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Cyanide leaching has been the industry standard for gold processing for more than 100 years. During the cyanide leach process, a cyanide solution, or lixiviant, is percolated through ore contained in vats, columns or heaps. Gold is dissolved by the cyanide and then removed from the heap or columns.
The cyanide leaching process Bodie . The cyanide leaching process on Bodie, California . In the early days of mining, men would extract gold by placer mining, or by panning. Contact US Cyanide Leaching Of Gold Mine Engineer.Com. information on cyanide leaching of gold leach plants. .
Gold Cyanide Solution (Leaching Gold With Cyanide) Since the 1890's, cyanide has been used to recover gold from gold bearing ores. And today, over 115 years later, most of the worlds gold is recovered with cyanide playing a large part in the beneficiation of the yellow precious metal.
Gold roasting is a process, applicable to refractory ores and concentrates that contain sulfide sulfur, organic carbon, and potentially arsenic. Removal of these compounds is necessary to achieve high gold recovery (gt;90%) during cyanide leaching. Gold roasting is typically a metallurgical fluidized bed process.
Gold cyanidation is a hydrometallurgical technique for extracting gold from low grade ore by converting the gold to a water soluble coordination complex. It is the most commonly used leaching process for gold extraction. Cyanide leaching quot;heapquot; at a gold mining operation near
Process. Cyanide can be used to extract gold, either in a controlled mill environment, or more crudely on rock piles in the open. Cyanide quot;vat leachingquot; mixes finely crushed ore with a cyanide salt in water. The cyanide binds to the gold ions, and makes them soluble in
The Cyanide Leaching Process has been the most widely used and most cost effective method of extracting gold from ore since the 1970s. Most open pit gold mining operations around the world use a heap leaching to extract ores from these types of deposits.
Cyanide Leaching Tank. gold processing in cyanide offers 241 cyanide leaching tank products. About 45% of these are leaching tank, 39% are other mining machines, and 6% are mineral separator. Quotation More. Sodium cyanide gold recovery / sodium cyanide gold mining.
The processing of gold scrap varies not only with the gold content but also with the amenability of the gold in the scrap to extraction. Thus, the bulk of the gold may be recovered by leaching techniques using cyanidation or aqueous chlorination, and the residue may then be
refractory gold is readily accessible for cyanide leaching. There are several variations of comminution circuits used in the gold industry, such as Multi stage crushing and pebble and/or ball milling circuits, typical of older installations. The process design of gold leaching and carbon in pulp
Jun 28, 20180183;32;Optimizing the Cyanide Leaching of Gold Proceedings of the Royal . Dec 23, 2015 In fact, today, cyanidation is the only choice for the recovery of gold Also, cyanide leaching is used to process gold in the Aghdareh mine .
PROCESSING GOLD ORES USING HEAP LEACH CARBON ADSORPTION hiETHODS by H. J. Heinen,' D. G. Peterson,' and R. E. Lindstrom2 ABSTRACT This Bureau of Mines report reviews the recent developments in the heap leaching of gold ores with dilute cyanide solutions and the recovery of gold
gold concentrates ,gold leaching, gold leaching methods , Flow Design Equipment After Crushing and Comminution, add the gold ore slurry into 9 Leaching Agitation Tanks, pour in cyanide solution in the first 2 tanks and .
The reactions that take place during the dissolution of gold in cyanide solutions under normal conditions have been fairly definitely established. Most agree that the overall cyanide equation for leaching and cyanidation of gold is as follows 4 Au + 8 NaCN + O2 + 2 H20 = 4 NaAu(CN)2 + 4 NaOH
Cyanide can be used to extract gold, either in a controlled mill environment, or more crudely on rock piles in the open. Cyanide quot;vat leachingquot; mixes finely crushed ore with a cyanide salt in water. The cyanide binds to the gold ions, and makes them soluble
gold processing cyanide leaching of gold. Optimizing the Cyanide Leaching of Gold Proceedings of the Royal . Dec 23, 2015 In fact, today, cyanidation is the only choice for the recovery of gold Also, cyanide leaching is used to process gold in the Aghdareh mine .
Cyanide Leaching The first chemical leaching of gold occurred in the late 1800s with the introduction on the market of DuPont Mining Salts. It did extract gold as gold chloride.
Leaching gold with a cyanide solution remains the most widely used hydrometallurgical process for the extraction of gold from ores and concentrates. Despite the difficulties and hazards of working with cyanide, no other process has yet been proven to be an economic viable alternative.
In the leaching process, ensure the fineness of grinding products 200 mesh accounted for 85 95%, the pulp concentration accounts for 40 45%, then add a certain volume of CNFREE ECO gold leaching agent. Make sure the leaching slurry concentration is not less than 0.015% to efficiently leach the gold
leaching of gold ores with dilute cyanide solutions and the recovery of gold and associated silver from the pregnant effluents by a carbon adsorption desorption method.
Leaching gold with a cyanide solution remains the most widely used . the success (or otherwise) of gold leaching in a mineral processing plant. . flotation) is often used ahead of leaching to
Dec 15, 20180183;32;Gold cyanide method is the process of dissolution of gold ore using cyanide chemicals, because every atom of gold requires dissolution of the mineral carrier or impurity with the stoichiometry of two cyanide soluble compounds.
Normally, the ore is crushed and agglomerated prior to heap leaching. High grade ores and ores resistant to cyanide leaching at coarse particle sizes, require further processing in order to recover the gold values. The processing techniques can include grinding, concentration, roasting, and pressure oxidation prior to cyanidation.
Outotec's cyanide leaching plants are available as gold adsorption directly from the process slurry in carbon in leach (CIL) and carbon in pulp (CIP) processes. In addition, dissolved gold can be recovered from the solution after solid liquid separation by Merrill Crowe and carbon in column operations.
Selection of a leaching system for gold involves consideration of ore texture and mineralogy, chemical requirements, leaching techniques, the development of flowsheets, and environmental management. Aqueous dissolution chemistry for alkaline, neutral, and acid systems is mainly considered here.
THIOSULPHATE LEACHING Thiosulphate leaching is a process that removes gold from gold bearing ores without the use of cyanide. Although not as aggressive a leaching agent as cyanide, thiosulphate offers several technological advantages including its lower toxicity and greater efficiency with gold deposits associated with preg robbing ores. The
Xinhai provides optimized solutions for your mine, one-stop service for mineral processing plant, include sample test, mine design, equipment manufacture, etc.
Address:No. 188, Xinhai Street, Fushan high-tech industrial development district, Yantai, Shandong, China
© 2017 Shandong Xinhai Mining Technology & Equipment Inc. | <urn:uuid:85588c09-4aab-403b-a17b-f3f3b2092526> | {
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Student researchers in the Penn History of Slavery Project have expressed concerns about the decisions made by the faculty working group, created in January to investigate "the reach of slavery’s connections to Penn."
The Penn Slavery Project, formed in spring 2017, is a group of undergraduate students dedicated to researching Penn's founding trustees' ties to slavery and the slave trade. It is led by Penn History professor and Director of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Kathleen Brown.
In December 2017, the group released a report which discovered that 20 of the 28 Penn trustees the group investigated held slaves and had ties to the slave trade, contradicting a previous University statement that Penn had "no direct University involvement with slavery or the slave trade."
“It is our expectation that the broad contours of the work could be completed this semester – at least sufficient to help us shape a set of next steps to allow a fuller illumination of this part of Penn’s history,” Pritchett wrote in the statement.
But this one-semester timeline for the faculty working group has prompted some questions among the undergraduate students in the Penn Slavery Project.
“It’s tempting to treat slavery like it’s in a vacuum, and if you were to do that then you could potentially say you could get everything done in a semester,” Penn Slavery Project member and College senior VanJessica Gladney said. “But I think every Penn kid knows that you have all these ideas to get things done in one semester, and it just doesn’t happen.”
Gladney added that she thinks the short time period reveals a tendency to treat slavery as an isolated event. She referenced the deep effects slavery has had on the educational system, the justice system, and socioeconomic disparity, as examples of the need to further investigate Penn’s ties to slavery.
“I think it’s going to take a little longer than one semester,” Gladney said.
College sophomore and fellow member of the Penn Slavery Project Dillon Kersh echoed Gladney’s concerns over the announced time frame.
“I personally don’t think the one semester time they put out in their statement is at all realistic,” Kersh said. “In one semester we just looked at trustees, and they’re full-time faculty and administrators; I don’t know how they are going to do all the statement expects them to do in one semester.”
Kersh added that although the Penn Slavery Project has been extremely transparent with the working group, it would be ideal to allow the original students to conduct the research.
“I think the formation of the faculty group shows the school is listening, however I think that the undergraduates should really be taking the lead on doing the research,” Kersh said. “We formed the project and we have more time to do the research. Since they are high level administrators, they don’t really have the time to devote to this project in the way the undergraduates do.”
However, students also expressed optimism over their initial interaction with the faculty working group on Jan. 12.
During this meeting, the undergraduate researches walked the Provost through their first semester findings, presented their individual research papers, and gave their suggestions for the school moving forward, Kersh said.
“I think coming out of the Provost meeting I felt very validated in my research," Kersh said. "I felt that they definitely supported our work, especially Provost Pritchett."
Provost Pritchett earned his Ph.D. in history at Penn and is a scholar of race relations, which Gladney said she appreciated.
“It is really cool to know that there are historians involved in the project,” Gladney said. “There are people who are involved that are actually interested in getting into the nitty gritty and treating this as a research project, and not a PR move.”
Professor Kathleen Brown, who heads the Penn Slavery Project, said the undergraduates continue to work hard in their research.
“We hope to have another presentation of findings at the end of the semester,” Brown said.
All comments eligible for publication in Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. publications. | <urn:uuid:bbd3e73d-a2a1-4859-a9ce-7356a6f857cd> | {
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WWW Virtual Library - Sri Lanka
It was the capital of our island from 1415-1565 AD predominated by the long reign of Parakrama Bahu VI, the last Sinhala king who ruled a unified Lanka. The attacks on the kingdom both by external aggressors as the Portuguese and internal dissidents were so ferocious that only meagre visible remnants testify to the existence of a once magnificent city. Just past the junction of Rajagiriya or Welikada (the more authentic name) along the Battaramulla road, one comes to the bridge under which flows a rivulet of the famous Diyawanna Oya (river) that snaked around the city. It was in the proximity of this bridge that the resplendent gateway to the old city had stood. It had been a stone-hewn gigantic entrance and no trace of it now remains. The city had been circumscribed by a mighty rampart and moat built by Nissanka Alagakkonara, a minister. Very few traces of this moat and rampart are now visible here and there as seen in the boundaries of the Perakumba Pirivena. According to existing ruins it is concluded that the rampart had been 8 feet high and 30 feet wide. The Dalada Perahara is said to have paraded along the rampart replete with elephants and flambeau-carrying dancers not to mention the king himself riding behind the richly caparisoned elephant carrying the sacred relic casket followed by thousands of devotees.
There is a road in modern Kotte city named Rampart Road , the only tribute to this mighty rampart built to ward off attacks. Along parts of the moat, encroachers have put up shacks and coconut trees flourish here and there. That is the sad fate of a very historical structure put up as late as the 15th century. Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is the least preserved of our ancient capitals. Even our first capital of Anuradhapura going back to pre-Christian times exhibits a better state of preservation and the explanation given usually for this state of affairs is that Kotte s proximity to the capital spelt its final doom. As the population began to burst within Colombo s seams, the deep moat began to provide a refuge to the homeless and also a dumping ground of garbage while the more resourceful citizens very unpatriotically built their concrete dwellings over the remnants of the ancient buildings. The lethargy of those in power added to the tragic situation. Anyway this modern house building came as an aftermath of the pillage of the city of Kotte by the Portuguese and by King Rajasinghe 1 of Sitawaka. Rajasinghe attacked the city to drive away the Portuguese while the Portuguese themselves destroyed it before moving onto the fort of Colombo with King Dharmapala. All in all the resplendent capital of Kotte plummeted into the most chaotic melee.
The Royal Palace eulogized in the Sandeshas (message poetry of Kotte) as the most magnificent edifice, a five-storied building constructed out of luminous blue stone, in whose exotic courts kings of old received embassies, had been transformed into a heap of rubble and the Dutch are said to have carried away the bricks and other materials to build their churches in Colombo. Later the rubble and the bricks had been carried away during the British government to build the brakewater at Galle Face. Contractors assigned with the removal of these had carried away the more worthy artifacts as the moonstones to decorate their own homes. That is how a moonstone (sandakada pahana) of the Royal Palace adorns a house at Veyangoda now. The cruel fate that befell the Royal Palace, befell the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth Relic) said to be a three-storied edifice crowned by a chaitya with a golden pinnacle.
Today a Maligawa Road (Palace Road) runs along in Kotte by an area surmised to be where the Palace was. The Royal Pond of the Palace had been intact till about the 30s according to some sources but somebody now has built a house above it too. The Portuguese had destroyed the Dalada Maligawa and built a church in the precincts and the church too has now disappeared leaving behind only the karakoppuwa or the cemetery. The Alakeswara Road leads to the ruins of the Palace where Minister Alagakkonara who built the Kotte fortress lived and within its proximity are two large Tombs (according to some, chaityas) known as the Baddegana Tombs. They had been buried inside a mini-mountain for years and years, foliage having grown above it till it is reported in a folk legend that one moonlit night a devotee in sil clothes walking by it had heard the sound of hewisi (drums) emanating from it. Later excavations had revealed the twin tombs or chaityas. And here is an unbelievable and almost repugnant piece. A part of the Chitra Kuta Mandapaya where the Kotte kings had their consecration ceremonies now lies miserably in ignoble negligence and a gaping hole in it is said to be used as a lavatory pit! When the writer last visited it, parts of vehicles from a nearby garage were dumped on it and beggars and stray dogs were surveying these and other heaps of rubbish on it for possible marketable and edible stuff!
Place names in Kotte reveal many edifices as the name Angampitiya. This had been the sports venue of the capital, where many games of skill (angam) were played. Today it is just a humdrum site of human dwellers. In the site where Vibhishana Devale stood, where many a bird messenger paid homage in their aerial flights had been put up a house, however, now it stands as the Archaeological Museum. The museum just now seems to be more in a dormant stage than in an active stage. The Ranga Hala (dancing hall) and Saraswathi Mandapaya, where the learned and the high-born gathered for discourses had been sited beyond this, but there are no visible extents of any of these.
More words need not be wasted on the misfortune that befell the mighty city of Kotte. Most of it lies buried under modern concrete, a part of it has been taken away to put up other buildings while human ablutions are performed on the very consecration stone of the kings, now become a resting place of the area s stray dogs. One can take solace only in Buddha s teachings of impermanence of all things to reconcile one s mind with this state of things. But there is nothing to prevent one becoming nostalgic over the old city described by one of Kotte s greatest poets, Sri Rahula Himi in Selalihini Sandesha in the following strain.
(This is a translation of the original verse done by Paul Peiris and included in his book Ceylon: the Portuguese Era)
Source: Explore Sri Lanka
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Run - Perl extension for to start programs in background
use Run; $pid = spawn 'long_running_task', 'arg1', 'arg2' or die "spawn: $!"; do_something_else(); waitpid($pid,0);
spawn is equivalent to the builtin
system (see "system LIST" in perlfunc) with the exceptions that the program is started in background, and the return the
pid of the kid.
Returns 0 on failure, $! should contain the reason for the failure.
spawn by default.
Ilya Zakharevich <[email protected]
What to do with
or? Should they be cleared?
PERL_RUN_DEBUG is used to set debugging flag.
open FH, ">&=FH1" creates a "naughty" copy of
FH will invalidate | <urn:uuid:a5850959-6cb1-495e-be0f-a6d73eb8208b> | {
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Kanaga Mask- Dogon tribe.
Kananga masks form geometric patterns.
These masks represent the first human beings and are normally made by
carvers of the Awa society. The masks are worn during the Dama dancing
ceremonies The Dogon believe that the Dama dance creates a bridge into
the supernatural world. Without the Dama dance, the dead cannot cross
over into peace.
characteristic of this mask is the dual cross with short bars extending
up across the top piece and down on the bottom piece. The top portion of the
vertical bar sometimes bear an animal, human or abstract figure. The masks are normally
painted white and black.
Common features are the rectangular face, thin long nose and large
five years, Dama memorial ceremonies are held to accompany the dead into
the ancestral realm and restore order to the universe. During
the Dama celebration, Youdiou villagers circle around stilt dancers. The
dance and costumes imitate a long-legged water bird. The
dancers execute difficult steps while teetering high above the crowd. Through
such rituals, the Dogon believe that the benevolent force of the
ancestor is transmitted to them.
Their self-defense comes from their
social solidarity, which is based on a complex combination of philosophic
and religious dogmas, the fundamental law being the worship of
ancestors. Ritual masks and corpses are used for ceremonies and are kept
in caves. The Dogons are both Muslims and Animists.
type of mask is also geometric in shape with a rectangular face, long
straight nose triangular shaped eyeholes, and round pouted mouth and
long horns that appears to look like ears. The mask depicts a mythical
antelope known as Walu. According to legend God Amma assigned Walu, to
protect the sun from Yurugu (Fox).
Dogon uses the Walu masks during ceremonies to commemorate the origin of
death. According to their myths, the Dogon's worship ancestors and
communicate through the spirits. They also make agricultural sacrifices
during these rituals. All major Dogon scared sites are believed to be a
Dogon myth of the creation of the world, in particular to a deity named
Nommo. Binu shrines house spirits of mythic ancestors who lived in the
legendary era before the appearance of death among mankind. Binu spirits
often make themselves known to their descendants in the form of an
animal that interceded on behalf of the clan during its founding or
migration, thus becoming the clan's totem. Dogon believe that death came
into the world as a result of primeval man's transgressions against the
Dogon an ethnic group are mainly located in the administrative districts
of Bandiagara and Douentza in Mali,
West Africa. There are
approximately 700 Dogon villages, with an average of 400 inhabitants. During the hot season, the Dogon
sleep on the roofs of their earthen homes.
The tribe's folk call
themselves 'Dogon' or 'Dogom', but in the older literature they are most
often called 'Habe', a Fulbe meaning 'stranger'. Millet Harvest - Dogon women
pound millet in the village of Kani Kombal. Millet is of vital
importance to the Dogon. They sow millet in June and July, after the
rains begin. The millet is harvested in October.
The precise origins of the
Dogon people, like those of many other ancient cultures, are not yet
determined. Their civilization emerged, in much the same way as ancient
Egypt. Around 1490 AD the Dogon people migrated to the Bandiagara cliffs
of central Mali.
The religious beliefs of the
Dogon are enormously complex and knowledge varies greatly within Dogon
society. The religion is defined primarily through the worship of
ancestors and spirits.
There are three principal
cults among the Dogon; the Awa, Lebe and Binu.
- The Awa is a cult of the
dead, whose purpose is to reorder the spiritual forces disturbed by
the death of Nommo, a mythological ancestor of great importance to
Members of the Awa cult dance
with ornate carved and painted masks during both funeral and death
anniversary ceremonies. There are 78 different types of ritual masks
among the Dogon and their iconographic messages go beyond the
aesthetic, into the realm of religion and philosophy. The primary purpose of Awa
dance ceremonies is to lead souls of the deceased to their final
resting place in the family altars and to consecrate their passage to
the ranks of the ancestors.
- The cult of Lebe, the Earth
God, is primarily concerned with the agricultural cycle and its chief
priest is called a Hogon. Each Dogon village have a Lebe shrine with
an altar that have bits of earth incorporated into them to encourage
the continued fertility of the land. According to Dogon beliefs, the
god Lebe visits the Hogons every night in the form of a serpent and
licks their skins in order to purify them and infuse them with life
force. The hogons are responsible for guarding the purity of the soil
and therefore officiate at many agricultural ceremonies.
- The cult of Binu is a totemic practice and it has
complex associations with the Dogon's sacred places namely; spirit
communication ancestor worship, and agricultural sacrifices. Binu
shrines house spirits of ancestors who lived before the appearance of
death among mankind. Binu spirits often emerged to descendants in the
form of an animal that interceded on behalf of the clan during its
founding or migration, the vision will be become the clan's totem. The
priests of each Binu maintain the sanctuaries whose facades are often
painted with graphic signs and mystic symbols. Sacrifices of blood and
millet porridge are made at the Binu shrines at sowing time and
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Black holes are intriguing objects. A black hole is a phenomenon whose gravity is so strong that not even light, the fastest traveller in the Universe, can escape from its influence. Once thought mere oddities due to their extreme properties, today, black holes are found to be vital in the formation and lives of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
But how do we know black holes exist if we can’t see them? Well, even if we can’t see a black hole directly we can observe their influence and indeed the energy and light emitted as gas, dust and stars fall into a black hole; that is, we can see black holes when they are actively “eating” material. When the supermassive black hole, which can be up to a billion times more massive than our Sun, at the center of a galaxy starts to eat new material the resulting process is so bright it can be seen out to ~200 billion lightyears away. Astronomers call the observational result of this process either an active galactic nuclei, or in the most extreme examples a “quasar”. So you might be surprised to find that an object that emits no light can cause the brightest known phenomenon in the Universe!
The light of quasars is not produced by the black hole itself, but instead it comes from the material, mostly gas, that is falling into the black hole. Different types of light are produced by this material at different distances outward from the black hole. Near the surface (or horizon) of the black hole (about the distance of the Earth’s orbit away for supermassive black holes in galaxies) this gas becomes extremely hot and produces X-rays. Stretching out from this to fill a region about the size of our Solar System, a disk of gas shaped like a frisbee is formed. The inside of this disk is closer to the black hole than the outside, so it rotates faster causing friction within the disk. This friction causes the gas to heat up and glow, producing light in the optical to ultraviolet part of the spectrum.
From the edge of the gas disk to a distance of about 3 light years (similar to the distance from the Sun to the next closest star), the temperature becomes low enough that particles of “interstellar dust”, made of carbon and silicon, form. These dust clouds form what is know as the “dusty torus,” a donut shaped ring round the gas disk. Some of the light coming from the gas disk is absorbed by the dust and re-emitted at longer wavelength infrared light. At very large distances from the black hole, some quasars have radio jets coming out along the poles. As the name suggests, this jets produce light at radio wavelengths cased by electrons being accelerated along a strong magnetic field. When these jets are present they can be up to ~300 thousand lightyears (~3 times the diameter of our entire galaxy!) in size.
Not only can a black hole produce light, it can create light at all wavelengths from the radio up to the X-ray, and across an area stretching from the size of the Earth’s orbit out to distances larger than the Milky Way. Therefore, growing black holes, and the regions around them are anything but “black.”
With discoveries from its earliest imaging campaigns, the SDSS extended the study of quasars back to the first billion years after the Big Bang, showing the rapid early growth of black holes and mapping the end stages of the epoch of reionization.
With full quasar samples hundreds of times larger than those that existed before, the SDSS has given us the most accurate descriptions of the growth of black holes over cosmic history. SDSS spectra show that the properties of quasars have changed remarkably little from the early universe to the present day. | <urn:uuid:d1ac9ce1-0652-47d8-be91-11c828b06c88> | {
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Student loans can be a necessary evil. College is very important and can help you get established in a career or help further your career but it is also very expensive. Before you take out student loans, find out what other types of financial aid might be available to you.
Scholarships and grants are free money from the government and other organizations that does not need to be paid back. They are the best way to pay for an education however not everyone qualifies for enough scholarships and grants to receive a full ride. There are endless types of scholarships available for school and the first step is to apply to them. When you are accepted to a school, the school may grant you scholarships based on the information you provided on your application. The government provides grants to you when you fill out your FAFSA form. These are financial gifts awarded to students in need. In addition to this there are many types of scholarships available through business and other organizations. The best way to find scholarships is to look online. Take some time to apply to as many as you qualify for. Every little bit helps.
Once you have exhausted all of your opportunities for student aid that does not need to be paid back you can get student loans to cover the rest of your coast. Government loans again come from filling out your FAFSA. There are a few different types of loans, the two most common being direct subsidized loans and direct unsubsidized loans. Take advantage of any direct subsidized loans first as these have a grace period while you are in school where the department of education pays interest on the loan for you. With unsubsidized loans you are responsible for the interest during the entire length of the loan. | <urn:uuid:c70a6cd8-1395-40b9-a759-764c035ccffc> | {
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New Zealand History/Recent History< New Zealand History
New Zealand's Recent HistoryEdit
Major Events in the Twenty First Century - 2000-2007Edit
The population of New Zealand reached four million.
The Foreshore and Seabed Controversy
The foreshore and seabed controversy was under heavy debate in 2004. The foreshore and seabed debate involved the Maori wanting ownership of New Zealand beaches, as they saw it a customary right. This claim was based around the fact that Maori used to 'own' the beaches before Europeans came to New Zealand, and the Treaty of Waitangi stated that Maori could keep their lands and possessions.
The New Zealand public were surprised and shocked by the claim to the beaches. The Prime Minister at the time, Helen Clark, said that the Government would be passing law to ensure that beaches remained in public hands. However, the law incorporated Maori being consulted over foreshore and seabed matters. Due to this, the Labour Party was heavily attacked by National Party leader, Don Brash, who said the Government showed favouritism towards Maoris. Soon afterwards National was ahead of Labour in an opinion poll.
On the 18th of November 2004, the Labour Government passed the Foreshore and Seabed Bill and it became law. The Act made the foreshore and seabed property of the Crown. However, the Act was still subject to dispute, with some calling for modifications to the law.
The Maori Party Formed
The Maori Party was launched on the 7th of July 2004. It was formed around a former Labour Party Cabinet Minister, Tariana Turia, and as its name suggests, it is based on the indigenous Maori population. The foreshore and seabed controversy was one of the main reasons for setting up the party.
The Maori Party contested the 2005 general elections, and won four of the seven Maori seats and 2.12% of the party vote.
Anti-smacking Bill Passed as Law
The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007, commonly known as the anti-smacking Bill, was a highly controversial Bill introduced by Green Party MP Sue Bradford, which amended Section 59 of the Crimes Act. The Bill removed legal defence of 'reasonable force' for parents prosecuted of assaulting their children.
There was large-scale public opposition to the Bill. In opinion polls, there was overwhelming public opposition to the Bill. Despite this, the Bill was passed on the 16th of May 2007, with a large majority of 113 votes against 8. | <urn:uuid:08341c37-46cd-40da-bf92-d9fe2075f1d2> | {
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NASA's Kepler spacecraft is critically damaged, threatening to prematurely end the world's most successful planet-hunting mission.
The second of four reactor wheels that point the telescope out toward its cosmic targets has stopped working. The next several months of testing and the spacecraft's future will largely be determined by a few Colorado aerospace groups and NASA.
Ball Aerospace Technologies in Boulder is Kepler's prime contractor, responsible for its design and integration. The University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP, manages Kepler's mission operations and made the discovery of its lost capability Tuesday.
Kepler, launched in 2009, has already discovered more than 2,700 potential new planets, 132 of which have been identified. The first wheel failure happened last year, but the spacecraft could still function with only three wheels.
"There is nostalgia and pride," said John Troeltzsch, Kepler program manager at Ball. "When I was a kid, there were nine planets, and that was all we knew about. ... Kepler has completely changed that."
LASP was authorized by NASA to make contact with the spacecraft twice a week for routine health checkups. When a CU student and CU faculty member contacted Kepler on Tuesday, something was wrong.
"We discovered that it was in safe mode," said Bill Possel, LASP's director of mission operations and data systems. "We tried to recover it from safe mode, and in that process we watched that wheel start to spin and then stop. And then realized that there was an issue with that wheel."
The news came as a surprise to people close to the mission.
"It happened prematurely. Clearly we didn't design this to have the wheels fail at four years," Troeltzsch said.
As Troeltzsch explained, the wheels are the only moving parts on the spacecraft, running continuously for years, and are often the first component to give out on similar spacecraft.
While the astronomers and space agency officials are disappointed in the malfunction on the $600 million mission, they note that Kepler already completed in November its primary 3½-year mission — searching for the existence of other Earth-like planets around other stars — and was already on a two-year extended-mission phase.
The news was made public on a teleconference with members of the media Wednesday afternoon. Space agency officials were clear that they will do engineering research — which will be conducted by Ball — but recognize that its initial scientific purpose may be over.
Troeltzsch says Ball, LASP and NASA will work together to do their research and — if the wheel can't be revitalized — determine what other scientific purposes Kepler could fulfill.
"We have this exquisite, large telescope in deep space — I can't imagine (NASA) not finding a good use for it," Troeltzsch said. "Kepler in its pristine form could point as well as Hubble, but even Kepler's two wheels is (still) good."
Too far to rescue. In orbit around the sun, 40 million miles from Earth, Kepler is too far away to send astronauts on a repair mission as was done with the Hubble Space Telescope.
Better than ground telescopes. While ground telescopes can hunt for planets outside our solar system, Kepler is much more advanced and is the first space mission dedicated to that goal.
What's its focus? For the past four years, Kepler has focused its telescope on a faraway patch of the Milky Way hosting more than 150,000 stars, recording slight dips in brightness — a sign of a planet passing in front of the star.
The Associated Press | <urn:uuid:5227e006-b533-47eb-bfdd-f1b70b8ac3f0> | {
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by Helene van Rossum
In February 2017 Rutgers University announced that it will name an apartment building on its historic New Brunswick campus after the abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth (c.1797-1883). The decision followed research findings, published in Scarlet and Black: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History, that Sojourner Truth had been enslaved as a child to members of the family of Rutgers’ first president Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736–1790). However, Sojourner Truth–who was born with the name Isabella–never lived in New Jersey but grew up in Ulster County, New York. She was born enslaved to Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh’s brother, Johannes Hardenbergh Jr. (1729-1799), after whose death she and her family became the property of his son Charles. Johannes Jr. has been confused with his father, Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh (1706-1786), a founding trustee of Queens (later Rutgers) College. Not only did they share a name and lived in Hurley, near Kingston. Both also had a son named “Charles” and served as “Colonel” in the Revolutionary War.
The narrative of Sojourner Truth: “Colonel Ardinburgh”
Sojourner Truth, who never learned to read or write, dictated her life’s story to fellow abolitionist Olive Gilbert (1801-1884), which was published as the Narrative of Sojourner Truth in 1850. According to Gilbert (who spelled the names that Truth provided as she heard them), Isabella was “the daughter of James and Betsey, slaves of one Colonel Ardinburgh, Hurley, Ulster County, New York.” After his death, Isabella, her parents, and “ten or twelve other fellow human chattels” became the legal property of his son Charles. Not older than two when her first owner died, Truth only remembered her second master. When he died too, she was about nine years old and was auctioned off to John Neely, a storekeeper who lived in the area. Her new master severely beat her because of her inability to understand orders. Having been raised in a Dutch Reformed household, she had only learned to speak the language of her masters: Dutch.
“That class of people called Low Dutch”
According to the Narrative Isabella’s first two owners “belonged to that class of people called Low Dutch.” These people were descendants of Dutch Reformed families who had emigrated from the Netherlands (the “Low Countries”) in the 17th century and settled in New York and New Jersey. Uninhibited by their Dutch Reformed faith, they farmed their lands with the help of enslaved blacks, like their English-speaking neighbors. (Read about the farm ledgers of Johannes G. Hardenbergh). In 1707 the grandfather of Sojourner Truth’s owner, also named Johannes Hardenbergh (1670–1745), had purchased a tract of two million acres of land in the Catskill Mountains from a leader of the Esopus Indians. For this land (spread across today’s Ulster, Sullivan and Delaware Counties) Hardenbergh and six others were granted a patent in 1708, which became known as the “Hardenbergh Patent.” By the time of the first federal census of 1790, fifteen heads of Ulster households had the name “Hardenbergh,” of whom ten listed enslaved people. Advertisements for runaway slaves in the Hudson River Valley (including three from members of the Hardenbergh family) indicate that many slaves spoke Dutch as well as English. Sojourner Truth herself always kept a distinct low-Dutch accent, and never had the Southern black accent that the white abolitionist Francis Gage gave her when publishing the speech that became known as “Ain’t I a Woman?” (compare this speech, written 12 years after the original speech, with a more authentic version).
Col. Johannes Hardenbergh (1706-1786), Rosendale, Hurley
As can be seen in Myrtle Hardenbergh Miller’s The Hardenberg family; a genealogical compilation (1958) many male members in the Hardenbergh family inherited the name of the Hardenbergh patriarch in Ulster County. Miller makes a clear distinction between the older Colonel and the younger Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh (1729-1799), the owner of Sojourner Truth. But the older Colonel Hardenbergh (1706-1786) was more famous: he was a field officer under George Washington in the Continental Army, and served in New York’s Colonial Assembly. He lived with his family in “Rosendale,” a house with many rooms as well as slave quarters, formerly owned by his grandfather Colonel Jacob Rutsen. The house, in which Colonel Hardenbergh entertained Washington in 1782 and 1783, burned down in 1911. In the New York Census of Slaves of 1755 Hardenbergh is listed as living in Hurley owning six slaves, which made him one of the largest slaveholders in the county. In 1844 Hurley’s town boundaries changed, however, and the house became part of the newly formed town Rosendale. (View a map of Ulster county, 1829)
Col. Johannes Hardenbergh Jr. (1729-1799), Swartekill, Hurley
The younger Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh was lieutenant Colonel of the Fourth or Middle Regiment, Ulster County in August 1775, and received his appointment as Colonel in February 1779. Married to Maria LeFevre, he lived with his family in Swartekill, Esopus, which was a short distance north of Rifton and also part of the town of Hurley. Colonel Johannes Hardenbergh Jr. appears in the 1790 census for Hurley with seven slaves, who must have included Isabella’s parents James and Betsey and possibly siblings of Isabella who were sold before she was born. It was his son Charles who inherited Sojourner Truth and her family. Born in 1765, he was married to Annetje LeFevre and died in 1808. The inventory of his estate, written on May 12, 1808 and filed on January 2, 1810 lists “1 negro slave Sam, 1 negro wench Bett, 1 d(itt)o Izabella (and) 1 d(itt)o boy Peet.” Isabella, Peter, and the man named Sam were valued at 100 dollar but Isabella’s mother Bett was only valued at one dollar. Rather than being sold, she was freed so that she could take care of her old and sick husband, James Bomefree. Sadly, as recounted in The Narrative, “Mama Bett” (spelled as “Mau-mau Bett” by Olive Gilbert) preceded him in death, and he died in miserable circumstances.
Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736–1790)
Like his brothers and sisters, Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh was born in the family home “Rosendale.” He left home when he was around seventeen years old to prepare for the ministry at the home of John Frelinghuysen (1727-54), a young prominent Dutch Reformed minister, who served five congregations in central New Jersey, and lived in what is now known as the “Old Dutch Parsonage” in Somerville. When Frelinghuysen unexpectedly died in 1754 the young Hardenbergh took over the five pulpits. He married Frelinghuysen’s much older widow, the pietist Dina van Bergh (1725–1807) in 1756 and was ordained to the ministry in 1758. Whether he also retained the three slaves (including a child), whom Dina had inherited according to her first husband’s will, is not known. But they did have at least one slave at the parsonage: in a letter from Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, written (in Dutch) to his father in 1777, he wrote that he had to hurry “because the negro is getting ready to go” (“wijl de neger gereet maakt om af te gaan“).
In 1781 Hardenbergh was called by the congregations of Marbletown, Rochester, and Wawarsing in Ulster county, and left New Jersey to move back into his parental home “Rosendale” with his family. He returned to New Jersey in 1786 to serve as minister in New Brunswick and president of Queen’s College. Whether he maintained any enslaved people during these last four years of his life we do not know. There are no slaves mentioned in his will.
This blog post was extracted from the presentation “Land, Faith and Slaves: the shared heritage of the Hardenbergh family, Rutgers University, and the Dutch reformed Church on June 17, 2017 | <urn:uuid:9764d70e-7917-41f4-bfec-e8946ae72c6a> | {
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Pronghorn (Antilocarpa americana)
Pronghorn have long roamed the western United States, fossil evidence suggests for as long as 20 million years. Often called an antelope or mistaken for deer, actually they are neither. Pronghorn are the only surviving species in a family all their own. Pronghorn prefer open country where their status as the fastest land animal in North America gives them a distinct advantage over most potential predators. Only the young fawns are really vulnerable to predators and then only for the first few weeks after birth.
Pronghorn also differ from deer and elk by having horns rather than antlers and each year shed an outer keratin sheath covering a bony core. Pronghorn feed primarily on sagebrush and other woody shrubs but also take advantage of alfalfa fields and other crops.
Pronghorn can be found across much of the Snake River Plain and open slopes of mountains surrounding Craters of the Moon. Small numbers are occasionally seen within the lava fields but they are most reliably observed during spring and fall migration between their winter to summer ranges. This migration extends over one hundred miles each way from the Pioneer Mountains to Birch Creek area of the Upper Snake River Plain. The migration route parallels Highway 20/26/93 for most of the stretch between the towns of Carey and Arco. It passes through a narrow corridor in places only a few hundred yards wide between the Craters of the Moon lava fields and the foothills of the Pioneer Mountains. Many more modern obstacles have appeared within the migration corridor over the past century. Fences and highways both present real challenges and dangers to pronghorn attempting to cross them. For all their athletic speed, pronghorn do not like to jump. When encountering a barbed wire fence they attempt to crawl underneath rather than going over. Some fences with wire too close to the ground prevent this option and pronghorn must search for a way around. Fences along highways present particular danger to pronghorn attempting to cross roads along the migration corridor. They are often either struck by vehicles or run head long into barb wire when panicked by oncoming traffic.
The National Park Service, along with many other public land agencies and private land owners, are working to reduce fencing hazards by either removing fencing all together or modifying existing fencing to facilitate pronghorn passage. You can help by driving carefully in areas marked as wildlife crossings to reduce wildlife collisions. Slowing down in these zones greatly reduces the risk to wildlife and to you.
Much of what is known about the pronghorn migration corridor across Craters of the Moon has only been learned in recent years. Development of new technologies has allowed continuous tracking of pronghorn for a full year. GPS devices with a radio transmitter have been attached to captured pronghorn. After a year the devices are programmed to fall off and can then be located using the radio transmitters. The recorded locations from the GPS device are downloaded to reveal an almost hour-by-hour record of their movements. A number of organizations led by the Lava Lake Institute for Science and Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Society made this study possible. More... | <urn:uuid:bd394fc8-f93b-4f89-a209-0435ece230c6> | {
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It is important to understand how the current package (that is, the value of the Common Lisp variable
) is determined when running Lisp operations such as evaluation or compilation commands in a buffer. Usually it is obvious: most Lisp source files have a single
form. The Editor uses the specified package as the current package when you evaluate or compile code in that buffer, or perform some other operation that depends on the current package.
However it is possible for a source file to contain multiple
forms, or none at all. In this case, the Editor uses a suitable binding for the current package depending on the location in the buffer, as described below. This means that you do not have to worry about setting the package explicitly before evaluating part of a buffer, and that operations within a buffer use the expected current package.
LispWorks IDE User Guide (Macintosh version) - 25 Nov 2011 | <urn:uuid:07cedcdb-1460-4460-9f53-51e1fe99550f> | {
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MOOCs Morphing Into a Path for College PreparationJune 2, 2013 |
Last week, the Massive Open Online Course platform Coursera announced a new partnership with 10 major state flagships and state university systems. While Coursera’s existing university partnerships focus on professors at elite institutions producing and sharing online versions of their courses, these partnerships are different. The focus is on incorporating existing MOOCs and newly created MOOCs—covering basic intro level and general education requirements—into the universities’ offerings, flipping the classrooms at public institutions, using MOOCs as a catalyst for collaboration on teaching and learning, and enhancing access to credit-bearing programs.
One area of innovation that Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller cited is the use of MOOCs for high school dual enrollment programs.
“I’m really excited about it,” she said. “There are so many studies that demonstrate the benefit to students in high school in having access to college-level material. It encourages them to go to college and complete college. But that opportunity has largely been available to the most advanced students at highly endowed school districts that have teachers that can teach college-level subjects. It’s been a very inequitable offering.”
Research suggests that having access to college courses doesn’t just benefit the highest achievers. It can give average performers a way to transition more easily into college and a head start on completing their degrees. It can potentially address the needs of the high percentages of public high school graduates who need remediation when they get to college. It could also save money, which is especially important for low-income students.
The problem has been that many high schools serving underprivileged students don’t have teachers qualified to teach at the college level. There also may be space constraints or other logistics issues with hosting high schoolers at local community colleges.
Koller says that the “self-contained” nature of a MOOC allows it to be facilitated on the ground, within a high school, by an instructor who is “passionate and motivated, but not necessarily expert.” The state of Ohio has already proposed funding the use of MOOCs in this way, to help with college readiness and to address remedial needs. | <urn:uuid:cda91c7f-7004-4138-9cd1-ec566574f0c8> | {
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New methods that involve sticking thousands of bacteria-killing viruses to wound dressings are offering ways to prevent hospital operating theatres from spreading infections, scientists heard today at the Society for General Microbiology’s 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
Although they are too small to see with the naked eye, bacteria are also attacked by viruses, but specific ones that only infect bacteria, not human or animal cells. But for bacteria they present a threat like the alien life form in the Hollywood film Alien – growing inside the bacteria and then bursting out to attack other similar bacteria, continuing their life cycle. Now doctors are harnessing these little alien creatures to help prevent the spread of hospital superbugs by developing materials impregnated with thousands of tiny beads coated in bacteria-killing viruses.
“Some bacteria specific viruses – called bacteriophages – have been used in the past to help clear up infections caused by bacteria, but their use died out when antibiotics like penicillin and methicillin became widely available”, says Janice Spencer from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. “We are looking at them again now that multiple antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria have become such a problem in hospitals”.
The researchers have developed a technique to keep the viruses active for more than 3 weeks, instead of having them die after a few hours, by chemically bonding them to polymers. The polymers, including nylon, can be in various forms including microscopic beads and strips. Nylon beads can be incorporated into cleaning materials, to decontaminate operating theatres and prevent infections.
The nylon can also be in the form of sutures or wound dressings to decontaminate and prevent wound infection. This limits the risk of blood poisoning, which can be life threatening. Immobilising the bacteriophages onto sutures – the hospital thread used to stitch up patients during operations – immediately kills some of the bacteria that would otherwise infect the wound. This speeds up wound healing and reduces the likelihood of the patient developing a major infection.
Many of the most dangerous bacteria are carried harmlessly on the skin and inside the noses of most healthy people. It is only when a patient’s immune system is weakened by illness or when the bacteria can get inside our bodies during an operation, bypassing the surface defences provided by our skin, that the bacteria develop into their most dangerous, virulent form. Once activated, some bacteria can cause such serious infections that people may die from them. If these bacteria have also acquired multiple antibiotic resistance, like MRSA, it becomes very difficult, time consuming and expensive to treat the infection.
“We’ve also developed a device to rapidly detect MRSA on contaminated surfaces. This will allow us to screen patients before surgery to limit the chances of passing on superbug infections by positively decontaminating patients and isolating them to avoid cross-contamination”, says Janice Spencer.
“Simple and effective rapid detection of bacteria is important to limit the chance of infection occurring in the first place”, says Janice Spencer. “Patients who are carriers for MRSA can be isolated and decontaminated by using standard methods or by using immobilised bacteriophages incorporated into creams or body washes”.
The prototype bacteriophage devices for detection and decontamination have been shown to clear MRSA infected surfaces such as tiles and cotton, with the bacteriophages successfully killing 96% of the MRSA strains isolated from patients in 3 different hospitals in the UK and USA.
Source: Society for General Microbiology
Explore further: Scientists reveal 90 percent of skin-based viruses represent viral 'dark matter' | <urn:uuid:538b44b6-8bc2-43e4-8f64-0faa76739f44> | {
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Easter Sunday (Due 18 Sep 2017)
In this program you will compute the date of Easter Sunday. Easter
Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring. This
algorithm was invented by Carl Friedrich Gauss.
Easter Sunday falls on day p of the month n. For example if y is 2001:
- Let y be the year ( such as 2001 ).
- Divide y by 19 and call the remainder a. Ignore the quotient.
- Divide y by 100 to get a quotient b and a remainder c.
- Divide b by 4 to get a quotient d and a remainder e.
- Divide 8 * b + 13 by 25 to get a quotient g. Ignore the remainder.
- Divide 19 * a + b - d - g + 15 by 30 to get a remainder h.
Ignore the quotient.
- Divide c by 4 to get a quotient j and a remainder k.
- Divide a + 11 * h by 319 to get a quotient m. Ignore the remainder.
- Divide 2 * e + 2 * j - k - h + m + 32 by 7 to get a remainder r.
Ignore the quotient.
- Divide h - m + r + 90 by 25 to get a quotient n. Ignore the remainder.
- Divide h - m + r + n + 19 by 32 to get a remainder p. Ignore the
Hence in 2001, Easter Sunday was on 15 April.
- a = 6
- b = 20
- c = 1
- d = 5, e = 0
- g = 6
- h = 18
- j = 0, k = 1
- m = 0
- r = 6
- n = 4
- p = 15
In your program you will prompt the user to enter the year and then write
out the date for Easter Sunday. Your session will look like this exactly.
Any deviations from the output will result in points being deducted.
Enter year: 2001
In 2001 Easter Sunday is on 15 April.
You can go to the
US Naval Observatory website and check your result:
The program that you will be writing will be called EasterSunday. We will be
looking at good documentation, and adherence to the coding convention
discussed in class. You may use the same variable names used in the problem
statement. Your file EasterSunday.py will have the following header:
# File: EasterSunday.py
# Student Name:
# Student UT EID:
# Course Name: CS 303E
# Unique Number:
# Date Created:
# Date Last Modified:
Canvas system to submit your
EasterSunday.py file. We should receive your work by 11 PM on Monday,
18 Sep 2017. There will be substantial penalties if you do not adhere to the
- Your Python program should have the header with the proper
- Your code must run before submission.
- You should be submitting your file through the web based
Canvas program. We will not accept files e-mailed to us.
- Here is the Grading Criteria. | <urn:uuid:c25815e1-32f7-4eb7-88af-a4fa615d1ea4> | {
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Island of the Colorblind - Neurologist, Dr. Oliver Sachs in the Pacific Islands
Oliver Sachs is a well-known neurologist who has written many books about various brain and neurological disorders. You may be familiar with his first book, based on his own medical experience as a doctor in AWAKENINGS The book was later made into a movie, with Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro.
Sachs has become quite famous for investigating and writing about unusual patients suffering from rare neurological disorders. Dr. Sachs became interested when he started hearing intriguing reports of an isolated community of islanders born totally colorblind on the tiny Pacific atoll of Pingelap.
While researching color blindness, he made the acquaintance of Knut Nordby, a Norwegian scientist who happened to be totally color-blind. Knut and another scientist agree to travel to Pingelap with Oliver to assist the people, analyze the disease, and search for ways to combat or eliminate the disease. After arriving in Pingelap in 1993, Dr Sachs established a clinic in a one-room dispensary and begins evaluating the Pingalapese natives.
Over 10% of the native Pengalese people are affected by the disorder and about 30% are carriers. This 1 out of 10 ratio is stunning and significant because in the United States, for example, 1 in 33,00 people have the disorder where the retina has no functional cone cells whatsoever. Rod cells, which normally provide peripheral and night vision, are their only source of vision.
Dr. Sachs was of course concerned about the individuals afflicted with achromatopsia…he and his fellow researchers brought hundreds of pairs of sunglasses and visors with them to distribute to the achromatopes. The purpose of these items was to assist the people to function more fully. Generally, people with this disorder, are virtually blind in bright daylight. They stay indoors much of the day and are only comfortable in very dim sunlight. They discovered that the afflicted children played outside or went swimming in the surf at either dusk or dawn.
But he also wanted to study the group, the entire population of achromatopes and document the effects of physical isolation (caused by colorblindness). There are tasks which achromatopes cannot perform safely due to their inability to distinguish colors.
They are further isolated from their fellow islanders because most of those born color-blind never learn to read. They cannot see the teacher's writing on the board. Of course they can't work outdoors in bright light, and often are unable to see fine detail.
Yet Dr. Sachs found that many achromatopes develop acute compensatory memory skills and utilize their remaining sense in heightened and unusual ways. The Pingalapese describe their colorless world in rich terms of pattern and tone, luminance and shadow. In the more shaded jungle where they are comfortable with the light level, they are able to recognize a great variety of plants.
A person with normal sight would be aware of the many shades of green in the foliage. Of course everything they see is gray, but there are many shades of grade, some are brighter or shinier or duller than others. And they are acutely aware of the rich profusion of patterns and textures which can be discerned in leaves and plants, if one is not distracted by the more obvious chroma or colors.
As far as using other senses, consider the simple problem of recognizing whether a piece of tropical fruit is ripe without being able to see its color. They would rely much more heavily than people with normal sight do upon touch or feel and of course upon smell.
What Dr. Sachs focuses on in this book, as in most of his books is the enormous adaptability of human beings, the great variety of compensatory mechanisms we can develop to overcome difficulty….. and the enormous complexity of design of the human brain and nervous system.
Background on Vision: The retina is made up of what are called rods and cones. The rods, located in the peripheral retina, give us our night vision, but can not distinguish color. Cones, located in the center of the retina (called the macula), let us perceive color during daylight conditions. People with normal cones and light sensitive pigments (trichromasy) are able to see all the different colors and subtle mixtures of them by using cones sensitive to one of three wavelengths of light - red, green, and blue.
Many of us tend to think people who are "colorblind" live their lives in stark black and white - like watching a black and white movie or television. This is a very common misconception, because it is extremely rare to be totally colorblind. There are actually many different types and degrees of colorblindness and they are more correctly labeled 'color deficiencies.' Five percent of the men and 0.5% of the women of the world are born colorblind, or more correctly color deficient. Or to put it another way, 1 out of 20 men and 1 out of 200 women has a color deficiency or is totally colorblind.
People with mild color deficiencies (they are called red-weak or green-weak) make up 99% of the individuals in this group. A slight color deficiency is present when one of the three color cones has light sensitive pigments which are coded incorrectly in the person's genes – this is a genetic mutation. A more severe color deficiency exists when two of the cones have light sensitive pigments that are altered.
Genes contain the coding instructions for the pigments present in the cones, and if the coding instructions are wrong, the cones will be sensitive to different wavelengths of light (resulting in a color deficiency). I myself have a mild color deficiency, unless in very bright sunlight, I cannot distinguish between gray, blues with gray or brown undertones, and greens with gray or yellow undertones (result of residual damage post cerebral infarction).
A person who is red-weak sees less “red tone” in any color in terms of its depth of color and its brightness. For example, red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green, all appear more green and paler than when seen by a normal observer. The redness component that a normal observer sees in a violet, lavender, or purple color is so weakened that the color may look like a simple shade of blue. If the differences are slight these individuals may not be aware that their color perception is abnormal. Many go through life with very little difficulty doing tasks that require normal color vision.
However, all three color sensitive cones are defective in Achromatopsia . This total color blindness occurs when two copies of the mutated genes that code for the disease are present. Congenital Achromatopsia is an extremely rare hereditary vision disorder that affects 1 person out of 33,000 in the United States
Congenital Achromatopsia is not progressive nor does it lead to blindness, however, it is characterized by extreme light sensitivity, poor vision, and the complete inability to distinguish colors. Now we go to tropical islands in Oceania.
Pohnpei, which means upon (pohn) a stone altar (pei)" is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia and is situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. All of these clusters of islands are part of Oceania.
Pohnpei Island is the largest, highest, most populous, and most developed island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The islanders of Pohnpei have a reputation for being extremely hospitable. The island attracts many westerners who come for the beautiful tropical climate and vegetation and for the fishing, snorkeling, and scuba diving.
According to biologists, the island also contains a wealth of biodiversity. Biodiversity can be defined as "the variety of living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems." So, biodiversity can refer to the genetic variation within an individual species (this applies to the human disorder Achromotopsia) , the variety of different species in a defined area, and the variety of habitat types within a landscape.
Biological diversity is of fundamental importance to the functioning of all natural, as well as, all human-engineered ecosystems. However, Pohnpei is important because it has a large minority population of Pingelapese who are afflicted with the most extreme form of color blindness, achromatopsia. This genetic disorder is rare, but is more likely to emerge in communities with a limited or restricted gene pools.
Pingelap is a coral atoll approximately 170 miles east of Pohnpei, also part of the Federated States of Micronesia. Pingelap has a land area of (455 acres) at high-tide, and is less than 2.5 miles across at its widest point. The atoll has its own language, Pingelapese, and averages between 250 and 300 inhabitants. An atoll is a coral reef enclosing a lagoon. Atolls consist of layers of coral of reef that form closed shapes, sometimes miles across, around a lagoon that may be 160 ft (50 m) deep or more.
Generally, they develop around the outer edges of a volcano which has risen above sea level. Over time the top or center of the volcano subsides, collapses, and the coral atoll remains. Most of the coral reef of course, is below the water’s surface. In 1775, a catastrophic typhoon, swept across Pingelap, killing 90% of the inhabitants and leaving approximately 20 people alive.
Scholars think that one of the survivors, the ruler at that time, was a carrier for achromatopsia. As a carrier, he was not color blind himself, but carried the recessive gene for that particular mutation – a gene that he would pass on to his children, who would also have normal vision.
However, roughly four generations after the typhoon, the citizens of Pingelap began exhibiting symptoms of this rare recessive disorder known as Achromatopsia, also known as Monochromasy – which is vision with the complete absence of any detectable color.
When it appeared, the Pingalese called the disorder MASKUN, which literally means “not see.” All those achromatopes on the island today can trace their ancestry back to this single male survivor of the great typhoon.
The disorder did not appear until the fourth generation after the typhoon, but geneticists explain this on the basis of inbreeding. In the case of the achromatopsia on Pingelap Island, the genetic mutation which produces monochromasy, increased exponentially in a fairly short period of time. This occurs only when the population is extremely small . Because relatives share many of the same genes inherited from their common ancestor, there is a high probability that the offspring of two related parents will inherit an identical trait from each parent.
Since achromatopsia is a recessive disorder, inbreeding between the descendants of Pingelap resulted in children who inherited two recessive genes for the disorder. Those Pingelapese survivors who inherited two recessive genes for monochromasy were born without any understanding of color and a great sensitivity to light.
While this condition is rare among large and diverse populations, on isolated areas like islands the potential for rare genetic conditions to become common increases dramatically. Discovery of these unusual populations frequently leads to scientific research and study.
Congenital or genetic Achromatopsia should not be confused with Cerebral Achromatopsia, which is an acquired form of total colorblindness that can result from trauma, illness, or some other cause. Persons who develop Cerebral Achromatopsia report that they see a monochromatic world, all in shades of gray.
Persons with Cerebral Achromatopsia are diagnosed by neurologists, rather than eye specialists. Their loss of color perception is not accompanied by severely impaired vision, extreme light sensitivity, or any abnormality in the photoreceptors of the retina, as is the case with persons who have genetic Achromatopsia.
Book Analysis and the Pacific Rim
- Rainforest Destruction: We Need to Save the Rain For...
The world's rainforests are at risk due to deforestation. As the rainforests are depleted, habitat for animals and a massive sink for CO2 will be gone.
- The Mulu Caves of Borneo
Have you visited the land of the head hunters? Have you been to the largest cave passage in the world? Maybe you delight in watching wild flowers and exotic orchids.or you are a fauna person who loves to see the hornbill fly above you.Mulu National P
- The Death March of Borneo Lest We Forget
- Totem Poles in the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver, Ala...
In-depth research and interviewing from 1700 to the 21st C. have revealed a history of totem poles globally that was previously unknown or discounted.
- The People of Orchid Island and Links and Similariti...
Travel correspondent Joseph Rosendo traveled to Orchid Island to meet and study the Tao people for a PBS television special filmed in 2011.He began his journey and filming on Green Island just southeast of Taiwan and proceeded to Orchid Island,...
- Natives of Borneo - The Pacific Theater in World War...
Written and directed by John Milius, who also wrote the screenplay for Apocalypse Now, this film (released in 1989) has interesting similarities to Apocalypse Now and some striking character reversals. For example, Colonel Kurtz goes native in...
- Czechoslovakia Under Soviet Rule: Personalizing Hist...
Heda Margolius Kovaly, living in Eastern Europe, survived the Nazi regime in the 1940s and the the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia during the 1950s and 1960s. Sadly, her husband and many of her friend fell victim to Stalin's terror. | <urn:uuid:781fb89f-8088-49fe-ada7-17689f364812> | {
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Boffins simulate plasma-eating dusty 'life-forms'
Dust to dust, etc
Physicists have discovered that charged particles of dust can form themselves into life-like structures that appear to be capable of reproducing and passing information along, behaviour reminiscent of life on Earth.
The researchers, (led by V N Tsytovich of the General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Science, in Moscow, along with boffins from the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, and the University of Sydney) have developed a computer model to help them understand "the behaviour of complex mixtures of inorganic materials in a plasma".
Although convention dictates that there would be very little organisation in a system of such particles, the researchers demonstrated that under the right conditions, order could emerge.
As the plasma becomes polarised, the model shows microscopic strands of particles twisting into helical, or corkscrew structures.
The simulation suggests that the dusty corkscrews have two stable configurations - a large spiral and a small spiral. Each helix could contain various sequences of these two states, the researchers say, which raises the possibility that they could store information.
The team reports that the structures can divide, form copies (transmit their stored information information), interact with neighbouring spirals, and even induce changes in other spirals. More speculatively, they suggest these changes could evolve as less stable structures break down.
So, are there corkscrew-shaped dust-aliens floating about in interstellar space?
Gregor Morfill of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany is not prepared to go quite that far. He told New Scientist: "It has a lot of the hallmarks for how we define life at present, but we have not simulated life. To us, they're just a special form of plasma crystal."
However, Tsytovich is prepared to be a bit more flexible on his definition of what might constitute life, saying that the spirals "exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter. They are autonomous, they reproduce, and they evolve".
The next step is to go hunting for a real environment where such structures could have emerged. Morfill suggests that planetary rings would be the best place to start the search.
The research is reported in the 14 August edition of the New Journal of Physics, and New Scientist has a more extensive write up here. ®
2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul
Bit behind the times
Haven't they ever heard of Birkland currents and read existing Plasma
research which already demonstrates this type of helical twisted threading
in plasma at all scales from lab to space.
Re-inventing the research and calling their own in a slightly different
dark satanic clouds
Now the phrase 'dust devil' seems so much more personal. | <urn:uuid:8e42c785-f1b0-4a69-b060-51bf90081460> | {
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Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) September 21, 2011
On the heals of recent research showing that walking increases the number and efficiency of energy producing mitochondrial cells comes research from McMaster University, published in the Journal of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, showing that daily walking triggers stem cells to produce bone cells rather than fat cells, increasing the body’s capacity to produce blood, increasing aerobic capacity. TrekDesk Treadmill Desks allow individuals normally confined to a desk to walk all day while they work, boosting energy and productivity levels.
Do office cubicles lead to lower blood production? Led by McMaster University’s Department of Kinesiology associate professor Gianni Parise the study contrasted treadmill conditioned mice, exercising less than an hour, three times a week to sedentary control mice. According to Parise the exercising mice showed a significant increase in blood production compared to the control group. In the sedentary mice the stem cells had a greater chance of becoming fat cells which impaired the production of blood in the marrow cavities of the bones.
A little goes a long way: In a statement released with the study Parise was surprised by the amount of exercise necessary to influence the positive gains, “The interesting thing was that a modest exercise program was able to significantly increase blood cells in the marrow and in circulation. What we're suggesting is that exercise is a potent stimulus -- enough of a stimulus to actually trigger a switch in these mesenchymal stem cells."
The study illustrates that sitting at a desk all day would actually cause some cells to develop into fat cells and fill the bone marrow cavity, triggering anemia, causing a lack of energy and further deteriorating health conditions.
Parise suggests that his findings support the investigation of more non-medicinal treatments for blood related disorders. “Some of the impact of exercise is comparable to what we see with pharmaceutical intervention," he says. "Exercise has the ability to impact stem cell biology. It has the ability to influence how they differentiate.”
“There are hundreds of studies showing the efficacy of exercise, its restorative and preventative prowess yet somehow that information gets lost in the discussion,” states Steve Bordley, CEO of TrekDesk Treadmill Desks. “If we want a healthy, competitive nation we have to insist on increasing the amount of physical activity into our daily lives.”
Designed to fit any existing treadmill, TrekDesk is an affordable, full sized workstation allowing individuals the opportunity to gain the necessary amount of exercise daily to maintain health, prevent disease, strengthen muscles, boost mood and productivity, without requiring additional time during the day or extra motivation.
Join the TrekDesk “Movement Revolution” to learn more on TrekDesk’s Facebook page.
CONTACT: Steve Bordley | <urn:uuid:2bbd408e-39f5-4c91-8051-a3686c753281> | {
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A large number of serious or teaching games and simulations have been created over the years. As early as 1831 an action-based teaching system was created by Vital Roux for a new Parisian business school. The field has progressed from its paper and pencil exercises through the computer world’s mainframe, punch card, personal computer and now internet ears. Today’s online delivered and fast-acting experiences have been designed for a wide variety of applications.
Over this 18-decade time-span these games have been described in various ways s those who either created or used them but their descriptions have been inconsistently applied and were often unique to the descriptor’s view of the nature of such their exercise(s). The Serious Games Typology Project is an attempt to describe such meaningful games in ways that are meaningful to others.
This wiki presents a classification system or typology that is a generalized and expanded version of that initially presented in 2013 by Greco, Baldissin and Nonino for describing business games. While their system was applied to business games, the Serious Games Typology Project has been created to facilitate the description and access to the entire spectrum of serious experiential or action-based games and exercises available for meaningful results-oriented pedagogical and research purposes.
The system’s basic outline that consists of five major sections can be found via the Serious Games Classification System link found below. A glossary of its terminology can be found at the Glossary link.
Those practitioners in the field who use games and exercises are encouraged to list or otherwise encode their experiences. If you wish to do so you can preview the nature of this process by contacting the current Typology Master at [email protected]. He is briefly profiled under Contacts. Once at the web site at www.seriousgames.online you will find the following that should indicate to you the nature of what you will be accomplishing:
- Reviews database—This is a list of all reviews in the typology’s catalogue. It can be used
to search games and experiences by name, player language, topics covered, for what
purpose can the game be used by the player’s sophistication level.
- Reviews list—This is a list that displays the experience’s logotype, its name and a short
description of the scenario set by the game.
- Typology Guide—A pdf file that describes the typology’s derivation, descriptions of each of its five major sections and encoding examples.
For additional information and comments contact the support .
Léo Touzet and Pierre Corbeil (2015). Vital Roux, Forgotten Forerunner of Modern Business Games. Simulation & Gaming, 46(1): 19-39.
Marco Greco, Nicola Baldissin and Nicola Nonino (2013). An Exploratory Taxonomy of Business Games. Simulation & Gaming, 44(5): 645-682. | <urn:uuid:4109b1ea-70dc-42c7-9ebe-ab9eada50ebf> | {
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You may wish to see an introductory page to this section with a map first.
Kahramanmaras, not to be confused with Karaman, is a town located in the upper basin of the Pyramus (Ceyhan), the most important river of Cilicia, but from a historical point of view Maras (as the town was called until 1973) is not part of that region.
The Mongols invaded Anatolia in the XIIIth century and they weakened the control the Sultans of Rum had over that region. In Maras a local powerful family took advantage of the power vacuum to establish a beylik, a small principality. This beylik was named Dulgadir (or Dulgadirogullari) after the ruling family and it became a buffer state between the Mongol Ilkhanate of Persia and the Mamelukes of Egypt. It also bordered on the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia, an ally of the Mongols, whereas the beylik was supported by the Mamelukes.
View from the castle (lower left corner Ulu Camii and Tas Medresesi)
In the late XIVth century the Ottomans expanded their possessions in Anatolia and in 1399 Sultan Yildirim (Thunderbolt) Beyazit I conquered Maras. The Dulgadir took advantage of another invasion to regain control of their beylik: in 1402 Sultan Beyazit was defeated and captured at Ankara, by Timur, a warlord who was based in Samarkand in Central Asia. Timur favoured the return to power of the Dulgadir.
Sultan Mehmet I, son of Beyazit, re-united the traditional Ottoman possessions in 1413 and he established an alliance with Dulgadir by marrying Emine Hatun, daughter of the Maras bey. She was the mother of Sultan Murat II.
Minarets: (left to right): Ulu Camii and in the background Hatuniye Camii, detail of Ulu Camii, Arasa Camii and Burmali Minare
The Dulgadir beylik was an Ottoman ally for almost a century until the expansionist policy of Sultan Selim I led the bey of Dulgadir to form an alliance with Mamelukes and Safavids (Persians) to contain the Ottoman threat; Sultan Selim intervened before his enemies could join forces and occupied Maras; the small beylik was annexed and the members of the local dynasty were either executed or joined the Ottoman ruling class.
Old houses in Kurtulus (Liberation) district
After the annexation to the Ottoman Empire Maras became a sleepy provincial town: this situation lasted until February 1919 when British troops occupied Maras, as a consequence of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI. In November 1919, the British were replaced by French troops who were complemented by many Armenians; this led to the almost immediate reaction of the Muslim population of Maras; for three months the French had to face urban warfare, which eventually forced them to leave the town followed by the Armenian community. In the course of these events many historical monuments were damaged, chiefly the castle, of which only a few walls survived. In 1973 the Turkish Parliament added Kahraman (heroic) to the name of the town, hence Kahramanmaras (a similar recognition was given to Antep and Urfa).
Kurtulus district: (left) a decorated entrance; (right) the door of a Muslim house
The recent urban development of the town has added to the destruction of old Maras, with only the bazaars and the district behind them retaining some old buildings. This district is now called Kurtulus (Liberation), but in the past it was the Jewish quarter and this may explain why it was less damaged during the 1919 urban warfare; towards the end of the XIXth century not many Jews still lived in Maras and some of their houses were bought by Muslims; in some instances the new landlords made clear their ethnic/religious allegiance by decorating their doors with nails composing a crescent moon and a star, a symbol of Islam and of the Ottoman Empire (and of today's Republic of Turkey).
(left) Archaeological Museum exhibits; (right) relief portraying a banquet
Silvan and Malabadi Koprusu | <urn:uuid:4d3ec665-9e7f-4b3f-a77f-d2a6c577a533> | {
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Build a well in The Gambia
The village of Sifoe in the Kombo region of The Gambia has no water distribution system. Some families have tried to dig their own wells, but these soon dry out or collapse.
Sister Zabina built a deep well, which is now benefiting over 500 people in the community. With a clean water supply the people of Sifoe are healthier and have better sanitation. They said in their message to Sister Zabina: “May Allah (swt) fill your lives with happiness, insha’Allah.”
A child dies from drinking dirty water every 20 seconds. That’s 4,000 children every day whose deaths could have been prevented.
You can help save lives by building a well.
For millions of people in developing countries getting water is not as simple as turning on the tap. They have to walk for miles to reach the nearest water source. And when they get there the water is dirty and diseased. They drink it knowing it could kill them.
Build a Thirst Relief well and you can give families reliable access to safe, clean water. This allows them to drink, wash, make wudu, grow crops and water their animals safely. It will mean they don’t have to spend hours fetching water each day, freeing up time to go to school, work or look after their families.
Clean water means healthier lives, improved livelihoods and, ultimately, a route out of poverty.
Start building your Thirst Relief well now for as little as 82p a day. | <urn:uuid:fa0577d9-abb8-437f-a25f-af3b9d2214ab> | {
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Ammonia gas is toxic and corrosive. This demo must be prepared in the hood.
Chemicals and Solutions:
Lecture bottle of anhydrous ammonia
Bromocresol purple indicator
Chem 317 tech may have lecture bottles of NH3 or HCl available (rather than storing extra bottles of this in the demo lab)
Fountain set-up, see photo
Two short pieces of amber tubing
Two pinch clamps
Vacuum grease for seals
The upper bulb of the apparatus must be DRY prior to filling with ammonia.
Carefully disassemble apparatus.
Fill the bottom flask with water and color with bromocresol indicator solution. Make the water in the flask yellow by adding dilute HCl until the solution just changes color.
Reassemble apparatus; regrease stopcocks if necessary. Make sure the joints sealed.
Attach squeeze bulb to lower side arm.
Attach amber tubing to the upper side arm.
Adjust 3-way stopcock so that the flow is from the side tube to the top.
In the hood, connect lecture bottle of ammonia and flush upper flask with plenty of gas. All air must be displaced and a certain amount of mixing of the gases must be overcome. (Do not fill more than 3 hours before intended use.)
After shutting off tank valve on lecture bottle, close the upper side arm with a pinch clamp and rotate 3-way stopcock 180 degrees such that flow is from side tube to bottom.
Remove the tubing connecting apparatus with lecture bottle.
After use, wash the entire apparatus and DRY thoroughly using acetone and air before putting away.
Turn center stopcock 90 degrees clockwise.
Squeeze bulb until liquid squirts into top flask. | <urn:uuid:c864208e-641f-4d55-87b0-d30b7b819efc> | {
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A hypertensive emergency is severe hypertension with acute impairment of an organ system (especially the central nervous system, cardiovascular system and/or the renal system) and the possibility of irreversible organ-damage. In case of a hypertensive emergency, the blood pressure should be lowered aggressively over minutes to hours with an antihypertensive agent.
Several classes of antihypertensive agents are recommended and the choice for the antihypertensive agent depends on the cause for the hypertensive crisis, the severity of elevated blood pressure and the patients usual blood pressure before the hypertensive crisis. In most cases, the administration of an intravenous sodium nitroprusside injection which has an almost immediate antihypertensive effect is suitable but in many cases not readily available. In less urgent cases, oral agents like captopril, clonidine, labetalol, prazosin, which have all a delayed onset of action by several minutes compared to sodium nitroprusside, can also be used.
It is also important that the blood pressure is lowered not too abruptly, but smoothly. The diagnosis of a hypertensive emergency is not only based on the absolute level of blood pressure, but also on the individual regular level of blood pressure before the hypertensive crisis. Individuals with a history of chronic hypertension may not tolerate a "normal" blood pressure.
Generally, the terminology describing hypertensive emergencies can be confusing. Terms such as hypertensive crisis, malignant hypertension, hypertensive urgency, accelerated hypertension and severe hypertension are all used in the literature and often overlap.
Hypertensive emergency as a specific term
The term hypertensive emergency is primarily used as a specific term for a hypertensive crisis with a diastolic blood pressure of 120 mm Hg and above plus end organ damage (brain, cardiovascular, renal) (as described above) in contrast to hypertensive urgency where as yet no end organ damage has developed. The former requires immediate lowering of blood pressure such as with sodium nitroprusside infusions (NOT injections) while urgencies (about 3/4 of cases with diastolic blood pressure of 120 mm Hg and above) can be treated with parenteral administration (NOT oral) of labetalol or some Ca-channel blockers! The former use of oral nifedipine, a Ca-channel antagonist, has been strongly discouraged or banned because it is not absorbed in a controlled and reproducible fashion and has led to serious and fatal hypotensive problems.
Hypertensive emergency as a generic term
Sometimes, although not very often, the term hypertensive emergency is also used as a generic term, comprising both hypertensive emergency as a specific term for a serious and urgent condition of elevated blood pressure and hypertensive urgency as a specific term of a less serious and less urgent condition (the terminology hypertensive crisis is usually used in this sense).
- Malignant hypertension
- Hypertensive retinopathy | <urn:uuid:a7719af9-bc08-47b4-9188-b7eaef6c60f1> | {
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Two new studies suggest that India’s aquifers are undergoing rapid depletion due, almost entirely, to water withdrawals for agricultural use. Satellite measurements indicate that the water table is sinking faster than anyone had previously estimated, with potentially dire implications for the 600 million people living regionally — nearly one-tenth of humanity — who rely on it.
One study appears in the journal Nature, the other in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
From the Nature study press release:
Using satellite data, UC Irvine and NASA hydrologists have found that groundwater beneath northern India has been receding by as much as 1 foot per year over the past decade – and they believe human consumption is almost entirely to blame.
For full article, visit:
Current World Population
Net Growth During Your Visit | <urn:uuid:ded287eb-8add-4c28-a999-dbb7fb47cf3f> | {
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What are the properties that distinguish particles from bulk materials?
Numerous particles exist in any given system. For heterogeneous systems, each individual particle may have different physical or chemical properties. The collective behavior is macroscopically observable as macroscopic properties represent contributions of individual particles. If the relevant property is the same for all particles in the system, the system is monodisperse. Polydisperse systems have some or all particles with differing values for the property of interest. Another term—pausidisperse—is sometimes used to describe systems with a small number of distinct groups. All particles within a given group have the same value for the concerned property.
The specific surface area (i.e., surface area per unit mass) of small particles is so high that it leads to many significant and unique interfacial events including surface interaction with the surrounding medium and adjacent particles. To illustrate—a spherical particle of 2 g/cm3 will have a specific surface area of 3 cm2/g when the diameter is 1 cm. The specific surface area increases to 3,000,000 cm2/g if the diameter is reduced to 10 nm. This example demonstrates how particle dimension determines surface area which in turn, determines the thermodynamics and kinetic stability of a given particulate system.
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Mark spring Equinox at Avebury, one of Britain's stone circles
Sunday 19 March 2006
The sun is slowly sinking in a golden glow behind the stones of Avebury, the largest stone circle in Europe. The massive Swindon stone becomes a silhouette, its 60-tonne bulk solid and unmoved against the sky just as it has been since it was first placed here by Ancient Britons more than 4,000 years ago.
Mention stone circles, and most people think of Stonehenge and Druids. In fact, there are more than 1,000 stone circles in Britain, and none was built by Druids (the stones are far older than Druidism). Avebury Ring is the largest, some 14 times the size of Stonehenge, and a particular joy to visit. There are no tickets, no fences, no restrictions and no crowds. You - and the sheep - move freely around the prehistoric sites, taking your time, choosing your viewpoint and touching the stones at will.
We climb to the top of the ancient bank that surrounds the stones and look out over the landscape. We can see the mysterious Silbury Hill, Europe's largest prehistoric, man-made mound that sits 40m high like a vast upturned pudding, visible for miles around. Then there's the avenue of paired stones leading away into the distance. The route once linked Avebury to The Sanctuary, another Neolithic sacred site. Further away, towards an even earlier monument, we can spot the 5,500-year-old ancestral stone grave of West Kennet Long Barrow.
Prehistory and contemporary life intermingle. A road cuts through the site, but manages not to intrude too much even though the village of Avebury sits partly within the largest stone circle. The material for some of the 18th-century houses has been hacked from the circle's sarsen stones.
The National Trust museum, which is housed in two barns, displays artefacts found on the site, as well as providing plenty of background information. The older of the two galleries, the Stables Museum, pays particular attention to how we know about the society that built and used Avebury - and just how little is certain. There are some intriguing objects, too, including one for the children: a chunk of Neolithic dog poo.
The newer Barn Gallery is much higher tech and generally more child-friendly, with interactive displays and activities, and an excellent world time-line showing that Avebury and Silbury Hill were built about the same time as the earliest Egyptian pyramid and long before King Tutankhamun.
From the museum, a few steps take you straight up into the circle. It is 1.3km round the largest ring, with 27 of the original 100 or so stones still standing. There are two smaller circles and a row of stones in the interior. None has been dressed (cut), as some have at Stonehenge. At Avebury the stones were simply selected, dragged to the site and positioned. Go for a stroll on Fyfield Down above Avebury and you'll still find vast sarsen stones "in the wild", just lying around in the grass.
What exactly Avebury, or any other stone circle, was built for remains uncertain. Some rings do have sight lines to astronomical phenomena, but as Aubrey Burl, an expert on stone circles remarks in his excellent introduction to the subject, Prehistoric Stone Circles: "The possibility of a ring being an observatory is a matter of conjecture, the presence of human cremations is not."
The chances are the circles had a ritual use, perhaps some kind of ancestral cult. Certainly, walking up The Avenue towards the Avebury Circle it is easy to imagine a ritual procession. The Avenue is clearly designed to bring you glimpses of the circle before a triumphal arrival at its entrance. The circles may also have been meeting places, or were even used for trading purposes, and probably had different uses at different times.
Some modern visitors insist they feel special energies and spirituality at Avebury. I don't know about that, but I do feel a tremendous sense of history - and it is a very beautiful place.
'Prehistoric Stone Circles' is published by Shire at £5.99. Avebury, near Marlborough, Wiltshire (01672 539250; nationaltrust. org.uk; english-heritage.org. uk/avebury; stone pages.com /england/avebury. html). The museum is open November-March 10am-4pm, April-October 10am-6pm. Adults £4.20, children £2.10, English Heritage and National Trust members free. There is a car park on the A4361 south of Avebury, a café, and a shop selling 'The Prehistoric Monuments of Avebury', price £1.75
So solid crew
A World Heritage site, Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, is the most spectacular stone circle in Britain, with carefully crafted standing stones and unique horizontal lintels held in place by carved joints. The atmosphere is adversely affected by two main roads and the approach through a tunnel. Visitors are routed around the monument for a comprehensive view. Stone Circle Access visits (01722 343834) can be arranged outside opening hours. (0870 3331181; english-heritage.org.uk/ stonehenge). The new 'Stonehenge Guidebook' by Julian Richards costs £4.99.
This is a large and highly atmospheric site on the top of a Cumbrian fell, near Keswick, with stunning views of surrounding hills. An early circle - probably built in 3,200-3,000BC - it has significant astronomical alignments in its 30m-diameter ring of 38 stones and its unique 10-stone rectangle. (english-heritage. org.uk; visitcumbria.com/kes/ casstone.htm).
There are two main circles at this site near Bristol, one 113m across, the other 30m. There are also single stones that were perhaps once part of an avenue. (english-heritage. org. uk/ stantondrew; easyweb. easy net. co.uk/ ~aburnham/eng/ stant1.htm).
RING OF BRODGAR
Part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, the largest stone circle in Scotland, near Stromness (pictured), is set in a ritual landscape of other standing stones and Bronze Age round barrows. They stand, unusually, in a true circle. Historic Scotland World Heritage Site Ranger Service (01856 841732; [email protected]; easyweb.easy net.co.uk/ ~aburnham/scot/brog.htm)
OTHER STONE CIRCLES
There are hundreds of other circles that can be visited, from the Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire to Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, as well as many lesser-known ones. Standing stones may be found almost anywhere in Britain, other than in the east.
Go to megalithic.co.uk for maps and information. 'A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany' by Aubrey Burl includes map references and directions. It is published by Yale University Press and costs £8.95.
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Local wildlife officials have determined an estimated one to two hundred dead robins and other similar bird species that have been found in the area died of starvation due to the recent snowstorms.
It is unclear whether the birds were resident birds of the area or early migrators that were traveling through the area and were caught in the recent snowstorms.
“It’s not uncommon in robin populations to have a wide up and down, it’s actually rather typical,” said District Wildlife Manager Mike Crosby. “Nature always persists.” The robin population should have no problem recovering from the incident, he said.
It is believed the recent snowfall covered the bird’s food source and caused the birds to starve.
Robins survive mostly on insects, Crosby said. And due to the snow they were not able to get to the ground to retrieve food to keep up with their energy demands and subsequently starved to death.
Enough birds died to raise concerns about a possible outbreak of a disease, said Michelle Cowardin, a wildlife conservation biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“When anything like this happens we want to get them to the lab to see if there is a disease problem,” Crosby said. “But this was pretty obvious.”
Necropsies completed on six birds revealed the cause of death to be starvation, Crosby said.
Anytime there are severe weather spells in the spring, wildlife populations can be affected. “We will still have plenty of robins,” Crosby said.
Wildlife officials remind the public to take precautions when handling a dead bird, such as using disposable gloves to avoid coming in contact with any diseases the bird could have. | <urn:uuid:907ae028-a8bf-4468-8e3f-8f171783f5f9> | {
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Genes, Environmental Factors May Be Responsible For 'Eye Bags', Study Suggests
While dark circles can be due to a bad night's sleep, "bags" under your eyes have little to do with tiredness and fatigue. According to a study conducted on this subject, researchers found that these dark, purplish eye bags are because of genetic as well as environment factors. Though both these elements are contributing factors, "genetics is the biggest culprit", Dr. Carol Clinton, a skin-care specialist at Timeless Skin Solutions in Dublin, Ohio said, according to a report by Live Science.
Researchers note that these bags are more evident in people with lighter, pale or thin skin. When people are stressed or tired, blood circulation in the eye area tends to slow, which allows blood to pool there. This accumulation of blood is more evident in people with fair skin.
Additionally, some people are genetically prone to subluxation, which is the movement of fat from underneath the eyeball to the front of the eye. Clinton pointed out that subluxation is not a result of lack of sleep but a genetic predisposition.
The environmental factors that cause puffy eye bags are the ones that cause allergies. These allergies cause capillaries to leak. When people have allergies, the allergens force the body to release immune proteins called histamines. These proteins cause blood vessels around the eyes to swell up.
Extensive exposure to the sun also damages the skin, making these puffy eyes bags more visible. According to a Mayo Clinic report, eating salty foods can cause the body to retain more water, resulting in eye bags. Apart from this, rubbing the eyes roughly can cause eye bags as it stimulates capillaries that are already prone to leaking.
Gravity is another environmental factor that causes eye bags. People tend to lose collagen and elastin as they age. As the bones on their face lose volume, everything just hangs" off of the face, causing eye bags, Clinton pointed out.
Previous studies have shown that the fat deposits around the eyes protect them. However, as people age, this fat escapes from the membrane and occupies new space under the skin. This misplacement of fat results in eye puffiness. However, a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008 debunks this theory. According to the 2008 study, rather than the membrane weakening with age, the amount of fat beneath the eyes actually increases to cause baggy lower eyelids.
In another report, Ryan Nakamura, O.D., a VSP doctor at Natomas Optometry in Sacramento, CA suggests the following tips for dealing with eye bags:
- Use a bag of ice or cold compress to reduce the swelling
- Elevate the head while sleeping
- Take two green tea bags. Brew them and then let them cool. Put them over the eyes for 10 minutes. This promotes circulation and reduces the swelling
- Avoid food and beverages such as white sugar, fried foods, white flour, salt, alcohol, and sugar. These items encourage fluid retention.
"If your eye bags persist for longer than a week or rapidly get worse, consult your health care provider because this could be a sign of a more significant underlying medical issue," Dr. Nakamura suggest. | <urn:uuid:64c1b360-b866-476f-82a1-47b50077a2ed> | {
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MIAMI – Oil giant BP succeeded Sunday in connecting a mile-long pipe to help capture what it hoped will be a majority of the oil flowing from a damaged well into the Gulf of Mexico _ "an important step" toward capping the massive spill, the company said, but not a complete solution.
The company initially connected the suction pipe for about four hours just after midnight Sunday, sending some oil, gas and water to an oil tanker 5,000 feet above the seabed, but then the pipe was dislodged. It was reconnected late Sunday morning.
"We’re looking to optimize this over the next couple days to try to produce as much oil and gas as we can," said Kent Wells, BP’s senior vice president for exploration and production, at a press conference. He added that while the amount of oil being captured was gradually increasing, the company had not measured it.
The effort doesn't plug the massive oil leak that began on April 20 when an offshore rig caught fire and sank, but it's the first success in almost a month to begin capping the erupting flow. A similar effort had failed early Saturday.
Despite BP's success Sunday, scientists say that the large swatch of oil covering the gulf already has had a monumental ecological impact.
Satellite images taken Saturday by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory show that the oil may have already entered the Gulf Loop current, which could pull it through the Florida Keys and into South Florida, according to an analysis by Mitch Roffer, an oceanographer who runs Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service and has been tracking the spill.
"I think the threat to South Florida is real and we should get ready," said Igor Kamenkovich, associate professor at the Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, who had not seen the images. "It's hard to predict but if it gets in the loop current it can happen as quickly as 7 to 10 days...If it does happen, it is bad news for us."
At the oil-leak site, a tube five-feet long and four inches in diameter was pushed into a leaking riser that’s 21 inches in diameter _ the source of most of the spill. The inserted tube has three large flexible rubber diaphragms to keep it in the riser and block oil and water from mixing; however, BP officials said the riser is still leaking some oil.
The pipe is full of nitrogen, which is slowly being pulled back to let oil and gas flow in while keeping water from entering. Methanol, a kind of antifreeze, is also being pumped into the riser to stop crystals from forming that could block gas and oil from flowing to the ship. Crystals got in the way of a previous attempt to lower a 78-ton containment cap over the leak site.
The surface tanker will separate the oil, gas and water mixture for storage and eventual offloading. Overnight some of the collected gas was burned through a flare system on the tanker. BP officials weren't able to specify Sunday how much the tanker can hold.
"It's a positive move, but let's keep it in context. We're not shutting off the flow of oil from this well, and we will do that when we do the top kill procedure," Wells said.
The "top-kill" involves jamming up to 50,000 barrels of a heavy-density mud-like liquid into channels leading to the oil well, effectively overpowering the leak before adding cement to seal it off. BP officials said it would attempt a "top kill" in a week to 10 days.
"The more mud we get into the well, the lower the rate and pressure will be" of the spill, Wells said. The insertion of the tube into the oil-disgorging pipe is the only successful attempt the company has had in curbing the ecological disaster that threatens the Gulf and Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida ecosystems. A containment vessel _ four feet in diameter and five feet long _ or “top hat” that engineers would try to place over the main leaking pipe is also sitting on the sea floor as another option. Oil captured in it would also be pumped to a barge. Officials also have not ruled out a ‘‘junk shot," which entails shooting golf balls, shredded tires, knotted pieces of rope and other debris into the oil well to clog the leak.
BP also has started drilling two relief wells, which experts say is the most fail-proof long-term solution to stopping the spill. That process will not be competed until August.
On Sunday, scientists said the discovery of large submerged oil plumes – one up to 10 miles long – raised fears of more damage to the Gulf. They also raised questions about when large amounts of crude might hit shore. Occasional tar balls have been seen on beaches in a few states, but there have not been any reports of large amounts of oil washing ashore. In Mississippi, Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran said her city will submit a $3 million action plan to protect the marshes. Ocean Springs joins Biloxi, which on Friday asked the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources for $2.99 million to pay for police, fire fighters, engineering and other personnel to take care of everything from traffic control to hazard response. The funding is for 8 months and could change depending on what type of cleanup ultimately is needed.
Moran said that Ocean Springs hasn't had any oil on its shores yet, but she's not going to leave the details to BP. The city will use the $3 million to hire its own environmental engineers and protect the many marshes with a more substantial barrier than the “flimsy” boom that Moran said now in place.
BP officials told the city it will bring in shock absorber booms if and when the oil approaches the shore. “It's not enough to placate me,” Moran said. She learned after Hurricane Katrina that help promised to arrive in 72 hours came more than 10 days later, and she doesn't want the city to be in that position again.
“I'm going to be prepared for what we need to do to protect Ocean Springs,” she said.
About 15 marshes back up into residential areas and she said while residents aren't in a panic. “They're alarmed. They demand we be as prepared as we can be.”
A BP trainer will teach a 4-hour hazard course for up100 city employees and more sessions for the public are planned for Thursday and Friday.
At least 210,000 gallons of oil have been gushing into the Gulf each day since the Deepwater Horizon exploded, and some scientists think the leak may be 10 times as bad.
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A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Black Hawk helicopter braves Hurricane Maria’s aftermath to deliver lifesaving supplies to Puerto Rico. Photo by Ozzy Trevino
After Hurricane Maria, the worst natural disaster in Puerto Rico’s history, pummeled the U.S. territory last September, it left a path of crippling destruction in its wake. The magnitude of damage to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was so devastating that it wiped out the entire electrical grid, plunging the Caribbean island into darkness. The catastrophic aftermath of the storm—flooding, mudslides, collapsed bridges, downed trees, communication towers that had been knocked out—and the struggles endured by the people who live in Puerto Rico are, by now, widely known. U.S. Customs and Border Protection had never faced a natural disaster quite so challenging. But using its resources and ingenuity, the agency created an unprecedented supply chain that helped Puerto Rico during the initial weeks of its recovery.
By the time Hurricane Maria unleashed its fury on Puerto Rico, striking the island on Sept. 20, with 155-mile per hour winds, CBP had already, only weeks before, responded to two other catastrophic storms that season. But Maria was much more challenging because the Category 4 hurricane hit an island more than a thousand miles away from the U.S. mainland.
"It’s not like when a hurricane hits the continental United States, where once the storm passes, you can drive relief supplies, personnel, and other resources into the impacted area. On an island, everything has to be shipped in," said Vernon Foret, CBP’s Caribbean area commander who oversaw the agency’s emergency response efforts in the region.
But it was much more than that. There were a myriad of other logistical challenges created by the storm. "Normally in preparation for a major storm such as a hurricane, we pre-position aircraft and people so we can get into place to conduct rescue and recovery operations," said Eric Rembold, the executive director of CBP’s Air and Marine Operations for the Southeast region. "But Puerto Rico is an island a thousand miles away and we couldn’t do that. We were busy taking our aircraft and people off the island for protection. Typically, we would be there within hours, as soon as the storm passes and the winds die down, but, in this case, we really couldn’t do that until about 30 hours after the storm," said Rembold.
The storm had barely cleared the northwest coast of the island and CBP’s aircraft were already flying in. At first, CBP’s Air and Marine Operations surveyed critical infrastructure such as dams, bridges, major roads and hospitals. "We start by making assessments to see just how bad the storm is, to understand the magnitude of the devastation, and then determine what resources are needed," said Rembold. "We stream live video to different command centers throughout the country—our own and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s."
After that, CBP’s focus became a recovery operation. "We were trying to find out the wellbeing of our employees," said Rembold. But communication became extremely difficult because the cell towers and landlines were down, and there was no electricity across the island, so trying to reach the employees for 100 percent accountability became extremely challenging."
Making the situation worse, the roads were impassable. Fallen trees, debris, downed power lines, large pot holes, mudslides and collapsed bridges were all obstacles that vehicles needed to maneuver. "Driving on the roads to find our people was not an option at first," said Rembold. "It was too hazardous." Instead, CBP used Black Hawk helicopters to search for employees on the island. "Every day we would gather a list from our lead field coordinator in Miami and send it down to our agents in Puerto Rico. ‘This is the list. We need you to check these 10 people today,’" Rembold added.
The agents began searching the island to account for the nearly 700 CBP employees who worked in Puerto Rico. The teams would fly from CBP’s Caribbean Air and Marine Branch in Aguadilla, on the west side of the island. "We’d fly to a town, land, and start walking around, looking for CBP employees. We’d literally walk up to people and say, ‘Hey, we’re looking for these three people. Do you know them?’ Invariably they knew one or two of them and where they lived," said Jeffrey Birks, a CBP supervisory air interdiction agent and critical care flight paramedic.
While they were there, the agents tried to help the local townspeople. "These people were completely isolated, so we had to do something to help them stay in contact with the outside world," said Birks. He copied down names and telephone numbers to call relatives in the U.S. on a satellite phone when he returned to CBP’s air branch. "I probably made 40-50 calls. ‘I saw your nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, grandparents. They’re alive and well and their house is standing. They don’t have any telephone service, so they can’t call you, but they wanted you to know that they are okay.’"
Food and water were also scarce as well as other supplies. "It was very hard for us. You couldn’t find water or food anywhere. Everything was closed," said Ramiro Cerrillo, CBP’s incident commander responsible for relief and recovery efforts on the west side of the island.
The San Juan airport was also shut down. Five days after the storm, it reopened—but just barely. The airport had been badly damaged during the hurricane and was running on generators. In fact, almost everything on the island was running on generators.
All of this was a major concern for Diane Sabatino, the director of field operations for Miami and Tampa, who was designated by CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan as the lead field coordinator for the Southeast region including the Caribbean. Sabatino was responsible for coordinating the agency’s relief and recovery efforts to make sure CBP’s personnel were accounted for, safe, and for the short-term, help them adjust to as normal a life as possible.
Although CBP had a long history of responding to destructive hurricanes, including most recently Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the circumstances in Puerto Rico were unlike anything the agency had ever encountered. Sabatino and her team had to act quickly and find a way to deliver food, water, and other supplies to the CBP employees who desperately needed them a thousand miles away.
After reaching out to an emergency operations team at headquarters, Sabatino decided to create a supply chain using CBP assets—aircraft, vessels, personnel, and the agency’s expertise on how a supply chain works. "We’re very unique as an agency that we have the set of skills to do this," said Sabatino. "We manage and enforce regulations on supply chains every day and we see how they operate. We deal with international importers, exporters, and shippers on a daily basis. Only now, we were standing up our own supply chain. We essentially became the importers, the shippers, and the distributors in Puerto Rico."
Countless decisions needed to be made. None of them were easy. Sabatino and her team calculated consumption rates to know how much food and water to send. They also found ways locally and through CBP headquarters to procure the supplies with a depleted, end-of–fiscal-year budget.
"We took everything that we had prepared for the entire hurricane season and shifted it to Puerto Rico," said Eduardo Alvarez, the emergency preparedness coordinator for CBP’s Miami Field Office. "Typically, we would try to save some supplies, because the season wasn’t over. We could have a storm next week, but this was massive. Everything we had was sent and we used every available purchase capability locally."
Getting the supplies to Puerto Rico quickly was also critical. "It takes three to four hours to send supplies to Puerto Rico by plane," said Sabatino. "By barge or ship, it takes a minimum of four days, and that’s if the sailing conditions are good." As a consequence, food, water, diapers, hygiene products, and other items that were needed immediately were sent by air. Supplies such as portable toilets, showers, washing machines, dryers, and generators that contained fuel were sent by vessel.
CBP set up two transit points. Supplies sent by air were flown out of Homestead, Florida, where CBP’s Miami Air and Marine Branch is located. Anything shipped by sea was loaded onto barges at the port of Jacksonville. The quantity of supplies was enormous. "We had so many supplies going into our hangar at Homestead, we didn’t have room for our aircraft," said Rembold, who explained that the problem was alleviated after CBP was allowed to use a nearby military hangar. "It’s a huge hangar, so we were able to store our supplies there and use our hangar for our aircraft," he said.
During recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria, CBP overcame enormous logistical challenges posed by Puerto Rico’s distance, a thousand miles from the U.S. mainland. Image by Google Earth
The supplies were transported on CBP’s P-3 and DHC-8 aircraft. "Under normal circumstances, these small, maritime patrol planes are used for surveillance," said Rembold. But within a matter of hours, the aircraft were converted to haul cargo. "That’s something we have never done before in our history," said Rembold. "But there was no other way we could get these lifesaving supplies over to the island as quickly as we did."
Finding fuel was another challenge. "Here in the islands, when we have this type of disaster, it’s very difficult to get fuel," said Rubén Cruz-Lugo, acting assistant director of mission support at CBP’s San Juan Field Office. "So knowing this, a few years back, as part of the CBP emergency preparedness program, we gave a letter to one of our vendors, stating that for national security purposes, our systems needed diesel fuel for the essential functions we do during an emergency."
The letter worked. When the fuel distributors in Puerto Rico read the letter, CBP was given the same priority as other mission essential functions of the government. "We had fuel the day after Hurricane Maria hit," said Cruz-Lugo. "Without that letter, it would have taken us weeks or even months to find a contractor with a tanker who would have been willing to supply us with fuel."
All accounted for
After nearly four days, CBP achieved 100 percent accountability for the agency’s employees and staff. "Usually we can account for people within hours," said Rembold.
Accounting for CBP’s employees and making sure that they and their families are taken care of is critical for the island’s recovery. "Our employees have to be at work to make sure that trade starts to come back as soon as possible after a storm like this happens," said Foret. "If we’re not there to make sure that the goods coming in are facilitated to get them as quickly as possible on store shelves, the people who are impacted aren’t only CBP employees, it’s anybody who relies on things coming through the port. This includes basic necessities—food, water, fuel, communication equipment, and construction materials that are needed after a devastating hurricane."
But CBP’s mission extends beyond that. "Our job is twofold. We facilitate legitimate travel and trade, but we also have an enforcement and antiterrorism mission, and there are people who are going to exploit this type of situation for nefarious means," said Foret. "Our employees are the frontline and need to be out there to ensure that we’re detecting and deterring criminal activity from happening— whether it’s illegal aliens or the flow of narcotics coming into the area. Everything we do on a daily basis we still need to do in the aftermath of a hurricane, and our employees need to be there to get that done."
CBP employees throughout the agency were worried about their families in Puerto Rico. "Once the storm passed, our employees were trying to communicate with their families, but couldn’t, so they started to ask us for help," said Alvarez at the emergency coordination center in Miami. Hundreds of requests poured in asking CBP to check on the welfare of family members on the island. "The emails became overwhelming for our staff," said Alvarez. "So we modified our intranet site so that it could be accessed across the agency. If someone wanted to request assistance for his or her family in Puerto Rico, he or she could do so through the intranet site." After the new site opened on Sept. 23, the agency received more than 1,500 requests for wellness checks on family members in Puerto Rico.
"We were notified daily from headquarters about different people to do wellness checks on in the area," said Cerrillo. "They weren’t necessarily immediate family members. A lot of them were distant relatives."
Such was the case for Sharon Brown, a CBP contracting officer in Washington, D.C., who volunteered to help with the agency’s hurricane procurement efforts in the Emergency Operations Center at headquarters. Brown had several cousins in Puerto Rico that none of her relatives in the U.S. had heard from after the hurricane. "I added their names and addresses to the list on the intranet site to see if someone could check on them," said Brown.
A CBP medical team, comprised of a paramedic, an emergency medical technician, and a CBP officer who served as an interpreter, drove an hour and half to a small, remote village in the mountains southwest of San Juan to check on Brown’s cousins. "The roads were not impassable, but they were treacherous at times," said Ryan Ziliak, a CBP officer and emergency medical technician from Pembina, North Dakota, who volunteered to assist with CBP’s relief effort in Puerto Rico.
The CBP team knew very little about Brown’s cousins. "All we were told was the family needed food, water, and oxygen," said Ziliak. When the team arrived at the family’s home, they discovered that one of Brown’s cousins, Iris Zayas, was in a coma and hooked up to a ventilator to assist her breathing. "She only had about 20 percent oxygen left in the main cylinder," said Geoff Smith, a CBP paramedic based in Sterling, Virginia. "The family told us that the warehouse that belonged to the hospice facility that supplied them with oxygen was destroyed and there wasn’t any way to refill the tank."
It became apparent that Brown’s cousin needed medical care at a hospital. But the family thought the local hospital was overwhelmed from the hurricane and too busy with other patients. The CBP team decided to drive over to the hospital to see if the medical staff would help Mrs. Zayas. "We had a conversation with the director of nursing and his supervisory staff," said Smith. "We explained the situation and briefed them on Mrs. Zayas’ medical condition and they said, ‘Okay, you can bring her in and we’ll take care of her.’"
At that point, the CBP medical team needed to find an ambulance to transport Mrs. Zayas. They went to the local fire department and found an ambulance and paramedics who were willing to help. "We followed the ambulance back to the house, helped them load the patient, and then we transported her to the hospital. We also made sure that the Zayas family had plenty of food and water," said Ziliak.
When Brown heard about her cousin, she was relieved and grateful. "CBP saved her life," said Brown. "We didn’t know that there was such a dire need. If it weren’t for CBP’s intervention, we would never have known that her health was so precarious."
|Responding to a plea for help, a CBP Air and Marine Operations team conducted medical checks on two families stranded in a remote area of Puerto Rico. Photo by Kris Grogan||Jeffrey Birks, a supervisory air interdiction agent and critical care flight paramedic, left, treats one of the ailing family members. Photo by Kris Grogan|
Helping the community
CBP’s help extended beyond its employees. "We never said, ‘No,’ to anyone who asked for help," said Smith. "If anyone in a community asked us for a case of water or to evaluate them medically, the answer was always, ‘Yes.’ Every time we evaluated one patient, it turned into about 80 evaluations because we wanted to do whatever we could."
In one instance, when Smith and Ziliak were en route to help clear debris at a children’s playground, they saw an overturned car on the other side of the highway and stopped. "I grabbed our medical gear and we ran over to the car," said Ziliak. The driver had been pulled out by a group of bystanders and was sitting in another vehicle in front of it. "Geoff and I assessed her medically. She was complaining of back pain, rib pain, and dizziness." The CBP medical team calmed the woman. Her pulse rate came down and her dizziness went away. "Once we finished the assessment, I held her neck just in case there were any back injuries. Then we waited until an ambulance came," said Ziliak.
Sometimes CBP saw distress signals from the air. "While we were flying from town to town looking for our people to account for them, we saw a house with the word, ‘HELP’ written on the roof," said Birks. "A small group of people were standing outside the house, waving their hands at the helicopter. Our pilot circled back and we thought, ‘Oh, we better go check.’"
The helicopter landed in a clearing on a mountain top. A mudslide had completely washed away the road leading to the house. "We had to hike about a half mile through the woods, climbing over fallen trees and there was mud everywhere," said Birks.
When the CBP Air and Marine agents arrived at the house, they found two families gathered together. Birks, a paramedic, did a medical check on the 74-year-old man who they had been worried about. "They thought he was having a diabetic emergency," said Birks. "He was out chopping trees to try to clear the road and he came back feeling horrible. He was malnourished, poorly hydrated, and had not taken his medicine, so we saw to it that he took his medicine and gave him some food and water, which improved his medical condition and made him feel better."
Then Birks checked the health of four other people at the house. "It turned out he was the healthiest of the five patients I saw," said Birks. "I checked their blood sugar levels, vital signs, and made sure they were taking their medicines and had enough food and water, too."
In some instances, CBP reached out to the community. As an adoptive parent, Cruz-Lugo was aware of a number of shelters in Puerto Rico where the government places orphan children and children who come from abusive homes. "Knowing the government of Puerto Rico had limited resources, we thought we might be able to help others in the community," said Cruz-Lugo.
CBP brought water, food, and other supplies to orphanages and shelters throughout the island. Above, Rubén Cruz-Lugo distributes bottled water to children at an orphanage in the Puerto Rican countryside. Photo by Pedro Ramos
So CBP’s San Juan Field Office reached out to an orphan home near the San Juan Custom House to find out if they needed food or water. "We were told that their home was okay, but there were many other orphan homes throughout the island," Cruz-Lugo said.
Among them was Hogar Cuna San Cristóbal, a shelter for children located in the countryside near Caguas, a city south of San Juan. When CBP arrived 10 days after the hurricane with a truckload of supplies, the orphanage still had no electricity and was in urgent need of water. "It was a critical moment for us. No stores were open and we didn’t have water," said Ivonne Vélez, the executive director of the home.
Fourteen children, ages 1-7, lived at the shelter, and Vélez was worried. "I couldn’t sleep at night. In my mind, I kept asking myself, ‘What am I going to do?’ Because if we don’t have food or water, we might have to close the home," said Vélez. And then, much to Vélez’s surprise, CBP arrived with water, food, and other supplies. "It was an answer to a prayer," she said. "Help came at the moment that we needed it the most, and in the most surprising way."
As part of its assistance efforts in Puerto Rico, CBP brought water, food, and other supplies to nearly 700 people at 10 orphanages, one shelter for adults and children, and a monastery that serves an entire community.
Busy supply chain
The flights to Puerto Rico started out slow the first couple of days, but then ramped up. "Once we started the supply chain, we were doing five to seven flights per day," said Rembold. "Anytime we flew from the U.S. to Puerto Rico we filled the aircraft from floor to ceiling with cargo—food, water, supplies, and first responders. We not only took CBP teams, but Homeland Security Investigation teams, and a lot of first responders from other federal agencies."
Within a few days, the return flights were filled with evacuees. "We realized we were flying back with empty airplanes and there were a lot of people on the island who wanted to evacuate," said Sabatino. Most of the passengers were CBP employees and their relatives. For many, it was the only way to leave the island.
Such was the case for Daisy Francisco, who was visiting her parents and sisters in Puerto Rico. Francisco had originally planned to fly home to New Jersey on Sept. 20, the day Hurricane Maria made landfall. She saw the storm was coming and tried to get an earlier flight, but they were all booked. "It was a nightmare," said Francisco. After the storm, she was stranded. "My husband booked me on three different flights and each one kept getting canceled. I felt like this is never going to happen. I’m never going to get out."
Then Francisco’s brother-in-law, a Border Patrol agent, told her that there was a possibility that she could get on one of the CBP flights that was leaving from Aguadilla. Francisco realized that she could not leave without her parents, who were in their 80s. "My mother would not fare well because she’s on high blood pressure medicine, diabetes medicine, and she was already hospitalized earlier this year with a really bad case of bronchitis. My fear was if my parents got sick, they wouldn’t be able to get any help because they live deep in the countryside," said Francisco.
The next day, Francisco, her parents, and one of her sisters were able to get on a flight, which landed in Homestead. "Every Border Patrol agent that we encountered throughout our trip was extremely kind and generous. They exemplify all that is good in humankind," said Francisco. "If it weren’t for them, I don’t think my parents would be here now at this stage—five weeks later. I know people who have been trying to get off the island and can’t."
After about a week, CBP realized that the supply chain would be much more effective using larger planes. "We had all of these supplies that were starting to amass in Homestead and there was just no way that we could get them on our aircraft in a reasonable amount of time," said Rembold. Most of the supplies came on pallets that could be driven onto cargo planes with a forklift. But with CBP’s small P-3s and DHC-8s, the seats needed to be removed and supplies had to be hand loaded onto the planes. "It was very time consuming," said Rembold.
CBP’s first thought was to ask the U.S. Coast Guard if it could borrow cargo planes. The Coast Guard agreed, but only for a day. "They had their own life sustaining operations," said Rembold. But the cargo aircraft worked well, so CBP decided to charter larger planes.
Finding the money to procure the aircraft wasn’t easy. "We realized it was going to be a challenge because we were getting ready to close out the fiscal year," said Dario Lugo, CBP’s Emergency Operations Center manager in Washington, D.C. "But the component offices within CBP came through. They pooled their remaining money and we chartered aircraft for 18 flights, 12 for cargo and six to evacuate CBP personnel, their families and others who were impacted by the storm."
Not only could CBP ship more supplies with fewer flights, leasing planes made fiscal sense too. "It would have taken our aircraft at least three days to move the equivalent of one charter flight," said Lugo. "It also freed up our aircraft to perform other life safety missions and return to their normal function of protecting the borders."
CBP also provided employees with other kinds of support. "We knew that employees were going through a lot after the hurricane and it could have been overwhelming for them. They were being asked to provide comfort to other people when they were going through the same devastating experience," said Cerillo. "We wanted to make sure we had healthy employees, not just physically, but mentally, so we had people who came in to provide peer support."
In addition to these efforts, CBP assisted FEMA. Three days after the storm passed, CBP aircraft began supplementing the Federal Aviation Administration’s radar, which is part of FEMA’s infrastructure recovery mission. "All the FAA radar on the island had been decimated," said Rembold. "When the San Juan Airport reopened its passenger operations to the airlines, it needed a type of radar separation because the U.S. Department of Defense was bringing more and more aircraft into the environment. Our aircraft played a very vital role in keeping that radar separation intact."
On the west side of the island, CBP collaborated with the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, and the U.S. Marine Corps to assist FEMA with the distribution of food and water. "The local municipalities would request areas of distribution and FEMA would give us direction," said Cerrillo. "If there were any distribution points where the roads were inaccessible, we would take on that challenge."
CBP also was asked to fly a congressional delegation to some of the remote areas of the island. The delegation, which was led by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan, included Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, the three-star officer who led the U.S. military’s emergency response in Puerto Rico; and U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft. "The devastation was of such a magnitude that they requested our help to be able to get up close to see the different sites throughout the island," said Rembold. "We took the delegation to some of the remote areas in Puerto Rico, many of the places where we delivered food and supplies."
Similarly, CBP flew reporters from the Weather Channel and other news outlets throughout the island, but broadcasting conditions were difficult. "There was no power until five days after the storm passage," said Rembold. "It wasn’t even possible to get on the island via commercial means, and with the collapsed infrastructure the media couldn’t broadcast out. It appeared that nothing was happening to help Puerto Rico, but we knew differently."
Within days after the storm, CBP’s recovery efforts were already starting to take shape. "Even with the devastation, CBP’s local employees were showing up for work ready to go," said Foret. "They were determined not to be the reason that a flight could not land or take off or shipments weren’t coming in through the ports. It’s ingrained within the culture of CBP to help one another to make sure the mission is carried out."
Hurricane Support System
Headquarters Emergency Operations Center provides a lifeline to the field
By Marcy Mason
The 2017 hurricane season set a new record for CBP’s Emergency Operations Center in Washington, D.C. The center, which was stood up at CBP headquarters as part of the agency’s response to Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that slammed into South Texas on Aug. 25, remained in place for 63 days.
"It was the longest running Emergency Operations Center that we’ve ever set up for a natural disaster," said Dario Lugo, operations manager for the center.
But the ongoing response to protect CBP’s operations was needed. Harvey was followed by Hurricanes Irma, Jose, Maria, Nate, and other tropical storms. "To have a succession of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes is rare," said Lugo. "In my 10 years of working with incident management at CBP headquarters, this is the first time that we have responded to so many catastrophic storms that made landfall on the continental U.S. and its territories."
For most natural disasters, CBP maintains an Emergency Operations Center from four to seven days, but the amount of time is based on the impact of the storm, so sometimes it runs slightly longer.
"If it’s a fast-moving storm the way Hurricane Nate was, which moved swiftly through the Gulf region, four days from beginning to end is not uncommon," said Lugo. "There wasn’t a lot of damage, our assessments were done very quickly, and the accountability of our personnel, which is the commissioner’s highest priority, was done within a matter of hours."
Even though the Emergency Operations Center is based at headquarters, it is not the brain of CBP’s response activities. "We support the individuals in the field who are responsible for the recovery from the event," Lugo explained. "We have easy access to CBP leadership and can obtain answers to their requests in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks."
CBP’s Emergency Operations Center also works closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to monitor storms. "They are the experts in hurricane plotting, charting, and graphing," said Lugo. "It’s the tool that any responder in the U.S. government or the media uses. Weather reports are all drafted based on information that NOAA provides."
The staff in CBP’s Emergency Operations Center then shares that information with the lead field coordinators and incident managers in the areas affected by the storms. "We make contact with the incident managers within that regional area and then we identify needs and try to estimate what the response will be. Once we determine the impact, we decide how long we will need to support them," said Lugo.
Approximately 15-20 people, representing the different offices within CBP, comprise the nucleus of the Emergency Operations Center. These individuals give information, make decisions, or complete necessary transactions such as purchase supplies or move helicopters, boats, or other assets. "Many times the same person is filling the chair, so some individuals are putting in some long hours," said Lugo. "My staff was there from 6 o’clock in the morning until 10 or 11 at night. Some nights we were there till midnight, but we were there because we wanted to be part of the solution," he said.
"Generally speaking, we never really shut down," said Dwayne Myal, a CBP senior preparedness planner who was part of the core team that worked 63 days in the Emergency Operations Center. "People may go home to rest, but for the most part everybody is still monitoring and following what’s happening. If a Category 5 hurricane is approaching, we’re not really sleeping because this is a problem that is going to have a major impact on the American public and our colleagues. So it weighs heavy on us. There’s no full disconnect."
Mid-September was the most challenging time for those working in the Emergency Operations Center. "When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, our recovery efforts were still ongoing for Harvey in Houston," said Lugo. "We also were dealing with evacuation orders for our employees in South Florida, the Florida Keys, and the U.S. Virgin Islands who were suffering from Hurricane Irma. These were all concerns at the Emergency Operations Center at headquarters, and it was the same staff that was working on Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate, and Jose."
But there was tremendous gratification. "We knew the importance of what we were doing and that we had to do our very best," said Myal. "We had lives depending on us." | <urn:uuid:72dbb3a3-906a-4021-b98f-d9b6a06d004e> | {
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Parrots are mainly traded as pets and in America, 63% of homes own at least a bird pet of which the majority are parrots. These birds are kept as pets because of their brilliant colors, their social and intelligent nature, and the ability to vocalize. Parrot trade is a lucrative enterprise around the world. However, parrots have become increasingly endangered species of wildlife in most countries. Some countries have put restrictions on parrot trade while in other countries the trade is completely illegal. Despite the ban and restrictions on trading in these birds, parrot market still operates both legally and illegally. Latin America is one of the regions with the highest number of illegally traded live parrots. Most of these countries export birds to Europe, US, Central America and the Caribbean. The European Union is the highest importer of live parrot. Some of the illegally traded live parrots include the African Greys, Aratinga and Eupsittas, Other genera, and Amazon among others,
Loss Of Wild Parrot Populations
African greys parrot is a native to equatorial African countries including Angola, Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Cameron, Uganda, and Ivory Coast. The population of this bird has been significantly affected by the illegal trafficking and trading. Currently, about 13 million African greys are surviving worldwide. African greys are sought after majorly because of their beauty and their talkative nature. These birds are also brilliant and can perform at a rate of a 4-6-year-old child. African greys are in high demand especially in Singapore, Europe, and the US where they are commonly traded illegally. Between 2007 and 2014, 4779 live African grays parrots were seized from illegal traders.
Aratinga and Eupsittas
Aratinga and Eupsittas are endangered species around the world and are mainly raised in captivity. Aratinga parrots are predominantly yellow, green, or orange, are widely found in South America especially in the regions of Brazil where they are referred to as Jandai. They are very social birds commonly living in groups. These birds are mainly kept as pets in most homes though they need larger cages because of their sizes. Eupsittas are also common because of their beauty serving entirely as pets in most homes. They are illegally traded in large numbers in Europe and the US. Between 2007 and 2014 a total of 2149 illegally trafficked parrots were seized entering these numbers.
Amazon parrots are medium-sized birds found mainly in Mexico and the Caribbean. This bird is predominantly green and feeds on seeds and nuts. Amazon parrots are highly sought after because of their ability to mimic human speech and sounds. Because of their capacity to mimic humans, they are considered as companion pets. Most of the Amazon parrots are raised in cages while their existence is threatened due to increased illegal hunting. 1373 illegally trafficked were seized between 2007 and 2014.
Need To Enforce Laws
Other species of parrots that have been illegally trafficked in large numbers include Monk Parakeets, Brotogeris, and Macaws. Most of these parrots are raised in captivity in most countries while Europe offers a large market for these birds. Between 2007 and 2014, over 3000 parrots of these kinds were seized in different countries. If the laws prohibiting trafficking of parrots are not enforced, then most parrots will continue living in captivity.
Illegal Trafficking Of Live Parrots: Which Parrots Are Most Threatened?
|Rank||Parrot Genus||Number of illegal live parrot trade seizures (2007 to 2014)|
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Nothing sparks consumer demand like the word “free,” and politicians in some states have proposed the idea of providing that incentive to get young people to attend community college.
Amid worries that U.S. youth are losing a global skills race, supporters of a no-tuition policy see expanding access to community college as way to boost educational attainment so the emerging workforces in their states look good to employers.
Of course, such plans aren’t free for taxpayers, and legislators in Oregon and Tennessee are deciding whether free tuition regardless of family income is the best use of public money. A Mississippi bill passed the state House, but then failed in the Senate.
The debate comes in a midterm election year in which income inequality and the burdens of student debt are likely going to be significant issues.
“I think everybody agrees that with a high school education by itself, there is no path to the middle class,” said State Sen. Mark Hass, who is leading the no-tuition effort in Oregon. “There is only one path, and it leads to poverty. And poverty is very expensive.”
Hass said free community college and increasing the number of students who earn college credit while in high school are keys to addressing a “crisis” in education debt. Taxpayers will ultimately benefit, he said, because it’s cheaper to send someone to community college than to have him or her in the social safety net.
Research from the Oregon University System shows Oregonians with only a high school degree make less money than those with a degree and thus contribute fewer tax dollars. They are also more likely to use food stamps and less likely to do volunteer work.
A Gallup poll released in late February found 94 percent of Americans believe it’s somewhat or very important to have a degree beyond high school, yet only 23 percent of respondents said higher education is affordable to everyone who needs it.
As at four-year universities, the price of attending a community college has risen sharply because of reduced state support and higher costs for health care and other expenses. The average annual cost of tuition nationally is about $3,300, and books and fees add to the bill.
It’s cheaper than university, but expensive enough to dissuade someone who’s unsure whether to pursue higher education.
In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam wants to use lottery money to create a free community college program for high school graduates. It’s central to the Republican’s goal of making the state more attractive to potential employers by increasing the percentage of Tennesseans with a college degree to 55 percent by 2025 from 32 percent now.
If approved by the Legislature, the “Tennessee Promise” would provide a full ride for any high school graduate, at a cost of $34 million per year.
Meanwhile, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a bill March 11 ordering a state commission to examine whether free tuition is feasible. Among other things, the study will determine how much money the program will cost, whether the existing campus buildings can accommodate extra students and whether to limit free tuition to recent graduates.
The commission will also look at California, which offered no-cost community college until the mid-1980s, when a state fiscal crisis contributed to its demise.
The findings are due later this year and will help lawmakers decide whether to pursue the idea in 2015.
“What is exciting to us about the idea is that it signals that the state understands there needs to be significant reinvestment in community colleges in some way, shape or form,” said Mary Spilde, the president of Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore., where in-state students pay $93 per credit hour. Back in 1969-70, baby boomers paid $6 per credit hour — about $37 in today’s money, adjusted for inflation.
Tennessee and Oregon are looking at the “last-dollar in” model, where the state picks up the tuition not covered by other forms of aid. Because students from poor families often get their tuition covered by Pell Grants and other programs, the state money would disproportionately help those from more comfortable backgrounds.
“If you’re paying for two years for everybody, then you’re paying for students whose families can afford to do it,” said Kay McClenney, director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas. “And is that your best use of dollars within the public interest?”
There are other concerns. Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, generally praised the bills, but said students are more likely to be successful if they have “skin in the game” and pay something toward their education.
Patricia Schechter, a Portland State University professor active in the faculty union, worries that students will be induced into taking the community college route — “arguably against their interests” — and about the effect on public universities, whose students won’t get a tuition break.
“We start competing for first-year students in a way that seems a little unfair if they can go somewhere for free,” she said. “It doesn’t address the creeping costs of higher ed. It just diverts them.”
Hass, the Oregon state senator, countered that the university presidents he’s spoken with, including Portland State’s, support the idea.
“There’s an old saying,” he said of the criticism. “You can marshal an army to preserve the status quo.”
Copyright © 2014 Capitol Hill Blue
Copyright © 2014 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved | <urn:uuid:1bcd1494-51b5-4f62-a745-956fcd6a7d2a> | {
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Yes, and it’s not just in the US–ski resorts around the world are feeling the effects of warming temperatures. Global warming is reducing yearly snowfall levels and correspondingly the amount of snow pack that accumulates in the winter months. As a result, a lot of ski resorts have been forced to use more snow machines to create artificial snow to pad the their slopes. However, even producing artificial snow is more difficult when the temperature goes up by just one degree. A lot of resorts are also trying to diversify their facilities to include activities other than skiing in order to prepare for a time in the future when creating massive amounts of snow may no longer be profitable.
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© Copyright GreenAnswers.com LLC | <urn:uuid:2a3beae1-6a10-4de3-a72a-f53b9b4d08d9> | {
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Influence of oncoming traffic on drivers’ overtaking of cyclists
Journal article, 2018
Active transportation - such as cycling - can provide health benefits to the population. However, cycling safety remains a major threat to favour the use of bicycles and, for this reason, more efforts are needed to reduce the number of crashes involving cyclists. One crash scenario which deserves special attention is driver’s overtaking of cyclists since it has an increased likelihood to lead to severe injuries. During the overtaking manoeuvre, the monitoring of subjective risk can influence the decision-making process and lead to different outcomes. In this context, the present driving simulator study aims to investigate how the time to collision between oncoming traffic and subject vehicle affected the overtaking strategy, and the minimum safety margins towards the overtaken cyclist. The results show that a decrease in time to collision against the oncoming vehicle significantly affects the drivers’ overtaking strategy (accelerative vs. flying), inducing more drivers to choose an accelerative overtaking manoeuvre. The decrease in time to collision also produces a decrease in minimum safety margins to the cyclists for drivers who opt for a flying overtaking strategy. Finally, the current research shows that the minimum lateral safety margins were smaller and the mean speed higher in flying manoeuvres compared to accelerative manoeuvres. Overall, the combination of lower safety margins and higher mean speeds in flying overtaking manoeuvres seems to pose a risk for cyclists’ safety. The findings of the study provide some implications for the design of automated driving.
Cycling safety Comfort zone boundary Driving simulator Overtaking strategy Safety margin Speed | <urn:uuid:415579a6-f41f-4666-88a4-46663fc2df05> | {
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Picturing Sea Ice with ARISE’s Digital Camera InstrumentSeptember 24th, 2014 by George Hale
Flying above, below and through clouds in the Arctic gives the ARISE C-130 a different perspective on the world below. Nowhere is this more apparent than through the lenses of ARISE’s digital camera instrument. This instrument – one of many ARISE uses – captures views of clouds, ocean and ice that are both scenic and scientifically important.
The heart of the digital camera instrument would look familiar to a casual observer. It is made up of two off-the-shelf digital cameras that point down through a clear window in the underside of the aircraft. These cameras are connected to a computer with software that allows the operator to preview images and change camera settings and to a hard drive for storing photographs. An average ARISE flight yields roughly 100 gigabytes of images.
Although the cameras are the same make and model, their lenses are different. Group photos and distant landscape shots call for different size lenses, and low-altitude and high-altitude flights do the same. One camera has a 14 millimeter, wide-angle lens to capture views of the surface during low-level flights. The other camera’s lens has a 50 millimeter focal length, making it useful higher up.
Similarly, the rate at which the shutters snap ranges between one per second to roughly one every three seconds. From high up the surface seems to pass slower than at low altitude, much like the way telephone poles beside the highway are a blur while far away mountains barely seem to move. Instrument operators can fine-tune this rate to best match the situation and can be managed in flight.
While many of the images these cameras capture are breathtaking, they are also useful in several ways. Researchers can use them to measure how much light is reflected from clouds and ice, also known as albedo. The images also show where there are leads, or openings, in sea ice. ARISE measures ice surface height using the Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor, which bounces a laser off of the surface and times how long it takes to return to the plane. Locating leads gives scientists a reference for local sea level, helping ensure that measurements are accurate.
Laser altimeters and other instruments can reveal a great deal about the surface, but through photographs the variety of conditions ranging from open stretches of water to broken bits of floating ice to solid white expanses. The images captured by these cameras benefit researchers studying sea ice, but the views can also be breathtaking. | <urn:uuid:09dcabf4-c690-4455-a84f-706c49424f13> | {
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Salem Witches Were Hanged.--The witches of our own New England were largely the development of too-serious interpretations of Biblical law and injunction; actually, by law, authorities (under pressure of the church leaders) took numerous lives of innocent people.
Religion Cause of the Troubles.--One can hardly picture witchcraft conditions in those early days as being so serious that nearly every man, woman and child, and everything in the catalog of human knowledge was suspected of being a witch, or in aiding one.
To avoid being accused as a witch, one had to get "the jump on the other fellow" and accuse him first!
Montague Summers, in "The Geography of Witchcraft," at p. 256 says: "There can be no doubt that the settlers in New England were not only firm believers in every kind of witchcraft, but well primed in every malevolent superstition that could commend itself to their prejudiced and tortured minds. They looked for the Devil round every corner, and saw Satan's hand in every mishap, in every accident. The Devil, in fact, played a larger part in their theology than God. They were obsessed with hell and damnation; their sky was cloudy and overset; their horizon girded with predestination and the awful consciousness of sin."
John Wesley was a firm believer in witchcraft, and in 1768 he writes in his journal: "It is true . . . that the English in general . . . have given up all accounts of witches and apparitions as mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it . . . With my latest breath will I bear testimony against giving up to infidels one great proof of the invisible world: I mean that of witchcraft and apparitions, confirmed by the testimony of all ages."
In New England one person claimed that the Devil frequently had carnal knowledge of her body!
Today houses are still secured, as well as barns, day and night, against witches. Window blinds, or shutters keep out all light, and some occupants have been known to go out very seldom, after dark--the darkness that harbors all sorts of things, only through imagination.
Today some people can hear witches in chains, or shutters rattling at night; chairs or floors creaking; noises in the walls, attics or cellars; lowing of cattle; howling of dogs; earth lights in the fields or woods, or in the cemetery; shadows in the moonlight; strange odors; the noise of expansion or contraction of pottery, or steam pipes; the noise caused by mice, rats, and slight vibrations caused by draughts.
Likewise, Pennsylvania has been singled out for years as a stamping ground for these same kind of "devils." Research, however, fails to discover any witches, looking any different from the people the reader and the writer know most intimately; now and then an old man, or woman, may be identified as "one of those 'witch doctors,' or 'pow-wow' doctors." But, in New England, well-known citizens were pointed out as "witches."
Sydney George Fisher, in "Men, Women and Manners in Colonial Times," (2 vols. Phila. 1898) says:
"In former times no sect of religion and no class of life had been free from it (witchcraft), more than four thousand books had been written about it, it had assailed the highest intellectuals as well as the lowest, and Sprenger estimates that in the fifteenth century one hundred thousand persons were executed for it in Germany alone, and that during the Christian epoch nine million men and women had been put to death for this supposed crime. Those who doubted were reminded of the witch of Endor in the Old Testament and of the laws of Moses against witchcraft. In the books of the Middle Ages it is asserted over and over again that to doubt the existence of witchcraft is to deny the Holy Scriptures and to refuse confidence in the general belief of all mankind."
". . . No one was safe; the slightest peculiarity in manner, or an obscure chance remark that could be given a double meaning, was enough to secure a conviction. Many who had lost some household article or cattle, or who had suffered a misfortune or sickness, were allowed to relate their trouble before the court as evidence that one of their neighbors had bewitched them . . . When a person was accused, his only hope of escape was in confession, and this process manufactured witches very fast. . ."
"Even in this awful delusion the Puritan mind still worked by its close reasoning processes. The few who were opposed to punishing for witchcraft argued that it might be possible for a devil to get into a person and make a witch of him against his will . . . "
"If an ordinary man, they said, does anything supernatural, it must be by aid of the devil . . ."
In Pennsylvania the authorities always gave, and today give, the accused the great benefit of doubt--either as to the commission of a crime (of witchcraft), or the mental state of the person involved. Is witchcraft in this Commonwealth, then, so very terrible?
Mary Baker Eddy--and Witchcraft.--Howard W. Haggard, M. D., in "Devils, Drugs and Doctors," (at pp. 312-3; Blue Ribbon Books, Inc.) tells how Mary Baker Eddy, in her own day, put a lot of faith in the powers of "malicious animal magnetism"--just another term for witchcraft. Mrs. Eddy, according to a newspaper account, declared that her husband's death was caused by this "magnetism"--the opposite of faith healing. Dr. Haggard further states:
Thus when Mary Eddy assigned hysterical ailments to malicious animal magnetism and asked the courts of Salem, in 1878, to punish alleged persecutors, she was attempting to revive witchcraft and the punishment of witches. But along with this black magic she introduced white magic . . . | <urn:uuid:8c0b19c0-6835-44a4-8db8-748ba1be262d> | {
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Making plans for back to school? Don’t forget the candy! It doesn’t sound like something a nutritionist would recommend, but what about a chemistry educator?
Deanna Cullen recently sent an email to ChemEdX contributors, asking for suggestions of Journal of Chemical Education (JCE) resources related to this year’s National Chemistry Week theme “The Sweet Side of Chemistry—Candy” that had potential for sharing.
It jogged memories of one of my favorite American Chemical Society (ACS) High School Day presentations that Laura Slocum and I shared when we served as JCE’s precollege associate editors. It was “Connecting Candy to Chemistry: Ready-to-use Resources from the Journal of Chemical Education.” Participants got a chance to hear about and try some sweet hands-on activities. As you head back to school, one activity in particular that we used jumped out as being suitable for using early in the school year.
The activity is part of the article “A Spoonful of C12H22O11 Makes the Chemistry Go Down: Candy Motivations in the High School Chemistry Classroom,” a fun collection of more than a dozen brief "motivations." We used the author’s suggestion for measurement. It could be used when discussing measuring, significant figures, precision, and accuracy. She describes, “Groups of three students are given a roll of Fruit-by-the-Foot (about three-feet long) and asked to divide it into three parts. This motivates a discussion on accuracy (how much do the three pieces differ) and precision (is any piece 12-inches long).” We offered standard 12-inch wooden rulers and whatever cutting implements were in the hotel conference room. I loved seeing an activity I’d previously only seen on the printed page come to life in the hands of teachers. Groups offered ideas for how they could integrate it into their classrooms. Back-to-school sales should be cropping up, including ones at the grocery store with common lunch items, including Fruit-by-the-Foot fruit snacks.
An activity that appeared in the Journal after our presentation was another hands-on activity that is well suited to topics normally covered at the start of the school year, “JCE Classroom Activity #112: Guessing the Number of Candies in the Jar—Who Needs Guessing?” As the title states, students are challenged to apply some science to a game they may have seen before: estimating the number of candy pieces in a jar, perhaps in order to win a prize or the container of candy. They first make an estimate, but they then refine their estimate with some simple measurements and a consideration of proportional ratios. They receive two bags of candies. They count the number of candies in each, then weigh them and determine their volume in a graduated cylinder, to determine number/mass, number/volume, and mass/volume. The student decides how to use this information to calculate a better estimate.
Looking for more ways to connect candy to chemistry, all year long? Keep an eye out for JCE's resource list as NCW approaches. What candy activities have you used in your classroom?
(Photo published in: Stephanie Ryan; Donald J. Wink; J. Chem. Educ. 2012, 89, 1171–1173. DOI: 10.1021/ed1009943 Copyright © 2012 The American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.) | <urn:uuid:f7b91199-4ede-4155-b6de-2150de30ac9d> | {
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Regular reports of heated oil fumes in cockpits and cabins has led one European government to press for common standards to deal with associated health risks
There have been regular crew reports of airborne incidents in which cockpit and cabin air has been contaminated with engine oil fumes. This is particularly true in Germany, which has a respected system of compulsory safety reporting, but it is a universal issue with reports being filed by pilots in UK and US airlines, among others.
Because jet engine oil contains organophosphates that can be harmful to human health, the German government is pressing the European Commission to set common standards for dealing with the risk heated oil fumes pose by entering the cabin when engine oil seals leak. The fumes are introduced to the cockpit and cabin because air is continually drawn from the engine compressors for air-conditioning and pressurisation.
A higher level of sustained interest in cabin "fume events" by German news media compared with press elsewhere in Europe has contributed to a higher incidence of crew awareness there, hence increased levels of reporting. Nevertheless, Germany's aviation authority has voiced concerns that incidents of this type are still under-reported. Consistent German media interest is also likely to be a factor in the relatively high level of political involvement in the subject, up to German transport minister Peter Ramsauer, who has called for combined European action to eliminate or reduce the risk. | <urn:uuid:597efabe-f05e-40aa-ab92-d6f325358f00> | {
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How many lightbulbs does it take to change a Christian?
New guide gives green tips for individuals, their communities and their churches
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has endorsed a booklet published today that encourages Christians to play their part in helping to stop climate change.
Aiming to counter the idea that stark warnings on the state of the environment seem too colossal for individuals to make any real difference, the book – called How many lightbulbs does it take to change a Christian? - argues that Christians not only can have an impact by adapting their lifestyle, but actually have a moral duty to do so.
The Archbishop comments: “There are many small steps that each of us can take to lighten the load on our planet and this guide gives some practical examples of where each of us can start. I commend it to all Christians looking for ideas and inspiration on what they can do to make a positive difference for the environment.”
The pocket-sized guide suggests a huge range of practical actions to help churches and their members ‘go green’, including:
- Organise a car-sharing scheme for travelling to and from Sunday worship
- Book some holiday time from work - but cut transport emissions by staying locally and rediscover the interesting features of the neighbourhood
- Use the toaster rather than the grill when making toast to conserve energy
- Help a churchyard become a 'green lung' for the community by setting aside a ‘wild area’
- Review any floodlighting the church has and whether the bulbs are energy-efficient and directed at the building rather than the sky
- Sign up to stop receiving wasteful junk mail.
The new booklet is part of the Church’s Shrinking the Footprint campaign, a response to the General Synod’s charge to the Church to engage with climate change and work on reducing its carbon emissions by 2008. At the launch of the Shrinking the Footprint in 2005, the Archbishop of Canterbury argued: “For the Church of the 21st Century, good ecology is not an optional extra but a matter of justice. It is therefore central to what it means to be a Christian.”
Care for God's creation is deeply embedded in Christian tradition and scripture, and this full-colour 64-page booklet aims to suggest ideas for taking action that not only helps stem energy and resource usage, but that sends a message to political leaders that the Church is taking this issue seriously. The practical suggestions are laid out in eight key themes, which each tackle ways of easing pressure on the environment by identifying ideas for action within individuals’ lives, churches, and communities, making the booklet ideal for both personal reading and use as a group study resource.
Written by Claire Foster, national policy adviser on environmental issues for the Church of England, and David Shreeve, co-founder of The Conservation Foundation and environmental adviser to the Church of England, the booklet is a mine for fresh ideas and contains details of websites and other recommended sources of further information for churches or individuals wishing to explore the issues.
How many lightbulbs does it take to change a Christian? (ISBN 978-07151-4127-4) is priced £4.99 and available from Christian bookshops including Church House Bookshop, 31 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BN, tel. 020 7799 4064, email [email protected], or on the web (mail order available). | <urn:uuid:33d75c8d-69c6-44f5-a52b-1951e480ff7f> | {
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During the election campaign, we analysed the main party manifestos across over 160 statements and policies. The purpose: to help voters find their best match and have their say on the key issues. In doing so we could also show how much the parties agreed or disagreed with each other. You can compare them individually here.
In the graph below each dot is two parties. Top left shows high agreement, bottom right shows strong disagreement. The bigger the dot the more issues we could compare.
A hung Parliament is where no one party has an overall majority. The maths isn’t quite as straightforward as you’d think, even if a party has more seats than anyone else. There are two key reasons for this. Irish Republican party, Sinn Fein, do not attend or vote in Westminster, this lessens the number of seats over all. Secondly, there are more left of centre parties than right-of-centre. If enough left of centre parties can work together it makes it harder for a Conservative government to pass bills and legislation. Hence why it’s good to see how much and where each party agrees.
What this graph doesn’t show is the Northern Irish parties, including the DUP and UUP who are both right of centre, Unionists supportive of the Conservative party. The UUP lost their only two seats in the election and the DUP gained two seats taking their total to 10. The Conservatives needed 326 seats to win, they have 316. So even with help from the DUP they would only have a majority of 1. The BBC has a good break down of the results.
You can still participate if you’d like to have your say on the issues and guide the new MPs towards the world you’d like to see. We will be sending the results to all the new MPs in the next few weeks to show what voters care about in detail, so your voice DOES count: | <urn:uuid:d53f5dfe-7892-4886-8398-57b32d61e789> | {
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Towards Fusion Power: 3D Plasma Simulation in Stellarators and Tokamaks
Efficient plasma confinement is the main challenge that has to be solved on the way towards fusion power plants that work like miniature stars on Earth. The most common approach to do this is inside of a tokamak, torus-shaped devices with powerful magnet coils which have become ever more sophisticated and large, up to the enormous 20 billion dollar ITER project currently under construction. Scientists around the world are looking at multiple methods of bringing the stars down to earth, and one of the main alternatives is known as a stellarator. Algorithms and computer software to calculate the complex plasma behavior and optimize the configuration of the devices are required for both methods as well.
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The stellarator, like the tokamak, uses magnetic fields to control hot plasmas in which fusion reactions can be created to produce energy. Where it differs is in the way these fields are created. To confine the plasma, it is necessary to put a twist in the magnetic field. The tokamak drives an electric current through the plasma to produce this twist. With the stellarator, the twist is provided by twisted magnetic coils outside of the plasma. Stellarators have actually been around for longer than tokamaks, dating back to the early 1950s, but the challenges of building such intricate machines have slowed progress. However, the construction of the advanced W 7-X stellarator at Greifswald in Germany is set to change all that, with assembly due for completion this year, first tests in 2014 and first plasma expected for 2015.
There is some crossover between the two paths. Both tokamaks and stellarators are part of the European Fusion Development Agreement's research programme. Physicists working on the compact MAST tokamak at Culham are now taking advantage of computer codes written by stellarator researchers to develop 3D plasma models. They explain that "computerized models allow scientists to match theories about plasma behavior to real experiments. The new 3D models give a much fuller understanding of what is happening inside the plasma than the 2D versions that have been used up till now, in analyzing the results of experiments where extra external magnetic coils are applied to the plasma." CCFE theoretical physicist Christopher Ham explains:
Luckily, it is not as difficult as you might think to transfer the complicated mathematics of stellarators to tokamaks. Once the differences in geometry have been accounted for, they translate well. Researcher Tony Cooper of Switzerland's CRPP institute has already adapted the VMEC stellarator code – which produces plasma models like the one opposite – to a number of tokamaks, including MAST.
“Stellarators are naturally 3D in nature, and codes like VMEC have been written to map this,” continues Christopher Ham. “So it makes sense to use these ready-made codes, which have been tried and tested over 30 years, for devices like MAST. Without them we'd be starting from scratch, which would be a massive effort. The expertise of our friends in stellarator research is saving us a lot of time and trouble.”
Christopher and colleagues Ian Chapman and Samuli Saarelma have taken on Tony Cooper's initial work and find it is already opening up new possibilities. One example is the study of Edge Localised Modes (ELMs), harmful instabilities that take energy out of the plasma, impeding the tokamak's performance. MAST has special magnetic coils that control ELMs by changing the magnetic field at the plasma edge. 3D modelling can show what effect the coils are having in all regions of the machine.
“Often we want to know why a particular coil configuration does what it does,” says Christopher Ham. “How does the edge of the plasma move in and out as you go around MAST? And how does this change the stability? These are questions we can only answer in 3D.”
An added benefit of the software project has been the chance to forge stronger links with the stellarator community – Christopher has been working particularly closely with counterparts in Germany and the United States.
“There is increasing interest in working together internationally,” he says. “I hope this continues – we can learn a lot from each other, and in the end fusion research will be the winner.” | <urn:uuid:8de36f39-8b4d-4e2b-8bdc-e199e8f121c0> | {
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By Karen Henschen
The FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s (FWRI) Red Tide Monitoring Program was officially launched in May 2000. Local citizens were recruited to monitor blooms of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism in offshore waters along Florida’s west coast. Red tide events were known to frequent southwest Florida, and a plan was needed to help coordinate monitoring efforts offshore during species population formation. Today, sampling efforts have extended beyond offshore southwest Florida. The program’s primary goals now are to provide increased coverage for the early detection of K. brevis and other harmful algal blooms (HAB’s) in offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as alongshore beaches, inshore waters and coastal bays. This added coverage of volunteers in all coastal counties allows researchers to provide early warning to coastal residents in the area, continue lab research, and predict seasonal events.
Because of limited state personnel, boats and other resources, the program relies on all kinds of volunteers including charter boat captains, commercial fishermen, school groups, university researchers and students, marine animal rescue centers, divers, private citizens, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and collaborating partners. Sampling and shipping supplies are provided for each volunteer by Karen Henschen, program coordinator. Karen sends out over 200 sampling bottles to volunteers every week. Bottles are readily available when volunteers go out on a recreational excursion, charter fishing trip, pier or dock fishing, or research field work. Karen coordinates participants from a network of volunteers associated with other environmental partners to share bloom information. In 2016, there are over 300 volunteers collecting 1,200/year in 31 coastal counties. The first sample arrived at the FWRI microscopy lab facility in the summer of 2006, and within those years there has been over 11,000 samples collected. This is a true testament to the dedication and importance of everyone who has participated in this program over the years.
Strong winds, rough seas, or dark of night did not keep Red Tide Monitoring volunteers from water sampling during red tide blooms through the years. Karen also works closely with the FWC Fish Kill Hotline to help determine environmental concerns during marine animal mortality events. Once the volunteer collected samples are received by FWRI staff, they are examined under a microscope and species are identified and counted. Additional HAB species information is recorded at certain sites to help evaluate long-term trends in species composition and shifts in dominant groups (diatoms versus dinoflagellates). The field and lab observation provide a valuable snapshot of the phytoplankton community. This information is immediately used as necessary to guide additional sample collection in areas of concern. The results are reported to the appropriate state managers through the FWC/FWRI Red Tide Status Report, and the data is archived into the HAB Historical Database. State managers and scientists can use this information to better understand HAB species, and the conditions they occur in Florida coastal waters. In fact, many of the certified shellfish growers in Florida voluntarily collect water samples and conduct the field observations because this valuable information helps them manage their harvest activities to ensure the safety of their product. Their data are also used to provide critical ground truth to confirm bloom location seen from satellite imagery provided by USF Optical Oceanography Lab.
Each participant’s contribution is essential to piecing together a picture of the distribution of toxic phytoplankton along the Florida coast. With that understanding appropriate agencies and the public can be alerted of potential harmful algal blooms, and take the necessary precautions. This program succeeds because of these community partnerships that make expanded coastal coverage possible. The time and efforts they give to sampling and red tide event response is invaluable to scientists at FWC. Karen also recruits new volunteers daily in order to help cover Florida coastal waters during non-bloom events to help determine normal environmental conditions.
Scientists are still struggling to understand what causes blooms, to predict their occurrence and to find a way to lessen their impact. Early detection by volunteers is forecasting critical component in scientists’ efforts to better understand harmful algal blooms. | <urn:uuid:f9cabf46-6b65-4e51-bbaa-6b55b3a614b0> | {
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Carbon Week: The Pros and Cons of Carbon Offsets
With the rise to prominence of global warming as a subject and recognized problem, ideas for solutions for solving the problem have been quick to follow; while buzzwords such as “cap and trade”, “carbon sequestration” and the like dominate government proposals, carbon offsets have generated the most buzz on the individual level. The idea is simple: by calculating your carbon footprint (a subject we covered here [www.sundance.tv]), you can use that information to essentially “offset” that footprint by investing in any number of alternative energy or carbon sequestration projects (get a quick primer at Wikipedia’s carbon offset entry [en.wikipedia.org]. Your investment in that project then theoretically insures a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, usually either by an increase in absorption of greenhouse gases or creation of an equivalent amount of clean energy. To be clear: carbon offsets don’t prevent your emissions-creating behavior (flying, driving, heating your home, etc.) from creating emissions; they’re a way to either take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (like with extra carbon dioxide-absorbing trees planted) or insure that more emissions don’t enter the atmosphere in the future (as with clean energy investments). Generally speaking, more trees and more clean energy are both good things, but offsets have generated a good bit of controversy in the green community as well. To work this out, we’ll take a quick peek at the pros and cons of carbon offsets.
The pros: carbon offsets help reduce carbon dioxide emitted from the electrical grid by creating more energy from wind, solar, biogas and other clean, alternative forms, and no matter how you slice it, more of this is a good thing. More clean energy production means less dirty energy going into the grid; in the long run, that’s less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and a slow-down in the warming of the globe. Similarly, offset projects that plant trees help absorb the superfluous carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and more trees also help preserve biodiversity, reduce soil erosion and flooding and provide shade (reducing the need for air conditioning and such). As such, carbon offsets help reduce your carbon footprint while helping fund clean energy and other planet-friendly projects. Offsets are not perfect, but they are sure better than nothing, and definitely a step in the right direction.
The downside of offsets is an interesting study in green sociology and psychology, with a little fuzzy math and greenwashing thrown in for good measure. Detractors worry that offsets enable “dirty” behavior like excessive driving, airplane flying, etc., with the thought that “it’s okay if I continue to pollute; I’ll just offset my footprint later.” These concerns are further compounded by a lack of governmental oversight or standardization for the process; this allows just about anyone to begin a “carbon offset” program and makes some offset-offering non-profits and companies better than others without a clear, standardized guide to who does it well. One company might offer to offset a ton of CO2 for $8 and another for $12; what’s the difference, and, perhaps more importantly, where does your money go? It’s difficult to tell, in some cases, especially from a consumer level, because some non-profits and companies are better at marketing than others. The bottom line is this: global warming will not be solved by carbon offsets alone. It’s important to realize that they are not a magic solve-all: at best, offsets are a piece of the carbon-reducing lifestyle puzzle; at worst, they are a placebo, enabling pollution-creating behavior while not fully doing the job they are intended.
TreeHugger tries to balance the two sides: they can be helpful, but the best thing to do is be more efficient and not create the emissions in the first place. That said, nobody is perfect, and there comes a point where we all have to climb behind the wheel, hop on a plane, or buy carbon-intensive products (like fossil fuel-created energy to heat and light your house); when cutting back isn’t an option, carbon offsets can help you clean up any loose ends that reducing usage and increasing efficiency can’t cover.
This is really the tip of the carbon offset iceberg; there are myriad other opinions and ideas on the topic. TreeHugger’s editor sums up his thoughts here [www.treehugger.com], and though he isn’t speaking for TreeHugger as a whole, does a pretty thorough job of weighing the pros and cons. Green business guru and all-around green smart guy Joel Makower gives his take [makower.typepad.com] on offsets and a report that rates offset providers, and is an excellent next step in the process of understanding how offsets work. If you’ve got an hour or two to kill, click over to TreeHugger [www.treehugger.com] and type “carbon offsets” into the search field to dig deeper into the ins and outs of the topic. Tomorrow, we’ll dive into carbon-responsible products and services. | <urn:uuid:e89d936d-f6b8-445b-9ebb-de42236c5ff7> | {
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Follow this link for full text
Date of publication: December 2016
Publication type: News item
In a nutshell: U.S. researchers ran a simulation of what might happen if all Americans over 50 years old took aspirin on a daily basis. Their results found that people would live about four months longer on average, adding 900,000 people to the US population by 2036.
The study was designed to demonstrate the possible long-term effects of more people taking aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Length of publication: 1 webpage
Some important notes: Please contact your local NHS library if you cannot access the full text. Follow this link to find your local NHS library.
Acknowledgement: NHS Choices: Behind the Headlines | <urn:uuid:6916b853-fd76-4fbf-9b81-f235f2d0c7ba> | {
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What Are Guinea Pigs Allergic To?
Although guinea pigs are becoming more popular as pets, not all vets and pet-sitters know what they are allergic to. It is therefore up to you as guinea pig guardian to know. Here are the main allergens:
This popular antibacterial is natural and gentle enough for babies and puppies, but not guinea pigs. It makes them itch. Even products with a small percentage of aloe vera will irritate a piggy's skin so much they will scratch themselves open. This was discovered only a few years ago, so any older books that recommend aloe vera gel for guinea pigs are wrong.
Cedar is a cheap and widely available bedding often touted for guinea pigs. However, they are allergic to the oils in cedar bedding. Over time, they will develop health problems in their internal organs. Some will immediately get skin rashes from it.
Chocolate will make guinea pigs very sick, if it doesn't kill them. They just can't handle it. You probably already know this, but anyone visiting may not. Guinea pigs tend to explore the world with their mouths, so they will nibble on a proffered piece.
Guinea pigs will argue with you about this, as they do love the taste, however, iceberg lettuce is the least nutritious of lettuces and can cause painful digestive problems. It is also thought that iceberg lettuce may contribute to kidney problems, so stick with the Romaine.
Pine was considered the premium guinea pig bedding until a few years ago, when it was proven that not only can it bring about liver damage with long term use, but it's also a home for mites that not only bother small animals, but can make pet owners itch, too.
Just as it would with a human who is allergic, penicillin will kill unless an antidote is administered in time. Death is usually by diarrhea, as all of the good bacteria in the digestive system is killed off. As most other pets are not allergic to penicillin, it couldn't hurt to gently remind your vet.
Other Medications to Avoid
- amoxicillin (Clavamox)
- cephalexin * (derivative: Cefadroxil) | <urn:uuid:5fda49e5-cdb5-4026-930c-77b1fd680e7e> | {
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Liturgy: the Lessons
So far in the divine worship service the congregation has been the primary speakers, opening their lips in prayer and praise. At this point the congregation falls silent and our Lord himself speaks to us. We open our ears and hearts to his life giving words spoken through the Lessons.
We typically read three lessons in our worship (see page 67 in our Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary). The Old Testament lesson points to the coming of the Savior and the Epistle (Greek: ‘letter’) and Gospel lessons indicate its fulfillment in Christ. The Gospel reading always sets the theme for the day.
The readings for the whole year are organized in a calendar called a ‘lectionary.’ In general the Gospel readings from the first half of the church year give the steps in the development of our Lord’s life on earth. The second half presents a selection of his parables, miracles, and teachings that relate to the development of the Christian’s life of faith on earth.
Public worship from the days of the Jewish synagogue has provided some sort of musical interlude between the readings. In the synagogue this was a psalm sung between the readings. In the Christian church, this psalm was connected to an alleluia refrain (Hebrew: ‘praise the Lord’). It was called a ‘gradual’ because it was sung while the pastor stood on the step (Latin: ‘gradus’) below the altar. The Gradual is sung after the first lesson and the Alleluia after the second. The cantatas of J. S. Bach and other composers were written to be sung at this point in the service. In modern days this music is often dropped in order to fit into an hour-long worship limit. Likewise one of the three readings is today moved to be read at the time of the sermon instead of here.
The reading of the Gospel lesson is the liturgical summit of the first half of the service. The standing of the people in reverence and honor for its reading is one of the most ancient and universal ceremonies of the divine service.
Brief history of the lectionary practice
The lectionary practice developed first in the Jewish synagogues. Their services regularly had readings from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus launched his teaching career one such occasion by reading a few verses from the book of Isaiah and then explaining how it related to himself (Luke 4:16-21). St. Paul instructed the young pastor Timothy to continue this practice in the New Testament churches (1 Timothy 4:13).
In the first few centuries after Christ, worshipers read large pieces from the letters of the apostles and from the Gospels, “as long as time permits” according to Justin Martyr (from about A.D. 150). The three great festivals of the year—Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost—were the first to have definite lessons assigned to them, and eventually that practice spread throughout all the Sundays of the year.
Charlemagne (A.D. 800) largely firmed up the selections of readings, but minor differences in the lessons existed all the way up until Pope Pius V in 1570 prescribed a single order for the Roman church. This was a one-year cycle of lessons and contained only Gospel and Epistle readings. The Old Testament lesson was added back to the liturgy in the 1940s.
The practice of reading short paragraphs in the church service assumes that the people know the larger biblical stories and themes from reading them at home. That may not be the case. So beginning in the 1960s, other lectionaries were developed in the Christian church that contain more selections. Many of these lectionaries are arranged in three-year cycles to accommodate this larger number of readings. | <urn:uuid:4c846a48-03c8-4d33-852c-04e1af11c1c0> | {
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CAP THAT! is a national awareness campaign encouraging teachers to simply turn on captions in the classroom for learning and literacy for all students.
Who needs captions?
One in three students in Australia can benefit from captions1 [Cap that! statistics].
- Approximately 12,000 Deaf or hearing impaired2 [Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children]
- More than 600,000 English as Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D)
- Over 800,000 other diagnose learning needs, e.g. dyslexia, ADHD3 [Everyday with ADHD], autism spectrum4 [Mindful research]
Discovery Kids Australia – captions help literacy video
Robert Irwin explains how to watch your favourite Discovery Kids shows with captions, so you can see what your favourite characters are saying too! Discovery Kids is 100% closed captioned, so you won't miss anything by switching the captions on and reading along. | <urn:uuid:d64ab727-906a-44c9-a207-ae1cfaf5a019> | {
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I had a doctor tell me recently that I should go and get a CT scan of my heart to look for a "runner's lesion." He said if found, it could prevent me from running. Is there any cause for concern or validity to his claim?
I am going to assume the “runner’s lesion” is an atherosclerotic plaque in left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery, which is also referred to as the “widow maker.” The lesion is called the widow maker because it is often silent, that is, there are no angina symptoms to warn a runner of underlying coronary artery disease. A cardiac CT scan can detect “hard” plaque and an MRa (magnetic resonance angiogram) can detect both “hard” and “soft” plaque. Most recommendations to have this type of test are based on calculated risk for a cardiac event in the next 5 to 10 years. One of the dilemmas facing physicians and patients is what to do with positive findings from tests like this in an asymptomatic runner.
We have been tracking cardiac events at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and the TC 10 mile races. While the number of cardiac arrests is very small, all have been men and several have involved the LAD. Fortunately, the medical team has been able to respond quickly with our rapid response plan and several of the runners have survived their cardiac event. All had acute LAD ruptures and were in by-pass surgery before the last runner crossed the finish line for the day.
The risk factors for coronary artery disease are family history (especially males under age 55 and females under age 65), smoking, hypertension, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, diabetes, or prior cardiac events. Heart risk calculators combine these variables along with age and sex to produce a number representing an individual risk for the next 5-10 years. This risk assessment can be used to help with strategies to reduce risk over time like diagnostic imaging and medication use (for example the use of statins for cholesterol reduction).
So what to do with your physician’s recommendation? If the suggestion to do a cardiac CT is based on your status as a “runner,” I would probably not recommend the study. If the suggestion is based on risk factors and an elevated future risk, I might consider the study. However, it would be important to determine what you will do with the information once you have it. If you find a 50 percent LAD lesion, what will you do with that? Will you consider some form of intervention or will you follow up with another study in a year or two. Unfortunately, there are no clear guidelines or evidence-based protocols to rely on for managing the findings of this type of study.
I hope this helps.
Have a question for the Sports Doc? Email him at [email protected]. NOTE: Due to the volume of mail, we regret that Dr. Roberts cannot answer every email. | <urn:uuid:f6112715-be6f-4981-a5cf-1285deba973c> | {
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The illusion was discovered accidentally by Sean C Murphy, along with colleagues Jason M Tangen and Matthew B Thompson.
According to the abstract:
We describe a novel face distortion effect resulting from the fast-paced presentation of eye-aligned faces. When cycling through the faces on a computer screen, each face seems to become a caricature of itself and some faces appear highly deformed, even grotesque. The degree of distortion is greatest for faces that deviate from the others in the set on a particular dimension (eg if a person has a large forehead, it looks particularly large). This new method of image presentation, based on alignment and speed, could provide a useful tool for investigating contrastive distortion effects and face adaptation.
Follow the instructions accompanying the video and see for yourself. | <urn:uuid:33a04621-e2a6-49cc-8491-67650ff35c2d> | {
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- Pierre Roger
Entered the Benedictine monastery of La Chaise-Dieu at Haute-Loire, France at age 10. Studied at the University of Paris. Professor. Prior of Saint-Baudile monastery at Nimes, France. Abbot of Fecamp in Normandy, France. Bishop of Arras, France and chancellor of France in 1328. Archbishop of Sens, France in 1329. Archbishop of Rouen, France. Created cardinal in 1338 by Pope Benedict XII. Elected Pope in 1342 with his court in Avignon, France which he purchased in 1348 from Joanna I of Naples and Provence on 9 June 1348.
During a major outbreak the Black Death from 1348 to 1350; Clement did what he could for sufferers. He fought the wave of anti-Semitism brought on by the plague, and helped protect Jews. Fought with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV over the annulment of Margaret Maultasch’s marriage, but was chosen a “Knight of Rome”. Condemned the Flagellants. Defended the Mendicant friars in 1351 against the accusations of secular prelates. Clement spent extravagantly, held an elegant court, patronized artists, favored his relatives, and was pro-French in all matters; most of the 25 cardinals he created were French, and 12 were his relatives.
- 6 December 1352 at Avignon, France of natural causes
- buried at La Chaise-Dieu monastery
- grave desecrated and his remains burned by Huguenots in 1562
- “Pope Clement VI“. CatholicSaints.Info. 20 October 2015. Web. 30 March 2017. <> | <urn:uuid:aa4717b4-4478-4208-aead-a82774791dad> | {
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As Catholics (as well as Eastern Orthodox), we are often faced with the question ‘Why does your Bible have more books?’ or more often than not we get the anti-Catholic version, ‘Why did the Catholic Church add seven books to the Bible?’ Well in this article I will show you why the real question is ‘why are protestants missing seven books from the bible?’
It is important we first clarify the books we are talking about, and they are known as the deuterocanon, or for protestants, as the apocrypha. These are essentially seven prophetic old testament scriptures that were used by Greek speaking Jews.
In order to answer this question we will look at the following in turn:
- What are these books?
- Where does the list of the Old Testament come from?
- Why the protestant bible (sometimes) has less books?
- Why the Catholic Bible is the full Bible.
- Why Catholics and Protestants cannot deny the deuterocanon without denying the entire New Testament.
What are these books?
The seven books that make up the deuterocanon are as follows:
- 1 and 2 Maccabees
- as well as longer versions of Daniel and Esther
These books make up what is known as the deuterocanon, the word deuterocanon is made from the word deutero- which means secondary, and canon- which to us Christians means inspired scripture. This word does not mean these scriptures are of any less value, we use this word because these books were contested in some circles, but long ago were made secure in the Old Testament.
Where does the list of the Old Testament come from?
At the time of Christ, the Palestinian Jews had not yet ‘closed’ the canon of the scripture. Although it is agreed the earlier books were decided upon, Genesis, the books of the Law, and the Major Prophets; the scriptures that were to make up the Minor Prophets had not been set in stone by Palestinian Jews.
Just like there are different groups of Christians today, there were different groups of Jews, one being the Hellenistic or Greek-speaking Jews who came from Alexandria. The Old Testament of the Alexandrian Jews is known as the Septuagint, and it contained the deuterocanocal texts, and become the canon of Jewish scripture for all Greek-speaking nations.
The Septuagint was first mentioned in about 275BC when Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt, made a request to the High Priest of Jerusalem for the Jewish Scriptures in Greek in order to be in good graces with the Jews who made up almost two-fifths of the kingdom.
At the time of Christ the deteuterocanon were widely accepted as inspired books of scripture.
Why the protestant bible (sometimes) has less books?
In 90AD, the Jewish Council of Jamnia was held in order to settle the dispute on the Canon of Scripture for Jewish people. As we know at this time, the Alexandrian Jews regarded the deuteros as canon, and it has also been suggested by historians that before this time the Palestinian scriptures may also have included the deuteros. Either way the council ruled that these books were non-canonical.
It is suggested that once the early Christian Church had began treating the deuterocanon as inspired scripture, the Jerusalem scribes (Palestinian Jews who held the seat of authority) placed a ban on them, in an attempt to separate itself from the Hellenistic Jews largeness of spirt, and in this manner, distance themselves from Christians.
The question remains, how did the protestants end up with seven less books in the bible (when the early Church as shown in the next section included them)?
Skip to the 1500’s, a heretical monk known as Luther began to engage in discussion with faithful Christians, regarding Purgatory. In 1519, Luthers opponent Eck, cited a well known scripture in 2 Maccabees in proof of the doctrine of purgatory. In order to avoid the argument, Luther declared that 2 Maccabees was not canonical, even though the Church had previously declared otherwise. Luther decided that the Old Testament most likely used by Christ and the apostles, used by the early Church was wrong, and that he preferred to use the Canon determined by the same Jews who had Jesus put to death.
Later protestants didnt really know what to do with the deuterocanonical books, sometimes they were in their bible as an appendix, other times not at all. Some such as the Anglicans were using them in their liturgy, while other protestants rejected them outright.
Why the Catholic Bible is the full Bible.
All the deuteros are used in the works of the early Church Fathers in the first 3 centuries after Christ. Christ himself was a Greek speaking Jew and most likely used the Old Testament that contained the seven deuterocanonical books. As early as 380AD in a synod convoked by Pope Damasus, all the deuterocanonicals were declared inspired scripture, and again at the Council of Hippo in 393AD.
Either Christ, the apostles, the early Church fathers, and the Councils of the ealy Church got it wrong, and was wrong for 1500 years, or the alternative is true. They are canonical, and Christ, the early apostles, the early Church fathers, and the Councils of the early Church got it right.
Why Catholics and Protestants cannot deny the deuterocanon without denying the entire New Testament.
No where does the Bible tell us what books are to make up the Bible. At the time of the early Church which New Testament writings which would make up the Bible were disputed, it was undecided that of which of the scriptures were inspired by God. Until the synod convoked by Pope Damasus, and again at the Council of Hippo, when the Bishops gathered to determine which scriptures were inspired in the late 300’s. The same councils that declared the deuterocanon as inspired by God.
If we reject these councils and say that they were wrong in determining the deuterocanon was inspired, and hence were not infallible in determining inspired scripture, then the entire New Testament could be wrong.
We are left with two options:
- Either the Catholic Church was infallible, and was right in determining what scriptures were inspired, or;
- The Catholic Church was not infallible, and hence we have no way of knowing if the books in the Bible from the New Testament are meant to be there.
The answer is clear. The deuterocanonical books belong in the Bible.
I look forward to any comments or questions.
For an in-depth look into this area see the New Advent Encyclopaedia article ‘The Canon of the Old Testament.‘ | <urn:uuid:11127618-3cff-45c9-bbd6-69a310c9ac0f> | {
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Since all language tutorials start with a "Hello World" program, this one will too.
#!/usr/bin/lua print ("Hello World!")
Any person familiar with Unix shell scripting should recognize the first line. It simply tells the shell to call the /usr/bin/lua program to execute the following lines. Note that is isn't actually a part of a Lua program, but only necessary if you plan to run the program as a shell script.
The second line displays the text "Hello World!" on the screen. If you are familiar with other programming languages, you may notice that the newline character (\n) is missing. Lua's print command automatically adds the newline for you, much like Java's println function.
If you're a C programmer, you might be disturbed that the print statement is not ended in a semicolon. Don't be too disturbed, because semicolons (and parenthesis for that matter) are completely optional in Lua.
Printing lines of text is great, but most of the time our programs need to be a little more useful. One common task of many programs is reading input from the user, so let's expand our program to do just that.
#!/usr/bin/lua write ("What is your name? ") name = read () print ("Hello " .. name)
The first line uses the write statement, which we haven't seen before. write has exactly the same functionality as print, but does not automatically print a newline at the end of the statement.
The second line reads a string from the terminal and places it in the variable name. It may be important to note that when reading a string, the newline character is stripped from the end before being sent to the variable.
Variables in Lua are dynamically typed, which means that the variables themselves do not have a type, but the values they hold have a type. In this case, the value stored in name by read is a string. Values can have one of six types in Lua: nil, number, string, function, userdata, and table
The third line prints out a message to the person whose name was just entered. The .. operator is the string concatenation operator in Lua. Since name contains a string, the result is that the entered name is printed after "Hello " on the screen.
Our little program does its job well, but what if we want to add a customized greeting for a certain individual? Let's add a little bit more to the program to add a special message for someone named "Randal".
#!/usr/bin/lua write ("What is your name? ") name = read("*l") if name == "Randal" then print ("Hello, Randal! How good of you to be here!") else print ("Hello " .. name .. "!") -- ordinary greeting end
No real surprises here, but this example shows nicely how conditional statements work in Lua. if statements are simple. If the condition (between if and then) is true, then every line between then and the next else, elseif, or end statement is executed. Between an if/end pair, any number of elseif/then statements can be inserted, and up to one else statement. The else statement is executed only if none of the previous specified conditions are true. When end is reached, normal program execution resumes.
This listing also demonstrates another important feature of Lua: comments. In Lua, everything after "--" on a single line is considered a comment and is not processed by the interpreter. Most programmers insert comments around code that is difficult to understand or they may need to come back to later.
Now our program can recognize a specific user. The program is not very useful in a real world situation yet, but let's change that. Let's suppose we wanted to use the program as a sort of login manager. We want people named "Randal" to have access, but anyone else that wants to get in has to guess a secret word.
#!/usr/bin/lua secretword = "llama" -- the secret word write ("What is your name? ") name = read ("*l") if name == "Randal" then print ("Hello, Randal! How good of you to be here!") else print ("Hello " .. name .. "!") -- ordinary greeting write ("What is the secret word? ") guess = read ("*l") while guess ~= secretword do write ("Wrong, try again. What is the secret word? ") guess = read ("*l") end end | <urn:uuid:2bdf1f28-63ea-4884-b4d6-219025b57c8b> | {
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The United Nations has welcomed as "an important step" the renewed commitment of the five states bordering the Caspian Sea to protects its marine environment.
Caspian Sea from space (NASA, 2003) -- see high resolution
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 and a volume of 78,200 km3. It is in an endorheic basin (it has no outflows) and is bounded to the north by Russia, to the south by Iran, western Azerbaijan, and eastern Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. (View Map)
The UN Environmental Program (UNEP) said that Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan had reached a crucial milestone by adopting and signing one more protocol to the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, also known as the Tehran Convention.
The new protocol, UNEP explained, addresses one of the major ecological threats to the Caspian: pollution derived from land-based sources, such as agriculture and industry.
Ministers from the five Caspian littoral states agree the additional protocol at talks in Moscow earlier this week.
Copyright (c) 2012 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org | <urn:uuid:7b939643-2a27-4e28-a5c3-4270f8c7faef> | {
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This Isn't Your Granny Smith's Harvesting Technology
In West Michigan, it's apple harvest time. That may conjure up images of picturesque orchards and old-fashioned fun: growers harvesting apples and then selecting them by hand.
Robotic arms, computer vision and high-resolution photography are helping Michigan growers wash, sort and package apples at top speeds in the business — think 2,000 apples per minute.
With this modern technology, farmers are expanding production and getting Galas and Ginger Golds from Michigan orchards to grocery stores faster and more cheaply.
That's especially important during bumper crop years like 2013, when Michigan apple growers are expected to bring in a potentially record-setting 30 million bushels.
Rob Steffens, an apple grower on West Michigan's fertile "fruit ridge," has about 280 acres of orchards northwest of Grand Rapids. He packs 800 to a 1,000 apple trees into each acre, which is about three times as many trees as his father grew on the land.
With so many new trees, Steffens and other Michigan growers needed a way to process all those extra apples faster and more cheaply.
So Steffens pooled his resources with six other farmers to build a $7 million apple packing plant. It's where his apples are sorted, washed, waxed and readied for shipping to grocery stores.
Wooden crates with "Steffens" stamped on them stack up against one wall in the warehouse. A machine picks up the crates and dumps the apples onto a sort of water conveyor belt. The three-foot-wide river of bobbing apples moves quickly, as a machine sorts the fruit.
Then the apples go through a tunnel filled with flashing lights.
"Really, this is the brains of that," Steffens says, as he points to the tunnel. "This takes a picture of each apple — I think it's between 25 and 29 times a second."
The computer then forms a 3D model of each apple so it can figure out the fruit's size, color and quality. The apples are sorted by weight and color in a fraction of a second. Bruised or misshapen apples are rejected.
"See, and it's kicking out fruit like this," Steffens says as he points to a blemish no bigger than a dime on the skin of one of the rejected apples.
The high-tech machine means the growers can process and pack way more fruit with the same amount of workers. On a typical day, the machine can scan almost 2,000 apples a minute.
"It's processing at an astonishing rate," says horticulturist Randy Beaudry, at Michigan State University.
But this new technology, he says, is what Michigan apple growers need to compete with other states.
"If, for instance, a large box store says, 'OK, we want fruit that are between 2.5 and 2.75 inches.' And they want them 80 percent red with coloration. And they want zero defects — Michigan growers can get that fruit," he says. "And they can do it within a few hours time."
Each year, Michigan is typically only behind Washington and New York state in terms of apple bushels. That has a lot to do with good weather and luck. But it's also because growers have been changing their orchards. Growers have been ripping out older, taller apple trees and replacing them with smaller ones, Beaudry says.
"The trees are shorter. They're closer together," he says. "We create what we call fruiting walls. That's a relatively recent innovation, but it's part of a long-term trend to reduce the size of apple trees, so that they're harvested more easily and more efficiently. So we don't need as much labor."
More and more technology is needed to move labor-intensive agricultural products like apples efficiently to market, Beaudry says.
Fortunately for us, the end result still tastes like an old-fashioned Michigan apple in October.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.
For anyone who loves a good apple, October is peak season. Growers in west Michigan are near the height of their apple harvest. This may conjure images of picturesque orchards and old-fashioned fun for some. But modern technologies are playing a bigger role in the business side of the apple harvest.
Michigan Radio's Lindsey Smith visited a packing plant to see first hand how technology help apples go from Michigan farms to grocery stores across the country.
LINDSEY SMITH, BYLINE: Right now it's crunch time for growers like Rob Steffens. He's got 280 acres of apple trees in west Michigan's fertile fruit ridge northwest of Grand Rapids. Steffens walks through a block of stubby Fuji apple trees, the branches are just full of fruit.
ROB STEFFENS: This block here is really going to pick heavy this year. I mean, I don't know if you can see here, Lindsey, this just gorgeous sized fruit on here.
SMITH: Steffens palms a Fuji apple nearly the size of a softball. It's not just the size and color he's impressed with, but the taste, too. Michigan apple growers are expected to bring in a potentially record setting 30 million bushels this year. That has a lot to do with good weather and luck. But it's also because growers have been changing their orchards.
Randy Beaudry studies apples after they're harvested at Michigan State University. He says growers have been ripping out older, taller apple trees and replacing them.
RANDY BEAUDRY: So the trees are shorter, they're closer together. We create what are called fruiting walls, this is a relatively recent innovation, but it's part of a long term trend to reduce the size of apple trees so that they're harvested more easily and more efficiently so we don't need as much labor.
SMITH: Steffens says he's got about 800 to 1,000 apple trees per acre, but when his father ran the orchard, there was only about one-third the trees packed in now. With so many new trees, growers on Michigan's fruit ridge are producing more apples. Technology is helping process the extra apples faster.
Rob Steffens leads the way into a packing plant just a couple of miles away. This is where his apples are sorted, washed, waxed and packaged. He and six other growers nearby went in on this roughly $7 million packaging plant. It opened this summer. Wooden crates with Steffens stamped on the side tower against one wall.
A machine picks up the crates and dumps the apples onto a sort of water conveyor belt. The three-foot wide river of bobbing apples moves quickly as a machine sorts them. Each apple is sorted by weight and color in a fraction of a second. Bruised or misshapen apples are rejected.
STEFFENS: See, it's kicking out fruit like this. It's got a little of that on it.
SMITH: Steffens points out a blemish no bigger than a dime on the skin of one of the rejected apples. The hi-tech machine means that growers can process and pack way more fruit with the same amount of workers. The day I visit, it was scanning almost 2,000 apples a minute.
BEAUDRY: I know, I know. It's processing at an astonishing rate.
SMITH: Again, Michigan State's Randy Beaudry, but he says this new technology is what Michigan apple growers need to compete.
BEAUDRY: If, for instance, a large box store says OK, we want fruit that are between 2 and one-half inches and two and three-quarter inches, OK, they can get that fruit.
SMITH: Beaudry says more and more technology is needed to efficiently move labor intensive agricultural products like apples to market. Fortunately for us, the end result still tastes like an old fashioned Michigan apple in October. For NPR News, I'm Lindsey Smith in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:6f8275fa-b4ab-4644-9487-105cef653232> | {
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A recent REUTERS investigation found that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, (MRSA), is causing thousands of yearly infection-related deaths which are mostly going uncounted, hindering the nation’s ability to fight a REAL epidemic that takes an unfathomable human and financial toll all across America, from newborn infants to the elderly.
MRSA AND OTHER "SUPERBUGS" HAVE CREATED THE REAL EPIDEMIC THAT SHOULD CONCERN US ALL, BUT NO AGENCY IS TRACKING THIS AND NO ONE SEEMS TO WANT TO.
ONE-THIRD OF AMERICANS CARRY MRSA ON THEIR SKIN.
"The Epidemic the US Government Doesn't Talk About"
Sept. 7, 2016
The CDC estimates that about 23,000 people die each year from 17 types of antibiotic-resistant infections and that an additional 15,000 die from Clostridium difficile, a pathogen linked to long-term antibiotic use.
Even when recorded, tens of thousands of deaths from drug-resistant infections go uncounted because federal and state agencies are doing a poor job of tracking them.
The numbers are regularly cited in news reports and scholarly papers, but they are mostly guesswork.
Reuters analyzed the CDC’s math and found that the estimates are based on few actual reported deaths from a drug-resistant infection.
The agency leaned heavily on small samplings of infections and deaths collected from no more than 10 states in a single year, 2011. Most didn’t include populous areas such as Florida, Texas, New York City and Southern California.
THE CDC EVEN ADMITS ITS FAULTY NUMBERS WERE BASICALLY PULLED OUT OF A HAT.
Describing the estimates to Reuters, even CDC officials used words like “jerry-rig,” “ballpark figure” and “a searchlight in the dark attempt.”
Michael Craig, the CDC’s senior adviser for antibiotic resistance coordination and strategy, said the agency, pressured by Congress and the media to produce “the big number,” settled on “an impressionist painting rather than something that is much more technical.”
In a statement emailed to Reuters, CDC officials said they released the 2013 estimates report “despite its limitations because of our profound concern about the seriousness of the threat.”
The agency said it is working on improving its estimates.
The numbers of uncounted deaths from drug-resistant infections “speak to what can happen when we don’t allocate the necessary resources to bolster … our public health safety network,” said Senator Sherrod Brown.
“When we see discrepancies in reporting, are unable to finance a workforce to monitor infections, and can’t even soundly estimate the number of Americans that die from [antibiotic-resistant infections] each year, we know we have a problem.”
The Ohio Democrat recently introduced a bill that would require the CDC to collect more and better data on superbug infections and death rates.
In the absence of a unified national surveillance system, the onus of monitoring drug-resistant infections and related deaths falls on the states.
A Reuters survey of the health departments of all 50 states and the District of Columbia found wide variations in how they track seven leading “superbug” infections – if they do so at all.
Only 17 states require notification of C. difficile infections, for example, while just 26 states and Washington, D.C., do the same for MRSA.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the go-to national public health monitor, and state health departments [CLAIM TO] lack the political, legal and financial wherewithal to impose rigorous surveillance.
[MY NOTE: THEY'RE SURE TRACKING EVERY POSSIBLE CASE OF "ZIKA" AND SEEM TO HAVE PLENTY OF FUNDING FOR THAT, EVEN THOUGH IT HASN'T KILLED ANYONE AND HAS NOT BEEN PROVEN TO EVEN BE THE REAL CAUSE OF MICROCEPHALY.
MAYBE THE CDC DOESN'T WANT TO SHOW NUMBERS FOR MRSA BECAUSE OF THE VERY LEGALITY THING THAT REUTERS MENTIONED?
MAYBE THEY ARE COMPLICIT IN THE NATIONAL COVER-UP SO HOSPITALS DON'T GET SUED OUT OF EXISTENCE?]
Why isn't the CDC or any government agency tracking MRSA deaths?
Reuters suggests one of the main reasons may be LEGAL LIABILITY, the reality that citing MRSA as cause of death could be used to sue hospitals in which patients are getting these infections.
[ANY HOSPITAL WITH A KNOWN AND PUBLISHED LARGE NUMBER OF MRSA INFECTIONS WOULD HAVE TO SHUT DOWN SECTIONS OF THE HOSPITALS WHERE THE MRSA INFECTIONS WERE KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED....OR, IN SOME CASES, MIGHT HAVE TO SHUT DOWN THE HOSPITAL ENTIRELY.
IF MANY CASES WERE REPORTED, A HOSPITAL MIGHT ALSO LOSE ITS "ACCREDITATION".
IT WOULD LOSE INSURANCE PAYMENTS.
EITHER WAY, IT WOULD MEAN A HUGE LOSS OF REVENUE AND A LOSS OF PATIENT TRUST.
AFTER ALL, WHY GO TO A HOSPITAL WITH A LARGE OUTBREAK OF MRSA WHEN OTHER HOSPITALS IN THE AREA REPORT NONE OR FEWER CASES?
IT IS MEDICALLY UNETHICAL NOT TO INFORM SURVIVORS OF THE REAL CAUSE OF THEIR LOVED-ONES DEATHS.]
NEWBORNS AT HIGH RISK
Josiah Cooper-Pope, born 15 weeks premature, did fine in the neonatal intensive care unit for the first 10 days of his life.
Then, suddenly, his tiny body started to swell. Overnight, he grew so distended that his skin split.
His mother, Shala Bowser, said nurses at Chippenham Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, told her that Josiah had an infection and that she should prepare for the worst.
On Sept. 2, 2010, she was allowed to hold him for the first and last time as he took his final breath. He was 17 days old.
What no one at the hospital told Bowser was that her newborn was the fourth baby in the neonatal unit to catch the same infection, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better-known as MRSA.
It would sicken eight more, records show – nearly every baby in the unit – before the outbreak had run its course.
The shock of her son’s death came back to her when, after being contacted by Reuters earlier this year about the outbreak, Bowser went to Virginia’s Division of Vital Records to get a copy of Josiah’s death certificate.
The cause of death: “Sepsis due to (or as a consequence of): Prematurity.”
Sepsis is a complication of infection, but there was no mention of MRSA.
“My heart hurts,” Bowser said, sobbing. “I saw what this did to him. And then they just threw a bunch of words on the death certificate.”
THE 'PRACTICE' OF NOT CITING MRSA AS CAUSE OF DEATH IS RAMPANT, BLATANT.
According to their death certificates, Emma Grace Breaux died at age 3 from complications of the flu;
Joshua Nahum died at age 27 from complications related to a skydiving accident;
and Dan Greulich succumbed to cardiac arrhythmia at age 64 after a combined kidney and liver transplant.
THE ACTUAL CAUSE OF DEATH IN EACH CASE WAS DRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIAL INFECTION.
In each case – and in others Reuters found – death resulted from a drug-resistant bacterial infection contracted while the patients were receiving hospital care, medical records show.
Their death certificates omit any mention of the infections.
As a result, they "miss" people like Natalie Silva of El Paso, Texas, who contracted a MRSA (pronounced MER-suh) infection after giving birth.
She died from infection-related complications nearly a year later, at age 23.
Silva’s sisters fought a successful battle to get the hospital to cite MRSA on her death certificate.
Still, her death went uncounted: The Texas health department doesn’t track deaths like hers from antibiotic-resistant infections, and neither does the CDC.
TO STOP ANY EPIDEMIC ONE MUST FIRST IDENTIFY WHERE THAT EPIDEMIC IS AND HOW IT'S BEING SPREAD!
THE CDC AND STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENTS DO NOT DO THIS.
As America learned in the battle against HIV/AIDS, beating back a dangerous infectious disease requires an accurate count that shows where and when infections and deaths are occurring and who is most at risk. Doing so allows public health agencies to quickly allocate money and manpower where they are needed.
But the United States hasn’t taken the basic steps needed to track drug-resistant infections.
“You need to know how many people are dying of a disease,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, a Washington-based health policy research organization. “For better or worse, that’s an indicator of how serious it is.”
Drug-resistant infections are left off death certificates for several reasons.
~ Doctors and other clinicians get little training in how to fill out the forms.
~ Some don’t want to wait the several days it can take for laboratory confirmation of an infection.
~And an infection’s role in a patient’s death may be obscured by other serious medical conditions.
BUT IS THE MAIN REASON THIS?
There’s also a powerful incentive not to mention a hospital-acquired infection: Counting deaths is tantamount to documenting your own failures. By acknowledging such infections, hospitals and medical professionals risk potentially costly legal liability, loss of insurance reimbursements and public-relations damage.
SOME CLAIM THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF CITING MRSA CASES.
HOW COULD THEY NOT SEE IT AS IMPORTANT?
Doctors and other clinicians also may simply not understand the importance of recording the infections.
Sandy Tarant, the doctor who signed Josiah Cooper-Pope’s death certificate, told Reuters that he thought “it didn’t matter” whether he cited a MRSA infection.
Legally, he’s right.
Most states don’t require doctors to specify whether MRSA was a FACTOR in a death.
Washington and Illinois are exceptions.
EVEN WHEN A DOCTOR PURPOSELY LISTS CAUSE OF DEATH WRONGLY, HARDLY ANY DOCTORS ARE PUNISHED.
State laws govern how death certificates are filled out.
Most use a model law that mandates financial penalties for anyone who deliberately makes a false statement on the document, said Patricia Potrzebowski, director of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.
The penalties are often small and rarely enforced, she said.
IF ANY 'AVERAGE CITIZEN' FALSELY REPORTED THE CAUSE OF DEATH OF ANYONE, WHAT PUNISHMENT WOULD THAT AVERAGE CITIZEN FACE?
IF "AVERAGE CITIZEN", SAY, REPORTED THAT A NEIGHBOR FELL OFF A ROOF AND DIED BUT THE REAL CAUSE OF DEATH WAS THAT THE NEIGHBOR WAS A VICTIM OF "FOUL PLAY", WHAT COURT IN THE NATION WOULD NOT SEND THAT LIAR TO JAIL WHEN THE TRUTH CAME OUT?
WHY SHOULD LYING DOCTORS BE ABLE TO LIE WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE?
Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia – an area comprising 3 of every 5 Americans – said they do not regularly track deaths due to antibiotic-resistant infections. In contrast, all 50 states require reporting of AIDS-related deaths. Deaths from hepatitis C and tuberculosis are also closely tracked.
States that said they do track deaths generally do so for only a few types of drug-resistant infections and not consistently.
In the survey, they only reported a combined total of about 3,300 MRSA deaths from 2003 to 2014.
That’s a tiny fraction of the actual toll:
A Reuters analysis of death certificates found that nationwide, drug-resistant infections were mentioned as contributing to or causing the deaths of more than 180,000 people during the same period.
To conduct the analysis, Reuters worked with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ Division of Vital Statistics to search text descriptions on death certificates to identify relevant deaths.
Among the states that don’t require reporting of superbug deaths is California, the nation’s most populous state.
The Reuters analysis identified more than 20,000 deaths in California linked to drug-resistant infections during the 12-year period, the most of any state.
A health department spokeswoman said the state legislature authorized the department to be notified of infections, but not deaths.
Tennessee doesn’t require notification of deaths, either.
The Reuters analysis found more than 5,500 deaths linked to superbugs there, more than half of them MRSA-related.
“We know we have a problem with MRSA in Tennessee,” said Marion Kainer, the state’s director of antimicrobial resistance programs. Requiring hospitals to report deaths is more than the department can take on right now, she said.
“We have a significant problem getting clinicians to report just the disease,” she said. “It’s grossly under-reported.”
The totals from the Reuters analysis also indicate that the problem is getting worse nationwide, as the number of deaths from drug-resistant infections more than doubled from 8,600 in 2003 to about 16,700 in 2014.
Death certificates aren’t a perfect measure. They can be wrong:
Cause of death often is a judgment call by clinicians, who may blame a drug-resistant infection in error.
More likely, they undercount drug-resistant deaths, as cases like that of Josiah Cooper-Pope show. Just how far under is impossible to know.
But there are clues: Connecticut, with a grant from the CDC, is the only state that closely monitors MRSA deaths. It logged 2,084 deaths from drug-resistant infections from 2003 to 2014, all but 10 from MRSA.
That’s nearly twice the number of deaths from MRSA in the state that Reuters found in its death certificate analysis.
One reason for the disparity is that the state’s count includes anyone who died with MRSA, even if it wasn’t the cause of death, said Dr Matthew L. Cartter, Connecticut’s epidemiologist.
He also said death certificates may undercount MRSA deaths because the physician may cite a general infection-related condition – death due to sepsis, for example – without mentioning the actual bacteria involved, or merely describe the mechanics of death, such as organ failure or cardiac arrest.
For many victims’ relatives interviewed by Reuters, the death certificate held special significance.
They had watched an infection squeeze the life out of a loved one, often over several months and in gruesome ways.
To find no official record of that on the death certificate came as a shock.
It was as if the killer got away.
AS IF THE KILLER GOT AWAY: STORIES OF THE UNCOUNTED
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been around nearly as long as antibiotics. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first modern antibiotic, in 1928, saving millions of lives from infections that just a few years earlier would have been fatal. By 1940, researchers were reporting that bacteria had already developed resistance to the drug.
Modern science became locked in a war of one-upmanship with the microbial world. Researchers would develop a class of drugs to replace those that were becoming ineffective, and soon enough, bacteria would begin showing resistance to the new drugs – a problem worsened by widespread overprescription of antibiotics and their overuse in farm animals.
By the 1990s, drug-resistant infections had reached crisis proportions. Advances in medicine have been, paradoxically, a big reason for the worsening epidemic
More people than ever are living with weak immunity: premature infants, the elderly, and people with cancer, HIV and other illnesses that were once fatal but are now often chronic conditions. That’s also why superbugs most often occur in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities – places where susceptible populations are concentrated.
In 2001, a task force led by the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health declared antibiotic-resistant infections to be a grave public health threat and issued an action plan to tame the problem. The group’s recommendations included creating a national surveillance plan and speeding development of new antibiotics.
Yet not a single new class of antibiotics has been approved for medical use since 1987. Despite years of efforts to educate healthcare workers about infection control, multiple studies show that many still routinely flout even basic preventive measures, like hand-washing.
While the types of bacteria showing drug resistance have multiplied, the federal government requires hospitals to report infections for only two of them, MRSA bacteremia, or blood infection, and C. difficile. It requires limited reports on the others and relies on the states to fill in the gaps.
In 2014, the administration of President Barack Obama issued a new national action plan to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Congress followed last year with a $160 million increase in the CDC’s budget to bolster research, drug development and surveillance of superbugs by the states.
But as Reuters found, surveillance carried out by the states can come up against strong institutional resistance and laws that shield the healthcare industry.
Under Virginia law, Chippenham Hospital should have reported its 2010 MRSA outbreak to the state Department of Health when the third baby in the neonatal intensive care unit tested positive for the bug, health department officials said.
That was four days before newborn Josiah Cooper-Pope fell ill.
Instead, according to Virginia Health Department records and interviews with department officials, the hospital didn’t notify public health officials until nearly every baby in the unit had been infected – and then only by mail.
By that time, Josiah had been dead two weeks and another baby was in critical condition with a MRSA infection.
After persuading the hospital to temporarily close the unit and bringing the outbreak under control, Health Department investigators found that Chippenham hadn’t taken basic steps to prevent MRSA’s spread, such as training staff, scrubbing furniture and computers, and testing all infants in the nursery when the infection first surfaced.
CAN WE SEE THAT MONEY AND KEEPING THIS OUTBREAK OUT OF THE NEWS WAS OBVIOUSLY MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE LIVES OF BABIES IN THIS CASE?
CAN WE SEE THAT THIS EPIDEMIC IS LARGELY PREVENTABLE BUT NOTING OF SIGNIFICANCE IS BEING DONE TO STOP IT, REPORT IT IN ALL MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND THAT MOST OF THESE THOUSANDS OF DEATHS MIGHT HAVE BEEN PREVENTED HAD THE CDC AND HEALTH DEPARTMENTS BEEN AS CONCERNED, AS FRANTIC ABOUT MRSA AND OTHER RESISTANT BACTERIAL DISEASE AS THEY HAVE BEEN ABOUT STUPID "ZIKA"?
THE REUTERS REPORT IS EXHAUSTIVELY RESEARCHED AND IMPECCABLY DOCUMENTED.
YOU WILL DO WELL TO READ IT ALL AND TO PASS IT ON TO ALL WHOM YOU CARE FOR.
WE ARE ON OUR OWN IN AMERICA WHEN IT COMES TO ANY OF OUR "PROTECTIVE" AGENCIES ACTUALLY PROTECTING US.
AS THE TEA ROOM HAS NOTED MANY TIMES, IT IS AS THOUGH OUR OWN GOVERNMENT WANTS TO SEE HIGH DEATH RATES....THAT OLD "POPULATION REDUCTION" IDEOLOGY SEEMS TO BE WHAT'S CAUSING THE FEDERAL AGENCIES TO IGNORE ALL THE MANY HAZARDS TO AMERICANS' HEALTH.
WE ARE TRULY ON OUR OWN SO WE MUST STAY INFORMED AND HELP INFORM OTHERS.
BEFORE GOING INTO ANY HOSPITAL AS A PATIENT, DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT THEIR RATE OF ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT INFECTIONS ARE BECAUSE MRSA IS ONLY ONE KILLER OF MANY THAT ONE CAN ACQUIRE IN EVERY HOSPITAL IN AMERICA.
IF NO ONE CAN OR WILL TELL YOU AND SHOW PROOF, FIND ANOTHER HOSPITAL.
NEVER LET ANYONE TREAT YOU WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL OR HAND YOU FOOD OR DRINK WHO HAS DONE RIGOROUS HAND-WASHING.
EVEN WHEN AN EMPLOYEE DONS GLOVES ON ENTERING THE ROOM, THOSE GLOVES CAN BE CONTAMINATED BY THE VERY HANDS THEY COVER IN THE PROCESS OF PUTTING THEM ON.
BE JUST AS CAUTIOUS OF VISITORS.
IF YOU'RE TOLD THAT YOU HAVE OR A LOVED ONE HAS SUCH AN INFECTION, DEMAND TO KNOW THE SPECIFICS AND WHAT IS BEING DONE TO OVERCOME THE BACTERIA.
NEVER ALLOW A CAUSE OF DEATH TO BE NAMED, IF A LOVED ONE PASSES AWAY, WHICH IS NOT WHAT CAUSED THAT DEATH.
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS, STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, THE CDC AND DEMAND THAT DILIGENT AND EXTENSIVE RECORDS ME KEPT ABOUT THIS EPIDEMIC.
HOSPITALS, PHYSICIANS AND CORONERS MUST DOCUMENT ALL CASES IF WE ARE TO HAVE ANY HOPE OF STOPPING THIS.
MAY YOU ALL BE WELL. | <urn:uuid:30ba2c7f-47bb-4015-bafa-27a212b8be2b> | {
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Date of Award
Bachelor of Science (BS)
College of Science
At its heart, the language which computers think in is binary, comprised of only two letters, 1's and 0's. So how can computers that can only view facts as true or false see the "gray areas" and other abstract ideas that permeate the real world? As the demands on computer technology increase, computers are being required to operate and perform more and more real world tasks with greater and greater accuracy. One technology contributing to the charge of overcoming these bounds is Fuzzy Logic, which is implemented through the use of linear matrices called fuzzy sets. The purpose of this research project is to create a software product that can be used as a research tool for the manipulation of fuzzy sets. The main purpose of this paper is to provide external documentation for that software product, but will first give a brief introduction on what Fuzzy Logic is and how it works.
Lecouras, Alex, "A Software Implementation of Fuzzy Logic" (1998). Honors Theses. 240. | <urn:uuid:c7f00b12-65d5-4026-935b-4cb9e1e737da> | {
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By Victoria Van Hyning
In the two and a half centuries following the dissolution of the monasteries in England in the 1530s, women who wanted to become nuns first needed to become exiles. The practice of Catholicism in England was illegal, as was undertaking exile for the sake of religious freedom.
Despite the heavy penalties and risks, nearly 4,000 women joined monastic communities in continental Europe and North America between the years 1540 and 1800, known as the exile period. Until recently, their stories had been virtually unknown — absent from studies of literature, history, art history, music, and theology. But thanks to the recent work of scholars such as Caroline Bowden of the Who were the nuns? project, and its resulting publications, the English nuns in exile are now gaining scholarly attention, individually, as founders, leaders, and chroniclers, and collectively as members of a transnational religious community.
The majority of nuns in the exile period professed (that is, took their vows to enter a religious order) at convents that were founded expressly for English and Irish women. However, in the early decades of exile — in the mid to later-sixteenth century — women such as Margaret Clement (1539-1612), joined established continental houses. Clement, a descendant of Sir Thomas More, rose to prominence at the Flemish Augustinian convent of St. Ursula’s in Louvain, and was elected prioress at the age of thirty, despite being ten years too young to hold the post, and being one of only two English women in that community. She was fluent in Greek, Latin, English, and Flemish, and was renowned for her spiritual guidance and strict regulation at the convent.
The educational accomplishments of Margaret Clement are remarkable, but by no means unique. The majority of “choir nuns” — those responsible for singing the Latin office each day — were required to be Latinate: not merely to be able to sing the words, but to understand them. We find copious examples of well-read women who employed their time translating and composing original devotional works, governance documents, chronicles, and letters. Take, for example, Barbara Constable (1617-1684), the translator and author of spiritual guidance manuals written for nuns, monks, priests, and lay people. From her exile in Cambrai, Constable aspired through her writing to re-establish a sense of Catholic heritage and identity that the Reformation had suppressed. Others include Winefrid Thimelby (1618/19-1690), whose letters — written first as a choir nun at St. Monica’s, Louvain, and later as its prioress — offer insights on religious practice and convent management; and Joanne Berkeley (1555/6-1616), the first abbess of the Convent of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, Brussels, whose house statutes were used well into the nineteenth century. The learning and accomplishments of these women overturns long-held assumptions by scholars that Catholics were not as well read as their Protestant peers.
Nuns’ surviving literature reveals the difficulties and dangers of exile. Elizabeth Sander (d.1607), a Bridgettine nun and writer of the community of Syon Abbey, was imprisoned at Bridewell in Winchester in 1580 while on a return journey to England. Her crime: possession of Catholic books. Sander escaped several times, once by means of a “rope over the castle wall,” but returned to prison upon the advice of priests who urged her to obey English law. She escaped again, and travelled under a pseudonym to the continent, where she rejoined her community at Rouen, and later wrote about her experience of imprisonment and flight.
Nuns throughout the exile period faced similar perils to those narrated by Sander. The Catholic convert, Catherine Holland (1637-1720), defied her Protestant father and ran away from the family home in England in 1662, in order to join a convent in Bruges where she penned her lively autobiographical conversion narrative. Other nuns, such as the Carmelite Frances Dickinson (1755-1830), travelled to North America to establish new communities, in Dickinson’s case the Port Tobacco Carmel, Maryland. Dickinson’s narrative of her transatlantic journey, undertaken in 1790, is one of the few extant accounts of its kind written by a woman in the eighteenth century.
Once within their convents, life was often no less exciting for exiled nuns. These were years of political and military turmoil in much of continental Europe. Women religious frequently endured sieges, famine, plagues, and floods, and were sometimes forced to move on in the aftermath of religio-political violence, as in the case of the Irish Poor Clare abbess, Mary Browne (d.1694?), who professed in Rough Lee, before relocating to Galway in 1642 during the English Civil War and then to Madrid after 1653, the year the convent at Galway was dissolved by Cromwell’s forces. Browne’s history of the Poor Clare order offers a lively account of these events and is now the sole surviving chronicle of its kind relating to early modern Ireland.
Convents could also serve as safe-houses or stopping off points for English exiles on the continent. These included not just the friends and family of the nuns, but kings and their courts — including the future Charles II in the 1650s and the Jacobite king-in-waiting, James III — who relied on the generosity and hospitality of several English convents to sustain their time away from Britain. Many exiles bequeathed money, gifts, and relics to the convents, including embalmed hearts, as Geoffrey Scott reveals in his biography of Anne Throckmorton (1664-1734), prioress of the Convent of Our Blessed Lady of Syon, Paris. Throckmorton’s receipt of the hearts of Jacobite “martyrs” is indicative of her support for the Stuart cause, which also saw her petition the French government for penniless political exiles.
Prayer was, of course, central to the nuns’ vocation, but convent life was multifaceted. In the wake of the Reformation, convents in exile offered many opportunities for Catholic women. They could pursue their own education, usually in languages, medicine, and religious studies, and they could also teach, by taking on the roles of novice mistress and school mistress. A notable educationist is Christina Dennett (1730-1781) who, as prioress of the Holy Sepulchre, Liège, expanded the convent’s small school with the intention of providing Catholic girls with “the same advantages which they would have in the great schools in England.” The school’s registers for 1770-94 include the names of 350 pupils from six nationalities, studying a wide range of subjects. Many of the nuns who held teaching positions went on to become financial managers, abbesses, sub-prioresses, and prioresses. In these positions they controlled budgets, built new premises, and commissioned art works. They were integral members of their local communities in continental Europe and America, and to the post-Reformation English and Irish Catholic diaspora.
Of the nearly 4,000 English women religious who went into exile from the mid-sixteenth century, many are known to us only by name. But for some, such as those described here, it is possible to write full biographies thanks to their surviving papers, contemporary accounts and obituaries, and to the notable role they played in creating, defending, managing, and expanding their communities. In several instances their legacy to convent life continues in the survival of their houses, as in the case of Frances Dickinson’s Carmel of Port Tobacco (now located in Baltimore) or the English Augustinian Convent in Bruges, where Catherine Holland professed in 1664.
Other houses, founded in exile, came to England in the mid-1790s as they sought to escape fresh persecution following the French Revolution. Among these was the Benedictine Convent of Brussels (whose first prioress Joanne Berkeley had been installed in 1599) and Our Lady of Consolation, Cambrai, where Catherine Gascoigne had served as abbess for 44 years. The latter, and its 1651-2 Paris filiation, continue today as Stanbrook Abbey, Wass, North Yorkshire and St Mary’s Abbey, Colwich, Staffordshire — as does as Christina Dennett’s convent school at Liège, which is now the New Hall School, Chelmsford.
Dr Victoria Van Hyning is Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow, at Zooniverse, based at the University of Oxford. In 2013-14 she was the advisory editor for the Oxford DNB’s research project on the women religious and convents in exile, and is an assistant editor for English Convents in Exile, 1550-1800, 6 vols. (Pickering & Chatto, 2012-13).
The 20 new biographies of early modern nuns appear as part of the May 2014 update of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a collection of 59,102 life stories of noteworthy Britons, from the Romans to the 21st century. The Oxford DNB is freely available via public libraries across the UK, and many libraries worldwide. Libraries offer ‘remote access’ allowing members to gain access free, from home (or any other computer), 24 hours a day. You can also sample the ODNB with its changing selection of free content: in addition to the podcast; a topical Life of the Day, and historical people in the news via Twitter @odnb. | <urn:uuid:0112e3cd-b60e-45ab-8b2f-0c44f2112fdd> | {
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(NewsUSA) - Schools nationwide are revamping their lunch menus, celebrity chefs are going on reality TV and First Lady Michelle Obama has started a health initiative, all to combat the same thing -- childhood obesity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 25 million American children are obese or overweight, setting them up for a lifetime of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Many school systems have made attempts to provide healthier school lunches, such as offering salad bars or fresh fruit.
Food and drink makers are also making efforts to solve the problem. Companies like Coca-Cola have removed regular soft drinks from schools, and recently, major beverage companies, together with the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, announced that they have successfully cut total calories from drinks delivered to schools by 88 percent over the last three years.
"From my experience, schools alone cannot stop children from becoming overweight or obese," says registered dietitian Sylvia Klinger. "It is very important for parents to make an effort to encourage healthy eating habits at home and outside of the classroom."
Klinger suggests these tips for parents who want their children to live healthy, active lives:
* Make healthy foods easy. We're all familiar with the phrase "eat the rainbow." To make it easy to get your family to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, chop bite-sized portions in advance, so you can take them out of the fridge and run. Sneak fruits into smoothies, and veggies into sauces, salsas or soups. Also, look for individually packaged whole-grain products, like 100 percent whole wheat bread, oatmeal and brown rice.
* Create healthy eating habits. Always eat breakfast -- children who eat breakfast not only weigh less, but also perform better in school. It is also important to schedule regular meal times. Try involving your children in the preparation of each meal. Avoid the clean plate system, which only promotes overeating. Also, don't ban treats, which can encourage sneaking food or overeating when sweets are present.
* Get active. Exercise is important regardless of your child's weight or age. If your child is overweight, focus on maintaining that weight while the child grows in height, which can be accomplished through exercise. No matter your child's size, activities like team sports, swimming, hiking, cycling or just taking a family walk can help manage weight, increase energy and improve self-esteem. | <urn:uuid:c1d32194-baa5-4ab1-bc58-8d01e19a238b> | {
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How to Calculate Non-Annotative AutoCAD Text Height
To calculate non-annotative AutoCAD text height, you need to know the drawing scale factor, the desired plotted text height, and the location of the multiplication button on your calculator. Follow these steps to calculate the text height:
Determine the drawing scale factor.
Drawing scale is based on the size of the object you’re drawing versus the size of the sheet of paper on which it will be printed.
For example, a house floor plan would have to be scaled down 1:96 (1/8″=1′) to fit an A-size sheet, whereas a watch gear would have to be scaled up 50:1 to appear as more than a dot in the middle of the sheet. As noted, the drawing scale factor is the inverse of the drawing scale: 96 for the house plan, and 1/20 or 0.05 for the watch gear.
You shouldn’t select a scale factor at random. Different industries have lists of preferred (which you should read as mandatory) scale factors, and individual companies in turn may have a short list within the preferred values.
When you edit an existing drawing, it should have a bar scale or text note indicating the drawing scale. If not, and if the drawing dimensions are in model space, you can check the value of the DIMSCALE variable (the system variable that controls dimension scale) or work backwards from existing text sizes.
Determine the height at which notes should appear when you plot the drawing to scale.
Multiply the numbers resulting from Steps 1 and 2.
After you know the AutoCAD text height, you can use it to define the height of a text style or of an individual text object.
If you assign a nonzero height to a text style, all text that you create in that style uses the fixed height. If you leave the text style’s height set to 0 (zero), AutoCAD asks you for the text height every time you draw single-line text objects, which soon becomes a real nuisance.
This discussion of text height assumes that you’re adding non-annotative text in model space. In addition to annotative text in model space, you have a third alternative: Add annotative or non-annotative text to a paper space layout — for example, when you draw text in a title block or add a set of sheet notes that doesn’t directly relate to the model space geometry.
When you create text in paper space, you specify the actual, plotted paper height instead of the scaled-up height. | <urn:uuid:31f274e9-59c2-4ce4-8658-268a637a6da9> | {
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Easy Grammar Grade 5 Teacher Edition
10 years & up. This text is all you need to teach grammar for an entire school year. Use the prepositional approach to understand Grammar. Easy Grammar texts have your student find the prepositonal phrases first, allowing them to see the other parts more clearly. This book contains180 daily teaching lessons along with reproducible worksheets/lessons for each day. Materials are presented in an easy, step-by-step manner. The way this book is set up, the teaching lesson, answer key, and worksheets are all together. You would need to copy the worksheets for your child. The answer key is across from the worksheet. This text also includes a writing section which teaches how to write appositives, semicolon construction, and compound sentences. Unit Reviews/tests and cumulative reviews/tests are included.(Paperback)
Easy Grammar Grade 5
- introduces 53 prepositions and the process of deleting prepositional phrases
- grammar concepts
- sentence types
- and much more. | <urn:uuid:4b656cf2-d7c8-4002-a1c6-47ab68fb4b14> | {
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Listeriosis is a foodborne disease caused by eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. This organism causes serious illness in vulnerable groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, individuals with weakened immune systems and the newborn. Listeria monocytogenes is well-suited to growth and survival in foods, even if these are stored in the refrigerator, and is a major concern in ready-to-eat foods. Listeria are common in the environment and can be introduced into food by contact with contaminated surfaces or kitchen utensils.
Here we offer pointers for minimising the risk to vulnerable consumer groups in relation to ready-to-eat foods.
What Is The Concern?
Listeriosis is a relatively rare but serious foodborne disease that is of concern because of the severity of illness caused and the high mortality rate. It particularly affects people with reduced immunity (immuno-compromised), including the elderly, pregnant women and unborn or newborn infants. In these vulnerable groups, immunity (natural defences in the body) is often suppressed and the microorganism responsible for causing illness, Listeria monocytogenes, is able to cause infection in other parts of the body, resulting in serious conditions including meningitis, encephalitis, blood poisoning and liver abscesses.
During the 1990’s, listeriosis affected between 90-130 people per year in the UK. In recent years (2003-2007), the number of cases has increased to around 180-240 cases per year. This increase in cases has been linked to one group of vulnerable individuals, the elderly (those aged 60 years and over). Similar recent increases in cases of listeriosis in this age group have been reported in other countries in Europe but the reasons for this increase are not known. There is no evidence of increasing prevalence in foods.
It is recognised that most cases of listeriosis, including sporadic cases (affecting individuals and not linked to outbreaks) and those linked to common-source outbreaks are caused by eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The incubation time for listeriosis varies from 11-70 days and this means it is often difficult or impossible to identify the particular food that caused illness. However, using information from listeriosis outbreaks, it has been possible to identify the key types of foods responsible. These are predominantly ready-to-eat, long shelf-life delicatessen products such as certain meat products and soft cheeses.
Where Can Listeria Monocytogenes Be Found?
Listeria monocytogenes can be found in many natural environments, including soil, water, vegetation, sewage and farm environments. It can also be found in food manufacturing environments, in foods and in food preparation environments such as the home, e.g. worktops in the kitchen, sinks, cloths used for cleaning, and inside refrigerators. Contamination of foods can occur in food processing environments, after they are processed (such as cooking) but before they are packaged, and also when handling these foods in shops (e.g. on slicing machines, delicatessen counters), in the home and in catering establishments.
Listeria monocytogenes is destroyed by normal cooking processes (e.g. reaching at least 70°C at the centre of the food for 2 minutes), but can survive and grow at refrigeration temperatures. It is this characteristic of being able to multiply at low temperatures that enables Listeria to grow to levels that are high enough to cause infection.
Since many ready-to-eat foods are stored in the refrigerator before consumption and are not cooked before eating, they can be a potential vehicle for listeriosis. It is therefore very important that foods are stored at the correct temperature and that they are not kept in refrigerators for periods long enough to allow growth of Listeria.
Vulnerable groups can prevent Listeria infection by avoiding certain long shelf-life, ready-to-eat delicatessen products and by handling food properly. The European Food Safety Authority1 has identified the following such ready-to-eat foods as priorities: smoked fish, meat products and soft cheeses.
The maximum time that ready-to-eat foods should be kept is indicated by law on the label (the “use by” date), together with the storage conditions needed to allow that date to be met (e.g. actual temperature or “keep refrigerated”). Some foods are packed in special gas mixtures that allow the safe life of the unopened product to be extended. However, this does not change the way the food will deteriorate (“go off”) after opening the pack; in this case, the label also carries essential, additional instructions (e.g. “eat within 2 days of opening”).
Always follow these four simple rules
- Never eat food after the use by date.
- Always read the label and follow storage instructions, e.g. “keep refrigerated”; “eat within 2 days of opening”.
- Keep your fridge at the right temperature - no more than 5°C (40°F).
- If in doubt, throw it out.
And … always follow the basic rules on general food hygiene:
- Wash hands, knives and surfaces thoroughly and frequently, and especially after handling uncooked foods
- Prevent contamination of ready-to eat foods by keeping them separate from uncooked foods
- Cook foods properly, to reach at least 70°C (158°F) at the centre for 2 minutes
- Keep hot foods hot (above 63°C. 145°F)
Note: Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods, Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Biological Hazards, EFSA; adopted by the BIOHAZ Panel on 6 December 2007. Available at: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178680093176.htm
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Gain a thorough grounding in technologies and concepts of the latest version of the Oracle Relational Database Management Server. Novice or experienced users acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to increase their Database Administrator productivity. Develop understanding of relational, object-relational, and object-oriented databases and Structured Query Language (SQL) methodologies. Hands-on lab exercises reinforce fundamentals such as creating and maintaining database objects and storing, retrieving, and manipulating data.
- Understanding relational database design
- Using SQL commands within SQL*Plus
- Creating/altering tables
- Controlling access to database objects
- Ensuring data integrity using constraints
- Writing structured reports using SQL*Plus
- Select, insert, update, and delete data
- Creating views
- Writing efficient subqueries
- Understanding how to write efficient and effective JOIN relationships
Fundamental experience with PCs and programming concepts.
Course not available for public enrollment at this time.
To schedule for your organization, contact Customized Training | <urn:uuid:be9f4b04-171c-49e8-8a58-776b99cef779> | {
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Description: In this video a watermelon is covered with a polymer and survives a drop from a large tower. The polymer is formed when two reactants join to make a flexible and durable polymer known as a polyurea. The chemical reaction is exothermic, releasing heat as the reactants combine. This phenomenon could be used in a unit on chemical reactions, extended structures or chemical engineering. The company Line-X uses this polymer to make bed liners for pickup trucks.
Description: Aerogels are a group of synthetic materials that are incredibly light and also amazing insulators. They have numerous applications such as insulators in electronics. Aerogels were used as thermal insulators in the Mars Rover and also act to filter space dust. This phenomenon could be used as an application of chemical engineering or as an example of a thermal insulators.
Web Resource: Aerogel - Wikipedia
Description: This phenomenon uses a supersaturated solution of sodium acetate. Clicking the metal disc releases a small number of crystals of sodium acetate which act as nucleation sites for the crystallization of the sodium acetate into a hydrated salt. Energy is released from the crystal lattice. The heating pack can be placed in boiling water and the sodium acetate can be dissolved again. This phenomenon shows how bond energy can be released. It also shows the importance of chemical engineering and could lead to a section where students design a device (or application) of their own.
Description: Everyone loves slime...especially elementary students. This phenomenon is a great introduction into chemical reactions. The properties of the reactants can be compared to the properties of the products to show that a chemical reaction has occurred. In high school the chemistry of polymers and cross-linking can be explored through slime.
Web Resource: The Science of Slime - American Chemical Society | <urn:uuid:a4c7b9b7-1dc0-4604-b886-bca6eb64afa5> | {
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Tomonotsu Museum, Hiroshima, Japan
20 April–21 July 2013
by KANAE HASEGAWA
Currently in Japan, more than 100 inmates, male and female, have been sentenced to death. In Japan’s legal system, capital punishment is applied to people convicted of murder or treason. Those who have received the death penalty can expect to be held in a detention centre for five to 10 years, depending on the number of appeals that are made. But some condemned prisoners have been in detention centres for decades, and none are told in advance when or where his or her death – by hanging – will occur. Prisoners are informed on the morning of an execution.
The works were commissioned by the Sachiko Daidoji Foundation, founded in 2005 to lobby against the death penalty. Sachiko Daidoji’s son, Masashi Daidoji, was condemned to death in 1987. After visiting Masashi in prison and observing many court trials, Sachiko met with other condemned prisoners. She believes that their situations suggest the possibility of false accusation, a concern of all who speak out against capital punishment.
Prisoners were instructed to work freely on paintings and other forms of personal expression that could be shown to people outside the penal system. While many of the prisoners focused on being falsely accused, the death penalty, and the harsh environment and treatment in detention centres, others explored a quest for redemption, referred to memories of the past, or broached the meaning of life.
For example, Masashi Hara’s Girl Behind Iron Bars: Love and Peace depicts a female stripped of her belongings and held captive behind bars. She is surrounded by Japanese language slogans against the Japanese government and world order. The words are quoted from newspapers or documents available to inmates: “Protest against Japanese governments’ pledge of up to 5 billion dollars aid,” “Protest against sending troops to East Timor,” “Protest against restarting the prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor Monju,” “Protest against raising the consumption tax,” etc.
A universal plea written in English appears at a far edge of the paper: “Abolish the Death Penalty.” Viewers can ponder why this prisoner relegated his cry for human justice to the periphery while featuring issues of a daily nature for Japanese people more centrally.
Masumi Hayashi’s Nation and Murder looks like an Abstract Expressionist composition of red and white. But some parts look like blood, rather than paint, dripping down the surface. Of course, the image of blood is difficult to avoid if one knows that the artist was charged with lacing a curry with poisonous arsenic in 1998 and serving the dish to her neighbours. This incident is so famous, widely reported nationwide on TV, radio and in newspapers, that everyone in the country knows her name and the crime.
Much lighter in tone, Sabutaro Mannen’s manga-style Story in Prison humorously describes a prisoner’s day in a detention centre. Except for meals and baths, typically inmates are alone in their cells. They have ample time to make art but few means to do so, yet the lack of oil paints and watercolours does not seem to have been a barrier to creativity. Using pen and/or coloured pencils only, they were able to compose complex, emotionally charged images for this show.
Nobumasa Kushino, curator of the exhibition and art director for the museum, says: “Some prisoners’ diaries reveal they want to use their hands and devote their minds to making art. Many of their creations are time consuming and minutely done. [As in] art therapy, prisoners may be expressing their uncontrollable horror and anguish.”
Psychological and artistic evolution over time is demonstrated through prisoner Yasutoshi Matsuda’s body of work, made during the six years prior to his 2012 execution. His Blowfish on cutting board (2007) portrays poisonous fish, which might be waiting to be eaten. How the artist relates to the fish – Is he also waiting to be eaten? – and how he rendered them without a model – prisoners must necessarily resort to the imagination – are just two of many questions raised by the painting.
Although viewers are aware that the prisoners are condemned to death for serious crimes, they are not given the specifics of these crimes. Kushino explains: “That is because the exhibition does not aim to open a discussion about the pros and cons of the death penalty. There is something powerful and disturbing [about these works]. By putting on this show, my intention was to look at inmates’ expressions from a purely artistic point of view. I wanted to know what other people will think and [how they will] react by looking at them.”
Because they do not know when the executioner will come for them, the only “freedom” condemned prisoners have is a choice of a last meal. Thus, visitors can assume some urgent motivation behind the paintings they will see. In effect, these works were a way for the artists to break through their limitations and voice their despair more completely. Judging from the popularity of the show, which has been extended from an original closing date in June, these breakthroughs are convincing and, perhaps, affective of complacent lives not bound by prison walls and a ticking clock. | <urn:uuid:a1ec47fb-e7c5-43e5-949d-5c74b3dfcd2f> | {
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Asman Family History
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Asman Name Meaning
Americanized form of German As(s)mann, a much altered derivative (pet form) of the personal name Erasmus, which was popular among humanists in the Netherlands, Denmark, and northern Germany during the 16th century (see Rasmussen).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press | <urn:uuid:976f19b9-78a9-4238-9496-d7b36ceacda0> | {
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What is diabetes?
November is American Diabetes Month. Diabetes is a disease in which blood glucose levels are above normal. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood. Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.
There are three main types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes
In Type 1 diabetes, the body does not make insulin. This is a problem because you need insulin to take the sugar (glucose) from the foods you eat and turn it into energy for your body. People with Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to live. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children or young adults.
Type 2 diabetes
In Type 2 diabetes, the body does not make or use insulin very well. You may need to take pills or insulin to help control your diabetes. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes.
Pregnant women sometimes get this type of diabetes. Most of the time, it goes away after the baby is born. But even if it goes away, these women and their children have a greater chance of getting diabetes later in life.
Complications of Diabetes
Diabetes dramatically increases the risk of various cardiovascular problems, including coronary artery disease with chest pain (angina), heart attack, stroke and narrowing of arteries (atherosclerosis). If you have diabetes, you are more likely to have heart disease or stroke.
Excess sugar can injure the walls of the tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that nourish your nerves, especially in your legs. This can cause tingling, numbness, burning or pain that usually begins at the tips of the toes or fingers and gradually spreads upward. Left untreated, you could lose all sense of feeling in the affected limbs.
The kidneys contain millions of tiny blood vessel clusters that filter waste from your blood. Diabetes can damage this delicate filtering system. Severe damage can lead to kidney failure or irreversible end-stage kidney disease, which may require dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Blindness and Eye Problems
Diabetes can damage the blood vessels of the retina (diabetic retinopathy), potentially leading to blindness. Diabetes also increases the risk of other serious vision conditions, such as cataracts and glaucoma.
Physical activity and diabetes
We know that physical activity and keeping a healthy weight is a good way to keep you heart healthy. But it can also help you take care of your diabetes and prevent diabetes complications. Physical activity helps your blood glucose stay in your target range. Even a 10 or 15 pound weight loss makes a difference in reducing the risk of diabetes problems.
Physical activity also helps the hormone insulin absorb glucose into all your body’s cells, including your muscles, for energy. Muscles use glucose better than fat does. Building and using muscle through physical activity can help prevent high blood glucose. If your body doesn’t make enough insulin, or if the insulin doesn’t work the way it should, the body’s cells won’t use glucose. This causes your blood glucose levels to get too high, causing diabetes.
What kinds of physical activity can help me?
Many kinds of physical activity can help you take care of your diabetes. Even small amounts of physical activity can help. You can measure your physical activity level by how much effort you use.
Doctors suggest that you aim for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity most days of the week. Children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes who are 10 to 17 years old should aim for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity every day.
Your doctor can tell you more about what kind of physical activity is best for you. He or she can also tell you when and how much you can increase your physical activity level.
Light physical activity
- You are breathing normally
- You are not sweating
- You can talk normally or even sing
Moderate physical activity
- You are breathing quickly, yet you’re not out of breath
- You are lightly sweating after about 10 minutes of activity
- You can talk normally, yet you can’t sing
Vigorous physical activity
- You are breathing deeply and quickly
- You are sweating after a few minutes of activity
- You can’t talk normally without stopping for a breath
Not all physical activity has to take place at the same time. You might take a walk for 20 minutes, lift hand weights for 10 minutes, then walk up and down the stairs for 5 minutes.
How Can You Learn More about Diabetes?
- Take classes to learn more about living with diabetes. Mercy Health System offers free diabetes classes regularly throughout the year. To find a class, go to the Events page of our website.
- Join a support group—in-person or online—to get peer support with managing your diabetes. Mercy Health System also offers regular diabetes support groups, which are free and require no registration.
- Read about diabetes online. Go to National Diabetes Education Program.
Sources: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, American Diabetes Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mayo Clinic. | <urn:uuid:645fa5c3-6d3c-4233-88b9-336983c93dca> | {
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When it comes to body composition and fat distribution, a calorie is a calorie, regardless of whether it's controlled by diet alone or a combination of diet and exercise.
New research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reveals that dieting alone is equally effective at reducing weigh and fat as a combination of diet and exercise--as long as the calories consumed and burned equal out. The research also indicates that the addition of exercise to a weight-loss regimen does not change body composition and abdominal fat distribution, debunking the idea that specific exercises can reduce fat in targeted areas (e.g., exercise to reduce fat around a person's midsection).
"It's all about the calories," said Dr. Eric Ravussin of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., and senior author of the study. "So long as the energy deficit is the same, body weight, fat weight, and abdominal fat will all decrease in the same way."
Other researchers on the Pennington Biomedical Research Center team include Drs. Leanne M. Redman, Leonie K. Heilbronn, Corby K. Martin, Anthony Alfonso, and Steven R. Smith.
For the study, the researchers followed 35 overweight (a Body Mass Index greater than 25 but less than 30) but otherwise healthy adults who were randomly assigned to follow one of three diet and exercise combinations during a six-month period. The first group was the control group, and followed a healthy diet designed to maintain the participants' bodyweight. The next group followed a diet that reduced their caloric intake by 25 percent, which equaled between 550 and 900 fewer calories per day. The final group reduced their calorie intake by 12.5 percent while increasing their physical activity to achieve an additional 12.5 percent increase in calorie expenditure.
"It was critical for our study that the calorie deficit for both groups--the one following the diet and exercise regimen and the one simply consuming fewer calories--be equal," said Ravussin. "This ensured that we would be able to measure the impact of exercise on body composition and abdominal fat."
The study began with a 5-week baseline period to carefully establish individual energy requirements. During this time, the researchers calculated the energy intake required for weight maintenance and the energy deficit necessary to achieve the desired caloric restriction.
During the first three months of the study, participants were provided with all meals. Later, participants self-selected a diet based on their individual calorie target, though calorie consumption was still monitored. Participants in the exercise group also underwent a structured exercise regimen 5 days a week. In addition to controlling diet and a guided exercise program, all participants attended weekly meetings to not only teach subjects how to adhere to their meal and exercise plans but also to boost motivation and morale.
Participants in both the calorie restricted group and the exercise group lost approximately 10 percent of their body weight, 24 percent of their fat mass, and 27 percent of their abdominal visceral fat. The distribution of the fat in the body, however, was not altered by either approach.
"The inability of the interventions to alter the distribution of fat suggests that individuals are genetically programmed for fat storage in a particular pattern and that this programming cannot easily be overcome," said Ravussin. "It also helps settle much of the debate over the independent and combined effects of dieting and increased physical activity on improving metabolic risk factors such as body composition and fat distribution."
The researchers did note, however, that exercise improved aerobic fitness, which has other important cardiovascular and metabolic implications. "For overall health, an appropriate program of diet and exercise is still the best," said Ravussin.
The researchers also acknowledge that additional research is necessary to investigate in a large number people all the independent health benefits of calorie restriction and exercise.
Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a campus of the Louisiana State University System.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism is a publication of The Endocrine Society.
Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest, and most active organization devoted to research on hormones, and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 13,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 80 countries. Together, these members represent all basic, applied, and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
An online, Rapid Release version of the paper, "Effect of calorie restriction with or without exercise on body composition and fat distribution," was published January 2, 2007. The final paper will appear in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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The first chapter, Language Teaching Methodology, introduced three main teaching methods. They are grammar-translation, audiolingualism and communicative language teaching. The author also set out three key principles to help developing personal classroom approaches, which are evolving your own personal methodology, focusing on learners and building instructional sequences on a cycle of Pre- Task, Task and Follow-Up. The author emphasized that teachers need to encourage learners to use English outside the classroom, motivate learners to learn independently and understand the relationship between audiolingualism and communicative language teaching.
As for reflect, the first thing I noticed is that the teacher reviewed what they learned at last lesson with students. The teacher can notice a few students’ mistakes and stress it, such as “ Are these your books?” not “Is this your books?” The teacher also gave positive responses to learners’ answers immediately, such as “great”, “excellent”. As for the questions for the teacher, I would like to ask how did she teach students about singular and plural forms. Did students understand the rules clearly? And how can she assess? Also, because students were a little bit shy, did she do any adjustments to suit students’ abilities?
In reflect, the first thing I noticed is that the teacher gave the instruction clearly and ask concept check questions to make sure students understand. The second is that the teacher encouraged learners to ask questions use their own language. The teacher fully involved group discussion. After the first round, the teacher reconstructed the group and enable students to exchange information with each other. | <urn:uuid:46c0f188-063c-4248-9cbf-e43b601e2cc4> | {
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Headshakers are not being difficult, they are not being awkward, they do not have an allergy, they are not faking it. These horses have a very serious condition.
We think some, or all, headshakers suffer from a condition, trigeminal neuropathy, very similar in nature to the syndromes of facial pain encountered in people with multiple sclerosis, post herpetic neuralgia, cluster headache syndromes and trigeminal neuralgia.
This latter condition is considered either an abnormal firing of the trigeminal nerve, which runs from the brain to the eye, nose, upper and lower jaw, or more likely an abnormality in the brainstem, which means it interprets messages from this nerve abnormally.
People with the condition usually report a sudden pain across the face, not unlike an electric shock. In all of the conditions, uncontrollable pain is the number one feature.
This pain occurs when they are exposed to a specific trigger factor, such as a light breeze on the face, or brushing teeth, or even breathing. The trigger stimulus is individual to them. It is described as the worst pain known to man, and without treatment, many sufferers commit suicide and so it has become to be known as the suicide disease.
In the 1970s and 80s equine headshaking was often described as a ‘behavioural’ problem, often blamed on poor tack or horsemanship.
We now know this is not only wrong, but is also a cruel and unnecessary approach to a seriously ill horse.
In horses the characteristic signs are seasonal, worsen with exposure to light and vary from involuntary, up and down movements of the head, through to nostril clamping, face rubbing and even striking at the face. The signs are often seen during defined activities, such as exercise or in defined circumstances not associated with exercise, such as exposure to rain, cold, dust or wind.
The condition is often reported to have an obvious abrupt onset of an apparent severe facial pain and owners will frequently call attributing the symptoms to a ‘bee sting on the nose’.
Affected horses are often extremely distressed and many are unmanageable. They can cause themselves serious injuries in an attempt to relieve themselves of the pain and can present a physical danger to riders and stable staff.
In contrast, a few cases have a more gradual onset with a much milder head ‘tic’ being present for some weeks or even years before more obvious signs develop. The signs can be attributed to one side of the face or both and, when both, there may be significant differences in the severity of the signs between the two sides.
Some cases are tolerable, some are manageable and a few are treatable. Given horses are usually in considerable pain during episodes and many (24 per cent) worsen each year, euthanasia may even be justifiable.
The exact cause is unknown, although nerve pain has long been blamed for the cause of headshaking, and, as long ago as the late 1800s, vets were surgically severing the nerves in an affected horse’s nose in an attempt to cure the problem.
There are many sources for potential nerve pain in the horse’s head but it is thought branches of the trigeminal nerve, which conducts sensation from the muzzle and face to the brain, is the main source.
For some reason, parts of this nerve may be damaged and ‘fire’ inappropriately, causing painful sensations in a particular area, i.e. the nerves are telling the horse it is being hurt in this area when, in reality, it is not. So the clinical signs of headshaking represent a pathological exaggeration of a normal response.
A healthy horse will respond to a fly landing on its face with a toss of its head. A horse with trigeminal neuralgia behaves as though it is plagued with a swarm of particularly vicious biting flies which refuse to go away.
The syndrome is non-inflammatory, the pain, in other words, is ‘perceived’, deriving from the abnormal sensory function rather than from inflammatory pain and so painkiller and anti-inflammatory drugs usually have absolutely no effect at all.
The cause of this neurological problem is currently unknown.
Headshaking is a ‘presenting sign’ of disease. It is a sign something is wrong and/or irritating the horse, probably in the head area.
Headshaking has been reported in horses suffering from nearly 60 diseases and conditions, including:
All need to be considered and investigated fully before a true diagnosis can be made. In most cases 90 per cent are classed as ‘idiopathic, meaning no cause is found’.
Headshakers can be classified according to the extent of seasonality, the presence or lack of intermittency of signs and their severity:
Seasonality - Many headshakers show the signs only during a particular time of year, most commonly spring and summer. Seasonality can be explained by the occurrence of trigger factors such as pollen, insects, dust, warmth, cold, rain or wind. Light has been suggested, but this is now largely discredited, as sunshine also accompanies many other factors which are more likely trigger factors
Intermitten - Most headshaking horses show signs under defined conditions, such as exercise, bright light, rain, wind, cold, warmth, shade, or when exposed to pollen or insects. Almost every case has a different set of triggering environmental factors
Severity - Some cases are very mild (grade one), where the movement of the head is slight and almost imperceptible. The horse is not unduly distressed and both horse and rider may ignore it. Grade five headshaker horses are severely distressed and may be uncontrollable. Any attempt to restrain the horse is resented and even touching the face can trigger extreme resentment. It may rub its face so badly it causes sores and bleeding. These cases cannot be ridden safely
The prognosis for genuine headshaker horses is currently poor. Around 5-10 per cent can be res-olved and more can be improved significantly but this is somewhat better than the zero prognosis which existed up to recently.
Treatment obviously depends on the cause, therefore no single consistently effective treatment is available. Options include a change of environment (try and avoid bright light, warmth or wind on the face), management or riding, nose masks, contact lenses and medical treatment, if appropriate.
Nose nets appear to be the most consistent non-surgical treatment to date - overall improvement in 70 per cent of cases. Improvements, however, may vary depending on the specific symptom.
Occlusive masks with side ports are another option and may help up to 80 per cent of cases, but these are often impractical.
Some headshaking cases show significant improvement with a change of environment, but many develop the problem again within days of the move.
There is medication available, based on that used in people. However, it is expensive, causes drowsiness and horses cannot compete while on medication.
There are a variety of surgeries performed in people. That there are so many different types shows they do not yet have an excellent cure, as if they did then there would only be one technique of choice. However, all these surgeries target the nerve as it exits the brainstem and use either a ‘scarring’ agent or more recently a coil to slowly compress the nerve. While results are encouraging, a complete cure is yet to be found.
Generally less than 2 per cent achieve definitive diagnosis | <urn:uuid:e28caa36-50cd-4e75-a0e2-39ecbaf7779b> | {
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Now available as both a PDF and as an editable Powerpoint Presentation! Have your students design their dream house in descriptive detail! There are TWO rubrics included in this packet to help your students practice their writing skills.
FREE handout for your Spanish students! ideas to get them started on their Spanish class Culture Project! If you enjoy this list, please be so kind as to leave positive feedback! :) Hosting a culture project in your classes helps students discover
Spanish Class Fashion Show Project! A Desfile de Moda is a great way to let your students use what they've learned in your clothing unit in a fun and creative way!This 9 page packet has helpful tips for the teacher plus student explanation, check list, rubric and an example fashion sketch!This is a reading, writing and speaking activity.
Beginner Spanish Poster Project: This "SE BUSCA" (WANTED) poster project was created for my Grade Exploratory Spanish class. This was given as a summative assessment after studying introductions, giving personal information, and describing people. | <urn:uuid:4eb62f3c-ab78-4c0e-ab3d-5d36a6df2a03> | {
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When World War Two ended in 1945, Americans found themselves with a mysterious new weapon. They quickly learned that the weapon, which destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and effectively ended the war, had been built in the remote New Mexico desert, in utmost secrecy, by an assortment of physicists, mathematicians and other scientists many of whom were too young even to have earned their PhD's. The man whose photograph was displayed in all the newspapers and who was credited with leading this group was a slender, fragile-looking physicist by the name of Robert Oppenheimer. He became a hero, the man credited by many Americans for ending the war early and sparing their families the loss of a husband or brother or son.
Oppenheimer remained in the public eye. During the postwar decade he spoke out on the decisions facing the United States. And after the Soviet Union broke the American atomic monopoly by conducting its first test in 1949, Oppenheimer and other scientists were asked for their advice. Should the United States negotiate with the Soviet Union, led by Josef Stalin, or try to build a bigger bomb, the hydrogen bomb, a weapon said to have the explosive power of a thousand atomic bombs?
This was the question before the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission, President Truman’s special advisory group, when it held a super secret meeting in October, 1949. The committee members, most of whom had worked on the atomic bomb, voted unanimously against proceeding with the hydrogen bomb. The Chairman who drafted the majority opinion was Robert Oppenheimer.
That meeting, and that decision, led to the events described in this book. Oppenheimer remained Chairman of the GAC and adviser to countless government agencies. While he stunned everyone with his eloquence, he made enemies, too. He could be cutting and cruel, and not everyone enjoyed being put down by a master. But in testimony before Congress or decisions that came before the GAC, he refused to throw red meat to the Senators and he opposed creation of a second weapons lab at Livermore, California, an outcome desired by a hostile fellow scientist, Edward Teller, who happened also to be informing against Oppenheimer at the Pentagon and Congressional Committee.
As the times became more anti-Communist and McCarthyism settled in, people with whom he had crossed swords remembered that back in the 1930’s, Oppenheimer had had a fellow-travelling past. He had never been a Party member, or so he claimed, but many of those around him had been – his brother, his wife, many of his friends. Could it be that Oppenheimer’s advice against building the H-bomb came from old pro-Soviet feelings?
Oppenheimer’s enemies were not numerous, but they were well placed. Topping them off was Lewis Strauss, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who had been bitterly offended by one of Oppenheimer’s put-downs. Strauss led the charge by instigating a letter from a young Congressional aide stating that Oppenheimer, during the war, had been a spy for the Soviet Union. Hearings were arranged into whether Oppenheimer could be trusted with the high-level security clearance he still held. Those hearings took place, in utmost secrecy, in a rundown old government building during April and May,1954.
Then one day that spring, I was at my office desk in New York, typing, when I spotted a newspaper headline saying that the security clearance of Robert Oppenheimer had been withdrawn because the government suspected that he might not be trustworthy. To me, and to others who read it, the story was unbelievable. Even the board which doubted Oppenheimer seemed unsure of itself; it declared that had it been able to render a ‘common-sense judgment’, it might have ruled differently. “Why didn’t you use common sense?” was my first thought. This man, Oppenheimer, has had in his head for years every secret about the atomic bomb and even discovered some of them, and now you’re saying he’s “untrustworthy?”
The Oppenheimer “case,” as it came to be known, was a high-water mark of the McCarthy era and a low-water mark for civil liberties in this country. If a man who was universally admired and viewed with gratitude could be pulled off the street, branded a security risk and destroyed, then who was safe?
The security hearing remains a burr under the government’s saddle. The “unredacted” text of the testimony lay in the Energy Department’s archives for many years, classified so that no member of the public could see it. Then, in 2014, a scholar who had filed a Freedom of Information request for it, found the unclassified text lying in a folder there. The department, still sensitive about the hearing, had neglected to inform him that after seventy years the complete text had become available.
Another recent case illustrates the government’s sensitivity. Almost fifteen years ago a group of New Mexico citizens, the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee, asked the Energy Department to restore Oppenheimer’s clearance and vacate the verdict. Over the next twelve or thirteen years the committee, represented by topflight pro bono lawyers and supported by New Mexico’s Senators, repeated its request many times. Then, in December 2016, the last month of the Obama Presidency, the committee was informed by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that its request had again been refused.
Today we could be approaching a situation as bad as, or worse than, the McCarthy years. Our President, Donald Trump, seems unaware what civil liberties are. He keeps the Attorney General in constant fear for his job and meddles in the running of the FBI. His interference in the very branches of government most responsible for the rule of law, is a signal that in a short time none of us may be safe.
We ignore lessons like the Oppenheimer case at our peril.
Priscilla J. McMillan is an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. The author of the bestselling Marina and Lee: The Tormented Love and Fatal Obsession Behind Lee Harvey Oswald’s Assassination of John F. Kennedy, her articles have appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and Scientific American, among other places. She is also the author of The Ruin of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Birth of the Modern Arms Race | <urn:uuid:396a790b-fa90-43db-ac3e-6f76b9291085> | {
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Sexuality is a vital part of who we are, what we believe, what we feel and how we respond to others. Sexuality includes body parts, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, body image, experiences, thoughts, ideas, love, joy, compassion and sorrow. Sexuality can also be influenced not only by ourselves, but by our family, friends, religion, media, goals and self-esteem.
Sexuality is a natural and normal part of life. There are many things that both boys and girls go through and experience throughout their lives. Sexuality is about knowing yourself and your body and understanding the different changes that you will be experiencing as life goes on.
The above information comes from Sexuality Resource Center for Parents (SRCP) www.srcp.org
(NOTE: The TeensHealth site will take you to a Q&A page...check out the category called "Sex" for questions and answers about Sexuality.)
Article on Body Image: The Girl in the Mirror is My Enemy
Article on How to Love Yourself Unconditionally
| Take the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Online Quiz! Click here to get started!
Congratulations to Rachell Marie Lariba from Kapolei for being the winner of our May Teen Pregnancy Prevention poster contest!
For more information about subjects concerning sexuality:
Links About Us Stay Connected
TeenLink Hawaii (TLH) is a program of the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii.
TLH is sponsored by Hawaii Youth Services Network (HYSN).
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Himachal Pradesh becomes India’s second open defecation free state
Posted on:02 Nov 2016 09:15:40
02 November 2016 Current Affairs GK: Himachal Pradesh was declared India’s second Open Defecation Free (ODF) State on 28 October 2016. The first state to achieve the feat was Sikkim.
Himachal Pradesh successfully achieved total rural sanitation coverage of 100 per cent in the state, with all 12 districts in the state being both, declared as well as verified as ODF.
The state is also the first among bigger Indian states to become ODF under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachch Bharat Abhiyan.
Open defecation is the practice of people defecating outside and not into a designated toilet.The term is widely used in literature about water, sanitation, and hygiene issues in developing countries.
Open defecation causes public health problems in areas where people defecate in fields, urban parks, rivers, and open trenches in close proximity to the living space of others.High levels of open defecation in a country are usually correlated with high child mortality, as well as high levels of undernutrition, high levels of poverty, and large disparities between rich and poor.
About one billion people around the globe practice open defecation.India has the highest number of people practicing open defecation (around 190 million people).
The other countries with the highest number of people openly defecating are Indonesia (54 million), followed by Pakistan (41 million), Nigeria (39 million), Ethiopia (34 million), and Sudan (17 million).
FreshersLive - No.1 Job site in India. Fresherslive Current Affairs 2017 section offers informative quiz questions with answers regarding latest current affairs today for all sorts of competitive exams like UPSC, TNPSC , IFS, IAS, IPS, railway exams (RRB) and banking exams like IPBS PO, IPBS clerk, Federal Bank PO, ICICI, SBI, RBI legal officer & Grade officer posts and much more. Register with us to get latest Current Affairs Updates. Also get latest Current Affairs news and quiz Updates for free alerts daily through E-mail | <urn:uuid:e2e3014b-bc5b-47ca-9bdd-6420bb58c277> | {
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The IARC is an intergovernmental agency formed 50 years ago that is part of the World Health Organization (WHO) which is part of the United Nations, with main offices based in France. Their first members included Germany, France, Italy, Australia, UK, Soviet Union and the United States. Today there are more than two dozen member countries. Their role is to conduct research into cancer-causing agents like formaldehyde, asbestos, glyphosate, tobacco smoke and viruses. IARC also collects and publishes data for cancer statistics worldwide, (2) maintaining monographs on cancer agents, including chemical combinations, such as RoundUp herbicide sold by Monsanto. (3) Not only was the herbicide Roundup implicated in 2015 for containing cancer-causing compound glyphosate, but IARC reported that eating processed meat, bacon, ham, hot dogs and red meat were all linked to certain cancers.
IARC assesses evidence of carcinogenicity and cancer risk from multiple factors
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, there are five categories we should all be aware of and filter from our consumption and exposure; those categories include what IS carcinogenic to humans, what is possibly, probably, not carcinogenic, and “probably not” carcinogenic to humans. This is similar to grading chemicals and agents like school papers with A, B, C, D and Fail, except in reverse order, where failing means avoid it at all costs.
The agency has been criticized for this categorization, but for educating the masses about something complicated, it’s good to keep it simple and in laymen’s terms. Critics of IARC also say they are influenced adversely by the “industry” – meaning they could be getting paid off to bury evidence of toxicity of certain products created by Biotech, Big Food or even Big Pharma. (1) Industrial chemicals are of major concern regarding pollution of the air, land, waterways and agriculture especially, and it could be that IARC is “soft pedaling” on certain industrial chemicals, including synthetic pesticides such as herbicides (4), insecticides, fungicides, algaecides, heavy metal toxins (that are not inspected by USDA “Certified” Organic) and more.
2003: Thirty public health scientists draft and sign letter identifying IARC conflicts of interest
Since Wikipedia attempts to deconstruct IARC’s credibility, it is most likely just the opposite, where industry-funded science hacks are trying to hoodwink the public about chemicals they concoct for biotech and agri-business, which makes them small fortunes, especially patenting GMO seeds for corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, sugar beets and the herbicides sold that GM crops are immune to because they contain the same carcinogens. Issues with transparency have also cropped up for IARC, but those too may be credibility “attacks” from industry insiders. The IARC is rather up front and open about prominent human carcinogens, identifying arsenic, acetaldehyde, bisphenol A, ionizing radiation, Epstein–Barr virus, Hepatitis B & C, and HPV-Human Papilloma virus (the only contagious form of cancer known to man).
Watch for Wikipedia lies: Under neoplasms and cancer, Wikipedia gets tricky listing IARC information:
On the same page in Wiki under their definition of IARC, they list tumor suppressing information, tumor markers, neoplasms and cancer symptoms and signs, and then just under that they list for treatment–chemotherapeutics, among other options; however, chemo has only proven to work for an average of 2.3% of the cancer victims who are diagnosed it, and those are miserable odds compared to organic food regimens, hemp seed oil, cannibas oil, alkalizing the body, medicinal mushrooms, juicing, oxygen therapy, and so many other natural cures. This is where the masses are completely mislead and think that chemotherapy chemicals are a viable option for curing cancer or even delaying death, not knowing that chemotherapy often kills cancer patients itself, by causing other cancers in the body to develop, other than the cancer being treated.
Rare Sexually Transmitted HPV cancer scam perpetuated by IARC
Hardly a human dies from human papilloma virus, so why all the fuss? Most people who get it beat it within a couple years by natural immunity, so again, why all the fuss? HPV is a virus and the only communicable form of cancer, and it’s mostly sexually transmitted, still, after all of those facts, the vaccine industry is the US is so powerful and corrupt that they push it on nine year old girls, many of whom haven’t even entered puberty nor sexual activity and shouldn’t even have to get injected with neurotoxins for a rather harmless form of cancer the body beats naturally, if they ever even get it at all anyway.
Still, the IARC thinks because they threw up so many red flags about tobacco use and its health detriment (several decades after doctors and scientists already knew), that they can “reduce” cancer virus cases by injecting young teenage girls (and boys too) that are not even sexually active with known CARCINOGENS that can cause other cancers to develop in the body. Ingredients of the deadly HPV jab called “Gardasil” made by Merck, include: Polysorbate 80, sodium chloride, aluminum, and a “denatured” – fragmented and weakened form of the virus. (5)
Plus, sodium chloride raises blood pressure and inhibits muscle contraction and growth, and aluminum phosphate greatly increases toxicity of mercury, so caution about minimum mercury tolerance is therefore severely underestimated, like when getting flu shots. CDC scientists and all doctors are well aware of this. Why doesn’t the IARC warn about getting a flu shot anytime before getting the HPV vaccine? This is another area where the IARC functions in direct contradiction to its own bragging rights for being “science-based” and “evidence-based” and true “medical science.” (10) (11)
Hypocrisy: Article published in February, 2015 on IARC website promoting multiple doses of toxic HPV vaccines
Though the IARC mission statement says that the IARC Ethics Committee “…has a duty to show leadership in ensuring that its studies are beyond ethical reproach” and that the “… IARC Ethics Committee meets every two months to evaluate IARC project proposals and ensure that the ethics process is respected,” they may need to consider that though the HPV vaccine may help a few people, it is proving to do much more harm than good, so what good is it at all? Vaccine violence has quickly come to the forefront of the medical communities across the US as CDC head scientist whistleblowers talk about the MMR vaccine leading to autism, and now the HPV vaccine has made mass media headlines more than a few times when teenage girls who get the HPV immediately go into anaphylactic shock, have seizures, go blind, fall into comas, and some die after that. (8)
Here is the summary of the published study that led the IARC to promote multiple doses of the toxic HPV: Interim results collected from researchers in national institutions in Germany and India concluded that one dose of HPV vaccine safeguards against “persistent infection” and lends support to the WHO recommendation of TWO DOSES, just six months apart, for the “vaccination of young girls.” Again, the IARC is propagandizing the value of the vaccine for STDs (7) that include aluminum and sodium chloride and weakened forms of the live virus injected into muscle tissue of girls as young as nine, ten, eleven years old. This is absurd. This is vaccine violence and is not just “soft pedaling” by the IARC and the WHO, it’s more like the right arm of Big Pharma posing as an “ethical” agency that supposedly goes “beyond ethics” to help fight and prevent disease, according to their mission statement. They pushed as many as THREE doses of quadrivalent HPV on little girls in India, where the oral/nasal polio vaccine spreads polio cases like a pandemic. That was all published in the The Lancet Oncology, in December of 2015. (6) (9)
HPV vaccine violence promoted by IARC while they expose glyphosate as “Probably Carcinogenic to Humans”
The IARC monographs show environmental factors that increase risk of humans developing cancer, and they expose certain chemical complex mixtures, occupational exposures, biological agents, along with lifestyle factors. National health agencies rely on this type of cataloguing to help them with literature for preventing exposure to potential carcinogens, and this is good. Over the past 45 years, more than 900 agents have been evaluated, and more than 400 of those agents have been identified as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly carcinogenic to humans. Again, this means these listed toxins help cancer cells develop in the body. The world’s most widely used weed killer, found in over 80% of the world’s GM crops, glyphosate, has now reached the category of a “probable human carcinogen.”
How does an international agency warn the world about the most popular toxic herbicide, on the one hand, and then on the other, promote the world’s most dangerous and deadly vaccine? Though the IARC has no regulatory role, its decision can easily lead to bans and restrictions, so their findings are monumental in some cases. The glyphosate toxicity “decision” was based on the synthesis of research by 17 experts from 11 countries around the world, who all met in France to assess the carcinogenicity of five different organophosphate pesticides. It was all published in The Lancet Oncology. Still, much of Europe and the United States simply don’t read or listen, at all, to this monumental research, that could be exposing the NUMBER ONE cause of cancer right now.
April of 2015: Dr. Oz airs his show exposing Glyphosate, Roundup and Monsanto for selling Americans and the world cancer-causing herbicides–per IARC research
Mike Adams, Editor of Natural News, writes:
“Dr. Oz should be given a Congressional medal of some kind for his willingness to expose the truth about glyphosate on national television. In a recent episode that went viral, Dr. Oz discussed the toxicity of the biotech industry’s favorite pesticide “glyphosate” — a dangerous chemical that even the World Health Organization now admits likely causes cancer. In response to this episode, the so-called “Monsanto Mafia” went berserk with all their usual character assassination tactics, and now they’ve come up with a contrived plot — a campaign of intimidation and character smearing — to try to silence Dr. Oz by destroying his credibility. A letter signed by ten doctors — all of whom have financial ties to industry — calls for Columbia University to force Dr. Oz to resign from the university’s Department of Surgery. This letter is a tremendously educational exhibit of the mafia tactics used by the biotech industry, as it essentially claims Dr. Oz has lost his mind and is now endangering the public. “Whatever the nature of his pathology, members of the public are being misled and endangered, which makes Dr. Oz’s presence on the faculty of a prestigious medical institution unacceptable,” the letter reads.”
IARC is the “specialized” cancer agency of the World Health Organization
Even in their admission that glyphosate (main ingredient of Roundup herbicide sold by Monsanto) “probably” causes cancer in humans, they had to insert the word “probably,” which creates that shadow of a doubt for consumers worldwide. This summation of research that obviously revealed the toxic herbicide causes cancer is still a form of soft pedaling because they don’t just come out and say it, and they DO know. Though the objective of the IARC is to promote “international collaboration” for cancer research, they will tell you that most cancers are linked to “environmental factors” when in reality most are linked to toxic food consumption, fluoridated water consumption, toxic medicine use as with chemical pharmaceuticals, genetically modified food (since mid-1980s), hydrogenated GM oils, and artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and sorbitol.
Environmental and lifestyle risk factors of course come into play, as does genetics, but when it comes to carcinogenicity of specific exposures, heavy metal toxins and synthetic chemical pesticides are “doing people in” faster than anything ever before. Even early cancer detection devices and technology are causing new problems for patients who seek regular, invasive, radiation, surgical and chemotherapy based treatments, not to mention false positives of mammograms (nick named scammo-grams). When will the truth all come out?
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DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been diagnosed with a disease of the heart called amyloidosis. What can you tell me about it and its treatment? I had never heard of it. — R.S.
Amyloidosis isn’t one disease; it’s a group of related illnesses that have in common the infiltration of tissues and organs with a peculiar protein called amyloid. Amyloid is produced by plasma cells, found in the marrow. A line of these cells starts to proliferate and produce amyloid. What stimulates it to do so is not known. Amyloid seeps into many tissues and many organs, leading to their malfunction. The kidneys often are the target, and amyloid might make them fail. The heart is another potential target. Liver, bone marrow, nerves and skin also can become permeated with amyloid.
General symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss and swelling are common to many amyloid variations. Specific symptoms depend on the organs attacked by amyloid.
Amyloidosis is a rare disease. Unfortunately, it is rarely diagnosed. Your doctor deserves congratulations for discovering the cause of your symptoms. Sometimes the diagnosis is made only through taking a biopsy of an involved organ and submitting it for microscopic inspection. A sample of abdominal fat also offers a reliable source of material for microscopic examination.
What medicines are available for you? The same medicines used for heart failure will help your heart to beat more strongly if that stage is ever reached. Mephalan, with or without prednisone (one of the cortisone drugs), often is used for control of amyloid production. In some, adult stem cells can be obtained and used in treating this condition.
You’ll be well served by becoming acquainted with the Amyloidosis Foundation, whose toll-free number is (877)AMYLOID and whose website can be found at www.amyloidosis.org. The foundation will keep you abreast of the latest developments in treatment.
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please explain why my urine stream stops and starts. It has come on in the past six months. I am a 44-year-old male. — M.A.
A urine stream that starts, stops and restarts often indicates that the urethra is blocked. The urethra is the tube that drains the urinary bladder. An enlarged prostate gland is a frequent cause of urethral blockage.
Prostate enlargement isn’t common at age 44. I can make other guesses, but you need a doctor’s direct examination and questioning. This is a sign that should not be ignored.
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 71 years old and have some memory loss. My daughter and my doctor suggested I take Aricept. I have always been able to take care of my own needs and never forget my 11 grandchildren’s birthdays. I pay our bills when due and so on. I stopped the Aricept and don’t see any change. While I was taking it, I had night sweats and never fell asleep until 2 or 3 a.m. I am sort of nervous to tell my doctor that I stopped. — J.D.
It’s impossible to judge a person’s competence by a short letter. However, unless I am deluding myself, you seem to have as keen a mind as anyone I know. If you believe Aricept wasn’t helping you but was causing side effects, you are more than justified in stopping it.
I firmly believe we are an overmedicated society.
DR. PAUL DONOHUE is a syndicated columnist with North America Syndicate Inc., P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. | <urn:uuid:aa0a53f0-1952-4f27-92da-b7ab784e40db> | {
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For this challenge, you'll need to play Got It! Can you explain the
strategy for winning this game with any target?
Draw a square. A second square of the same size slides around the
first always maintaining contact and keeping the same orientation.
How far does the dot travel?
Take any two digit number, for example 58. What do you have to do to reverse the order of the digits? Can you find a rule for reversing the order of digits for any two digit number? | <urn:uuid:2627e0cc-ac31-4bba-bc50-5720a755643c> | {
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Grow Plant Starts for Bloom Community Farm
What are the appropriate grade levels?
Is there a limit to the number of participants?
The theme for this project is:
Farming, Food, Health, Environment, Food Insecurity
Is there a deadline for this project?
Bloom Community Farm is looking for a group of 25 or fewer students to grow the following plant starts for their farm: Broccoli (50), Green Cabbage (50), Napa Cabbage (50), Green Onions (two trays). The Hunger Coalition will provide seeds and trays. Students will need to provide potting soil and greenhouse space for the first 6-8 weeks of the starts’ lives. The class will also transplant their starts into farm ground in April or May 2018, with support of Farm staff. Not only is this project a great way to learn about the life cycle of plants and farming, but it is also an opportunity for students to help impact people in Blaine County’s access to fresh, healthy food. | <urn:uuid:6757d247-8fae-4dd0-a268-ae260c6b5c2e> | {
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STEVEN JONAS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
In the past, modern dictatorships have been established in a variety of ways. In 1919, in response to a short-lived communist revolution, the King of Hungary appointed the first modern civilian absolute ruler, Admiral Nicholas Horthy, who became the first fascist dictator in history. In 1922, after much maneuvering, Benito Mussolini organized the "March on Rome" by his unofficial "Black Shirt" militia. King Vittorio Emmanuel III acquiesced in replacing the sitting Prime Minister chosen by Parliament with Mussolini. By 1924, with the acquiescence of Italian ruling class, Mussolini had established himself as dictator and in fact coined the modern meaning of the word "fascist" to describe his form of absolute rule.
In 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor (Prime Minister) of Germany by the President, Paul von Hindenburg. Just about two months later, following the Reichstag Fire (which had been set by men under the command of Hitler's then number-two, Hermann Goering, [see "The Reichstag Fire Trial, 1933-2008" (Tigar, M.E. and Mage, J., The Monthly Review, Vol. 60, No. 10, March 2009]), in a rigged Reichstag [parliament] Hitler gained absolute power with the passage of the Enabling Act. (It was rigged because the elected Communist deputies and many of the elected Socialist deputies had been expelled, some exiled and some of the former arrested by Hitler.) Thus although he seemed to have been voted into his dictatorship, the vote was hardly democratic according to the former rules of the Reichstag.
In 1936, with the full active cooperation of the Catholic Church and the material support of the two major European fascist powers, Germany and Italy, Gen. Francisco Franco led an invasion of Spain to overthrow the democratically elected government (with his initial mainly Muslim strike force flown from North Africa to Spain in German planes). The Western "democracies" continually ignored the legitimate Spanish government's pleas for help. It was eventually defeated and April 1, 1939, Franco's fascist dictatorship was established, by conquest. It proved to be one of the longest-lived, ending only when Franco died in 1975.
There were a number of other dictatorships established in the 20th century in countries ranging from major world powers like Japan to very minor ones, like the land-locked Paraguay. But none of them arrived on the scene through legitimate parliamentary means. In the 21st century, in the United States, the scenario for just such an advent of dictatorship may be unfolding, at least at the state/local level. This is one that bears watching. In Wisconsin what has gained much well-deserved publicity is the crushing of the public employee unions by the GOP Gov. Scott Walker, using parliamentary means.
What some might consider to be even worse is a proposal by the Governor to grant himself what amounts to dictatorial powers in two particular arenas of government (http://nationaljournal.com/is-scott-walker-s-budget-plan-a-bait-and-switch--20110223; http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27664.htm). He has proposed a law that would give him the sole power to sell Wisconsin public utilities to private corporations, under no-bid contracts, with the explicit exclusion of any of the review processes governing such transactions currently on the Wisconsin books. He has also proposed that his appointed state Commissioner of Health could change any law regarding medical assistance, on his/her own authority.
But hey, one might say, those provisions would apply to only two relatively narrow sectors of the state's economy. But hey, one might also say, the establishment of one dictatorial power, to ignore regulations, and then another, to ignore the law, could lead to the establishment of others, could it not?
And then, let's look at Michigan. There is now in place a law that gives the governor the power to take over democratically elected local governments, functionally disband them in fact, and replace them with "corporate managers" selected by himself, entirely on his own authority (http://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/03/11/michigan-governor-plays-fast-and-loose-with-democracy-invokes-radical-new-powers/).
Further the governor apparently has the authority to reduce state aid to localities, in essence giving himself the power to pick and choose which ones he would like to place in the condition of "fiscal exigency" so that he can arrange for the corporate takeover. Once in place, the corporate "emergency managers" can fire public employees at will (oh yes, the public employee unions in Michigan have also been attacked) and also remove elected officials. Then can even decide to eliminate a city's government entirely. Can't get too much more dictatorial than that.
These are, to date, state and local government matters and to date they exist in only two GOP-controlled states. In both states, the laws were arrived through the democratic process. GOP governors were elected as were GOP-majority legislatures. But there is apparently much interest among other GOP-controlled states in adopting similar measures, with either greater or lesser scope. The fact that neither governor ran for office on such platforms would seem to be immaterial. Most folks pay little attention to electoral platforms anyway unless an opponent picks out a particular feature of it/them and makes an issue of it.
The GOP likes to bleat that it is the party of new ideas (although most of them, like "lower taxes" and "smaller government" - except in matters of religious belief and personal choice, of course - are rather old). Well these ideas are surely new, both in American history and also on the world stage. So far the dictatorial powers achieved legislatively by two state GOP administrations are relatively narrow (although not so for the affected parties). But they are dictatorial in the sense that the executive branch operates on its own authority, with no checks and balances. And yes indeed, unlike the powers seized in one way or another by dictators in the past, these weren't seized either militarily or on the authority of a monarch or through a rigged parliament, but were created as the outcome of the democratic process (at least on paper). One can only say, look out, USA. Here comes the GOP and it seems to have dictatorship on its mind.
This is Dr. Jonas' Commentary No. 170 for BuzzFlash, now at Truthout.
Steven Jonas, MD, MPH is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University (NY) and author/co-author/editor/co-editor of over 30 books. In addition to being a columnist for BuzzFlash/Truthout (http://www.buzzflash.com, http://www.truth-out.org/), Dr. Jonas is also Managing Editor and a Contributing Author for TPJmagazine (http://tpjmagazine.us/); a Featured Writer for Dandelion Salad (http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/); a Senior Columnist for The Greanville Post (http://www.greanvillepost.com/); a Contributor to The Planetary Movement (http://www.planetarymovement.org/); a Contributor to Op-Ed News.com (http://www.opednews.com/), and a Contributor to TheHarderStuff newsletter. | <urn:uuid:51a428e6-dfc0-49f9-9faf-557508839529> | {
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Friends Don’t Let Friends Distract Them While Driving
If you’re a parent, the next two facts about distracted driving will probably terrify you:
- A State Farm Insurance Agency study found that just one passenger with a teenage driver doubled the risk of a fatal accident, and that the risk was five times higher when 2 or more teens rode along.
- The same study also found that alcohol-related teen auto fatalities are down, but the overall death toll hasn’t changed. Their explanation? Cell phones and text messaging have increased the occurrence of distracted driving.
The thought that your teen could be in a fatal accident because she was talking to friends or sending messages like “ur mom” to her friends is probably both frustrating and infuriating. Distracted driving is a serious issue that seems to be getting worse and worse. Luckily, a concerned and involved parent can make a difference in a teen’s actions (whether they admit it or not). Your involvement can reduce your teen’s distractions while driving.
First, you need to set ground rules. While many states have limitations on the passengers that can ride with a new driver, you may want to set additional restrictions to match your teen’s maturity and skill levels. It’s also important to reinforce the importance of wearing seatbelts, keeping hands and objects away from the driver, and following any limits you may wish to impose on where your teen may or may not drive with passengers.
That much is easy. The hard part is making sure that the rules are followed. The most important thing to remember is that when a teen driver tells someone else in the vehicle to calm down, many teens will hear those words as, “I’m not a good enough driver to deal with your distractions and the road. I suck.” What seems like a perfectly reasonable request to adults might seem like minor social suicide for a teen.
Obviously, not every teen is going to be confident enough to make a statement like that. You could provide the best, most supportive home-life imaginable and your teen still may not be able to stand up to a car full of their “cool” friends who want to blast the radio and lean out the windows.
That’s why it’s important to minimize the perceived risk in requesting fewer in-car distractions. When you’re talking to your teen, help him figure out ways to make the request seem less nerdy.
Saying something like, “Hey Scott, could you please turn down the radio? I’m having a hard time concentrating,” is going to be a lot more unnatural to your teen than a casual, “Hey asshole, turn that down. I can’t hear myself think in here.”
Yes, it may seem weird, encouraging your teen to be intentionally rude after so many years of teaching manners, but your concern should be with what works. If your teen’s too afraid to say anything, that’s much worse.
Another way for your teen to show his friends that he’s serious is to pull over to a safe place and refuse to go any further until the issue is fixed. There’s nothing wrong with leaving the offending passenger behind if they’re a danger to the others in the car. The threat alone is enough to correct most issues, though.
When coupled with a comment like, “Put your seatbelt on already. I don’t want to be cleaning your hair gel off my windshield the next time I slam my brakes,” it’s generally effective without seeming too wimpy.
While these are just a couple of examples, you can apply this approach to most in-car issues. By offering your teen some alternatives in dealing with problem passengers, you make it much more likely that he or she will be able to keep everyone in the vehicle safe. | <urn:uuid:bde03661-4de8-4283-93b9-6d8dcbcb4289> | {
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@ jaybus0 "How tightly packed are the CNTs? How does the extreme heat of vaporizing a metallic CNT not affect adjacent semiconductor CNTs?"
I queried the researchers about this and the short answer is that density varies and the metallic ones breakdown so quickly that they don't appear to damage adjacent ones.
Here is the long answer in their emailed response: "CNT density depends on growth recipes and/or transfer techniques. Typical CVD growth could range from 1-10 CNts/um, and there have been reports of up to 100 CNTs/um. CNT density may be increased after growth through CNT multiple transfer. CNT sorting can also result in high CNT density. The breakdown temperature of a CNT is approximately 600C. Due to the extremely high thermal conductivity of the CNTs and extremely low thermal mass, the metallic CNTs breakdown very rapidly, greatly reducing the amount of heat which dissipates from the CNT and thus warming their surrounding. Ideal CNT density would be 100-200 CNTs/um, resulting in much closer spaced CNTs. When the CNTs are brought closer together, heating effects from adjacent CNTs will increase. However, even with current CNT density, some of the CNTs still grow very close to each other, and we do not experimentally see a significant effect from adjacent CNTs in the breakdown process."
@rpcy "This demo runs one and only one instruction, the SUBNEG instruction, from which all other instructions can, in principle, be synthesized"
Thanks for the clarificaition. I guess we could say this proof of concept demo is the ultimate reduced instruciton set computer. It reminds me of early Cray supercomputers which used NAND gates to synthesize all their instructions.
The part about running 20 instructions from the MIPS instruction set is incorrect, or at least very misleading. This demo runs one and only one instruction, the SUBNEG instruction, from which all other instructions can, in principle, be synthesized. What the Stanford guys have done is really cool, but let's be clear about exactly what it was.
10nm is already well into development at Intel, with all candidate process tools in place or set to be installed before the end of the year and something like this would take many years to become viable. First equipment vendor(s) would have to be working on this for atleast a couple of quarters. There are several steps involved and working with quartz substrates may lead to issues.
Intel seems to think they can extend "traditional" CMOS to the 5nm node which should be ramping up in Hillsboro in 6 years. However this technology may actually qualify as traditional so I cannot really comment on anything that far off. But 10nm is not going to bring CNTs to the desktop.
A single carbon nanotube could form a transistor channel as narrow as a single nanometer, but this technique uses many in parallel to form a single transistor channel by patterning at the lithographic limit of whatever process is being used. The researchers did not speculate on the node at which it would be prudent to implement their technology. Their next step is to characterize the speed and energy efficiency of their technique.
The metallic nanotube removal process is performed before the etching step which defines the standard cells. Here what they told me about VLSI-compatible Metallic CNT Removal (VMR) in an email: "The process begins by depositing a special interdigited layout structure on the wafer containing a mixture of metallic and semiconducting CNTs. These interdigitated fingers are patterned at the minimum lithographic pitch (parts of it will become the final source and drain contacts in the circuit). Electrical breakdown is performed once on the entire VMR structure, removing all metallic CNTs within the entire structure...After breakdown, sections of the VMR structure are etched out, leaving the contacts which will remain for the final circuit." | <urn:uuid:80c2f80d-1cfb-44ff-a5d4-3450888f8d07> | {
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Why Celebrate Labor Day
Labor Day, an America federal holiday observed on the first Monday is September, celebrates the American workforce and their achievements.
Who first proposed Labor Day is up for debate, whilst some say it was Matthew Maguire, others argue that it was Peter J. McGuire. One thing is for sure, that is was Oregon who first made it a holiday back in 1887. It wasn’t until 1894, and 30 states later, that it became a federal holiday.
To celebrate Labor Day, and the dedication of US workers, here’s a run down of some of the best constructions in America.
The oldest educational building in the US, the Wren Building suffered several fires and rebuildings. It still stands today, with a number of its original features, yet has been added to constantly over time. The Wren Building was supposed to be a complete quadrangle, but the War of Independence halted any further construction.
One of the oldest government buildings in the US, and the oldest surviving public building in Boston, it is now run as a history museum. Its primary function was as a seat of colony government between 1713 and 1776, and then was used as a seat of the state’s legislature until 1798.
President Washington laid the cornerstone in a ground breaking ceremony on September 1793. Construction was never easy, with others influencing and changing the original design. People came and went, but the construction went on with the Senate wing being completed in 1800 and the House wing in 1811. Even though construction was not completed, congress still held their first session in 1800.
First completed in 1872, the building was not well received. The project, with its high Victorian Gothic style, was already deemed a mistake by the president of the Met. Within 20 years of its opening a new architectural plan was already being executed, and since that time a number of alterations and additions have been made.
All of these buildings were constructed before Labor Day became a federal holiday. The US workforce carried on producing some amazing buildings, and it’s our national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
The Dam, controversially named after President Herbert Hoover, was one of the most ambitious construction projects ever undertaken. This massive effort, involving thousands of workers, cost over one hundred lives during its construction time. So many workers, and their families, gathered for work here special camps had to be created.
The Twin Towers, as they were known collectively, were the tallest buildings in the world. Certain constraints within the initial designs meant that the original plans of 80 storeys had to be increased to 110, and servicing these storeys were 95 express and local elevators.
Following events in 2001, were the World Trade Center was destroyed in a terrorist attack, new plans and constructions are well underway. The new One World Trade Center will be completed very shortly.
Also known as Trump Towers, Donald Trump had big plans for his new development, and announced that it was to be the tallest building in the world. However later that year, after the terrorist attacks in 2001, major revisions and redesigns were implemented. Trump Towers, upon completion, was the eleventh tallest building in the world.
What’s your favorite US building?
These are just a few of the great constructions in America. Labor Day is about celebrating the entire US workforce. How are you celebrating it?
Remember, if you are planning to travel internationally during Labor Day pick up one of our International Cell Phones to keep you in touch.
Emma is a Online Marketing Specialist at Mobal. She is responsible for our outbound marketing efforts including planning and executing email campaigns, social media and blog posts. She also works with the Web Designers at Mobal to update the website and to help to create a better experience for the user.
Leave a reply | <urn:uuid:7be7b984-5391-4e7a-b909-0782f5db6e22> | {
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Recorded as Knee and Kneebone, these are English medieval surnames. Both are residential, and both appear to originate from now "lost" medieval villages. Knee is a developed form of the pre 7th century word cneo meaning knee, and may have described a now lost medieval village on the bend of a river, or one on a piece of land which was considered to be "knee shaped". Kneebone is similar being from a lost Cornish village called Carnebwen. This was recorded in the year 1298, and translated as Ebwen's rock. Research would suggest that from the mid 16th century in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st (1558 - 1603), the village of Bromham in the county of Wiltshire, three miles from the town of Devizes, has been an epi-centre of the Knee surname, church recordings being found there in some number. It is unlikely that Bromham itself was the place of origin, but a villlage where the Knee's settled after leaving their original home. Early recordings for both spellings include Grace Kneebone of St Columb Major, Cornwall in 1585, Bathsheba Knee, christened at Bromham, Wiltshire, on May 5th 1605, Thomas Knee of Croscombe, Somerset, on October 10th 1609, and Anthony Kneebone of Gwenapp, Cornwall, on March 18th 1753. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. | <urn:uuid:ad4458d0-c528-4b43-89b6-af5a90da1f7d> | {
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WATERFOWL HUNTERS CAUTIONED ABOUT BLUE-GREEN ALGAE
Dogs can become ill if exposed to harmful algae blooms
September 27, 2013
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) urge waterfowl hunters who use dogs to be vigilant for the presence of harmful blue-green algae. Dogs that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algae bloom (HAB) or eat dried algae along the shore may become seriously ill or die.
Blue-green algae are really a type of bacteria called "cyanobacteria," which occurs naturally in all of our waters. Under the right conditions, the algae can rapidly increase (bloom) and produce toxins. HABs typically begin in May and can occur through October or later. They generally coincide with longer days and warm water temperatures and often flourish in nutrient-laden waters. However, dead algae can wash up on shorelines and in marshy areas and persist for long periods – posing a risk to dogs that eat or drink the algae or ingest it while licking their fur. A HAB may look like foam, scum or paint floating on the water and be colored blue, bright green, brown or red. Blooms can develop rapidly; if the water appears suspicious or there is decaying algae on the shore, avoid contact and keep dogs away.
Dogs are usually exposed to the toxins by drinking the HAB-affected water. However, they may still be exposed if they walk on, roll in or eat decaying algae along the shore or retrieve a bird with algae on its feathers.
The signs of illness in dogs usually occur within 30 minutes of exposure and include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, convulsions, difficulty breathing and general weakness.
If your dog has ingested algae, or has any of these signs after exposure, contact your veterinarian immediately as HAB poisoning can quickly lead to death.
People may also become ill after contact with a HAB. Symptoms vary depending upon the type of exposure (e.g. direct contact, ingestion, inhalation) but can include rash, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, and headache. If you, or your dog, come into contact with algae rinse the area with clean, fresh water.
KDHE samples publicly-accessible bodies of water for cyanobacteria when the agency is alerted to a potential HAB. When a HAB is present, KDHE, in cooperation with KDWPT and other lake managers where appropriate, responds by informing the public of these conditions. KDHE does not sample private bodies of water such as farm ponds or livestock watering tanks.
Receive up-to-date lake conditions at this Toll Free Number: 1-855-HAB-LAKE (1-855-422-5253).
For information on blue-green algae and reporting potential harmful algal blooms or to report a possible animal exposure, go to: http://www.kdheks.gov/algae-illness/algae_advisories.htm. | <urn:uuid:dac97601-31cb-4f0e-857d-99698f94cdef> | {
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Kiwis are being urged to voice their worries over how personal information should be shared in the future.
The New Zealand Data Futures Forum, recently set up by the ministries of finance and statistics, is gathering New Zealanders' views, concerns and ideas for the potential sharing of big data held by public and private sector organisations.
The term "big data" refers to the information captured through instruments, sensors, internet transactions, email, video, click streams, and other digital activity.
Potential uses for it raises legal and ethical questions about how to protect privacy and the rights of individuals.
New Zealand's society was heading toward a "fundamental change" and needed to adapt to the age of big data, forum member Professor Miriam Lips said.
"Kiwis find their privacy of huge importance, so privacy needs to be at the heart of our future digital society."
Professor Lips said research had shown that Kiwis trusted Government agencies with their information, along with banks and health institutions - something markedly different from other countries.
"But at the same time, we do not exactly know who has access to personal information, how it is processed, where it is stored ... and therefore, we don't really understand what is happening to it," she said."
At the moment, we deal with these very lengthy privacy statements, and hardly anyone is reading them."
Further, only 25 per cent of the New Zealand population was actually able to read and understand them, she said.
Improvements could include ensuring people were better aware of what was happening with their information, through greater transparency and incorporating "privacy by design" into systems that used it.
"In the end, we want to explore how we actually use data in New Zealand, and therefore reduce the risks and hopefully prevent any potential misuse of it."
A study released this month by the Privacy Commission found that Kiwis view social media providers as the least trustworthy organisations for keeping personal details private, and three-quarters of users had changed their Facebook privacy settings.
Sixty-nine per cent of respondents to the survey rated platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as either highly or somewhat untrustworthy, and half said they had become more worried about privacy in the past few years.
Eighty-four per cent of the respondents thought the police were trustworthy, while 37 per cent trusted businesses trading online.
The top five privacy concerns were what children posted on the internet, credit card or banking details being stolen, businesses sharing information without permission, identity theft, and Government agencies sharing information without permission.
People have until mid next month to have their say here. | <urn:uuid:d7a35026-857e-498c-930b-1499ca79152f> | {
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ROSCOE, S.D. -- Robert Malsam nearly went broke in the 1980s when corn was cheap. So now that prices are high and he can finally make a profit, he's not about to apologize for ripping up prairieland to plant corn.
Across the Dakotas and Nebraska, more than 1 million acres of the Great Plains are giving way to corn fields as farmers transform the wild expanse that once served as the backdrop for American pioneers.
This expansion of the Corn Belt is fueled in part by America's green energy policy, which requires oil companies to blend billions of gallons of corn ethanol into their gasoline. Ethanol has become the No. 1 use for corn in America, helping keep prices high.
"It's not hard to do the math there as to what's profitable to have," Malsam said. "I think an ethanol plant is a farmer's friend."
What the green-energy program has made profitable, however, is far from green. A policy intended to reduce global warming is encouraging a farming practice that actually could worsen it.
That's because plowing into untouched grassland releases carbon dioxide that has been naturally locked in the soil. It also increases erosion and requires farmers to use fertilizers and other industrial chemicals. In turn, that destroys native plants and wipes out wildlife habitats.
It appeared so damaging that scientists warned that America's corn-for-ethanol policy would fail as an anti-global warming strategy if too many farmers plowed over virgin land.
The Obama administration argued that would not happen. But the administration didn't set up a way to monitor whether it actually happened.
More than 1.2 million acres of grassland have been lost since the federal government required that gasoline be blended with increasing amounts of ethanol, an Associated Press analysis of satellite data found. Plots that were wild grass or pastureland seven years ago are now corn and soybean fields.
That's in addition to the 5 million acres of farmland that had been aside for conservation -- more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined -- that have vanished since Obama took office.
In South Dakota, more than 370,000 acres of grassland have been uprooted and farmed from since 2006. In Edmunds County, a rural community about two hours north of the capital, Pierre, at least 42,000 acres of grassland have become cropland -- one of the largest turnovers in the region.
Malsam runs a 13-square-mile family farm there. He grows corn, soybeans and wheat, then rents out his grassland for grazing. Each year, the family converts another 160 acres from grass to cropland.
Chemicals kill the grass. Machines remove the rocks. Then tractors plow it three times to break up the sod and prepare it for planting.
Scattered among fields of 7-foot tall corn and thigh-high soybeans, some stretches of grassland still exist. Cattle munch on some grass. And "prairie potholes" -- natural ponds ranging from small pools to larger lakes -- support a smattering of ducks, geese, pelicans and herons.
Yet within a mile of Malsam's farm, federal satellite data show, more than 300 acres of grassland have been converted to soybeans and corn since 2006.
Nebraska has lost at least 830,000 acres of grassland, a total larger than New York City, Los Angeles and Dallas combined.
"It's great to see farmers making money. It hasn't always been that way," said Craig Cox of the Environmental Working Group. He advocates for clean energy but opposes the ethanol mandate. "If we're going to push the land this hard, we really need to intensify conservation in lockstep with production, and that's just not happening," he said.
Jeff Lautt, CEO of Poet, which operates ethanol refineries across the country, including in South Dakota, said it's up to farmers how to use their land.
"The last I checked, it is still an open market. And farmers that own land are free to farm their land to the extent they think they can make money on it or whatever purpose they need," he said.
Yet Chris Wright, a professor at South Dakota State University who has studied land conversion, said: "The conversation about land preservation should start now before it becomes a serious problem." Wright reviewed the AP's methodology for determining land conversion.
The AP's analysis used government satellite data to count how much grassland existed in 2006 in each county, then compare each plot of land to corresponding satellite data from 2012.
The data from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Agriculture identify corn and soybean fields. That allowed the AP to see which plots of grassland became cropland.
To reach its conservative estimate of 1.2 million acres lost, the AP excluded grassland that had been set aside under the government's Conservation Reserve Program, in which old farmland is allowed to return to a near-natural state. The AP used half-acre sections of earth and excluded tiny tracts that became corn, which experts said were most likely outliers.
Corn prices more than doubled in the years after Congress passed the ethanol mandate in 2007. Now, Malsam said, farmers can make about $500 an acre planting corn.
His farm has just become profitable in the past five years, allowing him and his wife, Theresa, to build a new house on the farmstead.
Four miles south, signs at each end of the town of Roscoe announce a population of only 324. But the town, which relies in part on incomes like Malsam's, supports a school, a restaurant, a bank, a grocery store and a large farm machinery store.
The manager of the equipment dealership, Kaleb Rodgers, said the booming farm economy has helped the town and the dealership prosper. The business with 28 employees last year sold a dozen combines at about $300,000 apiece, plus more than 60 tractors worth between $100,000 and $300,000, he said.
"If we didn't have any farmers we wouldn't have a community here. We wouldn't have a business. I wouldn't be sitting here. I wouldn't be able to feed my family," Rodgers said. "I think ethanol is a very good thing."
Jim Faulstich, president of the South Dakota Grasslands Coalition, said the nation's ethanol and crop insurance policies have encouraged the transformation of the land.
Faulstich, who farms and ranches in central South Dakota near Highmore, said much of the land being converted is not suited to crop production, and South Dakota's strong winds and rains will erode the topsoil.
"I guess a good motto would be to farm the best and leave the rest," he said. | <urn:uuid:a6f7b59f-2728-4720-b09d-25ca421c092e> | {
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8th GRADE - Due on the 13th of February
Hi guys, hope you enjoyed your reading assignment. Am really looking forward to your presentations in class. :)
Now, as far as St.Valentine goes, we have joined the wiki Celebr8Uand MeDigitally, so lets create magic shall we? ;)
Please, choose 2 of the tasks below and then put it on your blog.
- Create a Valentine's card on animoto or goanimate
- Recreate a scene in Xtranormal between 2 famous couples - could be historical couples like Romeo and Juliet or present day couples from a romantic movie that you like.
- Do a research project about famous historical couples and present it either through glogster or capzles.
- Go into the origins of St. Valentine's Day and create a short movie on it using Movie Maker or just scrapblog
- Record a Valentine's message using Vocaroo
- Write a poem or choose a poem and then perform it (audio or Video)
- Research and send us the stories of a couple from our own culture using one of the web 2.0 tools of your choice.
- Prepare a crossword puzzle using justcrosswords
- Create a mini-dictionary using wordwizard.
Check out the content of this Live Binder to access web pages that might be useful for you research.
If you have any questions or doubts, e-mail me or use the Audio Dropbox and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. | <urn:uuid:d9df2b05-77d6-414d-a668-b92e9fef5c29> | {
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Satellite Imagery in Predicting Infectious Disease Outbreaks
This Perspective article written by Timothy E. Ford, Rita R. Colwell, Joan B. Rose, Stephen S. Morse, David J. Rogers, and Terry L. Yates (Deceased)*, appeared first in Emerging Infectious Diseases—a peer-reviewed, open access journal published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressly to promote the recognition of new and reemerging infectious diseases around the world and improve the understanding of factors involved in disease emergence, prevention, and elimination.
The article is a verbatim version of the original and is not available for edits or additions by Encyclopedia of Earth editors or authors. Companion articles on the same topic that are editable may exist within the Encyclopedia of Earth.
Using Satellite Images of Environmental Changes to Predict Infectious Disease Outbreaks
Recent events clearly illustrate a continued vulnerability of large populations to infectious diseases, which is related to our changing human-constructed and natural environments. A single person with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in 2007 provided a wake-up call to the United States and global public health infrastructure, as the health professionals and the public realized that today's ease of airline travel can potentially expose hundreds of persons to an untreatable disease associated with an infectious agent. Ease of travel, population increase, population displacement, pollution, agricultural activity, changing socioeconomic structures, and international conflicts worldwide have each contributed to infectious disease events. Today, however, nothing is larger in scale, has more potential for long-term effects, and is more uncertain than the effects of climate change on infectious disease outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. We discuss advances in our ability to predict these events and, in particular, the critical role that satellite imaging could play in mounting an effective response.
Atmospheric chemists and climate modelers have little doubt that the earth's climate is changing. Concomitant with rising carbon dioxide levels and temperatures, severe weather events are increasing, which can lead to substantial rises in sea level, flooding, increased droughts, and forest fires (1). In recent decades, infectious diseases have resurged, and previously unrecognized agents of disease have been characterized (2). Evidence is accruing that these phenomena may in part be linked to environmental change (3). Several questions have emerged from events that have occurred over the past 20 years: was cryptosporidiosis inevitable in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, in 1993, and was Escherichia coli O157 infection inevitable in Walkerton, Ontario, Canada, in 2000? Both events were preceded by heavy rains; had highly concentrated sources of pathogens in the form of untreated sewage and animal waste, respectively; and had vulnerable infrastructure. Although the situations were perhaps more complex, could we have predicted epidemic cholera in South America in 1991 after a 100-year absence and the emergence of a new strain of potentially pandemic cholera in India in 1992?
A considerable body of knowledge has accumulated over the past decade or so about the relationships between environment and disease, yet far more information and resources are needed if we are to develop effective early warning systems through environmental surveillance and modeling as well as appropriate emergency response. In the United States, we face a crisis in funding that not only affects basic and applied research in this field but also undermines our ability to deploy remote sensing technologies that provide the most promising means for monitoring our environment. Using examples of waterborne and vector-borne disease, we will discuss how remote sensing technology can be used for disease prediction. We will then examine the lessons learned from these examples and provide recommendations for future modeling.
Water and climate go hand in hand, with precipitation and extreme events known to be associated with waterborne outbreaks (4). Flooding is the most frequent natural weather disaster (30%–46% of natural disasters in 2004–2005), affecting >70 million persons worldwide each year (data for 2005 ).
The most common illnesses associated with floods described in the literature are diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis (jaundice), and leptospirosis. Unusual illnesses such as tetanus have also been reported. The etiologic agents identified include Cryptosporidium spp., hepatitis A virus, hepatitis E virus, Leptospira spp., Salmonella spp., and Vibrio spp. Severe outbreaks of cholera, in particular, have been directly associated with flooding in Africa and in West Bengal, India (6,7).
A rise in sea level, combined with increasingly severe weather events, is likely to make flooding events commonplace worldwide. The Climate Change 2001 Synthesis Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (8) suggests that the average annual numbers of persons affected by coastal storm surges will increase from <50 million at present sea levels to ≈250 million by the 2080s, assuming a 40-cm rise in sea level. Even with enhanced protection through engineering interventions, this number is anticipated to reach ≈100 million persons. The initial proportion of deaths from these events is huge, but without extreme vigilance and better monitoring and response, major epidemic waterborne diseases will continue to occur. Factors that promote waterborne disease—overcrowding, lack of sanitation, lack of clean water, certain domestic animal practices, waste disposal—are exacerbated by flooding.
Effective prediction depends on many factors, not just the prediction of an event. Cholera may be the most studied and best understood of the waterborne diseases and, perhaps in hindsight, we could have predicted the occurrence of cholera in South America in 1991 (9). Models for cholera prediction, although country specific, are constantly improving. For example, considerable work has gone into predicting outbreaks of cholera in Bangladesh. Remote imaging technologies developed by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration have been used to relate sea surface temperature, sea surface height, and chlorophyll A levels to cholera outbreaks (Figure 1) (R.R. Colwell and J. Calkins, unpub. data). This process used a composite environmental model that demonstrated a remarkable similarity between predicted rates based on these 3 parameters and actual cholera incidence. These data are far from perfect and considerable uncertainty still remains. For example, rates of cholera were much higher than predicted in January 1998 and January 1999, yet many of the predicted peaks closely aligned with actual incidence. Because the model is constantly being improved and the satellite data are becoming increasingly accurate through ground truthing (real-time collection of information on location), we believe that satellite imaging provides tremendous promise for prediction of cholera, weeks and even months in advance of an epidemic.
Knowing when an outbreak is likely to occur can inform public health workers to stress basic hygiene and sanitation and to implement simple mitigation efforts such as filtration of water with sari cloth, which in some areas is credited with reducing deaths from cholera by >50% (10). Although remote sensing technology is currently still a research tool, the example of cholera prediction through its use provides a compelling argument to maintain and adequately fund our satellite programs; unless this is done, this extraordinary effort at disease prediction will fail.
Some of the critical needs that must be met to predict the effect of environmental change on waterborne disease include the following: 1) better knowledge of disease incidence and pathogen excretion; 2) better characterization of the pathogens in sources (e.g., combined sewer overflows, septic tanks) and these sources' vulnerabilities to climate change; 3) better monitoring of sewage indicators to gather source, transport, and exposure information (event monitoring); 4) improved understanding of sediments and other pathogen reservoirs; 5) more quantitative data for risk assessment; and 6) better health surveillance data. In turn, this information can be used to better use ground truthing in combination with remote sensing technologies as predictors of waterborne disease outbreaks.
Other emerging and reemerging infectious diseases also are environmentally driven. Many are zoonotic, vector-borne, or both, and have complex life histories that make predicting disease emergence or reemergence particularly difficult. An insect or rodent vector can make it almost inevitable that a pathogen will be globally transported by plane or boat. With environmental change, disease range, prevalence, and seasonality may change in direct relationship to the vector or animal host. Therefore, to understand the life cycle of a pathogen and the risks of disease emergence, all stages of that life cycle and the life cycles of its intermediate hosts must be considered.
To date, predicting vector-borne diseases has proved to be complex. Although climate change and other environmental stressors are major components, separation from human factors is difficult. Climate change undoubtedly affects the distribution of disease, but changes in human behavior that increase exposure risk are also critical factors. Šumilo et al. (11) reported that climatic variables explain only 55% of spatial variation in tick-borne encephalitis in the Baltic States, which have seen an increase in disease incidence over the past 3 decades. These authors report that changes in predation pressure on intermediate hosts and shifting socioeconomic conditions that increase or decrease peoples' visits to forests (for recreation, work, or berry and mushroom harvesting) are important factors in disease distribution (12).
Effective modeling of future risk for vector-borne disease outbreaks needs to take into account human behavior that increases exposure, as well as other factors that effect the ecology of the vectors, such as predation pressure and habitat change. Coupled with remote sensing technologies that monitor environmental and climatic changes, human observations of population movement and distribution will be necessary.
Malaria also presents a challenge. This disease continues to devastate sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world. Substantial resources over the past several decades have gone toward eradication, vaccination, treatment, and, more recently, prediction of malaria outbreaks. Satellite imaging has been used to predict the distribution of 5 of the 6 Anopheles gambiae complex species that are responsible for much of the malaria transmission in Africa (13). However, human factors again make accurate prediction of disease events complex. Prediction of a disease event is complicated by host immunity effects, which can result in cycles of infection that would appear to bear no relationship to environmental variables. To predict malaria outbreaks, remote sensing technologies need to be coupled with a better understanding of how specific populations are effected by host immunity, which could allow population susceptibility at any given time to be estimated.
Although considerable uncertainty exists in disease prediction through remote sensing technology, particularly for vector-borne disease as discussed above, satellite technology has been applied with some success to predictive modeling for cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). The 1993 outbreak of HPS in the southwestern United States was believed to be linked to environmental conditions and, in particular, to abnormally high rainfall that resulted in increased vegetation with a subsequent explosion in the rodent populations. Several research groups have subsequently modeled conditions that led to an HPS outbreak, with mixed success. Engelthaler et al. (14) looked at 10 years of data on monthly precipitation and daily ambient temperature in the Southwest region (1986–1995) in relation to HPS cases (1993–1995). They found that cases tended to cluster seasonally and temporally by biome type and elevation and only indirectly demonstrated a possible association between the 1992/1993 El Niño precipitation events and HPS. Glass et al. (15,16) were also unable to make a definitive link with precipitation events in their analyses of HPS in the southwestern United States. They did, however, find a relationship between Landsat Thermatic Mapper (LTM) images recorded by satellite in 1992 and HPS risk the following year. LTM generates numbers that represent reflected light in 6 bands, 2 of which were associated with decreased risk and 1, in the mid-infrared range, with increased risk. The authors admit that considerable ground truthing is necessary to relate satellite imagery to the environmental variables being measured (i.e., vegetation, soil type, soil moisture) and their relation to rodent population dynamics.
However, this work does demonstrate the utility of remote satellite imaging and the increasingly important role it can and should play in disease prediction. In 2006, Glass et al. (17) reported strong predictive strength from logistic regression modeling of LTM imagery from 1 year, when estimating risk of HPS the following year, for the years 1992–2005. Their risk analysis for 2006, based on Landsat imagery for 2005, when precipitation levels increased dramatically over prior drought years, suggested an increased risk for HPS, particularly in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. This prediction was unfortunately borne out in the early part of 2006 when 9 cases of HPS occurred within the first 3 months, 6 of those cases in New Mexico and Arizona. However, the anticipated threat to Colorado did not occur, with a fairly typical number of 6 cases, compared with a total of 11 cases for the state in 2005 (18).
However, these results are not necessarily a failure of prediction. In fact, they may illustrate that an early warning system serves to reduce exposure of persons to the deer mice habitat. For example, USA Today highlighted HPS risks with a June 8, 2006, article titled "Officials warn of increased threat of hantavirus" (www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-08-hantavirus-x.htm). The role of the popular press is hard to quantify but undoubtedly does have an effect on human behavior patterns. Many health departments in the western states produce health advisories warning the public about the risks of exposure to the virus through inhalation of dust contaminated with rodent urine, feces, or saliva. The popular press may serve an important role in increasing awareness of a heightened health risk, which, in turn, promotes greater compliance with health advisories.
The scientific community has a relative consensus that epidemic and pandemic disease risks will be exacerbated by environmental changes that destabilize weather patterns, change distribution of vectors, and increase transport and transmission risk. Predictive modeling may lead to improved understanding and potentially prevent future epidemic and pandemic disease. Many respiratory infections are well known as highly climate dependent or seasonal. Although we are not yet able to predict their incidence with great precision, we may well be able to do this in the future. Meningococcal meningitis (caused by Neisseria meningitidis) in Africa is probably the best known example. In the disease-endemic so-called meningitis belt (an area running across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia), this is classically a dry season disease, which ceases with the beginning of the rainy season, likely as a result of changes in host susceptibility (19). Many other infectious diseases show strong seasonality or association with climatic conditions (20). Perhaps one of the most interesting is influenza, which is thought of as a wintertime disease in temperate climates but shows both winter and summer peaks in subtropical and tropical regions (21). Although the reasons for seasonality are often poorly understood, the close dependence of such diseases on climatic conditions suggests that these, too, are likely to be amenable to prediction by modeling and remote sensing (22).
When we consider influenza, it is hard not to think about the future risks from pandemic influenza. Public health agencies in the United States and around the world are focusing on influenza preparedness, notably concerning influenza virus A subtype H5N1, which has captured attention because it causes severe disease and death in humans but as yet has demonstrated only very limited and inefficient human-to-human transmission. The severity of the disease raises images of the 1918 influenza epidemic on an unimaginably vast scale if the virus were to adapt to more efficient human-to-human transmission. Can predictive modeling using satellite or other imaging of environmental variables help in prediction of future influenza pandemics? Xiangming Xiao at the University of New Hampshire was funded in 2006 by the National Institutes for Health to lead a multidisciplinary and multi-institutional team to use remote satellite imaging to track avian flu. Xiao et al. have used satellite image–derived vegetation indices to map paddy rice agriculture in southern Asia (23). They believe that a similar approach can be used in conjunction with the more traditional approach of analyzing bird migration patterns and poultry production (24,25) to map potential hot spots of virus transmission (26).
An interesting question is why did we not see disease epidemics in Indonesia, following the devastating tsunami disaster of December 2004? Could rapid public health intervention be credited with minimizing spread of disease? In the case of Aceh Province, many communities reported diarrhea as the main cause of illness (in 85% of children <5 years of age), but no increases in deaths were reported, and no outbreaks of cholera or other potentially epidemic diseases occurred (27). Given the massive scale of the disaster, was this likely? In some towns, more than two thirds of the population died at the time of impact, almost 100% of homes were destroyed, and 100% of the population lacked access to clean water and sanitation (27). To a large extent, the Australian army and other groups are to be credited with rapidly deploying environmental health teams to swiftly implement public health measures, including provision of safe drinking water, proper sanitary facilities, and mosquito control measures (28). Widespread fecal pollution of the surface waters was shown, yet the saltiness of the potable water supply after the disaster made much of the water unpalatable. Wells were vulnerable, perhaps to other etiologic agents of fecal origin including viruses and Shigella spp., with greater probability of infection than Vibrio spp., thus leading to the widespread diarrhea.
The most important lesson from the Asian tsunami is that disease epidemics can be prevented by public health intervention. Unfortunately, most flooding events, and other conditions that promote infectious disease epidemics, do not receive the same global media attention. A tsunami captures the imagination of the world in a way that weeks of rainfall in the Sudan or a rise in sea surface temperature cannot. However, if climatologic data can be used to predict future disease outbreaks, public health interventions can be mobilized in a more timely and proactive manner.
A continuing concern is the conditions that result in newly emergent virulent strains of pathogens. Faruque et al. have provided molecular evidence that V. cholerae O139 strains are derived from O1 strains through genetic modification (29). In addition, Chakraborty et al. in Kolkata have seen the presence and expression of virulence genes in several environmental strains of V. cholerae cultured from surface waters (30). Recently, E. coli O157 has been isolated from the Ganges River in India for the first time (31). Indications are that it is metabolically different from E. coli O157 isolated from other parts of the world, but the conditions that have led to these differences are as yet unclear. From the above studies, risk for transmission of virulence genes is likely to be high, but studies of conditions promoting transmission and approaches to modeling resultant disease risks are in their infancy. New epidemic strains could potentially occur through mutation of existing epidemic strains or through gene transfer. Environmental stressors such as chemical contaminants are thought to accelerate both mutation rates and gene transfer (32). Thus, the degree of chemical pollution may need to be a component of disease models (in addition to other stressors).
The scientific community is a long way from incorporating environment-gene interactions into predictive models and clarifying the risks posed to human society from emerging diseases. However, investigation of these parts of the pathogen's ecology should remain on the national research agenda as we move forward with developing predictive models of disease outbreaks.
Current modeling of infectious diseases is by necessity retrospective. Environmental parameters measured by remote satellite imaging show the greatest promise for providing global coverage of changing environmental conditions. With current imaging technologies, we can measure sea surface temperature, sea surface height, chlorophyll A levels, and a variety of vegetation and soil indices, in addition to many other physical, biologic, and chemical parameters of the earth's surface and atmosphere. A variety of these parameters can be incorporated in complex mathematical models, together with biotic and ecologic variables of the pathogen and host life cycles, to correlate environment with outbreaks of disease (Figure 2). However, we are still far from being able to accurately predict future disease events on the basis of existing environmental conditions.
Successful predictive modeling of disease and the establishment of early warning systems have reached a critical junction in development. As we improve our understanding of the biology and ecology of the pathogen, vectors, and hosts, our ability to accurately link environmental variables, particularly those related to climate change, will improve. What has become clear over the past few years is that satellite imaging can play a critical role in disease prediction and, therefore, inform our response to future outbreaks.
We conclude that infectious disease events may be closely linked to environmental and global change. Satellite imaging may be critical for effective disease prediction and thus future mitigation of epidemic and pandemic diseases. We cannot stress too strongly our belief that a strong global satellite program is essential for future disease prediction.
This article is dedicated to Terry L. Yates, an outstanding scientist and colleague whose substantial contributions to vector-borne and zoonotic disease research, in particular, his work on the ecology of hantavirus, will always be remembered.
T.E.F. was supported in part by grant no. P20 RR-16455-06 from the National Center for Research Resources, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). S.M.M. was supported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cooperative agreements A1010-21/21, U90/CCU224241 (Centers for Public Health Preparedness) and U01/CI000442, the Arts and Letters Foundation, and NIH/National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease cooperative agreement 5U54AI057158 (Northeast Biodefense Center Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research). R.R.C. was supported in part by grant no. S0660009 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Dr Ford is Vice President for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of New England (UNE), in Biddeford and Portland, Maine, USA. He has conducted research on environmental microbiology, environmental health, and waterborne disease for the past 28 years and was founding director of the program in Water and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. At UNE, he anticipates supporting programs that link terrestrial and marine ecosystems with human health.
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- Figure 1. Modeling cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh. Adapted from R.R. Colwell and J. Calkins, unpub. data.
- Figure 2. Components of a predictive model of infectious disease based on satellite imaging to assess environmental change. SST, sea surface temperature; SSH, sea surface height.
- Authors: *Timothy E. Ford, Rita R. Colwell, Joan B. Rose, Stephen S. Morse, David J. Rogers, and Terry L. Yates (Deceased)
- Author affiliations: University of New England, Biddeford, Maine, USA (T.E. Ford); University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA (R.R. Colwell); Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA (R.R. Colwell); Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA (J.B. Rose); Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, New York, USA (S.S. Morse); Oxford University, Oxford, UK (D.J. Rogers); and University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (T.L. Yates)
- Suggested Citation for this Article: Ford TE, Colwell RR, Rose JB, Morse SS, Rogers DJ, Yates TL. Using satellite images of environmental changes to predict infectious disease outbreaks. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2009 Sep [date cited]. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/15/9/1341.htm
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Blood lead concentrations among Canadians have fallen dramatically since they were last measured 30 years ago, according to a new federal study, though 91 per cent of Canadians aged six to 79 were found to have bisphenol A in their urine. The Canadian Health Measures Survey, conducted between 2007 and 2009, also found 88 per cent had detectable concentrations of mercury in their blood. The study said lower household income, being born outside Canada, living in a dwelling at least 50 years old, current or former smoking, and drinking alcohol at least once a week were associated with higher lead levels. The survey marks the first time bisphenol A concentrations were measured nationally, and found the mean concentration of 1.16 micrograms per litre in participants’ urine consistent with results from international studies. The study found the highest concentrations of bisphenol A in children and teenagers. | <urn:uuid:ef6d2cbf-c831-4d3f-92b2-a2c67e9e79c5> | {
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6.8 earthquake: Strong, shallow quake shakes Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook the South Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea about 12 hours after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed dozens in Iran and Pakistan.
United States Geological Survey
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea
A powerful earthquake shook Papua New Guinea's northern coast Wednesday morning, but there was no threat of a widespread tsunami in the Pacific.
The shallow magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck about 19 kilometers (11 miles) east of the small town of Aitape, where disaster authorities have not been able to contact people yet.
It's possible that residents headed to higher ground as soon as they felt the earthquake and were not immediately reachable, said Chris McKee, the assistant director of the Geophysical Observatory in the capital, Port Moresby.
He said there were no reports or indications of a tsunami.
He said people in the town of Vanimo, about 145 kilometers (89 miles) from the epicenter reported they had felt the quake strongly. There were no initial reports of damage or injuries.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said, based on historical data, a quake of this strength has the potential to generate localized tsunamis within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the epicenter.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was at a depth of 13 kilometers (8 miles), which is relatively shallow. Shallow quakes can potentially cause more damage at the surface.
Papua New Guinea is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. | <urn:uuid:24a9f5f7-9e46-4b6b-9966-eaff80d791e2> | {
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Families and friends play the game of horseshoes at picnics, family reunions and backyard gatherings throughout the summer months. The sport is so popular that three organizations exist to monitor play in the United States and Canada. These agencies -- the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association, America Horseshoe Pitchers Association and Horseshoe Canada Association -- promote horseshoe pitching play around the world. The horseshoe pitcher associations also set the standards for the types of equipment used and the rules of play.
A game of horseshoes is played with four horseshoes and one or two metal pins. You can build a two-pin gaming area or a single-pin area, depending upon the space available. The horseshoes must weigh less than 40 ounces and can be made from plastic or metal. The pin is a metal rod driven into the ground with 14 inches of the rod protruding above the soil line.
The playing field measures 40 feet long. You can either set up two stakes 40 feet apart, or set one stake with a pitching box 40 feet away. For a two-pin pitching court, drive in the first metal rod and then measure the 40-foot distance and drive the other metal rod. The scoring field is no larger than 6 inches from the metal pins. Mark the playing field with sand, if you choose. You may also box in the area with 2 x 4 pieces of lumber.
For a two-pin pitching field, each player or two-person team is positioned at opposite ends of the field. A player's turn is complete when he pitches two horseshoes, one shoe at a time, to the opposite goal pin. The pitcher must be no further than 3 feet in front of his pin. Once the first player is done, the opponent throws his shoes. Once all four shoes are thrown, the inning is over and the score is tallied. Teams use eight horseshoes per inning. For single-pin fields, play is the same except that each person throws to the same pin.
A player can score a 0, 1, 2 or 3 points per horseshoe and up to 8 points per inning. A "ringer" scores 3 points when the horseshoe circles the metal pin. You must be able to lay a straight edge between the legs of the shoe without interference from the pin, for the throw to be called a ringer. If no player throws a ringer, the player closest to the pin, within a horseshoe width, earns 1 point. If no shoe is within the width distance, no points are issued. Any horseshoes landing more than 6 inches away from the pin do not earn points. If the two closest shoes to the pin are from the same person, then 2 points are awarded. The closest horseshoe and ringers are calculated separately. In other words, if you throw a ringer and score, then you earn 3 points for the ringer and 1 point for the closest shoe, for a total of 4 points. However, if both your shoes are ringers, you earn 8 points, 3 points each for the ringers and 2 points for the closest shoes. Opponents' horseshoes cancel each other out if they are the same distance from the pin, or both players score a ringer. Points are awarded based upon the remaining horseshoes. The official winning score is 40 points, unless you agree to another score prior to play.
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- Beans cause gas due to the sugars and soluble fiber contained in the beans. As the beans move through the intestines, gas is produced when bacteria living in our large intestines begin to breakdown the sugars and soluble fiber.
- Gas can be prevented by soaking dry beans prior to cooking them in a fresh pot of water. Soaking beans helps break down some of the sugars that eventually cause gas. Other options to prevent gas include adding more beans to your diet on a regular basis or switching to canned beans since some of the gas-producing substances are eliminated in the canning process (rinse canned beans to wash off excess salt).
Make learning easy, tasty, and fun!
Download now for:
- Tips & recipes
- Nutritional information
- Presenter outline & talking points
- Sticker template
- PowerPoint presentation
- Student handouts
Can’t get enough fruits and veggies? Every month we feature a new fruit or veggie. Get fun facts, recipes, and more! | <urn:uuid:373a2653-bf27-48b4-89a1-09cf7ea18e26> | {
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Smoke will be present particularly during late evening and early morning hours. The fire crews will continue working through the weekend to mop-up and cool the fire line. Those efforts will help mitigate and lessen smoke production each day. If you have low tolerances for smoke, take these suggested measures to help reduce your exposure:
- Stay indoors when the greatest amount of smoke is present (6 to 8 am).
- Close windows, doors and outside vents when it is smoky.
- Ventilate your home, cabin or work place during periods when it is least smoky.
Fire managers have been working with the Mariposa County Air Pollution District (MCAPCD) to time the project to coincide with favorable weather that will facilitate good air quality, and disperse smoke into the atmosphere away from the community. Prior to ignition, a burn permit was issued to the park by MCAPCD and smoke monitoring equipment was installed in the community.
Yosemite National Park fire managers began burning the 150 acre Wawona Northwest Segment B Prescribed Fire on April 21, 2013. Ignitions were completed on Tuesday, April 22.
The primary objective of this prescribed fire was met to reduce hazardous fuels within the mixed conifer forest adjacent to the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) community of Wawona. This project creates a continuous area of reduced fuel by linking together multiple previous fires and treatments including the 2007 and 2008 Wawona Northwest prescribed fires, the 2007 Jack wildfire, which was caused by lightning, and a series of mechanical vegetation thinning projects in the 2000's.
A secondary objective is ecosystem restoration. Applying fire under prescribed conditions mimics the frequent, low intensity lightning caused fires that occurred in Sierras prior to the exclusion of fire which began over 100 years ago under aggressive fire suppression policies. Historically, natural fire burned an average of 16,000 acres annually in Yosemite and played an integral role in shaping Yosemite's ecosystems. In the absence of frequent fire, unnatural levels of forest biomass have accumulated which has put many of Yosemite's values at risk, including neighboring communities, and natural and cultural features. As climate changes, these values become increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire.
Fire managers will begin releasing fire crews from outside of the park over the weekend. | <urn:uuid:9053c3ff-1ceb-49e2-9a0f-8c39f0fa590d> | {
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versión impresa ISSN 2223-0386
Yesterday today n.6 Vanderbijlpark 2011
Youth in history, youth making history: challenging dominant historical narratives for alternative futures
History Workshop University of the Witwatersrand [email protected]
An introductory on contemporary representations
During the recent riots in London and other English cities, official society instinctively labelled the youth involved in this urban rebellion as anti-social gang members, immediately invoking a discourse of criminality to describe the character of the youth and to explain the causes of the riots. The media reinforced this approach by continuously publishing images of hooded youths looting and burning shops, even though they represented a minority of the protesters. Also resurrected was the local upper class English refrain that this sort of behaviour was to be expected from those they have historically labelled as Yobs and CHAVs (Council House and Violent). However, the most common description attached to the rebellious youth has been of a feral underclass, which has also developed into the default explanatory framework.1
Purveyors of this pejorative notion intended to portray poor and marginalised youth as essentially uncontrollable. After all feral refers to wild animals existing outside conventional society, either as a consequence of abandonment by or escaped from society. In that state, they do not conform to the norms and rules of conventional society. It is a discourse aimed at dehumanising the objects of critique and thus to set the stage for policy intervention designed to tame them. Moreover, these views are hardly novel. More than thirty years ago Glasgow noted how official society deemed black youth living in ghettoes in Britain as prone to failure and rendered them 'obsolete before they can begin to pursue a meaningful role in society.'2
Similar views have been echoed in other parts of the world affected by outbreaks of youth rebellions. Over the past few years, the USA, Spain, China, Iran, Greece, Mexico, Brazil and various parts of Africa have experienced various types of youth contentious politics. Sometimes these have been explicitly political, have erupted into violence but have also assumed other forms of protests, including occupations. The purpose of these prefatory comments is to serve as a reminder that the anxiety expressed in our own society about the problematic 'condition of youth' is in fact a global phenomenon. So too are the knee-jerk reactions that fail to disaggregate the causes of youth rebellions or to probe beyond societal prejudices. Such comparisons point to the importance of having a global perspective of the underlying structural factors impacting on youth politics in contemporary society.
In the immediate aftermath of the riots, several scholarly research projects were commissioned, including by the London School of Economics, in an effort better to comprehend the causes of the rebellion. The general conclusions of this body of research were summarised by Kate Picket of the Guardian newspaper: 'While some dismiss the unrest and violent actions as the criminality of a 'feral underclass', beyond the control of parents and teachers, an understanding of the profound effects of inequality and poverty on family life and parenting can help us understand why our society has proven to be such fertile ground for the seeds of unrest.'3
Globally, a generation of young people are systematically being excluded from society, whether they are in the economic powerhouses of the world or in poor countries, educated or semi-literate. The deepening economic woes facing most parts of the world, characterised by recession, high unemployment, severe cuts in public services and rising costs of education, have effectively closed of opportunities for the advancement of growing sections the youth population. Of course, these problems disproportionately affect youth in developing countries and women in particular. Statistics reveal the majority of the world's population is under the age of thirty, but the global economy has experienced only marginal growth in employment levels. Educated or not, many young people find the prospects of long term or sustained employment highly improbable. For example, an estimated one million young people in Britain are unemployed with little prospect of improving their status. The situation in South Africa is infinitely worse: nearly three quarters of the country's unemployed population is younger than 34 years and the unemployment rate among people under 25 years old is twice the official national average, that is, approximately 50%.4 Add to this, the crisis in education (high drop-out rates in secondary and tertiary institutions) and it is not difficult to see why so many young people feel alienated from society and believe their futures are devoid of promise. The question that arises is what kind of politics can possibly emanate from this situation.
Historical challenges to the 'lost generation' thesis
I would like to suggest that in addition to having a global perspective, it is equally crucial to have an historical perspective of the role of youth. Our contemporary conjuncture is certainly not the first (nor will it be the last) animated by debates about the 'hopeless' condition of the youth (globally and locally). It is worthwhile recalling in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as we experienced the demise of apartheid, the condition of black youth was put in the spotlight as one of the intractable problems requiring urgent resolution as the country contemplated its future. At the time, several scholars critically confronted the 'lost generation' discourse that seemed to overwhelm public opinions about state of black youth.5 Mokwena explained how apartheid created conditions of structural poverty, marginalisation and subjugation. Bantu Education, he argued, 'undermined the stability of black youth' and was 'the site of much trauma, strife, violence and politicisation for black pupils.'6 In the 'Foreword' to the same volume, Sheila Sisulu dismissed the notion of a lost generation. 'The term lost generation', she insisted, 'is negative, defeatist and fundamentally wrong. The youth are not lost nor misplaced: they are present in increasing numbers and being marginalised from society.'7 Despite these critical interventions public perceptions and debate continued to be dominated by a sharp division.
Seekings graphically captured the hegemonic binary that had imprinted itself in the public domain with the title of his book: Heroes or Villains.8 He perceptively detected "two stereotypical views" in South Africans' vocabulary about youth. On the one hand, there was what might best be described as the apocalyptic view in which youth are reduced to essentially hostile, violent and destructive beings. On the other hand, there was the perception of youth as agents of liberation or to invoke local struggle idioms; they were comrades and young lions. Whereas the former characterisation was intensely antagonistic to youth, especially young black men, the latter lionised youth for their unselfish contribution and sacrifices in the struggle for liberation and democracy.
Monique Marks' study of youth politics in Diepkloof (Soweto) in the 1980s and early 1990s contributed significantly to this debate. She explained the perceived degeneration among youth as a consequence of the lack of moral authority. Employing the theory of anomie, Marks argued that this decline could only be reversed with the "formation of youth organizations led by mature and respected leadership". In her view, the rapid transformation of the political landscape in the early 1990s engendered a crisis among youth, as the role of youth organisations, which in the late 1980s has assumed the role of militant battalions of the revolution, had become less clear in an era of negotiations.9
These critical interventions sought to grapple with the category of youth as an intrinsically political phenomenon, in which the terms comrades and youth had become conflated. In this framework, the iconic image of youth in South Africa was the armed young black man kitted in military fatigue. But by the late 1980s, this heroic image of youth was severely dented. The surge in youth-based violence (arguably characterised by the phenomenon of comtsotsis, the reign of terror by jackrollers and a general increase in gangsterism), plus the purported disdain for education were regarded as among the principal contributors to the perceived demise of youth activism. Although the aforementioned authors inserted an important and critical analyses into what tended to be a shrill debate, their interventions were somewhat circumscribed by the immediacy of the dilemma. We can learn from the perceptive arguments mounted by these scholars but also add further historical depth as we confront a rather similar set of questions as they did twenty years ago.
Lessons from history
The idea of a distinct category known as 'youth' is a rather contemporary phenomenon. According to John Gillis in his seminal work entitled Youth And History, 'pre-industrial Europe made no distinction between childhood and other pre-adult phases of life'.10 Since the turn of the 20th century there have been intense debates about the definition of youth especially in the disciplines of psychology, sociology and politics. These have often centred on what age range constitutes 'youth' or whether, in fact, the very notion has any analytical value. This is important to keep in mind considering the multiplicity of cultural, social and political approaches to the issue. There is simply no single definition of youth. Seekings argued that 'youth' do not constitute a conceptually coherent collective. As an aside, it is worth noting that our definition of youth as someone who is 35 years old and younger is one of the most generous around! One may argue that modern notions about youth in South African began to take root from the end of World War Two.
The formation of the ANC Youth League in 1944 marked an important turning point in South Africa's political history11 for a number of reasons. First, it heralded the organisational and ideological coalescence of a generation of young political activists whose contribution shaped the country's political landscape for the next six decades. Second, led by intellectuals such as Lembede and Mda, this cohort of young men (who were members of the urban educated elite, with distinctive social and political aspirations) evinced a commitment to the cause of national emancipation. Third, they articulated a coherent ideological programme of African Nationalism, which contained not only a critique of white minority rule but also espoused a vision of a future society. Fourth, they aligned themselves to the global anti-colonial movement and thus consciously transcended the limited horizon of national politics. Fifth, the founding of the Youth League arguably signaled the entry of youth into the formal politics, which had hitherto been dominated by the older generation. Members of the Youth League may be regarded as the Young Turks of the liberation movement, who challenged the old guard with new ideas and organisation culminating in the ousting of older leaders at the ANC's conference in 1949.
By mounting a challenge against the hegemonic position of a conservative older generation, the Youth Leaguers had much in common with movements across the world in which old order and prevailing norms were beset by crisis. Moreover, it was a phenomenon that also manifested itself outside the formal political arena.
The growth of tsotsism in the 1950s reflected a growing mood of antiauthoritarian and anti-social behaviour among urban black youth, who tended to be unemployed and quite disparaging of the discipline and toil associated with manual labour. Rather than being subjected to the norms of official society, these youth constituted themselves in gangs and sought alternative lifestyles constructed around music, petty crime, fast cars and women. They also espoused a strong sense of masculinity.12
Their epicurean disposition and general desire for 'good times' were hardly exceptional. Across the tracks, white society was experiencing a similar rebellion of young people. This was the era of the ducktails (eendsterte) and Sheilas. Local newspapers were filled with self-righteous hysteria about antisocial, undisciplined youth. Their alleged crimes included listening and jiving to rock 'n roll, and being predisposed to violence, drinking, fast cars and sex.13
Interestingly, the state responded to the perceived anti-social behaviour among both groups in very similar ways. School, work and the family were regarded as the cornerstone of official strategies to bring the youth under control. The introduction of Bantu Education and the development of massive public housing projects should be viewed in this light. In these ways it was imagined generational order could be restored. And, of course, young white men were also subject to conscription.
These measures largely succeeded in stemming the tide of youth rebelliousness of the 1950s, but did not entirely extinguish it. Among white youths, new subcultures emerged over time despite National Party social engineering. These took the form of Flower-Power in the 1960s, the Mods and Punks in the late 1970s, the New Romantics in the 1980s and Goths and Ravers in the 1990s.
The 1960s are widely regarded as the period of 'high apartheid', characterised by unprecedented economic growth (and the concomitant expansion of white privilege), the implementation of rigid and doctrinaire segregation policies, political repression and very tight control by the state over many facets of the population's life (again this was experienced disproportionately by Africans). One may therefore refer to this as a period of authoritarian hegemony.
That hegemony began to be dislodged by, among other developments, the emergence of Black Consciousness in the late 1960s, whose impact became pronounced from the early 1970s. It was a movement whose importance may be equated with the impact of the Congress Youth League a quarter of a century earlier. Adherents of Black Consciousness proudly asserted their blackness and attracted support from educated young blacks, initially university students but later also secondary school students. Steve Biko and his comrades were quintessential organic intellectuals and critical thinkers who espoused an ideology of their own making. They were, to quote Nina Simone's anthem from that era, 'young, gifted and black'.
This movement gave hope to a generation of black youth that they could change society by liberating themselves. Emancipation for them was all-encompassing: economic, social, political and cultural. They were audacious and had a vision of freedom.
The rise of Black Consciousness and the uprising of 1976 also heralded a critical shift in the generational balance of forces. Challenges to generational authority have deep historical roots in South Africa, which is why it is so widespread and obstinate a phenomenon. Apartheid disempowered youth, who then sought to re-empower itself, generally at the expense of, and often in contempt of, the older generation. Youth gangs reflect this structure of values, but so too did black consciousness (which disparaged parents for their acquiescence in apartheid). From this perspective, it may be argued the psychological emancipation of the mid 1970s was not just directed against white domination but also parental authority.
Black Consciousness also established an important template of youth activism, premised on commitment and self-sacrifice, which influenced the politics of the post-1976 youth generation. In the late 1970s many youth activists committed themselves to what was then imagined as a long haul in the struggle for freedom. They joined trade unions, launched civic organisations, established cultural organisations and engaged in serious political education. The role of youth in reconfiguring struggle politics during this period is often forgotten. Then they were actively in search of new and radical ideas, and experimented with various forms of political organisations. It was a period of political fluidity energised by the critical and imaginative approaches of youth activists, who were also not short on bravery and commitment.
The launch of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) in 1979 continued in this vein. Its main slogan, Each One, Teach One, was indicative of the political approach of that generation of youth activists. Their campaigns in schools in the early 1980s, which focused on rooting out authoritarianism and creating democratic learning spaces (end to corporal punishment and sexual harassment, for democratically elected SRCs, etc.), suggested a genuine commitment to educational transformation. A high point of this movement was the regional general strike in the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereniging (PWV) area in November 1984 when students and workers joined hands in what was then the biggest and most significant strike. Politically, a generational equilibrium had been created.
However, this fell apart in the subsequent period under the weight of severe state repression and internal problems. The banning of COSAS and detention of many of the student leaders who had been instrumental in building the movement of the early 1980s created a vacuum of leadership. A combination of factors - inexperienced youth leaders, the closure of schools, the militarisation of the struggle in the townships (driven by the ISUs occupation of townships), state support for vigilante movements and a surge in gangsterism - led to the demise of the youth movement that had developed since the early 1970s. This was sadly reflected in the emergence of comtsotsis.
If there is a salient theme in this overview then I would propose it is this: successive generations of South African youth have responded to deep crises with ingenuity, audacity of vision, critical thought and selfless commitment, without which we would not be where we are today. It goes without saying there were numerous problems, excesses and even reactionary politics. Nonetheless, as researchers and educators we have some responsibility to recover this history. Not to produce hagiographic and heroic accounts to assuage those who are in power, but to recover the multiple and differentiated experiences of young people.
A new generation of research
Contemporary youth are confronted with two broad criticisms: those involved in politics are often viewed in a negative light. The heat generated around Julius Malema is emblematic of this. Other youth have attracted persistent criticisms about being too apolitical. They are accused of lacking social responsibility and for being too individualistic. Sharp distinctions are drawn between the supposedly highly politicised youth of the past and the current generation of youth, thereby reinforcing a limited conception of South African youth. The narrow prism through which youth have been perceived has resulted in distorted understanding of youth identity and culture.
Youth culture shaped anti-apartheid struggles in the 1980s and early 1990s. Conversely anti-apartheid struggles shaped youth culture. Youth engagement in politics has understandably been the main focus of social scientific youth studies to date. Yet no adequate understanding of youth culture can be gained without placing it in its broader inter-generational and social context. A good deal of evidence points to the growing autonomy of youth cultures from older generations in the 1980s. In many places youth increasingly autonomously re-empowered themselves by drawing on a range of cultural and social resources.
While it is true an unprecedented number of youth were involved in political struggles, this involvement was very uneven. Significant sections of youth were either only intermittently or not involved at all in politics. The emphasis on politics in analysing the youth of the 1980s, has meant that women, who were not as involved in political activism as their male counterparts, only make episodic appearances in the accounts of the period. Although young women were intimately involved in political struggles, they generally did not (or were not allowed to) play leading roles. Clearly the position and role of young black women needs much more interrogation, without which our understanding of youth will remain woefully inadequate.
Over the past few years a cohort of young intellectuals has embarked on critical enquiries into the phenomenon of youth. Many of them do not carry the political burdens of previous scholars and are thus introducing fresh perspectives. Their intellectual horizons are certainly not limited by the framework of the lost generation thesis.14 Importantly, a new generation of fiction writers are making their mark with innovative reflections on the myriad issues facing young people in contemporary South Africa.15 Critically, young women, especially black women, are playing a leading role in this exciting explosion of new literature. So while the media is obsessed with Malema there are many substantial and critical contributions being made that are in danger of being overlooked.
An important question before us is whether the current generation of youth can possibly emulate their historical predecessors by engendering a new, imaginative politics. I would say that if one were to look at the marvelous role played by Egyptian youth in the democratic revolution there earlier in the year, the march organised by teenagers in the London's borough of Hackney in the aftermath of the riots or even the student's occupation in Wisconsin then it is possible to discern the numerous possibilities of alternative futures led by a new generation of young people.
I have in this brief introduction deliberately erred on the side of the sanguine in my appraisal of the history of youth and their current condition. The aim has been to provide a small corrective to the overwhelming negativity surrounding youth. But I do not wish to obfuscate the myriad difficulties or deep-rooted problems. There is nothing automatic about youth being visionary, progressive and the standard-bearers of a brighter future. But neither can they be dismissed as the pall-bearers of a grim future.
As educators we should be brave enough not to baulk at the audacity and contention of the youth. Previous generations of educators were instrumental in nurturing and supporting young critical thinkers.
It might be regarded as remiss of me not to say one or two things about Malema in a presentation on youth politics in South Africa. So here is my two-pence worth. Malema has been hugely misrepresented in the media as an ill-informed, uneducated radical activist. While it may warm the hearts of the chattering classes, this is an erroneous analysis. Malema is very far from being radical even if he attempts to equate himself with the traditions of the Youth League of the 1940s. No, Malema is in fact a very conservative populist politician who does not represent the interest of the marginalised youth. Instead, he is the most outspoken representative of a fraction of aspirant capitalists desperately jostling for a place at the trough of accumulation. But, it is important to recognise, that he has become a lighting rod for the deep dissatisfaction among South African youth who feel alienated and marginalised. His demand for 'economic liberation', by which he really means access for the section of the elite who feel left out of the tender deals, is falling on fertile ground because so many young people continue to experience economic enslavement. What the Malema phenomenon signals, is a serious crisis of imagination for which we are all responsible, and which previous generations of youth had in abundance.
If you will permit me a double cliché to end: we should embrace the élan of youth and, if I may also be permitted to misquote Mao Zedong, 'let a thousand flower bloom and a hundred schools of thoughts contend'. Therein lays the possibility of nurturing a new generation of young critical thinkers, of audacious and visionary young women and men. Our future depends on it.
1 The Guardian and London School of Economic, 'Reading the Riot: Investigating England's Summer of Discontent' (available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/series/reading-the-riots), accessed on 27 September 2011.
2 GD Glasgow, The Black underclass. Poverty, unemployment and the entrapment of ghetto youth (Vintage), 1980.
3 K Pickett, 'How to make children happy? Reduce social inequality', The Guardian, 14 September 2011. [ Links ]
4 Centre for Development and Enterprise, 'Jobs for young people. Is a wage subsidy a good idea?' CDE Roundtable, No. 17, August 2011.
5 See for example the chapters by S Mokwena, M Ramphele and R Riordan, David Everatt & Elinor Sisulu (eds), Black Youth in Crisis, Facing The Future (Ravan Press, Johannesburg), 1992.
6 S Mokwena, 'Living on the wrong side of the law: Marginalisation, youth and violence', David Everatt & Elinor Sisulu (eds), Black Youth in Crisis, p. 32
7 S Sisulu, Black Youth in Crisis, 'Foreword'.
8 J Seekings, Heroes or Villains? Youth Politics in the 1980s (Ravan Press, Johannesburg), 1993.
9 M Marks, Young warriors: Youth politics, identity and violence in South Africa (Wits University Press, Johannesburg), 2001.
10 JR Gillis, Youth and History: Tradition and change in European Age Relations, 177 - Present (Academic Press, New York), 1974.
11 T Lodge, Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (Ravan Press, Johannesburg), 1983, pp. 20-22.
12 C Glaser, Bo-tsotsi: The youth gangs of Soweto, 1935-1976 (Portsmouth, Heinemann), 2000.
13 K Mooney, 'Die eendstert euwel' and societal responses to white youth subcultural identities on the Witwatersrand, 1930-1964', PhD Thesis, 2006.
14 I am thinking of current research undertaken by, among others, T Moloi, M Moiloa and M Ndlozi.
15 For example, K Matlwa, Z Meeran, JB Ngwenya, K Moele. | <urn:uuid:d7124302-c360-497a-afab-bea78727d91e> | {
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A fuel-powered device that can supply electricity to your house during power outages is casually referred to as a home generator
. During an emergency, it allows you to continue using essential appliances such as air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, as well as lights. Technically speaking, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy into electric energy. In the AC power generators for home use the mechanical energy is produced by small engines. Basically, the spinning shaft of the engine is used to create an alternating magnetic field through a coil, which induces voltage. Since such a system includes an engine and an alternator mounted together, a more technical term for this appliance is an engine-generator set or genset
HOW TO CHOOSE A GENERATOR.
First, let's quickly go over the different types that are out there. Home generators are usually stationary (standby
), although they can be portable
as well. They run on a variety of fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas (NG), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Not surprisingly, each type has its pros and cons. Portable gas models are relatively cheap.
For example, you can buy a 4000W set
for about $300. However, such devices have short run time: you would need to refill their tank several times a day if you run them continuously at rated load. In addition to this, they are not suitable as a long-term power backup since the pumps may not work during a wide spread blackout. For a long term emergency one should consider standby sets. They can provide continuous power for the home because they are hooked up to an external fuel source, such as NG line. Some portable devices can also be fueled from an external source and can therefore provide extended run time too. The main differences between them and stationary models are in their connection and activation. A portable device has to be rolled out from the storage, filled with fuel or hooked up to a fuel line, manually started, and connected to your loads. A fixed standby generator
by contrast is already connected to both the house wiring and the fuel source. Therefore it can start immediately either by a push of a button or automatically depending on the setting you chose. Automatic systems include an auto transfer switch. It can sense a power outage, isolate your electrical wiring or designated emergency circuits from the grid, and start up the genset. When grid voltage is restored, such a system will connect you back to the utility lines and will turn itself off. You don't even have to be at home to activate it. Note that the typical transfer time of an automatic system is 10-30 seconds.
GET MY REVIEW AND COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
TO SELECTION, SIZING AND CONNECTING HOME GENERATORS.
Therefore, if you run important computer applications, you may still need a UPS. It can prevent data loss during the transfer time. Note that even though permanently installed natural gas powered gensets can provide practically unlimited run time, you still need to periodically shut them down to change the motor oil. With some engines you will need to do it as often as every 50-100 hours of operation. This is another reason why a supplemental UPS will be useful.
In addition to the convenience of an auto starting option and practically infinite run time, permanently connected standby systems offer power levels higher than portables. Their rating ranges anywhere from 5 kilowatt up into hundreds of kW. Such systems also increase the value of the house. All this makes them the best whole house generators
for power outages, especially for the long-lasting ones. Of course, they are more expensive and require professional installation, which are their main disadvantages
. If you want something that can be used right away, obviously, a portable
device is your only choice.
So, what to look for when you are choosing a generator for the home? Aside from wattage and cost, the main things to consider are the duration of time you may need emergency power, fuel availability, and convenience of use.
SELECTING THE FUEL.
If you go for a stationary type, your choice of fuel is determined by the source you already use for the home's heating or by the fuels available in your area. Note that most residential generators are bi-fuel and can run on both natural gas and LPG (casually called propane). You may need a simple field adjustment to convert from one type to the other.
If like most homes your house is already supplied with gas, or if LPG is readily available in your area, a bi-fuel NG/propane genset is your logical choice. See our detailed standby genset review
for ratings and characteristics of various systems. Among major brands, the Generac's Guardian® models probably have the lowest cost per kW. In my view, given their 5-year warranty and a relatively low cost, they are the best buys. You just need to pick the right size. CR magazine's pick in 2013 was 7-kW model 6237. Generac now have a newer model 6519. However, this size may not be sufficient if you have a central air conditioner. As a rule of thumb, an average house with 5-ton a/c typically needs a system rated 15-17kW or greater.
Here are some lesser known details you need to know when you are selecting a natural gas generator for your home. A typical gas meter is rated to 250 CFH. This may not be enough if you are adding a large genset. An engine will not provide full power if it is not supplied with the fuel amount specified by its manufacturer. In this case, you will need to ask your utility company to upgrade your existing meter to a higher-volume one. Also, some older models may require the gas pressure to be greater than the standard delivery pressure available to your house. Be sure to check the model's requirements. The typical pressure in residential installations is 0.2-0.25 psi (5-7 inch water column). If you choose a device that requires greater psi, you may need to install a split-meter with two regulators. One will provide a higher pressure, and the other one will drop it to the normal level for the rest of your appliances. The above upgrades may cost anywhere from zero to $5,000.
A stationary NG system seems to be an ideal power backup for the whole house. Nevertheless, in an unlikely case of a major natural or other disaster the gas supply may be interrupted as well. In this case, you may switch to propane tank if you have a bi-fuel system. If NG service does not exist in your neighborhood, you probably have a large propane tank that is periodically refilled by a local distributor. Propane
has practically unlimited shelf life and it is normally obtainable during power outages. In can be used in both fixed and portable devices. In my view it is the best choice
for portables. Of course, one may also consider a diesel
system. Diesel engines are the most efficient and maintenance-free of all types. However, they are also the most expensive. This makes them more appropriate for industrial applications. In addition to this, diesel, like gasoline, may not be available during a major blackout. For the current deals on some of the top rated residential models see our discount generators picks
Normally, a stationary genset is mounted outdoors on a cement pad. Preferably it is placed near the fuel source. Many models already come with a mounting pad. In any case, you still need to prepare a location that is flat and has provisions for water drainage. To prevent exhaust gases from entering the house, locate the unit in a well-ventilated area away from doors or windows (2015 Edition of NFPA 37 requires at least 5 feet separation). Due to the heavy weight, you may want to request lift gate service when the freight company calls you to schedule the delivery. Otherwise, have at least four strong persons present to unload the device.
HOW TO WIRE YOUR SYSTEM.
A standby power backup device connects to the house wiring via a transfer system
, which is usually installed indoors. Its prevents "backfeeding" into utility lines (which is dangerous and illegal). It also protects your device from damage by preventing utility from applying voltage to your house wiring while it is running. In any case, without a transfer switch your genset will likely be overloaded or damaged by the loads of neighboring houses that are served by the same line transformer. Many standby generators for home use come with a pre-wired transfer switch.
Generac® whole house standby system
. This is how a typical model looks like.
It is strongly recommended that all electrical connections be done by a licensed electrician. Depending on your local regulations, you may be required to get the installation approval by your electric utility. You may need this certificate if you later sell your house. If you are going to store a large fuel tank, you may also need to obtain a respective permit. The fuel pipe sizing, construction and layout must comply with NFPA® 54 for natural gas and NFPA® 58 for liquid propane applications.
WHERE TO BUY.
Gensets are available direct from manufacturers, from authorized dealers, hardware stores, as well as online from independent retailers. Buying online has certain advantages, such as broader selection, lower prices, and possibly no sales tax in some states. Among reputable online places to buy at a discount is Amazon's Home Improvement Department
. It has the widest selection I've seen yet of Generac GUARDIAN®, Briggs & Stratton and other top ranking manufacturers. It usually offers free shipping on the gensets it carries. Alternatively, you may request a quote
from a local dealer. Note that with most manufacturers, you can usually order the installation and maintenance from their local service provider regardless of place of purchase, i.e. even if you bought it elsewhere. Of course, you can always hire your own contractor to do the installation.
Although a genset may be a relatively inexpensive way of supplying emergency power, it has certain disadvantages too. The main "cons" are noise, air pollutions and engine maintenance. If you prefer a silent, environmentally friendly and low-maintenance backup energy source, consider a battery-based system, such as solar-powered
Below you will find additional guides and reviews of residential gensets, safety recommendations and other facts you need to know. They will help you make an informed decision about the best emergency back up generator for home use. | <urn:uuid:cdf3b4eb-e29b-49f8-a0e4-97b8ae05d0fc> | {
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A country with ancient institutions
The Generalitat of Catalonia
The Generalitat is the institutional system around which Catalonia’s self-government is politically organized. The powers of the Generalitat stem from the people of Catalonia and are exercised according to the Spanish Constitution and the Statute of Autonomy – the basic institutional law of Catalonia.
The Generalitat is a complex entity made up of the Presidency of the Generalitat, the Government and the other institutions established in the Statute of Autonomy (the Council for Statutory Guarantees, the Ombudsman, the Public Audit Office and the Catalan Broadcasting Authority). Municipal councils, “consells comarcals” (county councils) and other local-government bodies determined by law are also included within the institutional system of the Generalitat. These are the bodies according to which the Catalan government is organized on a local and territorial level, although each body has its own respective autonomy of action.
Catalonia exercises its self-government in those areas specified in the Statute of Autonomy. Legislative power, regulatory power and the executive functions correspond fully to the Generalitat for matters in which the Generalitat’s power is defined as “exclusive”. For other matters, where its power is defined as “shared”, Catalonia legislates within the framework of the basic conditions established by the Spanish State. Finally, there are other issues in which it simply executes the legislation deriving from the central State.
The Parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament is the institution that represents the people of Catalonia. It is at the heart of Catalonia’s institutional self-governing system.
The Parliament represents the people of Catalonia. As a directly and democratically elected body, the Parliament has supreme power and is the Generalitat’s most important institution – all other public institutions stem from it. The Parliament of Catalonia consists of a single chamber or house, and is independent and inviolable.
The Parliament of Catalonia has a single chamber of 135 members. As the institution which represents the people of Catalonia, it is a central part of the “Generalitat” (the Catalan system of government). The parliamentary tradition in Catalonia dates from the Middle Ages. Abolished under the Franco dictatorship for 40 years, the Parliament was eventually restored in 1980. There have been ten regional elections since then.
The configuration of political parties in the Catalan Parliament is very different from that in the Spanish Parliament. There are a larger number of parties with a significant parliamentary representation. In addition to the usual left-right spectrum of opinions, all parties also position themselves on the spectrum of opinions regarding the relationship between Catalonia and Spain.
The electoral trends over the last 35 years are shown in the following chart
There are currently six political groups represented in the Catalan Parliament:
Junts pel Sí (JxS) has 62 MPs (‘diputats’ in Catalan) and currently forms a minority government thanks to a Stability Pact with CUP. JxS is a pro-independence coalition of the two major parties of Catalonia, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC – liberals) and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC – left-wing). They ran together in a pro-independence ticket, along with many well-known independents and support from some former members of UDC, demochristian old partner of CDC, who ran separately as opposing unilateral independence.
Ciutadans – Partido de la Ciudadanía (C’s) has 25 MPs. It first entered Parliament in 2006. It campaigns in favour of Spanish unity, seeking to attract votes from both left and right-wing voters and is against the celebration of a referendum.
The Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC) has 16 MPs. It is federated with the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE). It promotes a constitutional reform to make Spain a federal country.
Catalunya Sí que es Pot (CSQP) has 11 MPs. It is a left-wing, green coalition bringing toghether 4 parties. The major partners are Iniciativa per Catalunya – Verds (ICV) and Podem (Podemos). They are in favour of a referendum on the future status for Catalonia.
The Partit Popular (PP) has 11 MPs. It is a right-wing party in favour of Spanish unity and is also the party currently in Government in Spain. They are against holding a referendum on the future status of Catalonia.
Candidatura d’Unitat Popular – Alternativa d’Esquerres (CUP) has 10 MPs. It first entered Parliament in 2012. It is an alternative left party, and is in favour of independence.
President Carles Puigdemont
The highest representation of the Generalitat is President Carles Puigdemont Casamajó. He is the 130th President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, succeeding Artur Mas. As head of the Government of Catalonia, he leads the executive branch and directs government action.
The executive branch of the Government of Catalonia is composed by thirteen ministers in charge of economy and treasury, presidency, foreign affairs, public administrations, education, health, home affairs, territory and sustainability, culture, justice, labour and social affairs, business and knowledge, and agriculture.
Did you know?
- Catalonia is territorially divided into 41 counties, called comarques in Catalan, and 947 municipalities.
- Barcelona is one of the non-State capital cities with most consulates – nearly 100 – together with Hong Kong, New York and Hamburg.
- EU institutions are represented in Catalonia: both the European Parliament and the European Commission have offices in Barcelona.
- Catalonia has its own police force, called the Mossos d’Esquadra, and a national public television broadcasting service, whose main channel is TV3.
- Catalonia’s capital city, Barcelona, hosts the Union for the Mediterranean headquarters – a multilateral partnership between 43 States that aims to increase the potential for regional integration and cohesion among Euro-Mediterranean countries.
- The refurbished Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site has become a hub of international organisations, including the Institute on Globalization, Culture and Mobility of the United Nations University (UNU-GCM) and the European Forest Institute (EFI). | <urn:uuid:6fb9f118-b5e7-4a60-8b50-1cd85ae510e8> | {
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Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Higher than the nation's capitol and nearly as long as a football field describes Rainbow Bridge. It is the largest natural bridge in the world at 290 feet/88 meters tall and 270 feet/83 meters across. Rainbow Bridge is considered sacred by the Navajo culture as a symbol of deities responsible for creating clouds, rainbows and rain--the essence of life in the desert.
One of the natural wonders of the world, the bridge has been formed by erosion of the sandstone by water flowing from Navajo Mountain towards the Colorado River. The bridge was officially "discovered" by the Douglas-Cummings surveyor party in 1909. Until the formation of Lake Powell, the bridge was several miles up Bridge Canyon from the shores of the Colorado River, and it was one of the most remote and inaccessible regions in the United States. Today, the shores of Lake Powell, which flooded Glen Canyon, now bring boaters to its base.
Rising up at the edge of Lake Powell, it may be reached by boat, on foot, or on horseback. Rainbow Bridge is located 50 boat miles northeast of Wahweap Marina. Boat cruises from Wahweap or Bullfrog Marinas are offered daily. Except for a courtesy boat dock there are no services.
Trailheads to Rainbow Bridge may be reached via unpaved roads on the Navajo Indian Reservation south of Lake Powell. Hikers must have a permit from the Navajo Nation. The most commonly used trails are the 14-mile trail from the Navajo Mountain Trading Post or the 13-mile trail from the abandoned Rainbow Lodge. Scenic flights over Rainbow Bridge can be arranged at Bullfrog and Wahweap. The best times to hike are April, May early June, September and October.
The daily average temperature at the bridge during the summer is 100 degrees Fahrenheit, 37.7 degrees Celsius. Temperatures in the spring and fall are moderate, 75 degrees Fahrenheit, 23.8 degrees Celsius.
Open year-round, there is no entrance fee. There is no visitor center at the monument. Overnight accommodations and services are available at Bullfrog, Hall's Crossing and Wahweap. There is no designated campground or picnic area within the monument area. The nearest marina is Dangling Rope, 10 miles/16 km to the northwest. It offers gasoline, supplies and emergency service. There is a courtesy dock (1 hour maximum) at Rainbow Bridge. No services, restroom only. Glen Canyon Recreation Area can provide information to visitors.
For more information about the Glen Canyon/Lake Powell area:
|Back to top||Print this page||E-mail this page| | <urn:uuid:7a391d4c-cecd-48b8-9678-4581e063beb9> | {
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The sand dunes of the northern Sahara are home to the fastest ants in the world, according to researchers who clocked the insects foraging for food in the blistering midday sun.
Video footage reveals the ants galloping across the scorching sand at speeds approaching one metre per second, the equivalent of a house cat tearing about at 120mph.
The faster the ants ran, the more they took to the air, in gallops that brought all six legs off the ground at once. At full pelt, the insects travelled 108 times their body length per second, the researchers found.
“They fly through the air with no feet on the ground from stride to stride,” even at relatively slow speeds, said Sarah Pfeffer, who studies animal behaviour at Ulm University in Germany.
There is a reason Saharan silver ants, or Cataglyphis bombycina, have evolved to be fleet of foot. Unlike other desert creatures which shelter from the intense noon heat, for the ants it is a prime time to scavenge. When the desert is at its hottest, they emerge from their nests and zip about looking for food – often the carcasses of less fortunate creatures that have succumbed to the brutal temperatures.
To survive, the ants have silvery hairs that reflect the sun’s rays. But even with this coating and other adaptations, the ants can barely survive the 60C (140F) heat and need impressive speed and navigational skills to find food and return to the nest before falling victim to the heat themselves.
Before Pfeffer and her colleagues could clock the ants racing around the desert, they first had to find them. The scientists travelled to Douz, a town in southern Tunisia, and scoured the nearby dunes for the streaks of silver that are the ants in motion.
Having traced some ants back to their nest, the researchers laid an aluminium channel along the ground and placed mealworms or shortbread crumbs at the far end. Above the track they attached a downwards-facing high-speed video camera to record the ants as they tore back and forth.
Once slowed down, the footage shows the ants coordinating their movements with incredible precision, moving three legs – which work together as a tripod – at a time. Running flat out, the ants covered 85.5cm per second in 47 strides, more than 10 times Usain Bolt’s stride rate. Between each stride, each ant foot touched the ground for as little as seven milliseconds.
Similar footage of another fast desert ant, Cataglyphis fortis, which is found in the Tunisian salt pans, recorded the insects hitting a top speed of 62cm per second. Details are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
While the Saharan silver ants have shorter legs than their salt pan cousins, the furious stride rate more than compensates, the scientists found. Beyond teasing out the biomechanical secrets of the ants’ incredible speed, the research reveals tricks that engineers can exploit to build smaller, faster, scampering robots, Pfeffer said. | <urn:uuid:1f11dafa-b310-4df3-8f65-5f0306c2a64b> | {
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How are pre-creation >4000 BCE human civilization and pre-flood >2300 BCE civilizations that continued reconciled with Judaism?
How does human history fit in with the Torah's timeline? Not even worrying about why the universe and Earth look so old, there is extensive evidence of a human population and human civilizations from ...
In Bamidbar 13:22, the Torah tells us that the spies saw Achiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the sons of Giants. Rashi tells us they were the descendants of Shamchazai and Azael, angels who fell from heaven ...
Avoda Zara 25 cites a difference of opinion as to how long the sun stood still for Y'hoshua: twelve hours, twenty-four, or thirty-six. According to those who say twelve or thirty-six, the sun finally ...
Were there any type of animals that were destroyed completely by the Mabul? (For example - Is there any source that there were dinosaurs or any other type of wildlife and they were destroyed by the ...
This question asks why the flood didn't end on the 18th of Cheshvan (one year after the start). My question is more basic: why does the torah give us precise dates here at all? Bereishit 7:11 tells ...
We know that Noach took onto the ark all kinds of animals including "every creeping thing of the ground" (מִכֹּל רֶמֶשׂ הָאֲדָמָה), which I've always understood to be creeping things that actually ... | <urn:uuid:19ba5789-1592-42af-b533-48f74cfa2e2d> | {
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International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 every year by countries all around the world. Organizations, governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations and media celebrate by reflecting on various women's issues, progress made, encouraging changes that help and empower women and to celebrate economic, political and social achievements of women, to pay tribute to acts of courage and determination by women who played an extraordinary role in their countries and communities. The theme for International Women’s Day 2013 by the United Nations is “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women”.
A beautiful song from the United Nations, “One Woman” will be launched today to commemorate the celebration. Visit http://song.unwomen.org for more information. The song featuers 25 artists from across the globe. The song reminds us that together, we can overcome violence and discrimination: "We Shall Shine!". Click here to watch the song on you tube. | <urn:uuid:9a368f97-080b-4170-a711-79965998aeba> | {
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Not sure what the difference is between planning permission and building regulations?
It's easy to get confused because the rules are complex. Read on and we'll explain...
Most new buildings, major changes to existing buildings or changes of use need consent - known as planning permission. Without a planning system everyone could construct buildings or use land in any way they wanted, no matter what effect this would have on the environment and on other people who live and work in their area.
The council is responsible for deciding whether a development - anything from an extension on a house to a new shopping centre - should go ahead.
Following the submission of a planning application to make alterations to your property, such as an extension or a loft conversion, the planning team will look at the location of the project, the height and size of the building, and the percentage of the plot that you want to build on. We look at local policies regarding the appearance, the materials, the colour of materials, the match of the bricks and tiles.
Not all projects will need you to apply for planning permission. Small scale extensions and alterations may not need planning permission, and are classed as 'permitted developments'.
This is because the effect of such developments on neighbours or the surrounding environment is likely to be small.
Your home or housing estate may only have received planning permission to be built as long as certain conditions were met. An example condition may have stated that no extensions could be added without further planning permission, even if it is classed as a 'permitted development'.
This may be because the garden is restricted in size and the relationship to neighbours needs to be protected, or the open plan style of the estate was seen as an important factor when it was first designed and built.
The land searches done by your solictor when you bought the property should have highlighted any such conditions.
It is advisable to consult any neighbours who might be affected by your proposal. Not only is it common courtesy to do so, but not doing so could lead to conflict and potential delays.
There are also additional requirements under the Party Wall Act if you are building on a boundary.
When we consider a planning application for proposed development, we have to take into account various planning constraints which can affect our decision, these include the following: (please note this list is not exhaustive)
Read more about planning constraints and view them on an interactive map.
Planning permission will usually be subject to 'planning conditions'. These conditions will always include:
* If you don't start work within this time the permission will not be valid.
Conditions may also require the submission of further details, such as landscaping and materials, before development commences.
Finally, conditions may also restrict what can be done, for example restricting the hours of operation, or requiring the retention of obscure glazed windows where a window may cause a lack of privacy for neighbours.
'Building regulations', often known as 'building regs', are the standards that apply to all aspects of building work including structure, fire safety, ventilation, drainage and glazing. They determine how a building should be constructed, whereas planning permission determines whether a development should go ahead or not.
Regulations apply to renovations, alterations, new developments and even the change of use from a house to a shop, for example. They exist to make sure buildings are safe, energy efficient and provide reasonable access for all, now and in the future.
Whether you need planning permission or not, your building work must still comply with building regulations. Whoever carries out the work must ensure their work is compliant. However, responsibility ultimately lies with the building owner who may be served a notice to pull down or alter the work if it doesn't comply with the building regulations.
The council's 'Building Control' service ensures that any work done complies with 'building regulations'.
When your application to carry our building works is approved, we will give you an 'Inspection Service Plan' before you start work. This outlines the stages of work that require inspection. It will vary depending on the size and complexity of your project, age of your home, the construction type, ground conditions and your builder's experience.
Once the work has been completed to our satisfaction, you will be issued with a 'Completion Certificate' to show that all the work complies with the current building regulations. This certificate will be required when you come to sell your home.
Building regulations apply to most projects to alter or extend residential properties, and the rules can be quite complex.
Common projects include:
Our Building Control services can help you work out if building regulations will apply.
The links below will guide you through making applications for both planning permission and building regulations approval.
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A list of cookies used on the sites that East Riding of Yorkshire Council manage, are available on the Cookie Information page | <urn:uuid:be79f75e-3b2f-45f6-aa25-1c4a653f96eb> | {
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