfit to own any animal.
Foreign Law Specialist
S. Afr. Const., 1996, sched. 4, http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/1996/96conssec4.htm.
Services by Provincial Authorities, Republic of South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs, https://www.environment.gov.za/services/provincial-authorities (last visited May 30, 2013); M.A. Kidd, Environmental Conservation, in 9 The Laws of South Africa 139, 246–47 (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2005).
National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act No. 10 of 2004 [NEMBA], 20 Butterworths Statutes of the Republic of South Africa [BSRSA] (rev. through 2011), http://www.info.gov.za/view/ DownloadFile Action?id=82170.
NEMBA: Threatened or Protected Species Regulations [NEMBA Regulations] § 1, No. R. 152, Government Gazette [GG] No. 29657 (Feb. 23, 2007), available at the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism website, https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemba_threatenedspecies _regulations_g29657rg8638gon152.pdf.
National Environmental Management Act (NEMBA) Regulations on Threatened and Protected Species, Republic of South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs, Species Status Database, http://www.species status.sanbi.org/ threatened.aspx (last visited May 30, 2013).
NEMBA: National Norms and Standards for the Management of Elephants in South Africa [NNSMESA], Government Notice [GN] No. 251, GG No. 30833 (Feb. 29, 2008), http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFile Action?id=78006.
Id. § 2.
Draft National Norms and Standards for the Sustainable Use of Large Predators Issued in Terms of Section 9(1) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act No. 1 of 2004), 475 GG, No. 27214 (Jan. 28, 2005), http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=60605.
Animal Protection Act No. 71 of 1962 [APA], 3 Butterworths Statutes of the Republic of South Africa [BSRSA] (rev. through 2012), version with amendments through 1993 available at the Animal Legal and Historical Center website, http://www.animallaw.info/nonus/statutes/stat_pdf/AnimalsProtectionAct71-62.pdf.
NEMBA § 57.
Id. § 56(1); see also NEMBA Regulations § 10(b).
NEMBA: Publication of Lists of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable and Protected Species, No. R. 151, GG No. 29657 (Feb. 23, 2007), available at the South African government portal, http://www.info.gov.za /view/DownloadFileAction?id=72163. This list was amended by NEMBA. Amendment of Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable and Protected Species List, GN No. R. 1187, GG No. 30568 (Dec. 14, 2007), http://www .info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=112825.
Id. at 3.
NEMBA § 1. This does not apply to species in South Africa that are in transit. Id. § 57.
Id. § 57.
NEMBA Regulations, §§ 1 & 24. The Regulations have been amended at least five times through the following measures:
Threatened or Protected Species Amendment Regulations, GN No. R. 69, GG No. 30703 (Jan. 28, 2008), https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemba_speciesamendment_g30703rg8825gon69.pdf.
Threatened or Protected Species Amendment Regulations, 2009, GN No. R. 209, GG No. 31962 (Feb. 27, 2009), https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemba_species_g31962 rg9040gon209.pdf.
Threatened or Protected Species Second Amendment Regulations, 2009, GN No. R. 210, GG No. 31963 (Feb. 27, 2009), https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemba_species _g31963rg9041gon210.pdf.
Threatened or Protected Species Second Amendment Regulations, 2011, GN No. R. 576, GG No. 34453 (July 11, 2011), https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nema_tops _g34453gon576.pdf.
Amendment to the Protected Species Regulations, 2007, GN No. R. 614, GG No. 35565 (Aug. 2, 2012), https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/default/files/legislations/nemba_tops_protectedareas _g35565gon614.pdf.
A “put and take animal” is defined as “a live specimen of a captive bred listed large predator, or a live specimen of Cerutotherium simum (white rhinoceros) or Diceros bicornis (black rhinoceros) that is released on a property irrespective of the size of the property for the purpose of hunting the animal within a period of twenty four months.” NEMBA Regulations § 1.
Id. §§ 1 & 24.
Id § 24.
NEMBA § 101; NEMBA Regulations § 73.
NEMBA § 102.
NEMBA Regulations § 74.
NEMBA § 88; NEMBA Regulations § 5.
NEMBA Regulations § 22.
Id. § 38.
Id. § 5.
NEMBA § 88.
Id.; NEMBA Regulations § 10.
NEMBA Regulations § 8.
Id. § 18.
Id.; NEMBA § 88.
NEMBA § 94.
NEMBA Regulations § 27.
Id. §§ 27 & 28.
Id. § 30.
Id. § 30.
Id. § 29.
Id. § 32.
Id. § 33.
Id. § 35.
Id. § 35.
APA § 1.
Id. § 2.
Id. § 3.
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Are chickenpox parties history?
A decade after the debut of the varicella vaccine, chickenpox is fading away, wrote Jeremy Manier in today's Chicago Tribune.
While the story noted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control now recommends two chickenpox shots instead of one, Manier didn't have space to explain what researchers have long known: The varicella vaccine is effective, but immunity often doesn't last until adulthood.
Chickenpox is a much more serious disease in adults and pregnant women than in children. But the only way to know how attenuating chickenpox in early childhood will affect adults is to vaccinate and then wait 20 years.
Now that we're about halfway there, we've seen studies that show the vaccine's effectiveness decreases significantly after 1 year, although most cases of breakthrough disease are mild, according to this 2004 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"If administered at younger than 15 months, the vaccine's effectiveness was lower in the first year after vaccination, but the difference in effectiveness was not statistically significant for subsequent years,” the study authors noted.
The problem is that with fewer natural cases of the disease, unvaccinated children or those whose first dose of the vaccine fails to work are getting chickenpox later in life, when the risk of complications is higher, according to a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"There's a 20 times greater risk of dying compared to a child, and a 10 to 15 times greater chance of getting hospitalized," said Dr. Jane Seward of the CDC, who worked on the NEJM study.
Chickenpox can be life-threatening to children with crippled immune systems. In healthy kids, it's often nothing more than itchy red bumps.
In fact, one reason Merck initially decided to market the chickenpox vaccine was that it said there was a demand from working parents who were inconvenienced when their children get the disease. (Parents also didn't want their kids to end up with scars from the chickenpox.) Lost wages accounted for 95 percent of the cost of the disease, according to the CDC.
Still, Manier says Seward's quote alone misses another point: that the rates of hospitalization and death have declined for all age groups because of the vaccine.
In addition, Manier added, the authors of the Pediatrics study that found chickenpox has virtually disappeared from many parts of the country also noted: "The median age at infection increased for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, although incidence rates for all age groups were lower."
That means, Manier said, that "of all the children who get sick, more are now older. But those older kids still get sick at a lower overall rate than they did before. They account for a bigger slice of the pie, but the pie itself is way smaller than it used to be." | <urn:uuid:b2914c0e-c9c4-4928-895a-2264562af9ee> | {
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In which Scrabble dictionary does VOWELS exist?
Definitions of VOWELS in dictionaries:
- noun -
a speech sound made with the vocal tract open
- noun -
a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel
noun - a type of speech sound
There are 6 letters in VOWELS:
E L O S V W
Scrabble words that can be created with an extra letter added to VOWELS
All anagrams that could be made from letters of word VOWELS plus a
Scrabble words that can be created with letters from word VOWELS
6 letter words
5 letter words
4 letter words
3 letter words
2 letter words
Images for VOWELSLoading...
SCRABBLE is the registered trademark of Hasbro and J.W. Spear & Sons Limited. Our scrabble word finder and scrabble cheat word builder is not associated with the Scrabble brand - we merely provide help for players of the official Scrabble game. All intellectual property rights to the game are owned by respective owners in the U.S.A and Canada and the rest of the world. Anagrammer.com is not affiliated with Scrabble. This site is an educational tool and resource for Scrabble & Words With Friends players. | <urn:uuid:917c1302-31e2-4ffd-b696-76b1ddc33fbc> | {
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Posted on September 17, 2014 by Bob Berwyn
Coral growth is slowing dramatically along parts of the Great Barrier Reef. Photo courtesy NOAA.
Will the world’s coral reefs simply dissolve as oceans become more acidic?
FRISCO — Scientists monitoring the Great Barrier Reef said they’ve tracked a “perilous” 40 percent slowdown in coral growth rates since the 1970s.
The trend may be linked with increasing ocean acidification, according to the new study led by researchers with the Carnegie Institution for Science.
The researchers compared current measurements of the growth rate of a section of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with similar measurements taken more than 30 years ago. Continue reading
Filed under: biodiversity, climate and weather, coral reefs, Environment, global warming, ocean acidification | Tagged: carbon dioxide, climate change, CO2, coral reefs, greenhouse gases, ocean acidification | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 9, 2014 by Bob Berwyn
Study finds that online movie viewing is more energy efficient
FRISCO —All those trips to the video store and Red Box, and all the fossil fuel used to manufacture and transport DVDs and CDs added up to more than 4 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions that could have been avoided (in 2011) if all media were simply streamed online, scientists concluded after taking a close look at the carbon budget of the entertainment business.
The study, published May 29 in the journal Environmental Research Letters, says more energy efficient electronic devices have tipped the balance toward online consumption of movies and music. A significant proportion of the energy consumption and carbon emissions for streaming comes from the transmission of data, which increases drastically when more complex, high-definition content is streamed. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, extreme weather, global warming | Tagged: carbon dioxide, clmate change, CO2, Environment | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 30, 2014 by Bob Berwyn
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are spiking higher and earlier each year, according to NOAA.
Up, up and away …
FRISCO — Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are spiking earlier each year, scientists said last week, announcing that concentrations reached the 400 parts per million “milestone” two months earlier than last year.
CO2 levels peak each year in the spring as the Earth breathes in a great seasonal cycle. This year’s early 400 ppm reading is another clear sign that the heat-trapping gas is building up at an ever-increasing rate, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.
Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming | Tagged: CO2, global warming, Mauna Loa | Leave a comment »
Posted on November 20, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
Co2 emissions are set to reach a record level this year.
New record level expected in 2013, with U.S. still by far the largest per capita source of greenhouse gases
By Summit Voice
FRISCO — Just in time for the Warsaw climate talks, climate trackers with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia said global carbon dioxide emissions are set to soar to a new record high of 36 billion tons in 2013 — 61 percent above the 1990 baseline levels set for the Kyoto Protocol.
“Governments meeting in Warsaw this week need to agree on how to reverse this trend. Emissions must fall substantially and rapidly if we are to limit global climate change to below two degrees. Additional emissions every year cause further warming and climate change,” said the Tyndall Centre’s Professor Corinne Le Quére, who led the global carbon budget report.
“Alongside the latest Carbon Budget is the launch of the Carbon Atlas, a new online platform showing the world’s biggest carbon emitters more clearly than ever before,” Le Quére said, explaining that China’s growing economy is driving the growth in greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming | Tagged: climate change, CO2, global warming, greenhouse gases, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 21, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
Conservation group eyes Clean Water Act as tool in climate fight
By Summit Voice
FRISCO — It’s not clear if anything — besides massive cuts in carbon dioxide emissions — can stop the acidification of oceans, but the Center for Biological Diversity would at least like to see the EPA try to water quality standards as a way to tackle the problem.
The conservation group last week filed a lawsuit against the EPA for failing to address ocean acidification that may already be killing oysters in Oregon and Washington and threatening a wide range of other sea life. The lawsuit challenges the EPA’s decision that seawaters in those two states meet water-quality standards meant to protect marine life despite disturbing increases in acidity. Continue reading
Filed under: climate and weather, Environment, global warming | Tagged: Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Water Act, climate change, CO2, global warming, greenhouse gases, ocean acidification | Leave a comment »
Posted on October 15, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
Scientists say they need more consistent and widespread measurements
Will thawing tundra become a big source of greenhouse gases?
By Summit Voice
FRISCO — Danish researchers with Aarhus University say they’ve come a bit closer to calculating the carbon budget in the Arctic tundra, where vast quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are stored in frozen organic soils.
To try and determine whether the tundra is a source of carbon, or a carbon sink, the research team has been measuring the amount of carbon released in the form of CO2 as living organisms respire, and the amount of carbon being stored in plants in the process of photosynthesis.
Once those two figures have been established, it is possible to calculate the carbon balance, said Aarhus University researcher Magnus Lund. Continue reading
Filed under: Arctic, climate and weather, Environment, global warming, greenhouse gases | Tagged: Arctic global warming impacts, climate change, CO2, global warming, greenhouse gases, tundra | Leave a comment » | <urn:uuid:cac68bbe-27a1-472f-b9cf-15474a9d0cb4> | {
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CHEYENNE — The Wyoming governor’s office is looking into possibly requiring petroleum companies that drill for oil and gas in Wyoming to test the local groundwater for any pollution before they sink a drill bit into the ground.
The goal would be to make it easier to pinpoint the source of any groundwater contamination that turned up during or after drilling. That could help any homeowners with contaminated well water to find out if oil or gas drilling in their area caused the problem or if the water pollution came from some other source.
Gov. Matt Mead looks to implement a groundwater testing requirement by the end of this year, said his natural resources adviser, Jerimiah Rieman.
“Most of the large operators do it but not all operators do it. It really can protect citizens, protect the state, protect the industry,” Rieman said Feb. 4.
Either the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which oversees oil and gas development in the state, or the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, the state agency that enforces pollution laws, would adopt and implement the regulation.
The governor’s office is looking to new regulations in Colorado as a possible template.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Jan. 7 approved requiring companies to sample up to four water wells within half a mile of a drilling site before drilling. Two more rounds of testing would occur between six and 12 months and five and six years after drilling. No other state requires groundwater monitoring before and after drilling.
The governor’s office is wrapping up its look at what Colorado has done and other states are considering. Next, it will assess whether the commission or DEQ would be the better agency to enforce groundwater testing in Wyoming, Rieman said.
In northeast Wyoming, some people have blamed drilling for coal-bed methane for lowering their water table. Wyoming might require companies to note the volume of water flowing in water wells near oil and gas wells.
“We might add that element in after we look at it a bit further,” Rieman said.
In theory, baseline groundwater testing could have helped landowners in the Pavillion area who blame recent gas drilling for petrochemicals in their well water. A 2011 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report found chemical traces in the groundwater that it linked to hydraulic fracturing. State regulators and Encana, which operates the Pavillion gas field, dispute the conclusion, which has not yet been formally review by outside experts.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves pumping pressurized water mixed with sand and chemicals underground to crack open fissures and improve the flow of oil and gas.
The Pavillion gas field is one of Encana’s few Wyoming properties with domestic water wells nearby. Most of the company’s Wyoming projects are on public land with few people living nearby, Encana spokesman Doug Hock pointed out.
“In Colorado, a lot of the issue obviously revolves around drilling near people who have water wells and domestic water use,” Hock said.
Even so, Encana is looking at baseline groundwater monitoring ahead of plans to drill hundreds of new gas wells in Sublette and Fremont counties, he said.
“Bottom line is, it’s something we support. We think it’s the best practice, and I think it’s in the best interest of both operators and the public,” Hock said.
The key is making sure that the public can look at the results of groundwater tests and that companies don’t just keep it to themselves, said Richard Garrett, a lobbyist for the Wyoming Outdoor Council.
“Just because they’ve tested, themselves, does not necessarily give us a great deal of confidence. We like the fact that they’re doing it but we think that better transparency helps everybody,” Garrett said.
The Petroleum Association of Wyoming has been asking its members what they think about the possible requirement, said association vice president John Robitaille.
“We have heard back from several that they do this voluntarily already, several that do it at a request, and others that pretty much are a case-by-case basis,” said association vice president John Robitaille.
Comments on the proposal are still coming in from some oil and gas companies, he said, and the association will share their thoughts about the rules as they’re being developed.
Bottom line is, it’s something we support. We think it’s the best practice, and I think it’s in the best interest of both operators and the public.
— Doug Hock, Encana spokesman on baseline groundwater monitoring | <urn:uuid:9f5511bd-7b0e-4c48-90ac-ef456ecf2580> | {
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Since 1997 when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued revised guidelines for the prevention of poliomyelitis, substantial progress in global eradication of poliomyelitis has occurred and the use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) has increased considerably in the United States with a corresponding decrease in the use of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). Surveys indicate that the majority of physicians now routinely immunize children with the sequential IPV-OPV or IPV-only regimens. Nevertheless, vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) continues to occur, albeit infrequently, in children who have received the OPV-only regimen and their contacts. To reduce further the risk of VAPP, the AAP now recommends that children in the United States receive IPV for the first 2 doses of the polio vaccine series in most circumstances. Exceptions include a parent's refusal to permit the number of injections necessary to administer the other routinely recommended vaccines at the 2- and 4-month visits. Either IPV or OPV can be administered for the third and fourth doses. Assuming continuing progress toward global eradication, a recommendation of IPV-only immunization for children in the United States is anticipated by 2001.
- AAP =
- American Academy of Pediatrics •
- IPV =
- inactivated poliovirus vaccine •
- WHO =
- World Health Organization •
- OPV =
- oral poliovirus vaccine •
- CDC =
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention •
- VAPP =
- vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis
In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued guidelines for the expanded use of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) for the prevention of poliomyelitis.1 Since then, progress in the World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored program to eradicate poliomyelitis in the world has continued. In 1997, only 5160 cases were reported to WHO and the number of countries where wild-type poliovirus has been isolated has continued to decrease. In 1998, all countries with endemic poliomyelitis are conducting National Immunization Day campaigns to provide supplemental doses of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to children from birth to 4 years of age. These campaigns have been highly successful in eliminating poliomyelitis in many countries. The WHO has established the target of the end of the year 2000 for global eradication. Public health experts are optimistic that this goal will be reached on schedule, although uncertainty remains, especially in countries with political and economic instability.
New recommendations for polio immunization in the United States in 19971 ,2 have resulted in increased use of IPV. According to biologics surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), IPV accounted for 29% of all poliovirus vaccine doses distributed in 1997 in contrast to 6% in the previous year. Distribution of OPV has correspondingly decreased. Recent surveys in Georgia and Wisconsin indicate that approximately two-thirds of physicians routinely are immunizing children with the sequential IPV-OPV regimen and that 10% to 15% of children are receiving only IPV (T. Saari, written communication, June 1998; J. Livengood, oral communication, October 1998). Implementing either the sequential or IPV-only schedule can require the administration of as many as 4 injections at both the 2- and 4-month well-child visits, but parents are accepting this increase in the number of injections and no increased risk of adverse events has been observed.3 In addition, childhood immunization rates in this country have not decreased during this time of additional injections.4
As of October 1998, 4 persons with vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) have been reported in 1997–1998 in the United States. All 4 cases occurred in children or contacts of children who were immunized with only OPV. No cases of VAPP in children who have received the sequential IPV-OPV regimen or in their contacts have been identified.
As a result of substantial progress in global eradication of poliomyelitis, acceptance of IPV by physicians and parents despite additional injections, and the need to reduce further the risk of VAPP, the AAP now recommends that the first 2 doses of polio vaccine for routine immunization should be IPV in most circumstances (see “Recommendations” section). An IPV-only schedule for all doses also is acceptable and is the only means to eliminate the risk of VAPP in the community.
As previously noted in the 1997 AAP policy statement,1 the IPV-only regimen likely will be recommended for all children in the near future, assuming continued progress toward global eradication of poliovirus infection. Vaccination will be continued thereafter for at least several years after the worldwide elimination of wild-type poliovirus has been confirmed.
IPV is routinely recommended in most circumstances for all children at 2 and 4 months of age for the first 2 doses of the poliovirus vaccine schedule. Immunization with OPV is acceptable when parents refuse either IPV or the number of injections needed to administer the other recommended vaccines for infants.
In accordance with either the sequential or IPV-only regimen, OPV or IPV should be given at 6 to 18 months and 4 to 6 years of age for a total of 4 doses of polio vaccine administered before school entry. If OPV is to be given for the third and fourth doses, some experts recommend delaying the third dose until 12 months of age to minimize the chance of inadvertently administering OPV to a child with an underlying, unrecognized immunodeficiency.
Only IPV is recommended for the following: a) immunocompromised persons and their household contacts because OPV is contraindicated in these individuals; and b) infants and children in households with persons older than 17 years who are known to be inadequately vaccinated against poliomyelitis because of the increased risk of VAPP in susceptible adults.
For infants and children in whom the routine immunization schedule is not initiated until after 6 months of age and in whom an accelerated schedule is necessary to fulfill immunization recommendations, an OPV-only regimen is acceptable to minimize the number of injections at each visit.
For children who may be traveling to areas where wild-type poliovirus is still endemic, selection of IPV or OPV depends on the interval until departure and the number of doses of polio vaccine previously received. If a child who has not been previously immunized will be traveling in 2 months or more, 2 doses of IPV at a minimal interval of 1 month are recommended. OPV or IPV should be given subsequently to complete the schedule. If the child will be traveling in less than 2 months and has not received prior doses, a single dose of either OPV or IPV should be given and the immunization schedule should be continued after arrival in the foreign country. For children who already have received 2 doses of IPV, administration of 2 doses of OPV at an interval of at least 1 month will provide optimal intestinal immunity. In all cases, children who have not completed the immunization schedule by the time of departure should do so as soon as possible, including receiving vaccinations in a foreign country, if necessary.
If an outbreak of wild-type poliovirus infection occurs in the United States, OPV is the vaccine of choice to control most effectively the spread of infection. The AAP supports the need for sufficient federal resources to ensure an adequate supply of OPV for outbreak control in such a public health emergency.
As with administration of all vaccines, parents and other caregivers should be informed of the benefits and risks of the different poliovirus vaccines and regimens, including the risk of VAPP from OPV. The Vaccine Information Statement on polio vaccines should be provided as required by law.5 Current information statements can be obtained from the AAP Division of Publications, state health department immunization program,4 or the CDC Web site (www.cdc.gov/nip/vistable.htm).
Precautions and contraindications in the administration of IPV and OPV remain unchanged from previous recommendations given in the current (1997) edition of the Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases.6
The AAP continues to support the WHO recommendation for the use of OPV to achieve global eradication of poliomyelitis, especially in countries with continued or recent circulation of wild-type poliovirus.
Committee on Infectious Diseases, 1998–1999
Neal A. Halsey, MD, Chairperson
Jon S. Abramson, MD
P. Joan Chesney, MD
Margaret C. Fisher, MD
Michael A. Gerber, MD
S. Michael Marcy, MD
Dennis L. Murray, MD
Gary D. Overturf, MD
Charles G. Prober, MD
Thomas Saari, MD
Leonard B. Weiner, MD
Richard J. Whitley, MD
Georges Peter, MD
Larry K. Pickering, MD
Carol J. Baker, MD
Anthony T. Hirsch, MD
AAP Council on Pediatric Practice
Richard F. Jacobs, MD
American Thoracic Society
Noni E. MacDonald, MD
Canadian Pediatric Society
Ben Schwartz, MD
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Walter A. Orenstein, MD
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
M. Carolyn Hardegree, MD
Food and Drug Administration
N. Regina Rabinovich, MD
National Institutes of Health
Robert F. Breiman, MD
National Vaccine Program Office
The recommendations in this statement do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as a standard of medical care. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Infectious Diseases
- ↵Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Poliomyelitis prevention in the United States: introduction of a sequential vaccination schedule of inactivated poliovirus vaccine followed by oral poliovirus vaccine: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep. 1997;46(No. RR-2):1–25
- Partridge S,
- Blumberg DA,
- Marcy SM,
- et al.
- ↵American Academy of Pediatrics. Informing patients and parents. In: Peter G, ed. 1997 Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 24th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 1997:3
- ↵American Academy of Pediatrics. Poliovirus infections. In: Peter G, ed. 1997 Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 24th ed. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 1997:432–433
- Copyright © 1999 American Academy of Pediatrics | <urn:uuid:e3026d01-d92d-4c8e-868f-0f41fa2ab957> | {
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eso0318 — Science Release
Cosmological Gamma-Ray Bursts and Hypernovae Conclusively Linked
Clearest-Ever Evidence from VLT Spectra of Powerful Event
18 June 2003
A very bright burst of gamma-rays was observed on March 29, 2003 by NASA's High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-II) , in a sky region within the constellation Leo. Within 90 min, a new, very bright light source (the "optical afterglow") was detected in the same direction by means of a 40-inch telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory (Australia) and also in Japan. The gamma-ray burst was designated GRB 030329 , according to the date. And within 24 hours, a first, very detailed spectrum of this new object was obtained by the UVES high-dispersion spectrograph on the 8.2-m VLT KUEYEN telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory (Chile). It allowed to determine the distance as about 2,650 million light-years (redshift 0.1685). Continued observations with the FORS1 and FORS2 multi-mode instruments on the VLT during the following month allowed an international team of astronomers to document in unprecedented detail the changes in the spectrum of the optical afterglow of this gamma-ray burst . Their detailed report appears in the June 19 issue of the research journal "Nature". The spectra show the gradual and clear emergence of a supernova spectrum of the most energetic class known, a "hypernova" . This is caused by the explosion of a very heavy star - presumably over 25 times heavier than the Sun. The measured expansion velocity (in excess of 30,000 km/sec) and the total energy released were exceptionally high, even within the elect hypernova class. From a comparison with more nearby hypernovae, the astronomers are able to fix with good accuracy the moment of the stellar explosion. It turns out to be within an interval of plus/minus two days of the gamma-ray burst. This unique conclusion provides compelling evidence that the two events are directly connected. These observations therefore indicate a common physical process behind the hypernova explosion and the associated emission of strong gamma-ray radiation. The team concludes that it is likely to be due to the nearly instantaneous, non-symmetrical collapse of the inner region of a highly developed star (known as the "collapsar" model). The March 29 gamma-ray burst will pass into the annals of astrophysics as a rare "type-defining event", providing conclusive evidence of a direct link between cosmological gamma-ray bursts and explosions of very massive stars.
What are Gamma-Ray Bursts?
One of the currently most active fields of astrophysics is the study of the dramatic events known as "gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)" . They were first detected in the late 1960's by sensitive instruments on-board orbiting military satellites, launched for the surveillance and detection of nuclear tests. Originating, not on the Earth, but far out in space, these short flashes of energetic gamma-rays last from less than a second to several minutes.
Despite major observational efforts, it is only within the last six years that it has become possible to pinpoint with some accuracy the sites of some of these events. With the invaluable help of comparatively accurate positional observations of the associated X-ray emission by various X-ray satellite observatories since early 1997, astronomers have until now identified about fifty short-lived sources of optical light associated with GRBs (the "optical afterglows").
Most GRBs have been found to be situated at extremely large ("cosmological") distances. This implies that the energy released in a few seconds during such an event is larger than that of the Sun during its entire lifetime of more than 10,000 million years. The GRBs are indeed the most powerful events since the Big Bang known in the Universe.
During the past years circumstantial evidence has mounted that GRBs signal the collapse of massive stars. This was originally based on the probable association of one unusual gamma-ray burst with a supernova ("SN 1998bw", also discovered with ESO telescopes). More clues have surfaced since, including the association of GRBs with regions of massive star-formation in distant galaxies, tantalizing evidence of supernova-like light-curve "bumps" in the optical afterglows of some earlier bursts, and spectral signatures from freshly synthesized elements, observed by X-ray observatories.
VLT observations of GRB 030329
On March 29, 2003 (at exactly 11:37:14.67 hrs UT) NASA's High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE-II) detected a very bright gamma-ray burst. Following identification of the "optical afterglow" by a 40-inch telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory (Australia), the redshift of the burst was determined as 0.1685 by means of a high-dispersion spectrum obtained with the UVES spectrograph at the 8.2-m VLT KUEYEN telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory (Chile).
The corresponding distance is about 2,650 million light-years. This is the nearest normal GRB ever detected, therefore providing the long-awaited opportunity to test the many hypotheses and models which have been proposed since the discovery of the first GRBs in the late 1960's.
With this specific aim, the ESO-lead team of astronomers now turned to two other powerful instruments at the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), the multi-mode FORS1 and FORS2 camera/spectrographs. Over a period of one month, until May 1, 2003, spectra of the fading object were obtained at regular rate, securing a unique set of observational data that documents the physical changes in the remote object in unsurpassed detail.
The hypernova connection
Based on a careful study of these spectra, the astronomers are now presenting their interpretation of the GRB 030329 event in a research paper appearing in the international journal "Nature" on Thursday, June 19. Under the prosaic title "A very energetic supernova associated with the gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003", no less than 27 authors from 17 research institutes, headed by Danish astronomer Jens Hjorth conclude that there is now irrefutable evidence of a direct connection between the GRB and the "hypernova" explosion of a very massive, highly evolved star.
This is based on the gradual "emergence" with time of a supernova-type spectrum, revealing the extremely violent explosion of a star. With velocities well in excess of 30,000 km/sec (i.e., over 10% of the velocity of light), the ejected material is moving at record speed, testifying to the enormous power of the explosion.
Hypernovae are rare events and they are probably caused by explosion of stars of the so-called "Wolf-Rayet" type . These WR-stars were originally formed with a mass above 25 solar masses and consisted mostly of hydrogen. Now in their WR-phase, having stripped themselves of their outer layers, they consist almost purely of helium, oxygen and heavier elements produced by intense nuclear burning during the preceding phase of their short life.
"We have been waiting for this one for a long, long time ", says Jens Hjorth, " this GRB really gave us the missing information. From these very detailed spectra, we can now confirm that this burst and probably other long gamma-ray bursts are created through the core collapse of massive stars. Most of the other leading theories are now unlikely."
A "type-defining event"
His colleague, ESO-astronomer Palle Møller, is equally content: "What really got us at first was the fact that we clearly detected the supernova signatures already in the first FORS-spectrum taken only four days after the GRB was first observed - we did not expect that at all. As we were getting more and more data, we realised that the spectral evolution was almost completely identical to that of the hypernova seen in 1998. The similarity of the two then allowed us to establish a very precise timing of the present supernova event."
The astronomers determined that the hypernova explosion (designated SN 2003dh ) documented in the VLT spectra and the GRB-event observed by HETE-II must have occurred at very nearly the same time. Subject to further refinement, there is at most a difference of 2 days, and there is therefore no doubt whatsoever, that the two are causally connected.
"Supernova 1998bw whetted our appetite, but it took 5 more years before we could confidently say, we found the smoking gun that nailed the association between GRBs and SNe" adds Chryssa Kouveliotou of NASA. "GRB 030329 may well turn out to be some kind of 'missing link' for GRBs."
In conclusion, GRB 030329 was a rare "type-defining" event that will be recorded as a watershed in high-energy astrophysics.
What really happened on March 29 (or 2,650 million years ago)?
Here is the complete story about GRB 030329, as the astronomers now read it.
Thousands of years prior to this explosion, a very massive star, running out of hydrogen fuel, let loose much of its outer envelope, transforming itself into a bluish Wolf-Rayet star . The remains of the star contained about 10 solar masses worth of helium, oxygen and heavier elements.
In the years before the explosion, the Wolf-Rayet star rapidly depleted its remaining fuel. At some moment, this suddenly triggered the hypernova/gamma-ray burst event. The core collapsed, without the outer part of the star knowing. A black hole formed inside, surrounded by a disk of accreting matter. Within a few seconds, a jet of matter was launched away from that black hole.
The jet passed through the outer shell of the star and, in conjunction with vigorous winds of newly formed radioactive nickel-56 blowing off the disk inside, shattered the star. This shattering, the hypernova, shines brightly because of the presence of nickel. Meanwhile, the jet plowed into material in the vicinity of the star, and created the gamma-ray burst which was recorded some 2,650 million years later by the astronomers on Earth. The detailed mechanism for the production of gamma rays is still a matter of debate but it is either linked to interactions between the jet and matter previously ejected from the star, or to internal collisions inside the jet itself.
This scenario represents the "collapsar" model, introduced by American astronomer Stan Woosley (University of California, Santa Cruz) in 1993 and a member of the current team, and best explains the observations of GRB 030329.
"This does not mean that the gamma-ray burst mystery is now solved", says Woosley . "We are confident now that long bursts involve a core collapse and a hypernova, likely creating a black hole. We have convinced most skeptics. We cannot reach any conclusion yet, however, on what causes the short gamma-ray bursts, those under two seconds long."
: Members of the Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow Collaboration at ESO (GRACE) team include Jens Hjorth, Páll Jakobsson, Holger Pedersen, Kristian Pedersen andDarach Watson (Astronomical Observatory, NBIfAFG, University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Jesper Sollerman (Stockholm Observatory, Sweden), Palle Møller (ESO-Garching, Germany), Johan Fynbo (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Denmark), Stan Woosley (Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA), Chryssa Kouveliotou (NSSTC, Huntsville, Alabama, USA), Nial Tanvir (Department of Physical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, UK), Jochen Greiner (Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany), Michael Andersen (Astrophysikalisches Institut, Potsdam, Germany), Alberto Castro-Tirado(Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Granada, Spain), José María Castro Cerón, Andy Fruchter, Javier Gorosabel and James Rhoads (Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA), Lex Kaper, Evert Rol, Ed van den Heuvel and Ralph Wijers (Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Sylvio Klose(Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Germany), Nicola Masetti and Eliana Palazzi (Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Sezione di Bologna, CNR, Italy),Elena Pian (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Italy) and Paul Vreeswijk (ESO-Santiago, Chile)
: See Circular 8114 of the International Astronomical Union, issued on April 9, 2003.
: In astronomy, the "redshift" denotes the fraction by which the lines in the spectrum of an object are shifted towards longer wavelengths. Since the redshift of a cosmological object increases with distance, the observed redshift of a remote galaxy also provides an estimate of its distance.
Astronomical Observatory, NBIfAFG
Tel: +45 3532 5928
Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Tel: +1 256 961 7604
Tel: +49 89 3200-6246
Tel: +46 8 55378554 | <urn:uuid:641176f3-c678-44fb-bfa6-896648f1e7c1> | {
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The great scientific discoveries that have been made during the many incredible exploring expeditions throughout history have long interested both scientists and laymen alike, and perhaps none more so than the voyages undertaken by Charles Darwin himself on the H.M.S. Beagle. While the appeal of the narratives of these expeditions to adults may seem obvious, engaging children in such works is not always simple. The concern with “interest[ing] children in the study of natural history, and of physical and political geography”so that they might exhibit enthusiasm for nature throughout their lives is the chief concern of this week’s book of the week, What Mr. Darwin saw in his voyage round the world in the ship “Beagle” (1880), compiled from Darwin’s Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H. M. S. Beagle.
In a preface directed towards parents, the author writes,
“The compiler has thought it an advantage to connect stories about a great variety of animals with one person, and he an observer of such credibility and authority that little if anything that was learned of him would have to be unlearned. Mr. Darwin is, of course, pre-eminently such an observer. On the other hand, by carefully connecting these stories with the places on the earth’s surface where the animals were studied, a correct notion will be had of the distribution of the animal kingdom, with a corresponding insight into the geography of the globe in its broadest sense.”
What Mr. Darwin Saw is divided into four parts: Animals, Man (describing the people and cultures encountered on the voyage), Geography (describing the cities, rivers, mountains, valleys, plains, etc. seen on the expedition), and Nature (discussing the “grander terrestrial processes and phemonena” encountered). The original text comes from Darwin’s writings, though some small alterations have been made for the publication to take into account audience and overall organization. Since the changes are so minimal, the work is still attributed to Charles Darwin.
Before beginning the main narrative of What Mr. Darwin Saw, children are given a short biography of Charles Darwin and a description of the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle. Children are then urged to test their own powers of observation by counting how many animals they can find in an accompanying woodcut by Thomas Bewick.
The description of the animals, people, geography and nature in the following sections of text are rich and inviting, as they are presented in a highly conversational tone produced from Darwin’s own observations. Children would be highly entertained to read Darwin’s description of the Guanaco, or Wild Llama’s, reactions around strange behavior in humans. They would likewise be thrilled to read of the dangerous encounter Darwin and his team experienced with an ice cliff, and their imaginations would be stimulated by Darwin’s description of the coral and coral architects around the visited lagoon islands. And while these writings may have been directed at children, they are nevertheless singularly engrossing for adults as well. So, whether child or adult, take a few minutes to look through Darwin’s narrative of the biodiversity, cultures and geography encountered on that monumental voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle.
This week’s book of the week, What Mr. Darwin saw in his voyage round the world in the ship “Beagle” (1880), by Charles Darwin, was contributed by the University of California Libraries. | <urn:uuid:740dc333-5dfb-456f-8da9-b54ca80506ca> | {
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Global plastics production has reached 380 million metric tons in 2015, with around 40% used for packaging. Plastic packaging is diverse and made of multiple polymers and numerous additives, along with other components, such as adhesives or coatings. Further, packaging can contain residues from substances used during manufacturing, such as solvents, along with non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), such as impurities, oligomers, or degradation products. To characterize risks from chemicals potentially released during manufacturing, use, disposal, and/or recycling of packaging, comprehensive information on all chemicals involved is needed. Here, we present a database of Chemicals associated with Plastic Packaging (CPPdb), which includes chemicals used during manufacturing and/or present in final packaging articles. The CPPdb lists 906 chemicals likely associated with plastic packaging and 3377 substances that are possibly associated. Of the 906 chemicals likely associated with plastic packaging, 63 rank highest for human health hazards and 68 for environmental hazards according to the harmonized hazard classifications assigned by the European Chemicals Agency within the Classification, Labeling and Packaging (CLP) regulation implementing the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System (GHS). Further, 7 of the 906 substances are classified in the European Union as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT), or very persistent, very bioaccumulative (vPvB), and 15 as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC). Thirty-four of the 906 chemicals are also recognized as EDC or potential EDC in the recent EDC report by the United Nations Environment Programme. The identified hazardous chemicals are used in plastics as monomers, intermediates, solvents, surfactants, plasticizers, stabilizers, biocides, flame retardants, accelerators, and colorants, among other functions. Our work was challenged by a lack of transparency and incompleteness of publicly available information on both the use and toxicity of numerous substances. The most hazardous chemicals identified here should be assessed in detail as potential candidates for substitution. | <urn:uuid:60b48a63-15ad-430a-83d7-44cbf77056ab> | {
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Battles - The First Battle of Ypres, 1914
With the failure of the German offensive against France at the Battle of the Marne, and the allied counter-offensive, the so-called 'race to the sea' began, a movement towards the North Sea coast as each army attempted to out-flank the other by moving progressively north and west. As they went, each army constructed a series of trench lines, starting on 15 September, that came to characterise war on the Western Front until 1918.
Meanwhile French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre undertook an intensive combined allied attack on 14 September against the German forces on the high ground just north of the Aisne river. With the German defences too strong, the attack was called off on 18 September. Stalemate had set in.
By October the Allies had reached the North Sea at Niuwpoort in Belgium. German forces forced the Belgian army out of Antwerp, ultimately ending up in Ypres. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under Sir John French, took over the line from Ypres south to La Bassee in France, from which point the French army continued the line down to the Swiss border.
Such was the background to the First Battle of Ypres, which commenced on 14 October when Eric von Falkenhayn, the German Chief of Staff, sent his Fourth and Sixth armies into Ypres.
The battle began with a nine-day German offensive that was only halted with the arrival of French reinforcements and the deliberate flooding of the Belgian front. Belgian troops opened the sluice gates of the dykes holding back the sea from the low countries.
The flood encompassed the final ten miles of trenches in the far north, and which later proved a hindrance to the movement of allied troops and equipment.
During the attack British riflemen held their positions, suffering heavy casualties, as did French forces guarding the north of the town.
The second phase of the battle saw a counter-offensive launched by General Foch on 20 October, ultimately without success. It was ended on 28 October.
Next, von Falkenhayn renewed his offensive on 29 October, attacking most heavily in the south and east - once again without decisive success. Duke Albrecht's German Fourth Army had taken the Messines Ridge and Wytschaete by 1 November.
It also took Gheluvelt and managed to break the British line along the Menin Road on 31 October. Defeat was imminent, and the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, was shortly to arrive to personally witness the taking of the town. However the arrival of French reinforcements saved the town, the British counter-attacking and recapturing Gheluvelt.
The author John Buchan (of The 39 Steps fame) later wrote in his history of the war:
Between two and three o'clock on Saturday, the 31st, was the most critical hour in the whole battle. The 1st Division had fallen back from Gheluvelt to a line resting on the junction of the Frezenberg road with the Ypres-Menin highway. It had suffered terribly, and its general had be en sorely wounded. On its right the 7th Division had been bent back to the Klein Zillebeke ridge, while Bulfin's two brigades were just holding on, as was Moussy on their right. Allenby's cavalry were fighting an apparently hopeless battle on a long line, and it seemed as if the slightest forward pressure would crumble the Ypres defense. The enemy was beginning to pour through the Gheluvelt gap, and at the same time pressed hard on the whole arc of the salient.
There were no reserves except an odd battalion or two and some regiments of cavalry, all of which had already been sorely tried during the past days. French sent an urgent message to Foch for re-enforcements, and was refused. At the end of the battle he learned the reason. Foch had none to send, and his own losses had been greater than ours. Between 2 and 2.30 Haig was on the Menin road, grappling with the crisis. It seemed impossible to stop the gap, though on its northern side some South Wales Borderers were gallantly holding a sunken road and galling the flank of the German advance. He gave orders to retire to a line a little west of Hooge and stand there, though he well knew that no stand, however heroic, could save the town. He foresaw a retirement west of Ypres, and French, who had joined him, agreed.
And then suddenly out of the void came a strange story. A white-faced staff officer reported that something odd was happening north of the Menin road. The enemy advance had halted! Then came the word that the 1st Division was reforming. The anxious generals could scarcely believe their ears, for it sounded a sheer miracle. But presently came the proof, though it was not for months that the full tale was known. Brigadier-General Fitz-Clarence, commanding the 1st (Guards) Brigade in the 1st Division, had sent in his last reserves and failed to stop the gap. He then rode off to the headquarters of the division to explain how desperate was the position. But on the way, at the southwest corner of the Polygon Wood, he stumbled upon a battalion waiting in support.
It was the 2nd Worcesters, who were part of the right brigade of the 2nd Division. Fitz-Clarence saw in them his last chance. They belonged to another division, but it was no time to stand on ceremony, and the officer in command at once put them at his disposal. The Worcesters, under very heavy artillery fire, advanced in a series of rushes for about a thousand yards between the right of the South Wales Borderers and the northern edge of Gheluvelt. Like Cole's fusiliers at Albuera, they came suddenly and unexpectedly upon the foe. There they dug themselves in, broke up the German advance into bunches, enfiladed it heavily, and brought it to a standstill. This allowed the 7th Division to get back to its old line, and the 6th Cavalry Brigade to fill the gap between the 7th and the 1st Divisions. Before night fell the German advance west of Gheluvelt was stayed, and the British front was out of immediate danger.
The German offensive continued for the following ten days, the fate of Ypres still in the balance. A further injection of French reinforcements arrived on 4 November. Even so, evacuation of the town seemed likely on 9 November as the German forces pressed home their attack, taking St Eloi on 10 November and pouring everything into an attempt to re-capture Gheluvelt on 11-12 November, without success.
A final major German assault was launched on 15 November; still Ypres was held by the British and French. By this time the Belgian autumn had set in with the arrival of heavy rain followed by snow. Von Falkenhayn called off the attack.
It was becoming evident that the nature of trench warfare favoured the defender rather than the attacker. In short, the technology of defensive warfare was better advanced that that of offensive warfare, the latter proving hugely costly in terms of manpower.
The BEF had held Ypres, as they continued to do until the end of the war despite repeated German assault; the Allies also held a salient extending 6 miles into German lines.
The cost had been huge on both sides. British casualties were reported at 58,155, mostly pre-war professional soldiers, a loss the British could ill-afford. French casualties were set at around 50,000, and German losses at 130,000 men.
Click here to view a map of the German retreat following the Marne battle and the subsequent race to the sea.
Photographs courtesy of Photos of the Great War website
"Harry Tate" was the nickname given by British pilots to the R.E.8 aircraft
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Study says herbicide causes frogs' sex change
From the San Francisco Chronicle (reference info follows article text): A powerful and widely used herbicide called Atrazine changes the sex of many male frogs to females and emasculates three-quarters of others, according to research reported this week by a UC Berkeley professor and molecular toxicologist.
The findings were immediately assailed as "fundamentally flawed" by scientists with Syngenta, the international agribusiness company and the chemical's largest manufacturer.
The controversy has major political implications because the Environmental Protection Agency had approved Atrazine under the Bush administration after rejecting earlier findings, and agency scientists in the Obama administration are now reviewing that EPA rule. The European Union has already banned Atrazine after concluding that minute levels found in lakes and streams severely damaged amphibians.
Research by Tyrone Hayes and his colleagues in their Berkeley laboratory found that 10 percent of their male frogs changed to females after ingesting small doses of Atrazine.
The newly altered females remained genetically male, but proved capable of mating with other males, Hayes said. The offspring of those couples were all male frogs and perfectly capable of mating with normal females.
The new research from Hayes' laboratory at UC Berkeley is being published this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Hayes said in an interview Tuesday that because Atrazine has been used for many years on crop lands all over the world, there is a strong likelihood that the chemical may be playing a major role in the global decline of populations of other amphibians as well as frogs that has puzzled scientists and altered the ecology in many parts of the world.
"There is more and more evidence from other researchers," he said, "that Atrazine is also damaging the immune systems of fish, reptiles and birds."
The lab work by Hayes and his colleagues involved common laboratory frogs. They later studied wild African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) in the field and confirmed the results in the lab, Hayes said.
Frogs both in the laboratory and in the field were exposed to small doses of Atrazine as larvae, and then for two to three years during their growth from larvae to adulthood.
The herbicide has long been known as an endocrine disruptor - a chemical that alters the functioning of hormones. In the case of the frogs, the disruption showed up clearly as changing testosterone to estrogen in the bodies of the male frogs, Hayes said.
From 1997 to 2000, Hayes said, he was employed by Syngenta as a research biologist, but that when his work began to show dangers from the chemical, his contract was abruptly ended.
At the company's U.S. headquarters in Greensborough, N.C., Tim Pastoor, a toxicologist for the division called Syngenta Crop Protection, said he had examined Hayes's work and found it "basically and fundamentally flawed." He said Hayes' "results are not plausible."
Hayes said that similar research into Atrazine that he did under contract for an environmental firm called Pacific Ecorisk between 1997 and 2000 was ended after he found the compound was indeed an endocrine disruptor.
Scott Ogle, an official at that company, said that he had never heard of Hayes.
By David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor, Wednesday, March 3, 2010 (article appearing on page C-5) | <urn:uuid:dd82d09e-9289-42ba-86ff-fb5aa5725766> | {
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Earth Day is Lenin's birthday. Coincidence or Communism?
By Alan Caruba
One of the most curious coincidences each year is the fact that Earth Day, April 22nd, is also the birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the founder of Soviet-style Communism. In 1955, then Soviet Premier, Nikita Krushchev ordered April 22nd be designated a day to celebrate Communism. In 1970, it was chosen to be Earth Day by Gaylord Nelson, one of the founders of the event. Those founders had 365 days from which to choose. They chose Lenin's birthday.
When Communism was imposed on Russia in 1917, the first thing it did was to outlaw the ownership of private property. Under Communism, the State owns all property and all natural resources. In recent years in the United States, the Clinton-Gore Administration has declared millions of acres of mineral and oil-rich areas to be national monuments. The U.S.government already owns more than forty percent of the nation's landmass. Individual States own property as well, bringing the total closer to fifty percent. There are measures in Congress right now that would provide a dedicated stream of funding to insure that States will purchase still more property to put off limits to any use or development.
The keystone of Capitalism is the ownership of private property. The Founding Fathers felt so strongly about this the Fifth Amendment protects this right, stating that no private property shall be taken for public use without just compensation. Across the nation, however, the government has effectively "taken" private property through such devices as the Endangered Species Act that denies the use of any property on which a listed species is found. Owners of such properties effectively lose them to government control. Wetlands legislation has a similar effect on owners of private property, denying them the use of their property if it is designated a wetland. These are environmental laws.
The similarities between the philosophy and programs advocated by the Greens and totalitarian forms of government are numerous. What better way to undermine the economy of this nation than to deny its citizens the benefits of its natural resources? Even access and use of national parks is being increasingly restricted.
Today, fully a third of all federal laws and regulations are devoted to the so-called "protection of the environment." They impact property ownership and the use of all energy sources. Vast areas of the U.S., despite known, huge reserves of oil and coal, have been put off limits. Virtually no structure can be built without an environmental impact study being undertaken. Right now, there are Administration efforts to destroy dams providing hydroelectric power in the northwest, ostensibly to save salmon. In countless ways, so-called environmental laws impact our lives, even down to the amount of water one can use to flush a toilet!
Leading voices for environmental and related causes express views comparable to the Communist philosophy of total government control. In his book, "Earth in the Balance", Vice President Al Gore, Jr., has written that "Adopting a central organizing principle means embarking on an all-out effort to use every policy and program, every law and institution, every treaty and alliance, every tactic and strategy, every plan and course of action to use, in short, every means to halt the destruction of the environment." He has called for "a wrenching transformation of society" to achieve this goal of total centralized government control, the hallmark of the former Soviet system.
It is the same reason Americans are continually portrayed as materialistic capitalists who rape the earth, steal its riches, and are the cause of environmental problems around the world. Despite this, Americans remain largely unaware of the true goals of environmentalism while their school's textbooks are filled with Green propaganda, and their churches are infiltrated by Greens seeking to substitute earth worship to replace traditional Judeo-Christian values. U.S. entertainment and news media repeat and reinforce the Green message, and America's elected leaders, many of whom are members of the Progressive Caucus, an instrument of the Democratic Socialists of America, advance laws to achieve the goals of the Green movement.
This is why Earth Day is Lenin's birthday. It is no coincidence. It is a tribute to the ruthless founder of Soviet Communism and his goals are being fulfilled today in the guise of saving the earth from farmers, ranchers, mining, timber, oil, and chemical companies. From "urban sprawl." In short, any enterprise that seeks to utilize the earth's enormous bounty to enhance, enrich, and extend the lives of Americans and others worldwide.
Alan Caruba, a veteran business and science writer, is the founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns designed to influence public opinion and policy. The Center maintains an Internet site at www.anxietycenter.com.
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Monday (17/08/15) was a Pythagorean Day (172 = 82 + 152).
Today I had the fun of 20 Year 5 students in my classroom. I used the Magic Vs problem from NRICH. NRICH have lots of good leading questions, solution discussions and videos. There was lots of great thinking and discussion.
I made a SMART Notebook file to aid the discussions, available on MathsFaculty.
Probability is one of those topics where it's best to "see it".
Don Steward shares his excellent worksheets on his blog, Median.
One of the challenges I had this week when students were constructing rectangles and squares using a ruler and set square (drafting triangle) was checking the accuracy of the measurements (sides and angles). I walked around with a ruler and set square checking their drawings.
For my HSC Mathematics General 1 class, we are currently completing the Focus Study FSPe1CEC Water usage and collection.
In this topic, students interpret information, make comparisons, and perform a range of calculations in relation to personal water usage.
This is part 2 of my electronic worksheets for Consumer Arithmetic. Part 2 focuses on Spending Money, in particular: profit and loss, discounts, purchasing, best buys and buying on terms (hire purchase). (Part 1 focused on earning money)
Each year I use the TV Show, The Biggest Loser, as an application of percentages – here is a worksheet for 2012 setting out the contestant data that your students can use to perform some calculations.
I’m completing this activity earlier than normal this year, so the data is from earlier in the competition.
A number plane drawing worksheet for making the Superman logo. Included in the file (see below) is a page with a suitable coordinate grid.
Looking around, there are lots of activities for collecting and analysing data using small boxes of Smarties. Here is my version.
Each year I use the TV Show, The Biggest Loser, as an application of percentages.
You might have seen this map featured around the place recently:
I like teaching surface area, I think it’s an interesting topic. Yet, I find kids struggle with the concept. Not understanding the basics of area and then getting over the prior knowledge of solids meaning volume are two aspects that cause some difficulty.
This is a great interactive for representing simple inequalities on the number line: Inequalities with GeoGebra.
I showed WCYDWT: Spacing Evenly to some of my classes this week. A couple of reflections…
For Australian teachers with access to objects from The Le@rning Federation, the resource Bridge Builder is a nice way to deal with geometric patterns and finding the algebraic rule.
I’ve been trying to increase my use of the laptops with Year 9.
This is a fairly simple activity that allows for something different in the teaching of Pythagoras’ Theorem.
Despite every Year 9 student having a laptop for a few weeks, the topics we’ve been covering haven’t lent themselves to full laptop lessons. To end the term, though, we’re reviewing graphs.
I think that each student using a netbook/laptop in your class presents some slightly different issues in Maths.
Last year, I posted the Melbourne Storm Number Plane Logo – and today, exactly one year later, purely by coincidence, I’ve made a Brisbane Broncos Number Place activity.
An excuse to use chocolate in a maths lesson…
The Biggest Loser, the Australian version, is again on television. This year, Year 9 are looking at Percentages at the same time.
Trying to motivate Year 10 after the School Certificate Exams are completed is tough. I like to use geometric design activities. Whilst they seem like “fun”, or at least non-taxing on the brain – they get the students following a procedure, using geometric instruments and can be lead to a good discussion about the Mathematics of design.
Understanding the concept of a fraction by shading in a part of a shape is a fairly standard introductory activity. When I did a search on Flickr for fractions, I found this set of fraction shading diagrams*. What I liked about these diagrams is that you are required to represent two fractions on one diagram.
Building an Angle Wheel is a great way to consolidate an introduction to angles for Year 7.
When looking at measurement, year 7 measure “body units” and use them to measure things in the classroom, as an example of estimating. Then, when we move onto perimeter, we come back to one body unit, the pace.
Simon Job — eleventh year of teaching maths in a public high school in Western Sydney, Australia.
MathsClass is about teaching and learning in a maths classroom. more→
Absolute Value Equation Illustrator - GeoGebra
geogebra absolutevalue maths
The brachistochrone This animation is about one... | Curiosa Mathematica
Math = Love: Volume 4: Japanese Logic Puzzles for the Secondary Math Classroom
problemsolving logic puzzles maths
Math = Love: Volume 3: Japanese Logic Puzzles for the Secondary Math Classroom
problemsolving logic puzzles maths | <urn:uuid:4e379c69-3bca-44d9-8bda-d32b30a76b0b> | {
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One of Switzerland’s most beloved exports, its “Swiss” cheese, was once given as a wedding gift.
The great gastronomic adventure of Emmental (commonly called “Swiss”) cheese began in the 15th Century, when rennet was introduced to the process of milking: it’s properties as a coagulant made it possible to obtain a fattier cheese that could be conserved for a longer time.
In the 18th Century, cheese production had reached its peak and many variants became available on in foreign markets. But exportation was blocked at the beginning of World War I, in order to ensure provisions for Swiss citizens. Between 1950 and 1985, under the aegis of the Swiss Confederation Cheese-makers Union, the production of Emmental reached its maximum levels: 58 million tons.
But in the early nineties, the federal aid for exportation was cut. This was a hard blow for a cheese that, in 1542 was already considered a jewel of gastronomy and that in 1557 was even commonly given as a wedding gift.
Many cheese makers were forced to close their doors and others were forced to modernize their companies, founding a consortium, Emmental Switzerland. The comeback was quick, however: in 2007, the 193 surviving cheesmakers produced 31,000 tons of holey-cheese – whose name, Emmental comes from the Vale d’Emme – compared to the 933 producers who, in 1930, only created 26,000 tons.
Photo courtesy Myswitzerland.com | <urn:uuid:edef50f4-dd49-4a70-8a6c-c7f68247a688> | {
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The occupation of Columbus
by General Polk
was timely enough to prevent the movement soon afterward undertaken by General Grant
While General Polk
was strengthening his defenses, he placed a small force at the village of Belmont
, in the lowlands of the Mississippi bottom
, opposite the heights of Columbus
Col. J. S. Tappan
's Thirteenth regiment Arkansas
infantry and Beltzhoover
's battery were thrown across the river to occupy Belmont
and to drive out the Union
military bands, which had terrorized the citizens and frightened into exile all who refused to take an oath to support a constitution which the men who would administer it utterly ignored.
On the 7th of November General Grant
moved against Columbus
, for the purpose, as he asserted in his ‘Memoirs,’ of diverting attention from other movements of Federal armies in Missouri
, to try the strength of his newly-constructed gunboats, and test the weight of the metal of General Polk
's artillery at Columbus
The movement in Missouri
he attempted to aid was the threatened march of Fremont
, after the battle of Lexington
, when Price
had caused them each to go to ditching in anticipation of an attack, while he was really crossing the Osage
to make a junction again with McCulloch
, at Neosho
That the engagement brought on at Belmont
was a second thought of the Federal
commander, to give diversion to his officers and men, and furnish evidence of activity to the expectant people who were demanding that the ‘war be prosecuted,’ there is no reason to doubt.
The disadvantage of the defensive policy is that it gives the aggressor liberty to pick his own time, place, and opportunity for directing his blows.
The armies of both sections had been lying inactive.
But the North
had been making preparation; and the destructive agencies | <urn:uuid:add5a4df-8a7e-4a83-9e77-e01df301e6fb> | {
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One day, History
My dear readers,
France history cannot be sum up in a date, but in centuries of events, victories, defeats, arts and lights.
However, there is a date which remain important for an important part of french who are proud of its symbol: the people liberation.
The 14th July, day of our Bastille Day. Enacted in 1880 to commemorate two events: Storming of the Bastille in 1789, which represented Divine rights of kings, society of orders and privileges that ruined France in this time.
Then, the Federations feast of 1790 which, a year later, celebrated the new constitution but also, the reconciliation and unity of all French people.
This feast was just unbelievable. It took place in Champ-de-Mars and welcomed more than 100.000 people coming to celebrate.
The force of the people
Facing the hugeness of this feast and the complex organization it imposed, the 1200 workers took a lot of delay and could not realize all the work in time, which forced the chiefs of the project to appeal all Parisians to come and help them, and with all their good will, came in a mass to work for free and finish the work.
It is also said that few people even saw Louis XIV king took a pick. Gilbert du Motier de la Fayette, noble officer and politic, also worked as an workman to participate at the good evolution of the project. In this way and for the first time in France, workers had to get to know nobles as monks worked with bourgeois. Which most beautiful symbol than this one to represent modern France and its values?
Today, and as each year, we will celebrate the importance this date have in our history with parade, fireworks and popular ball.
My dear readers, Georges Duhamel, a doctor, writer and french poet wrote “A nation is huge when it produce great men ” France is huge.
See you soon ! | <urn:uuid:c94b3bfe-1cb5-4439-88d1-2d78b0e1f9dc> | {
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Trigger points refer to irritable spots along skeletal muscle. This type of muscle is needed for movement, which occurs when the muscle applies force to bones and joints. Trigger points develop from an acute trauma, such as a fall, vehicle accident or sports injury, or from repetitive microtrauma.
Commonly called muscle knots, these spots may be painful in the affected area, such as the neck, shoulders and pelvis. Pain may be felt in in another part of the body when a trigger point irritates a nearby nerve. Trigger points can cause tension headaches, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), decreased range of motion in the legs and low back pain.
Cancer patients may be treated with trigger point injections before beginning physical therapy. The treatment may reduce pain and increase physical function, potentially improving outcomes from physical therapy.
People with chronic musculoskeletal disorders, such as fibromyalgia, oftentimes experience pain from trigger points. One in 10 Americans has one or more chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Trigger point injections may be a treatment option if you have trigger points that are painful when the muscle is at rest, twitch when pressure is applied and radiate pain to other parts of your body.
Trigger point injections may be used for the following conditions:
- Pain in the arms, legs, lower back and neck
- Fibromyalgia, a disorder causing musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and psychological distress
- Myofascial pain syndrome, a type of fibromyalgia causing chronic pain of the connective tissue around muscle
- Tension headaches
A trigger point injection contains a local anesthetic, saline or steroid. A pain specialist administers the injection using a small needle. The injection takes only a few minutes and is designed to sustain pain relief by inactivating the trigger point. Trigger point injections may be applied to more than one affected area at one time. You may experience soreness at the after the injection. It’s important to stay active and to use your full range of motion in the treated muscle during the week following your injection. But avoid strenuous activity, particularly in the first three to four days after treatment. | <urn:uuid:82d80160-db59-4b86-8298-2d5940eb80ff> | {
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From the Latin phrase nōn sequitur (“it does not follow”), from nōn (“not”) + sequitur (third-person form of sequor (“I follow”)); in Latin, the phrase sees no use as a noun. Compare sequence, from same root.
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌnɒnˈsɛk.wɪ.tə/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌnɑːnˈsɛk.wɪ.tɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
|Examples (logical fallacy)|
- Any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence.
- Having a costumed superhero abduct the vicar was an utter non sequitur in the novel.
- Any invalid argument in which the conclusion cannot be logically deduced from the premises; a logical fallacy.
- A statement that does not logically follow a statement that came before it.
2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”:
- Ralph Wiggum is generally employed as a bottomless fount of glorious non sequiturs, but in “I Love Lisa” he stands in for every oblivious chump who ever deluded himself into thinking that with persistence, determination, and a pure heart he can win the girl of his dreams.
- (humor) A kind of pun that uses a change of word, subject, or meaning to make a joke of the listener’s expectation.
The legitimate plural forms of non sequitur include the Anglicised non sequiturs and the Classical non sequuntur; non sequituri is also attested, but is rare, non-standard, and misformed.
- (valid argument): sequitur | <urn:uuid:47ee0dbc-cdd3-4db1-9629-72ad3c9a5678> | {
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Astronomers identified more than 100 more worlds around other stars in 2012, but one especially hit home—because it is right next door. Scientists have spent more than a decade probing for planets around Alpha Centauri, a trio of stars just 4.4 light-years away. In October, Xavier Dumusque at the Observatory of Geneva and colleagues described a slight wobble in Alpha Centauri B, caused by the tug of an Earth-mass planet orbiting every three days around that yellowish, sunlike star.
Although the planet is probably rocky like Earth, it lies so close to Alpha Centauri B that its surface is surely molten. But where there is one planet there are usually more, Dumusque says. The worlds of the Alpha Centauri system will be among the few close enough to study for signs of life. NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope could dissect the planets' light and determine whether their atmospheres contain oxygen, water, and other biologically friendly ingredients. Other top 2012 planet finds:
- One Planet, Four Suns: The concepts of sunrise and sunset must be confusing for any inhabitants of the planet PH1. It orbits two stars, which are also orbited by another stellar pair. The discovery was made by amateurs examining NASA data online.
- Glittering Prize: Astronomers have found dozens of rocky worlds, but some rocks are more unusual than others. In October researchers determined that the nearby planet 55 Cancri e is composed largely of compressed carbon—making it, in essence, an enormous diamond.
- Chunky Earth: Located 42 light-years away, HD 40307 g orbits in the "Goldilocks zone," where conditions are right for liquid water. It may be the most hospitable place yet found, but it is at least seven times as massive as Earth. Follow-up observations will determine whether it is a rocky planet with a chance for life or a puffy gas world. | <urn:uuid:f91c4c08-ffb5-451b-9899-3a184d30bbf1> | {
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The 70th anniversary of the single longest battle in Canadian military history is being marked across the country today.
Thousands of members from the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the army gathered Sunday morning at Halifax's Point Pleasant Park to remember thousands of people who lost their lives during the six-year battle.
HMCS Sackville, Canada's only surviving Second World War corvette ship, floated just offshore to lay a wreath and commit to the sea veterans who have recently died. The ashes of 22 naval officers and merchant mariners will be scattered at sea later today.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay was also on hand to introduce the new flag under which all navy ships will sail.
"Sadly, many Canadians died in this valiant effort during the Battle of the Atlantic and never lived to see the freedom for which they fought. But their sacrifice was certainly not for naught. Surely the success of their campaign
The Battle of the Atlantic was fought between 1939 and 1945. It was one of the defining conflicts of the Second World War.
More than 3,000 sailors and merchant seamen lost their lives delivering supplies across the Atlantic Ocean to Britain.
Halifax served as the home base for the battle.
"This city was the nerve centre for the battle for dominance in this critical mission of the Second World War," said MacKay.
Canada's navy had only six destroyers and 13 ships in total when the Battle of the Atlantic began in 1939, according to a Veteran's Affairs Canada website.
During the next six years, the Canadian fleet grew to 373 fighting vessels, making the Canadian navy the third largest in the world.
This is considered the 70th anniversary of the battle because the allies gained control on the water in what's known as "the turning of the tide" in 1943.
German sub sinks SS Athenia, triggers battle
The Battle of the Atlantic began on Sept. 3, 1939, when a German submarine sank the Montreal-bound passenger ship SS Athenia west of Ireland.
The sinking killed 188 of those aboard, including four Canadians.
The Royal Canadian Navy's chief responsibility during the years-long battle was to escort merchant ship convoys. The first sailed from Halifax on Sept. 16, 1939, escorted by the Canadian destroyer St. Laurent.
By mid-1942, the Royal Canadian Navy, with support from the Royal Canadian Air Force, was providing nearly half the convoy escorts, and afterward carried out the lion's share of escort duty.
Training, air cover, special intelligence and more and better equipment turned the tide in mid-1943, although the battle is considered to have lasted until the end of the Second World War. | <urn:uuid:d5fd9988-ed32-47e3-b40f-69bc948da339> | {
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As I begin planning for the upcoming school year, I've been playing around with Wordle and thinking of ways to use it in the classroom. Wordle is a free online tool that generates word clouds from the text you provide. You can then edit the layout, font, and color scheme. My first attempt is below. I may send this as a welcoming postcard to give my student a sneak peek at the year to come.
Other ways to use Wordle in the classroom:
1. Welcome sign using student names
2. Classroom rules or mission statement
3. Important vocabulary from a unit of study (science or social studies)
4. Words, phrases to describe the main idea of a book or character attributes
The possibilities are endless. | <urn:uuid:f31e2db2-5674-49b6-8b5e-9b114f2898dc> | {
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The Billhead evolved from what was known as a "Trade Card," and in the twentieth Century, became known as letterhead. It was created by printing a heading at the top of a sheet of paper, usually from an engraved copper plate. The lower part of the sheet was used for writing a list, a note, or a bill. The standard billhead measured seven to eight inches wide, and four inches or more in length, depending on the need for space for writing the bill. The printed heading usually included an illustration, and sometimes a street address or location of the business. They also included space to write the date and town where the business transaction took place. They were printed on durable rag paper up until the 1860's and 1870's, after which they were printed on thinner woodpulp paper. In general, billheads of this style were in use and remained relatively the same for approximately a 150 year time frame, over three centuries. As historical artifacts, billheads are useful for providing information about tradesmen's products and prices. They help document the types of goods and services that consumers were purchasing.
The American Antiquarian Society has a collection of over 500 billheads representative of what was printed between the 1780's and 1900. They are housed in two boxes. The first box is devoted entirely to billheads from Boston merchants. The other box includes billheads from traders and hotels located in several states, including Massachusetts. They are organized alphabetically by city and state.
-Terri Tremblay, Assistant Curator of Graphic Arts
Source: Rickards, Maurice, The Encyclopedia of Ephemera. New York: Routledge, 2000. | <urn:uuid:b30512da-f7b1-4373-a792-d790e4b31e36> | {
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Discovery could lead to faster diagnosis for some chronic fatigue syndrome casesNovember 14th, 2012 in Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes /
For the first time, researchers have landed on a potential diagnostic method to identify at least a subset of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a complex disorder with no known definitive cause or cure.
In a pilot study of six patients, scientists detected specific antibodies linked to latent Epstein-Barr virus reactivation in blood samples from people who had experienced classic CFS symptoms and responded to antiviral treatment. Control blood samples from 20 healthy people showed no such antibodies.
The research team, led by scientists from Ohio State University and Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, acknowledges that the number of patients is small. But the researchers say the study's power rests in their access to 16 months of blood samples for each patient – a collection allowing for an unprecedented longitudinal look at CFS.
The researchers plan to move forward with development of a clinical laboratory test that can detect these antibodies in blood samples.
The study is published in the Nov. 14 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.
The Epstein-Barr virus is a human herpes virus that causes infectious mononucleosis and several different types of tumors. An estimated 95 percent of Americans have been infected with the virus by adulthood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but fewer than half have experienced an active illness. Once a person is infected, the virus remains dormant in the body, and can be reactivated without causing symptoms of illness.
In these six patients, the study suggests that a latent Epstein-Barr virus had begun to reactivate, but that the newly awakened virus never reached its full potential to take over its host cells. That partial reactivation advanced enough to generate at least two viral proteins, DNA polymerase and dUTPase, and these patients produced antibodies specifically designed to identify and neutralize those proteins for more than a year.
The scientists theorize that even in the absence of a complete active infection, these viral proteins' ability to induce inflammatory chemical signals causes enough immune system chaos to lead to CFS. The disorder's main symptom is profound fatigue for at least six months that does not improve with rest, and is accompanied by problems that can include weakness, muscle pain, impaired memory and depression. Because the illness mimics many other disorders, diagnosis is difficult. An estimated 1 million Americans have CFS, but experts believe only 20 percent are diagnosed.
The study's senior researchers agree that the work should be repeated in more patients "to confirm that these observations are real," said virologist Ron Glaser, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State and a co-author of the study. "But finally, after more than 20 years, this is at least something to go on."
Glaser's primary collaborators on this work are Marshall Williams, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State, and A. Martin Lerner, a professor of internal medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.
Ohio State and Lerner's private practice, CFS LLC, have applied for a patent for the diagnostic method.
Glaser and Williams first published a paper in 1988 suggesting that these two viral proteins associated with partially reactivated Epstein-Barr virus could function as biomarkers for certain illnesses, including CFS. Meanwhile, Lerner became severely ill in 1986 and struggled for 10 years with CFS symptoms before treatment with antivirals dramatically improved his health.
Lerner, an infectious diseases specialist, runs his private CFS practice in Michigan, and his long-term tracking of patients' characteristics and response to treatment made this longitudinal research possible.
The fact that CFS patients experience different symptoms and multiple types of viral and bacterial infections has led researchers to believe CFS potentially has numerous causes. That lack of uniformity also complicates the diagnostic process and development of treatments.
"Part of the problem in trying to identify an agent or biomarkers for chronic fatigue syndrome is the extreme variability among people who say they have CFS. How to sort that out has held the field back a lot of years," said Glaser, who has studied the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) for decades.
Lerner had long ago separated 142 of his patients into two groups: those who had tested positive for various antibodies against three types of herpes viruses and responded to months-long treatment with one of two types of antivirals, and a smaller group that had viral infections and a variety of co-infections who showed minimal response to antiviral treatment. As part of this tracking, he collected multiple blood serum samples for more than a year from each patient.
From those patients, he selected blood samples from six for this study. Five had been identified as an Epstein-Barr virus subset, and the sixth had Epstein-Barr virus and a bacterial co-infection. For comparison, researchers collected samples from 20 healthy people matched to the six CFS patients for age and sex.
Lerner, too, had independently hypothesized that CFS patients might be experiencing partial virus reactivation. Patients might test negative for the most active antibodies required to fight a virus, but could still recover from CFS after long-term antiviral treatment. One antiviral he uses is known to inhibit DNA polymerase, which would halt Epstein-Barr virus reactivation in its tracks.
With the CFS patients' and control blood samples in hand, Williams used a highly sensitive laboratory method to detect whether they contained antibodies to the two target Epstein-Barr viral proteins, DNA polymerase and dUTPase, that are produced early in the process of viral reactivation.
Overall, 78.8 percent of the serum samples from the six CFS patients were positive for antibodies against DNA polymerase and 44.2 percent were positive for antibodies against dUTPase. No antibodies to these two proteins were detected in the 20 control samples.
"Every one of the six had antibodies to DNA polymerase or EBV dUTPase and those antibodies persisted over some 408 days," Lerner said. "And the antibody levels were extraordinarily high." High levels of antibodies circulating in the blood suggest long-term immune activation against those proteins.
Williams noted that the levels might be less significant than the antibodies being present in the first place.
"If you look at most healthy individuals, they wouldn't have any reason to have an antibody against either of these proteins," he said. "The antibodies alone are a good differentiator."
Provided by The Ohio State University
"Discovery could lead to faster diagnosis for some chronic fatigue syndrome cases." November 14th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-discovery-faster-diagnosis-chronic-fatigue.html | <urn:uuid:95d0ad1c-c187-41c5-a4af-168e2a3ff0f5> | {
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ScienceDaily: Anger Management News
Feeling guilty versus feeling angry: Who can tell the difference?
The ability to identify and distinguish between negative emotions helps us address the problem that led to those emotions in the first place. But while some people can tell the difference between feeling angry and frustrated, others may not be able to separate the two. Clinically depressed people often experience negative emotions that interfere with everyday life. A new study examines whether clinically depressed people are able to discriminate between different types of negative emotions. | <urn:uuid:91286d4b-400e-4413-b1d9-986ca2fef9bb> | {
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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Monday, March 17, 2014, 5 p.m. Eastern Time
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Newswise — DALLAS, March 17, 2014 — Brain sensors and electronic tags that dissolve. Boosting the potential of renewable energy sources. These are examples of the latest research from two pioneering scientists selected as this year’s Kavli lecturers at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society.
The meeting features more than 10,000 presentations from the frontiers of chemical research, and is being held here through Thursday. Two of these talks are supported by The Kavli Foundation, a philanthropic organization that encourages basic scientific innovation. These lectures, which are a highlight of the conference, shine a spotlight on the work of both young and established researchers who are pushing the boundaries of science to address some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Tackling health and sustainability issues simultaneously, John Rogers, Ph.D., is developing a vast toolbox of materials — from magnesium and silicon to silk and even rice paper — to make biodegradable electronics that can potentially be used in a range of applications. He will deliver “The Fred Kavli Innovations in Chemistry Lecture.”
“What we’re finding is that there’s a robust and diverse palette of material options at every level,” said Rogers, who’s with the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. “For the conductor, for the semiconductor, for the insulating layer and the package and the substrate, one can pick and choose materials depending on the application’s requirements.”
Rogers’ team is working to incorporate some of these elements in sensors that can, for example, detect the early onset of swelling and temperature changes in the brain after head injuries and then vanish when they’re no longer needed. Today, devices designed for these purposes are wired — they have to be implanted and later completely removed once they’re no longer needed. Rogers’ sensor could be implanted but work wirelessly and, after use, “simply disappear.” That eliminates the risk of infection and other complications associated with having to remove devices surgically. Rogers has successfully tested early prototypes of sensors in laboratory animals and envisions that such devices could be used one day in human patients.
His group is also working on biodegradable radio-frequency identification tags, or RFID tags. Currently, RFIDs are produced by the billions and used in everything from jeans for accurately tracking inventory to smart cards and injected into pets. They are also found in product packaging that ends up in landfills. Using cellulose, zinc and silicon, Rogers has successfully made dissolvable RFID tags in the lab. The next step would be figuring out how to scale production up and commercialize it.
“We’re quite optimistic,” Rogers said. “We see the way forward and are about halfway there.”
Delivering the “The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture” is Emily Weiss, Ph.D., of Northwestern University. Her lab is focused on getting the most power possible out of mixed and matched nanomaterials that are being developed to maximize renewable energy sources. Scientists can now engineer these materials with unprecedented precision to capture large amounts of energy — for example, from the sun and heat sources. But getting all that energy from these materials and pushing it out into the world to power up homes and gadgets have been major obstacles.
“Electric current originates from the movement of electrons through a material,” Weiss explained. “But as they move through a material or device, they encounter places where they have to jump from one type of material to another at what’s called an interface. By interfaces, I mean places where portions of the material that are not exactly alike meet up. The problem is when an electron has to cross from one material to another, it loses energy.”
As structures in materials get smaller, the interface problem becomes amplified because nanomaterials have more surface area compared to their volume. So electrons in these advanced devices have to travel across more and more interfaces, and they lose energy as heat every time.
But thanks to the latest advances in analytical instruments and computing power, Weiss’ group is poised to turn this disadvantage into a plus. “Rather than seeing all these interfaces as a negative, now we don’t need to consider it a drawback,” she said. “We can design an interface such that we can get rid of defects and get rid of this slowdown. We can actually use carefully designed interfaces to enhance the properties of your device. That sort of philosophy is starting to take hold.”
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
The Fred Kavli Innovations in Chemistry Lecture:
John Rogers, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, Ill. 61801
The Kavli Foundation Emerging Leader in Chemistry Lecture:
Emily Weiss, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
Evanston, Ill. 60208
John Rogers, Ph.D.:
A remarkable feature of the modern integrated circuit is its ability to operate in a stable fashion, with almost perfect reliability. Recently developed classes of electronic materials create an opportunity to engineer the opposite outcome, in the form of devices that dissolve completely in water, with harmless end products. The enabled applications range from 'green' consumer electronics to bio-resorbable medical implants – none of which would be possible with technologies that exist today. This talk summarizes recent work on this physically 'transient' type of electronics, from basic advances in materials chemistry, to fundamental studies of dissolution reactions, to engineering development of complete sets of device components, sensors and integrated systems. An 'electroceutical' bacteriocide designed for treatment of surgical site infections provides an application example.
Emily Weiss, Ph.D.:
Behavior of electrons at nanoscopic organic/inorganic interfaces
The behavior of electrons and energy at interfaces between different types or phases of materials is an active research area of both fundamental and technological importance. Such interfaces often result in sharp free energy gradients that provide the thermodynamic driving force for some of the most crucial processes for energy conversion: migration of energy and charge carriers, conversion of excited states to mobile charge carriers, and redox-driven chemical reactions. Nanostructured materials are defined by high surface area-to-volume ratios, and should therefore be ideal for the job of energy conversion; however, they have a structural and chemical complexity that does not exist in bulk materials, and which presents a formidable challenge: mitigate or eliminate energy barriers to electron and energy flux that inevitably result from forcing dissimilar materials to meet in a spatial region of atomic dimensions. Chemical functionalization of nanostructured materials is perhaps the most versatile and powerful strategy for controlling the potential energy landscape of their interfaces, and for minimizing losses in energy conversion efficiency due to interfacial structural and electronic defects. Using metal and semiconductor nanoparticles as model systems, this talk will explore the power of tuning the chemistry at the organic-inorganic interface within colloidal semiconductor and metal nanoparticles as a strategy for controlling their structure and properties. | <urn:uuid:36a96d8e-2483-4e6d-ae5e-b77737c001e8> | {
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Blockchain, developed in response to the emergence of cryptocurrencies, is an ever growing list of records that irreversibly
stores all details of transactions, once a transaction has been completed it
forms part of the blockchain permanent database. The blocks are linked and
secured using cryptography, ensuring
that they remain tamper-proof and safe from hacking: The data can be easily
distributed, but neither duplicated nor modified; thus these transactions are
impenetrable and inerasable.
Blockchain serves as an open
distributed database managed by a peer-to-peer network that records
transactions between two parties on a connected system of registers. Such
transactions do not necessarily need to be of the financial variety as the
system is capable of recording any transaction of economic value. This system
is decentralized and the records are public and easily verifiable, allowing for
transparency and incorruptibility.
Blockchain technology can
simplify business operations hence dramatically reducing expenses, mistakes,
and delays caused by traditional methods for reconciliation of records. Additionally,
greater transparency and ease of auditing could lead to decreased AML regulatory
Unlike traditional banking, Blockchain
requires minimal human involvement in processing and is not controlled as a
single entity with the records existing in a shared and continuously updated
database. Interestingly, Blockchain technology is virtually incorruptible, as
any attempt to alter the records would require an enormous amount of computing
power to gain access to every computer on the Blockchain network in order to
successfully override the database.
What are Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin?
Cryptocurrencies are a type of digital currency with a value dependent on people agreeing
to trade goods and services in exchange for a higher amount of the currency
under their control, and believing others will do the same. Blockchain
technology was developed in response to the emergence of cryptocurrencies and
acts as a database that records and contains evidence of all transactions
The unprecedented success of cryptocurrencies can be attributed to the security
and anonymity it provides to users. Bitcoin, considered the original
cryptocurrency, has paved the way for an emergence of cryptocurrencies since
its release in 2009. To date there are over 900 different types of
cryptocurrency that can be used for buying or selling with other
currencies, purchasing goods and
services from providers who are willing to accept digital currency, investing in
various assets or retaining the currency as an investment in itself.
Bitcoin (BTC), synonymous with the word cryptocurrency, is perhaps the most
well-known of all virtual currencies. It
allows users to exchange online credits for goods and services. Bitcoin was
first created by an unknown person operating under the alias of Satoshi
Nakamoto. When first introduced, the idea of a digital currency was a
completely foreign concept with many people feeling that a non-physical
currency not regulated by a central bank or government entity was doomed to
Bitcoins are traded from one personal digitalized ‘wallet’ to another. The
wallet consists of a small personal database that you store in your system,
phone or your tablet. Globally, there are dozens of online Bitcoin exchanges
2- Blockchain operations in
The GCC in general, but more specifically the UAE, is moving towards a
more technology based economy. Regional governments have already started to
experiment with blockchain technology and its potential use in both the public
and the private sectors.
a- Block Chain Council
In an effort to stay ahead of the curve, the Global Blockchain Council was
established in Dubai to adopt
the latest technologies and innovation practices on a global scale. The council
is composed of 46 members, all of whom have the potential to become key players
in the Blockchain industry. Council members include a host of government
entities, international companies, leading UAE banks, free zones, and other international
Blockchain technology firms, including Microsoft, Du, SAP, IBM, Cisco, TECOM,
Dubai Holding, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, EmiratesNBD, Smart Dubai Office
and Dubai Smart Government.
The Dubai Blockchain Strategy,
launched by His Highness Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan, was the result of collaboration
between the Smart Dubai Office and the Dubai Future Foundation with the mission
to continuously explore and evaluate the latest technology innovations in an
effort to further improve the lifestyle of the city’s residents.
The strategy’s aim is to give an
economic edge to all sectors and position Dubai as a leader in global
In fact, the city of
Dubai is, somewhat ambitiously, aiming to become the world’s first economy to
have and operate with its own cryptocurrency by the year 2020.
The Dubai Blockchain Strategy is
built on three pillars:
Government Efficiency: The new strategy
will contribute to increased government efficiency by promoting widespread
digitalization including, a paperless digital layer for all city transactions. Official
documents such as visa applications, bill payments and license renewals will be
transacted digitally under the new strategy thus reducing carbon emissions, processing
times and costs.
Industry Creation: The Dubai Blockchain
Strategy will introduce a system for enabling citizens and partners to create
new businesses using the shared ledger technology. Industries expected to benefit
include: real estate, fin-tech and banking, healthcare, transportation, urban
planning, smart energy, digital commerce and tourism.
will open its Blockchain platform for global counterparts to enhance safety,
security and convenience on a global level.
Many Government entities in Dubai
have already begun to test the water and roll out blockchain technology including
the Dubai Land Department, the Dubai Department of Economic Development,
Department of Naturalization and Residency and the Dubai Municipality.
Emcredit, a subsidiary of Dubai
Economy, and the UK-based Object Tech Group Ltd will work together to develop
and implement emCash, an encrypted digital currency operating with blockchain
technology, which people can use to pay for various government and non-government
services in Dubai.
The Dubai Land
Department (DLD) has achieved another technical milestone by becoming the
world’s first government entity to adopt Blockchain technology. The
first-of-its-kind initiative in the global real estate sector, was launched
under the slogan “Simple, Secure, Fast”.
database records all real estate contracts including lease registrations, and
links them with the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), the
telecommunications system, and other property-related bills.
The Department of
Naturalization and Residency Dubai (DNRD) aims to facilitate procedures for
residency using biometrics systems and Blockchain technology.
The Dubai Economic Department (DED), meanwhile,
signed memorandums of understanding with both Otonomos
and MarketIQ to produce an innovative licensing procedure using the Blockchain
technology and Big Data, in an effort to reduce processing time for
applications by 80%.
Agreements were further signed between Smart
Dubai, Avanza Solutions and Consensys to standardize government services
payment gateways using Blockchain, and to create a cryptocurrency for Dubai.
Dubai Municipality has signed memorandums of
understanding with Renca and Winnow to legalize the 3D printing of building
material in order to promote 3D printing in the construction industry, and to
encourage the deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT) to reduce food waste
across the hospitality sector.
Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin operations in UAE.
In the region, Bitcoins can
be bought and exchanged through Dubai based BitOasis, a secure platform
offering the trade of cryptocurrencies and storage services for the MENA region.
Bitcoin is often purchased as a
long-term investment, which is bought and held in the hope that its value will
increase dramatically over time. Early adopters have been well rewarded, but
there remains plenty of volatility.
An attractive feature of online
exchange platforms like BitOasis is the option to buy fractions or “bits”
instead of a whole Bitcoin, with investment starting from as little as $10 on
some sites. Transaction fees typically range from 0.2 to 1 per cent of the
currency bought, plus bank transaction charges.
Bitcoins are stored in a “digital
wallet”, either in the cloud or on computers, which can be directly linked to a
purchaser’s bank account facilitating payment via bank transfer, mobile
payments or with a Visa or MasterCard, or at Bitcoin ATMs such as one based at
Dubai Media City.
Bitcoin supporters claim that
because it is not controlled by any central bank, the currency is not subject
to any inflationary pressures. However, Bitcoin cannot be considered a
fool-proof investment, recently it suffered a 12% decrease in value as South
Korean, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yem announced government plans to consider a
ban on cryptocurrencies. Many exchange houses are looking to bitcoin to help
reverse a decline in global remittances, for instance, UAE Exchange invested in
two blockchain-based companies, Loyyal and Bankchain, in the first half of 2017
and is in talks with a third.
Are there other cryptocurrencies improving and
innovating the system in UAE?
In the UAE, there are some
trading platforms and cryptocurrencies of significance that are having an
impact on the market, these include:
The ArabianChain, a local
cryptocurrency to enable secure payments and money transfer, was founded in
February 2016 and began trading in the market in April 2017. ArabianChain is
the first company in the region to develop a public and decentralized platform
for smart contracts on blockchain. The platform is particularly innovative as
it also delivers workshops and educational sessions in an effort to increase
blockchain competency within organizations and aiding companies in the MENA to
successfully integrate blockchain technology.
The Dubai-based OneGram jointly
with GoldGuard, a gold trading platform, launched a sharia compliant cryptocurrency
that is completely backed by gold. The company has already launched an Initial
Coin Offering (ICO) offering, which aims to raise more than US $500 million in
This new type of cryptocurrency
uses blockchain technology to create a digital currency that is intrinsically
linked to one gram of gold. The idea is that currency, backed by physical gold,
guarantees safety and transparency for the buyer. The coin will be listed on a
few digital currency platforms and some analysts have said OneGram is the
closest coin that has ever come to knocking bitcoin off its pedestal because
unlike Bitcoin, the coin always has a base price bring at least equal to the
current price of gold.
Money Trade Coin.
Money Trade Coin, has taken steps
to position itself as leader in cryptocurrency knowledge, launching its coin,
the Money Trade Coin Trading platform and exchange, and including the
Cryptocurrency E-Academy, aiming to educate the young generations about the benefits
of using and trading digital currencies along with an Online Service E-Portal.
The management is aiming to set-up other businesses such as E-commerce and
E-travel desk all based on the Money Trade Coin.
Money Trade Coin, coupled with an
ultra-secure wallet, claims to be first fully secured cryptocurrency, which
implements the highest standards of compliance with relation to the KYC and AML.
5- Which are the areas of concern
about Blockchain and cryptocurrencies?
The challenges to the wider
adoption of these technologies include: cyber security; regulatory uncertainty;
lack of physical representation of the coin; mistrust of bitcoin related
technology due to dark-web and criminal connotations; high energy consumption
needed to complete transaction; questionable capability for smart contracts to accurately
execute complex instructions; fear of disruptive potential that can often lead
to adoption resistance; privacy and data-security on public blockchains and
software compatibility issues.
These innovating technologies are an attractive investment vehicle, but
it comes with high risks because at the moment it is an unregulated market
offering no protection.
Legal Aspects in the UAE.
Bitcoin is not screened by any governmental agency nor
does it pass through any bank or financial institution, this creates
significant challenges concerning government regulators and current laws.
Bitcoin’s “monetary policy” is written into its code:
New money is issued every 10 minutes, and the supply is limited, a hard money rule is applied
similar to the gold standard.
The UAE Central Bank published the
“Regulatory Framework for Stored Values and Electronic Payment Systems” on
January 1st, 2017 to promote consumer protection and financial
stability. However, on February 1st 2017, the Governor of the UAE
Central Bank issued a statement clarifying that “these regulations do not apply
to bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, currency exchanges, or underlying
technology such as Blockchain,” as well as adding that virtual currencies are currently
under review by the Central Bank and new regulations will be issued as
appropriate based on evolution of concepts and adoption rates.
waiting for new regulations to be issued addressing cryptocurrencies, one key question
that needs to be addressed, is Bitcoin a currency or a Commodity?
If Bitcoin is deemed a commodity, then the UAE Securities
and Commodity Authority has
local bitcoin exchanges while if it is deemed a currency, it would fall under
the regulatory authority of the UAE Central bank. Further, and if it ends up
being considered a commodity, it may become subject to VAT. The UAE authorities
have yet to clarify their position on the matter.
The launch of the Global Blockchain Council
and the adoption of the Dubai Blockchain Strategy demonstrate the position of
the Dubai Government in recognizing the potential of Blockchain based
The Dubai Supreme Legislation Committee
further stated that the UAE “should be among the first in the region and the
world to establish a legislative framework and a financial and organizational
structure for this technology.”
c- Smart Contracts
Amongst the various applications of the blockchain
technology are smart contracts. Smart contracts probably have the most
potential to alter the way companies do business.
As Blockchain can process transactions, not just simply store transaction information, they can serve as a
platform for “smart contracts”. These contracts are electronically drafted,
executed and performed, eliminating the possibility of fraud or downtime by
either party. It is a self-executing agreement and once created it produces its
outputs autonomously. The more sophisticated the code, the more automated,
self-executing, and smarter the contract.
form of legal agreements suffer from several imperfections such as the inherent
ambiguities in legal prose, the time-consuming process of signature pages
between parties, possibility of being slowed down by human effort, the costs of
creating contracts or performance where third-party input is required and the
inefficient storage of legal documents.
technology may provide much needed relief to some of these problems. However,
some difficulty still lies in the fact that smart contracts cannot be easily
rectified. In a scenario whereby a bug gets in the code or incorrect details
are entered at the time of submission it is unclear how it can be rescinded.
Traditionally, contracts are rescinded in court but in the case of smart
contracts it remains to be seen how it can be rescinded or if it must be
performed regardless of the irregularities.
UAE Federal Law No.1 of 2006 on
Electronic Commerce and Transactions appears to allude to
“smart contracts” in its Article 12 as it states that “Contracts between
confidential electronic mediums that include two or several electronic
information systems, designed and programmed in advance to perform so, shall be
deemed valid, enforceable and giving its legal effects even in the instance of
no personal or direct interference of any physical person,” adding that,
“conclude contracts between a confidential electronic information system in the
possession of physical or juristic person and another physical person is
further allowed should the latter know or is supposed to know that the system
shall conclude the contract automatically.” This is a very important first step
towards the regularization of these technologies in the UAE that complements
the UAE Governmental strategy in becoming pioneers in adopting innovative
Nevertheless, and as an emerging technology promising self-executing
contracts with little human intervention, smart contracts give rise to some
entirely new legal challenges and any attempts to subject smart contracts to existing
laws may create challenges and raise enforceability questions which need to be
addressed by the development of a legal framework under which Blockchain can be
7- What is the situation with
Initial Coin Offerings and the DFSA position regarding them?
of organizations around the world have taken to digitally raising funds through
“Initial Coin Offerings” (ICOs), whereby investors pay using
cryptocurrencies or conventional currencies in exchange for a new
cryptocurrency created and issued by a company (real or virtual). This company
then uses the currency raised to hold assets and fund projects allowing
cryptocurrencies to be treated as an equity investment.
September 13 2017, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), issued a
“General Investor Statement on Cryptocurrencies,” stating that ICOs should
be considered high risk investments due, in part, to the complex systems and
technology that support them. According to the General Statement, “they have
their own unique risks, which may not be easy to identify or understand; such
risks may increase where offerings are made on a cross-border basis.” It
further added that, “these offerings should be regarded as high-risk
The DFSA further made clear
that it does not currently regulate these types of product offerings or license
firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) to undertake such
activities. Accordingly, before engaging with any persons promoting such
offerings in the DIFC, or making any financial contribution toward such
offerings, the DFSA urges potential investors to exercise caution and undertake
due diligence to understand the risks involved. | <urn:uuid:b556ab88-5cbb-4ff4-981c-5bf0a7fbe1b9> | {
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How Do I Rate This?
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Big Science Comes in Small and Automated Packages
Researchers at JPL have developed a new chip that can carry out wet-chemistry experiments without human interaction.
The goal of planetary exploration missions is to learn as much as possible about alien environments. Learning about planetary bodies requires rovers, landers, and orbiters to take samples from these environments, process them, and send the data back to Earth. It is difficult enough to conduct science experiments in a laboratory where teams of researchers have access to cutting-edge technical tools. It is even more challenging to do this in space where researchers are millions of miles away from their equipment and can only patiently guide their experiment, step-by-step, through a delayed communications link.
To help meet this challenge, Peter Willis and California Institute of Technology Postdoctoral Fellow M. Fernanda Mora, technologists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., have recently developed a new "lab-on-a-chip" that is essentially an automated, miniature laboratory. This chip was designed and fabricated at JPL’s Microdevices Laboratory, and is the first chip known to autonomously perform all the sample processing, separation, and detection steps that a researcher would perform in the lab to search a sample for chemical markers and amino acids.
Top: Microdevice drawing showing separation channel, μCE reservoirs, and the fluidic system. The processing unit contains eight reservoirs for handling samples, standards, and reagents. Bottom: Example of a separation of five amino acids using the microfluidic device (lab-on-a-chip).
While lab-on-a-chip technology has been around since the 1990s, it has only recently been demonstrated to automatically carry out end-to-end experiments in a single device. "Before automating the analysis with this chip, all the sample handling and analyses were performed manually by the operator," says Mora. "This new technology enables the user to perform a whole analysis just by sending the right commands from the computer to the chip. Although we still need to manually place the sample and reagents on the device, we are currently working on different ways to introduce the sample in an automated fashion too."
The automated lab-on-a-chip is made of stacked glass wafers that are no larger in circumference than a DVD. Fluidic channels that are 50 x 20 microns are etched into the wafers with acid, making the chip ready to receive samples.
Extremely small liquid samples are delivered to the chip by an external sample delivery system that would be part of a rover or lander. Such a delivery system would be charged with identifying and gathering an appropriate sample and is not part of the lab-on-a-chip.
The lab-on-a-chip is able to start its work, once the sample arrives, by using a set of valves arranged in a fluidic circuit to move specific samples through the steps necessary for each experiment. Along the way, microchip capillary electrophoresis (μCE) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection is performed to identify specific chemical markers from the sample and report back to the researcher.
To set this automatic process in motion, all the researcher has to do is send a command to an in situ instrument, such as a lander, tell the lab-on-a-chip what experiment it is going to perform, and let it continually process samples as they become available. "The fact that we can remotely reprogram the system to perform different experiments is extremely useful for planetary missions to places such as Mars or Titan, where the samples encountered may be very different than anticipated," says Mora. "Having an adaptable, reprogrammable fluidic circuit is highly advantageous in these scenarios."
This new automation is what makes the lab-on-a-chip well suited for planetary missions where human beings are not present and where a sample return to Earth is not feasible. Additionally, the lab-on-a-chip consumes minimal amounts of each sample, requires low amounts of power to operate, is reprogrammable, and can be mass produced. This makes the lab-on-a-chip a highly attractive choice for planetary missions to places such as Mars, Titan, Enceladus or Europa.
Work to incorporate additional features into the lab-on-a-chip is already underway, such as adapting it to not just analyze fluid samples, but solid or gas samples as well. It also may come into everyday use as ideas for creating portable and cell-phone size chemical analysis hardware are already in the planning stages. "Although we are currently focusing on planetary exploration and astrobiology applications, this technology is invaluable here on Earth as well," says Willis. "Our vision is to create a handheld chemical analyzer that anyone could use. A user could download an app for analyzing whatever sample they were interested in. Our current work is a critical step in this process."
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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Up to 14% of people with diabetes are at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, also known as median nerve entrapment. The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway of ligament and bones at the base of your hand. It contains nerve and tendons. The median nerve runs from the forearm into the hand. Thickening from irritated tendons or other swelling narrows the tunnel and causes the nerve to be compressed.
Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include:
- Sleep interruption due to numb hands
- Waking up with numb hands and pain
- Pain in hand and wrist
- Weakness in hand and wrist
- Pain radiating up the forearm
- Poor circulation, hands falling asleep
- Cold hands, warm forearms
- Loss of hand grip strength
- Loss of feeling in fingers/thumb
- Dropping objects, clumsiness
Symptoms usually start gradually and as they worsen, grasping objects can become difficult. Treatment includes resting the hand, splints, pain and anti-inflammatory medicines, and surgery.
Mexican-Spiced Black Beans Teriyaki-Glazed Salmon with Peaches Cheddar Beer Muffins Pineapple Honey Chicken Breasts Apricot Sorbet Curried Celery Soup Curried Dinner Rolls Creamy Crab Dip Shredded Pork Eggplant Relish
One of the "parents' business" items on our current trip to Virginia was a visit by a case nurse from an agency that is trying to get the Out-Laws additional personal and health assistance. While the old folk found her questions intrusive, they were reasonable follow-ons based on the OutLaws' current states of cognitive and physical health. One of the sets of questions was about their medications. A list of them was posted on the door to the den. The case nurse assumed... | <urn:uuid:da31df34-9c0b-47fe-aba4-f10013d0bed9> | {
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It’s pumpkin time! Pumpkins are a traditional part of fall, including being the tasty filling for Thanksgiving pie. Before you throw away the pumpkin seeds, Dr. Martha Howard of Wellness of Chicago offers these amazing health benefits. (And, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of drying and roasting them, you can always just buy pumpkin seeds.)
Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds:
· Helps raise good cholesterol, HDL, and lower bad cholesterol, LDL, because they contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid.
· Nature’s “happy pills” – contain lots of tryptophan, good for relaxation and sleep, and also glutamate, a precursor of GABA, one of the neurotransmitters that calms the brain.
· Full of magnesium and zinc – Magnesium is hard to come by in the American diet, and a majority of us are deficient in it. Zinc is also a common deficiency. It is important to have enough zinc because it is one of the most important elements in preventing osteoporosis.
· Contains fiber – which increases the satisfied “full feeling” that keeps you from getting hungry and binge eating.
· Natural anti-inflammatory – effectively reduces inflammation helping with arthritis.
· Used in traditional cultures – prevents and treats parasites.
· Helps prevent kidney stones – prevents calcium oxalate formation.
What about pumpkin itself? It has beta carotene and potassium. Beta carotene, the same B vitamin that is in carrots, is a player in preventing everything from cancer to wrinkles! A cup of pumpkin contains more potassium than a banana - it’s going to have to be a good sized piece of pie to get a cup! | <urn:uuid:91098875-69b9-4827-8f22-15b04b6b9a2e> | {
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Realist conventions of writing
2 a guide to teaching nonfiction writing teach nonfiction writing explicitly nonfiction writing fills our lives everywhere we look there are newspapers, magazines, directions, street signs, recipes, letters, maps, menus, e-mails, internet. Conventions of academic writing composition 2 april 21, 2011 conventions of academic writing while writing you are required to type your papers in one of several different forms the form you write your research/essay paper in is solely up to your instructor. Narrative conventions of formal realism english literature essay critic caroline rudy suggests beloved is a unique historical writing morrison rewrites and .
Realist conventions for representing character in e m forster’s howards end (1910) 12 tuesday feb 2013 posted by genespencer in books , literary criticism , literature , writing. We will also consider the conventions of realistic representation in different genres, art forms and media, and their role in non-fictional forms of writing throughout the course, we will also introduce different aspects and stages of critical writing about literary texts, with exercises and feedback. Realist writers, unlike the romantics, like to focus on groups of people they give us the big picture: a panorama of a village, a city, or a society and because realism is about giving us the big picture, it tends to be associated with the novel genre, which is huge and flexible.
Considered one of the great american realist writers, mark twain is not only celebrated for the stories he tells but also the way in which he tells them, with an unmatched ear for the english language and sensitivity to the diction of the common man to flesh out his stories, twain also drew . List of romance conferences and conventions chances are excellent you'll make a connection that will end up advancing your writing career. Realism and naturalism theatre conventions by one of the more confusing aspects of theatre history and performance styles for teachers and students is the differences between realism and naturalism. A realistic fiction – imaginative writing that accurately reflects life as it could be lived today everything is a realistic fiction story could conceivably happen to real people living in today’s.
Van maanen identifies three broad types of ethnographic writing and the conventions that govern them examples of the first styleñ'realist tales'ñinvolve the almost complete absence of the author from the text, scenes and events being described 'as they are'. Elements of magical realism to convey this, magical realist writers write the ordinary as it features heavily in the writing style and language used to . This is a sample essay provided by the custom writing services at ultius, goes into depth regarding the literary conventions used by gabriel garcia marquez in his novella, chronicle of a death foretold. Omniscient narrator in realism back next realist writers really rocked the omniscient narratorwhat's that, you ask omniscient narrators are sort of like the superheroes of narrators, and that's because they know everything. Realism broke with these conventions, depicting middle-class and working men and women, endowed with regular names that gave them the illusion of being real people instead of kings and queens involved in high-stakes diplomacy, realist novels showed mothers and fathers engaged in family politics, or workers struggling to make it against an .
Realist conventions of writing
The purpose of using realism is to emphasize the reality and morality that is usually relativistic and intrinsic for the people as well as the society this sort of realism makes the readers face reality as it happens in the world, rather than in the make-believe world of fantasy. A theory of writing in which the ordinary, familiar, or mundane aspects of life are represented in a straightforward or matter-of-fact manner that is presumed to reflect life as it actually is compare naturalism (def 1b) . The narrative perspective is a valuable tool in the portrayal of a realist novel realist and non-realist techniques and conventions in dickens’s writing . But what makes writing in detail about sex in particular somehow not literary or not realistic and therefore not part of “serious” writing looking into the conventions of any genre is fascinating.
- Art—according to the realist view—had as its purpose to better mankind drama was to involve the direct observation of human behavior therefore, there was a .
- What kinds of issues inform social realist writing by women ment of social realism what kinds of political effects and reforms did social realist writers hope.
These sub-genres are categorized by their time periods and also their writing styles and conventions as time and contexts changed crime fiction grew and developed as a genre the six main sub-genres are early crime fiction (sensation novels), the golden age, the intuitionists, the realists, hard-boiled and contemporary crime fiction . Overview of the principle stylistic conventions of literary realism an economy of writing, what is literary realism - approximating a definition. Definitions broadly defined as the faithful representation of reality or verisimilitude, realism is a literary technique practiced by many schools of writing. Ambrose bierce: a realist essay use of realist and non-realist techniques and conventions’ genre or style of writing therefore to classify the realist . | <urn:uuid:0c1de2f9-a220-4a22-b147-66892c200c48> | {
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Rapid plant movement
Rapid plant movement encompasses movement in plant structures occurring over a very short period, usually under one second. For example, the Venus flytrap closes its trap in about 100 milliseconds. The dogwood bunchberry's flower opens its petals and fires pollen in less than 0.5 milliseconds. The record is currently held by the white mulberry tree, with flower movement taking 25 microseconds, as pollen is catapulted from the stamens at velocities in excess of half the speed of sound—near the theoretical physical limits for movements in plants.
These rapid plant movements differ from the more common, but much slower "growth-movements" of plants, called tropisms.
Plants that capture and consume prey
- Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
- Waterwheel plant (Aldrovanda vesiculosa)
- Bladderwort (Utricularia)
- Certain varieties of sundew (Drosera)
Plants that move leaves for other reasons
- Sensitive plant (Mimosa pudica)
- Catclaw brier (Mimosa nuttallii)
- Telegraph plant (Codariocalyx motorius)
- Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
- Sensitive partridge pea (Chamaecrista nictitans)
- Roemer sensitive briar (Schrankia roemeriana)
- Yellow neptunia (Neptunia lutea)
Plants that spread seeds or pollen by rapid movement
- Squirting cucumber (Ecballium agreste)
- Cardamine hirsuta and other Cardamine spp. have seed pods which explode when touched.
- Impatiens (Impatiens)
- Sandbox tree
- Triggerplant (all Stylidium species)
- Canadian dwarf cornel (aka dogwood bunchberry, Cornus canadensis)
- White mulberry (Morus alba)
- Orchid (all Catasetum genus)
- Dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium)
- Witch-hazel (Hamamelis)
- Some Fabaceae have beans that twist as they dry out, putting tension on the seam, which at some point will split suddenly and violently, spraying the seeds metres from the maternal plant.
- Minnieroot (Ruellia tuberosa)
- Forterre, Y., J.M. Skotheim, J. Dumais & L. Mahadevan 2005. PDF (318 KB) Nature 433: 421–425. doi:10.1038/nature03185
- Taylor, P.E., G. Card, J. House, M. H. Dickinson & R.C. Flagan 2006. High-speed pollen release in the white mulberry tree, Morus alba L.. Sexual Plant Reproduction 19(1): 19–24. doi:10.1007/s00497-005-0018-9
- Tony D. Auld (1996). "Ecology of the Fabaceae in the Sydney region: fire, ants and the soil seedbank" (PDF). Cunninghamia. 4 (4): 531–551.
- Matt Lavin (2001). "Fabaceae". Macmillan Reference USA.
- "Marantaceae in Flora of North America @". Efloras.org. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
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Paleontologists unearthed a strange sight in Newfoundland in the early 2000s: an ancient fossil bed of giant, frond-shaped marine organisms. Researchers had discovered these mysterious extinct creatures—called rangeomorphs—before, but they continue to defy categorization. Now scientists believe the Newfoundland fossils and their brethren could help answer key questions about life on Earth.
Rangeomorphs date back to the Ediacaran period, which lasted from about 635 million to 541 million years ago. They had stemlike bodies that sprouted fractal-like branches and were soft like jellyfish. Scientists think these creatures grew to sizes until then unseen among animals—up to two meters long. After they went extinct, the planet saw an explosion of diverse large animal life during the Cambrian. “Rangeomorphs are part of the broader context of what was going on at this time in Earth's history,” says study co-author Jennifer Hoyal Cuthill, a paleobiology research fellow at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Figuring out how rangeomorphs grew to such great sizes could help provide context for understanding how big, diverse animals originated and how conditions on Earth—which were shifting around this time—may have affected the evolution of life.
To better understand these connections, Hoyal Cuthill and University of Cambridge paleontologist Simon Conway Morris analyzed several rangeomorph fossils. The pair performed a micro CT scan on one well-preserved fossil of a species called Avalofractus abaculus, found in Newfoundland, to examine its 3-D structure in fine detail. They also took photographic measurements of two other specimens for comparison.
The researchers examined various aspects of the rangeomorphs' stems and branches, then used mathematical models to investigate the relation between the fossils' surface areas and volumes. Their models, combined with the fossil observations, revealed that the organisms' size and shape appeared to be governed by the amount of available nutrients, according to the study, published recently in Nature Ecology & Evolution. This may explain why they could reach such large sizes during a period when Earth's geochemistry was changing.
But other experts are hesitant to generalize in this way. “This is an interesting finding that supports the growing consensus among researchers that rangeomorphs had the potential to grow differently in response to their environment,” says Jack Matthews, a research fellow at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the work. But “it is perhaps premature for this study to apply its finding to all rangeomorphs.”
If the explanation turns out to be correct, though, Hoyal Cuthill says, it could provide an answer for “what links this amazing appearance of larger organisms in the fossil record with [what was] happening on Earth.” | <urn:uuid:cbcc4fb0-aeeb-4658-b787-9fde607f163e> | {
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CARL SAFINA'S childhood by the sea led him to become a marine ecologist and conservationist. He recently spent a year based at his cabin in the dunes of Lazy Point on Long Island, patrolling the local coastline and journeying to both polar regions. Studying the life he observed along the way, Mr Safina—like a country doctor—found himself taking the pulse of the planet.
Everywhere he found the natural world shifting in response to humanity. But the book that emerged from his journey is not so much a polemic against anthropogenic climate change as an impression of a world in flux, a lament about the damage caused by overexploitation, pollution and flawed economics, and a call to arms in the cause of hope.
In once-abused Alaska Mr Safina finds life resurgent. Thanks to the rich nutrients in its soil, it grows more wood mass per acre than anywhere in the world. The trees shade the streams and wood-falls create lagoons that promote ideal conditions for salmon. Bears pluck the teeming fish from the water and scatter their half-eaten remains through the forest, fertilising the soil to fuel the growth of trees—and so further boost the world's healthiest wild salmon runs.
Mr Safina's writing moves easily from revelatory observation sparked by a flash of bird or splash of fish to passionate, lyrical philosophy. He rails against the concept of growth-based development. He tears into Adam Smith's thoughts on the benefits of selfishness and argues that defending dirty energy is as morally bankrupt as defending slavery.
Mr Safina rubs away at the chalk circle that 19th-century thinkers drew around humanity to separate it from the natural world. He describes nature as mankind's church as well as its bank, and in Svalbard he becomes angry when he finds only bones where once great whales fuelled an economic boom. It is a “tragedy of the commons” that extends not just across space, but also across time, he explains. We are taking not only more than our fair share of our neighbour's grass, but also our children's.
Mr Safina provides many examples of the human urge to exploit. Walking on the beach near Lazy Point one night under a full moon, he comes across horseshoe crabs laying their eggs. The crabs have existed unchanged for 450m years, and their rich eggs have become a cornerstone in the local ecosystem. But they also make excellent bait. A pickup truck arrives on the beach, and a young commercial fisherman begins throwing the ancient creatures into the back of it. An impassioned debate follows.
In the course of his year of study, Mr Safina also finds nature retreating from the brink. Peregrine falcons dot the sky, the coral reefs of Palau are transformed from ghostly white skeletons to a riot of colour in only a decade, and once again an abundance of once-endangered striped bass are to be found in his home waters. More such changes are what he longs for. | <urn:uuid:43c20a66-db48-4f19-99ef-c6071cdc2b85> | {
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On a sweltering August morning, a small group of Iranians crowded outside the green metal door of a cemetery. They wanted to go in to look at the remains of one particular tomb: the tomb of biblical Eve.
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — On a sweltering August morning, a small group of Iranians crowded outside the green metal door of a cemetery. They wanted to go in to look at the remains of one particular tomb: the tomb of biblical Eve.
Like hundreds of Muslims who visit Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage in nearby Mecca, the Iranians had heard the legend that Eve was buried in that spot. The two blue signs inscribed with "The Graveyard of our mother Eve" flanking the cemetery entrance appeared to add credibility to a story passed on by generations of Saudis but never scientifically proven.
"We hear this is the tomb of Eve," said Minoo Ghadimkhani, 45. "That is why we want to go in."
There is no archaeological evidence old enough to authenticate the story of Eve's burial in Jiddah, according to many Bible experts. But that hasn't kept the legend from persisting.
Some say that the city's name, when pronounced as "Jaddah" — an Arabic word that means grandmother — is a reference to Eve. No one really knows how the story originated, and many in this Red Sea port city dismiss it as a myth.
"It's a legend, but it is one mentioned by many scholars," said Sami Nawar, general director for culture and tourism. Nawar, an expert on the history of old Jiddah, likes to lace a bit of the legend into his presentations on the city to visiting foreign dignitaries and journalists.
"Jiddah is the most feminine city in the whole world because it has Eve," Nawar says.
The Quran, Islam's holy book, talks about Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise after eating from the fruit of the forbidden tree. It does not say where they appeared on earth.
But Arab tradition puts Adam in the holy city of Mecca, which is 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of Jiddah, where God ordered him to build the Kaaba, the sacred stone structure that Muslims face during their five daily prayers, according to Nawar.
God then told Adam to go to a hill in Mecca to repent for his sins, said Nawar. After he repented, God sent him Eve, and the hill became known as Mount Arafat, from the Arabic word that means to know, he added. That story places Eve, Hawwa in Arabic, in the vicinity of Jiddah, which is the entry point for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. It could explain how the legend of her burial began.
Arab and Western historians and travelers have described a tomb outside the walls of old Jiddah that they referred to as Eve's Graveyard.
Historian Hatoon al-Fassi said 9th century Mecca historian al-Fakihi reported that two of Prophet Muhammad's companions, Ibn Abbas and Ibn Massoud, mentioned Eve's tomb. The prophet died in 623.
Writing about Jiddah in his "Travels," Ibn Jubayr, a 12th century geographer, traveler and poet, born in Valencia, then the seat of an Arab emirate, says that "in it is a place having an ancient and lofty dome, which is said to have been the lodging place of Eve, the mother of mankind, God's blessing upon her when on her way to (Mecca)." The passage was quoted by the Arab News, a Saudi paper.
The tomb no longer exists. And it's not clear how it was destroyed. Those who have been inside the cemetery say that in its place is a row of unmarked tombs, and there's nothing to indicate the tomb had been there. (The Wahhabi strain of Islam bans the marking of tombs, and women in the Saudi kingdom are barred from entering cemeteries.)
William Dever, a professor emeritus of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona and a prominent U.S. archaeologist, said there just isn't any archaeological evidence going back far enough to back up the claims.
"The problem is that these are all legends, these are all myths and we can't date them," said Dever, who specializes in the history of Israel and Near East in biblical times. "My guess is the story could go back two or three thousand years, but we don't have any archaeological proof."
"There are lots of traditional tombs of saints of various kinds in the Middle East," he added. "But they are never excavated or investigated scientifically."
Asked if he had heard of any other final resting place for Eve, Dever said, "No. There are tombs of Abraham all over the place, but I don't honestly know in Israel or the West Bank or Jordan of any Eve tomb in these places."
On the quiet street of the cemetery, which faces low-rise, rundown buildings, the Eve legend remains alive even though those who grew up with the story don't really believe it.
Ahmed Bakoudij, a 32-year-old mechanic, said he called his garage "Hawwa's Garage" despite his skepticism.
"I've been hearing about Hawwa's grave since I was a kid," said Bakoudij. "But no one believes it. I have to see it with my own eyes to believe it."
"But," he added. "if I ever have kids, I'll pass on the legend to them."
Grocer Saleh Ba-Aqeel said hundreds of Muslim pilgrims from Iran, Indonesia and other countries visit the cemetery, especially before and after the annual hajj pilgrimage.
"When they come and ask me if Eve is really buried here, I tell them, 'God only knows,'" said Ba-Aqeel. | <urn:uuid:e382f5d8-cab4-4c6b-87e0-cd123b061b39> | {
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algorithm \AL-guh-RITH-uhm\ (noun) - A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem in a finite number of steps that often involves repetition of an operation.
"Their latest innovation involved some kind of complex algorithm that made the eyes of anyone with an IQ of less than 200 glaze over with incomprehension but was reckoned by the company to be a surefire thing." -- John Connolly, 'The Killing Kind'
Algorithm is an alteration of algorism, possibly influenced by arithmetic. It comes to us from the Arabic name of a ninth century Persian mathematician and textbook author, via Old French and Medieval Latin: Muhammad ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi was from the Khwarizm region, an area south of the Aral Sea. Al-Khwarizmi wrote a book titled Kitab al jabr wa'l-muqabala ("Rules of restoring and equating") which is the source of the word algebra. | <urn:uuid:87f5cee4-4a3b-4600-a26d-196638d31e3d> | {
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When life gets complicated
When things go wrong, do you berate yourself and think “If only I had done things differently?” Was your project well planned, or did you procrastinate and the end result wasn’t as good as you had hoped? Is that when you promise yourself you’ll do better next time?
“Proper planning prevents poor performance.” Anonymous
Do you set aside enough time for all of your tasks? Oftentimes that’s why the best laid plans go awry. When you feel overwhelmed, take a break and make a list. This first step can be a great stress reliever. Set aside some time first thing in the morning to prioritize what needs to be done. If you can do this at the end of the day, unloading your mental clutter may help you sleep better.
“If it weren’t for the last minute, I wouldn’t get anything done.” Anonymous
Everyone procrastinates at one time or another. Jon Carlson tells us people procrastinate in order to avoid “difficult or time-consuming tasks… because they lack knowledge or skills . . . or as a method for coping with the anxiety involved in making difficult choices or decisions and taking action.” He also tells us when “we do not know what to do, we do nothing and hope that the situation will go away.”
Fear of failure stops people from taking life-changing risks.
Often our perception of a dreaded task is far worse than it actually turns out to be. Don’t let your perfectionist tendency stop you from moving forward.
Can you delegate a task you don’t like or don’t want to do to a co-worker, business partner or family member? What if you can’t delegate? Break the task into smaller chunks.
Set a timer, work on the first chunk and then set it aside. If you feel like doing more, that’s great. The hardest part is usually getting started.
As the Nike slogan says, “Just do it!” | <urn:uuid:a1f26c95-6f8a-4c4e-abb4-575a102efc84> | {
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Abundances Of Light Elements In Metal-Poor Stars IV. Fe/O And Fe/Mg Ratios And The History Of Star Formation In The Solar Neighborhood
MetadataShow full item record
The accurate O, Mg and Fe abundances derived in previous papers of this series from a homogeneous reanalysis of high quality data for a large sample of stars are combined with stellar kinematics in order to discuss the history of star formation in the solar neighborhood. We found that the Fe/O and Fe/Mg abundance ratios are roughly constant in the (inner) halo and the thick disk; this means that the timescale of halo collapse was shorter than or of the same order of typical lifetime of progenitors of type Ia SNe (similar to 1 Gyr), this conclusion being somewhat relaxed (referring to star formation in the individual fragments) in an accretion model for the Galaxy formation. Both Fe/O and Fe/Mg ratios raised by similar to 0.2 dex while the O/H and Mg/H ratios hold constant during the transition from the thick to thin disk phases, indicating a sudden decrease in star formation in the solar neighbourhood at that epo;ch. These results are discussed in the framework of current views of Galaxy formation; they fit in a scenario where both dissipational collapse and accretions were active on a quite similar timescale. | <urn:uuid:ee808423-e332-48c8-a56a-f80a7c7084a6> | {
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Women with heart disease are at greater risk than other women when going through a pregnancy, but most still have positive outcomes, a registry showed.
Compared with healthy pregnant women, those with structural or ischemic heart disease had higher rates of preterm birth (15% versus 8%), fetal death (1.7% versus 0.35%), and maternal mortality (1% versus 0.007%), but absolute rates remained relatively low, according to Jolien Roos-Hesselink, MD, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, and colleagues.
The risks conferred by heart disease were magnified in women with cardiomyopathies and in those living in developing countries, the researchers reported online in the European Heart Journal.
However, they wrote, "most patients with adequate counseling and optimal care should not be discouraged and can go safely through pregnancy."
Because of a limited amount of data detailing the effects of heart disease on pregnancy outcomes, the European Society of Cardiology started the European Registry on Pregnancy and Heart Disease in 2007. The ongoing registry enrolls pregnant women who have valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease, ischemic heart disease, or cardiomyopathies.
For the current analysis, the researchers looked at data on 1,321 pregnant women who were enrolled from 60 hospitals in 28 countries from 2007 to 2011. The median age was 30.
Most of the patients (72%) were in New York Heart Association class I, and only 0.3% were in NYHA class IV.
The most frequent diagnosis was congenital heart disease (66%), followed by valvular heart disease (25%), cardiomyopathy (7%), and ischemic heart disease (2%).
The median duration of pregnancy was 38 weeks, and the median birth weight was 3,010 grams (6 pounds 10 ounces).
Thirteen of the mothers died -- seven from cardiac causes, three from thromboembolic events, and three from sepsis. The highest mortality rate occurred in patients with cardiomyopathy, who also carried higher rates of heart failure and ventricular arrhythmias.
"Cardiomyopathy is uncommon during pregnancy, but it is difficult to manage a pregnancy in the context of left ventricular dysfunction or peripartum cardiomyopathy with a high risk of an adverse outcome for both the mother and the baby," the authors noted. "Our study shows that more attention needs to be paid to this group."
During pregnancy, 26% of the women were hospitalized, a much higher rate than seen in healthy pregnant women (2%). More than one-third of the admissions (39%) were for heart failure; 31% were for obstetric reasons, including pregnancy-induced hypertension, vaginal bleeding, pregnancy-induced diabetes, and abortion/missed abortion; 21% were for cardiac reasons other than heart failure; and 9% were for other reasons.
The rate of cesarean delivery was significantly higher among the women with heart disease than has previously been seen in healthy pregnant women (41% versus 23%, P<0.001).
Fetal mortality beyond 22 weeks of gestation or when the fetus was greater than 500 grams (1 pound 2 ounces) occurred at a higher rate in the women with heart disease. Most of those cases (62%) were listed as intrauterine fetal death without any further information, 21% were attributed definitely to the mother's condition, and 17% were related to structural fetal abnormalities.
Neonatal mortality (within the first 30 days of life) occurred in 0.6%, a rate that was not significantly higher compared with historical controls (0.4%, P=0.27).
Women living in developing countries (185 of the registry patients) carried greater risks of both maternal mortality (3.9% versus 0.6%, P<0.001) and fetal mortality (6.5% versus 0.9%, P<0.001).
The authors noted that developed countries have much greater access than developing countries to optimal prenatal care and preconception counseling, even if it isn't used in all cases.
"This is a very complex issue, but if achievable, pre-conception counseling focusing on the severity of the heart disease with a clear statement of the consequences of pregnancy may save lives," they wrote.
The researchers acknowledged some limitations of the study, including the inability to perform extensive subgroup analyses because of small patient numbers, the fact that the input and quality of data was checked in only 5% to 10% of cases, and uncertainty about how representative the patient population is, considering the voluntary participation in the registry.
From the American Heart Association:
Primary source: European Heart Journal
Roos-Hesselink J, et al "Outcome of pregnancy in patients with structural or ischemic heart disease: results of a registry of the European Society of Cardiology" Eur Heart J 2012; DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehs270. | <urn:uuid:67590eca-3da1-4574-b25c-3566d00461e4> | {
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Doctor insights on:
Thyroid Nodules Cancerous Synthroid
Cancer is a group of diseases that is characterized by uncontrolled cell growth leading to invasion of surrounding tissues that spread to other parts of the body. Cancer can begin anywhere in the body and is usually related to one or more genetic mutations that allow normal cells to become malignant by interfering with internal cellular control mechanisms, such as programmed cell death or by preventing ...Read more
Only occassionally: While almost all thyroid cancers are cold, so are most benign nodules. If the nodule is hot, it is extremely rare for it to be cancer. If it is cold and looks suspicious on an ultrasound performed or at least interpreted by a very experienced clinician, it should be biopsied to see if surgery is necessary. ...Read moreSee 2 more doctor answers
Part of the gland: They will move upward with the rest of the gland when you swallow, and you can move them just as you can move your larynx and trachea once you know your way around your neck. Your physician can help you make the distinction from a lymph node or other mass. ...Read moreSee 1 more doctor answer
Well...: A thyroid nodule is technically not "benign" unless it's surgically removed and the pathologist found no cancer in the specimen. A nodule that is still in your neck could still be cancerous despite a "benign" biopsy because not all of the nodule is cancerous. Sometime it's just a speck that is cancerous and was missed during the biopsy. That's why it's important to continue to follow the nodule. ...Read moreSee 1 more doctor answer
Yes.: A follicular adenoma may be a wolf in sheep's clothing, because cells from follicular adenomas and follicular carcinomas can look the same. Other follicular adenomas may have almost no chance of being cancers, but overproduce thyroid hormone, and need treatment to prevent harmful effects of hyperthyroidism on the bones, heart and other tissues. ...Read moreSee 1 more doctor answer
Unlikely but ask doc: Most of the the thyroid nodules are benign, cystic nodules are even more benign, but sometimes a small focus of cancer could be inside the cyst, to be sure most of the time after fine needle aspiration (fna) will be done by your doctor send for biopsy ( cytology ) to be sure it is benign.. ...Read moreSee 2 more doctor answers
Thyroid nodule of the right lobe. Fna indicated follicular lesion-also hypothyroid, family history of malignant thyroid nodules. Options?
Surgery or...: A repeat biopsy combined with an afirma assay test may give you somewhat better guidance, but with your history and risk factors, surgery may be the best option. By the way, why are you taking generic T4 an Armour Thyroid together? There is no way to monitor the dosage properly as the lab tests will be unreliable. Brand name T4 is better, safer and more reliable. ...Read more
Thyroid nodules: A very small percentage of thyroid nodules can be cancer. That is why your doctor will examine them with ultrasound and perform needle aspiration biopsy on them. If the nodule is suspicious appearing, it may need to be surgically removed. However, most are harmless. You may need to see an endocrinologist. ...Read more
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Governor of Indiana
December 5, 1849-January 12, 1857
Artist: Jacob Cox, American, 1810-1892
oil on canvas, 36 3/16 x 29 1/8 (92.0 x 74.0)
JOSEPH WRIGHT was born in Pennsylvania, the son of a brick manufacturer, and moved as a boy to Bloomington, Indiana. His father died when Joseph was fourteen years old, and Wright worked his way through Indiana Seminary (later Indiana University) as janitor, bellringer, and occasional bricklayer. He was admitted to the bar in 1829 and opened a practice in Rockville.
Wright served in the Indiana House of Representatives (1833-1838), the Indiana Senate (1839-1842), and the United States Congress (1843-1845). In 1849 he was elected governor on the Democratic ticket, and in 1852 was re-elected under the state's new constitution for a term of four years.
Wright's administration was highlighted by the adoption of a new state constitution and by the formation of a State Board of Education and a State Board of Agriculture. After his term as governor Wright served as minister to Prussia from 1857 to 1861. A firm supporter of the Union in the Civil War, he was appointed United States senator to the vacancy caused by the expulsion of Senator Jesse D. Bright, and served from February 1862, until January 1863.
A zealous Methodist and Sunday school supporter, Wright was "tall and raw-boned . . . and an effective speaker, mainly on account of his earnestness and simplicity." He composed Indiana's contribution to the words on the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.: "Indiana knows no East, no West, no North, no South, nothing but the Union."
Source: Peat, Wilbur D. Portraits and Painters of the Governors of Indiana 1800-1978. Revised, edited and with new entries by Diane Gail Lazarus, Indianapolis Museum of Art. Biographies of the governors by Lana Ruegamer, Indiana Historical Society. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society and Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1978.
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Thomas B. Dozeman
This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Please check back later for the full article.
The Pentateuch (“five books”) is the title for the first five books of the Bible in the Greek translation, known as the Septuagint (LXX). The more original title is the Hebrew “Torah,” meaning “law.” The revelation and composition of the Torah is attributed to Moses, which is reflected in the additional designation of the books as the “Torah of Moses.” The authorship of the Pentateuch is central to its interpretation in Jewish and Christian tradition. The Mosaic authorship characterized the interpretation of the Pentateuch in the pre-critical period of research. The study of the Pentateuch in the modern era has been dominated by the quest to identify its anonymous authors and the changing social contexts in which the literature was written.
Jack R. Lundbom
“Prophets” in the ancient world were individuals said to possess an intimate association with God or the gods, and conducted the business of transmitting messages between the divine and earthly realms. They spoke on behalf of God or the gods, and on occasion solicited requests from the deity or brought to the deity requests of others.
The discovery of texts from the ancient Near East in the 19th and early 20th centuries has given us a fuller picture of prophets and prophetic activity in the ancient world, adding considerably to reports of prophets serving other gods in the Bible and corroborating details about prophets in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Two collections are important: (1) letters from the 18th-century Mari written during the reigns of Yasmaḫ-Addu (c. 1792–1775) and Zimri-Lim (c. 1774–1760); and (2) the 7th-century annals of Assyrian kings Esarhaddon (680–669) and Assurbanipal (668–627).
Prophecies at Mari are favorable for the most part, and censures of the king, when they occur, are not harsh. Many simply remind the king of some neglect or give him some warning. One tells the king to practice righteousness and justice for anyone who has been wronged. None censures the people of Mari as biblical prophecies do the people of Israel. Assyrian oracles are largely oracles of peace and wellbeing, typically giving assurance to the king about matters of succession and success in defeating enemies. If prophets admonish the king, it is a mild rebuke about the king ignoring a prior oracle or not having provided food at the temple.
According to the Bible, Israel’s prophetic movement began with Samuel, and it arose at the time when people asked for a king. Prophets appear all throughout the monarchy and into the postexilic period, when Jewish tradition believed prophecy had ceased. Yet, prophets reappear in the New Testament and early church: Anna the prophetess, John the Baptist, Jesus, and others. Paul allows prophets to speak in the churches, ranking them second only to apostles.
Hebrew prophets give messages much like those of other ancient Near Eastern prophets, but what makes them different is that they announce considerably more judgment—sometimes very harsh judgment—on Israel’s monarchs, leading citizens, and the nation itself. Israel’s religion had its distinctives. Yahweh was bound to the nation by a covenant containing law that had to be obeyed. Prophets in Israel were therefore much preoccupied with indicting and judging kings, priests, other prophets, and an entire people for covenant disobedience. Also, in Israel the lawgiver was Yahweh, not the king. In Mari, as elsewhere in the ancient Near East, the king was lawgiver. Deuteronomy contains tests for true and false prophets, to which prophets themselves add other disingenuine marks regarding their contemporaneous prophetic colleagues.
Hebrew prophets from the time of Amos onward speak in poetry and are skilled in rhetoric, using an array of tropes and knowing how to argue. Their discourse also contains an abundance of humor and drama. Speaking is supplemented with symbolic action, and in some cases the prophets themselves became the symbol.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, or the Apocalypse of John, has been extraordinarily influential in Christian life and theology. For example, because of the many hymns sung by the heavenly host, Revelation has, like Isaiah 6:3, been particularly influential on liturgy and also music, for instance, the setting of Revelation 5:12, “Worthy is the Lamb that was Slain,” in Handel’s Messiah. It is one of two biblical apocalyptic texts (the other being the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible). Apart from the opening words, a dominant theme of Revelation is prophecy, and its imagery emphasizing what John “saw” on Patmos suggests that the form of prophecy in the first century
Mark S. Smith
The Ugaritic texts provide a rich resource for understanding the Late Bronze Age kingdom of Ugarit, located on the coast of Syria. The site has yielded about two thousand tablets in Ugaritic, the West Semitic language of this city-state, and about twenty-five hundred tablets in Akkadian, the lingua franca of the period, as well as many texts written in seven other languages. These reveal a cosmopolitan, commercial center operating in the shadow of two great powers of the eastern Mediterranean basin, the Egyptians and the Hittites.
The Ugaritic texts offer innumerable literary and religious parallels to biblical literature. The parallels are so rich and in some cases so specific that it is evident that the Ugaritic texts do not merely provide parallels, but belong to a shared or overlapping cultural matrix with the Hebrew Bible. Ugaritic literature may not predate the earliest biblical sources by much more than a few decades, but the bulk of biblical literature dates to centuries later. Moreover, unlike the coastal, cosmopolitan center of Ugarit, ancient Israel’s heartland lay in the rural inland hill-country considerably to the south in what is today Israel and occupied Palestinian territory. Despite these important differences, Ugaritic and biblical literature are not to be understood as representing entirely different cultures, but overlapping ones.
Jerome F. D. Creach
“Violence in the Old Testament” may refer generally to the Old Testament’s descriptions of God or human beings killing, destroying, and doing physical harm. As part of the activity of God, violence may include the results of divine judgment, such as God’s destruction of “all flesh” in the flood story (Gen. 6:13) or God raining fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24–25). The expression may also include God’s prescription for and approval of wars such as the conquest of Canaan (Josh. 1–12). Some passages seem to suggest that God is harsh and vindictive and especially belligerent toward non-Israelites (see Exod. 12:29–32; Nahum and Obadiah), though the Old Testament also reports God lashing out against rebellious Israelites as well (Exod. 32:25–29, 35; Josh. 7).
Christians have wrestled with divine violence in the Old Testament at least since the 2nd century
Assessment of the significance of records of or calls for violent acts in the Old Testament are difficult, however, because of the complex literary and canonical context in which such passages appear and because of the incongruity between ancient Israelite culture and the culture(s) of readers today. Studies that compare the Old Testament presentation of violence with that of contemporary ancient Near Eastern nations offer potentially more controlled results. Comparative studies alone, however, cannot account for the multiple layers of tradition that often make up Old Testament references to violence. That is, while Assyrian and Babylonian records of warfare presumably describe what Mesopotamian kings actually did in battle, the Old Testament often reports wars and military conflicts, and the aspirations of the leaders of Judah, from the perspective of a defeated people. Thus, even Judah’s desire to defend itself militarily morphed into an expression of hope in God.
Given the complexity of the development of the Old Testament canon, a fruitful and ultimately more accurate way of treating the subject is to determine how ancient Israelites thought about violence and how the subject then affected the overall shape of the Old Testament. A logical starting point in this endeavor is the Hebrew word ḥāmas. This term connotes rebellion against God that results in bloodshed and disorder and a general undoing of God’s intentions for creation. Thus, violence appears to intrude on God’s world, and God acts destructively only to counteract human violence. For example, in Gen. 6:11–13 human violence ruined the earth and thus prompted God to bring the flood as a corrective measure. This way of understanding violence in the Old Testament seems to identify the Old Testament’s own concern of violence and presses a distinction between divine destruction and judgment and human violence.
Despite this potentially helpful approach to violence in the Old Testament, many problems persist. One problem is the violent acts that religious zeal prompts. Old Testament characters like Phinehas (Num. 25), Elijah (1 Kgs. 18:39–40; 2 Kgs. 1), and Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:23–25; 9) killed, ordered killing, or participated in killing in order to purify the religious faith and practices of the Israelites. Nevertheless, most texts that contain problems like this also contain complementary or self-corrective passages that give another perspective. The complexity of the material with regard to violence makes it possible to argue that the Old Testament opposes violence and that the ultimate goal, and divine intention, is peace.
William Blake (1757–1827) was a British artist, engraver, poet, and writer on theological themes. His illuminated books were the product of his technological inventiveness, and are characterized by the juxtaposition of texts and images in which a dialectic between two different media is a means of stimulating the imagination of the viewer and reader. Influences on Blake are often hard to trace, though he explicitly cites and criticizes Milton and Swedenborg, as well as the contemporary artist Joshua Reynolds. Such influences, which might help explain Blake’s ideas, seem less important than the extraordinary inventiveness which one finds in his words and images and their production, which have analogies to earlier themes, but without offering the evidence that demonstrates direct dependence. Blake’s emphasis is on the importance of “inspiration” rather than “memory,” and as such he set great store on the creativity of the poetic genius and its reception by the engaged reader or viewer. The visual was primary for Blake. It was a major part of his attempt to produce that which is “not too explicit as the fittest for Instruction,” to allow the reader/viewer to work out what the meaning of words and images was and how one might inform the other. Much of his work is inspired by the Bible, though the heterodox approach he takes to biblical interpretation is frequently at odds with mainstream Christian opinion. Blake’s lifelong fascination with the work of John Milton led him both to challenge and refine his great predecessor’s views and, in Milton a Poem, to enable the departed spirit of Milton to discern the worst of his intellectually self-centered excesses. Blake’s interpretative method, his hermeneutic, is encapsulated in some words he wrote to a client who was perplexed by his work. In it he gave priority to imaginative engagement with the Bible which was only then complemented by rational reflection: “Why is the Bible more Entertaining & Instructive than any other book. Is it not because they are addressed to the Imagination which is Spiritual Sensation & but mediately to the Understanding or Reason?” (Letter to Trusler 1799, E702-3). His ongoing work and the complex idiosyncratic mythology that he invented reflect the changed circumstances of the reaction to the events in revolutionary France. Themes of the Blake corpus, such as prophecy, challenge the hegemony of authoritative texts like the Bible. His critique of dualism and monarchical view of God pervade his work.
Born in 1757, Blake lived most of his life in London with the exception of four, often difficult, years in Felpham, Sussex (1800–1804). He was married to Catherine Boucher (1762–1831), who in his later years was a collaborator in his engraving and printing. Arguably, the companionship of Job’s wife in the Illustrations of the Book of Job, so different from the impression one gets from the brief reference to Job’s wife in the biblical book, may reflect their marriage. The Felpham years were difficult because they marked a time of great personal upheaval, when the ideas which formed his long illuminated poems, Milton a Poem and Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion, took shape. As a consequence of an incident with a soldier in Felpham, he was put on trial at this time for sedition, for comments he was alleged to have made to this English soldier. This experience seared his visionary imagination and left its trace in the repeated references to the soldier who brought the charge against him, Schofield, which are dotted throughout Blake’s Jerusalem. Blake was trained as an engraver and pioneered his own technique. This remained the basis of his art, and arguably offered a means that complemented his visionary imagination (Joseph Viscomi, Blake and the Idea of the Book, 1993). After his move back to London, he lived in obscurity and on the fringes of poverty, indebted to the support of patrons like Thomas Butts, for whom he painted many biblical scenes, and later John Linnell. Only in the last years of his life was he discovered by a group of artists. Toward the end of his life he was adopted as an artistic father figure by a group called “The Ancients,” which included George Richmond, Samuel Palmer, and Edward Calvert.
The Hebrew Bible is a book that was primarily written by men, for men, and about men, and thus the biblical text is not particularly forthcoming when it comes to the lives and experiences of women. Other evidence from ancient Israel—the society in which the Hebrew Bible was generated—is also often of little use. Nevertheless, scholars have been able to combine a careful reading of the biblical text with anthropological and archaeological data, and with comparative evidence from the larger biblical world, to reconstruct certain features of ancient Israelite women’s culture. These features include fairly comprehensive pictures of women’s lives as wives and childbearers within Israel’s patrilineal and patrilocal kinship system and of women’s work within the economy of a typical Israelite household. Because the Bible is deeply concerned with religious matters, many aspects of women’s religious culture can also be delineated, even though the Bible’s overwhelmingly male focus means that specific details concerning women’s religious practice must be painstakingly teased out of the biblical text. The Bible’s tendency to focus on the elite classes of ancient Israelite society likewise means that it is possible to sketch a reasonable portrait of the experiences of elite women, especially the women of the royal court, although, again, this information must often be teased out of accounts whose primary interest is elite men. | <urn:uuid:d6bd3a3f-7aeb-4899-9119-89ab550b7cf6> | {
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In tandem with constructive interactions with others near their own age, an environment is created where both the artistic and intellectual dimensions are brought out. A child is encouraged to become whom he or she is while laying a rock solid foundation cemented in a stellar education.
Through the promotion of educational, emotional, and social dynamics, children from the age of two to four are provided with the step up to propel them not only in education but all of life’s journeys.
By both careful observation and interaction with the kids, the instructors become attuned to not only the interests of the individual human, but also the unique qualities that every student possesses.
We truly believe that it is vital to continually introduce new concepts, skill, and themes. This ensures that the mind is not only consistently challenged but it spurs on their growth and development.
Development of social skills will create in each child a balanced and advanced learner.
Specific design for the appropriate age and development level is the core of all lessons. This is done by achieving the delicate balance between structure and play.
We strongly belive that social dynamics it are the most natural way for your child to utilize their capacities and own tools to not only learn but grow as well.
Reinforced with the strong image of self, the development of social skills will create in each child a balanced and advanced learner. | <urn:uuid:4860ac55-9233-40bc-a217-5d20cc7a6949> | {
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An investigation into motivational techniques teachers use in reading classes: Agaro and Gembe High Schools grade 10 in focus
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The purpose of this study was to identify activities that need consideration in designing and implementing motivational techniques in reading lesson. For this reason, this investigation was made on teachers' use of motivational techniques for reading classes. The study was conducted in a sample of 10 teachers and 100 purposefully selected grade ten students of Agaro and Gembe Secondary schools. To collect the required data for the study, questionnaires, Classroom observations and interview were used as an instrument. The data gathered indicated that, the implementation of additional reading materials in reading classroom was neglected. In addition to this, teachers practice of using different reading activities that engage students in reading were not given due attention. Moreover, with regard to teachers' role of provision of support/assistance was very limited. In addition as the finding depicted even though teachers aware of motivational techniques, they do not implement it in reading classes. Therefore, to minimize the problem and to design motivational techniques to engage students in reading tasks the researcher recommends that, effort should be made in using additional reading materials that arise students engagement in reading, teachers should also develop practical skills and put their beliefs/awareness into action to their regarding motivational techniques in teaching reading, and the Ministry of Education and other responsible bodies need to offer trainings to secondary school English language teachers on the implementation of the teaching reading in motivating way and also conducting continuous research which help to identify teachers' pedagogical support students need to get are great concerns. | <urn:uuid:d7c495e9-2a83-47b4-a5e3-2dc6a775f71b> | {
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Tasmanian Devil, Sarcophilus Harrisii
The following information is supplied by Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. (latest version here)
Photos and Video: Courtesy Steve Johnson, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service
The Tasmanian devil cannot be mistaken for any other marsupial. Its spine-chilling screeches, black colour, and reputed bad-temper, led the early European settlers to call it The Devil. Although only the size of a small dog, it can sound and look incredibly fierce.
Take a listen to the vocalisation of the devil and you will see what we mean! The eerie call of the Tasmanian devil is a sound you will never forget!
View a movie of the Tasmanian devil (4.2Mb). [You will need Quicktime 3 or greater to view this movie. You will see footage of the famous yawn of the devil, as well as locomotion and grooming behaviours.]
The world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, the devil has a thick-set, squat build, with a relatively large, broad head and short, thick tail. The fur is mostly or wholly black, but white markings often occur on the rump and chest. Body size also varies greatly, depending on the diet and habitat. Adult males are usually larger than adult females. Large males weigh up to 12 kg, and stand about 30 cm high at the shoulder.
Devils once occurred on mainland Australia, with fossils having been found widely. Today, however the devil is only found in Tasmania. It is believed the devil became extinct on the mainland some 600 years ago -- before European settlement of the continent. The dingo, which was brought into Australia by Aboriginal people, is believed to have ousted the devil from the mainland.
Today, devils are found in some north, east and central districts where some farming practices (e.g. rangeland sheep grazing) provide much carrion. Tasmanian devils may be seen in many rural and wilderness areas by slowly driving at night along secondary roads. Devils may be seen at the Narawntapu National Park, Mt. William National Park, Cradle Mt. National Park, the Arthur River and highland lakes area. Look for them a few hour hours after sunset.
Devils are widespread in Tasmania from the coast to the mountains. They live in coastal heath, open dry sclerophyll forest, and mixed sclerophyll-rainforest -- in fact, almost anywhere they can hide and find shelter by day, and find food at night.
Devils usually mate in March, and the young are born in April. Gestation is 21 days. More young are born than can be accommodated in the mother's backward-opening pouch, which has 4 teats. Although 4 pouch young sometimes survive, the average number is 2 or 3. Each young, firmly attached to a teat, is carried in the pouch for about 4 months. After this time the young start venturing out of the pouch and are then left in a simple den - often a hollow log. Young are weaned at 5 or 6 months of age, and are thought to have left the mother and be living alone in the bush by late December. They probably start breeding at the end of their second year. Longevity is up to 7-8 years.
The devil is mainly a scavenger and feeds on whatever is available. Powerful jaws and teeth enable it to completely devour its prey -- bones, fur and all. Wallabies, and various small mammals and birds, are eaten -- either as carrion or prey. Reptiles, amphibians, insects and even sea squirts have been found in the stomachs of wild devils. Carcasses of sheep and cattle provide food in farming areas. Devils maintain bush and farm hygiene by cleaning up carcasses. This can help reduce the risk of blowfly strike to sheep by removing food for maggots.
Devils are famous for their rowdy communal feeding at carcasses -- the noise and displays being used to establish dominance amongst the pack.
The devil is nocturnal (active after dark). During the day it usually hides in a den, or dense bush. It roams considerable distances --up to 16 km -- along well-defined trails in search of food. It usually ambles slowly with a characteristic gait but can gallop quickly with both hind feet together. Young devils are more agile however and can climb trees. Although not territorial, devils have a home range.
The famous gape or yawn of the devil that looks so threatening, can be misleading. This display is performed more from fear and uncertainty than from aggression. Devils produce a strong odour when under stress, but when calm and relaxed they are not smelly. The devil makes a variety of fierce noises, from harsh coughs and snarls to high pitched screeches. A sharp sneeze is used as a challenge to other devils, and frequently comes before a fight. Many of these spectacular behaviours are bluff and part of a ritual to minimise harmful fighting when feeding communally at a large carcass.
Devils were a nuisance to the early European settlers of Hobart Town, raiding the poultry yards, but were soon driven away to more remote areas of the island. In 1830 the Van Diemen's Land Co. introduced a bounty scheme to remove devils, as well as Tasmanian tigers and wild dogs, from their northwest properties: 2/6 (25 cents) for male devils and 3/6 (35 cents) for females. Devils ate animals caught in snares, and were believed to take lambs and sheep. For over a century they were trapped and poisoned and became very rare. They seemed, like the Tasmanian tiger, to be headed for extinction. Despite this the Tasmanian devil was not protected by law until June 1941. After this the population gradually increased and the Tasmanian devil was chosen as the symbol of the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Tasmanian devils are wholly protected. The Devil Facial Tumour Disease, which is now having a devastating effect on the Tasmanian devil population was first noticed in the north-east of Tasmania in the mid-1990s but has become more prevalent in recent times in other areas of the State. The Tasmanian devil is now listed as vulnerable in Tasmania.
(Note - the information in this section was provided separately from the above)
Nick Mooney, wildlife biologist with Tasmania's Parks and Wildlife Service notes that "usually Tasmanian devils don't like looking at light, but head on, Tasmanian devil eyeshine is usually red. The eyeshine can appear blue when not viewed directly head on and it can appear silver in response to a camera flash" (personal communication 7/7/08). | <urn:uuid:9acda43b-5993-40ee-b33e-933bf90f5ed9> | {
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Nikko Toshogu Shrine is most famous for honoring Tokugawa Ieyasu but there are numerous Toshogu Shrines throughout Japan. The Toshogu found in Kawagoe is one of the three major Toshogu Shrines in Japan called, "Semba Toshogu Shrine".
In 1616, Tokugawa Ieyasu died in Sunpu (present day Shizuoka Prefecture) and the remains were carried from Shizuoka to Nikko Mountain. On the way, a four day Buddhist memorial service was held by Tenkai Daisoujou at Kita-in Temple. As a result, Toshogu Shrine was built in 1633 on the southside of Kita-in Temple.
Five years later in 1638, "The Big Fire of Kanei" burned down everything except for the Kita-in Mountain Gate. When Tokugawa Iemitsu declared the restoration of Kita-in Temple, the reconstruction of Toshogu began first and was completed in 1640. The Honden Main Shrine with its brilliant colored lacquer ornaments, and Karamon Gate, Mizugaki Fence, Haiden Front Shrine, Heiden Side Shrine, Zuishin Front Gate, stone Torii Gate are all recognized as important cultural assets. The pillars found in the shrine pavilions have elaborate carvings that suit Toshogu Shrine. Inside the main shrine, a statue of Ieyasu can be found. Among the cultural assets are the pictures of Sanjyu Roku Kasen Egaku and 12 sided Taka Egaku. | <urn:uuid:f8a773e9-921e-44c7-a88e-5790deab8b63> | {
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How to Improve your Energy? 5 Steps
We all feel tired once in a
1. Sleep (Not just one night, but good sleep spread out over a week should re-energize you for a while). If you can't sleep one long night, try polyphasic sleeping. This is what Einstein and many other well known scientists did in order to maximize time-work.
2. Foods (High in Protein - low in fat + Berries. Blueberries are the absolute best for energy and memory). Eating a breakfast of fruits really help. Fried foods won't give you that noticeable boost of energy. Coffee is also a good energy booster despite its bad reputation. It's health benefits such as preventing a number of cancers (colon cancer, etc) outweigh it's negative effects (stomach aches).
3. Water - We're obviously make of 70% of water. Just reducing our water percentage by a few percentage would make use totally tired. Water is also the universal solvent. ALL cells, blood, and vital processes are done in water.
4. Motivation - Do you have more energy watching TV or doing homework? I used to get D's in my freshman and sophomore year and had a GPA of 2.8. That was because I felt tired all the time because all I wanted to do was die. A lot has changed since then. I found my life purpose as a Biochemist and I was rarely tired (except when I pull and over-nighter). I finished my Jr year with a 3.95 GPA.
5. Exercise - This may sound like a cliche, but exercising increases blood flow to all parts of the body. The brain is the single organ that uses most of the oxygen in the body which why blood is pumped to the brain before the others. In addition, exercising has been proven to increase the rate of neuron birth many times which is why athletes are often the smartest people. | <urn:uuid:abcb1ca3-561f-4a0e-927f-20fcfb4f2fb7> | {
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Native Phonetic Inventory: tamil
These are the sounds found in most native tamil dialects: There are also sounds not on the chart, shown below.
other sounds: vowels /i, e, a, o, u/ have long and short counterparts; stops can become fricatives between vowels; initial vowels are preceded by glides .
Adapted from: Krishnamurti, B. (2003); Steever, S. (ed). (1998). | <urn:uuid:1ced4e2f-4ef3-47d4-b7fc-33d5c42c3219> | {
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travois trăvoi´ [key], device used by Native North Americans of the Great Plains for transporting their tepees and household goods. It consisted of two poles, lashed one on either side of a dog or, later, a horse, with one end of each pole dragging on the ground. It had straps or wooden crosspieces between the poles near the open end that served as a carrier. Like the sledge, the travois was used by Native Americans before any use of wheels was known to them.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: North American indigenous peoples, Culture | <urn:uuid:5ea12480-d3a7-417f-a775-04f35711af16> | {
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The different cell membrane transport mechanisms
The cell membrane is referred to as a ‘fluid mosaic model’ because the protein part within the cell membrane used to be though of as an even layer spread over the outside and the inside of the phospholipid. Now we are starting to think that it is spread unevenly, more like a mosaic than a layer. The phospholipid part of the cell membrane is fluid; this means that its molecules are constantly moving about. Through the molecules constantly moving about it allows for things such as ‘transient gaps’ to occur, these are gaps within the phospholipids which allow molecules to pass through; they are only temporary. Here is a picture of the fluid mosaic model: [pic]
Both water-soluble (hydrophilic) and lipid soluble (hydrophobic) substances are able to pass across the cell membrane. It is easier for lipid-soluble compounds to pass relatively quickly through by dissolving in the lipid layer. Water needs to pass through via osmosis where as water-soluble substances cross the membrane through simple diffusion, facilitated diffusion and active transport.
Osmosis is thought of as the diffusion of water from an area of high concentration of water molecules to an area of low concentration, across a partially permeable membrane. To define osmosis more accurately we define it in terms of water potential. Water potential is a measure of how easy it is for water molecules to move. Diffusion occurs because substances attract a ‘cloud’ of polar water molecules around them. The cloud is held by weak chemical bonds, including hydrogen bonds; this means that these water molecules cannot move freely. This is a picture of osmosis:
Inside cells some solutes have a higher concentration inside than outside of the cell, this means in order to make it equal they need to move across the cell membrane against the concentration gradient. This means that they cannot get in by passive transport; passive transport is...
Please join StudyMode to read the full document | <urn:uuid:fbd1bbfc-b8f2-4538-8cbe-0a33010c4b2a> | {
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- a person or thing that accelerates or increases the speed of something; specif.,
- a device, such as the foot throttle of an automobile, for increasing the speed of a machine
- a nerve or muscle that speeds up a body function
- Chem. a substance that speeds up a reaction
- Nuclear Physics a betatron, cyclotron, synchrotron, linear accelerator, or similar apparatus that accelerates charged particles to high energies: accelerators are used for experimental purposes
- Photog. a chemical that speeds up developing
- A device, especially the gas pedal of a motor vehicle, for increasing speed.
- Chemistry A substance that increases the speed of a reaction.
- Physics A particle accelerator.
- Business An organization that provides new businesses with mentoring, funding, and other services and resources, usually for a limited period of a few months, in exchange for equity.
- One who, or that which, accelerates.
- A device for causing acceleration.
- (chemistry) A substance which speeds up chemical reactions.
- (vehicles) An accelerator pedal.
- (photography) A chemical that reduces development time.
- (physics) A device that accelerates charged subatomic particles.
- (physiology, medicine) A muscle or nerve that speed the performance of an action.
- (computing) accelerator key
- First attested in 1611.
- (motor vehicle): First attested in 1900.
- accelerate + -or
accelerator - Computer Definition
(1) See particle accelerator.
(3) Speeding up file downloading. See download accelerator.
(5) A quick way to gain knowledge when reading text on a Web page. For example, after highlighting a word and clicking a button, an accelerator may provide a dictionary definition, a foreign language translation or the map of a street address.
(6) A key combination such as Alt-Shift-G that is used to activate a task. It provides a faster activation method than selecting from a menu. See also special function key.
(7) An incubator that expects to develop the company considerably faster than normal. See incubator. | <urn:uuid:6c76dbbf-9593-4725-a3f8-1d0f8201511a> | {
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Snakes have heat-vision that allows them to catch their dinners in the dark. True or false?
True! It isn’t quite right to call it “vision,” though–more accurate would be to say that certain species, such as rattlers, have pits just under their eyes that contain specialized heat-sensing organs.
This ability to spot heat comes in handy in the desert, especially if you’re out looking for a quick-moving mouse to make into a snack and there isn’t enough light to see by. Rattlers are amazingly good at catching prey because of their heat-seeking ability.
New studies have actually shown that the same sense organs are used for seeking cold as well. This is just as important when you live in a desert; overheating is always a possibility. Two researchers at Indiana State University in Terre Haute found this out by covering some rattlers’ facial pits with little plastic balls temporarily glued in place.
With these organs blocked, the rattlers were no better at finding the cool spot in a maze than if they had been moving around by chance. They were “cool-blind.” Take the balls out and the rattlers quickly found their way to the cooler spot. Their thermal vision, so to speak, had been restored.
Now researchers debate this, but it’s possible that the ability to find a cool spot in a desert actually came first, in terms of evolutionary history. Get that, and the ability to snag a hot mouse might come as a tasty bonus. | <urn:uuid:6ae14fc9-dda7-47da-9c1d-03fc703997ec> | {
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One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
1A blunt-nosed chimaera with rodent-like front teeth and a long, thin tail, found chiefly in cooler waters.
Genera Chimaera and Hydrolagus, family Chimaeridae: several species, including H. colliei of the eastern North PacificSee also rabbitfish
- ‘Bright orange sea bushes, sea trees, sponges, wolf-fish, strange-looking ratfish and even reefs of lophelia coral welcome divers to Norway's cold but clear waters - visibility can be up to 50m.’
- ‘Hard to miss, especially by night divers, whose lights catch the gleam from its huge opalescent eyes, is the ratfish, which cruises by on wing-like pectoral fins.’
- ‘Apparently living at great depths with the hagfish, the prehistoric ratfish was recently discovered off Brazil by scientists.’
- ‘The others catch sight of the ratfish at the same time as me, but it is not alone - there are five of these ‘monsters ‘in the cleft.’’
- ‘The ratfish is normally a deep-dweller but in some Norwegian fjords it can be seen as shallow as 10m’
2A long, thin purplish edible fish which lives in shallow temperate waters of the Indo-Pacific where it burrows in the sand.
Gonorhynchus gonorhynchus, the only member of the family Gonorhynchidae
- ‘Their diet includes squid, skates, ratfish, rockfish, and octopus, as well as pelagic fishes such as mackerel and sardines.’
In this article we explore how to impress employers with a spot-on CV. | <urn:uuid:be060101-07dd-4c9d-9cde-859808a15eb7> | {
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What you need:
- large and small magnets
- metal objects, such as spoons, paper clips, metal washers
- nonmetal materials such as fabric, paper, plastic, and wood
- self-adhesive magnetic strips
- art materials such as felt, buttons, glitter gel, yarn, sequins, and glue
What to do:
- The metal experiment: Invite your child to investigate and explore how magnets work, using the metal and nonmetal objects. Ask her to observe. How many materials were attracted to the magnets? What do those materials have in common? Why weren't the other materials attracted to the magnet? Experiment with magnets of different sizes. How many objects can the large magnet pick up at one time? Can the smaller magnet do the same?
- Push-and-pull study: Give your child several magnets to experiment with. Encourage her to put two large magnets together. Do they repel each other? What does that feel like? Do they stick to each other? Encourage her to pull them apart and to describe how that feels.
- Make a magnet: Set out art materials and invite your child to design her own magnets. She can make a person or animal or just a decorative collage. Apply a piece of self-adhesive magnetic strip to the back of any material. She can also attach magnetic strips to the back of her favorite drawings or paintings. | <urn:uuid:6bb816db-1ed1-45c4-b780-b581227a0460> | {
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Package ascii85 implements the ascii85 data encoding as used in the btoa tool and Adobe's PostScript and PDF document formats.
Internal call graph ▹
Internal call graph ▾
In the call graph viewer below, each node is a function belonging to this package and its children are the functions it calls—perhaps dynamically.
The root nodes are the entry points of the package: functions that may be called from outside the package. There may be non-exported or anonymous functions among them if they are called dynamically from another package.
Click a node to visit that function's source code.
From there you can visit its callers by
clicking its declaring
Functions may be omitted if they were determined to be unreachable in the particular programs or tests that were analyzed.
func Decode(dst, src byte, flush bool) (ndst, nsrc int, err error)
Decode decodes src into dst, returning both the number of bytes written to dst and the number consumed from src. If src contains invalid ascii85 data, Decode will return the number of bytes successfully written and a CorruptInputError. Decode ignores space and control characters in src. Often, ascii85-encoded data is wrapped in <~ and ~> symbols. Decode expects these to have been stripped by the caller.
If flush is true, Decode assumes that src represents the end of the input stream and processes it completely rather than wait for the completion of another 32-bit block.
NewDecoder wraps an io.Reader interface around Decode.
func Encode(dst, src byte) int
Encode encodes src into at most MaxEncodedLen(len(src)) bytes of dst, returning the actual number of bytes written.
The encoding handles 4-byte chunks, using a special encoding for the last fragment, so Encode is not appropriate for use on individual blocks of a large data stream. Use NewEncoder() instead.
Often, ascii85-encoded data is wrapped in <~ and ~> symbols. Encode does not add these.
func MaxEncodedLen ¶
func MaxEncodedLen(n int) int
MaxEncodedLen returns the maximum length of an encoding of n source bytes.
func NewDecoder ¶
func NewDecoder(r io.Reader) io.Reader
NewDecoder constructs a new ascii85 stream decoder.
func NewEncoder ¶
func NewEncoder(w io.Writer) io.WriteCloser
NewEncoder returns a new ascii85 stream encoder. Data written to the returned writer will be encoded and then written to w. Ascii85 encodings operate in 32-bit blocks; when finished writing, the caller must Close the returned encoder to flush any trailing partial block.
type CorruptInputError ¶
type CorruptInputError int64
func (e CorruptInputError) Error() string | <urn:uuid:2cf41be5-4706-48ce-829b-46ec2f5deeb6> | {
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Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
FUTON bias stands for 'Full Text On the Net' bias and refers to the failure in academic research, when researchers tend to search and read what is available online, and ignore relevant studies that are available offline in printed format only. Very few libraries in general have a full range of journals available, and if the article is available, it may be only in microfilm or microfiche format.
FUTON bias adversely affects sources that are older and/or published in less developed countries, as there is evidence that articles that are available as full text on the Internet are more likely to be accessed, read and quoted and therefore more likely to impact decision making.
If an article has no abstract available online, it is likely to be affected by the NAA bias ('No Abstract Available' bias). Researchers are less likely to access articles without online abstracts. This may be further compounded if an article has an unclear title, and the extreme case are articles whose very title is not even online.
See also Edit
- Impact of FUTON and NAA Bias on Visibility of Research, Murali NS, Murali HR, Auethavekiat P, Erwin PJ, Mandrekar JN, Manek NJ, Ghosh AK. Mayo Clin Proc 2004: 79(8); 1001-6.
- Visibility of research: FUTON bias, Wentz R. Lancet 2002: 360(9341); 1256. Letter and Reply, Medpundit blog discussion
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).| | <urn:uuid:9265643d-2126-4c0f-8a94-91bfb9096815> | {
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In women with gestational diabetes, well controlled blood sugar helps to prevent adverse effects on both the mother and the baby. Treatment for gestational diabetes includes eating a healthy diet, regular exercises, maintaining a healthy body weight, regularly monitoring blood glucose levels and, if needed taking insulin injections. In addition go for regular antenatal check-ups and take medications as advised by your doctor. Read to know a few aspects on treatment for gestational diabetes.
Eat healthy foods such as whole grain food products (brown rice, whole grain cereals, brown bread). Prefer eating complex carbohydrates (such as present in pasta, rice, grains, bread, potatoes, dried beans and peas) and avoid sugar and foods high in sugar. Include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet. Avoid foods high in saturated fats such as fatty meats, butter, bacon, cream and whole milk cheeses. For a snack before bedtime, eat something that is protein and carbohydrate based. If needed consult a dietician or your doctor for advice regarding your diet.
Follow your doctor’s recommendations on exercise. Exercising for about 15 to 30 minutes on most days of a week are enough. Avoid strenuous activity and exercises which cause discomfort. If you were on a physical exercise program you can continue the same exercise program or sport. But be cautious to avoid injury or fall. If you are starting anew during pregnancy then consult your doctor before starting. It is important to start slowly. Vigorous walking is considered as a good physical activity for women who have not been active before pregnancy. Your doctor can advise you regarding the right exercise program for you. Follow your doctor’s recommendations regarding limitations, warning signs, and any special considerations during exercise. Physical activity and exercise have several benefits. They help to improve the utilisation of glucose, lower insulin resistance and lower blood sugar.
Weight gain is a particular concern during pregnancy and especially so in women with gestational diabetes. In women with gestational diabetes slow and steady rate of weight gain is recommended. Your weight gain gives an indication of the nutrition that is available to your baby for growth. Excessive weight gain tends to increase blood sugar values, insulin resistance and worsens the control of your diabetes. Consult your doctor or dietician for the appropriate weight gain for you in each trimester. Your doctor or dietician can recommend the appropriate weight gain for you in each trimester based on your pre-pregnancy weight.
Glucose monitoring at home is important in gestational diabetes especially as the pregnancy advances. Blood sugar monitoring daily before and after meals helps to determine if your diet and weight gain are enough to keep blood sugar levels under control or if insulin is needed to maintain your blood sugar level. You can do blood glucose monitoring with a glucose meter using a drop of your blood. Your doctor can teach you how to use the glucose meter. You may need to do the test several times in a day. Follow your doctor’s recommendations regarding blood sugar monitoring and recording.
Insulin is the only medication approved for use by pregnant women to maintain the blood sugar level in the normal range. With advance in pregnancy if your blood sugar level cannot be maintained to normal levels with diet and exercise your doctor will recommend insulin. The aim of this will be to keep your levels as normal as possible. The exact sugar reading on which insulin injections have to be started are not fixed. Your doctor will recommend insulin based on clinical examination findings and your sugar readings.
In most women with gestational diabetes the pregnancy and deliver can be uneventful if the blood sugar levels are maintained well during pregnancy. So it is important to follow your doctor’s recommendations regarding diet, exercise, weight gain and insulin injections.
Read more articles on Gestational Diabetes
Ways to Prevent Gestational Diabetes – It occurs when pregnant women gets diabetes.read more
A major study has suggested that women who eat fired food regularly are at a higher risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy.read more | <urn:uuid:a23760d6-4b22-40d2-bfe8-84bc5345ab20> | {
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TSARISM WAS VICTORIOUS. From 1907 onwards, an era of repression set in. Not at any time during the Tsardom had there been such savage and violent terror. The “Black Hundreds”—corps of what would now be described as “Black and Tans”—were organised and let loose on the unhappy peoples of Russia. Regular punitive expeditions were dispatched to several parts of the country. Whole villages were massacred. All that was lacking was bombing aeroplanes. Pogroms were stirred up against the Jewish population. Siberia was the lightest fate that befell the revolutionaries, many of whom found that their struggle for a democratic republic had served to fasten “Stolypin’s Necktie” round their throats.
Under this “strong rule” of Stolypin, the Tsar’s Prime Minister, the Government of Russia plunged deeper and deeper into repression and relied more and more on secret police and agents provocateurs. The opposition and revolutionary parties were honeycombed with Tsarist spies: countermining inside the armed forces was carried on by the Socialists. This, of course, was not unique; for Governments of other countries have done and are doing the same thing. What was remarkable was the extent to which these Tsarist practices were revealed after the revolution—and in some instances before. Particularly shocking for a Western world which had forgotten the story of Sergeant Sullivan in Ireland was the case of Azeff. Azeff was an agent provocateur in the ranks of the terrorist section of the Social-Revolutionaries. He betrayed hundreds to the gallows and to Siberia. At the same time, to avoid the suspicion that might arise out of his own freedom from arrest, he participated actively in terrorist attempts, and in this way betrayed also his own masters to their death. It was Azeff who organised the assassination of Plehve, the Minister at the head of the police, and of the Grand Duke Sergius, uncle of the Tsar. In the conditions of the Russian Revolution, such an abyss of double-crossing treachery was found to be possible.
But the Tsardom, though victorious, had been compelled to move further and further away from the pre-capitalist mode of life in Russia. More and more rapid became the development along bourgeois lines, to which the parties of the bourgeoisie responded by making their opposition ever milder and more “constitutional.” The old feudal autocracy was becoming transformed into a bourgeois monarchy which camouflaged its absolutism under “constitutional” forms. The Third Duma, elected under an astonishingly reactionary electoral law, was the outward sign of an alliance between the upper ranks of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and the Black Hundred landlords and Tsarism. The autocracy had been forced along the path of capitalist development; but at the same time strove to keep up the power and the incomes of the landlords; and was therefore balancing between the landlords and the representatives of capital. But all were at one in their attack upon the Social-Democratic proletariat and the Democratic peasantry. This was clear, for example, in the agrarian policy of Tsardom. The “positive” side of Stolypin’s measures was his new land law, by which the old land tenures were broken down, capitalist farming fostered, and the creation of the kulaks within the village stimulated in order to make of them a social support for Tsardom. With this the illusions that had persisted up to 1905 were shattered, the issues of class struggle became clearer and sharper, and were seen inside every village.
Thought shall be harder,
Heart the keener,
Mood shall be more
As our might lessens.
Song of the Fight at Maldon.
All the opposition and revolutionary parties had been defeated. The result, said Lenin, was “depression, demoralisation, splits, discord, renegacy, and pornography instead of politics.” What were the main parties? First, the Cadets, the party of the Liberal capitalists, headed by Paul Miliukoff, with the Octobrists, another capitalist party, on the right of them. Second, there were the variously named descendants of the Narodniks, of which the best known were the Social Revolutionaries (called the S.R.s, or the Essers). Although the S.R.s, founded in 1901, were an affiliated party of the International Socialist Congress, it had been established by Lenin years earlier that they were Socialist only in name, and that they really represented the democratic standpoint of the peasantry and the petty-bourgeoisie generally. This use of the name “Socialist” should surprise no one who recalls that various capitalist parties in France have found it expedient to include the word “Socialist” as part of their official designation. Thirdly, there was the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, which emerged from the years of revolution in two main fractions (Bolshevik and Menshevik) and in three national groupings, the Polish and Lithuanian Social-Democracy, the Lettish Social-Democratic Party, and the Jewish Party (usually referred to as the Bund). In the years of revolution the party had been able to come out into the open, and for a time had been united. Lenin was able in 1905 to return to Russia and to meet some of the leading fighters of the party in the course of the daily work and in conferences and congresses. It was at one of these conferences, held in Finland in 1905, that a young Georgian Bolshevik who had been in correspondence with Lenin first met him. Twenty years later he described how unexpectedly modest, comradely, unassuming, and simple he had found the personality of Lenin. His account of how he first got into touch with Lenin is also interesting. He says:
“I first made the acquaintance of Lenin in 1903. It is true that this was not a personal acquaintance. It was an acquaintance established by correspondence. But this made an ineradicable impression upon me which has never left me all the time I have been working for the party. At that time I was in exile in Siberia. My introduction to the revolutionary activity of Lenin at the end of the nineties, and especially after 1901 after the publication of Iskra, convinced me that Lenin was a man out of the ordinary. At that time I did not regard him merely as a leader of the party but as practically its creator, because he alone understood the internal substance and the urgent needs of the party. Whenever I compared him with the other leaders of our party it always seemed to me that Lenin’s comrades-in-arms—Plekhanov, Martov, Axelrod, and others—were a head shorter than Lenin, that compared with them Lenin was not merely one of the leaders but a leader of a superior type, a mountain eagle, who knew no fear in the struggle and who boldly led the party forward along the unexplored paths of the Russian revolutionary movement. This impression was so deeply ingrained in my mind that I felt that I must write about him to one of my intimate friends who was then in exile abroad, and to ask him to give me his opinion of Lenin. After a short time, when I was already in exile in Siberia (this was at the end of 1903), I received an enthusiastic letter from my friend and a simple but very profound letter from Lenin, to whom it appears my friend had communicated my letter. Lenin’s letter was a relatively short one, but it contained a bold, fearless criticism of the practical work of our party and a remarkably clear and concise outline of a whole plan of work of the party for the immediate period. Lenin alone was able to write about the most complicated things so simply and clearly, so concisely and boldly—so that every sentence seems not to speak, but to ring out like a shot. The simple and bold letter still more strengthened me in my opinion that in Lenin we had the mountain eagle of our party. I cannot forgive myself for having burnt Lenin’s letter as I did many others, as is the habit of an old underground worker.
“From that time my acquaintance with Lenin began.”
This young Georgian Bolshevik was Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvilli, now most widely known under his name of Stalin, who had already suffered imprisonment more than once. He was to work in the closest conjunction with Lenin until his death, and thereafter to carry on the work of Lenin.
In April 1906 a united Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party was held at Stockholm.1 In the illusions of constitutional progress that were then widespread in Russia the Congress tended towards a line of least resistance and the Mensheviks turned out to be in a majority. A year later the illusions were falling away, the difficulties were beginning to be appreciated. The Fifth Congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party, held in London in 1907, found the Bolsheviks once more in the majority. From this time onward for ten years there was no congress of the party. During this period there were meetings of the Central Committee and Conferences gathered together and organised under the most difficult circumstances, involving the heaviest casualties. On the one hand there were the repeated arrests and imprisonment or banishment to Siberia. For example, J. V. Stalin, in the short period between 1900 and 1914, was eight times sentenced to lengthy imprisonment and exile—from which he six times escaped. But there were casualties of another sort—those who, demoralised by the difficulties, put forward false policies for the working class and developed into enemies of the party from within. Against these Lenin and the Bolsheviks carried out an unremitting struggle.
On the one side the “liquidators,” mostly Mensheviks, adopted an open anti-party attitude. They would have nothing to do with a revolutionary and illegal party, still less with “underground” revolutionary activities. They wanted to restrict working-class activities solely to what was legally permissible under Stolypin—i.e. to hoist the white flag and make peace with Stolypin. Against the Menshevik “liquidators” the Bolsheviks strove to maintain the revolutionary party, with its revolutionary slogans of democratic republic, confiscation of the landlords’ estates, and the eight-hour day. How far the “liquidators” were ready to go in their abandonment of the fundamental programme and tactical principles of the party may be judged from the standpoint of Noah Jordania, leader of the Caucasian Mensheviks. He advocated a “union of the forces of the bourgeoisie and of the proletariat,” and demanded that the proletariat should not “allow its uncompromising spirit to enfeeble the general movement.” He was against the principle of the hegemony of the proletariat, writing: “The thesis regarding the leading rôle of the proletariat in the bourgeois revolution is borne out neither by the theories of Marx nor by the historical facts.” And again he wrote: “The less intense the class war between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the more victorious will be the bourgeois revolution, provided, of course, that other conditions are equal.” On this, Stalin, writing in June 1910, made the following comment:
“The principle, borne out by the whole experience of our revolution, namely, that the triumph of the revolution is based on the class struggle of the proletariat, leading the poor peasants against the landlords and the liberal bourgeoisie-this principle has remained for our author a book with seven seals. It is in ‘the union of the forces of the proletariat with the forces of the bourgeoisie’ that Comrade Jordania sees ‘the only pledge of the triumph of the revolution.’ The moderate Cadet bourgeoisie and its moderate Monarchist constitution are what will save our revolution, it appears. . . . In a word, in place of the leadership of the proletariat with the following of the peasants, we have the leadership of the Cadet bourgeoisie, leading the proletariat by the nose. Such are the ‘new’ tactics of the Tiflis Mensheviks. It is not, in our opinion, necessary to expose this puerile liberal trash in detail. All that is required is to note that the ‘new’ tactics of the Tiflis Mensheviks amount to a liquidation of the tactics of the party which have been corroborated by the revolution, a liquidation demanding the transformation of the proletariat into the tail-end of the moderate Cadet bourgeoisie.”
On the other side were the “Leftists” of several varieties, notably the Otzovists who wished to recall the Duma deputies, to boycott the Duma, and not to have anything to do with any form of legal activity. These “Leftists,” types of the revolutionaries of the “frenzied petty-bourgeoisie,” were incapable of understanding the changes that had taken place in the relation of class forces and in the conditions of their struggle, and were therefore incapable of making the requisite change in tactics. The Bolsheviks ruthlessly exposed and expelled these revolutionary phrase-mongers who refused to understand the necessity of retreat, or how to retreat, or how to carry on work in the most reactionary parliaments, insurance societies, trade unions, etc.
The Bolsheviks retreated in good order with the least loss, the least demoralisation, and in the best condition to renew work on the broadest scale and to make ready for the time of a revolutionary offensive. The Mensheviks retreated into the Slough of Despond, amid the marsh frogs of liberal reformism. The Otzovists simply refused to retreat because they did not understand the necessity for it: and in this way these and other “Leftists” became a great hindrance to the preparations for a new offensive.
It was from amongst the Otzovists and their associates that there developed at this time a philosophic tendency away from Marxism and towards idealism, a tendency dubbed by Lenin “God-creating.” Against this “God-creating” as put forward by Bogdanov and Lunacharsky, Lenin strove with might and main. He himself undertook the gigantic task of generalising all the most important achievements of science from the time of Engels onwards, while criticising most comprehensively the anti-materialist trends amongst the Marxists. This is the subject matter of his Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, his chief work in the domain of materialist philosophy.
The third enemy during these years was Trotsky, who, without avowing himself either a “liquidator” or a “Leftist,” took up the cudgels indifferently on behalf of one or other against Lenin and the Bolsheviks, an attitude which was met by Lenin with attack after attack. For Lenin, Trotsky was an “intolerable phrasemonger,” a representative of “the worst remnants of factionalism,” one who was “deceiving the workers in a most unprincipled and shameless manner.” As late as 1914, Lenin, who had contemptuously characterised Trotsky in all the years of his activity as a “habitual deserter,” was writing of these “deserters” that they “declare themselves to be above factions for the simple reason that they ‘borrow’ ideas from one faction one day and from another faction another day. Trotsky was an ardent Iskra-ist in 1901-3, and Ryazanov described the part he played at the Congress of 1903 as that of ‘Lenin’s truncheon.’ At the end of 1903 Trotsky was an ardent Menshevik, i.e. one who deserted the Iskra-ists for the Economists. . . . In 1904-5 he left the Mensheviks and began to vacillate, at one moment collaborating with Martynov (the Economist) and at another proclaiming the absurdly ‘Left’ theory of ‘permanent revolution.”2 In 1906-7 he drew nearer to the Bolsheviks, and in the spring of 1907 he declared his solidarity with Rosa Luxemburg. During the period of disintegration, after long ‘non-factional’ vacillations, he again shifted to the Right, and in August 1912 entered into a bloc with the ‘liquidators.’ Now he is again abandoning them, repeating, however, what in essence are their pet ideas. . . . Trotsky has never yet held a firm opinion of any serious question relating to Marxism; he always manages to ‘creep into the chinks’ of this or that difference of opinion and desert one side for the other. At this moment he is in the company of the Bundists and the ‘liquidators’” (Lenin, Vol. IV, Selected Works, pp. 207 and 286).
There is a romantic and at the same time philistine outlook which thinks of the Russian Revolution only in terms of its highlights and would ignore the bitter struggles of the period of reaction and of the years that followed up to 1917. In the difficult conditions of these years, the Bolsheviks alone remained true to the party, to the working class, and to the programme of the revolution which had been worked out in the years up to 1903 and later. It was precisely in those years of reaction that the Bolshevik Party was remade, until it became the instrument that could lead the revolution. It was the reforging of the sword. These were years of the furnace and the anvil until the weapon was fully tempered and true.
In January 1912, at Prague, there was held a conference of the party at which the Central Committee was re-established, the “liquidators” finally expelled, and new guidance given to the party. The Conference resolution showed that the Tsarist land policy had not relieved peasant conditions, but had seriously worsened them. “Russification” of the subject nationalities, especially of the more cultured Poles and Finns, was being pushed forward, the economic boom was being largely nullified in its effects by the huge taxes and by the corruption of the bureaucratic machine, while the rising cost of living increased the misery of the mass of the population. Because of this the mass of the people had begun to see through the Duma and the main Duma parties. The result was the beginning of a political revival, shown in strikes of workers and also of students. The Conference concluded that the task of the democratic revolution in Russia was still the winning of power by the proletariat, leading the peasantry. It is of interest to quote the operative clauses of the resolution of this Conference, which marked the final break with the Mensheviks.
“1. Prolonged work of Socialist training, organisation, and consolidation of the advanced masses of the proletariat, is, as heretofore, first and foremost on the order of the day.
“2. Intensified work must be carried on to restore the underground organisation of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party which, more extensively than heretofore, takes advantage of all legal possibilities, which is capable of leading the economic struggle of the proletariat, and is the only party capable of leading its ever-increasing political activities.
“3. It is necessary to organise and expand systematic political agitation, to give all possible support to the incipient mass movement, and to secure its expansion under the banner of the full, uncurtailed slogans of the party. The republican propaganda against the policy of the Tsarist monarchy must be specially pushed forward also to counterbalance the widespread propaganda for curtailing the slogans and for confining the work to the limits of existing ‘legality.’”
The Conference decided to create a daily workers’ paper. On April 22nd, 1912, there appeared for the first time the Pravda, which in 1937 held its twenty-fifth anniversary. On the first editorial board were Stalin and Molotov. Lenin contributed regularly from where he was living in Austrian Poland. The feature of the new revolutionary daily was the way in which it was sustained by collections in the workshops. No matter under what sweated conditions, the Russian factory workers gladly gave their kopeks for the Pravda.
Between 1912 and 1914, the result of the Prague Conference showed itself in the local trade unions (national trade unions were forbidden by Tsarist law) and friendly societies: all unions, with the exception of the printers, had become Bolshevik.
The revival of the movement inside Russia which had begun with the street demonstrations of students and workers on the death of Leo Tolstoi at the end of 1910, and developed very slowly at first, had become more marked in the spring of 1912. A strike broke out in the Lena goldfields against the terrible conditions prevailing amongst the goldminers in that frozen territory, thousands of miles east of St. Petersburg. The strike was peaceful, but the Government instructed the police to end the strike. The strike committee was arrested. The workers decided to petition for the release of the strike committee, and marched in procession to the local prosecutor for this purpose. They were met on the way by a company of troops under the command of Police Captain Treshchenko. Without warning, the troops opened fire on the unarmed workers, killing two hundred and seventy and wounding two hundred and fifty. The news of this shooting (on April 17th, 1912) roused the workers throughout Russia. There were protest strikes in all the chief towns, and, on the first of May, gigantic demonstrations.
That year nearly three-quarters of a million workers came out on strike. There were mutinies of the troops in Turkestan and attempted mutinies in the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet. The mass meetings, strikes, and demonstrations were held under the revolutionary slogans of the Bolsheviks. It was the definite revival of the revolutionary movement.
It was, at the same time, the complete answer to the Right “liquidators,” to the “Leftists,” and to Trotsky. Trotsky at this time had formed the “August Bloc,” composed of all the various grouplets both Right and “Left”) who came together, not on a basis of principle, but solely on the basis of opposition to Lenin and the Bolshevik Party. The “August Bloc” ignominiously collapsed within eighteen months. Trotsky was furious. In a letter to the Menshevik Chkheidze he denounced Lenin as “that professional exploiter of the backwardness of the Russian working-class movement,” and declared “the whole edifice of Leninism at the present time is built up on lies and falsifications and bears within it the poisoned seed of its own putrefaction.” It was the venomous language of a defeated and contemned factionalist; and history had already shown that “hell hath no fury like a Trotsky scorned.”
In the same year, under the extremely reactionary system of the Duma elections (the Fourth Duma), the Bolsheviks won all the six purely labour curia, or electoral colleges. The half-dozen Bolshevik members carried on what may be regarded as a model of revolutionary parliamentarism. Parliamentary work and strike work and all other forms of agitational activity were combined, in contrast to the rigid separation which had tended to characterise France and Britain.
The strike wave mounted still higher in 1914. In St. Petersburg, hundreds and thousands of workers came out in sympathetic strikes in solidarity with the strikers out in the Baku oilfields. When Poincaré, the President of the French Republic, visited the Tsar’s capital in July 1914, he found barricades in the streets. The war mobilisation of August 1914 and the torrent of jingoism that accompanied it came none too soon for the Tsardom.
1. This was the Fourth Congress. The Third Congress, held in London in May 1905, had been attended only by the Bolsheviks.
2. Using, and misunderstanding, a passage of Marx, Trotsky in 1905 put forward his “theory of permanent revolution.” The Mensheviks were for an alliance of proletariat and bourgeoisie, with the bourgeoisie leading. The Bolsheviks were for an alliance of proletariat and peasantry, with the proletariat leading. Trotsky, bent on going one better than the Bolsheviks, proposed to leave out the peasantry. Thus, against the Bolshevik 1905 slogan of “Revolutionary-Democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry,” Trotsky put out the slogan, “No Tsar, but a Workers’ Government.” This slogan, and the “theory” behind it, did not consider the small peasantry as a revolutionary force. It is obvious that had it been possible to carry out these ideas, they would have led to disaster. It was not political independence but mere political bravado, and hence Lenin calls this Trotsky theory not merely “Left,” but absurdly “Left.”
Next: V. The Imperialist World War | <urn:uuid:c2838683-7a8f-4158-831b-0634a2e461da> | {
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The main responsibility of the Royal Air Force (RAF) at home is to defend UK airspace. It also operates a search and rescue service at sea and on land. Its role abroad is to operate both as a fighting and peacekeeping force. In addition, it brings aid to the victims of war and natural disaster.
Officers are the managers and leaders of the RAF and they take responsibility for the welfare of the airmen and airwomen under their command. They also specialise in one of the following roles:
Pilots fly aircraft in air combat and ground attacks, to transport troops and equipment and in search and rescue. They may fly fast jet, multi-engine or rotary wing aircraft.
Weapons Systems Officers manage air-to-air combat from the back seat of a Tornado aircraft or operate weapons systems in other aircraft.
Engineer Officers specialise either as aerosystems engineers (responsible for the weapons, avionics and propulsion systems of all kinds of aircraft) or as communications/electronics engineers (maintaining every type of communications link, from telephone exchanges to satellite communications).
RAF Police Officers lead and manage teams of RAF police in the UK and overseas.
RAF Regiment Officers lead infantry units that defend RAF airfields and other installations from ground and low-level air attack.
Dental Officers are qualified dentists, practising on UK bases and overseas.
Medical Officers are qualified doctors, providing medical care for RAF personnel and their families.
Medical Support Officers support the RAF's medical services in a range of management and administrative roles.
Medical Support Officers (physiotherapists) are qualified physiotherapists who practise physiotherapy in a hospital, a rehabilitation facility or on a frontline operational base.
Nursing Officers (in the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service) provide nursing services to RAF personnel.
Personnel Support Officers provide support services, such as personnel management, estate management or public relations.
Chaplains support the spiritual, moral and social well-being of RAF personnel and their families.
Legal Officers are qualified barristers and solicitors. They advise in criminal cases and conduct prosecutions both in the UK and overseas.
Physical Education Officers arrange fitness programmes, organise adventurous training and manage a wide range of sports facilities.
Training Officers design, set up and run training courses.
Air Traffic Control Officers use radar and communications equipment to help aircraft take off and land safely. They also provide pilots with flight and navigation information.
Aerospace Battle Managers manage battles in the sky. They may be weapons specialists (who direct combat aircraft), surveillance specialists (who monitor the skies and gather war-fighting information) or space specialists (who warn of missiles and hostile intelligence-gathering satellites).
Flight Operations Officers plan and manage the RAF's flying tasks.
Intelligence Officers gather, analyse and provide defence intelligence both in times of peace and war.
Logistics Officers manage the movement of personnel, aircraft, freight, fuel, explosives and technical equipment. They are also responsible for delivering catering and hospitality services to RAF personnel both in the UK and overseas.
Officers need to be available for duty at all times, but they usually work office hours over a five-day week. Occasional weekend work may be required. Some roles involve shifts, early starts and late finishes. On exercise or operations, working hours can be long and changeable.
Many RAF stations are like small towns, with housing, shops, gyms, religious facilities, crèches and banks.
Officers may be posted to RAF bases in the UK or overseas, in territories such as Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Ascension Island and Gibraltar. They may also go on operations and exercises anywhere in the world, including conflict zones.
Pilot officers earn £24,130 a year. Flight lieutenants earn from £37,170 to £44,205 a year. Squadron leaders earn between £48,824 and £56,075 a year.
There are different pay scales for some specialist officers and for people who join as graduates or with professional qualifications. Salaries are higher for the most senior personnel. Living costs at RAF stations are heavily subsidised, and there are no charges while on operations.
There are around 8,460 officers in the RAF. All officer roles are open to men and women, with the exception of RAF Regiment officer, which is open to men only.
Officers join for a minimum length of service. This is usually between 6 and 12 years. Many extend their career in the RAF well beyond the number of years for which they initially join up.
Competition for some specialisations can be fierce.
Entrants need to be aged at least 17 years and six months (older for some specialisations).
Entry to many specialisations is with at least two A levels and five GCSE's (A*-C), including English and maths. Equivalent qualifications, such as an Advanced Diploma, may be accepted for some specialisations. Many entrants are graduates.
Some roles have more specific entry requirements:
Applicants must be of UK, dual UK, Commonwealth or Irish nationality when they apply. For security reasons, there are stricter nationality requirements for some roles. A few are open only to applicants who have been a UK citizen and a UK resident since birth.
The RAF offers a range of sponsorship schemes for those in school sixth forms and at university. Students who are sponsored at university join their nearest University Air Squadron. They have the opportunity to play sports, take part in overseas expeditions, try out fieldcraft and leadership training and get some flying experience.
Applicants have to pass a series of selection tests held at the Officers and Aircrew Selection Centre at RAF College Cranwell, in Lincolnshire. The selection process lasts for up to four days and includes aptitude tests, fitness tests, interviews and an occupational health assessment.
The upper age limit for entry to most branches is 36 years. The exceptions are:
- 25 for pilots and weapon systems officers
- 26 for physical education officers
- 35 for legal officers
- 49 for chaplains
- 55 for medical officers and dental officers
Entrants first take the initial officer training course at RAF College Cranwell. It consists of three ten-week terms and includes military skills, fitness training, leadership exercises, adventurous training and simulated military exercises.
Professionally qualified entrants, such as medical officers and legal officers, undertake shorter training (around 11 weeks) at Cranwell.
After successfully completing initial training, officers go on to specialist training in their chosen branch.
As an Oil Drilling Roustabouts and Roughnecks work as part of a small team on offshore oil or gas drilling rigs or production platforms. Roustabouts do unskilled manual labouring jobs on rigs and platforms, and Roughneck is a promotion from roustabout.
Roustabouts do basic tasks to help keep the rig and platform working efficiently and Roughnecks do practical tasks involved in the drilling operation, under the supervision of the driller.
An RAF officer should:
Non-graduates begin as pilot officers, while entrants with a degree or professional qualification start as flying officers.
Promotion is possible to flight lieutenant, squadron leader, wing commander, group captain and beyond.
Further information is available at www.raf.mod.uk/careers
Applicants can also call the RAF advice line 0845 605 5555
Additional resources for job seekers and those already in a job. | <urn:uuid:f60ec473-306c-4633-8a00-e8fd89c29fc5> | {
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- Launch vehicles of the world
- How a launch vehicle works
- Launching into outer space
- Launch bases
- Commercial launch industry
- The quest for reusability
- Beyond rockets
launch vehicle, in spaceflight, a rocket-powered vehicle used to transport a spacecraft beyond Earth’s atmosphere, either into orbit around Earth or to some other destination in outer space. Practical launch vehicles have been used to send manned spacecraft, unmanned space probes, and satellites into space since the 1950s. They include the Soyuz and Proton launchers of Russia as well as several converted military missiles; Russia is developing a new family of launchers called Angara. Europe operates the Ariane V and Vega launchers. The United States operated the space shuttle until its retirement in 2011. Current U.S. launch vehicles include the Atlas, Delta, Falcon, and Antares expendable boosters.
In order to reach Earth orbit, a launch vehicle must accelerate its spacecraft payload to a minimum velocity of 28,000 km (17,500 miles) per hour, which is roughly 25 times the speed of sound. To overcome Earth’s gravity for travel to a destination such as the Moon or Mars, the spacecraft must be accelerated to a velocity of approximately 40,000 km (25,000 miles) per hour. The initial acceleration must also be provided very rapidly in order to minimize both the time that a launch vehicle takes to transit the stressful environment of the atmosphere and the time during which the vehicle’s rocket engines and other systems must operate near their performance limits; a launch from Earth’s surface or atmosphere usually attains orbital velocity within 8–12 minutes. Such rapid acceleration requires one or more rocket engines burning large quantities of propellant at a high rate, while at the same time the vehicle is controlled so that it follows its planned trajectory. To maximize the mass of the spacecraft that a particular launch vehicle can carry, the vehicle’s structural weight is kept as low as possible. Most of the weight of the launch vehicle is actually its propellants—i.e., fuel and the oxidizer needed to burn the fuel. Designing reliable launch vehicles is challenging. The launchers with the best recent records have a reliability rate between 95 and 99 percent.
With the exception of the partially reusable U.S. space shuttle and the Soviet Buran vehicle (which was flown only once), all launch vehicles to date have been designed for only a single use; they are thus called expendable launch vehicles. With costs ranging from more than 10 million dollars each for the smaller launch vehicles used to put lighter payloads into orbit to hundreds of millions of dollars for the launchers needed for the heaviest payloads, access to space is very expensive, on the order of many thousands of dollars per kilogram taken to orbit. The complexity of the space shuttle made it extremely expensive to operate, even though portions of the shuttle system were reusable. Attempts to develop a fully reusable launch vehicle in order to reduce the cost of access to space have so far not been successful, primarily because the propulsion system and materials needed for successful development of such a vehicle have not been available.
Having both its own launch vehicles and a place to launch them are prerequisites if a particular country or group of countries wants to carry out an independent space program. To date, several entities—Russia, the United States, Japan, China, European countries through the European Space Agency, Israel, India, Iran, and both North and South Korea—have successfully developed and currently maintain their own space launch capability. Other countries aspiring to such capability include Brazil and Pakistan. Historically, many launch vehicles have been derived from ballistic missiles, and the link between new countries developing space launch capability and obtaining long-range military missiles is a continuing security concern.
Most launch vehicles have been developed through government funding, although some of those launch vehicles have been turned over to the private sector as a means of providing commercial space transportation services. Particularly in the United States, there have also been a number of entrepreneurial attempts to develop a privately funded launch vehicle; one company, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), has successfully developed the Falcon family of launch vehicles.
Most space launch vehicles trace their heritage to ballistic missiles developed for military use during the 1950s and early ’60s. Those missiles in turn were based on the ideas first developed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Russia, Robert Goddard in the United States, and Hermann Oberth in Germany. Each of these pioneers of space exploration recognized the centrality of developing successful launch vehicles if humanity were to gain access to outer space.
Tsiolkovsky late in the 19th century was the first to recognize the need for rockets to be constructed with separate stages if they were to achieve orbital velocity. Oberth’s classic 1923 book, Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (“The Rocket into Interplanetary Space”), explained the mathematical theory of rocketry and applied the theory to rocket design. Oberth’s works also led to the creation of a number of rocket clubs in Germany, as enthusiasts tried to turn Oberth’s ideas into practical devices. Goddard was the first to build experimental liquid-fueled rockets; his first rocket, launched in Auburn, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1926, rose 12.5 metres (41 feet) and traveled 56 metres (184 feet) from its launching place.
While Goddard spent 1930–41 in New Mexico working in isolation on increasingly sophisticated rocket experiments, a second generation of German, Soviet, and American rocket pioneers emerged during the 1930s. In particular, a team led by Wernher von Braun, working for the German army during the Nazi era, began development of what eventually became known as the V-2 rocket. Although built as a weapon of war, the V-2 later served as the predecessor of some of the launch vehicles used in the early space programs of the United States and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union. | <urn:uuid:d0d32a4e-e912-4d6f-900b-9a53ed2246bc> | {
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Build Vocabulary 5
Your child will learn new vocabulary words and put them into use with this worksheet. Your fifth grader will reinforce her understanding of known and new words; first by reading the word with definition, then rewriting the vocab terms and finally figuring out the best fit with sentences provided. Repetition is key when learning new words and spelling! Try this worksheet with your child to expand his vocabulary. | <urn:uuid:4e3d6ff0-5609-4edf-ae91-b295ca58193d> | {
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2. Policy context
2.1 Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence has at its heart the aspiration that all children and young people should be successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. There are strong connections between effective, successful learning and health. Through the health and wellbeing curriculum area, Curriculum for Excellence takes a holistic approach to health and wellbeing.
The main purpose of health and wellbeing within Curriculum for Excellence is to develop the knowledge and understanding, skills, capabilities and attributes necessary for physical, mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing now and in the future.
A Curriculum for Excellence advocates approaches to learning and teaching that challenge children and young people to develop their knowledge and understanding, skills and attributes. It suggests that schools encourage pupils to develop life skills, such as taking responsibility for their own health and fitness. It also underlines the role of all teachers in supporting the health and wellbeing of all children and young people. A Curriculum for Excellence is not prescriptive about teaching - activities should meet the needs of individual pupils. Approaches to learning and teaching should include participation as well as outcomes. The need for teachers to respond to pupils' views, especially where sensitive issues are involved, is also highlighted.
Personal and social development/personal and social education ( PSD/ PSE) and health education programmes
Focussed programmes covering key elements of personal, social and health education provide a key medium for implementation of the Act and should include whole-school, cross-curricular and special focus components as outlined in Personal Support for Pupils in Scottish Schools ( HMIE 2004) and Health and wellbeing for all. Staff with responsibility for providing guidance and personal support, class teachers and other partners have key roles in delivering these programmes.
Environment, resources and facilities
Health promoting schools provide a safe, supportive, accessible and well-resourced environments and facilities for all pupils, staff and the wider community, including appropriate provision for all who have additional support needs. Being Well - Building Well (Scottish Health-Promoting Schools Unit, 2005) identifies the health-related needs of all school users and informs key stakeholders who are planning the building or refurbishment of school environments.
2.2 Health and wellbeing outcomes
Mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing
Good mental and emotional health is a fundamental and underpinning component of positive health and wellbeing. A whole-school approach to improving mental and emotional wellbeing will have an impact on all aspects of school life and benefit all who learn and work in schools, as well as providing a supportive environment for those who are experiencing difficulties.
Mental and emotional wellbeing underpins other aspects of health within a school and cannot be considered in isolation. It is crucial to understand how physical activity, healthy eating and emotional wellbeing interact, and how these interactions affect children's behaviour and learning capacity.
Developing positive relationships in school communities is fundamental to fostering a good climate for learning including positive behaviour, and many approaches to promoting positive behaviour aim to improve relationships and develop emotional literacy. These approaches include the use of restorative practices and programmes which develop pupils' inter-personal skills to help them manage their feelings and responses, and to participate fully in school, at home and in the community.
Planning for choices and changes
Children and young people will face a range of challenging stages in the course of their school career, including the transition from primary to secondary school, changes in their personal circumstances, coping with exams and deadlines, and leaving school to start work or embark upon further study. Supporting children and young people to cope with stress and anxiety arising from such changes will be integral to promoting mental and emotional wellbeing. In addition to the specific requirements relating to health promotion, schools need to support children to meet their personal, social and learning needs, and to plan for their future beyond school education.
Physical education, physical activity and sport
The promotion of physical activity in children has been a long term priority for the Scottish Government. 'Let's Make Scotland More Active' set long-term targets for daily moderate physical activity. For children, the aim is to ensure that by 2022, 80% of all those aged 16 and under will meet the minimum level of recommended physical activity. The health and wellbeing experiences and outcomes reaffirm the aspiration of daily physical activity for all.
Schools are a key setting for the promotion of physical activity and a number of major programmes set in the school environment have been introduced These include the Active Schools programme, the School Travel Coordinators network and the Safer Routes to Schools programme.
In 2004, a report on a review of physical education in schools reinforced the important role schools play in providing opportunities for being more active (through play, walking and cycling, etc). However, it also highlighted the fact that these wider opportunities need to be complemented by high quality learning and teaching, and carefully-planned curricular frameworks to ensure all children develop a sufficient range of skills and competencies.
While Curriculum for Excellence gives local freedom and responsibility to those planning the curriculum, the Scottish Government expects schools to continue to work towards the provision of 2 hours of physical education for every child each week. This commitment will be reflected in Building the Curriculum 3: a framework for learning and teaching.
Food and health
A good diet is essential for good health. Health promoting schools can make a valuable contribution to improving the nutritional quality of children's and young people's diets and promoting consistent messages about healthy eating.
School meals in Scotland have undergone a transformation due to the Hungry for Success initiative. The Act builds on Hungry for Success and will require local authorities and managers of grant-aided schools to ensure that food and drink provided in schools comply with the nutritional requirements specified by Scottish Ministers in regulations. These regulations will apply to all food that is sold or served in local authority and grant-aided schools - including at tuckshops and in vending machines, not just school meals - and are supported by guidance. The regulations and guidance are, at the point of writing, still subject to Parliamentary approval after which they will be published on the Scottish Government website. However, a draft version of the regulations is already available on the website.
Health promoting schools should help children and young people to develop an understanding of the relationship between food, health and wellbeing. They should also develop an awareness of various issues regarding food, including sourcing and production and cultural differences.
The Food Standards Agency's food competences framework is intended to help schools and community-based organisations provide children and young people with the foundation to make healthy food choices now and into adulthood. As a framework of core skills and knowledge for children and young people, it sets out the essential building blocks for healthy eating, cooking and food safety.
In terms of dental health, the Scottish Dental Action Plan has targets for supervised tooth brushing schemes in primary schools. The target is to have 20% of schools with the highest need offering tooth brushing schemes by March 2008. Many schools have extended this to other age groups.
Guidelines on Commercial Activities in Schools were published by the Scottish Consumer Council in March 2006 and the Public Health and Wellbeing Directorate have commissioned the Scottish Consumer Council to prepare similar guidelines that extend to the wider public sector environment. This will provide additional information to ensure that sponsorship decisions reinforce positive messages around health promotion.
Substance misuse education in schools is often the first line of prevention against smoking and alcohol and drug misuse, providing opportunities to pass on accurate, up-to-date facts, explore attitudes and, crucially, foster the skills needed to make positive decisions. The key focus of policy on substance misuse (including alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs as well as prescription medicines and other substances) is to help young people resist substance misuse in order to achieve their full potential in society. Through Curriculum for Excellence, schools have an important role to play in developing in young people qualities of resilience and adaptability so that they are able to make informed choices to enhance their own and their families' health and wellbeing.
Substance misuse education is not just about classroom teaching, but encompasses all policies, practices, programmes, initiatives and events in the school connected with the prevention and reduction of tobacco, alcohol and drug-related harm. The evidence is clear that no single approach to prevention and education is effective, and that one-off interventions will have limited value. Furthermore, we know that the culture, relationships and opportunities in schools contribute to young people's social and academic outcomes, and that these are relevant to a whole range of behaviours including drug use ( Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Drug Education in Scottish Schools 2007)
The Scottish Government is seeking long term, sustainable improvements in teaching practice, including the partnership delivery that should come from the Curriculum for Excellence approach. An expert steering group on substance misuse education in schools has been established, to produce advice, guidance and proposals aimed at helping schools and authorities to achieve improvements, in the context of Curriculum for Excellence and the Concordat with local government. In particular, it will look at how to boost knowledge, skills and confidence about substance misuse, for teachers and other professionals involved in delivering health education in schools, through improving access to suitable resources appropriate for each age group and more effective partnership planning and delivery with Health, the Police and the community. More emphasis is also being placed on the role of parents or carers in educating their own family about substance misuse.
If young people are misusing drugs within the school premises or grounds, staff should refer to the Guidelines for the Management of Incidents of Drug Misuse (June 2000). All schools are expected to have a policy on the handling of drug-related incidents, developed in consultation with the police and Children's Reporter.
This Government is committed to the continuation of public information campaigns, such as Know the Score, which has been effective in increasing knowledge and promoting avoidance of substance misuse and positive lifestyles. Specific campaigns for young people, currently from around age sixteen, though the merits of providing information for younger age groups are currently being investigated. The Choices for Life initiative for all Primary 7 children has also provided a mechanism for information and messages around substances and healthy living more generally. In addition, the informative and popular " Parents' Guide" is to be distributed to every household/family in the country, as well as to key public institutions such as Further Education colleges, Universities and prisons.
The Government plans to work with all concerned to implement a programme to tackle the drug misuse problem in Scotland and will be publishing a new drugs strategy later in May 2008. The Government will work with all interests to ensure successful implementation.
In addition, the Scottish Government has a new 5-year smoking Prevention Action plan. The plan is based on the recommendations made in Towards a future without tobacco (2006) which highlights the need for education on drugs, alcohol and tobacco to embrace the concept of health promoting schools and to inform parents about tobacco and other substances, and their related responsibilities.
The Scottish Government is developing a longer term, cross-Government approach to tackling alcohol misuse, appropriate to the scale of the problem in Scotland and focussing on the long term objectives of reducing harm and achieving sustainable change. We intend to publish our proposals for action for consultation before the summer.
Relationships, sexual health and parenthood
Respect and Responsibility, Strategy and Action Plan for Improving Sexual Health , (2005) makes recommendations for the provision of sex and relationships education ( SRE) for children and young people. In particular, it recommends that schools, in consultation with parents, should provide SRE linked to other aspects of the curriculum and delivered by trained and supported staff. This includes contributions from partners such as sexual health promotion specialists, public health nurses and the voluntary sector. As a priority, SRE should be supported by local services for young people such as 'drop-in' centres which are in or near to schools.
It is important to take account of the beliefs and philosophies of denominational and faith schools in structuring provision for education in relationships, sexual health and parenthood. For example, the Catholic Education Commission provides the ' Called to Love' programme of teaching resources. The programme promotes a Catholic Christian vision of loving relationships.
Children and young people attending primary and secondary schools should receive consistent and accurate messages regarding sex and relationships education through materials which are stage and age-appropriate.
The Scottish Government
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Some years ago, Halloween was called the Mischief Night in some parts of UK. The festival was associated with mischief making, in which people would take away their doors from their hinges. They would throw the doors into a pond or would take them along the away. The boys would indulge in other mischief like changing shop signs, whitewashing doors and tying door latches. Today, the festival has been nicknamed as Nutcracker Night or Snap Apple Night in England. It is related to the popular tradition, among the families in England, to sit around a hearth on Halloween. In the past, they would indulge in roasting nuts and having apples. They would exchange stories and also indulge in holiday games like snap apple.
In the middle of the sixth century, even after the arrival of Christianity in UK, people continued to follow the ancient pagan rituals. The Fathers at the Church were worried over the growing supremacy of non-Christian festivals over the Christian holy days. Pope Gregory I’s successor, Pope Boniface IV declared that May 13 will be observed as the All Saints’ Day. The pagans were extremely delighted to have this festival included in their calendar. But at the same time, they would not give up Samhain, the festival of the dead. However, Pope Gregory III was determined to eliminate Samhain and intentionally linked the Christian festival of All Saints’ Day to Samhain.
Pope Gregory III declared November 1 as the All Saints’ Day, which later came to be known as All Hallows. Samhain came to be known as the All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween, owing to the fact that it falls the night before All Hallows. The Pope further allowed people to dress up to pay honor to the saints. Soon, the Church came up with a decision to include a second day to the festival. It was to be observed on November 2 and was named as All Souls’ Day. The day was dedicated to the remembrance of the departed souls. The festival marked the reciting of prayers and lighting of candles, to lessen the duration of suffering for the dead, before ascending to heaven.
In England, the ‘trick or treat tradition’ is not followed. Instead, the ritual of Soul Caking takes place, in which the children go from house to house, collecting money for the poor. People also give a soul cake to the children and on receiving it, the children recite a prayer for the departed relatives of the donor. However, the Soul cakes bear different names in different parts of England. For instance, in some parts, it is called the Saumas or Soul Mass cake and made out of dark fruitcakes. In another region of England, the cake are covered in caraway seeds and formed into a bun. People in some parts of UK light turnip lanterns on their gateposts. They believe that by lighting lanterns, their home will be protected from the spirits.
Children also engage themselves in making punkies on Halloween. They do this by cutting out a pattern out of large beets. Then, they go from one house to another, singing the Punkie Night Song. People treat the children with money. People in North England consider lighting bonfires as pivotal to the Halloween celebration. They also believe this time to be haunted with witches. In Lancashire, people follow the ‘Lating’ or ‘Lighting the witches’ as an important part of the celebration. As per this custom, people carry lighted candles from eleven to midnight. It is popularly believed that if the candles burn consistently, the person carrying the candle would be safe. If it is blown out by witches, several bad omens may follow. | <urn:uuid:d946fce0-67f5-4885-a457-f76cb9360bc2> | {
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Many adolescents living with AIDS do not receive adequate support and care – and many others are not aware of how to protect themselves from AIDS. To mark World AIDS Day, we look at how education – especially of girls – helps save lives by improving knowledge of HIV/AIDS among young people.
On December 1, World AIDS Day, it’s important to acknowledge how much progress has been made in prevention, treatment and care. The number of new HIV infections has fallen by a third since 2001, and by half among children. The number of AIDS-related deaths has dropped by 30% since 2005. In low and middle income countries, 10 million people are receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatment; the United Nations is set to exceed its goal of ensuring that 15 million people receive treatment by 2015.
There are still 34 million people living with HIV, however, and many countries still have high prevalence rates. As the World Health Organization is underlining on World AIDS Day this year, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable: 3.3 million children are affected, and young people account for 41% of all new HIV infections among adults. Education is a crucial part of efforts to prevent AIDS among young people, and improve care for those living with HIV and AIDS, as the UN General Assembly and the Dakar Framework for Action have acknowledged.
How does education help? Adolescents who know more about HIV/AIDS are more likely to get tested. Education also reduces the discrimination against HIV-positive children and adolescents that can lead them to drop out of school. In Latin America, people with secondary education are 45% more tolerant towards HIV-positive people than those with only primary education.
Evidence from several EFA Global Monitoring Reports shows that educating girls saves lives, especially by improving HIV prevention and care. Young women account for more than 60% of young people living with HIV; in sub-Saharan Africa the figure is 71%. Educating young women reduces the risk of HIV infection by empowering them to assert their sexual and reproductive rights. They are more likely to know how HIV is transmitted and that using condoms can reduce the risk of transmission.
Educating girls could also have prevented the 260,000 new HIV infections among children last year, as the vast majority of these children contracted the virus during pregnancy or delivery, or when breastfed by HIV-positive mothers. Our Education Transforms booklet highlights that education is one of the most powerful ways of improving children’s health as educated mothers are better informed about specific diseases and therefore can take measures to prevent them.
In the case of HIV, educated mothers are more likely to seek testing during pregnancy and to know that HIV can be transmitted by breastfeeding. They are also more likely to know that the mother-to-child transmission can be reduced by taking anti-retroviral drugs during pregnancy; only 27% of women with no education in Malawi were aware of this, compared with 60% of women with secondary education or higher.
Ensuring all children have access to school is essential, as young people who have stayed in school longer are more aware of HIV and AIDS. They are more inclined to take protective measures such as using condoms, getting tested and discussing AIDS with their partners. Schooling reduces the risk of HIV infection – but needs to play a bigger part in communicating knowledge about HIV and AIDS.
The 2012 EFA Global Monitoring Report revealed that only 36% of 13-year-olds in Southern and Eastern Africa reached the minimum required knowledge of HIV and AIDS and only 7% reached the desirable level. Curricula must be better designed to incorporate health, sexuality, and HIV and AIDS education, using a life skills approach. Botswana introduced an HIV and AIDS awareness curriculum in 2006. Knowledge of HIV and AIDS among young people rose from 28% to 45%, and the HIV infection rate was halved between 2001 and 2009.
To push for more national programmes like Botswana’s, UNESCO has launched an initiative with UNAIDS in Southern and Eastern Africa – where every hour still brings 50 new HIV infections among young people. The initiative urges policy-makers to combine comprehensive sex education for young people with youth-friendly health services. Their report, Young People Today – Time to Act Now, highlights the need for links between education, health and an environment that helps young people and communities face the issue. | <urn:uuid:ce04c248-2675-49d8-8812-ba0ffe8afcc7> | {
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Nobody knows how life on Earth began, but the primordial soup likely got a lot of its ingredients from space.
Scientists have discovered concentrations of amino acids in two meteorites that are more than 10 times higher than levels previously measured in other similar meteorites.
Amino acids are organic molecules that form the backbone of proteins, which in turn build many of the structures and drive many of the chemical reactions inside living cells.
The production of proteins is believed to constitute one of the first steps in the emergence of life.
Meanwhile, meteorites found on Earth are typically chunks of material created in the solar system's youth.
So the finding suggests that the early solar system was far richer in the organic building blocks of life than scientists had thought.
The researchers speculate that rocks from space may have spiked Earth's primordial broth.
It's an argument that's been made before. In fact, the hypothesis of "panspermia" has been around for more than a century. But the prevalence of amino acids strengthens the reasoning.
Scientists already knew amino acids could have formed in some environments on the early Earth, but the presence of these compounds in certain meteorites has led many researchers to look to space as a source.
The meteorites used for the study were collected in Antarctica in 1992 and 1995 and held in the meteorite collection at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Researchers took small samples from three rare CR chondrites, which date from the time of the solar system's formation. The rocks likely came from an asteroid that was long ago shattered.
"The amino acids probably formed within the parent body before it broke up," said Conel Alexander of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution. "For instance, ammonia and other chemical precursors from the solar nebula, or even the interstellar medium, could have combined in the presence of water to make the amino acids.
"Then, after the break up, some of the fragments could have showered down onto the Earth and the other terrestrial planets," he added. "These same precursors are likely to have been present in other primitive bodies, such as comets, that were also raining material onto the early Earth."
The study will be detailed in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
Copyright © 2008 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:ccfdf028-bf92-4b74-81a7-fe83e9232724> | {
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CORVALLIS - They may not be professional engineers yet, but high school students from around Oregon have already learned how to build model bridges out of balsa wood that can carry 1,000 times the weight of the materials used in their bridge.
Those and other accomplishments were the result of the 30th annual Holly Cornell Model Bridge Contest held last month at the Oregon State University College of Engineering.
"This contest is intended to promote interest in engineering and provides an opportunity to high school teachers to include for their students the concepts of design and testing of engineering structures," said Chris Bell, associate dean of the College of Engineering. "A considerable amount of skill is required to construct the models, and the students learn the importance of working to a specification."
More than 60 students attended from eight Oregon high schools, including Brookings Harbor, Canby, Crook County, Elmira, North Marion, Philomath, Thurston and Toledo. A total of 68 bridges were tested.
The most efficient bridge in this year's competition meeting the weight restriction of 25 grams was able to carry a load of 43 kilograms, or more than 1,700 times its weight. Twelve of the bridges tested carried at least 1,000 times their own weight.
This contest was staffed by the Professional Engineers of Oregon and sponsored by CH2M Hill Engineers, one of whose founders, Holly Cornell, was a 1938 OSU civil engineering graduate. Students from OSU's Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering also help to weigh, measure and test the model bridges. | <urn:uuid:ee839d46-725b-4cac-aa11-ba8af02015bb> | {
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Earlier this week, a solver posted this question in a public forum: “I haven’t been doing the Nation puzzle for that long. What is the significance of the ellipsis at the end and beginning of consecutive clues?” It’s a great question, and an example of the kind of thing that can become so transparent to experienced solvers and constructors that we lose sight of the possibility for confusion.
The short answer is that the ellipsis is there purely to help the surface of the clues read in a natural way. The premise is that two clues joined by an ellipsis can be construed as a single sentence or phrase, reading right across the clue boundary. But that’s only on the surface, mind you—when it comes to solving, each clue stands alone and yields its own answer.
As constructors, we find that we resort to ellipses under two conditions: opportunity and necessity. Sometimes we join two clues together simply because we can—when the workings of random chance lead to consecutive clues that either share a subject matter or have syntax that goes well in combination.
Here’s an example of two consecutive clues sharing a subject, probably (if memory serves) placed together by design rather than chance:
ESTONIANS Northern Europeans’ surprising sensation… (9)
CROATIANS …tattered raincoats for Southern Europeans (9)
PENALTIES Palestine suffering punishments… (9)
TRESTLE …from violent settler frame (7)
More often, it’s the possibility of smooth syntax that prompts us to use the ellipsis, as in this example:
BYPASS Go around near spas, running amok… (6)
ODDLY …in a peculiar fashion—or did I lay this way? (5)
But by far the most common thing that prompts us to use ellipses is sheer necessity—when a clue simply can’t make good surface sense on its own. Often that’s because the definition is a preposition or a conjunction, which are awkward at either the beginning or end of a clue. So we do things like this:
PETROLEUM Favorite part? Er… It yields gas…(9)
NEATH …under unmixed hydrogen (5)
AGAMEMNON Mythical king is willing, with Minoan leader coming in soon… (9)
TOP HAT …to cool stovepipe (3,3)
All of these examples fall under the general rule that punctuation can be safely ignored while solving. But don’t forget that no rule is completely inviolable. Solvers, for instance, ignored punctuation here at their peril:
SEMICOLON Wise lawmaker eats stewed mice;…(9)
SHERBET …for example, oregano stuffing prescribed for dessert (7)
One of these days, ELLIPSIS is sure to show up in a grid, and then all bets will be off.
Do you have thoughts or concerns about the use of ellipses in clues? Please share here, along with any quibbles, questions, kudos or complaints about the current puzzle or any previous puzzle. To comment (and see other readers’ comments), please click on this post’s title and scroll to the bottom of the resulting screen.
And here are three links:
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• A Nation puzzle solver’s blog where you can ask for and offer hints, and where every one of our clues is explained in detail. | <urn:uuid:c897e29d-fe38-4d34-8bdf-148caa725218> | {
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Unlike most other Irish and Irish-Americans who fought in the American Civil War, Philip Kearny was born in to a prominent and affluent family in New York City on June 1, 1815. The Kearny name, quite appropriately, came from the Gaelic "O Catharnaigh," derived from the word "cearnach," meaning "warlike" or “victorious.” His father, also Philip, went to Harvard and was one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange. His mother’s family, Watts, owned ships, factories, and banks in the city. His uncle was Stephen Kearny, who served in both the War of 1812 and more famously as a general in the Mexican War and he also had another uncle, George Watts, who served on the staff of General Winfield Scott in the War of 1812.
Philip, who greatly admired his uncles, wanted to join them in a military career, but was pressured into studying the law by his maternal grandfather. To make matters worse for him, he attended a secondary school in Garrison, NY, just across the Hudson from West Point. Looking across at it and hearing the drum and bugle calls could have only made his longing to go there more intense. Instead he attended Columbia College (now University) in New York City, attaining a law degree, graduating with honors.
When his grandfather died in 1836, leaving Philip independently wealthy, a lesser man may have simply become a man of leisure, enjoying all the better things in life. That's not what he had in mind, however, now he was free to pursue something far removed from a life of leisure: a military career. Later events would prove it was the correct career path for him. As he began that career he adopted a personal motto from Roman poet Horace's Odes: “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori” - it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country. He would be true to it.
'The Most Perfect Soldier'
Young Philip's first military assignment was as a 2nd lieutenant with his uncle Stephen’s 1st U.S. Dragoons. Philip was had begun riding very early in life and was an expert horseman, so he was prepared for that part of job. The adjutant of the regiment at the time was Jefferson Davis, later to be president of the Confederate States. In 1839, with his superior officers beginning to recognize the outstanding military qualities he would demonstrate throughout his service, Philip’s military career then took a foreign turn as he was one of the officers selected by the Secretary of War to be sent to France to study cavalry tactics at the famous military school in Saumur.
Once in France, French officers also began to take note of this outstanding solider and he was given an assignment as an aide-de-camp and officer in the 1st Chasseurs d'Afrique (Huntsmen of Africa, shown in battle, right), one of the best regiments in the French Army. When the French became engaged in the Algerian War, Kearny accompanied them to Africa, and saw combat for the first time. There he learned the skill of riding with the reins in his mouth with a pistol and saber in his hands, a skill that would prove crucial to him in the future. And he took to heart the Chasseurs “never retreat” creedo.
He proved fearless in combat and became a very popular figure among his new French comrades in arms, who bestowed on him the sobriquet "Kearny le Magnifique.” He was also popular because the independently wealthy young soldier was fond of holding lavish parties with little thought to their expense. France would remain like a second home to him for the rest of his days. He had a joie de vivre that would endear him to many through his life.
On his return he found garrison life in the peaceful U.S., serving on the staff of General Scott, as had his uncle George, less than satisfying to his adventurous nature. He entered into what would become an unhappy marriage with Diana Moore Bullitt, who urged him to leave the service, which he did. However, when the war broke out with Mexico in 1846 there was nothing that could stand in the way of his return to the army.
Rejoining his old unit, the 1st U.S. Dragoons, Kearny took advantage of his wealth again to organize a new company in the regiment, buying 120 dapple gray horses to mount them. General Scott (left), commander of the U.S. forces in Mexico choose Kearny’s group to be his personal body guard, but that did not keep them out of combat. They fought in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco.
At the later battle, during a cavalry charge Kearny led twelve troopers directly though the Mexican lines and captured a battery of artillery. But in a later charge, never retreating when most had, like the Chasseurs d'Afrique, he lost his left arm when it was shattered by grapeshot. However, just a month later he was back; his expert horsemanship and ability ride with the reins in his teeth now being invaluable to him.
After the surrender of Mexico City, General Scott gave him the honor of being the first through the gates of the city. That U.S. force was full of officers who would one day command large formations in the Civil War on both sides, like the young officer who helped save him that day, Richard Ewell, later a Confederate general, and none could have failed to be impressed by this extraordinary soldier. General Scott, who served in the U.S. Army from 1808 to 1861, commanding troops in the field in the War of 1812, the Seminole War, the Black Hawk War, the Mexican War and would later be the supreme commander of all U.S. forces at the start of the Civil War, and personally knew most of the top generals who commanded troops in that war, later said of Kearny, “He was the bravest man I ever knew, and the most perfect soldier.” Scott brevetted Kearny to major for his Mexican service.
Following the war Kearny had a little excitement when he was sent to the northwest to help suppress the Rogue River Indian uprising, but he felt he was being passed over for promotion and once again left the army. His wife, along with their five children, had left him, so Kearny decided to travel the world. Over the next few years he visited nearly every part of the globe. He probably had many an adventure, but left little information behind about those years.
Back in Paris once again, he met and fell in love with Agnes Maxwell, 16 years his junior, who was an American from New York and the daughter of the customs collector at the port of New York City. He would divorce Diana and marry Agnes in 1858, but he and Agnes were living together before that happened, which was a scandal in New York society at the time. He built a mansion for them, called Bellegrove (right), in New Jersey. The town is now named Kearny after him. At this point you’d think Kearny was ready to settle down and simply enjoy his money and his new marriage, but he was a soldier to his soul. The far off bugles were calling to him again.
(Below: Napoleon III at Solferino.)
This time the war was once again being fought by his “adopted” country, France. The French and the Kingdom of Sardinia were fighting Austria in the 2nd Italian War of Independence. Kearny hurried to France and immediately delighted his old friends there with a grand ball before being placed on the staff of the commander of the Imperial Cavalry. He fought at the battles of Montebello, Magenta and Solferino. At the later he observed the Chasseurs d'Afrique charging the Austrians and got permission for ride with them. This he did with reins in his mouth once again, giving him now one free hand to fight. He fought so well, in fact, that he was awarded the French “Legion of Honor” by Napoleon III; the first American to ever win it.
Home to Fight Friends
Kearny, as one might expect, returned home when the war drums of the coming Civil War began, knowing that this war would be like no other he had fought. On the other side would be many officers with whom he had served in Mexico and the American west. Though he was living in New Jersey, being born and raised in New York, he offered his services to that state. He was rejected by them, probably because of the “scandal” of his divorce and remarriage, absurd as that may seem today. His adopted state of New Jersey welcomed his service, however and gave him the rank of Brigadier General of volunteers, and command of their first infantry brigade. Given the number of totally inexperienced politicians who were getting high rank, it was well deserved. With the time lost attempting to get a command in New York, Kearny was not commissioned in New Jersey until after the first major battle of the war at Bull Run in July 1861.
This brigade would be the largest force he had ever commanded, as would be the case with so many officers who would be given high commands in the rapidly expanding armies of both sides. Kearny was 46 as he entered Civil War service and was imminently prepared for high command. He had fought with the French in North Africa, with the U.S. army against Mexico, against Indian tribes in the American west, and with the French again in Italy. And especially in that last action in Europe, he had been witness to the movement of very large units in battle. He probably had more actual combat command experience than any senior officer on either side of the war, perhaps only excluding the soon to retire General Scott.
(Right: A drawing of Kearny in his Civil War general's uniform.)
As had been the case during the Mexican War, Kearny dipped into his own finances to help provide the New Jersey Brigade with needed equipment. With Kearny’s vast first-hand knowledge of what was coming for these raw recruits, he drove them hard and molded them into what would be one of the best, hardest fighting brigades of the Army of the Potomac. He would leave them shortly though, as he was promoted to command of the 3rd division of the 3rd corps, as McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign began in the spring of 1862, but so great was his influence on the formation of the brigade, and on the men in it, that it was often referred to as "Kearny's Brigade" or "Kearny's Own."
(Below: Kearney at Battle of Williamsburg, 1862. A drawing by Alfred R. Waud.)
Kearny would command his division with all the impetuosity and dash he had already shown as a small unit commander on three continents. At the battle of Williamsburg on May 3, 1862, Kearny brought his division up to support Hooker’s line (Hooker was another close friend from the Mexican War), which was holding the left flank and in danger of being overrun by Longstreet. Encountering part of the 2nd New Jersey Brigade of General Patterson, broken and leaderless, he rallied them to accompany his division into the fight shouting “I am a one-armed Jersey son-of-gun, follow me.” They did and assisted Kearny’s division in stopping the rebels in their tracks and saving the Union left. One of Hooker’s men recalled looking back to see them coming up, at their head General Kearny, flourishing his sword in his one arm and holding his reins in his teeth said, "Never were our eyes more gladdened than at this sight.” He was becoming something of a legend in the Union army.
He was also, however, becoming more and more disillusioned with the overly cautious commander of the Army of the Potomac, General George McClellan. While McClellan seemed to feel that slow, steady and cautious brought victory, Kearny, the old cavalryman, saw speed and boldness as the key elements to success. They were oil and water. When McClellan, believing Confederate forces to be about double their actual number, eventually retreated from the outskirts of Richmond to his base on the James following the Battle of Seven Pines, where Kearny had once again swiftly led his division into battle to check a Confederate break through on the Federal left flank, he was livid. In a meeting at McClellan’s headquarters to discuss the retreat he let loose with a tirade that some there thought would get him court-martialed.
He later told his staff in private, "I, Philip Kearny, an old soldier, enter my solemn protest against this order for retreat. We ought instead of retreating should follow up the enemy and take Richmond. And in full view of all responsible for such declaration, I say to you all, such an order can only be prompted by cowardice or treason.” Had he said that to McClellan, he’d almost certainly been court-martialed. And he had new nickname for the man the press called “The Young Napoleon." He called him, “The Virginia Creeper.”
It was around this time that Kearny made a contribution to the US military that would live on to this day. He designed a division patch for his men, a red clothe diamond, to put on their caps so he could recognize his troops through “the fog of war.” Kearny’s friend Joe Hooker would later expand the practice to the entire Army of the Potomac, and it is still seen today in a wide variety of unit patches worn by US troops.
(Right: A GAR item displaying the numerous Civil War Union army corps badges that Kearny's original idea morphed into.)
Kearny and his division performed well during McClellan’s retreat to Harrison’s Landing on the James River, especially at the Battle of Glendale. At that battle it was said that “He was everywhere directing all movements, imparting, by his presence and clearsightedness the most determined courage to his men; wherever the danger was greatest.” His performance did not go unnoticed, and on July 4th he was promoted to Major General. Nor had he gone unnoticed on the field by the Confederates, who had dubbed him "The One-Armed Devil."
Shortly after this his division was one of the first shifted from the peninsula to Pope’s Army of Viriginia, north of Richmond. Kearny did not mourn his departure from the command of McClellan.
'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori'
Kearny’s division reached Pope’s army in time to take part in the catastrophic 2nd Battle of Bull Run on August 29th and 30th, holding the right flank of the Federal forces. After Longstreet’s attack on the Federal left flank nearly destroyed the army, Kearny’s division was part of the rear guard covering the retreat.
On September 1st Jackson attempted to flank them and cut it off Pope's retreat near Chantilly Plantation. His entire corps of about 17,000 would be confronted by the approximately 6,000 Federals of the divisions of Isaac Stevens and Kearny. As Jackson was delayed by the division of Stevens, another Mexican War comrade of Kearny, he sent word back requesting help. With a tremendous storm pouring down rain, Kearny spurred his division in, declaring, “By God, I will support Stevens anywhere.” Alas though Stevens’ division fought on, the man himself was already dead, shot as he grabbed the flag of the 79th NY and led them forward. Kearny would soon follow his old comrade into both the battle and to the grave.
(Left: Stevens falls fatally wounded in a painting by Alonzo Chappel.)
After getting his division in line, Kearny made the fatal decision to attempt to reconnoiter the situation to the right of his line and hopefully find Federal units who could reinforce on his right which was "in the air," i.e. unsupported. Moving forward through the crashing thunder, flashing lightning, with drenching rain obscuring his vision, he suddenly found himself surrounded by Confederates. Had he simply surrendered he likely could have been exchanged without spending much time in a Confederate prison, but surrendering was simply not an option for this fearless warrior.
For many the situation would have appeared hopeless, but Kearny, with his impetuous hard-charging nature that often resulted in him being within or behind enemy lines, had been in similar “tight spots” in Mexico and during his service with the French and escaped. He wheeled around and spurred on his horse, bending low along its neck, in the manner he’d seen plains Indians ride, but this time his luck had run out. His refusal to every retreat or surrender had cost him an arm in Mexico, now it cost his life. A bullet hit his spine and traveled up near his heart. He fell into the mud and was said to have kicked just once and was dead.
(Below, right: A fictional depiction of Kearny's last minutes at Chantilly, with reins in his teeth. There were no Federal troops around him when he was killed.)
In their final acts, however, Kearny and his old comrade-in-arms Isaac Stevens had halted Jackson’s advance and perhaps saved Pope’s army. Stonewall Jackson, who knew Kearny in Mexico, arrived shortly and seeing the body said, "My God, boys, do you know who you have killed? You have shot the most gallant officer in the United States army. This is Phil Kearny, who lost his arm in the Mexican War.” He then removed his hat and bowed his head in tribute to him, as did all the Confederate soldiers around him.
General Ewell, who had once help save Kearny’s life in Mexico, one of the cruel realities of this "brother against brother" war, accompanied Kearny’s body off the field, as did A.P. Hill, another Mexican War comrade. Seeing Kearny’s mud smeared body Hill said, "Poor Kearny! He deserved a better death than that!" Another friend of Kearny’s from the Mexican War, General Robert E. Lee, saw to it that his body was sent through the lines to be returned to his family. It was a terrible blow for the Federal army and the nation, for he was a real "fighting general" if there ever was one. If he had lived few would doubt that he would have risen to at least Corps command, and possibly even command of the Army of the Potomac, in spite of not being a West Pointer. Such was his reputation in the army at the time of his death.
Kearny was buried at Trinity Churchyard in New York City. He would be reburied at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia in 1912. A magnificent equestrian monument bearing the general's likeness in bronze would be erected over the burial site in 1914. (Dedication photo below)
Though he was one of the most famous soldiers in the history of our country when he died, few outside of historians and Civil War buffs remember him today. Memorials to him abounded for a time. A fort was named for him near Washington DC during the war, and later another in Wyoming. A statue of him still stands in the Military Park in Newark, NJ, and a grammar school was named for him in Philadelphia in 1921. It is still a statue of Kearny that represents New Jersey in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol. There is also a monument to him at the spot he fell on the battlefield of Chantilly.
But perhaps the tribute that would have meant the most to him was “The Kearny Cross.” (left) It was a medal with Kearny’s motto, “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,” on it that was first awarded to officers in his division, and later awarded to Union soldiers who had displayed meritorious, heroic, or distinguished acts.
Kearny had lived a life so full of adventure that many movie producers would probably reject a script of it as too outlandish for anyone to believe. He was born to wealth and could have lived a very safe and comfortable life simply enjoying the riches our system had allowed his family to accumulate, but he chose service to that country in stead, and left behind a military record that few can match. He had been true to his motto, and his death, though perhaps not a "sweet" one, as A.P. Hill had observed, had surely been an honorable one. He had died as he would have wished, in the saddle fighting for his country.
Personal and Military History of Philip Kearny by John Watts De Peyster
(Right: Photo from the reinternment of Kearny.)
Kearny The Magnificent The Story Of General Philip Kearny 1815 1862 by Iriving Wersteev
Kearny at Seven Pines
by Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833-1908)
So that soldierly legend is still on its journey,—
That story of Kearny who knew not to yield!
'Twas the day when with Jameson, fierce Berry, and Birney,
Against twenty thousand he rallied the field.
Where the red volleys poured, where the clamor rose highest,
Where the dead lay in clumps through the dwarf oak and pine,
Where the aim from the thicket was surest and nighest,—
No charge like Phil Kearny's along the whole line.
When the battle went ill, and the bravest were solemn,
Near the dark Seven Pines, where we still held our ground,
He rode down the length of the withering column,
And his heart at our war cry leapt up with a bound;
He snuffed, like his charger, the wind of the powder,—
His sword waved us on and we answered the sign;
Loud our cheer as we rushed, but his laugh rang the louder,
"There's the devil's own fun, boys, along the whole line!"
How he strode his brown steed! How we saw his blade brighten
In the one hand still left,—and the reins in his teeth!
He laughed like a boy when the holidays heighten,
But a soldier's glance shot from his visor beneath.
Up came the reserves to the melee infernal,
Asking where to go in—through the clearing or pine?
"O, anywhere! Forward! 'Tis all the same, Colonel:
You'll find lovely fighting along the whole line!"
O, evil the black shroud of night at Chantilly,
That hid him from sight of his brave men and tried!
Foul, foul sped the bullet that clipped the white lily,
The flower of our knighthood, the whole army's pride!
Yet we dream that he still,—in that shadowy region
Where the dead form their ranks at the wan drummer's sign,—
Rides on, as of old, down the length of his legion,
And the word is still Forward! along the whole line. | <urn:uuid:fb4f8229-c44c-415b-b54d-da0b822ce699> | {
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Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/3/2006
Publication Date: 2/1/2007
Citation: Geden, C.J. 2007. Development of spalangia cameroni and muscidifurax raptor on live house fly pupae and pupae killed by heat shock, irradiation and cold. Environmental Entomology. 36(1):34-39. Interpretive Summary: Parasitic wasps are among the most important biocontrol agents for filth flies, and there are several commercial insectaries that provide these wasps to farmers. One of the challenges that parasitoid producers face is dealing with fluctuating demands for their products because it takes a week to produce fly pupae for the parasitoids, and these live pupae only have a shelf life of 2-3 days. In this study, conducted by a scientist at ARS’s Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, live house fly pupae were compared with pupae that had been killed by heat shock, gamma irradiation and cold for their ability to produce two species of parasitoids, Muscidifurax raptor and S. cameroni. Heat-killed, irradiated, and freeze-killed pupae remained as effective for production of M. raptor as live pupae for 4 months when pupae were stored in freezer bags in a refrigerator. Production of S. cameroni on heat-killed and irradiated pupae was equal to parasitoid production on live pupae for up to 2 months of storage, after which production on killed pupae declined to 63% of that observed with live pupae. Production of S. cameroni on freeze-killed pupae was about 75% of production using live pupae for 8 weeks of storage but declined rapidly thereafter. Killing pupae by heat provides a simple and low-cost method for stockpiling high-quality hosts for mass-rearing both of these filth fly biological control agents.
Technical Abstract: Two-day-old house fly pupae were subjected to heat shock treatments of varying temperatures and durations in an oven at 70%RH; exposure to temperatures of 55oC or higher for 15 min or longer resulted in 100% mortality. Exposure to 50oC resulted in 40 and 91% mortality at 15 and 60 min. All (100%) pupae placed in a -80oC freezer were killed after 10 min exposure; exposure times of less than 5 min resulted in <21% mortality. Progeny production of Spalangia cameroni and Muscidifurax raptor from pupae by killed heat shock or 50kR of gamma radiation was not significantly different from production on live hosts on the day of treatment. Freeze-killed pupae produced 16% fewer S. cameroni than live pupae and an equivalent amount of M. raptor progeny on the day of treatment. When killed pupae were stored in freezer bags at 4oC for 4 months, heat-killed, irradiated, and freeze-killed pupae remained as effective for production of M. raptor as live pupae. Production of S. cameroni on heat-killed and irradiated pupae was equal to parasitoid production on live pupae for up to 2 months of storage, after which production on killed pupae declined to 63% of that observed with live pupae. Production of S. cameroni on freeze-killed pupae was 73-78% of production using live pupae during weeks 2-8 of storage, then declined to 41 and 28% after 3 and 4 months, respectively. | <urn:uuid:ce3e3d91-e7a8-4866-9308-a10e37eed850> | {
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Cold and flu season seems an appropriate time to investigate our habit of using disposable pieces of paper made from trees to wipe our runny noses.
This first of two posts investigates the history of paper facial tissue and its environmental impact. The second post will examine green alternatives.
Paper Facial Tissue History
Using a separate piece of cloth to wipe ones nose may have originated during the Roman Empire when people are said to have used linen cloths to wipe their faces and noses. Fast forward to the 16th century when Europeans repurposed the kerchief, a cloth used as a head covering, as a cloth for wiping hands, faces, and noses. Thus the handkerchief was born and is still in use today.
What Does World War I Have to Do with Facial Tissue
Prior to World War I, creped cellulose wadding was developed in Europe as a cotton substitute. Kimberly-Clark brought the idea to the U.S. in 1914 and trademarked the material under the name Cellucotton. During a World War I cotton shortage, Kimberly-Clark convinced the U.S. military to use Cellucotton for surgical dressings and gas mask filters. After the war ended, Kimberly-Clark was faced with finding a new market for their cotton substitute material.
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Again
During the 1920s, Kimberly-Clark developed a smooth, soft tissue paper. The first consumer product created with this material was a feminine sanitary napkin marketed under the name Kotex. Apparently it was not readily accepted by American women. Perhaps they were embarrassed to be seen buying such an intimate product along with their groceries. Kotex did eventually catch on but in the meantime Kimberly-Clark needed another product that used tissue paper.
The next venture was a disposable facial tissue for women to wipe off cold cream when they were removing their makeup. It was trademarked Kleenex and launched in 1924.
A Kimberly-Clark researcher with hay fever contributed to Kleenex sales doubling in the 1930s. He used Kleenex tissues instead of cloth handkerchiefs and convinced the marketing team to advertise Kleenex as a way to avoid spreading germs, “the handkerchief you can throw away”. This clever advertising approach elevated Kleenex from being a niche product for women to a universal product that could be used by men, women, and children.
Competition and Product Enhancements
Other companies entered the disposable facial tissue market like Puffs, Scotties, and Angel Soft but the name Kleenex became synonymous with facial tissue.
Over the past seven decades, facial tissue manufacturers have tried a number of product improvements to increase sales and market share such as adding colors, patterns, scents, lotions, and even germ fighting agents. Other advancements include providing a variety of package sizes, creating designer dispenser boxes, and introducing tissues with recycled paper content.
Paper Facial Tissue Environmental Impact
Americans use upwards of 255,360,000,000 disposable facial tissues a year (yep, billions).1 That’s just in the U.S. The global demand for tissue paper (facial tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins) is expected to grow 4% every year through 2021 with China accounting for just over 40% of the growth, followed by Latin America (15%), Western Europe (11–12%), and the rest of the world.2
Let’s consider facial tissue for a moment.
Trees: regardless of whether the facial tissue we buy is made from virgin or recycled paper pulp it’s still made from trees, a material that takes years or decades to grow. Logging practices can degrade forests thus contributing to global warming, causing loss of habitat for plants and animals, and polluting waterways.
Manufacturing: paper plants are always located on a body of water. They use copious amounts of water and electricity; emit pollution into the air, and empty effluent into waterways. The environmental footprint of facial tissue is increased when it is bleached white, has something added like lotion, and is packaged in cardboard and plastic.
Transportation: raw materials and finished facial tissue are transported to and from factories via CO2 emitting vehicles that travel across the country and sometimes overseas.
Although the video below is not specific to facial tissue it provides a good overview of what goes on inside a tissue products mill.
All this and for something we use for a few seconds and then throw away.
Are facial tissues really necessary? In the next post we’ll attempt to answer that question and evaluate green alternatives to facial tissues made with virgin wood pulp and bleached white with chlorine.
- Bags – Paper vs. Plastic: Environmental Impact
- Paper Facial Tissue – Green Alternatives
- Paper Towels – Use and Environmental Impact
- Paper vs. Cloth Table Napkins – Which are Greener?
Note: Angel Soft, Kleenex, Kotex, Puffs, and Scotties are registered trademarks.
- Calculated based on 2012 facial tissue tonnage (399) from RISI – US Tissue Monthly Data, January 2013 multiplied by 20 (approximate number of facial tissues in one ounce).
- Bright Market Insight – Mobilization On a Growing and Increasingly Tough Tissue Market, Summer 2013
- A Brief History of the Handkerchief in Europe during the Late Middles Ages through the Renaissance, by Margaret Roe
- American Forest & Paper Association – Our Products
- American Forest & Paper Association – Pulp
- Kimberly-Clark – Protection you can throw away: Story of facial tissues
- Natural Resources Defense Council – Paper Industry Laying Waste to North American Forests
- Proctor & Gamble – Puffs History
- Wikipedia – Handkerchief
- Wikipedia – Kerchief
- Wikipedia – Tissue Paper | <urn:uuid:22ad6315-200a-41f4-a0cd-9f768466d685> | {
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early 14c., "quilted material worn under chain mail," from O.Fr. estoffe "quilted material, furniture, provisions" (Fr. étoffe), from estoffer "to equip or stock," probably from O.H.G. stopfon "to plug, stuff," or from a related Frankish word (see stop
). Sense extended
to material for working with in various trades (c.1400), then (1570s) "matter of an unspecified kind." Meaning "narcotic, dope, drug" is attested from 1929. To know (one's) stuff "have a grasp on a subject" is recorded from 1927. stuffy "poorly ventilated" is from 1831; sense of "pompous, smug" is from 1895.
1440, "to cram full," from stuff
(n.); earlier "to furnish a fort or army with men and stores" (c.1300). The ballot-box sense is attested from 1854, Amer.Eng.; in expressions of contempt and suggestive of bodily orifices, it dates from 1952. Stuffing "seasoned mixture used
to stuff fowls before cooking" is from 1538. Stuffed in ref. to garments, "padded with stuffing" is from 1467; hence stuffed shirt "pompous, ineffectual person" (1913). | <urn:uuid:4e62b7bb-0629-4791-bbb9-3c8bce274a87> | {
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Previous research [Cox97b] indicates that significant portions of the host image, e.g. the low-frequency components, have to be modified in order to embed the information in a reliable and robust way. This led to the development of watermarking schemes embedding in the frequency domain. Nevertheless, robust watermarking in the spatial domain can be achieved [Bruyndonckx95a] at the cost of explicitly modeling the local image characteristics. These characteristics can be more easily obtained in a transform domain, however.
Many image transforms have been considered, most prominent among them is the discrete cosine transform (DCT) which has also been favored in the early image and video coding standards. Hence, there is a large number of watermarking algorithms that use either a block-based [Koch95a,Bors98] or global DCT [Cox97b,Barni98d]. Other transforms that have been proposed for watermarking purposes include the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) [Ramkumar99m], the Fourier-Mellin transform [Ruanaidh98b] and the fractal transform [Puate96a,Dugelay99a]. In this work, we focus on the wavelet domain for the reasons given below.
With the standardization process of JPEG2000 and the shift from DCT- to wavelet-based image compression methods, watermarking schemes operating in the wavelet transform domain have become even more interesting. New requirements such as progressive and low bit-rate transmission, resolution and quality scalability, error resilience and region-of-interest (ROI) coding have demanded more efficient and versatile image coding [Charrier99a]. These requirements have been met by the wavelet-based "Embedded Block Coding with Optimized Truncation" (EBCOT) system [Taubman99a], which was accepted with minor modifications as the upcoming JPEG2000 image coding standard [jpeg2000fcd]. The wavelet transform [Daubechies92a] has a number of advantages [Xia98a,Lumini00a] over other transforms such as the DCT that can be exploited for both, image compression and watermarking applications. Therefore, we think it is imperative to consider the wavelet transform domain for watermarking applications.
Chapter 3 starts by first characterizing the most important and distinguishing features of previously proposed wavelet-based watermarking schemes. We organize the overwhelming amount of algorithms proposed in the literature in two main categories: additive and quantize-and-replace strategy embedding techniques. Further on, each approach is discussed in detail, building on the experience that was gained from implementing some of the watermarking schemes.
Our own contributions are presented in chapter 4. First, we propose using wavelet filter parametrization as a means to improve the security of many previously proposed algorithms and demonstrate that our concept of secret key-dependent wavelet filters can be easily employed as a security framework. Motivated by the increasing importance of the forthcoming JPEG2000 image standard, we present a novel watermarking schemes that is compatible with the independent code-block processing approach of the new image coding standard. Two application scenarios, copyright protection and image authentication, are considered and we demonstrate that our quantization-based embedding technique can successfully encode and decode a binary watermark on-the-fly in the JPEG2000 coding process.
In chapter 5, a classification of attacks on watermarks is given which will be used to discuss the robustness results in chapter 6.
Slides available in Acrobat (.PDF, zipped) und Postscript (.ps.gz, gzipped) format. | <urn:uuid:b63b17e2-72ab-4643-b2e6-0a03eadeeccc> | {
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Whole Body Herbal Tonic for Restoring and Maintaining Overall Health: Part II – Tonifying the Body
Michael Garko, Ph.D.
Host – Let’s Talk Nutrition
From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), an imbalance of Yin and Yang is implicated in most if not all of the diseases plaguing contemporary society. TCM practitioners attempt to correct this imbalance through tonification. Tonification is one of the eight recognized methods of herbal therapy. Specifically, it is an herbal therapeutic treatment used in those instances where there is a need to nourish and rebuild the qi (pronounced Chi) or life-energy of the body’s organs and organ systems when they suffer from deficiency or weakness or otherwise when the body’s Yin and Yang are out of balance.
According to Tierra (1998), herbs can be used as tonics to build and sustain the energy of the organ systems. Within the Eastern paradigm of medicine (e.g., Ayurveda, TCM & Tibetan medicine), herbal tonics are used to practice preventative medicine and to assist in the treatment of acute ailments and build strength when recovering from an illness, all of which is achieved by restoring and balancing energy levels or qi of the body (see Tierra, 1998).
The March, 2009, issue of Healthful Hints provides a proposed whole body tonic made-up of specific herbs designed to help bring the body’s Yin and Yang back into balance and, thereby, assist in restoring and maintaining overall health after suffering from a disruption and depletion of the body’s vital energy due to an illness. However, the proposed formula could be used as a preventative measure to sustain balance and vitality.
Yin and Yang Herbal Tonics
There are specific Yin and Yang herbal tonics. On the one hand, Yin-tonics feed the organs, providing them with necessary nutrients. Tierra (1998) asserts that the most valuable Yin-tonics are the “seaweeds (kelp and Irish Moss), alfalfa, comfrey and dandelion leaf” (p. 13). On the other hand, Yang-tonics balance and stimulate the life-energy of the organs, thereby, improving their assimilation and utilization of nutrients. According to Tierra (1998), Chinese root tonic herbs, burdock, dandelion root, parsley, Oregon grape root and goldenseal root are considered to be among the more efficacious Yang-tonics.
Mowrey (1986) recommends the following combination of herbs to serve as a whole body tonic sarsaprarilla root, siberian ginseng, fo-ti, gotu kola, saw palmetto berries, licorice root, kelp, stillingia, alfalfa and cayenne.
Herbal Tonification Formula
Purpose of the Formula
Taking cues from Tierra (1998) and Mowrey (1986), the proposed whole body tonic is intended to help provide the organs of the body with vital nutrients (Yin function support) and ensure the proper functioning of the organs (Yang function support), thereby, keeping the body’s polarities of Yin and Yang in balance, while rebuilding the life-energy of the body’s organs and organ systems when they suffer from deficiency or weakness or excess for that matter.
Herbs Constituting the Formula
The proposed formula would consist of kelp, alfalfa, dandelion leaf (i.e., Yin-tonic herbs), along with dandelion root, burdock, parsley, goldenseal root and siberian ginseng (i.e., Yang-tonic herbs).
Kelp (Laminaria, macrocystis, ascophyllum). This is an important herb in providing nutrients. It is recognized as general nutritive tonic. Kelp is especially rich in iodine, which assists in proper glandular function, regulation of energy and metabolism by the burning of fat. Kelp is an excellent source of vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D and E. It also contains minerals such as iron, sodium, phosphorus and calcium, magnesium and potassium. Amino acids are contained in Kelp as well.
Kelp contains properties to help improve cardiovascular function, circulation, blood pressure, nerve and gland function and thyroid function. It is also noted for helping in detoxification of the body, weight loss and fighting the inflammation associated with arthritis, among other health benefits (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Alfalfa contains high amounts of vitamins A, B1 (thiamine), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cobalamin), C, D, E and K, along with B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B7 (biotin), B9 (folic acid). It also contains calcium, magnesium, chlorophyll, phosphorous, iron, potassium, zinc and copper and digestive enzymes. Alfalfa is a good source of protein. It contains saponins. Alfalfa is useful in fighting arthritis, high cholesterol and providing overall vitality and vigor. Because of its fiber content, it is effective in cellular detoxification (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Dandelion leaf (Taraxacum officinale). Dandelion leaf contains substantial levels of vitamins A, C, D, and B complex. It also contains iron, magnesium, zinc, potassium, manganese, copper, chlorine, calcium, boron, and silicon. Dandelion leaf functions as a blood purifying herb, mild laxative, diuretic to help remove toxins, digestive aid, bile production agent and liver support herb (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale). Dandelion root is considered to be stronger in its metabolic action and possessing more Yang qualities than dandelion leaf. The following vitamins and minerals are contained in dandelion root: Vitamins A, C, D, riboflavin, thiamine calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. Dandelion root is noted especially for its benefit to the liver and its elimination of toxins from the blood. It promotes the production of bile, modulates bile duct inflammation and liver congestion. Dandelion root is recognized in clearing obstructions of the spleen, pancreas, gallbladder, bladder and kidneys. Furthermore, it possesses the ability to decrease blood glucose levels, modulate the growth of harmful bacteria, provide relief from indigestion and heartburn, remove foreign particles from the gallbladder, help the gallbladder release bile for digestion and absorption of nutrients (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Burdock root (Arctium lappa). Burdock Root is a good source of vitamins A, B complex, C and E. It contains relatively high amounts of chromium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, and zinc. Burdock root also contains calcium, copper, manganese, selenium, and sulphur. It is a good source of the carbohydrate, inulin. Burdock root is recognized to be an effective blood purifier (i.e., alterative), diuretic and diaphoretic, all of which gives it the ability to help cleanse the body of toxins and wastes. It is associated with proven restorative effects on the liver and gallbladder. It is known as having special value in preventing and remedying disease and recuperating from sickness (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Parsley (Petroselinum sativum). Although it used frequently as garnish decorating one sort of dish or another, parsley is highly nutritive in nature and possesses various medicinal properties to help create and sustain overall health. For example, parsley is rich in vitamins and minerals, including Vitamins, A, C and K. It is a good source of the B-vitamins. In terms of minerals, parsley contains calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, zinc and iron. It is also contains contain up to 25% protein (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Parsley is considered to provide chemoprotective qualities, antibacterial action, anti-oxidant properties, cardiovascular protection and rheumatoid arthritis protection.
Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus). As a Yang tonic, siberian ginseng is recognized for its ability to enhance circulation, boost the immune system, increase energy levels, increase endurance and eliminate fatigue and low vitality by supporting the function of the adrenal glands, spleen and pancreas (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Goldenseal root (Hydrastis canadensis). Goldenseal root is recognized as a broad spectrum herb containing, Vitamins A, C, E, B-complex, calcium, iron, manganese, among other nutrients. It possesses antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and astringent properties. Goldenseal can sooth irritated mucous membranes and provide relief from excess mucous build-up in the eyes, ears, nose and throat. It has the ability to cleanse and support healthy glandular function by increasing bile and digestive enzymes (see Mowrey, 1986; Tierra, 1998).
Chinese medicine has taught for thousands of years that health is a state of balance and ill-health is an imbalance of the opposing energy forces of Yin and Yang. Readers in need of nourishing and rebuilding the qi or life-energy of his/her organs and organ systems because they suffer from deficiency or weakness or otherwise have an imbalance of Yin and Yang might want to consider using an herbal therapeutic treatment to tonify the body such as the one proposed above. The proposed formula whole body herbal tonic formula is intended to help restore and maintain overall health and balance by providing nourishment to the organs so as to improve their function.
If the reader has sufficient knowledge and training in herbology and knows how to prepare herbs to put into a formula, then he/she can prepare the formula outlined above to tonify the body. If the reader does not have such knowledge and skill, then he/she can search the internet or visit his/her local health store to purchase a formula that would contain most of the herbs in the proposed formula. It is also possible that a supplement manufacturer has put together a wholly different herbal formula to tonify the body that would help to tonify the body.
Another alternative would be to seek out the services of a professional herbalist who could put the formula together using a particular delivery system such as capsules with appropriate dosage levels of the individual herbs contained in the proposed whole body tonic. The herbalist might even recommend a different combination of herbs to tonify the body.
Whether or not readers use the exact proposed formula is not as important as it is that they acquire a whole body tonic for restoring and maintaining health and vitality if they are in need of such a tonic. Further, it is hoped that this month’s newsletter serves to inform readers not familiar with the healing power of herbs and to remind those who are how herbs can be used to restore balance and vitality to the body through tonification, especially when suffering from deficiency and weakness.
Mowrey, D. B. (1986). The scientific validation of herbal medicine. How to remedy and prevent disease with herbs, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Keats Publishing.
Reid, D. (1995). The complete book of Chinese health and healing: Guarding the three treasures. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Tierra, M. (1998). The way of herbs. New York: Pocket Books. | <urn:uuid:1702a22d-678b-4559-9f35-f17d842cb644> | {
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Using LoRa Technology
IoT implementations can take many shapes and forms. Learn how these four Camosun College students developed a system to monitor all the refrigeration units in a commercial kitchen simultaneously. The system uses Microchip PIC MCU-based monitoring units and wireless communication leveraging the LoRa wireless protocol.
By Tyler Canton, Akio Yasu, Trevor Ford and Luke Vinden
In 2017, the commercial food service industry created an estimated 14.6 million wet tons of food in the United States . The second leading cause of food waste in commercial food service, next to overproduction, is product loss due to defects in product quality and/or equipment failure .
While one of our team members was working as the chef of a hotel in Vancouver, more than once he’d arrive at work to find that the hotel’s refrigeration equipment had failed overnight or over the weekend, and that thousands of dollars of food had become unusable due to being stored at unsafe temperatures. He always saw this as an unnecessary loss—especially because the establishment had multiple refrigeration units and ample space to move product around. In this IoT age, this is clearly a preventable problem.
For our Electronics & Computer Engineering Technologist Capstone project, we set forth to design a commercial refrigeration monitoring system that would concurrently monitor all the units in an establishment, and alert the chefs or managers when their product was not being stored safely. This system would also allow the chef to check in on his/her product at any time for peace of mind (Figure 1).
We began with some simple range testing using RFM95W LoRa modules from RF Solutions, to see if we could reliably transmit data from inside a steel box (a refrigerator), up several flights of stairs, through concrete walls, with electrical noise and the most disruptive interference: hollering chefs. It is common for commercial kitchens to feel like a cellular blackout zone, so reliable communication would be essential to our system’s success.
We designed our main unit to be powered and controlled by a Raspberry Pi 3B (RPi) board. The RPi communicates with an RFM95W LoRa transceiver using Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). This unit receives temperature data from our satellite units, and displays the temperatures on a 10.1″ LCD screen from Waveshare. A block diagram of the system is shown in Figure 2. We decided to go with Node-RED flow-based programming tool to design our GUI. This main unit is also responsible for logging the data online to a Google Form. We also used Node-RED’s “email” nodes to alert the users when their product is stored at unsafe temperatures. In the future, we plan to design an app that can notify the user via push notifications. This is not the ideal system for the type of user that at any time has 1,000+ emails in their inbox, but for our target user who won’t allow more than 3 or 4 to pile up it has worked fine.
We designed an individual prototype (Figure 3) for each satellite monitoring unit, to measure the equipment’s temperature and periodically transmit the data to a centralized main unit through LoRa communication. The units were intended to operate at least a year on a single battery charge. These satellites, controlled by a Microchip Technology PIC24FJ64GA704 microcontroller (MCU), were designed with an internal Maxim Integrated DS18B20 digital sensor (TO-92 package) and an optional external Maxim
Integrated DS18B20 (waterproof stainless steel tube package) to measure the temperature using the serial 1-Wire interface.
All our boards were designed using Altium Designer 2017 and manufactured by JLCPCB. We highly recommend JLCPCB for PCB manufacturing. On a Tuesday we submitted our order to the website, and the finished PCB’s were manufactured, shipped, and delivered within a week. We were amazed by the turnaround time and the quality of the boards we received for the price ($2 USD / 10 PCB).
Main Unit Hardware: As shown in Figure 4, our main board’s purpose is communicating with the RPi and the LCD. We first had to select an LCD display for the main unit. This was an important decision, as it was the primary human interface device (HID) between the system and its user. We wanted a display that was around 10″—a good compromise between physical size and readability. Shortly after beginning our search, we learned that displays between 7″ and 19″ are not only significantly more difficult to come by, but also significantly more expensive. Thankfully, we managed to source a 10.1″ display that met our budget from robotshop.com. On the back of the display was a set of female header pins designed to interface with the first 26 pins of the RPi’s GPIO pins. The only problem with the display was that we needed access to those same GPIO pins to interface with the rest of our peripherals.
We initially planned on fixing this problem by placing our circuit board between the RPi and the display, creating a three-board-stack. Upon delivery and initial inspection of the display, however, we noticed an undocumented footprint that was connected to all the same nets directly beneath the female headers. We quickly decided to abandon the idea of the three-board-stack and decided instead to connect our main board to that unused footprint in the same way the RPi connects to display (Figure 5). This enabled us to interface all three boards, while maintaining a relatively thin profile. The main board connects four separate components to the rest of the circuit. It connects the RFM95W transceiver to the RPi, front panel buttons, power supply and a small fan.
Read the full article in the April 345 issue of Circuit Cellar
(Full article word count: 3378 words; Figure count: 11 Figures.)
Don’t miss out on upcoming issues of Circuit Cellar. Subscribe today! | <urn:uuid:e37ff047-a638-4574-862f-edd8ca1ba4bb> | {
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Vol. 16 Issue 23
Helps to demystify stuttering
Many children who stutter do not know other people who stutter. They grow up feeling isolated and alone.1-2 Providing them with information and facts about disfluency helps to demystify and normalize stuttering.2-6
One way to educate students and enable them to share their stuttering openly with peers and teachers is to engage them in making a poster featuring famous people who stutter.2 The poster can include photographs and short biographies of the celebrities, alongside photos of the students who stutter and their own biographies.
This poster-making activity requires three or more therapy sessions. You will need a copy of the poster titled "16 Famous People Who Stutter" from the Stuttering Foundation. The poster is available as a brochure or downloaded free from the foundation Web site (www.stutteringhelp.org). Seeing this empowering poster, featuring people such as James Earl Jones and Winston Churchill, often is the first time these children become aware of the many famous and successful people who stutter.
Consider asking students to invite a friend to attend speech class for the duration of this project. Introduce the activity by showing students the "16 Famous People Who Stutter" poster. Explain that there are many famous people who stutter, such as golfer Tiger Woods, basketball players Kenyon Martin and Bob Love, and broadcast journalist John Stossel.
Instruct the students to bring in photos of themselves, and ask them to write a one-paragraph essay describing their talents and skills. (Check with the school to determine if a special permission form is needed to display student photographs.)
Each student chooses a famous person to research. If students have Internet access at school, help them conduct online searches about the person. Otherwise, put together a small library of articles about famous people who stutter and allow students to choose from these articles.
A good online resource is the Famous People Who Stutter page on the Stuttering Homepage (www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/famous/famouspws.html). Students can print out articles and a photograph of their subject from their online searchers and then compose a one-paragraph essay about their subject.
A fifth-grader wrote the following essay: "Kenyon Martin is a great basketball player on the Denver Nuggets. He is so good that he was national player of the year in college, a first-round NBA draft pick, and was voted onto the NBA's All Star team in 2004. He averages about 15 points a game. Kenyon Martin stutters like me. Kenyon Martin once said, 'When I was in school, I'd rather take the bad grade than get up in front of class and talk.' He used to be scared of talking to reporters. But now, Kenyon Marin talks to reporters about his stuttering to help people like me!"
The next step is to work with students to write one-paragraph essays about themselves. One student brought in a picture of himself playing baseball and wrote, "My name is Juan Suarez* and I am in the fourth grade and am almost 11 years old. I am a talented baseball player, and I am also good at football, soccer, video games and math. My baseball team is the Brooklyn Sharks, and I play first base and pitcher. I also stutter and am learning that many famous people stutter such as Tiger Woods, Bill Walton and James Earl Jones."
A friend of Juan's who does not stutter attended speech class to participate in the project. He began his essay by saying, "I am a really good baseball player and a friend of a person who stutters."
Students should attach photos of their subject and themselves to a piece of poster board and copy the biographies next to the corresponding photos. The poster may include work from students, friends, the clinician and others. If this activity is done with just one student, the clinician and student can complete biographies on several famous people who stutter.
You can shorten the amount of time this activity requires by interviewing the students and writing short biographies about them. Other options are to invite an adult who stutters from a local self-help chapter to speak to your students about stuttering and their talents or to invite students who stutter and their clinicians from area schools to join your speech class for the project.
The posters can be placed in the cafeteria or main office or on a bulletin board. This encourages peers and school staff to talk with your students about stuttering. n
*Name has been changed.
1.Fraser, J. (2003). Effective Counseling in Stuttering Therapy, Pub. No. 0018. Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation of America.
2.Reitzes, P. (2006). 50 Great Activities for Children Who Stutter. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
3.Dell, C.W. (1993). Treating school-age stutterers. In R.F. Curlee (ed.), Stuttering and Related Disorders of Fluency. New York: Thieme.
4.Dell, C.W. (2000). Treating the School Age Stutterer (2nd ed.), Pub. No. 0014. Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation of America.
5.Murphy, B. (1999). A preliminary look at shame, guilt and stuttering. In N.B. Ratner & E.C. Healey (eds.), Stuttering Research and Practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
6.Ramig, P.R., Bennett, E.M (1997). Clinical management of children. In R.F. Curlee & G.M. Siegel (eds.), Nature and Treatment of Stuttering (2nd ed.) Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Peter Reitzes is co-editor of the Journal of Stuttering Therapy, Advocacy and Research (www.JournalOfStuttering.com). | <urn:uuid:39fe0bad-b114-4b8a-aea6-57af03394ec1> | {
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When Thomas Jefferson wrote his first draft of the Declaration of Independence he included this in the list of complaints against King George:
he has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.
Obviously, this paragraph was problematic for the representatives of the states who were profiting from slavery (both for the southern states where slavery was the foundation of plantation culture, but also for northern states who profited from selling black humans to their southern neighbors). This paragraph could have set the stage for ending slavery in the creation of our new nation, but the delegates to the Continental Congress’ conflicting economic interests superseded Jefferson’s complaint against the king, and that paragraph was stricken from the declaration. The legally sanctioned, systematic degradation of black humans would continue for several generations before Abraham Lincoln finally signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Some of us will acknowledge that the system of white supremacy that was rooted in the foundation of this nation did not end in 1863, and that white supremacy must be extinguished before we can truly celebrate “Independence Day.” I look forward, with hope, that this day comes soon.
Saturday July 4, 2015 — Mark
One of the great challenges for a citizen of the United States is the intellectual gymnastics one must perform in reconciling our national ideals with our living reality. We are a nation committed to the ideals of freedom and equality, and the belief that justice and equity will prevail in all cases. We honor those individuals who have sacrificed their lives in the defense of these ideals, and Memorial Day is an occasion on which we redouble that honor. This, despite the fact that our nation often fails to live up to these ideals, and in some cases, those whom we honor have failed to live up to the ideals they claim to defend.
Last week a judge in Cleveland acquitted a veteran-turned-police officer who inexplicably felt it was his duty to leap on the hood of a citizen’s car and empty not one, not two, but three magazines of bullets into the already bullet riddled bodies of the two men in the car. The officer had chosen a bench trial, possibly assuming that a jury of his “peers” would not afford him the same leniency as a judge. What this judge proved as he twisted his way through a pre-verdict presentation is that justice is not just blind. In the United States, justice may also be deaf and mute. The judge determined that there was not enough evidence to hold this veteran accountable to the ideals of justice that the soldier presumably fought to defend in our country’s wars in foreign lands.
If this were a single, isolated incident of injustice, we might overlook it as an aberration. But this story of the Cleveland police officers who acted without honor, who violated nearly all the ideals we profess to hold dear, and the judge who excused them from responsibility for their acts of violence, is just the latest in a string of similar stories of the kind of inhumanity that seems to have taken root in police departments across the country.
If we hope to live in a free, just, and equitable society we may need to reexamine our uncritical reverence of those who claim to protect us. I have met police officers and soldiers who are worthy of the honor we bestow, and a blanket pardon for crimes against other humans would likely offend them as much as it offends me. So, on this Memorial Day, as we reflect on the service of those who died serving this country, let’s also remember the victims of state sanctioned violence — those who died at the hands of police officers. And if we really believe in the American ideology, let’s take a stand and say we won’t ignore the brokenness of a system that fails to treat all its citizens with justice and equity.
Monday May 25, 2015 — Mark
I went to bed Saturday night (August 2nd) thinking about getting up on Sunday morning and having an early brunch with my wife Anna, my brother Jon (visiting from Illinois) and my parents. Our plan was to eat at a nice place where our son, Justin, works. That plan changed when Anna woke me a little after midnight on Sunday morning. Her tone was urgent — “Steve is missing in the mountains.”
She was on the phone with her sister Carrie, and they were trying to figure out how to locate Steve’s iPhone with the Find My iPhone app. We tried several Apple ID and password combinations without success. Carrie had been in touch with the Trinity County sheriff, and they intended to start searching for Steve on Monday morning. The friends Steve had been camping with (near Stoddard Lake in the Trinity Alps) had already been back to the peak they had climbed earlier that day, looking for him. As we grew increasingly frustrated at being unable to find Steve’s phone (as it turns out, even if we knew the right Apple ID and password, there is no AT&T coverage anywhere near Billy’s Peak where Steve got separated from his friends) Anna and Carrie began to make their plans to drive up to the mountains.
Anna drove to Carrie and Steve’s house on Sunday morning, accompanied by our son Nate and his girlfriend Katherine. From there Anna and Carrie drove to Weaverville where they checked into a gloomy, dirty little motel that I had booked for them. (The motel had a 3.5 star rating on Tripadvisor. Apparently Tripadvisor isn’t a reliable rating service for little, off-the-beaten-path motels. When they first checked in they discovered that the sheets were dirty from the previous guests.) Fortunately, after a couple of nights they found a place to stay in Coffee Creek — a small house just up the road from the command center.
Initially we had been given a story about how Steve got separated from his friends that was both confusing and misleading. We were getting information that was passed to us third and fourth hand. By Tuesday, after talking with Steve’s friends, Anna was able to share a clearer narrative of the events. Steve and three friends had hiked to the top of Billy’s Peak on Saturday morning from their campsite at Stoddard Lake. It took a couple of hours to climb over the rocky path from the lake up to the summit at about 7,300 feet. They reached the summit in the early afternoon. The smoke from the nearby Coffee Fire is visible in some of the photos taken at the summit. The men who were with him reported that Steve was in his element on the top of this mountain.
The climb up had been challenging and Steve thought there might be an easier, safer way down. Two of the hikers felt that they would feel safest returning by the same route by which they came, so they started back to camp. Steve and the other hiker, Bob, began looking for an alternate route, and they began to circle the peak, moving gingerly and carefully to look for another way down. Each of the men looked in a different direction, but they were never more than a short distance apart. Because of the terrain and jagged rocks they could not see each other. After a few minutes Bob returned to where the men had separated, expecting to find Steve, but Steve had not returned. Bob called out, but the wind and noise from the helicopters fighting the fires just a short distance from the peak seemed to drown out his call, nor could he hear any response from Steve. He continued to look, and call, but never again saw or heard Steve. He returned to the camp by the original route arriving there a short time after the other two hikers. It was still early afternoon so the group returned to the peak, and for a couple of hours continued looking for Steve, returning to their camp as the night grew dark.
Knowing that he had some water and a Power Bars, they might have hoped he would hunker down for the night, and find his way to camp in the morning when the sun came up. Two of the men walked out on the trail to a location where they could use their cell phones to contact the sheriff and report Steve’s situation. They also contacted the pastor of Steve’s church. (The men who were camping together were all members of the congregation’s men’s fellowship.) The men continued their search on Sunday.
By Monday morning the sheriff had activated a full scale search. A California Highway Patrol helicopter made several flights and searched in the areas where the men thought it was likely they would find Steve. (Mostly along the Southwest side of the ridge.) As the Coffee Fire on the other side of the valley (further to the South and West) continued to grow, the Forest Service asked the men in Steve’s party to leave their camp and return to the search command center in the tiny community of Coffee Creek at the eastern base of the mountain where Carrie and Anna had stationed themselves. The Marin Search and Rescue team was onsite and they and other searchers deployed to the mountain with dogs in search of Steve. The Marin Search and Rescue team is one of the most experienced and respected high mountain rescue teams in the state and they were led by Michael St. John, a battalion chief with the Mill Valley Fire Department. Initially they were approaching the mountain on foot, but by Tuesday the California National Guard had deployed helicopters to airlift the search teams to the top of the mountain so they could search more effectively and for a longer period of time each day. Searching with the assistance of trained dogs, the team covered all the terrain between Billy’s Peak and Lake Stoddard to the South West side of the ridge and the Minnehaha Creek drainage to the North-east, on the opposite side of the ridge from Lake Stoddard.
The search continued on Wednesday and into Thursday morning, with Matt Shargel (a middle school science teacher and member of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team) taking over the leadership of the search team from Mike St. John. Mike had to return to work. Anna’s respect and admiration for these two men is boundless. She speaks of their intensity, clarity, and sensitivity. Of their drive and passion for the work they do, and of their deep, heartfelt compassion. Working alongside the Trinity County sheriff’s department, the search teams are comprised of volunteers who take time away from their families and other work to respond to the call for searches like these. They gave selflessly and bravely to scour the mountain, and despite the many hours spent looking and calling, the searchers (numbering around a 100 altogether) turned up no evidence of Steve. A blue UC Berkeley Nalgene bottle and a nylon cap were the only things the team found — items left behind by other hikers, not by Steve. The rocky terrain along the ridge at Billy’s Peak did not reveal any bootprints or other evidence, and by mid-day Thursday, having covered the areas around Billy’s peak that could have been safely reached on foot, Matt began to form a theory about where Steve might be.
While the Trinity Alps wilderness area is large (821 square miles) the search field for Steve was relatively small, and there were roads within a couple of miles of the peak and the Stoddard Lake campsite in any direction Steve could have walked from the peak. If he had found a way down the mountain, even if he had minor injuries (sprained ankle, broken arm, etc.), it was likely he could have reached a roadway within a couple of days.
Matt’s theory is that while Steve and Bob were looking for a path down from Billy’s Peak, Steve may have lost his footing and fallen from the mountain. The decaying granite is extremely unstable, making even careful movement around the peak very dangerous. Bob and Steve were separated for a relatively short period of time, and Steve’s disappearance seems to have been very sudden. Matt’s theory is consistent with Bob’s description of the timeline on the mountain. Based on the terrain where Matt believes Steve might have slipped, it is possible Steve would not have survived the fall, and if he fell, it is likely that his body is lost in a rocky crevice, lodged where he cannot be seen from the ground.
Mid-day Thursday, having found no clues and with little evidence to support any other explanation than what Matt put forward, the decision was made to suspend the search. If any new evidence or information about Steve’s whereabouts or movement should surface, the team assured Carrie they would resume, and search until Steve is found. Anna and Carrie spent one last night in Coffee Creek and on Friday morning they began their journey home.
It has been a week since we first learned that Steve was separated from his friends. The intervening days have been filled with emotion. Deep sadness has given way to a realization that the family has lost a husband, father, brother, and uncle. If Matt’s theory is true, Steve died doing what he loved to do. He was on a mountain top, pushing the limits of his hiking skill. The last photograph of him shows him with a huge smile, gazing into the distance, wind at his face. His body may remain forever on this mountain, and we can think of no more fitting place for his final rest.
Sunday August 10, 2014 — Mark
Back in the 1990s I had an idea. Actually, I can trace the early origins of the idea to 1980 when I lived in New York City. At that time, whenever I went out to dinner with friends I’d order a hamburger. Partly this was due to my limited cash resources. A burger was generally the affordable and filling option. I used to explain to my friends that a burger was a barometer of a restaurant’s quality. If the chef treated the burger as if it held a legitimate spot on the menu and put a decent expression of this humble meal on the table, it was a good sign that this restaurant was committed to good food.
In the 90s I encountered a book written by a friend, Don Knuth. His book 3:16: Bible Texts Illuminated posited that one could understand the whole of the bible by reading the sixteenth verse after the start of the third chapter of each book. His theory that a common sample of many texts could prove illuminating, revived my interest in the burger theory. Over the years I collected some notes on favorite burgers, and from time to time I flirted with writing a book about burgers, how they capture a chef’s humble side, and explore the theory that you can really know a restaurant’s gestalt by tasting its burger. I’m not convinced there’s an audience for such a tome, but I have a hard time shaking the urge to order burgers when I eat out.
Three years ago I decided to commit to a vegetarian diet, and to be completely honest, the most challenging part of this commitment was giving up hamburgers. I enjoyed being a vegetarian (pescetarian, actually) not only because I felt great, but also because there are lots of healthy vegetarian foods I enjoy that I ate more frequently. The draw of burgers was strong, though, and a few months ago I gave in. I still eat meat rather infrequently, and when I do indulge, it’s often for a burger. And I’ve revived my interest in exploring restaurants by their commitment to this simple sandwich.
Recently, Anna and I shared a meal at the new Umami Burger on Franklin Street in Oakland. Umami is a chain which has its roots in Southern California. I thought it would be fun to sample their fare so we stopped in early one evening for a taste. Before I describe that meal, I want to provide a little context about my burger preferences.
I have a few favorite burger places in the Bay Area. Trueburger in Oakland is one of my top choices. Their burgers are simple, straightforward classics, perfectly portioned and cooked juicy. Just enough of a bun to make eating possible without overpowering the sandwich. Trueburgers are made with quailty beef, ground on site. They are cooked to order, but prepared quickly. No pretense here. If you don’t want a tomato on your burger just say so. They’re happy to give you what you want. A trueburger is also a decent value. At $5.15 it’s as cheap or not much more expensive than burgers at various greasy neighborhood burger stands (Kwik Way, Ahn’s, Giant Burger). A real deal.
When I’m working in the City, I often grab a quick lunch at Super Duper Burger. Like Trueburger, this is a classic, straightforward burger. Lettuce, tomato, onion, and a small tasty Niman Ranch patty, cooked crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. This is a two-napkin burger. I order the mini, which is a quarter-pound patty, priced at $4.75. This is a very tasty burger. If you visit Super Duper during happy hour you can get the burger, a beer and fries for $9.25.
Trueburger and Super Duper are essentially fast food joints. You order at the counter and the food comes out a few minutes later, on a tray. You find a spot for yourself in the dining area — bus your own tray, please. But the burgers are very satisfying and prepared with attention to detail, and a good value.
If you want to sit, order, and have your meal delivered, you can’t go wrong at Barney’s Hamburgers on Piedmont or College in Oakland. Barney’s isn’t much more expensive than Trueburger or Super Duper, and it’s also a decent alternative when you’re dining with a group. Burgers are around $7 to $9 — still a decent value. Barney’s offers lots of variations on a burger, and the Niman Ranch patty is a bit bigger than a Trueburger or Super Duper Mini burger.
So when we came to Umami, our expectations were shaped by a fairly positive experience with local burger restaurants. I should start by saying that we enjoyed the flavors of our Umami burgers. Anna had some sort of Turkey burger. I ordered Umami’s “Manly Burger.” I can forgive the fact that the burger was overly salty — several of the ingredients were contributors: the salty onion strings, and the bacon lardon contribute sodium, and I’m sure the cook salted the burger patty as well. The taste wasn’t unpleasant, but it was a very small burger, it’s diminutive size emphasized by the fact that there was nothing decorating the plate. Just a small burger surrounded by a sea of white porcelain. This was a $10 burger, small by comparison to Barney’s options, and not even as tasty as a $4.75 Super Duper Mini. (The Mini might actually be a little more filling than the Umami burger.) Anna and I shared a very small kale caesar salad, each of us had a beer, and we each had a small burger. The check was over $50. We didn’t even have fries with our burgers.
What made the evening especially interesting, though, was overhearing the conversation at the table next to ours. Our server turned to our neighbor to take his order. He asked about the Beer Cheddar cheese which was served on the burger that he wanted. He told the waiter that he didn’t drink and would like to substitute a different cheese. She initially agreed and went to the kitchen to turn in the order. She was back in a few minutes with the bad news: “No, the kitchen will not be able to switch the cheese on that burger,” she said and then offered some sort of explanation about the integrity of the menu and the chef’s wisdom about pairing cheeses, bacon, and other ingredients into a subtle symphony of flavors that was the essence of an Umami burger. She held her ground as the patron redoubled his effort to make the change, finally suggesting that the chef leave off the Beer Cheddar on the burger he was ordering, and then he ordered an additional burger with the cheese he wanted, so that he could scrape that cheese of the second burger and put it on the burger he intended to eat.
Anna and I were blown away. This is a hamburger restaurant! And unless I’m totally uninformed, Umami doesn’t have a Michelin star. I realize that there is a faction in the food industry that treats preparing and eating food as high art, but there’s a point where taking yourself too seriously wanders into the realm that another friend, English professor Dave Crowe, calls “too precious.”
We won’t be going back to Umami.
UPDATE: Here are some other interesting thoughts about burgers.
Sunday August 4, 2013 — Mark
I haven’t blogged much in the past year, and what I did write was not totally focused on Oakland. But I do want to get back to blogging about Oakland as the year wraps.
I love Oakland. From where we live we can look out our windows and see Lakeside Park and Children’s Fairyland, the Port of Oakland, the Oakland hills, San Francisco Bay, and our immediate neighborhood, Adams Point. From our vantage point, sunsets over uptown are beautiful, casting a glow on the city that masks the gut-wrenching reality that visits so many of Oakland’s neighborhoods. Anna and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary a couple days ago, on a day that Oakland experienced it’s 128th, 129th, and 130th homicides of the year.
Oakland is praised by the New York Times for our emerging foodie culture while Bloomberg reports on Oakland’s high crime, loss of police, and bad financial dealings with the Oakland Raiders. We have a mayor who was elected by getting the most second or third choice votes. Our school district is struggling with shrinking enrollment. Port directors are accused of partying with hookers on the city’s dime. And yet, when people ask me where I live, I’m proud to report I live in Oakland.
So many good things have happened here in the last year. A twitter friend, Rebecca Saltzman, @RebeccaForBART, won election to the BART board, and I’m hopeful she’ll help make the system more accessible and economically sustainable. My good friends at Great Oakland Public Schools have been working to influence Oakland’s school leadership in a positive way. The restoration of the Lake Merritt walking path and the restoration of the lake’s connection to the estuary continues. The A’s pulled ahead of the Rangers on the last day of the season to win the pennant. Producers Associates theatre staged its 46th season of musical theatre in a jewell of FDR’s WPA, the Woodminster Amphitheater, dedicated to California writers. The redwood forests continue to stand in majestic beauty.
As the year ends and our country continues to grapple with the plague of gun violence, I feel compelled to share a few things I learned from my students earlier this month. For some children in Oakland, gunshots are a percussive punctuation to the rhythm of life in their neighborhoods. Some of my students laugh when they talk about how quickly they hit the floor or start to run when they hear shots around them, but I know the laughter is put on to mask their real fear. When I was sitting with one of them the other day, he asked me if I had ever seen or been around a shooting. I admitted that I had not. He looked at me seriously and quietly for a moment before saying that it was something that made him deeply afraid and he hoped he survived long enough to escape his community.
After the shootings of first graders in Newtown, Connecticut, several students in my classes shared their feelings of frustration over what they perceived as a disproportionate reaction to those killings. “Everyone is sad because those were rich young white kids,” said one. “Why don’t we have a moment of silence for the people who died here in Oakland,” asked another. It’s true that the terror of a mass shooting catches the national attention in a way that the killing of people on the streets of Oakland doesn’t. Five times as many people were murdered in Oakland in 2012 as died in Newtown on that day. Oakland is a place where breathtaking beauty meets heartbreaking reality. As we begin a new year, I hope our community can find ways to break the cycle of violence.
On a bittersweet personal note, 2012 is the year I say goodbye to my colleagues at Edna Brewer. While I loved being in the classroom and building relationships with the students who I served at Brewer, I found the bureaucracies of the school district, the teacher’s union, and especially the special education department increasingly frustrating. My plans for a new approach to serving special education students at Brewer were scuttled at the last minute when PEC (OUSD’s special education department) re-assigned me to two sites just days before the first day of school. That reassignment was rescinded, but only after it was too late to follow through with my plans. Frustrated by this and other idiosyncrasies of working for a department that seems out of touch with its primary mission, I chose to accept an offer to return to my work in software design and development. This new position combines my previous experience with my newly gained interest and experience in education. I’ll be working on staff for Teach For America, developing tools for teachers to track and foster student achievement. Fortunately I’ll be able to remain in Oakland, and able to stay in touch with the students who deeply impacted my life.
Saturday December 29, 2012 — Mark
I got a pair of certified letters last Saturday transferring me to two school sites for the 2012-13 school year. It wasn’t a complete surprise. Ever since someone in Oakland’s special education department (called Programs for Exceptional Children) made a multimillion dollar accounting error, PEC has been frantically trying to solve its budgeting crisis by reducing its human resources. The first response was to fire all of the program specialists — a group of teachers who work outside the classroom to provide support to the school-site special education teachers. Most of them were rehired a few weeks later.
The second response was to reassign and expand the case-loads of a bunch of resource specialists — teachers who provide services to students who primarily remain in general education classes but who need additional support to be successful in their classes. In many cases (like mine) the reassignment took the form of splitting a teacher’s week between two schools instead of one. About a third of OUSD’s resource specialists were sent transfer notices like the one I received on Saturday. Now, instead of just being responsible for students at Edna Brewer, I’ll also need to serve students at Westlake Middle School. Last year there were four resource specialists between these two school. This year there will be three, and I will shuttle back and forth between the sites.
What was bizarre about the letter was the rationale that was given: “As you are aware, student needs change, and we must ensure that we meet their needs promptly and fully.” It’s certainly true that student needs change — every day is a new challenge for many of the kids I serve. But the issue that triggered this transfer has nothing to do with student needs, and everything to do with the massive, avoidable, accounting error made by PEC administration.
It’s absurd to claim that my transfer will ensure that the district is better able to meet student needs promptly and fully. The students in the resource program at these two schools will now have three teachers instead of four serving their needs. That’s a 25% reduction in resources. The aide who supported students at Edna Brewer last year will also be split between the two campuses — another 25% reduction in available resources. PEC is disturbingly confused about how to “promptly and fully” serve student needs.
The fact that this decision was made without teacher input and announced a few days before the beginning of the school year also meant canceling a special program that I have been designing for my students. I had been designing a class that would have targeted students who need a program that draws on their existing skills and interests. Many of the students in our program have struggled in school for so many years that they have lost their enthusiasm for learning. The program I had designed, with input from my students, was intended to help rekindle their curiosity and reinvigorate their love for school.
Katy Murphy wrote about this situation on her blog yesterday, and several teachers have left comments. My situation is not unique, and in some ways, less disruptive to student needs than some of my colleague’s situations. It’s extremely disheartening to treated like a widget. PEC’s decision, made without regard for the relationships and programs that exist at many schools, is disrespectful of resource teachers, students, and of the staff at the affected school sites.
The school board meets tonight, and I think a few resource teachers will be attending in hopes of sharing our frustration over PEC’s ham-fisted handling of their self-inflicted crisis. PEC has a new director, hired over the summer to replace the director who presided over the accounting error. If this is an indication of our new director’s leadership style, we’re in for a rocky ride.
UPDATE: I just got a third copy of the certified letter. I guess they really want me to know they’re serious.
UPDATE 2: I went down to the school board meeting to ask politely to have my transfer rescinded. When I got there, three of my colleagues were already there. They read a letter which many of the staff at Edna Brewer had signed. I was so grateful. Perhaps there is hope — apparently many of the transfers have been rescinded over the past couple of days.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 — Mark
I was sitting with a few other teachers a couple of weeks ago. We were discussing the difficulties of finding common ground in the conversation about how to best educate the children of our country. A big part of the problem, we agreed, is the vilification of anyone who has a different idea than yours.
“Corporate reformers” are despised by teacher unions and Diane Ravitch. Michelle Rhee hates teacher’s unions. Charter schools are criticized for siphoning public dollars into a kind of quasi private system that cherry picks better behaved public school students. Teach For America is perceived as undermining the whole system by bringing in inexperienced teachers who will flee their classrooms after two years in search of high paying positions as lawyers and consultants. Politicians point to No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top as their contribution to making education better, while most serious observers agree that these initiatives are unlikely to address any of the causal issues of educational inequity.
I’m not sure public schools are really as bad as some critics say. Neither, however, are they as good as they could be. So how do we find common ground?
A primary problem with public education in America is that it has become so organizationally complex. The essential contract between student and teacher is no longer at the core of our system. In trying to rid our schools of “bad” teachers we’ve become zealots for accountability. But in our preoccupation with standardized testing, we may not be holding teachers accountable to the right metrics. Standardized tests may not be the best predictors of long term success. We seem to have lost sight of one of the most the most important things we know about teaching: that “people learn from people they love.” (Quoting from David Brooks’ TED Talk.)
If the best predictor of a student’s success in school (and life?) is the child’s relationship with his or her teacher, why don’t we prioritize school budgets to maximize that relationship? The perceived economy of scale that comes with the creation of large, comprehensive schools is offset by the redistribution of resources to central administration. This, of course, is necessary if the whole system is predicated on the idea that teachers cannot provide a quality education without the accountability of standardized testing and significant administrative oversight. Small schools are not a panacea, either, at least not within a system that still features a massive administrative structure.
“Cut out the middleman” is a mantra for economy and efficiency in business. Middlemen add complexity and complexity has significant cost. Public education is a stronghold for middlemen. In California, the average school district spends about 60% of its budget on direct classroom costs. Oakland Unified has typically spent less — in 2009-2010 it spent 54% on direct classroom costs. 46% of the budget for education in Oakland is going to middlemen. Can’t we do better?
There must be a simple alternative to the complexity of administratively top-heavy public school systems. If we want to prioritize the student outcomes and accomplish meaningful education reform, we need to start by streamlining the school district’s central administration. We need to rid our districts of the cruft of multiple layers of bureaucracy, and create a system that maximizes the relationship between teachers, students, and their families.
What I proposed to the teachers I was chatting with a couple of weeks ago was a this: When a student is 6 years old, he or she is paired with a teacher who will guide her/him for the next 12 years. Each teacher will have a cohort of 12 students. The teacher’s salary and the class’s expenses are drawn from $10,000 or so allocated per student per year. In Oakland that would leave about $1,000 per student per year for central administration. A teacher’s salary and benefits would be around 60% of the cohort’s budget. The rest would be used for class activities and resources (computers, books, trips, etc.). Classes might occasionally meet at a “school” but much of the real estate currently dedicated to our school factories could be sold or redesigned for other community benefit. A teaching career might consist of two cycles of teaching, or 24 years.
Most around the table were initially skeptical. And certainly the system is not without it’s challenges. Comments ranged from “this is what Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about,” to, “that will never happen.” But such a design could start as a small pilot with relatively little risk. The Brightworks school in San Francisco (a private enterprise) is already doing something like this. Oakland could start tomorrow with a pilot of three or four teachers and 36 or 48 students and just see how it works. Teachers would be freed of the constraints of the factory schedule that currently drives instruction. Families who chose this program would be free to opt out of the state’s standardized testing system in favor of the holistic approach that would naturally evolve within such a system.
I suspect the skepticism of those teachers who I was chatting with may be a common reaction to such a plan. Many would question the scalability of such a system, and I suspect that it might be difficult to find teachers willing to take a risk on such a program. But nibbling at the edges of our current system seems unlikely to produce significant impact on problems like our current dropout rates or on disproportionate discipline or placement in special education.
I don’t think public schools are a lost cause. Many children are able to succeed in school and the existing process serves them well. But should we be satisfied with a system that only serves some children? We have an obligation to serve all.
Tuesday August 14, 2012 — Mark
Fair warning: This post is a geeky riff about data and technology.
I just came back to Oakland from a stint in Southern California where I worked for a few weeks at the Teach For America Los Angeles Institute as the Director of Data and Assessments. It was an interesting experience. I should say right off the bat that I am fascinated by the process of keeping track of things. So this job, keeping track of student data gathered during the 5 week summer school session, was really fun for me. (Not without its frustrations, of course — the tool we used to track data was in the early development stage and had a few kinks and quirks.)
When I got home, my attention turned to the process of getting ready for the coming school year, and I started to think about how I am going to mine the data in our school district’s centralized database and cross-reference that data with the information in special education database to find the names of the students who will be my responsibility in the coming year. OUSD, you see, keeps track of students in separate databases. These applications were made by different developers, using different data schema, and using different database systems, so they don’t speak to each other. The process of finding my students requires a lot of typing, clicking, hunting, and guessing.
I know that our information technology and special education departments are aware of the problem, but it seems to be an issue that just hasn’t captured the imagination of anyone who is in a position to actually solve the problem. Quite reasonably, my access to the databases is limited — no one wants a special education teacher poking around in the database with tools that could potentially make a mess of the data. So what’s a guy to do?
I’m at a fork in the road. Part of me wants to forge ahead, stop worrying about things outside my locus-of-control, and just do the best work I can in the classroom. But part of me wants to dig in and solve the data problem. Not everything we need to know to do good work with students requires a well designed student information system, but having such a system is crucial. And having a bad system reflects on how little value we place on having an accurate picture of the students in our schools.
At Edna Brewer I need to use three separate tools to track student information, none of which interact with the others. Teachers use the district’s central system for taking roll, tracking discipline, and recording grades. Because we also print paper progress reports for each student every week, we use a second system for entering progress data which is then printed every Wednesday. Naturally, the data in the progress report system is not automatically entered into the main grade book. And I manage a couple dozen IEPs using a third system. Much of the information about each student is duplicated in those three databases, so if a family moves or changes phone numbers the data needs to be updated three times. (Guess how often that actually happens.)
There are a couple of other pieces of software I use for my own personal record keeping, since none of the mandated systems does a great job of handling the data I want to track.
Data management is hard. Building elegant solutions is not easy. But that’s what is so alluring. I’m not an expert database designer, and I am surely not the worlds greatest application developer, but I have a few years experience working in the application design space. My passion for problem solving is heating up, and I’m weighing the impact I can have as a teacher in the classroom against the impact I might have if I utilize my design skills to make a streamlined and meaningful interface to school’s student information systems.
I believe a well designed system is a reflection of the institution that deploys it. OUSD has many fronts on which to demonstrate its commitment to improving her student’s education environment. A well designed student information system is not enough, but it’s a piece.
Friday August 10, 2012 — Mark
I’ve wanted to write about this for a long time. I’m a big fan of BART, the Bay Area’s rapid transit system — I appreciate how convenient and economical it is for us to get to San Francisco to visit our son, fly out of SFO, or go to a show or dinner in the West Bay. [Aside: When my parents, my brother and sisters and I first moved to Oakland in the late 1960s we became friends with Harre Demoro a transportation aficionado and reporter. Through Harre and his connections we got to ride on the prototype BART trains before the system opened. When the Transbay Tube was first completed, he took a group of us on a short walking tour of the Oakland terminus of the tunnel. Harre’s passion instilled in me a love of trains and public transportation that continues to this day. My decision to make a four-day, cross country rail adventure back in 2010 grew from the seeds Harre planted in the 60s and 70s.]
My dad loves to ride BART, and I suspect he was infected by Harre’s passion, too. Dad also likes to remind us (nearly every time we enter the system) that one of his parishioners at First Lutheran Church was an engineer who helped design BART. After my siblings and I abandoned our childhood nest, my parents packed up and moved to New York City where they lived for almost 20 years. They lived in Washington Heights, very close to the NYC Subway system’s revered A Train. Because of dad’s late-in-life battle with the long term effects of polio, his dependence on a wheelchair made it difficult to navigate the pre-ADA New York Subways. So when they moved back to Oakland a few years ago, he was delighted to be living in a community that took accessibility seriously. He rides the bus on in his wheelchair, gleefully sharing his opinion about the best routes to take to get to IKEA or Piedmont Avenue from our Adams Point neighborhood. He and my mom still fly around the world to pursue their eclectic interests, and they almost always prefer to book flights out of SFO due to the easy access via BART.
A few weeks ago Anna and my folks and I decided to take BART to Zina’s gallery opening at Adobe Books in the Mission district. We set out on foot, dad in his chair, for the 20 minute stroll/roll to the train. The elevator to the 19th Street station is located on Broadway, tucked into an alcove between to The Community Bank of the Bay and Selix tuxedos. The elevator drops you at the mezzanine level of the station, where a passenger in a wheel chair needs to enter the station to process his/her ticket, then exit again to get in a different elevator to the platform. The elevator to the train platform is outside the paid area of the station on the mezzanine level, so for visitors to Oakland—or any first time user of BART, it would be easy to inadvertently get on the train without "paying*" to enter the system. Dad is experienced, so he knows he needs to take this extra step. He wonders why BART doesn’t install a ticket reader in the elevator so that disabled riders don’t need to make this extra loop through the turnstiles before proceeding to the platform?
Once our tickets are processed (on the honor system) we drop to the train platform and wait for our ride to the City. Getting on and off a train in a chair is pretty easy, and every car has a space where wheelchair-bound riders can jockey with bicycles for a spot near the door. In our several excursions with dad on BART we have never encountered a cyclist who wasn’t extremely polite and accommodating, always moving to make room for this endearing, talkative man in his chair.
When we arrive at the 16th and Mission station we get off the train, and the longest part of our hike within the station begins. Inexplicably, the elevator for disabled riders is at the opposite end of the platform. We pad the length of the station to reach the elevator and ride upstairs to the mezzanine level, only to find that the exit turnstiles are at the other end of the station. To top it off, the elevator from the station to the street is located halfway back down the length of the station towards the end from which we walked to go through the turnstiles. I kid dad about the fact that the parishioner who attended his church didn’t think through the location of elevators when they designed the system. Why on earth, I wonder, did they set up the station so that a passenger with mobility issues who enters the system at 19th Street in Oakland and exits at 16th and Mission needs to travel the full length of the station two-and-a-half times, just to get from the platform to the street? (That added nearly 7 tenths of a mile to our round trip that night.)
That’s not the only station where this situation occurs. When traveling from 19th Street to the Coliseum station (Anna and my folks and I rode BART to an A’s game a few weeks ago) we encountered the same situation. We got on the front of the train where the elevator dropped us at 19th Street, only to find that we needed to navigate the full length of the significantly narrower platform at the Coliseum station to get to street level. (Because the platform is narrow, navigation in a wheelchair is difficult because the clearance between various structures and the yellow safety stripe at the edge of the platform is very limited, especially when there are people waiting for trains.) Again, the elevator drops one outside the paid area of the station, so we needed to take our tickets back to the station agent to get them processed. There’s a non-functioning ticket reader set up halfway between the elevator and the agent’s booth at the station where a disabled passenger could presumably process a ticket, but it wasn’t working when we were there. And its placement is downright odd: if BART can set up a random reader for this purpose, why didn’t they put it next to the elevator where it would be readily accessible to the people who needed it, rather than in the middle of a crowded area where it’s not easy to find?
BART is an appealing system, and in comparison to some older systems, very accessible to the elderly and those with mobility challenges. There are some quirks that make accessibility less than ideal. Solving some of the bigger problems (the odd placement of the elevators) may be too expensive and require extensive retrofits to be feasible. But there are a few things that might be easily solved, like putting ticket readers in the elevators that are outside the system. In November we have a chance to elect some bright, progressive BART directors who will consider some of these issues. (Go Rebecca!)
- BART passengers actually pay when leaving the system, but a ticket must be processed upon entry so the system can determine the appropriate fare. back ^
Monday May 28, 2012 — Mark
“It’s a bike lane,” shouted the cyclist as he rushed past us on Grand, near El Embarcadero.
“F—- you,” shouted one of the two joggers who were running, two abreast, in the bicycle lane!
“F—- you, too,” came the cyclist’s immediate and impulsive response, just as he sped through the red light at the intersection.
It was an exchange of words that left everyone, including me — the innocent passerby, angry and hurt. No meaningful ideas were shared, no useful arrangement was made for the future. Instead, the joggers felt a distrust and anger towards the cyclist, and the cyclist clearly felt no love for the joggers. Future interactions with other joggers and cyclists by the parties in this exchange will be forever tainted by this interaction.
This cyclist does not speak for me, but I fear that the joggers may feel that all cyclists are jerks because their experience with this one cyclist was so hostile. And clearly the guy on the bike in this story regards joggers in the bike lane as his enemies. (Passing them forced him to swerve into a lane usually filled with cars — although at 7:00am on this particular Tuesday the lane was empty.)
As I continued my ride to school, I started thinking about the fact that this exchange is symbolic of the way the teacher’s union in Oakland sometimes interacts with the administration of the school district. And while each side may feel their anger is justified, the [all too typical] heated exchange between the two sides isn’t building common ground on any of our shared issues and concerns.
The bike rider and cyclists in this morning’s exchange chose to fight one another, using the language of conflict and anger, and neither acknowledged the mutual need for safety from cars. Each side felt that their position was just and righteous, and each felt that the other was wrong. Neither took the high road. As a biker, I could easily see biker guy’s point — having to swerve into traffic to avoid the joggers is a potential risk. But from the jogger’s perspective, biker guy’s over-the-shoulder hostility is an unkind and unwelcome assault during an early morning jog. Lost in the exchange was any sense of dignity, humility, or common civility.
The first step the Oakland teacher’s union must take in building a bridge of understanding and mutual respect is to start a conversation with the district that recognizes our shared goals and agenda. Of course both sides may have different views on how to create a fair and mutually beneficial contract. Using rhetorical tactics like biker guy used with the joggers this morning, though, won’t lead to a successful outcomes. We need to employ language that invites further conversation, not rhetoric that offends and creates distrust.
It’s no excuse for our union to argue that the district hasn’t always acted in good faith. If we are a professional union, a guild of teachers committed to the civic good, we can’t blame others for our failure to improve the nature and content of the conversation. When we, members of the teacher’s union speak, we need to use a voice laced with dignity and respect — we need to be accountable to our best ideals, not held hostage by our basest instincts.
My reason for running for the OEA executive board is to join a caucus of board members who feel that the time for the tired rhetoric of anger and division has passed. We look forward to being part of a union committed to raising the quality of conversation surrounding the issues that lead to better conditions in our schools for teachers, for students, for families, and for every citizen of this community.
Visit (and tell your friends about) my campaign site — »
Tuesday April 17, 2012 — Mark
I was looking at a collection of images of Bloom’s taxonomy today and realized that I wanted a simple but more apt drawing that would capture my beliefs about how the taxonomy relates to learning. I had recently read some interesting thoughts about the fact that the taxonomy was not strictly conceived as a hierarchy:
Bloom et al. discussed at length their decision to apply an Aristotelian categorization method in their taxonomy. The choice was significant, because an Aristotelian method creates distinct, bounded categories ordered by complexity without the hierarchical assumption that higher-level categories always entail instantiation of those lower in the taxonomy (e.g., when evaluating, it is not always necessary to first apply and synthesize). Moreover, Aristotelian categorization emphasizes that these groupings are closely related and difficult to tease apart. . . . however, the division of the taxonomy of educational objectives into classes representing lower order … and higher order thinking … has prevailed in research.
Found at Dangerously Irrelevant by Scott McLeod
What I came up with for myself is this simplified diagram.
This captures more-or-less my thoughts that students can access learning by entering the taxonomy anywhere. Think about the Suzuki method of learning music, where children are not first introduced to the knowledge of the system of reading music, but instead are given the opportunity to create music. Or about Montessori schools where experiential activity that could be called creativity precedes knowledge.
Monday February 20, 2012 — Mark
One big message of Apple’s textbook announcement in New York last week was that the new iBook textbook model is going to lighten student’s backpacks by reducing the amount of paper that they have to lug around. Sure, the format has some interactive razzle dazzle, which may contribute to higher levels of engagement, but that is generally speculative with respect to how effective these new iBooks will be in the long run. (There has been some initial study about the efficacy of this new kind of interactive text on student achievement, and the early results are optimistic. The long term, large scale impact is still far from being proven. Saving trees is a worthy purpose, but is it really the disruptive feature of digital textbooks?)
There are some bloggers who are also critical of Apple’s strategy because it comes with some licensing strings attached. Books built using Apple’s free iBooks Author software are encumbered by a mandatory license agreement with Apple should the author wish to sell the book via Apple’s iBook store. This certainly reflects a company that is driven by profit as much or more than altruism. On the flip side, Apple does not require any licensing agreement to create a book for personal use. (UPDATE: Apple will distribute my book for free in the iBookstore if I want to give the book away, and doing so does not prevent me from distributing the book in other ways as long as I don’t sell it via other channels. See below for a further thoughts.) From my perspective, the ability to easily distribute books for free where the real disruption in education could gain a toe hold.
What bloggers (and possibly even Apple) seem to be missing is that the real disruption could happen by turning students loose with the iBooks Author software. I agree with many of these critics that it’s not that big a deal that publishers with massive financial resources and incentives now have a marginally better system of creating digital versions of their books. But imagine that instead of buying textbooks, students are given the opportunity to turn the learning process on its head and take responsibility for publishing their own textbooks. Books they can carry with them on an iPad and share with their peers. Perhaps students will work in collaborative teams to create these books. And rather than just books of plain text and pictures, these books can also include videos that the students make (using the iPad) capturing the skills and steps required to solve complex math problems or explain the student’s perspective on an historical event or literary text.
As the basis for these student made textbooks, teachers could use the same iBooks Author tool to create dynamic lessons that teach the concepts that the students will use in the creation of their own books. Many teachers today are creating their own teaching materials anyway. Why not create those materials using the same tool which students will use? This could foster a virtuous cycle of learning and publishing where students and teacher are engaged in a collaborative process, not in a top down model where teachers are exclusively responsible for creating materials and planning lessons. As students become more engaged in the process they could take more responsibility for planning and delivering lessons.
These textbooks could become the portfolio that demonstrate a student’s mastery, not only of the expectation that they can read and write, but also the expectation that they can analyze and synthesize what they’ve learned and communicate effectively using 21st century tools. Instead of relying on a student’s ability to bubble in the best of four possible answers to a question, we can see how well a student understands the underlying standards and concepts of the subjects of study in the books they author. In their own words with their own explanations.
This inverted model addresses some of the compelling concerns about our reliance on a factory based educational system. It brings creativity into the learning process and proposes a system of learning that leverages student’s interest in 21st century skills and tools. Imagine classrooms where students are using iBooks Author to create a text which they will update and leverage throughout their whole K-12 educational career.
Sure, there are complexities of the current educational paradigm that won’t be solved by giving students a better publishing tool. But this new tool could be the first step in truly disrupting how we assess student achievement and engage students in learning in a way that recognizes each student’s unique skills and perspectives. It may not have been Apple’s intent, but they’ve given us a tool that extends the democratization of information that erupted with the invention of the internet. I look forward to seeing how this tool changes how we teach, learn, and inform.
FURTHER THOUGHTS ON LICENSING: Apple has been criticized for enforcing a license on the output of its software if you wish to sell your work. Several people are referring to this as an ownership grab by Apple. On Mashable, Kapost says Apple Will Own Your Work With iBooks Author, quoting Sascha Segan’s iBooks Author: You Work For Apple Now. I’m not a lawyer, but think it’s a bit of a stretch to suggest that Apple could ever assert ownership over your intellectual property. Clearly some aspect of the current copyright law would extend to the creator of the content, and section “D” of the iBooks Author software End User License Agreement states that you may only use the software to produce work that contains material to which you (the author) own a copyright. It does not claim in that document that your use of the software requires giving up your copyright or intellectual property. In the EULA, Apple is asserting a privilege to distribute work produced by its software, but that’s only superficially different from any publisher making a contract to own the rights to publish an author’s work. The difference is, of course, related to the means of distribution — Apple isn’t printing big paper books and shipping them around the country. If anyone should be nervous about Apple’s licensing, it should be traditional publishers. I could be wrong, but it seems there are currently very few ways for an author to publish and distribute a textbook today without the assistance of a publishing company. Apple is getting in the middle of that business. With a large distribution network (how many million iPads are there?) Apple is in a position to open a market to the independent authors.
(Disclosure: I hold shares of Apple stock in my retirement portfolio.)
Sunday January 22, 2012 — Mark
The Christmas season often heightens the already fractious conversation between people of various faith persuasions. In the pop-media this fractured dialogue is manifested in the debate over whether to use the greeting “happy holidays” or the presumably Christian greeting “merry Christmas.” Which greeting you choose supposedly indicates your degree of cross cultural/religious sensitivity. Conventional wisdom suggests that a Christian greeting a Jew or Muslim should either guess the other’s religious preference and greet them with an appropriate greeting based on what holiday that person might celebrate, or take the safe path and offer the innocuous “happy holidays.”
God forbid you encounter an atheist. The term “holiday” derives from the combination of holy and day. Imagine the faux pas of rendering said atheist offended by the accidental utterance of such a God centric word.
This whole conversation is based on a flawed conception of faith. The other day i engaged in a twitter fit with someone who was offended by the fact that Flickr (the photo sharing service) had adorned his home page on the site with Christmas lights. He was offended by this obviously “Christian” symbol. I tweeted that I thought it was absurd to call Christmas lights a Christian symbol. In subsequent tweets we battled over the issue which ended with the other person blocking me from following him. For the next couple of days I’ve grappled with that conversation and I realize it centers on the idea that in our society we have come to treat faith as a zero sum game. It’s a battle over who is right and who is wrong. This is a flawed understanding of faith, and I was wrong to jump on this guy about his feelings about lights. Instead I should have understood his struggle and nurtured his curiosity.
This tweeter with whom I had engaged was upset because he lives in what he perceives as a “Christian country.” He said that Christians had “won,” and lamented that he wasn’t even free to complain about that cultural dominance without being challenged. By casting the question of faith as win or lose he is caving to this zero sum mentality. He can only be right about his beliefs if I’m wrong and vice versa.
When Christopher Hitchens died a few days ago the tortured dialogue between Atheists and Christians as to what they perceive as the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of Christianity and Atheism re-erupted. Again we were treated to self righteousness on both sides of the debate, with Atheists and those of the religious persuasion insisting that the other’s view is wrong.
These zero sum positions that we stake out in the public conversation on faith are doing little to shed light on the concept of our common human experience. Much has already been written about the commonality of the three Abrahamic faiths. That Muslims, Christians and Jews all trace their mythological heritage to the same character in the same ancient mythological text is widely discussed and I haven’t anything new to offer to that conversation. Except to say that our different experiences, perceptions, and points of view of human cultural development do not negate contrasting points of view, perceptions and experiences. Taken as a whole, these differences can enrich the conversation and our understanding of faith in a life giving power.
What interests me is the conversation between Theists and Atheists. Where the zero sum solution falls short is in its failure to acknowledge the necessity of both points of view to make the other perspective possible. I can’t accept on faith the idea of a supreme, life-giving power — God, if you need a name — if the presence of that power could be proved. Neither, though could an atheist hold the position that there is no such power without a degree of faith. Many Atheists want to point to science as a method for proving that God does not exist. Again, the zero sum problem.
At this time of year I always feel challenged to grapple with my own personal way of understanding life and the human experience, and how to reconcile those views with the great allegorical explanation of life with which I was raised. I cherish many of the traditions that spring from my faith heritage. But I can’t prove that God exists. And, frankly, I don’t want to — if I could prove that God exists, I wouldn’t need faith. And keep in mind that by God I don’t mean some being who helps Tim Tebow and the Broncos win football games. By “God” I mean “why.” Science is a perfectly able to explain the who, what, where, how, and when of our existence. It can’t give an definitive answer though, to the why of things. I need some way of naming that incessant quest to understand and give expression to my belief that some essence of divine beauty and wisdom is at the core of why we were given the hearts and minds and ability to love one another and make music and art, and celebrate our shared happiness. I call that quest “faith” and the object of my faith, “God.”
Call it what you will, but I think most of us have more in common than we want to admit. Just as I can’t (and won’t) prove that God exists, my Atheist friends cannot prove that God doesn’t exist. Atheists must accept on faith the non-existence of God. (Every logician knows you can’t prove the non-existence of something.)
As anyone who has raised kids will understand, the incessant pursuit of the “why” is at the core of human curiosity. And I believe if we keep pressing for that answer to the big question of why life takes shape as it does, we are on a common journey. All of us, Atheists and theists alike. Our various ways of expressing what is at the center of our examination of life are nuanced ways of sharing a common humanity.
Saturday December 24, 2011 — Mark
This post is about education, but you’ll need to bear with me as i begin with a lenghty digression. I’ve been reading Steve Jobs biography. In it I’m meeting an intuitive genius who had deep interpersonal challenges. A man who valued artists and creativity. A man who could be cruel, but also a man who loved deeply. It’s compelling reading.
A fascinating aspect of his personality is how convinced and passionate Steve was about trusting his intuition. Intuition trumped engineering concerns and conventional wisdom. Apple has often been derided by its critics for a preoccupation with what appeared to some to be a preference for style over substance. The Macintosh has generally been powered by slower processors than competitor’s hardware. Often Apple made trade-offs that mystified the ubergeeks and techno-nerds that favor awesome tech specs over intuitive design and simplicity. What made the ubergeek’s device cool was sheer power and raw speed. Steve favored other qualities.
As technology has become more embedded in the lives of the non-geeks there’s been a slight shift in how we have come to collectively understand computers and other devices. John Gruber of Daring Fireball observes:
Spec-based reviews of computers and gadgets are inherently flawed, a relic of an era that’s already gone. Movie reviews are about what the movie is like to watch. Is it enjoyable, is it entertaining, does it look and sound good? Imagine a movie review based on specs, where you gave points for how long it was, whether the photography is in focus, deduct points for continuity errors in the story, and then out comes a number like “7.5/10”, with little to know mention about, you know, whether the movie was effective as a piece of art.
I wouldn’t argue that specs are “meaningless”. It’s just that they’re an implementation detail. Specs are something the device makers worry about insofar as how they affect the experience of using the device. Just like how focal length and lens aperture are something the cinematographer worries about insofar as how they affect what the viewer will see on screen. — Daring Fireball, 14 Nov, 2011
The way we look at education today is distorted by a similar flawed vision. Our national preoccupation with standardized testing and a myopic pursuit of only the subjects which can be reduced to objective standards is robbing our kids. Especially kids who are already suffering from educational inequity. We’ve reduced the art of teaching and learning to a specification driven process that places little or no value on intuition. Children are not seen as individuals with unique skills and qualities to be cultivated, but as vessels to be filled with data.
Under No Child Gets Ahead (NCLB), we measure school effectiveness by how well the teacher prepares a student to retrieve stored data for the purpose of succeeding on a standardized test. Intuition should tell us that this process isn’t likely to produce inspiration. As Gruber observes in his comment about film reviews, we can’t reduce art and experiential concepts to a bullet list of statistics and specifications. Similarly, we shouldn’t reduce education to just a fact based, objective system. Knowledge and wisdom require more than facts — students need to learn to think critically, creatively, and intuitively.
Students who learn in schools that serve socioeconomically advantaged communities have always had access to the opportunity to learn this way. Sure, these students succeed on standardized tests, but that isn’t the great differentiating value of the life they lead.
Data from charter schools is beginning to show that success on standardized tests may indeed help to get students from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities get into college. But the data also shows that those students drop out of college at an alarming rate. Many of us have believed (intuitively) that standardized testing and data driven education isn’t the full answer to the question of how to teach our children. Closing the achievement gap is not going to happen if we remain preoccupied with standardized testing.
Education is an art. I’ve always felt that it’s absurd to give children grades in school. It takes the art out of teaching and learning and turns it into a competition. We need to develop education policies and strategies that foster and celebrate creativity and reduce our preoccupation on grades and tests. Critics may wonder how we can measure our effectiveness and hold educators accountable without objective standards. But I wonder how effective education can ever be if we are preoccupied with test results and devalue children’s creativity, intuition, and critical perspective.
I don’t have an answer, but my intuition tells me we are marching down the wrong path today. I intend to spend the rest of my life looking for solutions.
Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each. — Plato
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Celebrities have always identified with underdogs. Playing a victim or otherwise disadvantaged character is a sure route to an Oscar, and everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Eminem has celebrated the underdog in song. It’s not surprising that models, actors and popular musicians have focused on impoverished Africa, raising money and awareness for debt relief and famine. However, these efforts have done relatively little to address the structural causes of African misery. There is also an uncomfortable element of colonialism that runs through celebrities’ interactions with Africans and the current interest in African culture.
Is the celebrity fascination with Africa genuine or shallow? Are the efforts of well-meaning celebrities to alleviate Africa’s poverty and disease the continent’s salvation or a recipe for disaster? The recent spate of celebrity adoptions, Angelina Jolie’s much-hyped birth in Namibia, and Kate Moss’s infamous blackface modeling in the Independent reveal cultural colonialism masquerading as liberal multiculturalism. And despite their good intentions, Bob Geldof and Bono are being led around by the nose by technocrats and multinational corporations who bear responsibility for much of Africa’s problems.
Madonna’s “adoption” of a Malawian baby epitomizes the worst of the celebrity adoption trend. Malawi’s stringent adoption laws force foreigners to stay 18 months in the country to be assessed as prospective parents. After concerted lobbying, a Malawian court issued an interim order allowing Madonna to take the child out of the country for a year, triggering court challenges from human rights groups and charities who felt Madonna had “bought” the ruling through her extravagant patronage of Malawian orphanages. Unwilling to wait, the pop singer deployed a team to spirit the child back to England. Madonna follows a celebrity trend started by Angelina Jolie, who adopted children from Cambodia and Ethiopia.
A naysayer might point out that the babies will lead better lives in the West. However, growing up in an alien culture separated from one’s own ethnic traditions is a recipe for psychological problems. It has disturbing echoes of the Spanish, American and Australian colonial practice of kidnapping aboriginal children in order to raise them with white Christian values; such kidnappings were justified by a similar desire to rescue the children from what was perceived as a poverty both literal and spiritual. These issues are compounded by the objectification of celebrity adoptees by the media, which publicize them as exotic objects rather than human beings. There is no doubt that Jolie and Madonna love their children, but they inevitably become exotic props and grist for the likes of Us Weekly.
The most troubling aspect of the celebrity adoptions concerns Western privilege, with Madonna and Jolie swooping into impoverished countries to essentially buy babies from families too poor to care for them. In Madonna’s case, she technically abducted the baby, as her men took the child before a Malawian court could rule against her. But the most grotesque manifestation of colonial privilege occurred when Jolie turned a small corner of Namibia into an armed camp so she could give birth unmolested. Brendan O’Neill in the online magazine spiked put it this way:
Over the past six weeks a Western security force has effectively taken over the small African nation of Namibia. A beach resort in Langstrand in Western Namibia has been sealed off with security cordons, and armed security personnel have been keeping both local residents and visiting foreigners at bay. A no-fly zone has been enforced over part of the country. The Westerners have also demanded that the Namibian government severely restrict the movement of journalists into and out of Namibia. The government agreed and, in a move described by one human rights organization as heavy-handed and brutal’, banned certain reporters from crossing its borders.
Jolie essentially dictated security measures to a sovereign country, taking advantage of its poverty in order to have a “special” experience giving birth in Africa. She decided who entered and left the country and carved out an exclusive space where she commanded a small army of private security officers. This favoritism is reminiscent of the behavior of colonial elites catalogued in Albert Memmi’s classic text The Colonizer and the Colonized: “If he is in trouble with the law, the police and even justice will be more lenient toward him. If he needs assistance from the government, it will not be difficult; red tape will be cut; a window will be reserved for him… From the time of his birth, he possesses a qualification independent of his personal merits or his actual class. He is part of the group of colonizers whose values are sovereign.”
When one views the now-familiar scene of a Western movie star and a television crew arriving to a god’s welcome in a dusty African village, one cannot help but be reminded of the film The Man Who Would Be King, in which two British soldiers on the run are mistaken by Afghani villagers to be actual deities. Madonna and Jolie may have great respect for the orphans they advocate for, but their special treatment warps the power dynamics of the countries they visit. It is symbolic of a larger problem: Jolie is not the only Westerner with a private army allowed to operate as a sovereign force on foreign soil–oil and diamond companies maintain unaccountable private security forces in many impoverished regions.
While Jolie’s and Madonna’s celebrity colonialism takes a physical form, Kate Moss’s hits on a deeper level. In a high-tech update of the blackface vaudeville entertainers, Moss was digitally altered to look like a Black woman for a special Independent issue on women in Africa. This is symbolic of the trendy celebrities’ trendy Africanism. Moss can claim solidarity with African women and appropriate their identity via Photoshop, but at the end of the day she also can return to a safe home and a lucrative modeling career. Needless to say, the suffering women she mimics cannot.
The devout Christian Bono is in many ways a modern version of the starry eyed missionaries that went to Africa to save souls alongside the imperialists who strived for riches. Unlike his forbearers, Bono is not out to spread the cross, but its modern equivalent, liberal capitalism. He preaches from the stage about saving Africa’s suffering masses while promoting economist Jeffrey Sachs, whose neoliberal “austerity” measures helped wreck the economies of Bolivia, Poland and Russia. As a consultant, Sachs mechanically applied orthodox free-market theories to radically restructure underdeveloped countries, exacerbating already formidable problems. This is the remedy Bono intends for Africa.
The thread that links all of these cases is that Africa is being used as a blank space on which these celebrities can project their own fantasies of “saving” Africans. For celebrities like Geldof and Bono, Africa is also a vehicle for a grand moral struggle. As Brandon O Neill of spiked writes, “This brand of moral grandstanding suggests that Africa has become a kind of plaything for some campaigners, a backdrop against which they can make themselves feel good and special’. They are searching for personal meaning and purpose in the deserts and grasslands of Africa, not kickstarting a meaningful debate about how to take Africa forward.”
There is little new about this. The 19th century missionaries and explorers who established European control over the continent saw it as an exotic and forbidding land in which a similar kind of personal meaning could be found (or lost). The actual thoughts and desires of the inhabitants mattered little.
Celebrities see Africa in a similar way. Jolie, Madonna and Moss have convinced themselves that they have some kind of connection to the suffering African masses, despite their immense wealth and fame, and they search for public ways of proving that connection. They confuse this wish-fulfillment and fetishization of the exotic for meaningful measures that are actually helping Africans. Similarly, Bono and Geldof may think they are reducing human misery, when they are really just preaching the gospel of free-market wealth to suffering Africans. That’s the most obscene part about the celebrity crusade for Africa: Jolie’s and Madonna’s antics take public attention off the continent’s real problems, and do-gooders like Bono and Geldof give rhetorical cover to those who bear responsibility for a substantial portion of those problems.
When it comes down to it, colonialism is still colonialism, even if it poses in a fashion magazine, plays a Tomb Raider in the multiplex or strums a guitar. One cannot ascribe malicious motives to the celebrities–they sincerely believe they are making a positive difference. But they are not. While celebrities “find themselves” in Africa’s plains, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and multinational corporations continue their profiteering unchallenged by these neo-missionaries.
If celebrities really want to help Africa, perhaps they can start closer to home–by taking the difficult and unpopular step of lobbying their own governments and financial institutions to stop making Africa’s pain worse. This will not win them any friends in the government, nor is it glamorous. It does not involve traveling to far-flung locations, staging star-studded rock concerts or building village hospitals in front of TV cameras. Talking to a largely apathetic public about arms control treaties, neoliberal “shock therapy” economics, corporate subsidies, resource exploitation, generic AIDs drugs and other serious issues is difficult even for politicians and newsmen. But celebrities have the potential to do what politicians cannot–spreading awareness among a political constituency that can hold Western governments to task for their actions in Africa.
Adam Elkus lives in Pacific Palisades, California. He can be reached at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:c17d811a-4288-469b-bd46-e63a3ded68b2> | {
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A well developed network of roadways is a key factor in measuring growth of a country. The fact that India ranks third in the list of countries by road networks next only to United States and China, underlines the improving position of India globally. The rural roads, district roads, state highways, national highways and expressways together comprise the road network in a country. To be a truly developed country and to maintain that growth, it is very essential that the length of expressways, which are the best form of roads in a country, augment continuously.
Currently, expressways in India measure 600 kms approximately and work is on to add more to the number. If all goes according to the plans, around 18,637 kms more expressways will be added to the Indian Road Network by the year 2022. To ensure the same, the National Highway Authority of India (NHIA) has given contracts to leading infrastructural groups who in turn are working on these projects to the best of their abilities and helping the government to comply with the target's they have set. A separate department to take care of the project on Expressways in India is planned to be established. The proposed body is planned to be named National Expressways Authority of India (NEAI).
The access to these expressways is limited but not through tolls. The expressway may or may not have tolls. This is done with the aim to ensure smooth flow of heavy vehicles. Through the controlled access, it is made sure that the expressways are used for the purpose which motivated their construction. Several lanes on these expressways make sure that traffic flows smoothly.
Few of the successful expressways that have reduced the traffic woes of people in India include Ahmedabad-Vadodra Expressway (Gujarat) measuring 95 kms, Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra (93 kms), Jaipur-Kishangarh Expressway in Rajasthan (90 kms), Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway (28 kms) among several others. Some of the Expressways awaiting completion include Western Freeway in Mumbai (25.33kms), Mumbai Nashik Expressway (150 km), Pathankot Ajmer Expressway, Yamuna Expressway, Hungund Hospet Expressway among others. A total of 2607.46 kms of expressways are under construction in India at the moment. Besides, there are plans to build the expressways between Mumbai and Vadodra, Bengaluru and Chennai and Kolkata and Dhanbad. The Uttar Pradesh Government alone is planning to build five new expressways in the state.
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Yeast is not only all around us – it’s in us too. We all have some yeasts, and some fermentation in the gut, usually confined to small amounts in the colon. We also eat yeast, most commonly baker’s yeast, in breads and bakery products, and in brewer’s yeast in beers. However, there are natural yeasts in fruit that are employed to ferment wine. One in five people are yeast allergic so, overall, you are likely to feel better if you have less yeasted breads and drinks.
One of the most common gut infections of all is an overgrowth of a kind of yeast called Candida albicans. The infection is technically called candidiasis. This is what is meant by a yeast infection. The name Candida albicans means ‘sweet and white’, suggesting something delicate and pure but in reality Candida albicans is a minute microbe, a yeast, which multiplies, migrates and releases toxins. All of us have some Candida present as part of a normal balanced gut ecology. However, when it overgrows, it can afflict us with countless symptoms, both physical and mental - bowel problems, allergies, extreme fatigue, hormone dysfunction, skin complaints, joint and muscle pain, thrush, infections and emotional disorders - many of which mimic other diseases and are frequently misdiagnosed.
Candida overgrowth occurs when we feed it the food it loves the most: refined sugar and other refined carbohydrates. In addition, antibiotic use wipes out friendly bacteria in the gut, leaving the way clear for Candida to proliferate; steroid drugs and hormone treatments depress the immune system so that it cannot keep Candida levels under control; and lack of breast feeding ensures an early imbalance in gut ecology.
Dr William Crook published a questionnaire in his book, The Yeast Connection, which can help ascertain the presence or severity of an overgrowth of Candida. It if shows a high score and if doctors have failed to make any other diagnosis, it makes sense to embark on an anti-Candida campaign, ideally with the support of a healthcare practitioner.
The Candida Questionnaire - How do you score?
Have you taken tetracycline or other antibiotics for 1 month or longer?
Have you, at any time in your life, taken other “broad spectrum” antibiotics for respiratory, urinary or other infections (for two months or longer, or in shorter courses four or more times in a one year period)?
Have you, at any time in your life, been bothered by persistent prostatitis, vaginitis or other problems affecting your reproductive organs?
Have you taken birth control pills for more than two years?
Have you taken cortisone type drugs for more than a month?
Does exposure to perfumes, insecticides, cigarette smoke and other chemicals provoke noticeable symptoms?
Are your symptoms worse on damp, muggy days or in mouldy places?
Have you athlete’s foot, ring worm, “jock itch” or other chronic fungal infections of the skin or nails?
Do you crave sugar, bread or alcoholic beverages?
Score 2 points for each ‘yes’ answer.
Do you often experience fatigue or lethargy?
Do you ever have the feeling of being ‘drained’?
Do you suffer from depression?
Do you have poor memory?
Do you ever experience feeling ‘spacey’ or ‘unreal’?
Do you suffer from an inability to make decisions?
Do you experience numbness, burning or tingling?
Do you ever get headaches or migraines?
Do you suffer from muscle aches?
Do you have muscle weakness or paralysis?
Do you have pain and / or swelling in joints?
Do you suffer from abdominal pain?
Do you get constipation and / or diarrhoea?
Do you suffer from bloating, belching or intestinal gas?
Do you have troublesome vaginal burning, itching or discharge?
Do you suffer from prostatitis or impotence?
Do you ever experience a loss of sexual desire or feeling?
Do you suffer from endometriosis or infertility?
Do you have cramps or other menstrual irregularities?
Do you get premenstrual tension?
Do you ever have attacks of anxiety or crying?
Do you suffer from cold hands or feet and / or chilliness?
Do you get shaky or irritable when hungry?
Score 1 point for each ‘yes’ answer.
Add up your total score.
If you score above 30 there’s a strong likelihood that you have candidiasis. If you score above 20 there’s a possibility that you have a degree of candidiasis.
If you do have a high score you should see your healthcare practitioner who can run diagnostic tests for Candida. The most reliable tests are the Candida antibody test (saliva or blood tests for IgG and IgA antibodies) and the Organic Acid urine test (ask your nutritional therapist).
The Anti-Candida regime consists of four main parts:
The aim of the diet is to cut off the Candida’s sugar supply. This should quickly improve your digestive symptoms and stops fuelling the Candida’s growth. All forms of sugar must be strictly avoided, including lactose (milk sugar), malt and fructose (fruit sugar). Refined carbohydrates add to the glucose load so it is essential to use only whole grain flour, rice, etc. The simplest guide is to follow a low-GL diet since this ensures no sugar and only slow-releasing complex carbohydrates. Other substances to be avoided are yeast (bread, gravy mixes, spreads), fermented products (alcohol, vinegar), mould (cheese, mushrooms), and stimulants (tea, coffee).
Candida often brings on cravings for its favourite foods; at these times steely determination is needed to keep to the diet. Even when Candida-related symptoms have completely disappeared, the diet should be maintained for a further year to consolidate the newly-corrected balance of gut flora. Before long, a “sweet tooth” disappears, making it easier to stay on a sugar-free diet. I recommend you read Erica White’s Beat Candida Cookbook to show that mealtimes can still be an enjoyable experience. Another good book with recipes is the Body Ecology Diet, by Donna Gates.
2. Immune-boosting supplement programme
A supplement programme is important to boost your immune system so that it can play its role in keeping the Candida under control. Its also important to correct imbalances in glucose tolerance and to detoxify the body of pollutants including Candida toxins. The best anti-candida agents are caprylic acid (from coconut), oregano and olive leaf extract. I also recommend you take an all-round comprehensive supplement programme, plus a supplement specifically designed to improve digestion, with both enzymes and probiotics, and, ideally glutamine, an amino acid which helps heal the gut, during the first month.
3. Anti-fungal supplements
As surprising as it may sound, one of the best supplements to tackle Candida is itself a yeast called Saccharomyces boulardii (S. boulardii). It’s a non-colonizing yeast which means that it will never take up residence in your gut. However, as it passes through it stimulates your gut’s production of an immune component called secretory IgA (SIgA). Greater amounts of this immunoglobulin make it increasingly difficult for the Candida to stick to your gut wall. Some people with Candida may be hypersensitive to all yeast including S. boulardii so taking it could make you feel worse. In this case, you should wait until you’ve cut all of the yeast out of your diet for about four weeks to reduce your hypersensitivity and then introduce the S. boulardii at very low doses and increase very gradually. This may mean starting with as little as 1 billion organisms (1/2 capsule) once daily before building up to the full dose of about 10 billion organisms a day. S. boulardii also helps to make the environment of your gut more hospitable to friendly bacteria so enhancing their chances of taking up residence.
Additional anti-fungal supplements to directly tackle the Candida may also be necessary. These can be taken while you are taking the S. boulardii but should be taken several hours apart so as not to kill off the S. boulardii as well. Its generally best not to start any of these additional supplements until you’ve been on the diet and taking the S. boulardii for about a month in order to minimize the ‘die-off’ reaction – more on this in a minute.
One of the most useful antifungal agents is caprylic acid, a fatty acid which occurs naturally in coconuts. It’s great advantage is that it does not kill off your friendly flora. As calcium/magnesium caprylate, it survives digestive processes and is able to reach the colon.
Oregano oil is another excellent anti-fungal agent. It also has the advantage of crossing the gut wall into the body so may be better if you have more ‘body-wide’ fungal symptoms such as athlete’s foot.
Artemisia is a herb with broad-spectrum antifungal properties, useful against a wide variety of pathogens without disturbing friendly flora. A high score on the Candida questionnaire and a history of illness originating in a hot climate are sufficient reasons to suspect a parasite other than Candida, and to use a broad-spectrum antifungal agent.
Propolis is another natural substance which, according to research at the University of Bratislava, is remarkably effective for all fungal infections of the skin and body. It can be taken as drops and built up gradually. Its anaesthetic effect is soothing for oral thrush, and as cream, for painful muscles.
Aloe vera is gently antifungal and is a refreshing mouthwash or gargle as well as an ingestible aid to digestion. It can be used as an overnight denture soak, preferable to products which are not specifically antifungal. Dentures can be an ongoing source of Candida reinfection.
Tea tree oil is an antifungal agent and, as a cream, can be used for fungal skin conditions. Candida is frequently associated with eczema, psoriasis and acne as well as athletes foot and other fungal skin or nail infections.
Grapefruit seed extract, also called Citricidal, is a powerful antibiotic, antifungal and anti-viral agent. The great advantage, however, is that it doesn’t have much effect on the beneficial gut bacteria. It comes in drops, best taken two or three times a day, fifteen drops at a time and in capsules. Other antifungal preparations include olive leaf, garlic, goldenseal and pau d’arco.
Supplements are needed to carry beneficial bacteria into the intestines and reestablish a healthy colony. I call it “re-florestation”! The role of these bacteria is to increase acidity by producing lactic acid and acetic acid, and to inhibit undesirable micro-organisms that would compete with them for space.
Lactobacillus acidophilus is the major coloniser of the small intestine and Bifidobacterium bifidum inhabits the large intestine and vagina; it also produces B vitamins. Other helpful bacteria are the transient Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, which also produce lactic acid as they pass through the bowel. These friendly bacteria are contained in yoghurt which is therefore a helpful food provided there is no intolerance to dairy foods. In yoghurt, the lactose (milk sugar) content has largely been converted into lactic acid by enzyme-producing bifidobacteria, which accounts for the sharpness of its taste.
To ensure safe passage of these bacteria through the gastric juices, it is necessary to take them in a capsule supplying large numbers of viable organisms in freeze-dried form. Two capsules should be taken daily, at breakfast and dinner, but may be increased to six daily or even more in cases of diarrhoea or of illness necessitating antibiotics, which further deplete the friendly flora. An acidophilus cream is a beneficial aid for a vaginal fungal infection.
Dealing with die-off
Thriving Candida releases a minimum of seventy-nine known toxins. Dead and dying Candida releases even more. A general feeling of toxicity includes aching muscles, fuzzy head, depression, anxiety, nausea and diarrhoea. In specific areas where Candida has colonised, there can be an apparent flare-up of old symptoms - sore throat, thrush, painful joints, eczema, etc. This unpleasant situation is known as “die-off” or formally as Herxheimer’s reaction.
The art is to destroy Candida slowly but surely so that it is not being killed off faster than the body can eliminate the toxins. Initial die-off is usually triggered by the diet, and by vitamins and minerals as they boost the immune system to fight it. These first two points of the four-point plan usually cause more than enough die-off for most people to cope with, and antifungal agents should not be added to the regime until this phase is over. By the end of a month the majority of people claim that they feel better than they have for years! Then is the time to add the antifungal and probiotic supplements to the programme.
Most people on caprylic acid should start with one medium-strength capsule (about 400 mg) daily, without too much difficulty. If, after five days, they are not battling with die-off symptoms, the dose can be increased to 400 mg x 2, and so on up to six capsules daily. After this, they can graduate to a higher strength capsule (about 700 mg) three times daily and increase again if necessary. However, the climb up is seldom straightforward and at some stage there might come a surge of die-off reaction necessitating a drop to a lower level, or even a complete break, whilst the body eliminates the toxins. This should not be regarded as a setback, but simply as a necessary part of the process. Drinking plenty of fluid and taking good levels of vitamin C and B vitamins, as already discussed, will speed up detoxification. Eventually, caprylic acid accomplishes its job. The score on the Candida questionnaire falls to as low as it can, allowing for “history” factors which obviously do not change.
For more advice and information on candida visit Erica White’s site www.beatcandidapack.com. | <urn:uuid:11e6dc60-4182-4cfd-a238-0c54f1bbf202> | {
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Success Criterion 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A): For user interface components with labels that include text or images of text, the name contains the text that is presented visually.
A best practice is to have the text of the label at the start of the name
There are certain group of people with disabilities, especially who are having learning and physical challenges, use speech recognition software like dragon naturally speaking to access the computers. Let us understand what speech recognition software is all about. Speech recognition software converts speech to text as opposed to the screen readers. Those users of speech recognition software access the computers with the speech input and there are voice commands to perform the regular activities on the computer like opening MS word document, , opening files/folder, sending the email, browsing the web and so on.. now that we understand that how those users of speech recognition software access the computers. On the similar lines, when user is trying to activate the send button by using voice commands after composing the email, for the instance, send button does not get activated in spite of the multiple attempts. The reason could be that, even though there is a visible text as send for the user interface control but the control may not have same text as an accessible name in the accessibility tree rather control has the submit as an accessible name in the accessible tree. As visible name of the control is send and accessible name of the control is submit, speech recognition software never understand and never activate this control when user is trying to activate send button with the speech input. This creates problem and intern it impacts the ability to use the control itself for those users of speech recognition software.
In order to address this problem, WCAG 2.1 introduce this new SC. The intent of this Success Criterion (SC) is to help ensure that people with disabilities who rely on visual labels can also use those labels programmatically. In other words, the accessible name of the control must contain the text that is visible on the control but It does not mean that accessible name of the control need not to be identical with the visible label of the control. In addition, when the accessible name is different from visible label of the control then it is high chance that speech input users may accidently activate the hidden commands. As a result, speech input users get confused and disoriented with the unexpected actions. Text to speech(screen reader) users get best experience when accessible name of the control is matched with the visible name of the control.
- Accessible name of the control matches visible label of the control
- the words of the visible label in the accessible name are not scattered and are in the same order as they are in the visible label | <urn:uuid:0c86e105-2d4e-4b91-a266-d30142bebdbe> | {
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Learn something new every day
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DVI cables are used with DVI-enabled graphics cards to utilize the Digital Visual Interface, (sometimes called Digital Video Interface), in order to maximize the benefit of flat panel digital displays.
The traditional Video Graphics Array (VGA) interface was designed for use with analog CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors. It converts digital signals received from the graphics card into analog signals which it sends to the monitor. This conversion to analog creates minute distortions in the integrity of the signal. While necessary for CRT monitors, flat panel displays are themselves digital. With a DVI interface on the video or graphics card, pure digital output can be achieved using DVI cables, resulting in a sharper picture.
There are several types of DVI cables or connectors. Some transfer both analog and digital signals to accommodate intermixed components, as this digital interface acted as a bridge between the market transition from VGA and CRT monitors to digital monitors. The main types of DVI cables are:
DVI-D (Digital, for use with digital displays): These cables link DVI-graphics cards to digital displays. They transfer digital-to-digital signals, eliminate analog conversion and cannot accommodate CRT displays.
DVI-A (Analog, for use with analog displays): These DVI cables run from the DVI graphics card to an analog CRT display, converting digital-to-analog. Although some purity is lost in the conversion from digital to analog, using a DVI card and DVI-A cable with a CRT monitor delivers superior performance to using a VGA interface.
DVI-I (Integrated, for use with either display): These cables work as digital-to-digital or analog-to-analog, hence their designation as "integrated." They do not convert digital-to-analog or analog-to-digital. These DVI cables can be used to connect a DVI graphics card to a digital display, or a DVI card's VGA interface to an analog display.
DVI-DL (Dual Link): DVI cables can be single link, or dual link. Dual link cables have the ability to provide greater speed, greater signal quality and extremely high resolutions by utilizing an additional "pipeline" when the first line has been maximized. This is especially relevant in very large-screen displays requiring high resolutions of over 2.3 million pixels. By comparison, most 17-inch to 19-inch digital displays have a native resolution of about 1.3 million pixels.
When purchasing DVI cables, check with a knowledgeable salesperson to make sure the cables you are buying are right for your components. It might also be of interest to note that the DVI standard has been superseded by the Unified Display Interface (UDI) and DisplayPort standards.
is it possible to receive audio in tv by using this dvi cable or do i have to buy hdmi cable?
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:b0f59e1b-33a5-4bee-8e9a-362689ca9beb> | {
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Room at the bottom
The mantra of IT advancement is the 40-year-old empirical observation dubbed Moores Law, a remarkably accurate 1965 prediction by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that the feasible density of packing electronic devices would follow an exponential trend. Often asked, though, is the question of whether that rate of progress can continue as hardware nears frontiers defined by the nature of matter and energy. "Whats got the semiconductor industry nervous is that theres been a slowing of the improvement rate in performance," said Thomas Theis, director of physical sciences at IBM Research, in Yorktown, N.Y. "The power dissipation, the heat from quantum mechanical tunneling eventsthe insulators are just over a nanometer thick in 90-nanometer technology. One nanometer doesnt make much of a barrier for a free electron."Mere continuation of the Moores Law trend to greater physical density of devices is not an attractive option, even if it were physically possible, Theis said. Like the density of devices, "factory costs have always been exponential," he added. "At some point, they only become affordable by nation-states or some kind of consortium of nation-states. Theres a cost to maintaining tolerances." Its therefore important, Theis continued, to ask more fundamental questions about the direction that future hardware design and fabrication should follow. "If you look at biological systems," he observed, "the amount of what is done with extremely high precision is small. Biology works just well enough; the system as a whole functions. The focus of our research is to deliver the information in such a way that the error rate is higher, but its good enough to make the process work." The Internet itself demonstrates this general approach: Its packet-based communication relies on connection and transfer protocols, such as TCP/IP and Ethernet, that are designed to function "well enough" rather than requiring perfection to function at all. IBM is only one of several research centers at which were finding a growing trend toward resilient and fault-tolerant protocols, even at the level of chip-to-chip connection and on long-distance links. Enterprise buyers should be increasingly prepared to discuss their tolerance for error rates and variabilities in system performance, rather than expecting single-valued measures of performance in system specifications. Not merely in metaphor but also in direct application, biology and biochemistry may contribute to the creation of IT hardware. "What were about to publish is a nanowire transistor technique that uses optical lithography to make a coarse template, then relies on polymer self-assembly to define the channels of the transistor," said Theis. Carving out the major pathways of a microchip by currently conventional techniques, the process that Theis described then lets the basic mechanisms of molecules finding and binding to each other complete the job with nanoscale precision. "We think these are relatively inexpensive processes," said Theis. His teams experimental prototype is "a very ugly device right now; its just a toy," he said. "But its a step in the right direction," he assured usa step, that is, toward continued progress in performance without an unacceptable explosion of manufacturing costs. Another trend that surfaced during our conversations at several research centers is the one toward more cost-effective processor architectures, following the mantra of "performance per watt" that Intel has recently adopted but that vendors including Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Sun identified long ago as the future figure of merit for CPUs. The power that goes into a computer doesnt lift weights or pump water; it all turns, eventually, into heat, and the challenge of keeping densely packed server installations cool enough to run reliably is becoming a critical concern. Rather than seeking performance growth in ever-more-complex devices, therefore, "more system builders are moving to multicore architectures," said Sun Solaris Group Manager Chris Ratcliffe in Santa Clara, Calif. "The number of cores will expand rapidly. We have 32-way CPU systems in the worksit looks like a 1U [1.75- inch] rack system, but its immensely complex and can run hundreds of thousands of applications on that single system." In a number of conversations with eWEEK Labs, Sun Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Greg Papadopoulos has painted just this picture of multiple cores rather than increased core complexity as the future of optimal processing performance. Sun has followed through, currently shipping to early-access customers eight-core, 32-thread CPUs that use far less power per unit of capacity than competing architectures do. The work described by Ratcliffe continues that trend. Value for money is also a major driver of IBMs innovative Blue Gene architecture, with a Blue Gene rack holding 2,400 processors now within one week of becoming available to users at the SDSC and its nationwide networked user community. That single rack, affording 5.7 teraflops of computing power with 512GB of memory, represents "unheard of" density, said SDSC Production Systems Division Director Richard Moore. "The paradigm shift is that IBM slowed down the processors to 700MHz," Moore explained, pointing out that the resulting reduced heat output is complemented by the innovative mechanical design of the machine, with its odd slanting sides that maximize cooling air flow across each horizontal subsystem circuit board within the cabinet . Inside the Blue Gene box, Moore added, are five independent high-speed networks that maximize overall system throughput. "Its an important architecture ... very cost-effective," Moore said. Researchers with networked access to the SDSC installation will likely apply the Blue Genes power to complex tasks such as simulations in chemistry and physics. Industrial and commercial users are also exploring similar approaches to failure-mode prediction in engineering projects and in pharmaceutical development. Less exoticbut equally focused on improved high- performance-computing valueare currently available tools for scavenging available CPU cycles across a network, such as the Condor system from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Condor is now easing access to idle computing power at facilities such as MITs Laboratory for Nuclear Science, in Cambridge, Mass. Its also found at a growing number of commercial sites, with one deployment up and running for the last year on a 200-server grid at The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., in Hartford, Conn. The normal turnover of PCs on desktops, explained MIT nuclear lab Associate Director Pat Dreher, can sometimes mean that the idle computers available during off-hours have more power than dedicated research clusters whose replacement or upgrade depends on scarce project funds. That perverse situation is one that tools such as Condor help to turn into a benefit. At the MIT installation, "when people arent working, [Condor] queries machines," said Dreher. "If they arent activeno ones logged in, theres no keyboard or mouse activitya job is put on that machine, and the results [are] written back to the central area." When a user returns to work, "the job is checkpointed out, [and] a snapshot is taken and stored on disk in a frozen state until it can get cycles to finish," he added. Next Page: Whats in store.
For memory devices, Theis said, there are many roads to explore. "Memory devices just need an easily distinguishable on and off state," he explained, "but every successful device thats been used for logic has amplification. It allows you to restore signals against a reference, the ground or the voltage supply, so small variations in one device after another dont drive the system out of spec." | <urn:uuid:325a200c-fe97-4e8b-b8a6-ee66c25daeba> | {
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How the Attitudes of People During the Great Depression Can Help You Reach Financial Independence
I’ve long been a student of the studies of the Great Depression. That era in America intrigues me to no end.
Unemployment was a whopping 25%, and theforeclosure rate jumped from 3.6 per 1,000 mortgages in 1926 to 13.3 per 1,000 mortgages in 1933.
Shanty towns were popping up everywhere as people built makeshift shelters to keep themselves and their families warm and dry. Nearly everyone was affected by the Great Depression on some level.
The roaring twenties had been filled with a “que’ sera sera” attitude. People were partying it up like they lived in the Garden of Eden. There was very little thought of “tomorrow”. Borrowing money was considered the key to prosperity and success (sound familiar?), and mortgages, considered a shame 30 years earlier, were quickly becoming commonplace and normal.
But as usually happens, one too many sticks got set on the large pile, and everything came tumbling down within a short period of time. Then, as happens, people stopped spending, which in turn, hurt businesses. Those businesses started laying off employees as they worked to stay open, and the rest is history, as they say.
But what sticks out most to me about the period known as The Great Depression is the people – more specifically, the people and their attitudes. Consider these quotes from those who’d lived through the Great Depression (**all quotes taken from the Ohio Department of Aging Great Depression Story Project). The people during the Great Depression consistently had a common string of character traits such as:
“For a refrigerator we used an empty gallon can with a rope tied to it, which we lowered down a dug well to sit on the top of the water. That would cool a pound of bologna… For a while before we had electricity, we heated the irons that we used to do the ironing on the cook stove. We bathed in a large wash tub that was also used to wash our laundry… Naturally, this was before air conditioning. So, during a very hot summer in, I believe, 1936 or ’37 we slept on the front lawn. It was just too uncomfortable to sleep upstairs… Also, when our car or truck tires got a hole in the tread, we inserted a ‘boot’ which consisted of a piece of an old tire to cover the hole. That was before tubeless tires.”
- Lester Baiman, age 82, Colton, CA (formerly of Hamilton)
“My father worked for the Norfolk and Western Railroad. I remember his work days being cut to only three days per week. He was a carpenter by trade, so we were more fortunate than most. He found extra work in his trade whenever and wherever possible. We never experienced the ‘soup and bread’ lines. He farmed and tended to his large garden, raised chickens and pigeons. We always had food. My mother made bread and pasta, and canned fruits and vegetables, much of it for the winter months. She made our clothes from whatever fabric was available. My father would re-sole our shoes when necessary. We had home remedies for illnesses and made our own soap for washing. Every penny counted. Nothing was ever wasted.”
- Madge Conti Browning, age 92, Columbus
“Very quickly after settling in, Dad planned how to pay off his debts with no thought of declaring bankruptcy. First he went to the feed mill and asked how he could work off that bill. The owner was unsure; no one had ever made such an offer before. But, after months of Dad’s hard work, we had a clean slate at the feed mill. Then, on to the lumber yard, where he received a definite ‘no.’ The owner didn’t need help because he wasn’t selling anything. Nonplussed, Dad asked, ‘Do you have any paint you can’t sell?’ ‘Sure,’ the owner replied. ‘Lots.’ Then, Dad asked, “If I scrape and paint all your buildings, would you consider my bill paid in full?” They shook hands, and Dad started scraping and painting. He said he hadn’t realized how many buildings were in a lumberyard, but finally another bill was paid and he had made another friend.”
- George K. Weimer, Jr., age 77, Sebring
“For Christmas, we always had a small tree with homemade paper streamers and popcorn; of course, no Christmas lights. To save on electric, we used candles. Our present was one doll, which we girls took turns playing with. Our biggest surprise on Christmas was that we would have chicken on the table and plenty of fruit.”
- Margaret Byrum, age 83, Chillicothe
“In 1938, my Dad developed pneumonia and was unable to work for six months. We were put on relief, which is somewhat like welfare is today. All we got for Christmas that year was a bushel full of staples: potatoes, flour, sugar, etc., and one jigsaw puzzle. Dad was able to get out of bed for Christmas and he, my brother, Joe, and I worked that puzzle together on our living room floor. It was one of my most memorable, meager, beautiful Christmases.”
- Mary Rose DeMaria, age 83, Oregon
“Holidays were special. We had foods that we didn’t get during the year, like oranges and nuts and freshly made peanut butter from West Side Market. That was our treat at Christmas. We didn’t have a tree or gifts.”
- Theresa Giallombardo, age 80, Maple Heights
“I recall when Christmas came along, my dad told us that he could not buy us much, but we were happy with what we got. Plus, when we wanted to light the tree, we had to go down to the milk house and start the generator. It was tough times, but we learned how to accept it.”
- Carl Krob, age 82, Bridgeport
“My sister and I learned to appreciate simple indulgences. On one Christmas, my only gift was a pair of rayon panty hose. I thought it was a wonderful gift because it was much nicer than the cotton I had always worn. And on another occasion, when I was a senior in high school, I had to make a choice between buying a winter coat and buying a high school class ring. I chose the coat.”
- Evelyn Brewer Neff Mitrione, age 86, Pickerington
“During the winter, we disconnected the refrigerator to save electricity and kept spoilable food in a window ‘icebox.’ You opened the window to put food in, and then closed the window to keep it cold. We didn’t have freezers then yet.”
- Thomas Rosmarin, age 85, Columbus
“One year, we three older kids decided to surprise the family. ln August, we secretly began to hoard every penny and nickel we earned. By December, we had $2.25 exactly. We shopped carefully, so everyone had a 25-cent gift on Christmas morning. I never saw Dad so surprised as he was with his two cigars! He said we shouldn’t have, with a smile! The favorite gift was a checkerboard and checkers. We had tournaments all winter.”
- Margaret B. Edwards, age 89, Gibsonburg
“We learned early on to amuse ourselves and not to have many wants. It’s the wants, not the needs, that do people in. Having less wants creates contentment and one is satisfied with the simple pleasures in life. Holidays, we baked cookies and wrapped them up in tea towels to give to relatives and neighbors.”
- Leona M. Osrin, Beachwood
“As I face unemployment and financial challenges, the lessons learned from my folks provides me the reassurance I need when I feel like things are way too tough. We must remain hopeful. We must remain determined. We must remain spiritual. And, in a pinch, a ketchup sandwich makes a great snack!”
- Karen Gaebelein, via e-mail
“I believe working hard, sticking together, and watching our pennies helped us through those difficult times. ‘Waste not, want not’ – important even today. Keep a positive attitude. Remember ‘Above the clouds the sun still shines.’”
- Helen Oliver, age 83, Poland
In the days of the Great Depression, words like “instant gratification” and “me” were replaced with “we’ll have to wait” and ”us”. It was the patience, perseverance and selflessness that got our country through this terribly dark period, and, if we choose to go back and adopt these attitudes, they can get us through again. | <urn:uuid:9270a011-457f-4c40-a29b-5a86c18ad49d> | {
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Mangrove swamps are mysterious places which are incredibly important in ecological terms, and are home to many creatures with weird and wonderful lifestyles. The swamps bridge the gap between land and sea and are regularly inundated with seawater.
The mangrove trees stand in mud on stilt-like roots in the muddy estuaries of large rivers and in the lagoons, bays and tidal creeks found along tropical sea-coasts on both sides of the equator.
Not only do the mangroves provide a refuge from hurricanes and typhoons, they also protect the land against erosion and are used by many species of fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds as nesting and nursery areas.
If you were as accurate as an Archer Fish, you could spit at (and hit!) a tennis ball over 10m away! Wow! | <urn:uuid:ff7030e5-7b7a-4877-b115-5e25a37c44ad> | {
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PROGRESS & INFO
PROGRESS OF GOAL 6
- Water and sanitation are at the very core of sustainable development, critical to the survival of people and the planet. Goal 6 not only addresses the issues relating to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, but also the quality and sustainability of water resources worldwide.
- In 2015, 4.9 billion people globally used an improved sanitation facility; 2.4 billion did not. Among those lacking adequate sanitation were 946 million people without any facilities at all, who continued to practise open defecation. In 2015, 68 per cent of the global population was using improved sanitation facilities compared to 59 per cent in 2000. Nevertheless, the unsafe management of faecal waste and wastewater continues to present a major risk to public health and the environment.
- More progress has been made in access to drinking water. In 2015, 6.6 billion people, or 91 per cent of the global population, used an improved drinking water source, versus 82 per cent in 2000. Despite that improvement, an estimated 663 million people were using unimproved water sources or surface water that year. While coverage was around 90 per cent or more in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania, widespread inequalities persist within and among countries. Moreover, not all improved sources are safe. For instance, in 2012 it was estimated that at least 1.8 billion people were exposed to drinking water sources contaminated with faecal matter.
- Holistic management of the water cycle means taking into account the level of “water stress”, calculated as the ratio of total fresh water withdrawn by all major sectors to the total renewable fresh water resources in a particular country or region. Currently, water stress affects more than 2 billion people around the world, a figure that is projected to rise. Already, water stress affects countries on every continent and hinders the sustainability of natural resources, as well as economic and social development. In 2011, 41 countries experienced water stress, an increase from 36 countries in 1998. Of those, 10 countries, on the Arabian Peninsula, in Central Asia and in Northern Africa, withdrew more than 100 per cent of their renewable fresh water resources.
- Integrated water resources management, one of the follow-up actions to the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation), aims to address this urgent situation. In 2012, 65 per cent of the 130 countries that responded to a survey question on integrated water resources management reported that management plans were in place at the national level.
- Total official flows for water and sanitation were $10 billion in 2014, of which total aid flows from DAC donors amounted to $8 billion. Aid for water and sanitation nearly doubled as a share of ODA during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990). Since that time, on average, it has remained at around 7 per cent of total aid flows. Better targeting and tracking of water aid within the context of national situations is needed. For instance, numerous countries with limited access to water supply and/or sanitation have been receiving minimal external assistance (typically less than $2 per capita annually), while other countries with higher levels of access have received much more (at least $30 per capita a year).
- Effective water and sanitation management also depends on the participation of stakeholders. According to a 2013-2014 Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water survey, 83 per cent of the 94 countries surveyed reported that procedures for stakeholder participation were clearly defined in law or policy. In the Sustainable Development Goals, the focus is being refined to also include the participation of local communities, which will be captured in the next cycle of Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water monitoring.
Source: Report of the Secretary-General, “Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals”, E/2016/75 | <urn:uuid:967ab568-469c-4645-b3a3-a85f75d65c40> | {
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Bertrand Piccard is somewhere high over central California right now, flying southward in a giant airplane powered only by the sun.
Piccard is the co-founder and pilot of Solar Impulse, a solar powered airplane that left Moffett Field south of San Francisco shortly after 6 a.m. PDT today to begin an eight-week journey across the country. As impressive as that sounds, it is but a trial run for the dream he and fellow pilot André Borschberg have been working toward since 2007: a zero-emissions flight around the world in 2015.
The longest journey, as they say, begins with the first step, which for Piccard ends after midnight tonight when he touches down in Phoenix. He and his crew have spent several weeks in California, assembling and testing the aircraft after having it flown from Switzerland aboard a Boeing 747.
Piccard is rightfully proud of the airplane, known simply by its Swiss identification number HB-SIA. It is as massive as it is delicate. It's wingspan of 208 feet rivals that of a 747, yet the plane weighs just 3,547 pounds. It is made almost exclusively of carbon fiber and photovoltaic cells. I caught up with him a few days ago, and he explained with obvious excitement the joy of flying this albatross-like solar-powered airplane.
"It's amazing to see that really you can do this," he says as he gently motions his hands up and down as if he were flying. His thumbs and index fingers are pinched together oh-so-slightly, as if holding the thinnest of threads. "You can control it with two fingers, it's amazing, it's like a Swiss watch, the precision of the construction."
That, of course, is what it's like in calm air. Piccard's demeanor changes sharply as he describes flying the gentle giant in turbulence.
"When it's bumpy you have 40 kilos [in your hands]," he says, referring to the 90 or so pounds of force required to move the controls. He gestures with large motions and his hands positioned as if taking a bull by the horns. "You have full deflection [of the controls]."
The overall experience is much like flying a glider. There is a small amount of noise from the motors, and a gentle whistling wind over the cockpit. Though the actual act of flying with the greater proportions has its own set of unique characteristics and the airplane has definite limits with regards to its maneuverability.
Such a craft can be a handful for the most skilled of pilots, including a former Swiss air Force pilot like Borschberg. He has on several occasion flown HB-SIA in conditions that required his full attention.
"You can't do much else than pilot the airplane," he says of such situations, "so you try to avoid these very turbulent situations."
To that end, Solar Impulse has charted a southerly course, both to maximize sunshine and minimize storms. From Phoenix, Piccard will continue on to Dallas. It could be June before he gets there, though. Then he'll swing north and follow the Mississippi River to St. Louis. The final two stops are Washington, D.C., and New York. No exact dates or specific itinerary have been given, because weather will dictate the pace and route.
Solar Impulse has been flying for more than three years, making increasingly ambitious flights in Europe and Africa and even a 26-hour flight through the night. Borschberg was able to gain altitude and charge his batteries during the day and keep flying while slowly descending during the night.
Its delicate nature aside, the Solar Impulse aircraft has many of the same basic components as a typical airplane. The cockpit is slightly ahead of the wing. Two engines hang from each wing, and at the back you'll find a horizontal and vertical tail surface. But the plane shares some features with other specialized aircraft. For example, HB-SIA, like the U-2 spy plane, has a single main landing gear.
The general description of how these components work together are familiar to the average pilot, but completely unique in the details.
The biggest difference, of course, is the fuel. HB-SIA is an electric aircraft powered by sunshine. Nearly 12,000 photovoltaic cells cover the upper surfaces of the wings and tail, providing energy for the four, 10-horsepower motors. Excess electricity is stored in a lithium-ion battery so HB-SIA can fly at night. As with electric vehicles, range is paramount. Therefore, the team focused on maximizing efficiency and minimizing weight. So the airplane's rather simple appearance is driven by function, with several parts serving multiple roles. The tail, for example, carries a non-retractable tailwheel.
"When you make it simple, you make it light," Borchberg says. "You can put the tailwheel in the structure itself so we save weight and you don't have to retract it. And it achieves the goal to have the airplane high on the ground to have large propellers."
Large propellers are more efficient, which explains why they are more than 11 feet long. They spin at 200-400 rpm, keeping the plane cruising at a leisurely 29 mph. Top speed is just over 40 mph. The cross-like tail also distributes the load forces symmetrically. This allowed them to make the fuselage smaller, and therefore lighter, at the tail.
There is room for but a single person aboard HB-SIA, and the cockpit is best described as cozy. HB-SIA uses a traditional yoke rather than a control stick, and all eight ailerons along the 208 foot span can indeed be moved with nothing more than finger tip pressure on the yoke. Moving the controls has a solid, connected feel, without the mushiness often found in airplane controls.
The pilot faces a bank of displays. On the right is a custom-made energy management display that keeps track of the electricity as it flows from solar cells to the motors and batteries. On the left is a radio and GPS unit. In the center is the primary flight display that contains artificial horizon as well as the airspeed indicator and altimeter.
One of the more interesting instruments are two stacks of lights on either side of the primary display. The lights, and instruments that drive them, were developed by Omega and help the pilot precisely control to a single degree the bank angle of the airplane. Unlike conventional airplanes, in which banking the wings 10, 20, or even 30 degrees is normal, the Solar Impulse pilots avoid anything past five degrees to maintain optimal control.
"What is special is this little instrument which gives the degree by degree change, the bank of the airplane," Borschberg says. "When we have one degree [of bank] to the right, we have one LED. And when we reach five, it starts to blink and it starts to vibrate in the arms."
Just like many airliners, which have a device called a "stick shaker" to warn of an impending stall, HB-SIA uses a stick shaker to warn the pilot that the airplane is exceeding five degrees of bank.
"The vibration is interesting, because you can be busy doing something else, five degrees is not much," Borschberg explains, "and at night with no clear references [the stick shaker alerts you] and you immediately have to do something."
A separate screen that folds down over the right shoulder is a computer interface for electronic communication with the ground as well as a way to view weather, satellite images and other information.
Four power levers situated on the left side of the cockpit control the motors. The pilot usually moves the levers in unison for symmetric control, but there are circumstances in which the pilot will deliver varying levels of power to each of the four motors.
"Sometimes you use differential power not to have differential power, but to equilibrate and balance the batteries," Piccard explains.
The wings of HB-SIA rise towards the tips, something known as dihedral which aids stability. Because they are angled up, the ends of the wings are exposed to more (or less) sunlight in certain circumstances.
"If you fly for a long time to the south when you have sunrise or sunset," Piccard says as an example, "you have more electricity on one side than the other because of the dihedral. So you would put more power the side that has the most energy."
On Monday, I'll talk more about what HB-SIA is like in the air and, of course, during the all-important landing. | <urn:uuid:f17ebbcd-ae3a-4a2a-80b7-c823c0d4ff86> | {
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WNY Sweet Corn Pheromone Trap Network 1998
Project Leader: Abby Seaman
1. Continue a network of pheromone traps for sweet corn pests in western and central NY.
2. Provide regional trapping information and recommendations to agents, processor field staff, and consultants working with sweet corn.
3. Provide regional trapping information to processor field staff and growers.
Three of the important insect pests of sweet corn, European corn borer, corn earworm, and fall armyworm, are moths in their adult stage and larvae (or "worms") in their immature stage, during which they cause damage to sweet corn. A network of traps baited with the pheromones that male and female moths use to find each other was set up across western New York. The trap network allows growers, consultants, and Cooperative Extension and processing company field staff to track the flights of the adults of these three pests, and make informed decisions about when sweet corn fields need to be scouted or treated with an insecticide. In 1998, European corn borer populations were relatively low, especially during the second-generation flight, and growers were able to harvest good quality sweet corn using fewer insecticide applications. Later in the season, flights of corn earworm and fall armyworm were very high in many areas. The information from the trap network alerted growers to the high populations and helped them time their insecticide applications to obtain optimal control. | <urn:uuid:b255b53b-21ab-4545-b4c4-816cb3ef53fb> | {
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On this day (March 4) in 1801, Thomas Jefferson took an oath, administered by his distant cousin Federalist Chief Justice John Marshall, to “faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States,” thus becoming the third chief executive of the young American Republic.
This inaugural was the first held in Washington, D.C., and also was the first time in U.S. history when there was a transfer of power, without violence and bloodshed, from one political party (Federalist) to another (Republican).
The Election of 1800 was one of the most confusing and contentious of the 57 presidential elections in American history. This confusion and contention was caused in part by the fact that electoral votes for president and vice president were not listed on separate ballots, which resulted in each elector (there were 138 electors and therefore 276 electoral votes cast in 1800) casting his two votes without designating them for president or vice president.
In the election of 1800, electors were selected in the 16 states between April 29 and Nov. 19. Then, on Dec. 3, electors cast their votes, usually in the state capital. Finally on Feb. 11, 1801, the electoral votes received from the various states were tabulated in the unfinished Capitol building before a joint session of Congress.
Interestingly, the sitting Vice President Thomas Jefferson, as presiding officer of the Senate, officiated over the counting of electoral votes in an election in which he was one of the two leading presidential candidates.
The final official electoral vote was Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, 73; Aaron Burr of New York,73; John Adams of Massachusetts, 65; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, 64; and John Jay of New York, 1.
According to the Constitution, such electoral ties were to be decided by the House of Representatives, in which each state delegation would have one vote. Finally, on Feb. 17, on the 36th ballot, the House voted – 10 states for Jefferson, four for Burr, and two making no choice – to elect Jefferson president and Burr vice president.
The elections of 1800 and 1824 have been the only two that have been decided in the House of Representatives. Happily, the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (ratified in 1804) corrected the ambiguity and confusion of the 1800-1801 electoral voting by establishing the system still followed of providing for the separate balloting by presidential electors for president and vice president.
On this Wednesday (March 4, 1801), the 57 year old president-elect Jefferson awoke early, soaked his feet in a tub of cold water (a ritual that he had long practiced every morning “to promote good health”), and made the short walk from Conrad and McMunn’s boarding house to the Capitol to be sworn in as president and to deliver his inaugural address.
In his conciliatory address, he declared famously that, “Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. ... We are Republicans, we are all Federalists.” His first inaugural address became a blueprint for his largely successful two terms as president.
Jefferson later referred to the election of 1800 as “the Revolution of 1800.” However, although claiming to be an advocate of “small, non-intrusive government,” Jefferson, as chief executive, actually expanded presidential powers, as every president has since Washington.
In Jefferson’s case, It often has been asserted that he used Hamiltonian means (i.e., strong executive leadership) to achieve Jeffersonian ends (i.e., individual liberty and freedom). Whether this assertion is true or not, Thomas Jefferson now is canonized as the apostle of American freedom.
• Crystal Lake resident Joseph C. Morton is professor emeritus at Northeastern Illinois University. Email him at [email protected] | <urn:uuid:2040713a-6231-4c66-8500-c6fa67928843> | {
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