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Fisheries science in North America is changing in response to a changing climate, new technologies, an ecosystem approach to management and new thinking about the processes affecting stock and recruitment. Authors of the 34 chapters review the science in their particular fields and use their experience to develop informed opinions about the future. Everyone associated with fish, fisheries and fisheries management will find material that will stimulate their thinking about the future. Readers will be impressed with the potential for new discoveries, but disturbed by how much needs to be done in fisheries science if we are to sustain North American fisheries in our changing climate. Officials that manage or fund fisheries science will appreciate the urgency for the new information needed for the stewardship of fish populations and their ecosystems. Research organizations may want to keep some extra copies for a future look back into the thoughts of a wide range of fisheries professionals. Fisheries science has been full of surprises with some of the surprises having major economic impacts. It is important to minimize these impacts as the demand for seafood increases and the complexities of fisheries management increase. | <urn:uuid:3d597b29-f6f6-4959-a8fe-805b1d200dd5> | {
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What is Canola?
A reader asked us a simple question: What is a Canola? OOPS, we did not know. KosherEye buys canola oil all the time; in fact- we often choose it instead of plain vegetable oil...but what is canola and why should we use it?
We referred to canolainfo.org for the following:
Canola oil comes from the crushed seeds of the canola plant. Canola is part of the Brassica family. Cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower are also part of this same botanical family. Each canola plant grows from 3 to 6 feet (1 m -2 m) tall and produces many yellow flowers.
As the plant matures, pods form that are similar in shape to pea pods, but about 1/5th the size. Each pod contains about twenty tiny round black or brownish-yellow seeds.
Once harvested, canola seeds are taken to a facility where they are crushed to extract the oil contained within the seed. This oil is then further refined and bottled as canola oil.
Basic characteristics of this cooking oil include a pale golden color, light texture, neutral taste and high heat tolerance. The average canola seed is 45% oil. The remainder of the seed, which is very high in protein, is processed into canola meal and used as a high quality animal feed.
Canola is grown primarily in the prairie regions of Western Canada, with some acreage being planted in Ontario and the Pacific Northwest. Smaller volumes are also grown in the North-central and South-eastern United States.
Canola oil has generated a lot of research interest into its potential health benefits because of its low level of saturated fat, high monounsaturated fat and good balance of omega 3 and 6 fats.
One additional question arises about Canola oil—does it contain toxins?
We found an answer from the Mayo Clinic
From Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
Health concerns about canola oil are unfounded. Canola oil, which is extracted from the seeds of the canola plant, is generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
Misinformation about canola oil may stem from the fact that the canola plant was developed through crossbreeding with the rapeseed plant. Rapeseed oil contains very high levels of erucic acid, a compound that in large amounts can be toxic to humans. Canola oil, however, contains very low levels of erucic acid.
Canola oil is also low in saturated fat and has a high proportion of monounsaturated fat, which makes it a healthy and safe choice when it comes to cooking oils. | <urn:uuid:131263a2-c9f6-41f6-94c4-9db0e91abc1e> | {
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Catharsis is the purification and purgation of emotions (particularly pity and fear) through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration. It is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the Poetics, comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body. Catharsis is a Greek word meaning “cleansing.”
Examples of Catharsis from Literature
1: Macbeth (By William Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare wrote two famous examples of catharsis. One of these catharsis examples is his tragic drama Macbeth. The audience and readers of Macbeth usually pity the tragic central figure of the play because he was blinded by his destructive preoccupation with ambition.
In Act 1, he is made the thane of Cawdor by King Duncan, which makes him a prodigy, well-regarded for his valor and talent. However, the era of his doom starts when he, like most people, gets carried away by ambition and the supernatural world as well. Subsequently, he loses his wife, his veracity, and eventually his life. The temptation of ambition robs him of the essence of his existence as a human being, and leaves behind nothing but discontent and a worthless life. In Act V, Macbeth gathers this idea in his soliloquy. He says, while speaking of his life:
“… A poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
2: Romeo and Juliet (By William Shakespeare)
“Here’s to my love! [Drinks] O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. [Falls]”
In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo commits suicide by drinking the poison that he erroneously thinks Juliet had tasted too. The audience usually finds themselves crying at this particular moment for several reasons. Primarily because losing a loved one is a feeling that all of us have experienced. Watching or reading such a scene triggers the memories of someone we have lost (either by death or by mere separation), and because we are able to relate to it, we suddenly release the emotions that we have been repressing. | <urn:uuid:c71cb274-8c89-44aa-8440-749ebc9c4939> | {
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Sugar causes cavities, doesn’t it?
Many people tell their children the same horrifying story that they heard from others about the detrimental influence of sugar on teeth. Is it only a fairy tale to reduce the consumption of sweets or sugar does influence our teeth and causes cavities? Should people avoid eating sugar and candies at all to have strong and healthy teeth? Let’s find out answers to these questions.
Every parent wishes his or her kids were happy and healthy. However, how to correlate both these characteristics correctly if it is impossible to be absolutely healthy eating sweets, while without candies you also do not feel absolutely happy. The main organ that suffers from the overconsumption of sweets is teeth, but to understand how it happens, you should understand the connection between sugar and cavity.
Most people know the term “cavity” as dental caries. Both these terms have the same meaning: it is a hole in the tooth caused by decay that got inside the tooth through damages in the enamel. What is decay you may wonder? In fact, it is a process when the tooth gets attacked by a sticky bacteria formed in the digestive system that builds a plaque on the tooth. The last one leads to the tooth decay only after a long-term impact on it and results in a cavity. If a person does not treat the following cavity, the consequences can be rather frustrating: it can result in the creation of a hole and exposure of tooth nerve endings that is unbearably painful. Moreover, sometimes it may lead to the necessity of a root canal creation or even saying ‘goodbye’ to your tooth.
The role of sugar in the cavity development
It is natural that sugar plays some role in causing cavities or there won’t be so many legends about its negative impact. However, if you believe that it is sugar on your teeth causing cavities, you are mistaken. Sugar is only a pleasant environment for the growth of bacteria. Some of them can not be managed properly by our organism or we do nothing to remove them, and it leads to their endless growth. In addition, our body to be able to digest the food we eat produces special acids that remove necessary minerals from our teeth. That is why people need to restore them again and it can be achieved if you brush teeth regularly, drink fluorinated water or saliva. As a result, you see that any food including sugar may lead to causing cavities, but it is not the reason to refuse from it. It is more reasonable to take care of the teeth regularly and reduce the number of possible bacteria.
How to prevent cavities
If you enjoy eating sweets and are not ready to cut on their consumption, especially on holidays, it is very important to pay more attention to oral care. Both grownups and children should brush their teeth at least two times a day, floss and rinse mouth with a special wash, chew a gum that contains no sugar, and plan your visits of the dentist cabinet two times a year as well.
It is natural that children should eat a restricted number candies each day for their teeth to be healthy and strong. However, it is also very important to teach them to value their dental health and do everything to keep it strong. It will also decrease the chances to get other health issues and live a longer and healthier life. | <urn:uuid:6aab4fc9-f9cf-450b-a6e9-e82168e8cd37> | {
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New research carried out using ESO telescopes has, for the first time, allowed astronomers to reconstruct a detailed picture of the inner disc of matter around a young star. Stéphanie Renard of the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble and colleagues used the ESO VLT Interferometer to probe the secrets of the star HD 163296.
Young stars are surrounded by discs of dust and gas and scientists believe that it is in these discs that planets are born. Dusty grains in the disc stick to each other to make larger lumps that in turn also aggregate together. This growth is expected to continue until rocky bodies about the size of the Earth are formed.
"The power of the VLT Interferometer to probe very fine details now allows us to see the inner region very close to the star where there is not expected to be any dust. The new images reveal the ring-shaped structure of this very elusive region," said Renard.
No single telescope currently in operation has vision acute enough to study such tiny and distant objects. The size of the region of the disc observed corresponds to 150 million kilometres -- about the distance between the Earth and the Sun, but located at 360 light-years from Earth.
These very tiny details have an angular size of around 10 milliarcseconds -- equivalent to trying to pick out small features on a road map held up 40 kilometres away. These minute angles are far smaller than any single telescope now operating can resolve.
To be able to image the inner part of the disc of matter close to the star, the team used a technique known as interferometry, in which sophisticated instrumentation combines the light from several telescopes into one observation. This increases the level of detail in the resulting pictures dramatically, although it does have some drawbacks: the results have to be reconstructed using complex mathematical algorithms because interferometry does not produce unambiguous images. But this difficult work is worthwhile as the resulting pictures tease out details far beyond the capabilities of the individual telescopes.
The team used data from the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, located at ESO's Paranal Observatory, for the bulk of their work on this star. The facility includes four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes and four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes, which can be used in several different combinations to produce interferometric observations. The data was thoroughly analysed earlier this year but, now, for the first time, the astronomers have been able to reconstruct an image of such a young object, with minimal assumptions, thanks to a powerful mathematical algorithm developed by team member Eric Thiébaut. The resulting image has the detail you would normally expect from a telescope with a mirror over 130 metres across, far bigger than any currently in existence. To gain further precision, the team combined the VLT Interferometer observations with data from CHARA, Keck and IOTA interferometers.
"This is the first time that an image with such a level of detail has been achieved of a young star surrounded by a disc -- a system that could represent how the Solar System formed 4.5 billion years ago," said co-author Fabien Malbet. "We are eager to improve these images to understand the fundamental mechanisms that drive planetary formation better."
"Creating an image of this star has really pushed back the boundaries of what is possible with current technology. It's a showcase for what can be achieved when you combine the power of some of the most advanced observatories in the world," concludes co-author Myriam Benisty. "Interferometry has definitely entered the world of images and the Very Large Telescope Interferometer is a crucial part of it."
- M. Benisty, A. Natta, A. Isella, J-P. Berger, F. Massi, J-B. Le Bouquin, A. Mérand, G. Duvert, S. Kraus, F. Malbet, J. Olofsson, S. Robbe-Dubois, L. Testi, M. Vannier, G. Weigelt. Strong near-infrared emission in the sub-AU disk of the Herbig Ae star HD 163296: evidence of refractory dust? Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2010; 511: A74 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/200912898
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Mount Carmel Caves on UNESCO World Heritage List
At its meeting on 29th June at St Petersburg, the World Heritage Committee agreed to place a set of four Carmel caves on its Heritage List. The document read, “The four caves are located in one of the best preserved fossilized reefs of the Mediterranean region, and contain artifacts covering 500,000 years of human evolution, from the Lower Paleolithic era till today”.
They are the Nahal Me’orot caves of Tabun, Jamal, El-Wad and Skhul. The Tabun and other caves were first investigated by Dorothy Garrod in 1929-34 and she found there a complete skeleton of a Neanderthal woman, which was dated from 60,000 to 50,000 BP (before Present). The Jamal cave is a single chamber cave, while El-Wad has an entrance chamber that leads to five others that contain stone house remains and a cemetery with skeleton fragments of a hundred individuals. The listing includes the terraces to the caves that display evidence of artistic activity and agriculture. The caves reflect man’s prehistoric culture and his transformation from hunter-gatherer to agriculturalist that occurred over hundreds of years. The credit for bringing the caves to the attention of UNESCO must go to Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of Haifa University, who has been passionate in preserving the evidence of the caves over many years.
Bethlehem Church on UNESCO List
At the same meeting, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was also placed on the World Heritage List in the name of the Palestine Authority. The PA claimed that the Church was in danger, but in fact the Church is in fairly good condition, although repairs are needed to the roof. The Greek Orthodox and Armenian Church Patriarchs had opposed the original listing application but the PA has provided written guarantees that it will not intervene in the internal affairs of the site, in particular the “status quo” agreement which defines the full autonomy of the three churches (including the Roman Catholics) in the management of the site.
Early Synagogue to North-West of Sea of Galilee
At Huqoq, a village mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, archaeologists Jodi Magness, with David Amit and Shua Kasilevitz of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), have found remains of a large synagogue of the late Roman period of the 4th century CE, a time which saw a great increase in synagogue building in the Galilee and the Golan. The synagogue has a mosaic floor that includes an inscription alongside two faces, one of them destroyed, but the other is female, very graphic and most unusual for a synagogue. There is also a depiction of the story of Samson sending flaming torches tied to the tails of foxes into the fields of Philistine standing corn (Judges 15:4ff), which is again used as a mosaic subject in another recently discovered synagogue at nearby Wadi Hamam. The richness of the mosaics and the fact that remains of the structure show impressive use of large ashlar stonework is surprising in a small village setting and indicates the affluence of the area, which was watered by a spring, near a trade route, a centre of fertile land and famous for its mustard plants. “I guess mustard was lucrative” said Jodi Magness.
Crusader Coin Trove Found at Apollonia
At Tel Arshaf, on the coast north of Herzliya, in the course of a three-year dig headed by Prof. Oren Tal of Tel Aviv University, a large cache of golden coins of the Crusader period has been uncovered. The coins had been placed in a sand-filled pottery vessel, now broken, under the floor tiles of the castle, and it looked like a deliberate act of concealment, probably made by the defenders during a prolonged siege by Muslim troops. The excavation has also uncovered arrowheads and catapult stones, evidence of the Arab siege. The Crusaders, who called their castle Apollonia, held the stronghold in the 13th century, when it was eventually conquered and razed to the ground by the Mamluks, who failed to check under the floor tiles. The hoard is of 108 gold coins minted around 1,000 CE in Egypt, and is today valued at over $100,000. After cleaning, the hoard will be put on exhibition.
Hellenistic Harbour at Akko (Acre)
During conservation work to the southern sea wall of the modern harbour at Akko, evidence appeared of large well laid and dressed stones as used in many other installations along the Phoenician coast, and may have indicated the base of a large building or the foundation of a port installation. The finding of a series of mooring stones along the quay makes it clear that it was the latter, and thus was evidence for a large port in the Hellenistic period of 300-200 BCE. The stone floor was littered with fragments of pottery vessels from across the Aegean, from ports such as Knidos (W.Turkey) and Rhodes, by which it could be dated. The flooring had a slight slope to the south and was flanked on two sides by walls built in the Phoenician style, which suggests that the floor was the base of a slipway used to haul ships onto the shore, according to Kobi Sharvit, director of the IAA Marine Archaeology Unit. The section of the harbour uncovered so far indicates that it was a military installation, probably the chief naval base of Coele-Syria (Palestine/Israel) that was deliberately attacked and destroyed by enemies of the Seleucid powers, who could have been Egyptian forces under the Ptolemies, or even the Hasmoneans many years later.
Tel Hatzor, Jars of Burnt Wheat
Excavations at Hatzor have been in progress for many years under Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor of Hebrew University and Dr. Tsvika Tzuk, of the Nature and Parks Authority, who administer the archaeological site. Recently fourteen large pithoi storage jars have been uncovered and found to contain stores of burnt wheat that are dated to the Middle Bronze Age of 2,200 BCE. They were found in the storage room of the monumental building, perhaps a palace, of the Canaanite period. When excavation is complete this season, the jars and contents will be transferred to the IAA laboratories for further investigation and conservation, before being exhibited and then replaced on site.
Commemoration of Petrie’s Death
On the 70th anniversary of the death of Flinders Petrie a special ceremony was held at his graveside in Jerusalem. This report is by Sam Wolff of the IAA, with an addition in brackets by Shimon Gibson.
“On 30 July 2012 an evening gathering was organized by the IAA to commemorate the 70th year of the passing of Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, pioneer British archaeologist and Egyptologist. The well-attended event was held in the courtyard of the former Bishop Gorbat School, current Jerusalem University College, on Mt. Zion, metres away from Petrie’s grave, which is located in the Protestant Cemetery alongside other prominent archaeologists and architects like James Starkey, Clarence Fisher, Conrad Schick. After a brief tour of the cemetery and introductory remarks, Gabriel Barkay delivered an appreciation of Petrie’s achievements. This was followed by a brief lecture by Shimon Gibson which, among other items of interest, included a graphic description of his visit to the Royal College of Surgeons in London in order to confirm the identity of a human head preserved in a jar, reputed to be the head of Petrie (who was an advocate of the Eugenics movement and believed that a measure of human intelligence could be based on the measurement of skulls). The evening ended with a screening of a BBC documentary of Petrie’s life and contribution to archaeology, both in Egypt and in Palestine.”
Ancient Pool and Bust at Sussita
At the hilltop Hellenistic site of Sussita, overlooking the east shore of the Sea of Galilee, Prof. Arthur Segal has been leading a team from the University of Haifa for thirteen seasons and recent finds include a bust of an unknown worthy dated to the third century BCE, which the archaeologists think had come from a grave monument. In the last season they have also uncovered the well paved floor remains of an early local swimming pool, but no date has yet been given, This is a surprising find as water supply to the high level town must have been severely restricted.
Restoration to City Walls of Jerusalem Completed
The 4 km. of the ancient city walls of Jerusalem have undergone an eight year programme of repair and restoration under the supervision of Avi Mashiah of the IAA. The National Parks Authority and the Jerusalem Development Authority were also involved in the work and funding came from the Prime Minister’s Office. It is the first time since the British Mandate that the walls as a whole have been surveyed and repaired. The work included restoration of the seven gates of the City and at the Zion Gate nearly 300 bullet holes, dating from 1967, were filled but the evidence left showing for historical accuracy. The work at the Herod and Damascus Gates was carefully co-ordinated with the local Arab traders who have open stalls at these gates, and much of the work was carried out at night so as not to disrupt trade. At the Damascus Gate the original ornamental high-level carvings were restored, at first to the angry protests of the locals, but it was explained that the original stonework was likely to collapse and now local residents and traders are happy to see the new work, and realize that the bright colours of the restoration will soon fade and blend in with the old. The whole of the walls have now been restored except for the portion at the south east corner, which is under the control of the Waqf, the Islamic administrators of the Temple Mount, who are proceeding with their repairs more slowly.
Stephen Gabriel Rosenberg,
W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem | <urn:uuid:b36a7812-ffa4-4696-a335-35e8c04dc4a8> | {
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in a box, covered shallow with fine sand, and regularly watered with a sprinkler.
I think figs generally are self-fertilizing. I had one tree, however, whose fruit uniformly fell when about two thirds grown. I ascribed this to want of fertilization. Possibly the presence of the caprifico might have changed results. If so, it would follow that some varieties are self-fertilizing and others not. The "fig-wasp" is unknown here.
The "novel phenomenon" related by Mr. C. G. McMillan may be found duplicated, though not in precisely the same way, in Northern Mississippi. His fossil leaves had retained their color during untold ages. In the other case it was the resin of the pine-tree. Near the village of Iuka was lying, some twenty years ago, and perhaps is still, a petrified pine-log about two feet in diameter, a ten-pound fragment of which lies here in my study. Not only does the stone retain the color and appearance of pine-wood, but the petrified resin has the color, semi-transparency, and general appearance of real resin. The surface-land is eocene.
|Los Angeles, Cal., March 11, 1885.|
Mattieu Williams, in article 42 of his "Chemistry of Cookery" ("Popular Science Monthly" for January), says: "Before proceeding further I must fulfill the promise made in No. 39, to report the result of my repetition of the Indian process of preparing samp. I soaked some ordinary Indian corn in a solution of carbonate of potash, exceeding the ten or twelve hours specified by Count Rumford. The external coat was not removed even after two days' soaking." He suspects the corn was too old and dry, and that the Indians used new or freshly gathered grain.
In the first place, this is not the way to prepare samp. Samp is the Anglicized Indian name for maize parched and pounded. It came afterward to be the name for the new corn, pounded or coarsely ground. This being done before the kernels were fairly dry, it was much prized for mush or hasty-pudding.
The prepared Indian corn he refers to is called in New England hulled corn. My grandmother, whose parents were contemporary with and from the same part of the country as Count Rumford, was famous for her hulled corn.
That this method of preparing corn for food was learned from the Indians is uncertain. It was probably a Yankee invention of early date.
Grandmother's way was to put a peck of old, dry maize into a pot filled with water, and with it a bag of hard-wood ashes, say a quart. After soaking a while it was boiled until the skins or hulls came off easily. The corn was then washed in cold water to get rid of the taste of potash, and then boiled until the kernels were soft. Another way was to take the lye from the leaches where potash was made, dilute it, and boil the corn in this until the skin or hull came off. In the experiment tried by Mr. Williams, his solution of carbonate of potash was not of sufficient strength, or, if it was, the maize or corn should have been boiled. It makes a delicious dish, eaten with milk or cream.
In the early days of New England, maize was the principal grain, and was designated corn, which is the significance of the name now in all parts of the Union. Ground maize is called in New England "Indian-meal," and mixed with one third of rye-meal, fermented and baked, once constituted the principal bread of the whole country. It was called "rye-and-indian," pronounced ryningen. Boston brown bread is an imitation of it. Baked Indian is still a common appellation for a corn-meal pudding that strikes a stranger as a reminiscence of cannibalism.
|P. J. F.|
|Clinton, Iowa, March 20, 1885.|
A GREAT deal of attention has lately been drawn to this subject, and in certain quarters an attempt has been made to "boom" it in a manner that can hardly be pronounced entirely disinterested. In certain educational journals, for example, teachers are urged to petition the national Legislature for the passing of the "Blair Bill," on the ground that it will improve their own remuneration. One form of petition, which we find printed for the convenience of teachers, states that "ignorance among the masses of the people now exists to such a degree as to threaten the early destruction of the free institutions of the republic," and that therefore a system of free schools | <urn:uuid:34f75787-a094-4957-982b-9670637281df> | {
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Electronics Safety Lesson: Stay Safe by Staying Dry
Electronics technology is built upon the science of electricity. So whenever you are working with electronic circuits, remember that you are working with electricity and you must be sure to take every precaution you can to avoid being the recipient of a shock strong enough to do damage. Water and electricity are a very bad combination, because water is an excellent conductor of electricity, and it flows everywhere.
Strictly speaking, pure uncontaminated water is actually an insulator. But pure water is very rare. Most water is filled with contaminates, and those contaminates turn the water into an excellent conductor. Thus, it's true that you should avoid water when working with electrical current. Here are a few tips for staying safe by staying dry:
Make sure the floor is dry. Don't work on electronic or electrical devices in an area where the floor is wet.
Beware of high humidity, especially if it condenses into moisture on your projects.
Dry your hands before working with electrical current. Even a small amount of sweat on your hands can lower your body's natural resistance and accentuate the danger of electrical shocks from lower voltages. | <urn:uuid:2994acfa-5593-4169-879b-2e933e1084e1> | {
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We work on the hypothesis that any event, thought, act or emotion is recorded in the universe and feeds a large field of information. Its name will vary depending on authors or schools: collective unconscious (C.G. Jung), morphic field (Rupert Sheldrake), ‘Akashic’ memories (theosophic society), suffering body (Eckart Tolle), etc.
When we feed a sense of loss or sadness, for instance, we can resonate with a cluster of sadness in the universe, which makes it even denser and increases the possibilities that more people should resonate with it. Conversely, when we try to appease resentment and send frequencies of love to an enemy, this can radiate waves of forgiveness through the universe and increase the energy field of love, which will then be easier to ‘capture’ by those who attempt the same.
Such subtle interactions can operate either consciously or unconsciously. The function of rites can also be to sustain a conscious collective symbolic memory, such as reproducing the transubstantiation at the Eucharist or just offering a rose to your Valentine.
Other examples are detailed in the ‘Explorations’ chapter, with files such as | <urn:uuid:b47492a7-d6b1-4b7e-a9fc-59fc26535add> | {
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As you notice from day to day use of Ubuntu, most tasks are easily accomplished. But what happens when you’re ready to expand your use of Ubuntu to include new applications, or connect to a home network and add new users? This brief guide shares the key steps necessary to create and manage other users, helps clarify some essential differences with other flavors, and provides tips regarding “root” user. Perhaps most importantly, these steps help empower the use of your Ubuntu system to become far more than just another desktop PC.
Understanding users in Ubuntu
The security and usefulness of your Ubuntu system depends a good deal on what you do to enable users and their privileges. Without falling into the minutia and the mundane, it is important to at least understand how users are handled in the Ubuntu GNU/Linux environment.
When you first install Ubuntu, you are required to create a user account. This initial user account, and for that matter all subsequent users, have their independent user files stored under the Home folder. But there is something unique about the first user account you create.
In my case, when installing Ubuntu, I created the user account: “mark”. Not only is mark my first Ubuntu user, but mark has automatically been given unique and powerful privileges that other users do not receive. My mark account can create users, change files and folders, and do a lot of administrative functions on Ubuntu that are normally performed by another important user account named “root”.
Therefore, in Ubuntu, you should understand the three key users:
- Initial user, in my case called mark, created when installing Ubuntu
- Root user, known as the administrator that usually has maximum privileges
- All other users, which I term basic users, are added following installation
Each of these three key users have their own folders, their own unique privileges, and most importantly their own role to play on your Ubuntu system. In the following sections, I will share how to enable and utilize each. Let’s begin with the basic user.
NOTE: I assume that you are logged in to your Ubuntu system as the initial user, thereby having the rights and privileges necessary to perform the tasks below.
Creating and managing basic users
Inevitably, once you setup Ubuntu in your home or office, others will come to you begging to get access. Some may want a chance to try out one of the multitude of cool applications that come preloaded with your system, while others desire to see GNU/Linux power! In other words, you need a good way to give them access without giving them the keys to the system.
Step 1. Accessing the users and groups tool
Creating basic user accounts is easily accomplished through the Users and Groups tool. From your main menu, choose System, then Administration. To start your tool select the Users and Groups menu item.
Notice the message that appears (figure 1).
This is a very important message and what it infers is something unique about Ubuntu. In most GNU/Linux systems the privileged user is named root, and the password you type in would be that of root. However, in Ubuntu, the privileged user is the initial user account you created, and therefore you must type that user account password.
Once you type the password in, you will have access to all of the various administration tools. I provide more details regarding the reasons for this in the “Understanding the Superuser” section below.
Step 2. Adding a new user
You should now see the Users and Groups tool. Please choose the Add User button on the right.
What you choose to include in the Account sections should be based on who you’re adding, and what you plan to do with your Ubuntu system. If you’re adding a basic user so someone else can also access your Ubuntu system, the defaults will be satisfactory.
For an example, I will add my son John as a basic user of my Ubuntu system so he can enjoy some of those cool GNU/Linux games. Below is the sample user information. Notice that I chose to manually set the password, since I prefer to give him something that is both secure and easily remembered (figure 2).
Before you press the OK button, please click on the “User privileges” tab at the top. This is an important step whenever you create a new user.
Under the “User privileges” tab, note the default access given to this basic user. You may prefer to change some of these, such as “Monitor system logs”, “and Connect to Internet”. Anything that is checked is allowed by this user. Also make sure that the “Executing system administration tasks” is NOT checked.
Once you are satisfied with the privileges granted to this new user, press the OK button.
You should return to the main Users and Groups tool window. Now scroll down until you see the new user you just added. In my example, I added user: john (figure 3).
Once you are finished adding new basic users, it is very important to press the OK button again.
This will create the account and save the information you added. Ubuntu should also automatically create your new user’s folder under the Home directory.
Once finished, your new user will be able to login and enjoy the power of Ubuntu GNU/Linux!
If for some reason the login fails, please refer to the troubleshooting tips at the end of this article.
Step 3. Making future changes to users
Notice that if you wish, you can now go back and change the properties of this user by highlighting the user name and pressing the Properties button. Or, if this user is no longer needed or wanted in the future, you can highlight the name and press the Delete button.
If you ever decide to delete a basic user, realize that the folder and files from the user are not automatically removed, only the user’s login access is removed. This is greatly advantageous since it allows you to restore a previously deleted user without losing files.
In order to totally remove even the user’s folder, you will need to apply a super-user command. This is a step that is unlikely to be necessary for beginning Ubuntu, but that I explain briefly in the “Understanding the Superuser” section.
Creating and managing user groups
Although it is fine to simply leave a new user such as john in his or her own user group, you may prefer to also assign new users to another unique group. This affords not only an easier time in managing users rights, it also offers a means to share files, etc.
You do not have to assign new users to a group, the default is that they are assigned to their own personal group. But if you prefer to do so, below are the key steps.
Step 1. Start the users and groups tool
As mentioned above, access the tool from your main menu. However, instead of making changes or using the options on the “Users” tab, click on the “Groups” tab.
Scroll down until you see your new user. Notice that a group with the user’s name has also been added.
Step 2. Add a group
Now, press the Add Group button.
Notice in my example (see figure 4) that I’ve created a new group named “desktopusers”, and then highlighted my new user john. By pressing the Add button in the middle, I will add john to the group. You can add multiple users by holding down the Ctrl key and highlighting as many as you wish. Just be sure to press the Add button once you are done choosing.
Press OK when you are satisfied that all the users who belong in your new group were added (figure 5).
Notice that on your main “Users and Groups” window, the new group was added to the bottom of the list. Press OK again to save the changes.
That’s it! In the future, to change users in a particular group you can use the same steps above. But instead, highlight the group to change and press the Properties button.
What you enabled with this new group is that users, such as a working group of colleagues or friends, can now share files and manage folders that were given desktopuser group access.
Understanding the superuser
I briefly mentioned above that there are three key users in Ubuntu. This section will clarify why certain attributes exist, and what the key differences are between root and the initial user account.
Notice that in order to apply any of the steps above you needed to be logged in and use the initial Ubuntu account. The first account you create, during installation, is automatically assigned super-user do rights (also called
sudo). With a super-user account, system administration and modification is possible.
The most powerful super-user account in GNU/Linux is root. However, you’ll notice that a root account is not automatically included in your Ubuntu installation details. The root does not, by default, come enabled for your use.
In situations where you must use superuser privileges, Ubuntu allows you to use the initial account combined with
sudo. If for example you wanted to delete a basic user’s file folder from under Home, you would use the following commands from the command (terminal) prompt:
cd /home sudo delete john
To run the
sudo command you will be prompted for your initial user password. This prevents you from having to run as root to do basic system administration, while protecting your system from security weaknesses associated with fully enabling another account as superuser.
What about root?
Ubuntu hides the root account somewhat in order to discourage its use, unless absolutely necessary. Instead, almost all of the power and privileges needed for administration are assigned to your initial account.
But what about those instances where you plan to perform some major modifications or enhancements to your Ubuntu system? I must state that this is unlikely to ever be the case for a beginning user. But, if you are in a situation similar to myself, trying to add something as major as perhaps the LTSP to your Ubuntu (edubuntu.org already has some good options for new users who want this), then you may need to apply root.
Again, before you press ahead to enable your root account, I want to convey that you should not be using root for day-to-day administration. Nor should you follow the steps below if you are brand new to Ubuntu and read some document that says “you need to be logged in as root”. Instead, use
sudo as described above to run such commands.
If you’ve gotten this far, you don’t need anymore disclaimers just a simple answer. To enable root in Ubuntu you use the same steps as mentioned in section 1. However, you highlight the root user account and then press the Properties button. From there you can set the root password by hand and press OK twice to save your changes. I just urge you not to become a habitual root account user and to stick with the initial account and
sudo when possible.
It’s a rare thing for me to hear about problems creating and managing users. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.
If you created a new user account based on the steps above and get a strange error, you may have a simple problem with the user’s properties. The errors you may see include:
$Home/.dmrc not properly configured, or that the
HOME/user does not exist and the default directory will be temporarily set to
In both cases, the error was caused by the new user’s folder not being properly configured or created. You can resolve this easily enough, by simply deleting the user and starting the steps above again. But this time, also click on the Advanced tab, when adding user, and ensure that the line for Home directory reads:
Obviously, this only applies during initial creation of a new user account.
Changes do not save
I’ve encountered this more often than you would imagine. It seems that people sometimes get confused when pressing the OK button during the steps above. You must not only press the OK button on the specific properties Window, but also press OK once again on the main Users and Groups window in order to save your changes.
You should now have all the key steps needed to create and manage multiple user accounts on Ubuntu. More importantly, you should also have a reasonable understanding of what to do if you need to run a command or perform an action that requires “root access”. By applying these steps, you can share the power and pleasure of your Ubuntu system with others, while retaining security and stability. | <urn:uuid:28b7839f-dc12-4380-b9aa-36399fc8787a> | {
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Right on cue, two legal scholars have just posted new papers on the history of the clause.
The first is The Origins of the Privileges or Immunities Clause, Part II: John Bingham’s Epiphany by Kurt Lash, Loyola Law School Los Angeles. Here's the abstract:
Historical accounts of the Privileges or Immunities Clause of Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment generally assume that John Bingham based the text on Article IV of the original Constitution and that Bingham, like other Reconstruction Republicans, viewed Justice Washington’s opinion in Corfield v. Coryell as the definitive interpretation of Article IV. According to this view, Justice Miller in the Slaughterhouse Cases failed to follow both framers’ intent and obvious textual meaning when he sharply distinguished Section One’s privileges or immunities from Article IV’s privileges and immunities.In tension with Lash is a paper by Philip Hamburger, Columbia University Law School, Privileges or Immunities. Here's the abstract:
This article, the second in a three-part investigation of the origins of the Privileges or Immunities Clause, presents historical evidence which strongly suggests that none of these assumptions are correct. Although John Bingham’s first draft of the Fourteenth Amendment used the language of Article IV, mid-way through the Reconstruction debates Bingham realized he had made a mistake. Withdrawing his initial proposal, Bingham abandoned the language of Article IV and drafted a second version of the Amendment. This second version protected the “privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ”— a phrase which mirrored antebellum language regarding the rights of national citizenship. Bingham insisted that his second and final version of Section One did not refer to the common law state-conferred rights of Corfield and Article IV, but instead nationalized a different and limited set of constitutionally recognized privileges and immunities, in particular the first eight amendments to the Constitution. Understanding the difference between Bingham’s first and second drafts not only explains what otherwise appear to be inconsistencies in Bingham’s speeches, it also calls into question contemporary efforts to read the Privileges or Immunities Clause as a source of un-enumerated natural rights. Like other moderates in the Thirty-Ninth Congress, Bingham wished to expand the protection of individual rights in the states, but not at the expense of the retained right of the people in the states to regulate the content of most civil rights, subject only to the requirements of due process and equal protection.
What was meant by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities Clause? Did it incorporate the U.S. Bill of Rights against the states? Long ignored evidence clearly shows that the Clause was an attempt to resolve a national dispute about the Comity Clause rights of free blacks. In this context, the phrase “the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States” was a label for Comity Clause rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment used this phrase to make clear that free blacks were entitled to such rights.Larry Solum discusses both papers at the Legal Theory Blog.
Breaking news: here's what happened with the privileges or immunities clause today at the Court -- from SCOTUS Blog:
The first argument to collapse as the hearing unfolded was the plea by the lawyer for gun rights advocates, Alan Gura of Alexandria, Virginia, that the Court should “incorporate” the Second Amendment into the 14th Amendment through the “privileges or immunities” clause. In the first comment from the bench after Gura had barely opened, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., noted that the Court had essentially scuttled that argument with its ruling in the SlaughterHouse Cases in 1873. And within a few minutes, Justice Antonin Scalia — the author of the Heller opinion and the Court’s most fervent gun enthusiast — was sarcastically dismissing the “privileges or immunities” argument.Image credit: John Bingham.
“Why,” Scalia asked Gura, “are you asking us to overrule 140 years of prior law….unless you are bucking for a place on some law school faculty.” The Justice said the “privileges or immunities” argument was “the darling of the professorate” but wondered why Gura would “undertake that burden.” And Scalia noted that the “due process” clause — an open-ended provision that he has strongly attacked on other occasions– was available as the vehicle for incorporation, and added: “Even I have acquiesced in that.” Gura somewhat meekly said “we would be extremely happy:” if the Court used the “due process” clause to extend the Second Amendment’s reach. | <urn:uuid:7aacfe56-28db-4f4a-922a-34e8e26e963a> | {
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Knowledge is a property of the network: Mapping Britannica’s world in a Wikipedia age
Matthew Battles argues that the nature of knowledge is changing in the context of networks.
At The New Republic, David A. Bell offers a wistful threnody for the paper edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which the eponymous publishing house announced it would cease publishing after 244 years. “With the disappearance of paper encyclopedias, a part of the Western intellectual tradition is disappearing as well,” argues Bell, the Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Professor of History at Princeton and a New Republic contributing editor. The problem, he avers, is not the medium itself; the web offers comprehensiveness, currency, and serendipity, affordances it shares with the multi-volume sets of old:
But the great paper encyclopedias of the past had other, grander ambitions: They aspired to provide an overview of all human knowledge, and, still more boldly, to put that knowledge into a coherent, logical order. Even if they mostly organized their articles alphabetically, they also sought ways to link the material together thematically — all of it…On Wikipedia, contributors do constantly try to update many different related articles to take account of new material they introduce. But Wikipedia, of course, has no plan, no system, no map of human knowledge.
The problem, however, isn’t that we’ve grown complacent about the nature of knowledge, but that the nature of knowledge is changing in the context of networks. The vision of knowledge as paradigmatic, structured, ordered, like the hierarchy of the church and the deputations of sovereignty, was very much a product of encyclopedism’s golden age, the eighteenth century. Indeed, Diderot and his cohort sought for secular knowledge the kind of power and authority reserved for the monarchy and the magisterium of the Church. It’s a theory of knowledge in keeping with its time — although Diderot and his contemporaries already recognized the problematic nature of any single specified taxonomy of knowledge; the rule of the alphabet offered not only a handy organizing schema, but a leveling arbitrariness as well. But these means of ordering knowledge are thoroughly out of step in our own omnivalent age, which finds us suspicious of expertise, more comfortable with the iterative and approximate.
The old sovereign paradigms of encyclopedic knowledge were on the wane long before Wikipedia. By the twentieth century, encyclopedism’s grand epistemological project had been blackboxed, dumbed down, and commodified for aspirant middlebrow readers, the disruptive ambition of Diderot sold door-to-door. As a project, the encyclopedia was bracing and grand; as product, EB was just another widget courting obsolescence. As Tim Carmody pointed out in a recent deftly-observed article at Wired, it wasn’t Wikipedia, but Encarta — the wholly-insufficient electronic encyclopedia Microsoft bundled with Windows throughout the 1990s — which doomed the paper encyclopedia:
Not because Encarta made Microsoft money (it didn’t), or because Britannica didn’t develop comparable products for CD-ROM and the web (they totally did, with the first CD-ROM encyclopedia in 1989 and Britannica Online in 1994). Instead, Encarta was an inexpensive, multimedia, not-at-all comprehensive encyclopedia that helped Microsoft sell Windows PCs to families. And once you had a PC in the living room or den where the encyclopedia used to be, it was all over for Mighty Britannica.
And yet we shouldn’t mistake a practical bent for a lack of ambition — Wikipedia maps knowledge as ambitiously as the encyclopedia of old; only its cartography is different. Indeed, mapping is woven into the very structure and method of Wikipedia itself; it isn’t found in orderings and topics, but in the network-locative irruptions of facticity and assertion, citation and correction that make up the entries. Fully documented on the “talk page” of each Wikipedia entry, these records of individual edits and vettings comprise a map of knowledge as it lives in a networked world. As David Weinberger points out in Too Big to Know, his rich, ambivalently hopeful book about the emergent nature of knowledge, network effects create more than new means of dissemination:
That knowledge is a property of the network means more than that crowds can have a type of wisdom in certain circumstances…it’s not simply that under some circumstances groups are smarter than there smartest member. Rather, the change in the infrastructure of knowledge is altering knowledge’s shape and nature…knowledge is becooming inextricable from — literally unthinkable without — the network that enables it.
Britannica will continue to produce the continuously-updated digital edition of the Encyclopedia (disclosure: I blogged for EB a few years ago, and briefly worked as a permissions assistant at the publisher’s Chicago office after college — but my encyclopedia of choice was the time capsule of the 1959 World Book my parents kept tucked away in a glass-fronted book case behind the armchair in the living room). For the digital edition to thrive as long as the gilt volumes did, it won’t need the austere taxonomies and abridging ambitions of old, but a willingness to yield its energies to the cartographic ambitions of the network.
This post originally appeared at the blog of metaLAB (at) Harvard, a research and teaching collaborative dedicated to exploring the frontiers and overlooked histories of networked culture in the arts and humanities. We can see their office from our window. Matthew Battles is metaLAB’s managing editor and cofounder of HiLobrow. | <urn:uuid:14932be8-13f7-4a20-aa74-09007d68e1cf> | {
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Quebec's director of public health is urging people to get vaccinated following an outbreak of more than 250 cases of measles in the province since the beginning of the year.
Alain Poirier said Monday that vaccinations are the safest and best way to combat the highly contagious virus.
There have been 208 cases of measles reported in Quebec since May 1 and a total of 254 since the beginning of the year.
The outbreaks have occurred in several regions of the province.
Cases in April indicated the outbreak of the virus was sparked by people who had returned from vacations in France, but subsequent cases appear to be of local origin.
Measles can be contracted through contact with droplets from the nose, mouth and throat of an infected person who puts them into the air by coughing or sneezing.
"Other than the outbreak we have seen now, we usually see one or two cases of measles every year," Poirier said in a statement.
"Episodic cases of this contagious illness, however, justify continued vaccination efforts from the point of view of prevention and we invite people to use this method to protect themselves."
Symptoms include fever, cough, rash, runny nose and white spots on the inner lining of the mouth, the Public Health Agency of Canada says on its website.
People with the illness usually recover after about 10 days, but there is also a risk of complications such as pneumonia and diarrhea.
Measles can usually be prevented with up-to-date vaccinations.
Two doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are recommended for children — one around the time of the first birthday, and a second dose after age 15 months and before the child starts school.
As of last week, the federal agency said there aren't any measles outbreaks in other parts of Canada besides Quebec.
It says a total of 327 confirmed cases of measles were reported in Canada between 2002 and 2010.
The average was 11 cases annually except in 2007 when there were 102 cases, mainly due to an earlier outbreak in Quebec, in 2008 when 62 cases were registered, mainly in Ontario, and in 2010 when there were 99 cases, mostly in British Columbia.
The United States is currently experiencing more cases than usual. The Americas were declared "measles-free" in 2002 and Quebec usually sees only a couple of cases a year.
The province saw its last measles outbreak four years ago when close to a hundred people contracted the virus. The last major outbreak was in 1989 when 10,000 people contracted the virus in Quebec.
The Centers for Disease Control says from Jan. 1 to May 20, a total of 118 cases were reported from 23 states and New York City, the highest reported number from the same period since 1996. | <urn:uuid:397a8587-fb92-446d-ad3a-8155f20296e6> | {
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Fact Sheet 2011–3147
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Lubbock, Texas, operates two surface-water stations in Garza County, Tex.: USGS streamflow-gaging station 08079600 Double Mountain Fork Brazos River at Justiceburg, Tex., and 08079700 Lake Alan Henry Reservoir near Justiceburg, Tex., a water-supply reservoir about 60 miles southeast of Lubbock, Tex., and about 10 miles east of Justiceburg, Tex. The streamflow and water-surface elevation data from the two stations are useful to water-resource managers and planners in support of forecasting and water-resource infrastructure operations and are used in regional hydrologic studies.
First posted December 12, 2011
Part or all of this report is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF); the latest version of Adobe Reader or similar software is required to view it. Download the latest version of Adobe Reader, free of charge.
Asquith, W.H., and Vrabel, Joseph, 2011, Historical streamflows of Double Mountain Fork Brazos River and water-surface elevations of Lake Alan Henry, Garza County, Texas, water years 1962–2010: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2011–3147, 6 p.
Lake Alan Henry
Streamflow Data for Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
Water-Surface Elevation Data for Lake Alan Henry Reservoir | <urn:uuid:3f44b89c-b4c5-4890-9108-a25357067a22> | {
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As more and more states in America begin the process of phasing out the traditional incandescent bulb, our attention turns to the changing lighting landscape. It’s a landscape that includes lighting alternatives that offer less energy consumption, better durability and a longer shelf-life than the Edison-devised model that has been the “go-to” for light for the better part of a century. The reduced energy consumption also saves consumers money– which is always appealing.
CFL Technology – 35 years in the making
Two of those alternatives that are beginning to reach mass market appeal are the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) and the LED lamp. Both offer the positive benefits mentioned above but for the purpose of this teardown, we will be focusing on CFL technology. In particular, we will be looking at a non-dimmable CFL demonstration lamp made by Chinese manufacturer, Baishi.
The spiral tube CFL was first introduced in 1976 by Edward E. Hammer
, considered by many to the father of modern fluorescent lamp technology. Though the design was a great improvement over the incandescent bulb, his employers at General Electric shelved the design. The first introduction of a lamp with an electronic ballast was made by Osram in 1985, but it wasn’t until 1995 that CFL bulbs began commercial production.
Examining what makes this lamp at 20-Watts produce the same illumination as a 75-W incandescent bulb requires a look at each component that comprises the lamp. Like many of its fluorescent lamp cousins, this CFL uses U-shaped glass tubes whose phosphor lining emits from UV radiation manufactured by ionized gas in the tube.
To achieve a size that would be primed for the housing market, CFLs exhibit a design that typically use a smaller tube diameter and/or through folded or spiral-wound construction. The electronic ballast, that is used to light the tube, is designed into a manner that remedies the space constraints of a standard screw-into-socket bulb. To do this, a downsized supply is used to create a suitable lamp drive in relatively small footprint of area.
The phosphor-coated U-shaped glass tube has its own evolved history in manufacturing but that is a history more suited for chemical engineering buffs. From the perspective of the consumer, wearing out of lamp phosphors within the tube remains the primary issue. Still, the lifetime of quality CFLs can run from months to even years.
Also of note by looking at this particular CFL, the occurrence of vent holes in the lamp-base enclosure. This suggests that heat-related wear out of ballast electronics are also a factor.
The typical electronic ballast consists of a small circuit board and it is this board that allows consumers to replace incandescent bulbs easily with CFL alternatives. The electronic ballast provides the initial boost of energy to start the lamp and then limits the current to its operating value for the tube that is being used.
Transistors, diodes, and collection of capacitors and inductors are placed into the ballast design to first rectify the AC power and create a follower resonant inverter circuit that generates the high-frequency, high-voltage power used to fire the lamp. Within this electronic ballast, one of the most important components is UBA2211 Half-Bridge power IC from NXP.
The UBA2211 Half-Bridge is capable of driving lamps up to 25 W from 110 or 220 V-AC input, necessary in any electronic ballast found in modern CFLs. One of the prime benefits of the UBA2211, however, is the inclusion of OverTemperature Protection (OTP) and Capacitive Mode Protection (CMP) within the circuit. OTP and CMP monitor the voltage, current and power dissipation and, in non-standard conditions, ensure correct system shutdown and safe conditioning at the burner during end-of-life. During the initial “kick” of power during the CFL’s start-up, Saturation Current Protection (SCP) is also provided by the UBA2211 so that the CFL is capable of operating at the saturation current limit without potentially damaging the power transistors in the electronic ballast.
CFL – A “green” solution in more ways than one
This article didn’t answer the age old question of “How many engineers does it take to screw in a light bulb?” but it did answer how many engineers does it take to take one apart. In the case of the CFL, intricate power circuitry is revealed when we do take it apart which also reveals how it has gotten to a place within the market that the combination of lamp and electronic drive circuits can now be brought to general consumers at prices that start to rival the (relatively) short-lived incandescent alternative.
Pricing differences still exist – a typical incandescent bulb costs only a quarter where CFLs still neighbor in the $1 to $2 range – but the real advantage comes from the potential energy savings. Though the incandescent bulb is 25 cents, the cost to operate that bulb over its average lifetime is $7. The CFL bulb, through its lifetime (a much longer lifetime), presents a cost of only a $1.50. In that sense, not only is the CFL bulb a “green” solution from the perspective of reducing energy, but also a “green” solution for keeping more green in your wallet.
About the author
Allan Yogasingam is technical marketing analyst for UBM TechInsights. | <urn:uuid:3a9753a8-5b6a-452f-b6bd-fd2eb4688122> | {
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After I say goodbye to my students for the day, I open the cupboard where I keep my after-school snacks. By 3:00 in the afternoon I am starving ... and I am sure your students are, too!
Many elementary schools serve lunch early, around 11:00, and stomachs are ready for a refuel by late afternoon. Helping your child choose healthy options will restore energy and allow him or her to focus on homework or other activities after school.
The Family Education website offers two helpful reminders: set a good example and think in terms of finger food. Rather than sharing a bag of chips, be a role model for healthy eating by passing a bowl of sliced fruit. While reaching for chips always seems quick and easy, remind yourself how much more nutrition your student will get in a handful of apples or baby carrots.
Looking for something nutritious to fill those just-washed hands? Your child can grab handfuls of raw fruits and vegetables. Throw in some protein with diary products, cold turkey rolled around cheese, or whole wheat bread smeared with peanut butter. The Family Fun website suggests buying various nuts, seeds, granola, and dried fruit so your children can create their own trail mixes.
Since kids of all ages are more inclined to eat what is handy, purchase sliced fruits and veggies or prepare them the day before. If your student has an after-school program, pack the snack along with lunch. If your child heads home right after school, you can encourage healthy snacking by placing healthy snacks in an easily accessible spot. Keep it simple and nutritious ... it shouldn’t take longer to prepare it than it does to eat it!
Smart Snacking. Family Education. Web. 19, Sept. 2011.
Smart After-school Snacks. Disney Family Fun. Web. 19, Sept. 2011.
Reviewed September 20, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg RN
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(used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): It has whitewall tires and red upholstery. You can't tell a book by its cover.
(used to represent a person or animal understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned whose gender is unknown or disregarded): It was the largest ever caught off the Florida coast. Who was it? It was John. The horse had its saddle on.
(used to represent a group understood or previously mentioned): The judge told the jury it must decide two issues.
(used to represent a concept or abstract idea understood or previously stated): It all started with Adam and Eve. He has been taught to believe it all his life.
(used to represent an action or activity understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned): Since you don't like it, you don't have to go skiing. | <urn:uuid:261c9d9b-befb-457c-9c0c-8e4e14a47559> | {
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Condensation and Mould
One of the most common causes of dampness in buildings is condensation, which can lead to the appearance of mould growth. It is the presence of water condensed on walls, ceilings and other cold surfaces, which support mould growth.
Condensation mainly occurs during cold weather, regardless of whether it is raining or dry. It tends to appear on cold surfaces and places where there is little or no movement of air, in the corners of rooms near windows or behind cupboards and wardrobes.
What you can do to prevent condensation?
- Put lids on saucepans.
- Dry clothes outside where possible.
- If using a tumble dryer make sure it is vented to the outside or open a window.
- Put a small amount of cold water in the bath before you turn on the hot tap.
- Do not run your shower for longer than needed.
- Mop up any condensation or water every day to stop it developing into mould.
- Shut kitchen and bathroom doors when cooking or bathing and for a minimum of 15 minutes afterwards.
- Use cooker hoods and extractor fans or open a window whilst cooking.
- If your only option is to dry your clothes inside, use a room with an extractor fan or open a window and keep the door closed.
Heating your Home
- It is important to heat your home, even in rooms that are not used.
- Heat your home more evenly i.e. low level of heating all day rather than quick blasts when necessary – this should also help keep your heating bills lower.
- Use thermostats to control your heating.
Ventilate your Home
- Keep a small window ajar or window trickle vents open at all times whilst in the property.
- Ventilate kitchens and bathrooms when in use by opening windows to remove the humid air.
- Use extractor fans.
- Close kitchen and bathroom doors when fans are in use and keep shut even after use.
- Make sure other doors are closed, especially bedroom doors as they are normally slightly colder and will attract moisture.
- Ventilate cupboards and wardrobes and avoid overfilling as this stops the air circulating.
- Keep furniture away from walls and allow air to circulate.
The most common places to find mould are:
- Around your windows
- In-between tiles in your bathroom or kitchen
- Around your bath, shower and sinks
Mould can develop for many reasons, but one of the main ones is due to condensation not being wiped away, and this can cause bacteria to become trapped and develop into mould. If this happens, the quicker you act, the easier it is to get rid of.
There are a lot of mould treatments on the market and you can find these at any standard supermarket. Most come in a form of spray and can be used by spraying onto the affected area and wiping away with a warm damp cloth. Once treated, make sure to dry out the area. Please always follow the instruction if you chose to use a mould treatment.
In certain cases, some tenants may experience mould on their walls or ceiling. If this happened, do not try wipe this away (as this may cause damage to the paint), but instead let our team know at YourNest and if possible, send a photo through to us so we can review the best cause of action. | <urn:uuid:783aa738-2764-4c5d-85e1-67276f5b86b9> | {
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August 31, 2010 > Rock the Vote brings 'pop culture' into high schools
Rock the Vote brings 'pop culture' into high schools
Submitted By Maegan Carberry
As schools get back into full swing, Rock the Vote (RTV) wants every student to have a new favorite subject - Democracy Class. With this new program aimed at high school juniors and seniors, RTV is working with educators, artists, elected officials, and students to reinvigorate our country's democracy by reaching potential voters as they turn 18.
Over the past 30 years, civics education has been systematically cut from public schools, opportunities to learn about politics and government are limited, and programs to register newly eligible high school students are not widespread. As of 2009, only 21 states included civic learning in their state assessment and accountability systems. Democracy Class offers a unique and creative opportunity to connect with high school students, and engage them in discussions about citizenship and elections.
"Turning 18 and becoming eligible to vote is a tremendous rite of passage," said Heather Smith, President of Rock the Vote. "Junior and senior year of high school is the ideal moment to connect with young people, and give them the tools to become life-long voters and participants in our country's democracy."
Through this free and non-partisan class, youth nationwide will learn about the history of voting, the connection between issues they care about and those they elect to office, and their right to vote. The lesson engages students with music and pop culture to start a discussion, and demystifies the voter registration process by walking them through the key steps. The supporting website, www.DemocracyClass.com, offers easy access to election information, ways to get involved in registering voters, interviews with artists and athletes, and materials for teachers and community groups to use in their classrooms. The 45 to 90-minute curriculum is also available to all educators for free download, making Democracy Class available in any classroom or after school program.
Teachers like Barbara Wainer, a social studies department chair in Columbus, Ohio who has brought Democracy Class into her classroom says it's an "excellent way for students to learn that they have a voice in the future if they take the time to vote. They loved reading the rapper's words and hearing the songs that spoke about voting. This program helps to make the students understand that voting is essential to their future."
The most common reason why young people don't register to vote is that they don't know how, and every student deserves to be empowered with this knowledge.
Democracy Class is supported by an impressive and diverse advisory board of public officials, education leaders, and artists, including: The Honorable Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, California; The Honorable Sam Reed, Secretary of State, State of Washington; Steve Barr, Founder and Chair Emeritus, Green Dot Public Schools; and Benji and Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte. A full list of advisory board members is available on the Democracy Class site.
RTV will be presenting Democracy Class at the national meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies and other educator conferences this fall. The lesson will also be available to Teach for America members on their teacher resource page and will be brought to B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) chapters nationwide.
In tandem with its largest midterm voter registration drive ever, Democracy Class is an important part of Rock the Vote's outreach plan in 2010 and beyond, as almost 13,000 young people turn 18 every day. High school students care about the issues that affect them, and Rock the Vote is committed to making sure they have the information and resources they need to participate when they become eligible, and to encourage them to make a lifetime commitment to vote in every election.
For more information, visit www.democracyclass.com or Rock the Vote at www.rockthevote.com | <urn:uuid:15ebaca4-4ea9-4b2b-b938-b0e43548f26d> | {
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The beginning of the 19th century marked the story of David Crockett better known as Davy Crockett. Hailing from the wilderness of Tennessee he went on to become the first folk heroes of America. Crockett was an outstanding hunter, writer and Congressman of the U.S. Over the years, he has been regarded as a superhero whose fanciful stories of his adventurous life have made him into a legend. Let us know more about this great man!
1. Davy Crockett was born in a state that does not exist anymore
He was born on the 17th of August 1786 in a place which is called eastern Tennessee now. The people of that region regarded themselves as citizens of Franklin state which was a territory that had gained independence from North Carolina few years ago. However, Franklin was again reclaimed in 1789 by North Carolina when it failed to garner the required number of votes for entering the U.S. union as the 14th state. By the year 1796, Franklin became a part of Tennessee.
At the age of 13 Crockett’s formal education began and he was sent to a school. As stated in Davy Crockett Biography, four days after joining school he was bullied by an older boy. Owing to his rebellious nature, Crockett decided to take revenge. He beat him up severely one day and fearing to get whipped by his schoolmaster and father he ran away from home. He performed odd jobs for the next few years of his life in Maryland and Tennessee.
3. Crockett was a veteran at the War of 1812 and Creek War
Crockett was 27 years old when he joined as a part of the state militia to fight against those Creek Indians that attacked American settlers in Fort Mims. Davy Crockett worked as a scout during the Creek war. He was also a sergeant serving during the Jackson War in the year 1812.
Crockett tried everything from manufacturing wooden barrels to farming and making gunpowder. However, the adventurous Davy Crockett found great professional success as a hunter. He hunted bears in the Tennessee woods and sold their meat, oil and pelts for profit. Several stories have been foretold about his bravery and his adventurous hunting game. One such story goes that he once killed a big bear by stabbing its heart using a butcher knife and that too in pitch black darkness.
Once during his stint as a barrel manufacturer, Crockett along with his team was transporting a shipment across the Mississippi river. It so happened that the boat in which Crockett was sailing was of poor quality and gave a hard time in steering it. There was absolutely no means to redirect the boat and it started to capsize. Crockett got trapped underneath the deck. However, his teammates were quick to respond to the accident. They all managed to pull him out through an opening. A sailing merchant saved all of them the next day. | <urn:uuid:57a0a318-10c7-48b8-a4dc-439b81267cc0> | {
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Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
He graduated in mathematics from Cambridge in 1814 and by 1816 had already been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, aged only 24.
Whilst still at Cambridge, Babbage had speculated about producing a machine to calculate logarithm tables, but it was not until 1819, stimulated by his interest in astronomy, that he set about designing and attempting to build a reliable mechanical computer capable of producing and printing accurate tables. By 1822 he had built a small calculating machine, or ‘Difference Engine’, able to work out squares and quadratic equations. With the backing of the Royal Society he was able to secure an initial government grant of £1500 to build a larger machine, a task he believed he could complete in three years.
Work on the Difference Engine began in 1823, but was slower and more expensive than anticipated. Progress was further interrupted by personal tragedy - Babbage’s wife and two of his children passed away in 1827 and his own health began to decline. In 1834, by which time the government had contributed £17,000 and Babbage £6000, work ceased altogether, though it was not until 1842 that the government took the final decision to abandon the Difference Engine.
By this time, Babbage was working on a more sophisticated engine, the ‘Analytical Engine’, which could perform multiple functions, store numbers and work to a program using punched cards. Babbage’s detailed drawings reveal the engine to be in many ways analogous to modern computers. However, a lack of funds meant Babbage never saw the Analytical Engine completed in his lifetime. Nor did he see his ‘Difference Engine No. 2’, an improved design of his original engine.
Babbage was passionate about promoting the usefulness of science in society, helping to set up the Astronomical Society (1820), the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1831) and the Statistical Society of London (1834). Between 1827 and 1835 he held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge. He died in London in 1871.
In 1991 the Science Museum completed a Difference Engine No. 2 to the original designs, demonstrating for the first time the viability of Babbage’s schemes to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth. | <urn:uuid:9ae487e8-350f-42f9-b300-766f5b0addef> | {
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After reconsidering the amount of planning and effort to implement labels displaying a product's carbon footprint within its stores, UK supermarket Tesco had binned the idea and started to phase out products already containing the information.
Tesco, Britain's largest supermarket chain, is reported to have quashed the idea after analysis proved that calculating each product's carbon footprint would be too difficult. The scheme entailed products becoming embossed with the carbon footprint logo, and displaying information on a product's label of its individual carbon footprint.
The decision to step back from the scheme will come as a blow to the Carbon Trust, a non-profit company who were working in collaboration with Tesco to make consumers more aware of how 'green' a product is during their purchase decisions.
A spokeswoman from the Carbon Trust said that the organisation was "clearly disappointed" at the bail out:
"The annual sales value of goods carrying the label is some £3bn. We are clearly disappointed that Tesco has decided to phase out over time the use of the label on cost grounds."
Sir Terry Leahy, the chain's chief executive in 2007, said that "carbon labeling would be a revolution in green consumption" after Tesco originally signed up to place carbon information on 70,000 products. Basic amenities that most consumers purchase, such as toilet roll and milk, were due to have their footprints cataloged by the supermarket chain.
As the Guardian reported, if Tesco were to fulfill its 2007 pledge at the current rate of labeling, 125 products per year, it would take centuries -- assuming no more products were added to its ever-extending lines.
Tesco was considered one of the earliest 'green champions', but now the economic and political situation has changed, it is not surprising that larger retail powers are beginning to step back from earlier promises. Optimistic, environmentally-friendly policies are not necessarily a priority in business when profit margins begin to tighten.
Taking retailers unawares, Helen Fleming, climate change director, told The Grocer that Tesco was phasing out the labels not only because it would take too long to fulfill the pledge, but other retailers were not as supportive of the scheme as they should be.
A Tesco spokeswoman stated that the chain still wished to provide carbon information, but other methods were being considered:
"We are fully committed to carbon footprinting and helping our customers make greener choices. No final decision has yet been made, and we are always on the lookout to find even better ways to communicate the carbon impact of products in a way that informs and empowers customers.
In the meantime we are continuing to use the Carbon Trust label on a wide range of approved products and will keep asking our customers what information they would find most useful."
Tesco's targets, reported by the Carbon Trust in 2011, are thus:
- By 2012 to halve distribution emissions of each case of goods delivered, against a baseline of 2006
- By 2020 to halve emissions from a 2006/7 baseline portfolio of buildings
- New stores built between 2007 and 2020 to emit half the CO2 of a 2006 new store
- By 2050 to become a zero-carbon business
The supermarket also set itself additional targets:
- The target of reducing the emissions of the products in their supply chain by 30 percent by 2020.
- To find more ways to help their customers reduce their own carbon footprints by 50 percent by 2020.
To date, only approximately 500 products out of thousands have become embellished with carbon footprint information. Yet, Tesco indicated it is still dedicated to pushing towards zero emissions targets by 2020. Perhaps if a less time-consuming method is created to record carbon information, then Tesco may surprise us and rejoin a carbon labeling scheme in the future.
Image credit: John Blackmore
Related on SmartPlanet: | <urn:uuid:63b0ce82-edf5-4b7a-8883-c697eb79a6a3> | {
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Enjoy the DEN Weekly Update for June 18, 2010.
Vocabulary Videos and Flashcards for SAT, ACT and GRE – VocabAhead.com >Home Tags: web2.0, vocabulary, literacy WEBTOOLS applied to teaching Tags: web2.0, tools, resources, teaching, webtools, education, Web 2.0, applied The Importance of Developing Effective Marketing Strategies If you own a business, it is only natural that you think about developing effective marketing strategies that
Here’s the next installment of our new feature. Not so great news about the financial situation in Milwaukee and how it’s impacting young teachers. I’m sure this is happening all over the place. I’m not going to consider reading the public comments because all it’s going to do is bash teachers. Are We Addicted to the
Wingclips provides a free user friendly license that makes showing popular movie clips to illustrate lessons and inspire your students easy! You can search by character education trait/concept and more! Popular movie titles include The Karate Kid, Avatar, and many more! Want to host a movie showing at your school? Use Wingcinema! They provide a license | <urn:uuid:49edf05b-24cf-47b7-a6cf-4ce797d13010> | {
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Many zoos across the country have agreed to begin tracking the West Nile virus, which is blamed for the deaths of at least three birds at The Philadelphia Zoo in the past month.
A flamingo, a pelican and a rare Humboldt penguin have succumbed to West Nile at the zoo since late August, and the virus is suspected in the death of a second Humboldt penguin. The warm-water penguins, whose numbers have dwindled to about 10,000, are believed to be the first endangered species to succumb to West Nile.
Fearing the virus will spread, a coalition of zoos, veterinarians and health officials have completed a plan to monitor it at zoos.
``We don't know what percentage of animals that are infected get sick and which sick ones die,'' said Dominic Travis, a veterinary epidemiologist at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, who is leading the monitoring. ``Are the rest of the penguins all immune now? We just don't know. That's a huge reason why we're putting this plan into place.''
The only other zoo believed to have lost birds to West Nile is the Bronx Zoo in New York, where more than 20 birds died from the virus when it was first detected in 1999. But zoo officials fear the disease could spread easily through mosquitos, which carry the virus to animals and humans.
``One of the main challenges is that while our veterinarians and keepers certainly focus on prevention of any kind of disease, there's no way to prevent this entirely,'' said Jane Ballentine, spokeswoman for The American Zoo and Aquarium Association, an industry group with about 165 zoo members.
Under the pilot program _ details of which are expected to be released in the next several weeks _ more zoos will begin checking dead birds for West Nile. The program's second phase will involve zoos conducting blood tests on live birds.
Since the virus was discovered in the United States, West Nile has surfaced in 20 states _ mostly in the Northeast _ and scientists say it may reach Central America and California by early next year. Tennessee health officials said Monday that nine dead blue jays in Shelby County apparently had the virus, marking the first time it was identified in the state.
This year, 15 human cases including one death have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control.
People infected with West Nile virus suffer from flu-like symptoms. Zoo and health officials stressed that people shouldn't fear visiting zoos, because they're no more likely to be bitten by a virus-carrying mosquito at a zoo than they are in their own back yard.
Birds seem to be the most severely affected by the virus. A vaccine is currently being tested on birds but its effectiveness isn't yet known, said Bob McLean, director of the U.S. Geological Service's National Wildlife Center.
Meanwhile, some zoos with the room are keeping their animals indoors from dusk to dawn _ prime mosquito time _ and others are putting mosquito larvae-eating fish in their ponds, installing netting and using animal-friendly insecticides. | <urn:uuid:bdef1a8a-df32-4eee-8aa3-d0b40599da8d> | {
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1987 年 25 巻 2 号 p. 121-127
Auditory Evoked Fields (AEF) elicited by stimulus of pure tones were measured from the lateral head of humans using a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device). The waveforms of the magnetic fields had two opposite peaks at -100ms and -180ms latencies, and their maximum amplitude was -700fTp-p.
Current dipoles were assumed as the sources of the AEF, and their location, direction and moment were estimated from solutions of least-squares fit. The sources were estimated in the vicinity of the auditory area of right and left hemispheres with a moment of 3-30nA·m. The dipole moment estimated at the right hemisphere was larger than the dipole momoent at the left hemisphere. | <urn:uuid:c149f770-4463-4e36-a95e-3335ae4c2ba9> | {
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Said and Done: Can a woodchuck swim? Sure!
According to notes we have here on the building of the Quabbin Reservoir, the main dam was plugged in the summer of 1939 with an immediate effect on the trapped waters of the Swift River.
People in the four towns lost to that Boston drinking-water project had moved out — bag and baggage, pets and other portable property — before the river began to back up. Not every living thing quit the Swift Valley at the same time with these displaced people.
J.R. Greene, in his excellent book “The Creation of Quabbin Reservoir,” tells us that flooding in the Quabbin basin was considerably sped up by heavy fall rain in 1939. Left behind after the exodus of farm folks were two woodchucks not exactly pets of the valley farmers, but creatures nonetheless adjusted to a way of life entirely dependent upon the farmers now gone forever from that place. These woodchucks were confused in the desolation around them and seemed reluctant to leave what remained of their home site, an island growing ever smaller as the swelling tide took over.
Someone, some unnamed rescuer, got out to their island, captured them and released them later on high ground safe from the flood. As far as anyone knows, they were the last of the living creatures to be moved by force of arms out of the valley. They had stayed as long as possible, got the price of a boat ride in recompense for the dens they’d lost to MDC’s seizure by eminent domain.
With a little imagination you can see these woodchucks kicking and complaining in their burlap bag as they were moved to safety. For them, however, there was no torment in this displacement, no heartbreak. If you stop for 10 minutes on Quabbin’s beach and walk inland any distance, you are sure to come upon a woodchuck hole built where the old farms used to be. This rescued pair wasted little time, you can be sure, in philosophical regret. They set up housekeeping to produce a bath of new Swift River Valley residents, all unaware of the tragedies that smashed their human counterparts when that valley was made to drown.
There’s something amusing about the fact that someone thought he had to rescue those woodchucks. They swim capably and are quite used to crossing water when it is in the way of where they want to go.
On Captain Kidd’s Island there was a woodchuck hole that stayed active for years. I used to paddle down from time to time just to watch for the ’chuck that had made his home in that island sanctuary.
This woodchuck followed the same routine that patterns the lives of all woodchucks. Around 3 in the afternoon he’d come out to eat, moving about confidently ’til he had filled his belly, then lying up on the mound he’d built facing west to Eddy’s property on the Gill side of the river. By the time I was ready to get home for supper, sundown and the day’s warming gone, the ’chuck went to bed.
That animal stayed on Kidd’s Island until a group of scouts built a permanent encampment right on his grounds. That was too much for him. I have no doubt that he swam 100 yards to Eddy’s field, falling in with the resident population easily and naturally as if his displacement from private island living was little more than a passing hardship.
Anyone who has ever been up in an airplane has seen how much water there is around us. Ponds and lakes, streams and brooks and rivers, dot and cut the land everywhere. It would be a poor creature, indeed, that hadn’t come by the ability to take all this water in stride.
At Munn’s Ferry, we have seen at all times of year non-aquatic creatures intent on getting either east or west, never mind the cost of a wet back.
Deer choose the worst times. We have sweated out the sight of them crossing in zero weather. They plunge in, labor against the current, scramble out and disappear into the woods as though the crossing had been not more than dip on a balmy day.
Squirrels cross making a wake as big as a beaver’s. Every one we have seen had his tail puffed up and laid back flat on the water. They breast the stream with manly thrusts of their hind feet, making what for you and me would be a mile-wide swim.
Once many years ago when we were clearing brush on the river’s bank, we did our work as river ice groaned and pounded its way south after breakup. Great trees knocked down in bank-side cave ins got sucked into the maelstrom of this March flood.
We looked up from time to time and were surprised at one point to see a small creature hanging on for dear life to the topmost branches of a huge elm. Field glasses reached for hurriedly identified the animal as a woodchuck.
We watched as the little beast was carried along pell-mell and out of sight. Nothing we could do. Unlike the story of the Quabbin woodchucks, rescued when they themselves would sooner or later, have swum safely to high ground, this Connecticut River story probably had a tragic ending.
Paul Seamans is a permanent resident of the Charlene Manor nursing home. A picture window on his room’s west side gives a full view of Shelburne Mountain, a continuing inspiration for “Said & Done.” Some of his columns will have been previously published. | <urn:uuid:29e43989-254a-4f21-a218-75f79127566f> | {
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Aquatic therapy is performed in the water, aiming to rehabilitate patients after injury or those with chronic illness. It uses the resistance of water instead of weights, taking excess pressure off joints for better outcomes.
Patients who have had difficulty with traditional therapy often show improvement with aquatic therapy. The goal is to transition patients quickly from hydrotherapy to a land rehabilitation program within 3 to 12 sessions.
Why is water sometimes better for therapy?
- Water can make exercise easier and less painful, because the forces on weight-bearing joints are reduced.
- The warmth of the water helps reduce pain by relaxing tight or spasm muscles and increasing blood flow.
- The water resistance and special jets help patients strengthen muscles and improve cardiovascular performance.
The aquatic therapy difference
Aquatic therapy is ideal for the following conditions:
- Increased healing and strengthening of injured tissue
- Increased flexibility
- Improved cardiovascular stamina
- Improved circulation
- Increased resistance for stretching and therapeutic exercises | <urn:uuid:6030a6a4-29c1-4eea-b4fb-64bf1823fc5c> | {
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Slavery and the African American Experience
Ranson Bennett - Somerset Slave
While North Carolina did not have the same investment in slavery as the Deep South, African Americans still suffered greatly in the Tar Heel state. During the antebellum period (between 1800 and 1860) the institution of slavery became more deeply entrenched in Southern society. Restrictive laws gripped North Carolina's enslaved people, and the state's free blacks fared little better.
In 1826, a law was passed forbidding free blacks to enter the state of North Carolina; and in 1835, they lost their right to vote, regardless of property holdings. Free blacks were further barred from preaching in public, owning a gun without special permit, selling liquor, and were not allowed to attend any public school. In 1861, the General Assembly passed a law ensuring that blacks were unable to own or control enslaved people.
The Great Barn - built by slaves at Stagville Plantation in 1860
Slaves, of course, were in the worst position. In 1830, state law prohibited anyone from teaching a slave to read or write; and the general legal position of blacks eroded significantly during the pre-war years. Homicide of a black person might go unpunished if committed by a white person.
As the sectional crisis between North and South deepened, enslaved people became more resistant and rebellious. The voice of Abolition was growing louder in the north, and one of North Carolina's own sons — a free black named David Walker — was one of the loudest. From Boston, Massachusetts, Walker published his Appeal in 1829, decrying the evils slavery and all those who supported it. Copies of Walker's Appeal circulated in North Carolina towns, causing fear and alarm among whites. Such fear intensified with the murderous uprising led by Nat Turner in southern Virginia in 1831, which caused widespread fear and panic among whites in North Carolina.
Slaves from Somerset Plantation
Somerset Place (Washington County), Stagville, and the holdings of the Benehan-Cameron families (Durham and Wake counties) were among North Carolina's largest plantations, with the largest slave populations. An example of a smaller plantation was Willis Cole's near the village of Bentonville (Johnston County). In August 1860, the 26-year-old planter had 23 slaves (and housed them in only three cabins). The Cole house and outbuildings were later destroyed during the Battle of Bentonville in 1865. But yeoman farmers were the majority, and had smaller numbers of slaves — both field hands and domestic.
Despite the bondage, North Carolina's enslaved people (like others) refused to be broken. They survived and endured with a strong sense of family and religion. By 1860, the number of African Americans in North Carolina had reached 361,522 (up from 140,000 in 1800). Moreover, North Carolina's population of free blacks had reached 30,463 by 1860. Among the latter, furniture maker Thomas Day and educator John Chavis managed to achieve widespread recognition for their talents. Many lived in towns and pursued skilled occupations. But hard labor was the order of the day for most free blacks, who often toiled in agricultural duty alongside enslaved people.
Cotton, tobacco, and rice were labor-intensive cash crops for Southern planters, making slave labor a vital asset for accruing white wealth. Domestic servants were also a part of the system.
Living Historians portraying slave life at Somerset Plantation
Conditions varied, but daily life for most slaves included rudimentary housing, bland if abundant food (made more palatable by resourceful cooks), inadequate clothing, and shoes that wore out quickly. Indeed, many went shoeless.
Though slaves were considered valuable property, their physical treatment was often poor. As human beings, their race was despised, oppressed, and considered inferior. Physical abuse of slaves was considered by whites merely as discipline. Forced separation of families was also common. In the 1820s and 1830s, thousands of North Carolina slaves were sold to new owners in the Deep South.
Living Historians portraying slave life at Somerset Plantation
Oppression drew the enslaved community together, and knowledge of their African heritage strengthened the bonds between them. In the face of hardship, they found ways to preserve native African traditions and customs in their daily lives. Finding strength in religion, North Carolina slaves believed that God would one day deliver them from bondage.
The Gullah/Geechee culture — with its combination of English and various African dialects — began in the Sea Islands of South Carolina and spread as far north as the Cape Fear region of North Carolina (New Hanover and Brunswick counties). Rice plantations such as Orton thrived in this area until the mid-nineteenth century, and slaves from the rice-growing regions of West Africa (including Sierra Leone) were skilled in growing this difficult crop.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860, the issue of expansion of slavery into the western territories hastened the country toward armed rebellion. As the war grew more bloody, with military setbacks for the Union in the Eastern Theatre, Lincoln issued his famous "war measure" in 1863 — the Emancipation Proclamation.
A thriving "Freedmen's Colony" was established on Roanoke Island as early as February 1862, during the Burnside Expedition and the Union occupation of eastern North Carolina. With the arrival of Federal troops, New Bern became a Mecca for freedom, as thousands of North Carolina slaves sought safety within Union lines. James City was established in 1863 as a camp for destitute former slaves, and the community persisted as a stronghold of black self-determination throughout the nineteenth century.
Smaller freedmen's camps were established at Beaufort, Carolina City, Washington, and Plymouth; and thousands of fugitive blacks were employed in building military fortifications around New Bern and other Federal-held areas.
In 1865, former slaves established Freedom Hill in Edgecombe County (on an unwanted floodplain). This community was later incorporated as Princeville in 1885, making it the oldest town in the country incorporated by African Americans.
Black soldiers eventually fought for the Union, and several regiments of "Colored Troops" (often former slaves) were raised in North Carolina.
In the fall of 1864, Southerners began a serious debate on whether to emanciptae their slaves and enlist them in the Confederate army. Not even the entrance of Sherman's invading army into North Carolina, however, could convince state policy makers to adopt such a "monstrous proposition." | <urn:uuid:f7b85d40-5eae-4bbc-a286-af154dde54f2> | {
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We all know how an industrial electric motor operates. You have a power switch. It turns electric current on and off to an electric motor, which then does work. That work can be pushing a cart, a fridge, a submersible water pump, or any number of rotary devices. What do you do off the grid, in the mountains of South America, where there is no power supply? What do you use to give power supply for your electric motor? Enter Ron & Diane in Bolivia, and their “Water Motor“. A unique Micro-Hydro device that uses the power of a falling stream to power stationary devices like saws, mills and generators like home generators and so on.
“Most of the common machines used in workshops, industry, and farms are driven by motors of only 0.5 – 5 horsepower. The Watermotor will produce this amount of power at an extremely low cost and with a minimum of ecological disruption.”
That’s right – cheap electricity, lower cost than solar panels for example.
A few of the nice features of this unit is that it doesn’t require a great volume of water, so the traditional dam does not need to be constructed, reducing cost, complexity, and ecological impact. It’s also designed to be locally serviced, and locally produced, enabling 3rd world villages to not only have low cost power, but a local industry. These units are typically built/owned at the village level as a benefit to all.
The model 90 has a 90mm (3.5″) Turgo turbine wheel and can use 4 water jets of up to 12.7 mm (1/2″) in diameter. Because it is smaller in diameter this wheel will turn at higher revolutions than the model 150 at the same water pressure.
The model 150 has a 150 mm (6″) Turgo wheel and uses 4 jets of up to 7/8″ (22.2 mm) diameter. This is three times the volume of water as a 1/2″ jet, therefore producing three times as much power with the same incoming pressure.
Can you handle a video camera? Or a cellphone camera that can upload to our youtube channel?
We are looking for people who currently live off-grid anywhere in the world, and for people who want to live off-grid and are about to do so. This might be in a community or an individual situation
Please send us your videos and photos - you can upload videos on off-grid.net/videos - or feel free to write about yourself for the web site. Contact [email protected]
An interactive map showing who wants to go off-grid , and where they are, and who has land on offer.
How it works | <urn:uuid:2254f633-6313-43fe-ac79-2a4f523b3e3b> | {
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Radioactive cesium measuring 258 times the amount that Japan's government deems safe for consumption has been found in fish near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported Tuesday.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. found 25,800 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium in two greenlings in the sea within 20 kilometers of the plant on August 1 - a record for the thousands of Fukushima-area fish caught and tested since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to a nuclear disaster at the plant, Kyodo reported.
Japan's government considers fish with more than 100 becquerels per kilogram unsafe for consumption. A becquerel is a measurement of radioactive intensity.
TEPCO said it also found limit-exceeding radioactive cesium levels in several other kinds of fish and shellfish during the testing, which happened in the Fukushima area from mid-July to early August, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
The finding comes 17 months after the disaster at the plant, which spewed radiation and displaced tens of thousands of residents from the surrounding area. It was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.
News of the finding also comes after scientists reported finding mutant butterflies - with abnormalities in their legs, antennae and abdomens, and dents in their eyes - in and around Fukushima prefecture in the months after the nuclear disaster.
The previous post-disaster radiation record in fish - 18,700 becquerels per kilogram, or 187 times the government's limit - was found in landlocked salmon in Iidate village, Fukushima prefecture, on March 18, according to Japan's fisheries agency, which has conducted its own tests in conjunction with local governments.
Japan's government has restricted fishing in the Fukushima area since the disaster. However, fishing for two kinds of octopus and one kind of shellfish has happened on a trial basis more than 50 kilometers outside the plant since June, NHK reported.
The vast majority of the thousands of fish tested since the disaster are within the government's radioactive cesium limit, according to the fisheries agency.
TEPCO plans to do more testing - of rock trout, their prey and mud from the seabed - in August and September, NHK reported. | <urn:uuid:81f0808f-864b-42ad-ae31-1641c9ad713a> | {
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Why Doesn't The US Have a European-Style Welfare State?
Alberto F. Alesina
Harvard University - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Edward L. Glaeser
Harvard University - John F. Kennedy School of Government, Department of Economics; Brookings Institution; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Dartmouth College - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Harvard Inst. of Econ. Research Disc. Paper No. 1933
European countries are much more generous to the poor relative to the US level of generosity. Economic models suggest that redistribution is a function of the variance and skewness of the pre-tax income distribution, the volatility of income (perhaps because of trade shocks), the social costs of taxation and the expected income mobility of the median voter. None of these factors appear to explain the differences between the US and Europe. Instead, the differences appear to be the result of racial heterogeneity in the US and American political institutions. Racial animosity in the US makes redistribution to the poor, who are disproportionately black, unappealing to many voters. American political institutions limited the growth of a socialist party, and more generally limited the political power of the poor.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 67
Date posted: November 8, 2001
© 2015 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Keeping grain cold is a stored commodity management tool that has been researched and tested since the 1960s. Fewer storage problems are reported in colder seasons and colder climates.
Research has shown that controlling the temperature and relative humidity favorably impacts grain storage conditions. Grain chilling is now a common technique to preserve quality and protect against insects, and is widely used in Europe and Asia.
Dirk Maier, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., has been working with temperature control of stored grains for about 13 years. "Grain temperature is the major stored-grain management tool that regulates insects and molds," he said.
Temperature in grain storage facilities is commonly controlled by aerating grain with ambient air, said Jan Hellemar, vice-president of sales for PM-Luft, a manufacturer of grain chillers based in Kvanum, Sweden. However, the ambient conditions must be right, he said.
"For safe storage conditions, you need grain temperature below 15°C (60°F) and that is hard during the summer months," Hellemar said. "Extensive use of ambient air will result in over-dried grain, meaning loss of weight and money, because the relative humidity of the air cannot be controlled. As opposed to aeration, a grain chiller controls temperature and relative humidity regardless of ambient conditions."
Several factors affect grain in storage, including handling, moisture, bacteria, mold and fungi , insects and natural respiration of the grain. Chilling grain can control each of these damaging factors.
"Ripe grain continues to live after the harvest — it breathes," said Heinrich Brunner, a recently retired salesman for Sulzer Escher Wyss, Lindau, Germany, which also manufactures grain chilling machines.
As heat increases, he explained, so does the respiration of grain, resulting in the loss of grain weight.
Frieder Barth, Sulzer's international sales director, further explains the effects of respiration. "The insulation properties of grain prevent the migration of heat from the inside of the grain bulk to the outside," he said. "The temperature keeps rising due to respiratory activity of the grain, creating a paradise for insects and mold fungi."
After a storage bin is cooled to approximately 10° to 18° C (55°F to 65°F), insect activity ceases, as does growth of mold and fungi, and fumigation becomes unnecessary, Brunner said. "The insects fall into a state of hibernation and are no longer active," he said.
"Originally, grain cooling was developed for buffer storage of moist, freshly harvested grain waiting to go through the dryer. Nowadays, more dry than wet grain is being cooled, just for protection against insects."
Cooling the grain mass also avoids having to turn the grain to keep it cool, Hellemar added. This reduces grain dust and prevents broken kernels.
"If a chiller is being used, the grain stays in the same bin until it is time to ship it out," he said.
Drying costs and times are also reduced as the grain begins to dry while cooling down. "For each 10°C temperature reduction, expect a .5% to .75% reduction in moisture content," Hellemar said. "Cooling will increase drying capacity by 50% minimum, and cuts drying costs by more than 50%."
In addition, cooling equalizes the moisture content from kernel to kernel. "The longer the cooling period, the greater the equalization," he said. "This reduces the opportunity for molds and fungi to form and degrade grain quality."
COOL RESULTS. Grain cooling technology also has been known to increase head yield and husking capacity for rice and reduce cracking problems in corn and rice while reducing the need for fumigants, thus increasing worker safety.
Lundberg Family Farms in Richvale, California, U.S., has used a grain chiller on its 1.78 million bushels of rice storage for more than five years, and plans to buy an additional cooler within the next year. Jim Stewart, manager of Lundberg's drying and storage division, said the chilling unit has greatly reduced fumigation costs and improved rice quality.
Lundberg Farms was spending U.S.$75,000 to U.S.$100,000 for carbon dioxide to fumigate its organic rice each year, Stewart said. Now, the company spends less than U.S.$15,000 a year for fumigation.
Although the chiller works extremely well to keep the rice fresh and insect-free, warm patches can form near the steel silo walls and these areas need to be fumigated, he noted.
Stewart said the grain chiller also has improved rice quality. "We found there was equalized moisture content and better head rice (also known as the whole rice kernel)," he said. "You're paid based on head quality."
The ease of milling increased, as did yields. "The millers don't have to make as many adjustments," Stewart added. "They can set the machines and go."
HOW IT WORKS. Purdue's Maier describes how the grain chilling process works. "In a grain chilling system, ambient air is ducted over a bank of refrigeration coils in order to decrease its temperature," he said. "In this process, the relative humidity of the air is increased. The chilled air is reheated slightly to match the equilibrium relative humidity of the stored grain."
The best time to begin the cooling process on a grain bin is right after filling or, if possible, simultaneously to the time of filling so that grain will not begin respiration in the bin.
The cooler blows air through the duct system into the bottom of the silo. The cold air moves up through the silo gradually. When the cooled air meets the warm grain, a temperature decline begins. At the same time, the moisture content of the cooled air increases and a certain amount of drying takes place. Once the top layer has reached the required temperature, the whole silo is chilled and you can move to the next silo.
Both Sulzer's and PM-Luft's grain chilling units are portable and are easily moved from silo to silo.
Installing a grain chilling system in a storage facility is relatively simple, manufacturers say. Most facilities already have the necessary components in place.
"A good duct system or aeration system in the bottom of the silo or flat storage is needed," said Hellemar. "Most silos already have this as well as openings on the top of the silo where warm air can escape."
An exhaust fan is sometimes necessary, added Barth. "An exhaust fan only has to be installed when moist grain during cooler ambient conditions has to be cooled, such as during the corn harvest in autumn," he said. "An exhaust fan will be advantageous, but only necessary during morning operation or during big temperature differences between day and night."
The cooling time depends on the size of the cooling unit and the amount of stored grain, but elevated silos and warehouses of any size and type can be cooled.
Barth recommends cooling the grain temperature to approximately 10° to 18°C, depending on the location and type of grain. After that, the cooling unit can be turned off and moved to another bin for cooling, he said.
It is important to close the air inlet pipe to the bin, Barth explained, otherwise warm ambient air gets onto the already cold grain and causes damage.
Because grain is a good insulator, once it is chilled, it will stay cool for several months even during summer periods, Hellemar said. However, it is necessary to periodically rechill the grain.
"Re-chilling is a quick process as it will only reduce the temperature a few degrees compared to the larger initial temperature reduction," Hellemar said. Recooling in necessary after a temperature increase of 3° to 5°C (5° to 9°F).
The time before recooling depends on the moisture content (m.c.), silo size, and ambient conditions. In tropical areas, Barth suggests the following intervals: every six to eight months for 12% to 15% m.c.; three to five months for 15% to 17% m.c.; one to two months for 17% to 19% m.c.; and every 15 to 25 days for 19% to 21% m.c.
COLD CASH SAVINGS. Proponents of grain chillers say the technology can save a facility a substantial amount of money.
Approximately 10% of all grain stored in the United States is lost to insects, according to Hellemar. "That's something like half a billion U.S. dollars in lost value," he added. "How much is lost to other temperature-related storage problems, no one dares to talk about. However, it is a fact that every elevator has to deal with a certain amount of shrinkage. Shrinkage is everything from grain dust, breathing losses, over-drying or too low moisture content, moulds, fungi, and rodents."
In developing countries, it is not uncommon to have up to 40% grain losses after harvest, Hellemar said. "If the temperature could always be kept on a safe level, related losses would be reduced by 85% to 90%," he said.
After the initial capital costs of a grain chiller, manufacturers say the machines.
"Experiences gained over the past 25 years show that if cooling is applied in the proper manner, the total investment costs for cooling, including the required air distribution system, are paid back in one to two years time," Barth said.
Sulzer started researching grain chilling in 1965 and put its first units into operation in 1967. Barth estimates that 9,000 units have been installed worldwide and that 90 million tonnes of grain are chilled each season.
PM-Luft has been manufacturing coolers for about 25 years. Hellemar said their customers see a quick return on investment costs.
A major reason for the quick pay off, he said, is that a cooling unit requires less energy than the traditional aeration process, which is run almost entirely throughout the grain's storage. Instead of paying to dry, continuously aerate, turn and fumigate grain, chilling grain requires only periodically running the cooling unit.
Brunner said the amount of energy needed for cooling depends on various factors, such as the moisture content and temperature of the product. "Moist grain is easier to cool than very dry grain," he said. "Other factors are the ambient air temperature and the relative humidity."
He estimates that it costs approximately 3 to 6 kWh per tonne of grain in areas with temperate climates, and approximately 8 to 12 kWh per tonne in extreme tropical conditions.
PM-Luft estimates that it costs about (U.S.) one-half of a cent per bushel to chill grain.
Although cooling benefits all grain storage, the pay back period is usually shorter for corn and rice, Hellemar said.
"Corn and rice are very sensitive," he said. "If a dry corn or rice kernel is exposed to air that is forcing the kernel to re-absorb humidity, fissures will appear resulting in cracked/broken kernels. A broken kernel often has only half of the value compared to a whole kernel."
In addition, corn has a high fat and oil content, causing it to heat up quickly.
The Asian market in particular uses grain chillers for rice because of the high humidity in that climate, Hellemar said. "The consumers there care a great deal about taste," he said. "Due to the fatty acids in rice, there are changes in the taste over long storage unless you cool the rice."
The organic foods industry also is interested in grain chilling because chemicals cannot be used for insect control. "That makes temperature control extremely important," Hellemar said. "Europe, for instance, is planning for 15% to 20% of the total grain production to be organic within 15 years from now." | <urn:uuid:bbefa7a2-5fa7-4ce1-927a-2f68d26d14f4> | {
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First, a twist in the tale: the shape of our jaws and teeth suggest that we were not designed for eating meat.
This is true. If we examine the shape of the jaws and teeth of early humans, there is nothing to tear flesh. We need inch-long canines to tear flesh if we were persistent meat eaters (carnivores). But this does not mean that we did not eat meat. I'd suggest humans first started as vegetarians. There were times in earth's history when the climate was too unbearable; something like a small period of rain, followed by a longer period of draught. This could have forced the species to migrate to new lands in search of food. This could have either lead to two consequences - the species forced to eat their own in order to keep themselves alive, or, the species would have consumed other inferior species (mostly herbivores) after killing it.
Then it became a play of natural selection. Those humans who remained to be only herbivores perished slowly; the others survived. This selection would have driven the species to have a omnivorous diet. But humans were not primarily carnivores. If they were carnivores, we would have in time developed sharper canines. So well, the omnivorous argument could be one reason we don't have canines.
Now I'll be using the above argument and coming to a different conclusion which is more interesting to note...Raw meat takes time to digest. Breaking down the proteins and fat in meat would have taken straight 5-6 hrs of digestion alone. If this was the rate food assimilated in the body, then we would have definitely become undernourished. We have to note the primitiveness of our digestive systems; there were designed for a vegetarian diet.
So consuming meat would have "slowed" the species. They had to take long hours of rest to complete their digestion. This meant they were more susceptible to being prey by other carnivores. They would not have been in a position to flee if they were faced with a threat. This on the one hand could have brought down the population, and this could have resulted into extinction.
But fortunately we were intelligent enough to know how to scare out predators away. On the one hand we did have tools to hunt, and butcher our dinners. They had also provided a means to defend ourselves against threats. On the other had we had fire.
Many historians agree that fire and hunting tools were discovered during a period referred to as the Early Stone Age or the Lower Paleolithic age. I googled to find out how exactly our primitive species looked like around the time. The result - fairly primitive enough.
Their jaws and teeth were similar to ours - they had no sharp and long canines. So what did happen eventually.
They say meat eating has impacted our evolution. But this would have not made sense if we disregard the discovery of being able to tame fire. Fire lead to another discovery - cooking. Cooking processed the food we consumed. Now what actually took 5-6 hrs to digest hardly took an hour or two. We were sufficiently nourished. We had the energy to hunt more, etc. And we were top performers at what we did. This fostered a small change in us. You could say it was the breeding ground for a much more powerful version of ourselves.
The most notable evolutionary change the discovery of fire and cooking brought in was an increase in brain mass. Our brains evolved tremendously. This is partially because of the meaty diet we grew fond of. Now since we had cooked food, we only needed a small time to chew. Hence we didn't need extraordinary canines to chew our food. Plus, we started to consume more meat (proteins), and this lead to many startling changes in the entire body. Here is a small contrast of the times:
Initially primitive humans spent most of their time sitting idle and chewing their food. Now they were sitting idle and perfecting their tools.
Anthropologists would interpret this and remark this was something that indeed revolutionized the human species.
Really there is no meaningful purpose in sitting and perfecting our tools, when they are actually good at whatever their purpose was. But now they actually put their thought into it, and perfected their tools with a view to improve their hunting capabilities. Though they did not actually realize the ballistics of a sharper spear at the time, they observed that sharpers spears were more accurate and effective tools for securing their baits. And tools and hunting were not only the stuff they invested their thought processes in; they actually thought of many other things - constructing sheds so that they avoided rain and the sun, polishing stones to make them sparkle, etc.
We started using our brains. We started becoming creative at what we were already doing.
The increase in brain mass suggests that there were several inter-neural connections within the brain which never existed before. Even at present we are trying to learn more about that. Because it is probably after this we started "settling", forming societies, etc. You'd be truly amazed how far we've come from there...From that small creativity spark to how advanced our civilization has become; truly amazing.
Most of this discourse, was taken from a two-hour documentary from NatGeo. I had seen it a long time ago; when I was in college. I would have rightly titled this post The Story of Fire, but my motive was to make you understand that we owe a part of ourselves to being the meat eaters we once were. We would have been different if we were vegetarians. So I don't think a vegetarian lifestyle is the only one to adopt. Of course it has its advantages. But I don't know what vegetarian life style alone would have resulted our species to become. We have gone through a phase of being meat eaters. We could evolve better in future if we maintained that status. But I don't suggest you have to take a complete carnivorous diet. A balanced diet would do fine.
And what is a balanced diet? I mean you'd have to go to a nutritionist and tell him/her that these are the things I do everyday. He/she would, ideally, do the math, and tell you how many calories you need, and how you can achieve it. So I hope you get the idea of a balanced diet.
So happy eating, and healty living...
PS: there is an enclosure link pointing to a national geographic news article about the same subject. Not that insightful though, but I guess you'd find more if you dig the site further... | <urn:uuid:02718d61-1533-415f-914d-6b2ffc473b15> | {
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There are lots of abbreviations to describe LGBTQIA+ communities, and different people choose different abbreviations depending on what identities they want to emphasize or the issues they are discussing. These terms, like the communities in question and the discourse around them, evolve as new ones are created to describe the complex diversity of our species. It can get confusing! You may see LGBT, LGBT+, and even LGBTTQQIAAP, QUILTBAG, and a variety of others. Here is a quick primer for the uninitiated.
Most of us are familiar with the first four letters.
L is for Lesbian.
G is for Gay.
B is for Bisexual.
T is for Transgender.
Here are some other terms you might encounter.
Q is for is for Queer, a term that many in the community have 'reclaimed', often to distinguish their identity from those who adopt a more hetero-normative lifestyle, or to emphasize a more inclusive, intersectional, or even vaguer sexual and/or gender identity.
Q is also for Questioning. If there are two Q's in an abbreviation, it is likely that the second refers to people who are questioning their sexual or gender identities.
I is for Intersex
, which refers to people who are born with ambiguous genitalia or more than one set of genitalia. This is far more common than most people assume, happening in around one in 1500 births, and sometimes manifesting around puberty. Depending on the definitions in the study, this may be up to one in 100 births.
A is for Asexual
, describing people who do not experience sexual attraction.
T, 2, T2, and TS are for Two-Spirit, a term from indigenous Native American people to describe a third gender, of people who are both male and female (or neither). This concept has existed in indigenous cultures for centuries, and the term is reserved for people from those cultures.
H is for Hijra, which is a word used in India to describe intersex and trans people, although other terms are also used. LGBTIH is one of the abbreviations that can be seen in India. This term is reserved for people from those cultures.
P is for Pansexual, a term referring to attraction to people regardless of sex and gender identity.
P is also for Polyamorous, referring to people who do not practice monogamy.
G is also for Genderqueer, which includes people of nonbinary (neither male nor female) or gender fluid (shifting between identities).
MLM, WLW stand for "men loving men" and "women loving women", respectively.
SGM stands for "sexual and gender minority".
SGL stands for "same gender loving".
Adding a + to the acronym is one strategy for including anyone who isn't mentioned in the abbreviation, but is still a part of the community. | <urn:uuid:a723d92f-e3da-4477-a821-4dd5e1aadade> | {
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Similar term(s): Gamma rays, Radio waves, Visible light, Blue light, Infrared radiation, Ultraviolet radiation.
The electromagnetic spectrum is the entire range of wavelengths of all known
electromagnetic radiations. It includes:
Gamma rays have the smallest wavelengths and highest
frequencies known. They are high energy waves capable of travelling long
distances through air and are the most penetrating waves.
X-rays have longer wavelengths than gamma rays but smaller
wavelengths and therefore higher energy than ultraviolet radiation. They have
been used in various applications in science and industry and are primarily used
in medicine for instance in radiography. They are a form of ionizing radiation
and as such can be dangerous. X-rays are emitted by electrons outside the
nucleus, while gamma rays are emitted by the nucleus.
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is defined as the portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum between X-rays and visible light.
Visible light – also known as the visible spectrum – is the
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that human eyes can detect. It covers
all colours from blue at 400 nm to red at 700 nm, with blue light having more
energy than red light.
Infrared (IR) radiation – also referred to as thermal
radiation – is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum lying between visible
light and microwaves. The most important natural source of infrared radiation is
Radio waves have long wavelengths, ranging from a few
centimetres to many thousands of kilometres in length. They are used among other
things for television, cell phone and radio communications.
Source: Louis E. Kleiner, Coastal Carolina University
Frequency - Nanometre - Ultraviolet radiation
Deutsch: Elektromagnetisches Spektrum
Español: Espectro electromagnético
Français: Spectre électromagnétique | <urn:uuid:da24a782-714f-4841-b45a-d179b19b28fc> | {
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Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to organisational change which focuses on strengths rather than on weaknesses - quite different to many approaches to evaluation which focus on deficits and problems.
"Appreciative Inquiry is about the coevolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, and the relevant world around them. In its broadest focus, it involves systematic discovery of what gives “life” to a living system when it is most alive, most effective, and most constructively capable in economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves, in a central way, the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positive potential." (Cooperrider & Whitney 2005, p.3)
Appreciative Inquiry is often presented in terms of a 4 step process around an affirmative topic choice:
1. DISCOVER: What gives life? What is the best? Appreciating and identifying processes that work well.
2. DREAM: What might be? What is the world calling for? Envisioning results, and how things might work well in the future.
3. DESIGN: What should be--the ideal? Co-constructing - planning and prioritizing processes that would work well.
4. DESTINY (or DELIVER): How to empower, learn and adjust/improvise? Sustaining the change
(Source: The 4-D Model was developed by Suresh Srivastva, Ron Fry, and David Cooperrider in 1990 - Appreciative Inquiry Commons - AI Hisory and Timeline. See David Cooperider's website for more information on these stages)
While Appreciative Inquiry has always had an evaluative focus (working out what is working well and seeking to improve performance and conditions), in recent years there have been explicit efforts to embed AI principles and processes in formal evaluation processes:
"Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a group process that inquires into, identifies and further develops the best of “what is” in organizations in order to create a better future. Often used in the organization development field as an approach to large-scale change, it is a means for addressing issues, challenges, changes and concerns of an organization in ways that builds on the successful, effective and energizing experiences of its members. Underlying AI is a belief that the questions we ask are critical to the world we create." (Preskill & Catsambas 2006 p2)
- Appreciative Inquiry Commons: This website from Case Western Reserve University is an online portal which aims to facilitate the sharing of academic resources and practical tools on Appreciative Inquiry (AI).
- Locating the Energy for Change: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry: This book by Charles Elliott, can be downloaded for free from the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
- Appreciative Inquiry Australia: This website is aimed at supporting and providing network opportunities for those practicing appreciative inquiry (AI) in Australia.
Appreciative Inquiry: An approach for learning and change based on our own best practices: This brief describes the AI principles and describes how it was used in an agricultural research institute to improve its performance.
Resources suggested by BetterEvaluation members
Appreciative Inquiry Principles: the Anticipatory Principle: blog post by Andy Smith in a series on the principles that underpin AI.
Ray Calabrese's Buckeye Blog; website of Professor Ray Calabrese which includes copies of his journal article on using AI in education and other programmes.
Preskill H, & Catsambas T T (2006), Reframing Evaluation through Appreciative Inquiry, Thousand Oaks, California. Sage Publications
Cooperrider, D., & Whitney, D. D. (2005). Appreciative inquiry: A positive revolution in change. Berrett-Koehler Store. | <urn:uuid:a621aebe-38a3-425c-b6a8-7b6727898401> | {
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A rose by any other name would smell as sweet... These flowers however, do not smell so sweet! When we think of flowers, we normally think about their fragrant scent, as well as their pretty appearance. We don’t tend to recoil in horror when we lean in for a sniff of fresh flowers, but that’s likely to be your reaction with these flowers! Here are 6 of the world’s smelliest flowers.
1. Titan Arum (Corpse Flower)
Native to the equatorial rainforest of Central Sumatra in Western Indonesia, the Titan Arum is considered to be the smelliest flower in the world! As the name suggests, this flower apparently smells like a rotting corpse. Thankfully, the flowers only bloom every 4-6 years and only last for about 24-48 hours at a time. The smell of rotten flesh, however, lingers in the air for days afterwards. The Titan Arum flower can stretch to 3 metres and is actually not one flower but thousands of tiny flowers which botanists call infloresence.
2. Eastern Skunk Cabbage
The Eastern Skunk Cabbage is found in the wetland soils of eastern North America and allegedly smells like a dead skunk. The flower can lure in flies for pollination with its smell and is also thought to attract pollinators by mimicking a fresh corpse. This flower has a number of interesting attributes apart from its strong smell. For example, the flower can generate its own heat allowing it to come up through snow covered ground. The plant is also used for medicinal purposes in the treatment of asthma, epilepsy, rheumatism and coughs.
3. Rafflesia Arnoldii (Corpse Flower)
The second of our “Corpse flowers”, the Rafflesia Arnoldii is the largest single flower in the world. It can grow to almost 1 metre in diameter and can weigh up to 11 kilograms! The Rafflesia Arnoldii is a protected species in Indonesia where, despite its unpleasant smell, it is considered to be one of three national flowers.
4. Stapellia Gigantea (Carrion flower)
The Stapellia Gigantea goes by many names including the Carrion flower, the Toad flower and Zulu Giant Starfish flower. These native South African plants have a rotten smell that attracts flies and maggots. The plant itself resembles a Cactus and it blooms in September producing large, flesh–looking, 5 pointed stars. The flesh coloured flower is covered in white hairs and it is believed to mimic the rotting flesh of a dead animal.
5. Dead Horse Arum Lily (Helicodiceros)
One of the most elegant flowers available, we often associate the lily with their beautiful scent. This lily however is probably not the best choice for a house plant. Unless, of course, you don’t mind the smell of dead horse? Because that’s exactly what this particular flower smells like! On a warm, sunny day the flower will unroll and release its stench. When this happens, only the female flowers are receptive and flies are lured deep within the hairy spadix where they get trapped for a day. The male flowers then shed their pollen and the flies are released covered in this pollen which they then go onto cross pollinate another Dead Horse Arum Lily.
6. Hydnora Africana (Stinking Root Parasite)
This fleshy flower is a parasitic plant which is found in Southern Africa and grows entirely underground. The red flesh-coloured flowers produce a stinking odour that smells like faeces. The flowers sprout from the ground covered in dung beetles that are attracted by the strong smell. The beetles are trapped in the flower by downward pointing hairs and they spill out when the flower opens. Perhaps Outkast were onto something when they sang about roses smelling like poo – they just got the name of the flower wrong!
©2017 all rights reserved | <urn:uuid:8eef69ed-af47-43e7-a618-8943e3cc4de7> | {
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Statistics concerning psychological health problems are currently becoming more progressively worrying. Perhaps, the only excellent news to come out from this is that there are some usual mental health conditions and conditions amongst the stats. According to the documents of a number of Washington-based psychological hospitals, there are four especially common strands of mental health problems that have been videotaped.
Amongst all the usual psychological health and wellness disorders, anxiety is mentioned as being the most typical. Around 80% of the population has experienced depression at one point in their lives. In the beginning, this issue can be minimized through therapy. Nonetheless, the issue depends on the fact that the majority of people tend to see the onset of anxiety as simply a negative state of mind swing. Given that it is normally challenging for most people to find depression till it has taken complete impact, the problem could typically go entirely undetected. For some individuals, the physical as well as psychological changes are progressive, which just makes it tougher to spot the issue.
The condition causes the individual's state of mind to turn, being manic one minute and also dispirited in the following. While this usually fits the stereotype of people with this particular strain of mental health disease, the reality is that there are durations where the individual displays a reasonably typical state of mind. Often, casual observers as well as the patient himself will only note the regularity of the state of mind swings and the opportunity of a problem a lot later on.
The problem is commonly characterized by the client hearing "voices" in their head that no one else can listen to, a regular trait of crazy individuals. This mental wellness condition has a number of sub-varieties and also can effectively disable an individual's capacity to interact with others if left neglected or dealt with. Schizophrenia can also sometimes trigger various other psychological wellness disorders.
Perhaps, Alzheimer's Illness is amongst the most devastating psychological conditions understood to man. The boosting regularity of the problem has triggered alarm considering that existing medications just help alleviate the symptoms as well as not really treat the condition. In comparison to other psychological wellness troubles, Alzheimer's is reasonably very easy to find if the individual is appropriately educated.
As these psychological health problems overshadow the human mind, it has actually ended up being a lot more clear that even more work has to this hyperlink be performed in regards to research and medication advancement.
Data regarding psychological health and wellness problems are currently coming to be more increasingly worrying. Possibly, the only excellent information to come out from this is that there are some typical mental health go to my site and wellness problems and also problems amongst the statistics. According to the documents of a number of Washington-based psychiatric healthcare facilities, there are 4 especially usual hairs of mental health and wellness issues that have been videotaped.
Amongst all the usual mental wellness problems, clinical depression is mentioned as being the most usual. In comparison to other psychological wellness problems, Alzheimer's is fairly simple to discover if the person is properly informed. | <urn:uuid:ac0c6f38-100f-484f-bc1b-8117f9904c17> | {
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Is it about the art or the architecture? Both. Neither.
Art museums have been the primary medium for public access, understanding, and appreciation of art since the 19th century. By presenting art from pre-history to the present, art museums connect a large and diverse public to humanity’s artistic and cultural heritage. Born of the interests of the sophisticated classes during the Enlightenment and elevated to national institutions in Europe and America during the late-18th and 19th centuries, art museums have spread throughout the world. Now nearly every nation and major city features one or more art museums. Given the boom in museum construction over the last two decades, it sometimes seems that every one of them has been recently expanded or rebuilt.
Frequently dubbed the new golden age of museums, this period has signaled a significant shift in attitudes, expectations, and intentions since the first golden age at the end of the 19th century. We expect museums to serve as a medium for the interpretation of art Increasingly, we also demand that they serve as a medium for the expression of architectural ideas. Unfortunately, integrating effective interpretation of art with architecture has proven very challenging.
The success of the art museum as an institution is testament to the importance of the creative spirit and creative expression among all cultures; our respect for the inspirational qualities of art is central to this success. Individual, civic, and national aspirations have also been very strong influences in the development of art museums; identity and pride provide powerful motivation. These forces—the thirst for the inspiration that art provides, which is often most associated with the creation of collections; and the drive to celebrate identity and aspiration, which is often associated with museum architecture—are not always in alignment.
It is not a new problem. The Beaux-Arts template for museum buildings, which was developed during the 19th century and carried forward well into the 20th century, often created an overly embellished architec-tural framework. Even when curators, directors, trustees, and architects were in accord regarding the premise that art should be presented in an imposing civic monument designed to awe visitors, debates sometimes arose regarding the nature of interior galleries. During the 1920s and 1930s, curators and some directors argued that architecture should support the presentation of art rather than the glorification of architects or the ambitions of patrons who sought grand, monumental buildings.
Among the first architectural responses to those arguments were the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (Philip Goodwin and Edward Durell Stone, 1939) and the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands (Henry van de Velde, 1938), designed in the then-new International Style. These buildings were highly flexible, very functional, purposefully unimposing, and far more visitor-friendly than the typical Beaux-Arts art museum. The white-cube gallery, first created in these buildings, became the standard museum gallery space (and remains so today). Finally, it seemed, an architecture had emerged that aligned fresh thinking about curatorial missions with ascendant social and cultural ideals. But with the intervention of World War II, relatively few museums were built in this era.
In any case, the new orthodoxy was turned on its head by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum, which opened in 1959. Unquestionably a striking work of architecture, the Guggenheim is generally a woeful place in which to display works of art. Single-handedly, it reinvigorated the debate between architectural statement and the presentation of art, which continues more than 50 years later.
Several solutions have been tried, and we have seen extremes at both ends of the spectrum. Louis Kahn and, later, Renzo Piano created museum buildings that quietly reinforce and amplify the art presented within them. Their buildings rely on fine detailing and the use of natural light, proportion, and elegance rather than exuberant design to achieve success. Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, Daniel Liebskind, Zaha Hadid, and others have created highly dramatic, sculptural buildings featuring various degrees of functionality and flexibility.
Given the unprecedented number of museum expansion projects, especially over the past 15 years, one might assume the dynamic tension between the art museum as a medium for architecture and the art museum as a medium for the presentation and interpretation of art would be more commonly balanced in a way that recognizes the importance of both. But several impediments have constrained a broad-based realization of this goal.
Few museum directors or boards of trustees do more than one expansion project in their careers. Staff who are charged with the day-to-day responsibilities of planning and implementing a construction program frequently have little familiarity with the building industry and may not have previously managed projects of such complexity. Yet surprisingly few museums attempt to learn from the experience of others who have already completed such projects. Art museums are prone to dealing with architects as artists, and most lack experience in being a strong client. Consequently, design too often trumps functionality.
The tremendous success of Bilbao convinced many directors and boards that “signature” architecture and more square feet will result in a transformation of the museum. This has generally been a misplaced expectation. The drive to create new or expanded facilities absent sufficient associated endowment has placed many art museums in a precarious financial position, especially as many museums fail to adequately project and account for the increased costs of operation and new programs; the economic climate since 2008 has only exacerbated this condition.
Changes in functional requirements have also contributed to the challenge. Art museums today are multifaceted facilities that must support not only the presentation and interpretation of art but also performing-arts events, social events, educational activities, shopping, eating, visitor services, and a host of back-of-house functions. Successfully meeting the needs of these disparate functions and integrating them into a cohesive whole is extremely challenging. Unfortunately, what is too often forgotten in the juggling act is the paramount importance of the nature and quality of the visitor experience.
It is entirely possible to create beautiful art-museum buildings that are intensely uncomfortable to occupy. It is likewise possible to present and interpret art in reasonably effective ways while providing an overall experience for visitors that is unsatisfying. The totality of the experience includes a host of factors that have, in far too many instances, been ignored or given short shrift by architects and museum staff and trustees. Examples are all too familiar: unwelcoming entrances; awkward placement and design of admission and orientation desks; inadequate signage; poor acoustics; insufficient restroom facilities; lack of comfortable seating; confusing circulation flows; fatiguing and disorienting gallery layouts. A great deal of research exists regarding the ways people actually behave in art museums and the kind of experiences and spaces required to increase visitor engagement with art—yet very little of this information is incorporated into the design of most museums.
Building or expanding an art museum is an extraordinary opportunity. The trustees and staff are often sophisticated clients who are committed to promoting the arts; they tend to think in terms of cultural legacy and are often willing to embrace new, even experimental design. Architects welcome the prestige and the artistic license associated with the commission. Museum architecture occupies a special place in the design disciplines: It is often where significant design ideas are advanced, which in turn influence other building types.
But this same convergence of factors—legacy, fame, identity, openness to the new—too often conspires to promote the billboard statement. The ability to present and interpret art effectively or to create truly satisfying visitor experiences often receives less attention than the creation of dramatic architectural statements.
Now, at the beginning of the 21st century and well into the second golden age of museum architecture, we frequently see ourselves designing buildings that in too many instances are not very removed from their Beaux-Arts predecessors: advancing the monument at the expense of the visitors and their experience of art. The seamless integration of architectural expression, interpretation of art, and the visitor experience should be our goal. Achieving it requires attention to the art museum as a medium with a unique ability to enrich people’s lives in material ways.
From the J. Paul Getty Museum Symposium:
Recently published material:
Writings on the unspoken contract between museums and visitors: | <urn:uuid:834824c8-83e4-4609-a796-c3ef4ef67119> | {
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Date recorded 3 October 2012
This video shows a demonstration of our in-place commands that work on direct touch displays. Michel Pahud walks through some in-place command work done at Microsoft Research including pen and touch with toolglass bimanual techniques. In-place commands are menus that appear next to the finger. They can work on small displays like slate, but also on very large displays so the user doesn’t have to reach for the menu.
©2012 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:1708b022-b412-4a65-88ed-1af0cf4e0b3b> | {
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Iran has a hot, dry climate characterized by long, hot, dry summers and short, cool winters. The climate is influenced by Iran's location between the subtropical aridity of the Arabian desert areas and the subtropical humidity of the eastern Mediterranean area. January is the coldest month, with temperatures from 5°C to 10°C, and August is the hottest month at 20°C to 30°C or more.
In most of the areas, summers are warm to hot with virtually continuous sunshine, but high humidity on the southern coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. Daily Temperatures can be very hot; on some days temperatures can reach easily 40°C or more, especially along the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea which causes a danger of heat exhaustion.
About 70 percent of the average rainfall in the country falls between November and March; June through August are often rainless. Rainfall varies from season to season and from year to year. Precipitation is sometimes concentrated in local, but violent storms, causing erosion and local flooding, especially in the winter months. A small area along the Caspian coast has a very different climate, here rainfall is heaviest from late summer to mid winter but falls in general throughout the year.
Lightweight Cotton clothes are advised in the summer, with a sweater for cooler evenings, especially in the inland areas. waterproof mediumwear is recommended for the winter, and warmer clothing for the mountainous areas of northern Iran.
Iran can be divided in at least four different climate zones. The Climate of the Western and southwestern areas can be classified as BWh Climate; a hot, dry desert climate with annual average temperatures above 18°C. a small zone between the Persian Gulf the turkisch Border in the mid of Iran can be classified as BSh climate, a hot, dry Climate with the annual average Teperature above 18°C. The eastern and northern areas of Iran have a Csa Climate; a mild, semi-humid climate with dry summers, mild winters and the warmest month above 22°C. Finally, the mountainous regions of northern Iran can be classified as Dsa Climate, a cold snow Climate with dry summers and wet winters with the warmest month over 22°C and the coldest month below -3°C. | <urn:uuid:bfcbf600-daa5-491c-ae83-c9381d481ef1> | {
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Chemical reactions are such a great way to pique a child’s curiosity. This experiment involving a chemical reaction is quite simple and always amazes kids!
- copper pennies
- white vinegar
- dish or bowl
- paper towel
- free observation printable (optional)
- Fold a paper towel so that it fits inside your dish.
- Place the pennies on top of the paper towel.
3. Pour vinegar over the pennies so that the paper towel is fully saturated.
4. Observe the pennies over the next few hours and days. You can record your observations using the free printable.
- We left this experiment out for a few days, adding more vinegar as the paper towel began to dry out and flipping the pennies over occasionally. The longer we waited, the more green they became!
Question to Spark Curiosity & Critical Thinking:
What happened to the pennies over time? What is your theory as to why this happened?
Can you think of any other chemical reactions you’ve seen in everyday life?
What’s Going On:
A chemical reaction has occurred! (A chemical reaction is the combination of two reactants to form something entirely new.) A penny is made of copper. The vinegar on the paper towel helps the copper in the penny easily react with the oxygen in the air to form a blue-green colored compound called malachite.
This is similar to why the Statue of Liberty (which is covered with a layer of copper) has turned greenish-blue. The statue would naturally turn greenish-blue due to exposure to the oxygen in the air. However, because some rain has acid from pollution in it, the rain speeds up the reaction (just as the vinegar caused the reaction with the penny).
Want to go even further?
Even more activities to inspire creativity and critical thinking for various ages.
- Try a similar experiment: Fill a cup with 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir. Add some pennies and let them sit for 5 minutes. Take them out and rinse them. What happened?
- Make a volcano using baking soda and vinegar.
- Make a torch and crown just like the Statue of Liberty! | <urn:uuid:1d818d51-e31f-48f1-b11b-a1987c45a29a> | {
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Altcoins have been a bit of a plague in the digital currency industry throughout the years, as various developers feel the need to do their own thing when Bitcoin doesn’t offer a specific feature. As a result of that approach, there are a few thousand different forms of digital currency in existence, and most of those are no longer maintained or developed. Wouldn’t it be better if all of these currencies could talk to one another without the need to create even more digital currencies?
The Interledger Protocol Opens Up Interesting Opportunities
Let’s assume for a moment that every blockchain of every digital currency in existence could communicate with one another. While we have that picture in mind, add the prospect of sending funds to other currencies without any hassle. Sounds good in theory, right? It might become a reality in the near future.
If the interledger protocol came to fruition, one global network for all digital currencies in existence would be created. Also, this project would create a direct connection between all companies and individuals using any type of service based on any blockchain. Some people would refer to this idea as creating global standards for payments.
The topic of private blockchains has been kicked around in the Bitcoin community quite a few times. Even though financial institutions show a keen interest in blockchain technology, community members are worried they will create a private version of the public ledger, which would defeat the entire purpose of this technology.
As one would come to expect from such a concept, there will be a third-party involved in the process. Connecting two different ledgers to each other is not all that difficult, but when it comes to exchanging value, someone or something will have to validate the transactions. However, the individual ledgers don’t need to trust the third-party validator per se.
This type of operation can be completed by using cryptographic algorithms, allowing for the creation of an escrow service to hold the funds. No details would be observed by the third party directly, allowing the interledger protocol to work between any ledger system in existence today, and in the future.
Who Will Adopt This Technology?
One of the major concerns regarding the interledger protocol comes in the form of who will adopt the technology. While there are clear advantages to having every different ledger talk to a different one, banks may still favor the option of creating their private blockchain in the long run.
However, the interledger protocol is gaining a lot of interest from major parties, such as Microsoft and even the World Wide Web Consortium.But at the same time, the entire interledger protocol seems to be aimed at disruption the financial sector, and established players in that industry are less likely to embrace this solution.
If you liked this article follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin and altcoin price analysis and the latest cryptocurrency news. | <urn:uuid:b71c9da5-b991-41e4-b93f-d1b2fdfd874b> | {
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Different species of scincid lizards, commonly known as skinks, rarely interbreed, but it's not for lack of trying.
According to Jonathan Richmond, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey, different species of skinks in western North America will often try to mate with each other when given the opportunity, but mechanical difficulties caused by differing body sizes can cause these encounters to fail.
After observing hundreds of cross-species mating attempts in the lab, Richmond and his colleagues developed a computational model showing how size differences create reproductive barriers between skink species.
In order to align their genitals for successful insemination, the male must corkscrew his body around the female.
Once the sizes of the male and female diverge outside the threshold of the researchers' model, successful mating was very rare.
The model elucidates the role body size plays in splitting skinks into separate species.
For skinks, it apparently isn't behavioral preference that prevents gene flow between species. It's the mechanics of body size.
"As size diverges, the corkscrew fails," Richmond said. "In this case, it just happens that this is about the only thing necessary to get the ball rolling for speciation."
Explore further: Official! Size Really Does Matter...
Jonathan Q. Richmond, Elizabeth L. Jockusch, and Andrew M. Latimer, "Mechanical Reproductive Isolation Facilitates Parallel Speciation in Western North American Scincid Lizards." American Naturalist, September 2011. | <urn:uuid:8b1f6f0b-f503-46e8-adc9-dbe1fcdf075a> | {
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|By Rolando Garcia
Natural Sciences and Mathematics Communications
Houstonians may not feel it, but the ground beneath them is moving, and that could mean trouble for buildings or roads located on one of the hundreds of faults traversing the region’s surface.
Although geologists have long known of the existence of faults in Southeast Texas, only recently have University of Houston researchers produced a comprehensive map pinpointing the locations of the faults.
Using advanced radar-like laser technology, Shuhab Khan, professor of geology, and Richard Engelkemeir, a geology Ph.D. student, identified about 300 faults in Harris County. This information – the most accurate and comprehensive of its kind – could prove vitally useful to the region’s builders and city planners.
Khan’s findings were featured on Houston’s Fox 26 News in April and promptly generated a flood of inquiries from local media, builders and concerned residents.
The shifting fault lines in Houston are not the kind that wreak havoc in earthquake-prone California. These faults, which originated millions of years ago during the formation of the Gulf of Mexico, can move up to 1 inch a year.
That may not seem like much, but such movement over several years can cause serious damage to buildings and streets that straddle a fault line. And for those structures that are on the subsiding side of the fault line, the lower elevation could make it more susceptible to flooding.
Khan and Engelkemeir, who published their findings in the February issue of Geosphere, began by looking at data compiled during a 2001 study funded by the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Harris County Flood Control District. That year Tropical Storm Allison dumped nearly 40 inches of rain on the Houston area over five days. The storm caused nearly two dozen deaths and billions of dollars in property damage.
To update floodplain maps, FEMA and the flood district employed lidar technology to survey the topography and elevation of the county. From an aircraft flying overhead, laser beams were directed toward the ground. The time between the laser beam pulse and the return reflection from any given point on the ground can be used to determine the distance between the instrument and that point on the surface.
Buildings and vegetation are then removed from the model to produce a map that records even the most subtle elevation differences on the surface.
Khan and Engelkemeir pored over the data, refining the grids to identify more than 300 faults. Many were associated with the salt domes in the southeast part of the county. Others were located in the northwest portion of the county near Highway 6 and Interstate 10, where there is ongoing subsidence, Engelkemeir said.
During the summer of 2005, Engelkemeir personally visited about 50 of the faults he located with the lidar data looking for signs of deformation and displacement where the land on one side of the fault was rising over the other.
At many of the faults, Engelkemeir saw cracks in street pavements. Residents living nearby reported foundation problems, and at one home there was 1 meter of displacement between the garage and the house. At another site a building had been so damaged by ground shifts it was condemned.
Geologists are still studying what causes fault movements in the region, with some attributing it to groundwater and petroleum withdrawal, Engelkemeir said.
Khan is now turning his attention to Fort Bend County. Using lidar data, Cecilia Ramirez, a master’s student working under Khan, has found one potential fault near the Brazos River levee.
By knowing the location of surface faults, builders and government planners will be able to avoid those areas or accommodate potential ground shifts in their construction plans, Khan said.
He also cautioned that although lidar has allowed the researchers to identify previously unmapped faults, there might still be faults in the region that have yet to be located. | <urn:uuid:cb579140-2c8f-4f1a-8186-02776f62cad1> | {
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From the beginning of the motion picture industry, film companies devised all types of advertising to entice consumers to buy movie tickets. Posters, lobby cards and window displays, glass slides, sheet music and photographs could be employed by exhibitors to lure patrons to see new moving pictures. But how did theater owners learn about promotional materials to help grow their profits?
Film companies first employed bulletins to sell prints for exhibition in theaters. These one-page documents provided detailed synopses of films, their lengths, and cast lists to help entice theater owners to buy prints. The bulletins sometimes suggested ideas for lectures to accompany films, or other film titles that would help round out an entertaining program. These documents were all about selling product, first to exhibitors and then consumers.
As the motion picture industry developed, more sophisticated means were created to sell exhibitors on new films. By the mid-1910s, motion picture companies and studios developed pressbooks or exhibitor campaign books that functioned as catalogs, in which exhibitors could purchase key art and other materials to promote upcoming films.
Studios developed individual books for each film they produced, showing a panoply of posters, lobby cards, photographs, glass slides, music, and other disposable marketing materials that theater owners could purchase. Though often lavishly produced, these mass-produced advertising materials simply disposable products tossed aside each week in order to publicize the next week’s new movie.
Lewis J. Selznick’s Select Pictures published what it called magazines to promote each of its films. Published with volume and issue number like a typical magazine, they listed advertising materials for sale as well as provided stories to disseminate to local newspapers.
One full page presented photographs of different size posters available. Another publicized star cuts for newspaper reproduction, while another revealed lantern glass slides with suggested tag lines. Other pages in the booklet contained feature stories, column items, synopses, even interesting tidbits that newspapers could freely publish as is, or rewrite to their own tastes.
As the studio wrote on Page 4 of the magazine, “To Our Exhibitors: The material in these booklets has been written primarily for your use in securing local publicity. Cut out the various little stories, synopses, and other bits of interest, and hand them to your local newspapers. Have them use these “stories” immediately preceding and during the run of Select Pictures at your theater.”
The magazine for Constance Talmadge’s 1918 film “The Studio Girl” offered four synopses that could be employed by newspapers, along with items they called “ready-to-clip press matter.” These detailed problems that occurred during production, such as weather delays, minor issues with the police and other such tales.
For 10 cents each, exhibitors could also purchase portraits of Select stars as well as publicity stills of each production from local exchanges to help heighten public interest.
These pressbooks grew more sophisticated as the film industry matured. Studios devised new methods of ballyhoo to promote films, such as ideas for contests, window displays in local businesses that tied in with a film’s theme, souvenir give-aways, tie-in products, and even lobby decorations and displays.
With the demise of the studios’ monopoly in the late 1940s, less pressbooks were manufactured, and by the 1980s, they totally disappeared. | <urn:uuid:c1d4d6fa-217c-40d3-ae5a-d1924ed54c53> | {
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Preserving the Audio Archive
The material on the LCAAJ audio tapes is unique. The field notes focus solely on selected linguistic features in the informant's responses and the tapes have not been transcribed, except for a selection included in the EYDES project. The wealth of information that the tapes contain thus resides solely on a fragile and aging medium.
The 5,755 hours of recording in the LCAAJ are stored on some 2,600 reels of tape produced in various countries between 1959 and 1972. The tapes were recorded at a variety of speeds under widely varying conditions. More than twenty different brands and sizes of tape stock have been used, including both acetate- and polyester-backed tape, and there are even thirteen hours of wire recordings. As is all too sadly known, acetate tape (used through the late 1960s) is a very impermanent medium for the recording of sound. Manufacturers' claims, and real-time experience indicate, that twenty years is the average functional life for such tapes. They begin to suffer edge curl, cracking and flaking, and binder decomposition, leading to loss of the recorded signal. The polyester tapes used since the late 1960s are also impermanent, suffering from sticky shed and other failures, and the tapes may stretch or break during playing or storage. Even before these problems set in, splice adhesives may leech to other portions of tapes of all types, and many tape types are subject to print through. Once deterioration begins, it cannot be stopped or reversed. The only solution is careful re-recording in such a way that as little as possible of the original sound is lost.
Since 1995 Columbia University Libraries has been gradually re-recording the tapes and creating digital copies. Support for this effort includes:
The preservation work consists of re-recording the original tapes onto new reel-to-reel tape, following nationally recognized preservation practices and guidelines, and the creation of digital use copies on CD. The preservation transfer is carried out at the Computer Music Center of the Columbia University Department of Music, a studio recognized nationally and internationally both for its advanced technical work and its care of archival sound collections.
- Support from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a two-year project (2000-2002) for staff and supplies to re-record 1,180 hours of the LCAAJ originals.
- Support from the New York State Conservation/Preservation Program for a two-year project (1999-2001) to purchase analog tape stock to be used in re-recording 1,200 hours of the LCAAJ originals.
- Donations (1996-2000) from the Atran Foundation, the David & Barbara B. Hirschhorn Foundation, the Morris J. & Betty Kaplun Foundation, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, and the Solow Foundation for staff and supplies.
The project adheres to the technical standards for audio preservation advocated by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Associated Audio Archives Committee (ARSC-AAA), the Joint Technical Commission of the Audio Engineering Society (AES), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). As recommended by these organizations, the re-recording employs low noise, two-track polyester (1.5 mil) tape. The archival tape is recorded in real time at 15 inches per second (ips) to preserve maximum audio fidelity, with no splicing, with buffer-tape-pack at both ends, wound uniformly tails out (end out) onto slotless-hub 10 ½-inch metal reels. In order to keep the archival copies as true to the original recordings as possible, no manipulation of the original signal, such as noise reduction, filtering or other signal-processing techniques, is undertaken.
Each reel is "leadered" at the beginning with 30-60 seconds of blank tape. Following this leader is a 30-60 second test zone containing reference tones and azimuth tones, which in turn is followed by a second 30-60 seconds of "leader" tape (blank, no splicing). Paper or plastic leaders are not spliced on to the reels to fill the required lead time. No splices appear in the preservation master. The material being preserved follows the second leader in two-track double monophonic in one direction only.
The recording levels are monitored at all times by recording technicians to ensure the best possible signal-to-noise ratio on the final analog tape. All recording machines are calibrated and cleaned prior to each recording session. Equipment used for transfer meets standards established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), EIA (Electronic Industry Association) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
For more information on this project, contact the Columbia University Libraries Preservation Division. | <urn:uuid:7d476759-f201-42fe-8893-f75c960e65c3> | {
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See attached data file.
G = Total U.S. gasoline consumption, computed as total expenditure divided by price index.
Pop = U.S. total population in millions
GasP = Price index for gasoline,
Income = Per capita disposable income,
Pnc = Price index for new cars,
Puc = Price index for used cars,
Ppt = Price index for public transportation,
Pd = Aggregate price index for consumer durables,
Pn = Aggregate price index for consumer nondurables,
Ps = Aggregate price index for consumer services,
I. Create regression models (four of them) to predict the consumption of gasoline using the following independent variables. Create a table with the coefficients and their related statistics:
a. Price index for gasoline and the per capita disposable income
b. Price index for gasoline, per capita disposable income, and the price index for new cars
c. Price index for gasoline, per capita disposable income, the price index for new cars, and the price index for used cars.
d. Price index for gasoline, per capita disposable income, the price index for new cars, the price index for used cars, and the price index for public transportation
II. Calculate the following elasticities, using the means of the variables, obtaining separate estimates from each of the above 4 regressions.
a. Own price elasticity of gasoline
b. Income elasticity
c. Cross price elasticity with new cars
d. Cross price elasticity with used cars
e. Cross price elasticity with public transportation
III. a. Compare the regression models from question I. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each model?
b. Consider the model in part c - what may this model, reasonably, be used for, and what does it leave out?
c. If you were going to do a retail level demand study for one particular company's gasoline products (for example, GP), what would you do differently from the above?
Step by step method for computing regression model in Minitab for Gas data is given in the answer. | <urn:uuid:12af4f6c-fe27-4fac-919a-a9612d86c98d> | {
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ABOUT THE LITTLE FIREFACE PROJECT
Slow lorises are a unique group of primates found throughout South and Southeast Asia. Their vice-like grip, snake-like movements, shy nature, and most remarkably, their venomous bite, make them unique amongst the primates. They also are to many people undeniably adorable, and to others, nature’s answer to over 100 diseases. Their slow movements make them easy prey to expert hunters who literally empty the forests of these shy primates – amongst the most common mammals seen in Asia’s illegal animal markets, but amongst the rarest spotted even in Asia’s best protected forests.
The Little Fireface Project, named after the Sundanese word for loris, is the world’s longest running loris conservation project, started in 1993, under the auspices of the Nocturnal Primate Research Group of Oxford Brookes University. Our research was highlighted in the award winning 2012 film Jungle Gremlins of Java. We aim to save lorises from extinction through learning more about their ecology and using this information to educate local people and law enforcement officers, leading to empathy and empowerment whereby people in countries where lorises exist will want to save them for themselves. This is done through education, media, workshops and classroom programmes. Our education does not stop in range countries, but also reaches out to potential western purchasers of loris pets.
Why do lorises produce toxic compound - 12/04/2014
One of the most interesting facts about the slow loris is that it is the only venomous primate. Slow lorises produce a toxic compound from their brachial glands (a patch of bare skin from their inside elbow up to their armpits), which they lick to combine with their saliva and “activate” the venom. The reason why slow lorises are venomous is still somewhat of an unsolved mystery.
As part of my postdoctoral research with the Little Fireface Project, I am exploring some of the hypotheses for why slow lorises produce such toxic compounds. Is it to ward off ectoparasites, tiny bugs that live in their fur and potentially could transmit diseases to them? Is it to deter predators of the night, including owls, hawks, and eagles? Could the venom serve multiple purposes?
In order to answer these questions, myself and LFP volunteer Anna Zango have been conducting two separate phases of research. First, we have been conducting a series of experiments testing the responses of various insects to the venom of slow lorises, using a combination of saliva and brachial gland secretions. Second, we have been playing the sounds of predators to the lorises as they forage at night, to see if they have any interesting behaviors that might be related to using their venom. We have to carefully study their reactions, and some of the lorises actually move quite fast! Good thing Anna has such sharp eyes!
This project has been incredibly interesting. I never imagined to see such specific responses. So far, the data suggest that slow lorises are a lot more complicated, unique, and special than many people realize. So, I am really excited to continue this research exploring how slow lorises use venom as an adaptation.
Tweets by @littlefireface | <urn:uuid:4acf44f3-96ab-41fe-8513-04a07a356982> | {
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Extensively Drug Resistant (XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) was first encountered in 2006. Now as we enter 2012 we learn that a strain of MTB totally resistant (TDR) to all current antimicrobials has entered the Indian sub-continent . This new strain to India, TDR-MTB first emerged in 2009 in 15 patients in Iran. In a letter to CID (http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/11/24/cid.cir889.full.pdf+html) published in late December 2011 Udwadia and colleagues describe how a strain recovered from four patients was resistant to all first line (isoniazid, frifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide and streptomycin) and second-line antimicrobials (ofloxacin, moxifloxacin, kanamycin, amikacin, capreomycin, para-aminosalicyclic acid, and ethionamide. While TDR-MTB is not new to the world, its emergence in India is cause for concern. | <urn:uuid:b2a48c70-c01c-4d69-bfb6-117a0fed3e77> | {
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Rato Machhendranath Jatra
Rato, or Red, Machhendranath is one of the patron deities of the Kathmandu
Valley, said to have come from ancient Kamrup in the eastern Himalaya in
mythical times. Although he resides most of the year in a temple in Bungamati,
on the south side of the Kathmandu Valley, his ritual procession, or Jatra,
takes place in Patan, across the river from Kathmandu. This year the deity is
mounted in his Rath, actually a small ornate temple mounted on wooden wheels and
surmounted by a wooden spire covered with pine boughs.
The mammoth wheels
represent four ferocious Bhairab gods and on the prow of the chariot is the
metal face of Karkot, the mythical King of the Nags, or snake deities. It is
thought that Rato Machendranath brings rain to the Valley farmers through the
aid of the snake gods. | <urn:uuid:8dbb476f-8c35-445e-a5c4-04ddb00ffc90> | {
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A foundamental role
Fungi (singular: fungus) are single-celled or multicellular eukaryotic organisms that reproduce through spores and live by absorbing nutrients from organic matter. They were originally considered to belong to the plant kingdom because of their similarities in morphology and growth habit. But with the introduction of molecular techniques in taxonomy, fungi were reclassified into their own separate kingdom: Kingdom Fungi. Taxonomists discovered major differences of fungi from plants: fungi don’t have chlorophyll, unlike plants; and the cell wall of fungi is made up of chitin instead of cellulose. Yeasts are single-celled fungi while mushrooms are multicellular fungi.
According to scientists, there are approximately 1.5 million species of fungi in the planet but only 5 percent of them have been given proper identification. That figure makes fungi as one of the most biologically diverse organisms in the planet. Fungi have a fundamental role in nutrient cycling due to their ability to decompose organic matter. They have adapted to form symbiotic relationship with plants and animals for billion years. Many organisms depend on fungi for survival. | <urn:uuid:7d7a0bbb-f029-4972-9da6-99a664208666> | {
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Intuition is just one of many factors that shape what you believe.
Scientists are beginning to link animal facial expressions to emotions, making it possible for us to understand how they feel.
Even though sadness and bad moods have always been part of the human experience, we live in an age that ignores or devalues them. But we've much to gain from feeling sad now and again.
And if you don't, there's still time to change.
For all their defiant talk of 'business as usual', savvy leaders know that any good response to a crisis is also an emotional performance.
Most revenge isn't violent or dramatic, but instead involves petty acts against coworkers or lovers. And some types work better than others.
Research shows empathy itself does not have any limits. If it appears limited, it is because of people's goals, values and choices.
A new study of captive dolphins has found that those engaging in synchronised swimming make more optimistic judgements about an unknown event.
Robots may match humans in recognising different types of emotions in the next few decades.
What research says about why debates about faith get so heated online.
The polls convinced many that Clinton was headed to the White House. But the polls were misleading – and one behavioral scientist thinks emotion led respondents to mislead pollsters on purpose.
This election season has brought more anger and name-calling than any in recent history, and it has affected many of us. Here are some ways you can ward off some of the stress associated with it.
Many regions fundamental to mood are buried deep in the most primordial parts of the brain; that is, they are thought to have been among the first brain regions to develop in the human species.
The most famous moment in sports commentary tells us a lot about getting the giggles.
On Twitter's 10th birthday, we look at how researchers have used the platform for a range of studies, from predicting the next flu outbreak to identifying the happiest city in America.
We think we know when we feel it – but here's what is really going on in our brains and bodies.
Emotional competence can help children do better at school.
How do we deal with people whose emotional responses we don’t understand? Demolition does not have the answers.
It seems obvious to say that opera "moves" people. But the question of "how" it moves people is far less straightforward. Cue a new research project pegged to Voyage to the Moon.
Researchers have tried for many years to understand the nature of romantic love. But it remains a mystery. | <urn:uuid:7346b554-69cf-4e66-b1a3-ae7824c8756e> | {
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Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), is a genetically engineered growth hormone that's commonly injected into dairy cows. rBGH forces dairy cows to artificially increase milk production by about 10% to 15% but sometimes can increase milk production by as much as 40%.
The FDA approved rBGH in 1993, but various advocates for safe food feel that rBGH was never properly studied for negative health effects. Current research shows that rBGH can cause harm, many time over to cows and also poses various health risks for humans.
See a map of dairy products that do not contain rBGH. | <urn:uuid:6c37cb4f-b2a1-436a-a40a-ad26a096f1f3> | {
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* * * * *
This is one of the most remarkable volumes of the century. Its publication has only been made possible by a combination of circumstances which seldom attend the birth of a book. Before emancipation, and while the bane of slavery was on the country, the thrilling facts of this volume could not have been made public. Peace and the blessing of freedom permit their publication, free circulation and unmolested reading.
Of all the thousands who favored freedom for the slaves, who gloried in the odium attached to anti-slaveryism, who witnessed the frequent efforts of the bondsmen to escape, who aided them in their quest for liberty, few dared to take notes of what they witnessed, and fewer still dared to preserve them, lest they should be turned into witnesses against them.
But one man, and that the author of this book, is known to have succeeded in preserving anything like a full account of the workings of the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, as it was called before emancipation. These records grew on his hands during the years he acted as Chairman of the Philadelphia Branch of that celebrated corporation, until they reached the extent of the present volume. They are made up of letters received, of interviews held, of narratives taken down at the time, of real reminiscence and authentic biography. Nothing imaginative enters into the composition of the volume. It is simply succinct history, always startling, sometimes bloody. The annals of no time since the Inquisition are so full of daring ventures for life and liberty or heroic endurance under most trying circumstances.
As a history of the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, the work is most curious and valuable. It tells of an ingenuity and faithfulness on the part of the officials of the road which seems well-nigh marvellous. As its pages reveal the methods by which aid was given to the escaping slave, one is compelled to wonder almost as if he were facing a revelation. The secrets of Masonry are not more mysterious than were the ways of these officials who clothed, fed and comforted the fugitive, while they apparently never knew his name or whereabouts. Even those who never believed in the existence of an UNDERGROUND RAILWAY, or who, believing, cursed its existence, will read its history, at this time, with the relish of astonishment and the zest of discoverers.
But the book has a higher meaning and use. It is curious and hitherto unprinted history to the white race. To the black race, and especially that part of it once slave, it is more than a history of a time of peril. It is for them what Exodus was to the fugitives from Egypt, a history and an inspiration as well. They may learn from it of their heroes and how deeply the love of liberty was implanted in their bosoms. The Swiss never tire of the story of their Tell, nor the Welsh of that of their Glendower. Every nation has its exemplar, whose bravery and virtues | <urn:uuid:ff1c7d53-e9c6-4e3a-9096-7a8f2c86a790> | {
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Digital art takes many forms: installations; Internet art; virtual-reality projects that use devices such as headsets and data gloves to immerse participants in a virtual world; software coded by the artist; or even “locative media” art that uses mobile devices (such as cell phones) to turn public spaces like buildings or parks into a canvas.
Digital photographs, films, and videos have been common in the arts since the 1990s; even paintings and sculptures are now sometimes produced with the aid of digital tools. But projects that use digital technologies as a medium in themselves–and that, like their medium, are interactive, collaborative, customizable, and variable–still occupy the margins of art institutions and find their audience mostly at new-media art festivals or on the Internet.
A few artists use digital technologies as a medium for reconfiguring more traditional forms such as paintings, photographs, or videos. Among them are Brody Condon, John Gerrard, and Alex Galloway and the Radical Software Group (RSG). All use the technologies of game development to investigate the status of traditional media in the digital age. Their works consider how the digital medium has changed the nature of representation, erasing the boundaries between established categories such as painting, photography, cinema, and sculpture.
All these artists generate images that are reminiscent of paintings or photographs, yet change and evolve. Condon, Gerrard, and RSG create computer-generated 3-D scenes that are framed–in that they show a clearly delineated view, like a photograph, rather than being navigable worlds, like a game–and at the same time have a temporal, cinematic element in that they change over time. However, the cinematic movements are not simply video loops that repeat; rather, the changes are generated in real time, algorithmically. John Gerrard’s projects, in particular, could be described as image-objects, artworks that are as much images as they are three-dimensional sculptures in virtual space.
The combination of painterly, photographic, sculptural, and cinematic elements in these works would not be possible without current game-development technologies. Over the past decade, computer games have become an inspiration for artists in new media. Gaming references in digital art have been called a trend or a new style–a description that neglects many of the inherent and historical connections between computer games and new media. Early on, games explored concepts now common in digital art, such as navigation and simulation, points of view, nonlinear narrative, and the creation of 3-D worlds. Many if not most successful video games are violent “shooters” seemingly far removed from art. Yet they often create sophisticated, navigable, immersive worlds. It is only natural that digital artworks should take a critical look at computer games in a different context.
Computer games are successful, in part, because their virtual worlds can be expanded and modified. Games frequently come with “level editors” that give amateur designers the tools to develop their own virtual environments and gaming scenarios, or to customize game content by creating modifications (often called “mods”) or patches–extensions that change features of the game world or the behavior of characters.
Some artists have used level editors or game engines–the core software of computer games, which runs their real-time graphics and audio, among other things–to create mods for commercial games or to generate stand-alone scenes. Others have designed their own games from scratch. But both types of gaming artwork have critically examined the politics and aesthetics of their commercial cousins. While most art based on gaming technology makes the technology itself its subject, Brody Condon’s Three Modifications, John Gerrard’s Dust Storm (Dalhart, Texas) and Animated Scene (Oil Field), and RSG’s Prepared Playstation more explicitly focus on the representational qualities of the 3-D image.
Condon’s Three Modifications, which was shown at New York’s Virgil de Voldère gallery in 2007, reinterprets several late-medieval Flemish (or Early Netherlandish) religious paintings: panels from Hans Memling’s triptych The Last Judgement, Dieric Bouts’s Resurrection, and Gerard David’s Triptych of Jean de Trompes. The landscape and overall structure of the paintings are re-created in noninteractive, animated, “self-playing” 3-D game versions that reflect on both the form and the content of the originals.
The term “Early Netherlandish” refers to a group of painters–from Van Eyck to Gerard David–working in the Netherlands in the 15th and early 16th centuries and representing a particular moment: the zenith of the Middle Ages and the transition to the Renaissance, an era when perspective–the technique artists use to mimic how three-dimensional objects appear to the eye–developed in several stages. On a formal level, Condon’s work draws parallels between the evolution of perspective and realism in medieval art and the evolution of 3-D computer graphics in games. Another link between medieval art and computer games is the affection that role-playing games–from Dungeons and Dragons to Ultima Online, Everquest, and World of Warcraft–have for what Umberto Eco has called “neomedievalism.” In his 1973 essay “Dreaming in the Middle Ages,” Eco writes of the “avalanche of pseudo-medieval pulp” in pop culture and points out that many organizational structures of the Western world, from merchant cities to capitalist economies, have their roots in the Middle Ages. The medieval elements characteristic of many contemporary computer games where technology and magic are happily confused may express the quest for the heroic foundations of contemporary culture.
The background of Dieric Bouts’s original Resurrection painting (below)–a panel from one of the altarpieces for which he is famous–is a wide, serene expanse of land. Conveying an austere spirituality, Bouts’s rigid composition shows Christ rising from the tomb, surrounded by an angel and three other figures in emotional states ranging from indifference to trepidation to shock. Condon re-creates the original landscape and adds a temporal element by depicting a sky caught in a state between day and night, with clouds and stars circling overhead while the sun is trapped in the moment of setting or rising. The compositional elements of Condon’s game modification portray the animated image itself as caught in a specific moment–a moment that captures the parallels between the development of realistic perspective in late-medieval art and in video games, as well as the transition between the two-dimensionality of painting and the real-time three-dimensionality of computer games.
Credit: Courtesy of the Norton Simon Foundation
While the landscape in Condon’s Resurrection (below) mirrors the one in the original, the scene unfolding is substantially different: Christ is missing, his tomb has become an animated campfire, and the four surrounding figures are either nude or seminude. The angel has been replaced by a nude woman moving in and out of a yoga tree pose; two men sit by the fire, one looking away from it, the other looking into it with a hand raised for protection, both apathetically imitating the poses in the original painting; and the figure in red tights, who in the original lies face down in front of the tomb next to a helmet, has moved to the background, where it rolls its deformed, abstracted, polygonal head from side to side. By eschewing interactivity, which is at the core of video games, and setting a boundary for the scene and the movement within it, Condon creates a different kind of space for meditation. The religious themes and iconography of the medieval painting have been transformed into those of a countercultural spirituality rooted in the 1960s. In Condon’s Resurrection, the savior is absent, and the other characters are thrown back on themselves. The fact that the work exists in a virtual world and a game environment points to a contemporary way of transcending the body: the avatar as a virtual alter ego. In his Resurrection, Condon contrasts and plays with cultural iconography and archetypes (or even stereotypes) of different centuries, using the parallels between medievalism and gaming environments.
Credit: Courtesy of Brody Condon
Condon creates his modifications by means of the Unreal Runtime Engine, a stripped-down version of the game engine for the first-person-shooter game Unreal Tournament 2003. Within the scenes, the point of view that would normally move around the space remains still. Condon places the 3-D visual content he developed in the game space and then moves the camera through the space to reproduce the composition of the original painting. Characters and landscape are tilted forward 45°, toward the viewer, and stacked in order to imitate the perspectival system used by the Flemish masters.
A different take on the relationship between game-development technology and traditional media is presented in the works of John Gerrard, who has created multiple scenes of portraits and landscapes that take the form of 3-D image-objects. At first glance, his projects Dust Storm (Dalhart, Texas) and Animated Scene (Oil Field) seem to reflect photographic conventions of landscape representation. But while they allude to the medium of photography, they also undermine the “freezing” of a moment in time.
In Dust Storm (Dalhart, Texas) (below), one of a series of pieces, Gerrard remakes a dust storm that occurred on “Black Sunday,” April 14, 1935, and depicts it as permanently looming over a representation of Dalhart, TX, in its current state. The view is based on photographs taken by the artist on site, while the image of the storm itself is derived from 1930s archival photos of the Dust Bowl. Past and present collapse in a photorealistic yet unfixed temporal image space that appears simultaneously hyperreal and fantastic. Gerrard thinks of the work as “a ‘memorial structure,’ a type of public art placed on the (constructed) landscape as it stands now.” The storm is a custom-built particle system on which the artist and his collaborators worked for six months; once it starts, it changes over time without shifting position over the landscape. The movement of the rolling and surging cloud was created on the basis of a video of a dust storm in Iraq’s Anbar Province that Gerrard had seen.
Credit: Marian Goodman Gallery
While the scene captures a single, quasi-photographic moment, the light conditions of the work cover a whole year: the orbit of the sun has been programmed so that the light of the scene accurately cycles through day and night as they vary throughout the four seasons. The temporality of Dust Storm (Dalhart, Texas) is therefore realistic in terms of our conventions of measuring time, in seconds, minutes, and hours. It also unfolds in real time in machine terms, since the dust storm and the light conditions are based on continuously calculated data. The events in the scene–changing light and rolling dust cloud–occur as the machine processes them. As in other works, Gerrard subtly references the effect of environmental pollution. The storms in the Dust Bowl were a result of a recurring drought combined with the effects of poor agricultural practices and industrialization.
In another landscape portrait, the diptych Animated Scene (Oil Field) (below), Gerrard networks two images of oil pumps so that they perform identical and simultaneous movements on two screens. Each image features a single, central pump flanked by two more pumps in the distance. All the pumps face east, toward the sun, and run endlessly and identically.
Credit: Courtesy of John Gerrard
Gerrard’s works fuse media on yet another level, since they also have a strong sculptural component: the framed screen that holds the images can be turned on a central pivot point, so the viewer can look around and behind the depicted subject in a 360° pan. Through the use of gaming technology, Gerrard makes his landscapes “navigable” in real time, while still maintaining the framing of the scene. And Gerrard’s works, like Condon’s, include cinematic elements as well. The movements of characters, objects, and natural elements maintain a subtle balance between stillness and motion. Gerrard refers to the image world he creates as a “postcinematic slipping space between the image and the object.”
While John Gerrard and Brody Condon explore painting and photography, RSG playfully deconstructs the video loop. RSG’s series Prepared Playstation takes its name from a series of works by John Cage, the artist and musician who wrote compositions for “prepared piano”–one whose sound had been changed by objects placed on the hammers or dampers or between strings. The “preparation” in this case is distinctly low-tech, a rubber band wrapped around the game controller (below, top image) so that it holds the buttons in place and makes a scene from a game play perpetually. RSG-THUG2 (2005) (below, bottom image), a work in the Prepared Playstation series created for the 2005 exhibition Logical Conclusions: 40 Years of Rule-Based Art at the Pace Wildenstein gallery in New York, uses three scenes prepared inside the skateboarding game Tony Hawk’s Underground 2. The project exploits glitches in the game’s code: navigating through the game, RSG discovered moments where movement cannot be properly rendered or characters get trapped in loops. In one of the scenes from RSG-THUG2, the game character is skateboarding along a railing, and the game architecture “breaks open”–the image cracks and starts oscillating between the accurate representation of the image and colorful abstract forms. In all the Prepared Playstation scenes, RSG “catches” a particular game sequence and makes it play itself in a continuous loop. While the project references and plays with the concept of the video loop, it also reveals the architecture of its image construction, exposing the moment where the data creating the image is improperly processed.
Credit: Courtesy of RSG
Credit: Courtesy of Pace Wildenstein
Prepared Playstation, Three Modifications, and John Gerrard’s works all exist in a “slipping space” that opens up a new perspective on the qualities of the digital image. Prepared Playstation appears to be a video loop but reveals and deconstructs the creation of its images. Dust Storm (Dalhart, Texas), Animated Scene (Oil Field), and Resurrection (after Bouts) evoke painting and photography yet present scenes that are in constant motion or evolve over time and can be navigated. All the projects capture characteristics of traditional art forms and demonstrate how the digital image transcends and reconfigures them. They are 3-D image spaces that operate in real time and perpetually play themselves, suggesting a state of being driven by algorithmic calculations. | <urn:uuid:7cae74b1-2d2e-4aa4-9899-885d2ff0b98f> | {
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Resiliency In The Face Of Stronger Storms
By Josephine Chu
We all remember Superstorm Sandy, especially those of us who live along the East Coast. My parents, who reside on Long Island, were very lucky and did not have any major damage to their home. They did, however, have to live without electricity for two weeks.
Seeing the impact on my parents during this time made me realize just how much we depend on electricity to run the daily tasks in our lives. My parents could cook at home on our gas stove, but without a working refrigerator, they couldn’t store perishables. Long lines at the gas stations meant that even the simple task of driving to buy supplies became difficult. Some of my friends didn’t have running water since there was no electricity to operate the water pumps. These stories made me wonder: will we be prepared if another Sandy hits? Are more Sandys in our future?
While there is uncertainty about the impact of climate change on the frequency of hurricanes, scientists have evidence documenting how climate change will intensify storms. According to the US Global Change Research Program, it is very likely that increased levels of greenhouse gases have contributed to an increase in sea surface temperatures. The intensity of North Atlantic tropical storm activity for most of the mid- to late 20th century has increased, too (see the orange “Power Dissipation Index” line in the figure above). This trend is associated closely with variations in sea surface temperature (see the dashed purple line). As sea surface temperatures are projected to continue increasing in a warming climate, we can expect that warm waters will fuel more intense storms.
Government agencies, including EPA, are working together to implement the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Strategy, with the goal of accounting for the impacts of more intense storms. Cities are also taking action; in June 2013, New York City mayor Bloomberg proposed a $20 billion plan of flood barriers and green infrastructure to build a more resilient city.
Check out EPA’s page on adaptation efforts for more information about how we can work together to build climate-resilient communities. With better adaptation efforts, hopefully, my family and other communities can be better prepared for the next storm.
About the author: Josephine Chu is a fellow with the communications team of the Climate Change Division in the Office of Air and Radiation. She recently earned her master’s in Global Environmental Politics at American University.
The views expressed here are intended to explain EPA policy. They do not change anyone's rights or obligations. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content, or remove EPA’s identity as the author. If you do make substantive changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.
EPA's official web site is www.epa.gov. Some links on this page may redirect users from the EPA website to specific content on a non-EPA, third-party site. In doing so, EPA is directing you only to the specific content referenced at the time of publication, not to any other content that may appear on the same webpage or elsewhere on the third-party site, or be added at a later date.
EPA is providing this link for informational purposes only. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of non-EPA information provided by any third-party sites or any other linked site. EPA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, internet applications or any policies or information expressed therein. | <urn:uuid:ca3059dc-51a6-4a94-9feb-41efa8bdfc2b> | {
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|Blue Damslefly (Enallagma cyathigerum)|
In all of these places I see the lovely Blue Damselfy! They are one of my favourite things to watch and they will be a lovely insect to cover.
So, here are the facts:
|Emerging on a reed.|
- They are found in every part of England, Scotland and Wales as well as the border between Northern and the Republic of Ireland.
- They use their average 40mm wings and their 32mm length between May and September in the flight season.
- They are found on most Lakes and Ponds where they are usually the most common species their.
- The Males are blue (as the name suggests) with black spots but the Females are actually a sort of Yellow.
|Found a mate|
- The eggs hatch into larvae called nymphs which then climb up a suitable stem to moult into damselflies.
- When mating, the Males clasps the Female by the neck and she them moves her body around to his reproductive organs. This is called a mating wheel. You can see it in this picture by CharlesJsharp.
- Weirdly, they often all perch on stems of plants around one pond and all point in one direction.
- There are several ways to tell them apart from other damselflies and even dragonflies. Damselflies rest with their wings closed on their body. You know it's one of these as they seem to drift through the air and, well, they're blue.
Here are some links to some more information:
|"Common blue damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) |
form mating wheel" by Charlesjsharp - Sharp Photography
Hope you enjoyed, | <urn:uuid:6935f809-a963-4020-b6c2-29d6e2326538> | {
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By Andrew M. Seaman
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Otherwise healthy people with a diarrhea-causing infection may have picked up the bacteria in doctors' offices or other healthcare sites, according to a new government study that also hints heartburn medications might increase the risk.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about 82 percent of Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, cases in healthy people occurred after visiting healthcare settings - like doctors' offices and emergency rooms.
"I think people should be aware of the source," said Dr. Fernanda Lessa, a medical epidemiologist in the surveillance branch of the division of healthcare quality promotion of the CDC and the study's senior author.
People typically pick up C. diff bacteria, which can cause severe diarrhea, during a hospital stay - especially after antibiotics kill off beneficial gut bacteria, allowing harmful bacteria to thrive.
But C. diff has been increasingly reported in young and healthy people who didn't stay in the hospital, Lessa and her colleagues write in JAMA Internal Medicine, adding that between 20 and 28 percent of C. diff cases are in healthy people.
To get a better understanding of possible sources of C. diff infections among otherwise healthy people, Lessa and her colleagues analyzed telephone interviews with 984 infected people in eight states from 2009 through mid-2011.
Overall, the team found that 18 percent didn't report any recent visits to a healthcare facility. The rest did report visiting doctors' or dentists' offices or even having been in a hospital for less than a day, such as for outpatient surgery.
Those locations can be the source of C. diff infections in two ways - direct contact with contaminated surfaces or, indirectly, from healthcare providers prescribing antibiotics that kill off friendly bacteria and leave a person more vulnerable to C. diff.
About 64 percent of the infected people reported taking antibiotics during the previous 12 weeks. Those who took antibiotics were also more likely to have some sort of exposure to a healthcare facility.
Other possible sources of exposure to the C. diff bacteria are infected family members - especially babies, who can carry the bacteria without showing any symptoms.
The study participants who weren't exposed to a healthcare facility were also less likely to have taken antibiotics, but more of them were exposed to a third possible risk factor: heartburn drugs known as proton-pump inhibitors, which are used to control stomach acid.
Previous research has tied proton-pump inhibitors - such as Prilosec and Nexium - to C. diff in healthy people. That evidence led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue a warning about the association in February 2012, according to Dr. Kent Sepkowitz, in a commentary accompanying the new study.
"People should just be cautious about taking them willy-nilly. There are certainly people who need to take them, but then there are many who don't," said Sepkowitz, director of infection control at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Dr. Peter Green from the Celiac Disease Center as Columbia University in New York said the drugs may create a hospitable environment for the C. diff bacteria to survive or - like antibiotics - they may disrupt the colon's "good" bacteria.
"It's very interesting because these proton-pump inhibitors are very widely used. People tend to get them and they just stay on them. Part of that is that they actually work to reduce heartburn symptoms," he said.
Green, who was not involved with the new study, said doctors are trying to get some people off the drugs because of their associations with C. diff, osteoporosis and other gastrointestinal infections.
"They're being used much more than is really necessary," he said.
Lessa cautioned, however, that it's not possible to draw firm conclusions from their study about what's causing the infections because it didn't compare the C. diff patients with a control group.
"The next step now is that we're undertaking a case-control study, enrolling patients without C. diff infections and test the hypotheses that were raised by this study," she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/10y9upJ JAMA Internal Medicine, online June 17, 2013. | <urn:uuid:4e1f29a6-2c10-40c5-b211-1c259c157839> | {
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This book covers fluid flow, heat transfer, mass transfer and applications of this knowledge in unit operations in food and chemical industries. It is written as a textbook for undergraduate students, which fills the gap in the area of food engineering operations. There are numerous practical examples, problems and figures in the book to help students understanding the concepts in a better way. Physical properties of many food materials are also given in this book, which are not provided in most of the books in this area.
The book can be taught in a sequence of three fundamental and two design courses in undergraduate programs of Food Engineering Departments. This book will also be a reference for other engineering courses for both undergraduate and graduate students. Besides food engineering students, the material in the book may be of interest to people who are working in the field of Food Science, Food Technology, Biological Systems Engineering, Food Process Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Agricultural Engineering. | <urn:uuid:0275085c-2f95-4281-819a-a66b59330483> | {
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Vulvar cancer is a rare form of cancer that occurs in the tissues of the external female genitalia, according to the American Cancer Society. This area, which is known as the vulva, includes the outer and inner vaginal lips, clitoris, vaginal opening and glands, perineum and mons pubis.Continue Reading
Cancer of the vulva usually affects the exterior vaginal lips, notes the American Cancer Society. This type of cancer forms progressively over time, with abnormal cells developing over a long period. These cells form what is known as vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia, or VIN.
There are generally no early signs or symptoms of vulvar cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Women who notice a growth or lump on the vulva; changes in the vulva’s skin, including wart-like growths or ulcers; tenderness; itching that does not go away in the area; or bleeding that does not come from the menstrual cycle should be evaluated by a doctor.
Cancer of the vulva is diagnosed via a physical exam and patient history. A doctor performs a visual inspection of the vulva to look for lumps or other unusual features, and then he performs a biopsy of any suspicious tissues or cells to confirm or rule out cancer. Treatment options and prognosis are based on the cancer’s stage and the patient’s general health and age, according to the American Cancer Society.Learn more about Cancer | <urn:uuid:860c6ce5-afa4-4561-a4af-38ba32283c8e> | {
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From The Wild Places by English naturalist Robert Macfarlane:
"To understand the wild you must understand the wood. For civilization, as the historian Robert Pogue Harrison writes, 'literally cleared its space in the midst of forests.' For millennia, 'a sylvan fringe of darkness defined the limits of cultivation, the margins of its cities, the boundaries of its domains, but also the extravagance of its imagination.'
"Although the disappearance of the true wildwood [in the British Isles] occurred in the Neolithic period, before humanity began to record its own history, creation myths in almost all cultures look fabulously back to a forested earth. In the ancient Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, the quest-story which begins world literature, Gilgamesh sets out on his journey from Uruk to the Cedar Mountains, where he has been charged to slay the Huwawa, the guardian of the forest. The Roman empire also defined itself against the forests in which its capital city was first established, and out of which its founders, the wolf-suckled twins, emerged. It was the Roman Empire which would proceed to destroy the dense forests of the ancient world.
"The association of the wild and the wood also run deep in etymology. The two words are thought to have grown out of the root word wald and the old Teutonic word walthus, meaning 'forest.' Walthus entered Old English in its variant forms of 'weald,' 'wald,' and 'wold,' which were used to designate both 'a wild place' and 'a wooded place,' in which wild creatures -- wolves, foxes, bears -- survived. The wild and wood also graft together in the Latin word silva, which means 'forest,' and from which emerged the idea of 'savage,' with its connotations of fertility....
"The deepwood is vanished in these islands -- much, indeed, had vanished before history began -- but we are still haunted by the idea of it. The deepwood flourishes in our architecture, art and above all in our literature. Unnumbered quests and voyages have taken place through and over the deepwood, and fairy tales and dream-plays have been staged in its glades and copses. Woods have been a place of inbetweenness, somewhere one might slip from one world to another, or one time to a former: in Kipling's story 'Puck of Pook's Hill,' it is by right of 'Oak and Ash and Thorn' that the children are granted their ability to voyage back into English history.
"There is no mystery in this association of woods and otherworlds, for as anyone who has walked the woods knows, they are places of correspondence, of call and answer. Visual affinities of color, relief and texture abound. A fallen branch echoes the deltoid form of a streambed into which it has come to rest. Chrome yellow autumn elm leaves find their color rhyme in the eye-ring of the blackbird. Different aspects of the forest link unexpectedly with each other, and so it is that within the stories, different times and worlds can be joined.
"Woods and forests have been essentialt to the imagination of these islands, and of countries throughout the world, for centuries. It is for this reason that when woods are felled, when they are suppressed by tarmac and concrete and asphalt, it is not only unique species and habitats that disappear, but also unique memories, unique forms of thought." | <urn:uuid:1e594010-eb22-467e-b865-cab3d64630f5> | {
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The Difference Between Hives And Atopic Dermatitis
Hives and atopic dermatitis are both conditions that are triggered by allergic reactions. However, they are not the same disorder. Atopic dermatitis is a common form of eczema that causes dry, flaky skin. The area of the atopic dermatitis may be red and inflamed. The trigger of atopic dermatitis may have had contact with the skin in the area of the eczema.
Hives, also called urticaria, is triggered by an allergen. Instead of the dry, inflamed rash of atopic dermatitis, hives can manifest as red, itchy, raised welts on the skin. Hives can be caused by coming in contact with an allergen trigger like latex or by consuming food to medication that triggers the reaction. Atopic dermatitis or hives may have an unknown cause.
A case of hives usually last less than twenty-four hours, while an atopic dermatitis rash can be present for months. Both conditions can cause intense itchiness. While atopic dermatitis is usually localized on one area of the body, hives can be widespread and often changes location on the body. For example, a case of hives may appear on the trunk first, then clear there and be present on the neck or arms. The red patches or welts can change shape and size during an outbreak as well.
Histamine causes hives by causing the leakage of fluid from small blood vessels. Some people take anti-histamine to treat the hives. Most cases of hives will resolve on their own without any medical intervention. Rarely, hives can cause difficulty breathing or even shock. This is a potentially life-threatening condition known as anaphylaxis. However, most cases of hives are relatively mild and are gone within hours without any complications.
While atopic dermatitis can be extremely uncomfortable, it is not life-threatening. The treatment for atopic dermatitis commonly involves two steps. First the allergic reaction is stopped. Secondly, the dry skin of the rash itself is treated. Some people use anti-histamines to help stop the allergen from causing irritation.
Doctors may prescribe cortisone or corticosteroids. An immune modulator ointment such as Elidel may be used. The treatment of the flaky or peeling dry skin of the rash is commonly treated with moisturizers. People with a tendency to develop atopic dermatitis are encouraged to keep skin moisturized to help prevent the development of the dry rashes.
People who get hives cannot prevent hives from hydrating the skin. Hives has nothing to do with the condition of the skin itself. Hives does not cause changes of the skin that require treatment like atopic dermatitis does. The inflammation of hives occurs under the skin. Though the cause of hives can be similar, the only similarity in treatment is the use of anti-histamine which may or may not be used for atopic dermatitis or hives. | <urn:uuid:db4dbff4-a0b9-4bb8-956b-845034654b77> | {
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Common name: Desert Bog-rush
Schoenus subaphyllus Kuek. APNI*
Description: Tufted perennial.
Culms erect, rigid, terete, grooved with grooves hairy at least near base, ± scabrous, nodeless, 15–45 cm long, 0.7–1 mm diam.
Leaves with blade to 2 cm long; sheath dark to very dark red-brown to blackish, smooth, shining; mouth sparsely ciliolate; ligule present. Inflorescence head-like, hemispherical or obconical, 0.4–1.5 cm long; lowest involucral bract to 1.3 cm long. Spikelets ovate to narrow-ovate, acute, 1–3-flowered, 5–7 mm long. Glumes 5–7, lowest 3 empty, ovate, acute to mucronate, straw-coloured with red-brown patches, ± dull, with sparsely woolly to glabrous margins; fertile glumes 4–5 mm long. Bristles absent. Stamens (4-)6; anthers c. 2 mm long.
Nut trigonous, ellipsoid to obovoid, 1.9–2.5 mm long, 1.0–1.3 mm diam., scarcely 3-ribbed, slightly wrinkled, glabrous, dull, red-brown with darker patches.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in woodland including mallee on sandy soils, south from Enngonia and Lightning Ridge to Broken Hill and Mildura.
NSW subdivisions: NWP, SWP, SFWP
Other Australian states: Qld Vic. W.A. S.A.
Text by K. L. Wilson
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project. | <urn:uuid:af5cfdb1-acaf-4a29-b3e9-ec95167fb0da> | {
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Health officials are warning that a cholera outbreak in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, which has left 23 people dead and forced more than 670 others to seek treatment, could be getting worse. Laboratory tests have confirmed that at least one person living in a Juba displacement camp has contracted cholera and there are fears the disease could spread rapidly within the crowded site.
Officials are setting up new treatment centres across the city and treating the water sources they believe are responsible for spreading the disease, but said they anticipate at least 1,000 more people might need to be hospitalized before the outbreak ends. And that is only if cholera does not spread to other areas of the country.
Health Minister Riek Gai Kok officially announced the cholera outbreak nearly two weeks ago - the first in South Sudan since 2009 - and pledged “as the government, as a country [we] will support any efforts made to contain this disease.”
The outbreak was not unexpected. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Abdinasir Abubakar said the ministry and health partners had already started preparing for the appearance of cholera and other communicable diseases “because of the context. Because we had a lot of population movement and that population movement always brings some health problems.”
Five and a half months of fighting in South Sudan has forced more than a million people to flee their homes - and the situation continues to deteriorate. Despite a renewed cessation of hostilities agreement signed nearly three weeks ago by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, fighting has continued. The UN reports an additional 70,000 people have been displaced since then, some into areas without clean water or enough latrines.
When the outbreak was announced, UN agencies and partners began focusing on some of the most serious water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) concerns - both in the displaced populations and among long-term Juba residents.
Much of the water people use for drinking and cooking is collected from the Nile and delivered by tanker truck. UNICEF’s WASH chief Lillian Ukwiri said they are trying to track down every truck and make sure each shipment is chlorinated, something which should kill cholera bacteria.
They have also put out radio advertisements instructing people to boil water for at least 10 minutes before drinking it or cooking with it, and to wash their hands regularly. The messages also encourage people to report to a health centre as soon as they show any symptoms, including watery diarrhoea or vomiting, because the disease can kill swiftly.
When the outbreak was announced, Juba Teaching Hospital set up an emergency isolation ward. It filled quickly, with patients sleeping in open-air corridors that have been covered with tarps. Trina Helderman from Medair, a humanitarian group providing emergency services in the country, has been stationed at the ward since it opened. She told IRIN that initially they were seeing more than 100 patients a day, though the intake has slowed.
“It seems that the cases are going down, but based on what the experts have told us, it could be that the peak comes back up again,” she said. “We’re just waiting to see how things play out.”
Helderman said the messaging does seem to be working, with many people arriving as soon as they exhibit any symptoms, which makes it easier to treat them. They receive either oral rehydration salts to replace fluid lost in diarrhoea or vomiting or - in severe cases - an intravenous drip.
But some people are still not making it to the health centres in time. Samuel Moro’s family said they recognized the symptoms of cholera immediately, but first attempted to treat the disease with a homemade rehydration solution of sugar and salt. His condition worsened over the next 48 hours. By the time he arrived at the isolation ward, it was too late. He died a few hours later.
His brother, Kagwa Apolo, told IRIN Moro’s family was aware of the outbreak and had heard the messages encouraging them to seek treatment, but “we were hoping we could treat him at home. People left him to stay at home for a long time.”
High fatality rate
WHO’s Abubakar said the outbreak’s fatality rate is still too high. To bring it down, he said they needed to increase the surveillance teams so they could more quickly identify people in need of treatment, like Moro. They also needed more cholera treatment centres (CTCs). Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened a clinic last week in one of the hardest-hit areas of the city and Abubakar said health officials are considering opening two additional centres in the coming weeks.
Those are not the only shortages. Abubakar said because the outbreak has been worse than officials initially anticipated, it has forced them to revise the expected number of people showing symptoms of cholera from 5,000 to 10,000, 2 percent of the population. 2,000 people are expected to be hospitalized.
“We need to go back to our planning and bring more supplies. We need to bring more staff in. We need to set up more CTCs. We need to train more staff and we need to expand the response.” And that was before MSF reported this week that the disease had officially entered one of Juba’s two displacement camps.
When the fighting started in mid-December, thousands of people crowded into the UN Mission in South Sudan’s two bases in the capital. More than 14,000 people are still living in each of the camps, which do not have enough latrines or other basic sanitation facilities.
Stefan Liljegren, MSF’s field coordinator, told IRIN there was one laboratory-confirmed case at the UN House camp on the outskirts of Juba and seven other patients who showed symptoms of cholera.
Because of their conditions, health officials already viewed the camps as high-risk areas for a cholera outbreak. Earlier this year they provided two doses of oral cholera vaccines to more than 96 percent of the people living in the camp in an effort to mitigate the impact of a possible outbreak.
But Liljegren said the vaccine offers only 65 percent coverage, which means there is still the potential for thousands of people to become sick. MSF has already set up CTCs in each of the camps.
“The advantage in the camp is that the population is aware,” he said. “They have a very close access to the CTC, so hopefully they will be able to access treatment very quickly, and thus, also be discharged very quickly.”
Abubakar said they are also waiting for reports from three other areas of the country where potential cases have been reported and acknowledged. “Our estimation is the cholera outbreak might spread outside Juba.” Even without any confirmation, the government has encouraged state officials to start rolling out public awareness campaigns and preparing people for the possibility that the outbreak could spread. | <urn:uuid:c6f52307-fe07-4bec-8fbc-dd2992af5403> | {
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We can ensure that people living with HIV receive treatment
As the number of people living with HIV worldwide continues to grow, HIV-related illness remains a leading cause of death. It is likely to continue to be a significant cause of premature mortality in the coming decades. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) enables people to regain control over their lives, dignity, productivity and employment and contributes to reducing further transmission of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). People living with HIV have a basic human right to equitable access to quality, efficient and sustainable interventions for HIV prevention and treatment. | <urn:uuid:68650e94-0e8a-456f-9251-5ac4a745916b> | {
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Disney Turns Your Body Into a Touch Screen
Touching and swiping on your smartphone or tablet is so 2011. What if you could select a new song, craft a text message, or launch an app without ever touching your gadget?
Disney Research has stepped away from creating animatronic creatures to investigate more complex uses for touch-based technology, and it landed on a system known as Touché.
A five-minute video (below) details some of the uses for Touché, but one of the more interesting options is using the body as a touch screen of sorts. Rather than pulling your MP3 player out of your pocket, for example, simply touch your finger to your palm to advance a playlist or increase the volume.
The user would likely be wearing a wristwatch-esque sensor to pick up movement, according to a paper from Disney researchers Munehiko Sato, Ivan Poupyrev, and Chris Harrison. The trio recently won Best Paper at the 2012 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
"For example, making a 'shh' gesture with index finger touching to the lips, could put the phone into silent mode," they wrote. "Putting the hands together, forming a book-like gesture, could replay voicemails."
Another somewhat hilarious (though possibly traumatizing) option the researchers laid out for Touché was "food training." The technology works with liquids, so let's say you were trying to get junior to eat his cereal with a spoon. Did he stick his finger in the bowl? A buzzer signals that he's doing it wrong. Chopsticks? Nope, another jarring buzzer. Trying with a spoon, however, prompts a soothing tone to signal that he is eating the cereal correctly.
Touché could also help people use their doorknobs as an away message in the office, researchers said. Are you on the phone? Anyone who touches your doorknob could see a "Do Not Disturb" message illuminate on the door. If you step away, meanwhile, different pressure could produce different messages - a light touch means "Back in 5" but closing the door with a full grip on the doorknob signals that you're "Gone for the Night."
In the home, how about sensors in your couch? Sit down and the TV turns on. Lights dim the longer you watch, with the TV and lights turning off completely should you fall asleep.
Touché is still in the concept phase, so touch screens are likely here to stay for the foreseeable future. But the researchers said they were inspired by Mark Weiser and his 1991 "disappearing computer" theory, or the idea that actual gadgets will fade into the background. For that to become a reality, however, "completely new interaction technologies are required, and we hope that this work contributes to the emergence of future ubiquitous computing environments," the Disney team said.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
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On Black Friday, when the Trump administration likely thought the country wasn’t paying attention, a federal government climate change report was released that included some rather dire information:
Key findings of the NCA4, Vol. II
Human health and safety, our quality of life, and the rate of economic growth in communities across the U.S. are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The cascading impacts of climate change threaten the natural, built and social systems we rely on, both within and beyond the nation’s borders.
Societal efforts to respond to climate change have expanded in the last five years, but not at the scale needed to avoid substantial damages to the economy, environment, and human health over the coming decades.
Without substantial and sustained global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and regional initiatives to prepare for anticipated changes, climate change is expected to cause growing losses to American infrastructure and property and impede the rate of economic growth over this century.
Agriculture and food production
Rising temperatures, extreme heat, drought, wildfire on rangelands and heavy downpours are expected to increasingly challenge the quality and quantity of U.S. crop yields, livestock health, price stability and rural livelihoods.
- Continued changes to Earth’s climate will cause major disruptions in some ecosystems. Some coral reef and sea ice ecosystems are already experiencing transformational changes, affecting communities and economies that rely upon them.
Water and the coasts
Changes in the quality and quantity of fresh water available for people and the environment are increasing risks and costs to agriculture, energy production, industry and recreation.
Climate change will transform coastal regions by the latter part of this century, with ripple effects on other regions and sectors. Many communities should expect higher costs and lower property values from sea level rise.
Climate change threatens the health and well-being of the American people by causing increasing extreme weather, changes to air quality, the spread of new diseases by insects and pests, and changes to the availability of food and water.
Donald Trump reacted to this climate change report from his own government in typical Donald Trump fashion. He said he didn’t believe it.
Mr Trump, on his way to Mississippi, was incredulous about the National Climate Assessment report which was released late last week during the Thanksgiving holiday. He said he had “read some of it and it’s fine”.
Donald Trump said he didn’t believe it, despite the fact that this report was put together by 13 different federal agencies and received input from hundred of scientists, and despite the fact that Donald Trump has witnessed the adverse repercussions of climate change several times with his very own two eyes:
The report comes just days after Mr Trump witnessed the effects of the deadly wildfires in California. During his presidency several devastating hurricanes have rocked Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Puerto Rico as well, costly the federal government billions in disaster relief aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and other means.
Not to be outdone, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, chimed in with his own attempts to downplay the climate change report:
He was asked about how he was able to reconcile scientists’ warnings that climate change will have dire effects on virtually all aspects of the US economy and stability. Wheeler said he had “not read the entire report,” and that he did not have time to discuss it report with Trump, who has been outspoken about entirely dismissing it. Earlier versions of the assessment have long been publicly available, vetted by the EPA, and subject to a lengthy and thorough comment period. But that didn’t stop Wheeler from undermining confidence in the report and media reports, all while claiming the US is on track to meet its climate targets set out under the Paris agreement anyway. (This is simply not true.)
“I have questions about the assumptions,” Wheeler said, referring to the range of scenarios the report lays out for continuing business-as-usual on greenhouse gas pollution. “The majority of that report was written in 2016 and it was at the direction of the previous administration,” Wheeler repeated more than once, implying that it is also a political document. At one point, he even connected Tom Steyer, an outspoken critic of Trump and prominent climate advocate, to the economic finding that climate change will have more than twice the impact by the turn of the century than the total hit from the 2008 Great Recession.
It’s worth noting that before being nominated by Donald Trump to work for the EPA, Andrew Wheeler worked for 23 years as a staffer for leading climate change denier Senator Jim Inhofe and as a lobbyist for coal companies:
U.S. Senate staff, 1995-2009
From January 1995 until January 1997, Wheeler worked as Chief Counsel of Senator Jim Inhofe. In 1997 Wheeler entered his first work in Congress as majority staff director at the US Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change, Wetlands, and Nuclear Safety, which Inhofe chaired until 2001; thereafter he was minority staff director under Chairman George Voinovich from 2001-2003. From 2003-2009 he was chief counsel at the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. During this time, he generally sought to reduce government regulations on industries that generate greenhouse gases. Senator James Inhofe was prominent for his rejection of climate change, and famously brought a snowball to the Senate as alleged proof that climate change was not real.
During his time at the Senate, he was named by the National Journal as one of the Top Congressional Staff Leaders in 2005 and was a John C. Stennis Congressional Staff Fellow in the 106th Congress.
Since 2009 Wheeler has been a lobbyist at the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels‘ energy and natural resources practice. Since 2009, he represented the coal producer Murray Energy, privately owned by Robert E. Murray, a supporter of President Trump. Murray Energy was Wheeler’s best-paying client, paying more than $300,000 during the period 2009-2017. Wheeler lobbied against the Obama administration’s climate regulations for power plants and also sought to persuade the Energy Department to subsidize coal plants. Wheeler set up a meeting between Murray and Energy Secretary Rick Perry in March 2017; at the meeting, Murray advocated for the rollback of environmental regulations and for protections for the coal industry.
Stephen Hawking stated that “climate change is the biggest threat to our planet”, yet here we are with a President and EPA administrator who would rather just ignore the threat because it could distract from their attempts to prop up the coal industry. Is propping up the coal industry worth ignoring the biggest threat to our planet? Well, so far under Trump, new coal jobs have accounted for just 0.05% of new jobs. So, you be the judge. | <urn:uuid:26c28411-cd72-4e62-b1e3-0a06fef6b7d9> | {
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Hypophosphatasia, also called Rathbun’s Syndrome, rare hereditary disorder characterized by very low levels of tissue and serum alkaline phosphatase (the enzyme necessary in cell processes such as muscle metabolism and bone formation). The disease is more common in females. Growth of the infant is retarded; permanent stunting may occur, and rickets-like deformities develop. Fractures occur easily, and the deciduous teeth are lost early. The skull is soft, but intracranial pressure is increased, and the cranial sutures close early, resulting occasionally in brain damage or impairment of vision. There is no treatment, and prognosis depends on the age of onset. Severe hypophosphatasia may be fatal in infancy. Milder childhood cases improve spontaneously as the child matures, and, in adulthood, symptoms, apart from a tendency to fracture, may be lacking.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
bone disease: Inherited disordersOne of these conditions, hypophosphatasia, results from a deficiency of the enzyme alkaline phosphatase. Multiple defects in the growth zones of the skeleton are distinct from familial hypophosphatemia, a condition characterized by low phosphate levels in the blood; it affects the kidney primarily and the skeleton only secondarily. Hemophilia,…
alkaline phosphatase…is a hereditary trait called hypophosphatasia, which results in bone deformities. In severe cases, the deficiency leads to early death from infection. Alkaline phosphatase is also present in the blood and is an important clinical diagnostic indicator for several illnesses, including chronic myelogenous leukemia.… | <urn:uuid:5d00197e-e619-4d8b-a2cb-01f409b6910f> | {
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One of the most fulfilling jobs that a person can take on is that of a school counselor. When you work as a school counselor, you serve in a supportive capacity for students who are dealing with emotional issues and other challenges in life. You may have to help a student deal with the emotional turmoil that he or she feels over the divorce of his or her parents. You may help a student deal with constant bullying that he or she experiences from other students at the school. It is your job to make sure that the student is able to keep up with his or her schoolwork amidst emotional chaos. You also serve as a confidant for the student. Maybe you have wondered, "How do I become a school counselor?" When you want to become a school counselor, it is important for you to get the necessary certifications.
What's it like to be a school counselor?
When you are a school counselor, you help create the conditions that are necessary to a student's success. You care about the student's success in his or her emotional, social and academic life. You are an important part of the administration for a school. Your work helps to create a safe learning environment for all of the students in a school. You also work with teachers to understand the struggles that students face in the classroom. You may have to help in designing a study plan that can accommodate a student with special needs or emotional issues. It is also your job to meet with students on a daily basis. You may offer students a form of emotional therapy, or you may simply check in with students to make sure that they are completing all of their course requirements. Being a school counselor is a fulfilling way to have a positive impact in the life of a student. You act as the supportive rock for a student who may be going through emotional turmoil.
If you want to become a school counselor, then you should obtain an undergraduate degree in psychology, sociology or education. You should try to take courses that focus upon counseling in the educational system. You should also try to obtain internships in local schools during your time in college. When you have an internship, you are able to observe the work that counselors do on a daily basis. You can also volunteer for children's camps or phone hotlines in order to gain experience in helping individuals overcome difficult emotional issues. After you complete an undergraduate program, you will then need to take a state certification exam. You should try to find out what the requirements for a state certification exam are.
Salary & How to Get a Job
According to the BLS, the average salary of a school counselor is about $53,000 a year. A school counselor will be able to earn a higher salary if he or she has a doctoral degree or master's degree. When you want to get a job as a school counselor, it is important for you to network with individuals in local schools. You should try to get to know the faculty members and administration of elementary schools, because they may ultimately be the ones in a position to hire you. | <urn:uuid:e7611731-6624-4893-8614-df3950105a84> | {
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By Kay Quinn Healthbeat Reporter
St. Louis (KSDK) - More than 66,000 people will be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma this year alone.
On this week's "8 Ways to Prevent cancer" segment, a viewer whose father and brother died of the disease wants to know if she's at increased risk.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or NHL for short, is actually a large group of about 30 diseases. And as it turns out, if you have a close family member who's had it, your risk of getting NHL is probably two times higher than someone without a family history.
"But it's important to remember that the risk for lymphoma is relatively low so that they estimate about two percent of all people will develop lymphoma during their lifetime, so if you double that risk it's still only a four percent lifetime risk of lymphoma," said Dr. Nancy Bartlett with the Siteman Cancer Center.
Here's another way to look at it. That four percent risk, while not zero, is still lower than many other cancers.
"Breast cancer where your risk over your lifetime is about 12 percent for any woman, prostate cancer in a man 15 percent, so even doubling the risk of having lymphoma is still a small risk compared to much more common types of cancer," said Dr. Bartlett.
Researchers are working on learning more about NHL, including trying to find the gene that may link cases in families. In the meantime, know your family history and talk with your doctor if you're concerned.
"Even if you know that you're at slightly increased risk of lymphoma compared to someone else, there aren't any tests that you need to ask your doctor to do, no x-rays or blood tests," said Dr. Bartlett. | <urn:uuid:0e280857-93a6-4926-86d0-45e2aa5d4b03> | {
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Unformatted text preview: Chapter 1 Introduction Read BS, Chapter 1 1.1 Preliminary semantics We introduce here classical thermodynamics . The word “thermo-dynamic,” used first by Thomson (later Lord Kelvin), 1 has Greek origin, and is translated 2 as the combination of • θ ´ ǫρμη , therme : heat, and • δ ´ υναμις , dynamis : power. An image of Thomson and his 1849 first use of the word is given in Fig. 1.1. Figure 1.1: William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) (1824-1907), Ulster-born Scottish scientist; im- age from http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/ ∼ history/Biographies/Thomson.html and image giving the first use of “thermo-dynamic” extracted from his 1849 work. 1 W. Thomson (later Kelvin), 1849, “An account of Carnot’s theory of the motive power of heat; with numerical results deduced from Regnault’s experiments on steam,” Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , 16:541-574. See also C. W. Smith, 1977, “William Thomson and the creation of thermodynamics: 1840-1855,” Archive for History of Exact Sciences , 16(3): 231-288. 2 All Greek spellings and etymologies are drawn from the Oxford English Dictionary , 2nd edition, 1989. 9 10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION The modifier “classical” is used to connote a description in which quantum mechanical effects, the molecular nature of matter, and the statistical nature of molecular behavior are not considered in any detail. These effects will not be completely ignored; however, they will be lumped into simple averaged models which are valid on the macroscale. As an example, for ordinary gases, our classical thermodynamics will be valid for systems whose characteristic length scale is larger than the mean free path between molecular collisions. For air at atmospheric density, this about 0 . 1 μm (1 μm = 10 − 6 m ). Additionally, “classical” also connotes a description in which the effects of finite time- dependency are ignored. In this sense, thermodynamics resembles the field of statics from Newtonian mechanics. Recall Newton’s second law of motion, m d 2 x /dt 2 = ∑ F , where m is the mass, x is the position vector, t is time, and F is the force vector. In the statics limit where ∑ F = , inertial effects are ignored, as is time-dependency. Now a Newtonian would consider dynamics to imply motion, and so would consider thermodynamics to imply the time-dependent motion of heat. So a Newtonian would be more inclined to call the subject of these notes “thermostatics.” However, if we return to the earlier Greek translation of dynamics as power, we are actually truer to the classical connotation of thermodynamics. For the fundamental interplay of thermodynamics is that between so-called thermal energy (as might be thought of when considering heat) and mechanical energy (as might be thought of when considering power, a work rate). More formally, adopting the language of BS (p. 13), we will take the definition • thermodynamics : the science that deals with heat and work and those properties of...
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This note was uploaded on 03/02/2012 for the course THERMO 20231 taught by Professor Powers during the Spring '10 term at Notre Dame.
- Spring '10
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Ishmael, his brother, and their friends walk for days in hunger and silence. They pass through abandoned villages and see houses ransacked and dead bodies everywhere. Their hunger becomes all-consuming, and they are forced to return to Khalilou's house for money and provisions. They find the house destroyed, but Ishmael's tiny bag of money is still stashed under the foot of the bed.
To seek safety, the group must cross a clearing filled with dead bodies. During the crossing, something falls out of a pocket and makes enough noise to alert the rebel guards in a nearby tower. Ishmael, who has already reached the other side, watches his brother pretend to be dead among the bodies so that the guards don't shoot.
Though the boys now have money to buy food, they find that the neighbors in the nearby villages won't sell to them. Either there aren't enough provisions or the villagers are stashing supplies for their own later struggle to survive. Ishmael and his band steal food in the night.
Throughout this chapter, Ishmael's group faces struggles they've never encountered: terror, starvation, and desperation. They try to make logical decisions, such as returning to Khalilou's house to get money to buy food, but they find that logic isn't as useful during war. War brings constant change, and there is no control over the outcome. Their desperation leads them to steal food from strangers, which is something they'd never have considered before the war. Ishmael reveals their theft in the last line of the chapter as if his guilt and shame remain. | <urn:uuid:6b52298c-e46c-4b31-acbf-d385c62acd79> | {
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Synchronous or "stationary" communications satellites are put into an
orbit whose radius is \( r = 4.23 \times 10^7 \) m.
The orbit is in the plane of the equator, and two adjacent satellites have
an angular separation of \( \theta = 2.00^\circ \).
Find the arc length
\( s \) (see the drawing) that separates the satellites. | <urn:uuid:9f7ac97c-e3cc-49c0-a64b-873c688ec0d1> | {
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6 Products That Were Ahead of Their Time
Not even early adopters were ready for the initial versions of these products.
1. The Hybrid Car
In 1900, a young Ferdinand Porsche used both a battery-powered wheel hub drive and a petrol gas engine to create a hybrid 100 years before you started feeling guilty for not buying a Prius. The Lohner-Porsche Hybrid could reach speeds of 22 mph, and go 124 miles on a single charge/tank. Not bad for 1.7 tons of turn-of-the-century innovation.
2. Picture phones
If there is one thing all retro future predictions had in common, it was picture phones—and in the mid-'60s, it seemed like they might actually become a reality. Western Electric spent years researching and testing the Western Electric Picturephone®. They brought it to the World’s Fair in 1964 to see what people thought of the prototype. They hated it. Undaunted, Western Electric continued to develop the Picturephone and put it on the market in 1970. Everyone still hated it; it was big and ugly and offered little advantage over telephones.
3. The VCR
There was a flurry of confusing and unsuccessful attempts at a home video recorder in the early 1960s, and among them was the 1963 Telcan (television in a can!). The Telcan was connected to your television in a manner I can’t possibly understand, and could record 20 minutes of grainy television (40 if you switched the reels at the end). It cost a reasonable-ish £60 (around $3000 in today’s money), but came in a kit you had to assemble yourself. It was put on the market in 1963 to a completely dumbfounded public, appealing only to wealthy tech nerds. By 1964 the company that made Telcan was liquidated, and only two Telcans are believed to exist today.
4. Edison Talking Doll
This creepy little darling, made in 1877, wasn’t just the first talking doll. She also contained the first phonograph intended for home use. The child would wind the handle of the phonograph inside the doll’s body, causing the needle to cross over a wax record of a nursery rhyme. It cost the equivalent of two weeks' salary, and was entirely too fragile for children. The steel needle wore out the wax quickly, and of the 500 dolls sold, most were returned for a refund. In fact, they were only marketed for a month before production ceased. As for Edison’s own opinion: “The voices of the little monsters were exceedingly unpleasant to hear."
5. Washing Machine
Some historians say that the invention of the washing machine was the greatest thing in history to further women’s rights. They aren’t being funny; laundry was an all-consuming torture before the washing machine. Women had to scrub every sheet, napkin, diaper, and dirt-caked pair of work pants in the house, on a washboard, in endless cauldrons of boiled water, with lye soap that burned their hands raw, before moving on to the hoisting, hanging, drying, and ironing. The first washing machine to use a drum and agitator (like we use today) was invented by William Blackstone in 1874 as a gift for his wife. Other inventors had tried variants, but Blackstone’s hand cranked design would be the model for all to come after. Long after. It would take about 50 years for the machines to become properly electronic (in a way that didn’t cause constant outages and shocks from the water) and thus a household staple.
6. Microwave oven
The first microwave ovens, produced in the mid-1940s, were intended for restaurant use—which was the only viable option because they were six feet tall, weighed 750 pounds, and cost $5000. But they allowed restaurants to keep food in the refrigerator until it was ordered, increasing freshness and decreasing waste. The Radarange, intended for home use, came out in 1947. It was still the size of refrigerator, but more reasonably priced at $3000. Microwave ovens remained unpopular for nearly 30 years, as people associated them with radiation and horrible cooking. By 1975, microwaves had had a few years to shrink both in size and cost, and to prove they didn’t cause brain tumors. That was the year they outsold traditional ovens. | <urn:uuid:78910c40-db1f-4c7a-a707-2976bdf0dacf> | {
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GM Plans Fuel-Cell Propulsion Vehicles
KANSAS CITY, Mo. A future in which cars operate without using petroleum-based fuels, run hundreds of miles before refueling and emit only water is closer than you might think.
That was the message presented to about 150 people Tuesday by Larry Burns of General Motors Corp., who spoke at Midwest Research Institute. Burns, GM's vice president of research and development and strategic planning, discussed the automaker's progress toward producing a hydrogen-powered vehicle.
Burns said that GM stands by its previously stated goal of designing and validating a vehicle with a fuel-cell propulsion system that can compete with the traditional internal-combustion engine by 2010.
Fuel-cell vehicles run through power generated by combining hydrogen and oxygen. No exhaust or greenhouse gases would be emitted in its operation. The only byproduct is water.
"A fuel cell is like a battery, except it doesn't store electricity," Burns said. "You can create electricity with a fuel cell as long as you have hydrogen available."
In January, GM showcased a hydrogen-powered concept car, a five-seat sport utility vehicle called the Sequel, at the North American Auto Show in Detroit. Burns described it as the first fuel-cell vehicle whose performance is comparable to that of gasoline-powered cars. Burns said the Sequel can run for 300 miles before refueling, and it can accelerate to 60 mph in less than 10 seconds.
"We really do think we're going to revolutionize how people move around," he told the group at the institute's Arthur Mag Conference Center.
With gasoline prices reaching record levels this year and growing concern about the U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the public interest in alternative technologies for cars has risen. Consumers are showing more interest in hybrid vehicles, which run on a combination of gas and electricity.
Although GM is producing hybrids, Burns said, the long-term solution to the country's dependence on petroleum is making vehicles powered by hydrogen, which can be produced from a variety of sources.
But some analysts think that fuel-cell vehicles becoming a mainstream part of the automotive industry is still a long way down the road.
"It's a technology that all the vehicle manufacturers are pursuing and researching" said Anthony Pratt, senior manager of global powertrain at J.D. Power and Associates. "But we're still a ways away from a commercially viable hydrogen vehicle. With the current technology, the cost right now for a hydrogen vehicle would be so great that it wouldn't make economic sense for the consumer to buy it or the automaker to build it."
But Burns thinks that is rapidly changing. The technology to produce GM's Sequel is two years old, he said, and advances have since been made to produce fuel-cell vehicles more efficiently.
Currently, Burns said, the cost of producing the hydrogen for use in vehicles is 1.3 times the cost of producing gasoline for vehicle use. In addition, producing hydrogen also creates pollution.
"You may just be shifting the consumption of energy from the driver to the producer of hydrogen," Pratt noted.
However, GM thinks entrepreneurs who develop more efficient ways of producing hydrogen could solve that problem as the auto industry continues moving toward fuel-cell vehicles. In addition to hydrogen being produced from fossil fuels, Burns said, hydrogen can also be produced by nuclear, solar and wind power.
Another apparent problem is infrastructure in the distribution of hydrogen, whether in the form of a liquid or gas. Burns thinks liquid is the most practical form. GM has done a study showing that building about 12,000 hydrogen filling stations throughout the country's metropolitan areas would put a station within easy access of every driver of a fuel-cell vehicle. Also, a hydrogen station every 25 miles on the interstate could also be established.
Burns said GM estimated that would cost $12 billion.
"That would be one-half the cost of what it would take to build the Alaskan oil pipeline today," he said. "You don't need hydrogen at every filling station in the country to get started."
Burns also touted the fuel cell vehicle for having far fewer parts than a gasoline-powered vehicle, requiring much less maintenance.
"It's very simple from a mechanical standpoint," he said. "There are one-tenth as many moving parts on a fuel cell as there is on an internal combustion engine," he said.
To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com.
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Humans have invented an endless series of strategies to try and outwit the Grim Reaper. Stephen Cave explores our fascination with immortality
A group of American psychologists has discovered a simple way of turning ordinary people into fundamentalists and ideologues. Their method requires neither indoctrination nor isolation nor any form of brainwashing; indeed, it can be done anywhere and in a matter of minutes. It is just this: the researchers remind these ordinary folks that they will one day die.
In one experiment, for example, the psychologists asked a group of Christian students to give their impressions of the personalities of two people. In all relevant respects, these two people were very similar – except one was a fellow Christian and the other Jewish. Under normal circumstances, participants showed no inclination to treat the two people differently. But if the students were first reminded of their mortality (e.g., by being asked to fill in a personality test that included questions about their attitude to their own death) then they were much more positive about their fellow Christian and more negative about the Jew.
The researchers behind this work – Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski – were testing the hypothesis that most of what we do we do in order to protect us from the terror of death; what they call “Terror Management Theory”. Our sophisticated worldviews, they believe, exist primarily to convince us that we can defeat the Reaper. Therefore when he looms, scythe in hand, we cling all the more firmly to the shield of our beliefs.
This research, now spanning over 400 studies, shows what poets and philosophers have long known: that it is our struggle to defy death that gives shape to our civilisation. Or, as Socrates put it, the ways of men are incomprehensible until you see that they are striving for eternal life. This struggle to project ourselves into an unending future is the foundation of human achievement: the wellspring of religion, the architect of our cities and the impulse behind the arts.
That religions are very much a product of our yearning for immortality is perhaps obvious. The Buddha developed his particular doctrine of reincarnation on realising he would one day die; the spread of Islam relied on a particularly graphic portrayal of the rewards – or punishments – that awaited in the next life; and of course Christianity is explicitly a death-denying worldview: “Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life,” as the Gospel of St John succinctly puts it.
Atheists and agnostics should not think that they are free from such comforting illusions of eternity. The psychologists, psychiatrists and anthropologists who developed Terror Management Theory have shown that almost all ideologies, from patriotism to communism to celebrity culture, function similarly in shielding us from death’s approach. Even the most enlightened of rationalists tend to have some solace-giving views that shape their action. It is this ubiquity of immortality strategies, even beyond the church and mosque, that makes their study so crucial to understanding ourselves.
In one now classic secular example, the researchers recruited court judges from Tucson in the USA. Half of these judges were reminded of their mortality (again with the otherwise innocuous personality test) and half were not. They were then all asked to rule on a hypothetical case of prostitution similar to those they ruled on every day. The judges who had first been reminded of their mortality set a bond (the equivalent of bail) nine times higher than those who hadn’t (averaging $455 compared to $50).
So just like the Christians, they reacted to the thought of death by clinging more fiercely to their worldview. Only in the judges’ case, their worldview was centred around law and order, as if stability and moral righteousness could keep the Reaper at bay. Other experiments have linked fear of death to the desire for fame and patriotism. It is even possible to make someone xenophobic just by asking them about immigration policy in front of a funeral parlour.
Thus the odds are that you too, dear reader, are possessed of some notion that promises the defeat of death. You might be tempted to think that popping vitamins and jogging can keep you one step ahead of the Reaper; that science will allow us to upload our minds on to computers; that something of you will remain in the great works you leave behind; or that you live on in the wisdom and DNA you have imparted to your children. Few, whether religious or not, can claim to be altogether free of such illusions.
The reason why we need such comforting stories is simple. Even though the desire for immortality can sound fanciful and metaphysical, it is in fact rooted in our most basic biological nature. We are, as Richard Dawkins puts it, “survival machines”. Like all creatures, we are only here because our ancestors strove to survive and reproduce – to propel themselves into the future. This is a truism in today’s life sciences: the preservation and reproduction of self in some form belong to all definitions of what life is; it is what makes the difference between evolution’s winners and losers.
But in humans this will to live becomes the will to live for ever. It is a consequence of our overgrown brains, with our ability to project into the future. Our desire to avoid death is not limited to face-to-face confrontations with predators or precipices – we can use our powerful imaginations to summon the prospect of all sorts of mortal perils at any moment. And, of course, we can see that the universal processes of disease and degeneration will eventually claim us too. Thus we alone of creatures must live with the fact of mortality; this is what WB Yeats meant when he wrote that “Man has created death”.
So we are born with the same desire to keep going that marks all living things, yet we can see that this desire will one day be thwarted. This realisation is potentially devastating: we must live in the knowledge that the worst thing that can possibly happen to us one day surely will. Extinction – the ultimate trauma, a personal apocalypse, the end of our individual universe – seems inevitable.
And thus we create our immortality strategies to cope with this terrifying insight. These strategies come in countless colours and creeds, from pyramid-building to yoga, from the Eucharist to cryonics, from the self-elevation of eternal fame to the self-submission of tribal loyalty. All human cultures have some way of reassuring us that death is not so bad as it seems.
Despite the apparent diversity of strategies they all in fact follow one of four basic forms. To put it metaphorically, there are just four paths purporting to lead up the Mount of the Immortals. Pharaohs, Popes, pop-stars and peasants – all have been struggling up one of these four paths in the hope of finding everlasting life at the top. It is the enormous generative and creative power of this struggle that has shaped human progress.
The first path is simply Staying Alive. Although it at first sounds unpromising, even absurd, every culture has had some myth of an elixir of life or fountain of youth that can keep us going in this body for ever. Now this strategy is as widespread as ever, as scientific progress holds out the promise of conquering ageing. But those seeking a back-up plan can find one in the second path: Resurrection. This is the belief that, although we must physically die, nonetheless we can physically rise again with the bodies we knew in life. The belief in physical resurrection is orthodoxy for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but is also undergoing a reinvention for the scientific age as technologists dream of freezing their corpses so that they may one day live again.
However, those who would rather leave unreliable flesh and bone behind can choose the third path: survival as a Soul. The majority of people on Earth currently believe they have one, including two-thirds of people in the UK and even more in the US. And a general decline in church-going and other religious rituals is hardly having any impact on the widespread belief that we can live on in the ether. But those who doubt the reality of a spiritual substance can still take the fourth path: Legacy. This is as popular in today’s celebrity-obsessed culture as when Achilles chose eternal glory over a long life on the battlefield of Troy.
Can any of these possibly fulfil their promise? It is, after all, one thing to explain why we are prone to believe these stories, and quite another to ask if any of them are true. But such questioning could be a dangerous business: the American psychologist William McDougall, for example, argued that the passing away of belief in an afterlife “would be calamitous for our civilisation”. The Cambridge philosopher CD Broad, himself a sceptic, went so far as to argue “that the doctrine of human immortality (whether it be in fact true or false) is one of these socially valuable ‘myths’ which the State ought to remove from the arena of public discussion.”
But the State, fortunately, has not so acted and we are free to find our own way. And this way need not be blindly following the millions who have trodden these four paths before us. Instead, by reflecting on what drives us to struggle up the Mount of the Immortals, we might learn to master that drive. And by reflecting on where those four paths have taken us, we might learn to harness their creative power while avoiding their dark side of xenophobia and extremism.
Indeed, by reflecting on our quest for immortality, we might even find that it is possible to live without it. We might find that the very limit to our time is what makes it valuable; that if we stop dreaming of an indefinite future, we can live better in the here and now. This would not be easy: we are born to project ourselves forward and are easy prey for any ideology that promises we can do so without end. But with practice and thought it might just be possible. As the Psalmist tells us: “teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”.
Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How it Drives Civilisation by Stephen Caveis published by Biteback. RA readers can buy the paperback at the special price of £5.99 (RRP: £9.99) – simply visit the Biteback promotion page and enter the code "RAIMMORTALITY". | <urn:uuid:ccd9aff1-aa5a-4aaa-9ff1-1fd0d3d9782e> | {
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Book T of C
Chap T of C
The evidence produced by observational research is called correlational data. Correlations are patterns in the data. For example, Stern found that mothers who synchronized their movements with a baby's movements had better rapport with the babies, defined as less crying and more laughing and smiling by the baby. Mothers with serious mental problems such as depression often did not show the mother-baby dance. They were literally "out of synch" with their own children. Their children were more likely to be irritable and to suffer from developmental problems.
What is a correlation?
The technical term for such a coincidence is a correlation. "Co-relation" means essentially the same thing as "co-incidence" or things occurring together. Correlations, observed patterns in the data, are the only type of data produced by observational research. Correlations make it possible to use the value of one variable to predict the value of another. For example, using Stern's finding, one might predict that mothers who fail to do the mother-baby dance will have babies who fuss and cry significantly more than other babies.
Why is correlational data so useful?
The predictive power of correlations can be very great, if the correlation is a strong one. Consider this figure, from data produced by a 1992 study at the University of Illinois. Researchers asked 56,000 students about their drinking habits and grades, to see how drinking might correlate with performance in school. The results seem to be clear. The more a student drank, the worse was the student's grade-point average. B students (those with a 3.0 GPA) averaged 5 drinks per week, while D students (with a 1.0 GPA) averaged 10 drinks per week. Using the correlation shown in this graph, you could predict that a person who drank a six pack of beer every day would be likely to flunk out of school.
This is a negative correlation, which means that one variable goes up as the other goes down. As the amount of alcohol consumed goes up on the graph, the corresponding GPA goes down. (A positive correlation is one in which variables go up or down together, producing an uphill slope.)
Why should the label on the X axis be changed?
To be more accurate, we should change the label on the X-axis of the graph to "Self-report of drinks consumed per week," because this was undoubtedly self-report data (nobody was observing the drinking habits of 56,000 people). We do not know if self-reports of drinking accurately reflect real levels of drinking. Perhaps people who get good grades do not want to admit they drink, so they lie about it. The data does not rule out such an explanation. All we really know is what people said about how much they drank.
Must you have an accurate cause-effect analysis to make predictions?
Any type of correlation can be used to make a prediction. However, a correlation does not tell us about the underlying cause of a relationship. We do not know from the Illinois data whether drinking was correlated with lower grades because (1) alcohol makes people stupid, or (2) the students who tend to drink tend to be poorer students to begin with, or (3) people who are hung-over from a drinking binge tend to skip class, or (4) students in academic trouble drink in order to drown their sorrows, or some other reason. There can be hundreds of possible explanations for a correlation: the number is limited only by your imagination and ingenuity in thinking up possible reasons for a relationship between two variables.
For purposes of making a prediction, the underlying reason for a correlation may not matter. As long as the correlation is stable -lasting into the future-one can use it to make predictions. One does not need an accurate cause-effect explanation to make a prediction. As long as a "pattern" (correlation) continues into the future, we can use it to make a prediction, whether or not we understand it. What a correlation does not tell you is why two things tend to go together. Maybe alcohol consumption is not the root cause of bad grades, in the Illinois study. Perhaps the students who drank never opened their books and never studied, and that is why they got bad grades. We do not know. The study did not seek to explore underlying causes of the correlation.
A similar study at Virginia Tech ound a negative correlation between drinking and grades, but it was somewhat smaller than the correlation found at the University of Illinois a few years earlier. The Virginia Tech group also gathered some self-report data indicating that students who engaged in drinking binges were sometimes too hung over the next day to attend class. Their data supported this with a correlation between drinking and absenteeism. So the Virginia Tech study began to investigate the factors underlying the correlation between drinking and low grades.
How can replication help to clarify factors underlying a correlation?
It is also possible that different factors are important at different schools, or in different countries. In France, drinking might not correlate with bad grades at all. A typical report of a correlation is based on one group of people, at one time, in one place. It does not necessarily reveal a universal truth. This is another reason replication is important. When an important finding is replicated at different places and times, or with different groups of people, we find out how robust or dependable is the correlation. We may also get hints about the factors that underlie a correlation.
For example, we might find that students in France like a glass of wine with dinner, so most of them categorize themselves as drinkers. We might also find (in this fictional example) that very few of them engage in binge drinking or suffer from hangovers. If their grades do not suffer, this might support the suggestion of Virginia Tech researchers that drunkenness or absenteeism, not drinking per se, is the cause of academic difficulties among students who drink. This type of detail is likely to be revealed by attempts to replicate interesting correlations in new situations or among new groups of people.
What "clear distinction" should students make?
One should make a clear distinction between the usefulness of correlations for predictions (which requires no theory) and the testing of speculations or theories about why the correlations exist (which may require many research studies). Correlations are very important, because they allow prediction. However, a correlation does not tell you about causality. In other words, it does not tell you about the underlying events that created the relationship.
Which is more important for making a prediction, validity or reliability?
Correlations are useful even if we have no theory to explain them. In the example of drinking and grades, we might not know why the correlation exists. That does not matter if all we want to do is make predictions. All we need is a reliable correlation. We do not even care if the self-reports of drinking are accurate or valid, as long as people are consistent in their self-reports. If the observed relationship between self-reported drinking and grades lasts into the future (if it is reliable) then we can make a prediction based on people's self-reports. "People who say they drink X amount will end up with a grade-point average of about Y."
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Copyright © 2007 Russ Dewey | <urn:uuid:d420e07f-2719-470d-9600-25dda36c32e0> | {
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Former slave Booker T. Washington created the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers in Alabama, which was later renamed the Tuskegee Institute. Among other things, the Institute had a flight program which greatly interested the U.S. Military.
Considered an experiment by many, the Army Air Corps started training African American men to be combat pilots in 1940. Before this time, they were not even allowed to fly US military aircraft. Overcoming prejudice and segregation, over 1,000 men at the institute excelled and became one of the most highly respected fighter groups of the war.
The first Tuskegee pilot to successfully shoot down an enemy was Captain Charles B. Hall who accomplished the feat on July 2, 1943. His reward for his actions was said to be a bottle of Coca-Cola.
The Tuskegee Airmen completed 15,000 sorties in approximately 1,500 missions, destroyed more than 260 enemy aircraft, sank one enemy destroyer and demolished numerous enemy installations. The Tuskegee Airmen were awarded many high honors, including Distinguished Flying Crosses, Legions of Merit, Silver Stars, Purple Hearts, the Croix de Guerre and the Red Star of Yugoslavia.
The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site honors all of the pilots and support personnel of Tuskegee and the accomplishments they achieved.
The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to The Glacial Drumlin trail office in Lake Mills, of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at: http://www.wi-geocaching.com/hiding | <urn:uuid:62cb21b2-28e0-4807-8610-4542e753053a> | {
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Thought to date back to around AD 680, this magnificent cross is one of the most famous and elaborate Anglo-Saxon monumental sculptures.
The ancient Ruthwell Cross stands some 18 feet high and is the focal point of the beautiful Ruthwell church, in Dumfriesshire. Featuring intricate inscriptions in both Latin and, more unusually for a Christian monument, the runic alphabet, the Ruthwell Cross is inscribed with one of the largest figurative inscriptions found on any surviving Anglo-Saxon cross.
The cross escaped ruin during the general destruction of religious artifacts that accompanied the early Reformation but in 1662 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland ordered that all idolatrous monuments erected and made for religious worship had to destroyed and the cross was destroyed by Presbyterian iconoclasts in 1664. It was restored in 1818 by Henry Duncan and in 1887 moved to its current location in Ruthwell, where you can admire it encased in a specially built apse. | <urn:uuid:b1f2606a-3efd-444d-99f8-3ca0f14326f4> | {
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Photoset with 175 notes
Ophiuchus holding the serpent, Serpens, as depicted inUrania’s Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825.
On sky maps, Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer is depicted as holding Serpens the Serpent, which is considered a separate constellation. According to ancient Greek star lore, Ophiuchus is Asclepius, the physician who concocted a healing potion from the Serpent’s venom, mixing it with the Gorgon’s blood and an unknown herb. This potion gave humans access to immortality, until the god of the underworld appealed to Zeus to reconsider the ramifications of the death of death.
Even today, the Staff of Asclepius – the symbol of the World Heath Organization – pays tribute to the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.
via: Earth Sky. | <urn:uuid:6d59c5f6-1824-41b1-a423-8ce9a553865d> | {
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Welcome to Costa Rica
The land of “Pura Vida”
“Pura vida” (pure life) is more than just a catchy slogan for the national tourism agency – it really is the way that Costa Ricans view their country and their lifestyle. It also describes a fierce pride in a country that values education and families, chooses to have no military, protects their natural surroundings and welcomes foreigners with open arms.
Costa Rica is a middle-income, developing country with a strong democratic tradition. Tourist facilities are generally extensive and adequate. While English is a second language for many Costa Ricans in tourist areas. Costa Rica is a tropical country located between two oceans with a complex geography that gives origin to a variety of climatic conditions and creates a variety of life zones that go from the dry tropical forest to the moorland. In general, temperatures fluctuate between 14 and 22 degrees Centigrade. Even though there are clearly defined seasons, the climate in each region is fairly stable the whole year long with slight changes depending on whether it is “Summer” (dry season) or “Winter” (rainy season). The “Summer” generally runs from December to April and the “Winter” goes from May through November.
Costa Rica is an extraordinary refuge for life, full of natural surprises and while covering an area of 51.100 km, which represents only a 0.03 percent of the surface of the planet, it houses around 5 percent of the entire biodiversity of the world. The plant formations vary depending on altitude of the ground. In the tropical forest on the coastal areas of the northeast and south, rainfall is more abundant and the trees and vegetation take on large dimensions. In the mountainous region of the Atlantic, at an elevation of 800 to 1500 meters above sea level, the vegetation is characteristic of a rainforest. On the Central Plateau, it is dry and fewer trees grow there, but there is a proliferation of grass and herbaceous plants. In the higher elevations, one finds the mixed tropical forest. Costa Rica is extraordinarily blessed with fauna. The numbers and diversity of animal species found here is incredible. Depending on where you go, you have the possibility of observing Quetzals, 5 or 6 species de toucans, tapirs, deer, ant eaters, sloths, monkeys, white nosed coatis, otters, opossums, jaguars, ocelots, pumas, mountain lions, macaws and many more. | <urn:uuid:9c91fb08-543d-4378-b933-63228f9ca852> | {
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Reading Recommendations · World War I
100 years ago, on July 28, 1914, one month to the day after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, effectively beginning World War I. Learn about the Great War with these recent library additions and staff picks.
Books for Kids: Fiction
Books for Kids: Nonfiction
Need more suggestions? Contact your local library and a reference librarian will be happy to assist you. | <urn:uuid:7a7b0845-4794-49cb-a3f2-90cc1d80d454> | {
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Dementia isn't a specific disease. Instead, dementia describes a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning.
Dementia indicates problems with at least two brain functions, such as memory loss and impaired judgment or language, and the inability to perform some daily activities such as paying bills or becoming lost while driving.
Though memory loss generally occurs in dementia, memory loss alone doesn't mean you have dementia. There is a certain extent of memory loss that is a normal part of aging.
Many causes of dementia symptoms exist. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of a progressive dementia. Some causes of dementia may be reversible.
Dementia symptoms vary depending on the cause, but common signs and symptoms include:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty communicating or finding words
- Difficulty with complex tasks
- Difficulty with planning and organizing
- Difficulty with coordination and motor functions
- Problems with disorientation, such as getting lost
- Personality changes
- Inability to reason
- Inappropriate behavior
When to see a doctor
See a doctor if you or a loved one experiences memory problems or other dementia symptoms. Some treatable medical conditions can cause dementia symptoms, so it's important that a doctor determine the underlying cause.
Alzheimer's disease and several other types of dementia worsen over time. Early diagnosis gives you time to plan for the future while you can participate in making decisions.
Dementia involves damage of nerve cells in the brain, which may occur in several areas of the brain. Dementia may affect people differently, depending on the area of the brain affected.
Dementias can be classified in a variety of ways and are often grouped by what they have in common, such as what part of the brain is affected, or whether they worsen over time (progressive dementias).
Some dementias, such as those caused by a reaction to medications or an infection, are reversible with treatment.
Types of dementias that are not reversible and worsen over time include:
Alzheimer's disease. In people age 65 and older, Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia. People generally may develop symptoms after age 60, but some people may have early-onset forms of the disease, often as the result of a defective gene.
Although in most cases the exact cause of Alzheimer's disease isn't known, plaques and tangles are often found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Plaques are clumps of a protein called beta-amyloid, and tangles are fibrous tangles made up of tau protein.
Certain genetic factors also may make it more likely that people will develop Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's disease usually progresses slowly over about eight to 10 years. Your cognitive abilities slowly decline. Eventually, the affected areas of your brain don't work properly, including parts of your brain that control memory, language, judgment and spatial abilities.
Vascular dementia. Vascular dementia, the second most common type of dementia, occurs as a result of brain damage due to reduced or blocked blood flow in blood vessels leading to your brain.
Blood vessel problems may be caused by stroke, infection of a heart valve (endocarditis) or other blood vessel (vascular) conditions.
Symptoms usually start suddenly and often occur in people with high blood pressure or people who have had strokes or heart attacks in the past.
Several different types of vascular dementia exist, and the types have different causes and symptoms. Alzheimer's disease and other dementias also may be present at the same time as this dementia.
Lewy body dementia. Lewy body dementia affects approximately 10 percent of people with dementia, making it one of the most common types of dementia. Lewy body dementia becomes more common with age.
Lewy bodies are abnormal clumps of protein that have been found in the brains of people with Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
Lewy body dementia symptoms are similar to symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Its unique features include fluctuations between confusion and clear thinking (lucidity), visual hallucinations, and tremor and rigidity (parkinsonism).
People with Lewy body dementia often have a condition called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder that involves acting out dreams.
Frontotemporal dementia. This type of dementia tends to occur at a younger age than does Alzheimer's disease, generally between the ages of 50 and 70.
This is a group of diseases characterized by the breakdown (degeneration) of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, the areas generally associated with personality, behavior and language.
Signs and symptoms of frontotemporal dementia can include inappropriate behaviors, language problems, difficulty with thinking and concentration, and movement problems.
As with other dementias, the cause isn't known, although in some cases this dementia is related to certain genetic mutations.
Other disorders linked to dementia
Huntington's disease. This inherited disease causes certain nerve cells in your brain and spinal cord to waste away.
Signs and symptoms usually appear during your 30s or 40s. People may experience personality changes, such as irritability or anxiety.
The condition causes a severe decline in thinking (cognitive) skills over time. Huntington's disease also causes weakness and difficulty with walking and movement.
Traumatic brain injury. This condition is caused by repetitive head trauma, such as experienced by boxers, football players or soldiers.
Depending on the part of the brain that's injured, this condition can cause dementia signs and symptoms such as uncoordinated movement and impaired speech, as well as slow movement, tremors and rigidity (parkinsonism). Symptoms may not appear until many years after the actual trauma.
A person who has experienced a single traumatic head injury could develop a similar condition called posttraumatic dementia, which may cause symptoms such as long-term memory problems.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This rare brain disorder usually occurs in people without risk factors. This condition may be due to an abnormal form of a protein. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease sometimes may be inherited or caused by exposure to diseased brain or nervous system tissue.
Signs and symptoms of this fatal condition usually appear around age 60 and initially include problems with coordination, memory, thinking and vision. Symptoms worsen over time and may include the inability to move or talk, blindness, or infections.
- Parkinson's disease. Many people with Parkinson's disease eventually develop dementia symptoms (Parkinson's disease dementia).
Dementia-like conditions that may be reversed
Some causes of dementia or dementia-like symptoms can be reversed. Your doctor may identify and treat these causes:
Infections and immune disorders. Dementia-like symptoms can result from fever or other side effects of your body's attempt to fight off an infection.
People may develop thinking difficulties if they have brain infections like meningitis and encephalitis, untreated syphilis, Lyme disease, or conditions that cause a completely compromised immune system, such as leukemia.
Conditions such as multiple sclerosis that arise from the body's immune system attacking nerve cells also can cause dementia.
- Metabolic problems and endocrine abnormalities. People with thyroid problems, too little sugar in the bloodstream (hypoglycemia), too low or too high amounts of sodium or calcium, or an impaired ability to absorb vitamin B-12 may develop dementia-like symptoms or other personality changes.
- Nutritional deficiencies. Dementia-like symptoms can occur as a result of not drinking enough liquids (dehydration); not having enough thiamin (vitamin B-1), a condition common in people with chronic alcoholism; and not having enough vitamins B-6 and B-12 in your diet.
- Reactions to medications. Dementia-like symptoms may occur as a reaction to a single medication or because of an interaction of several medications.
- Subdural hematomas. Subdural hematomas are caused by bleeding between the surface of the brain and the covering over the brain. They can cause symptoms similar to dementia.
Poisoning. Dementia-like symptoms can occur as a result of exposure to heavy metals, such as lead, and other poisons, such as pesticides.
Dementia-like symptoms may also occur in some people who have abused alcohol or recreational drugs. Symptoms may disappear after treatment, but in some cases symptoms may still be present after treatment.
- Brain tumors. Dementia rarely can result from damage caused by a brain tumor.
Anoxia. This condition, also called hypoxia, occurs when organ tissues aren't getting enough oxygen. Anoxia may occur due to severe asthma, heart attack, carbon monoxide poisoning or other causes.
If you've experienced a severe lack of oxygen, recovery may take longer. Symptoms, such as memory problems or confusion, may occur during recovery.
Normal-pressure hydrocephalus. Sometimes people have a condition caused by enlarged ventricles in the brain (normal-pressure hydrocephalus). This condition can cause walking problems, urinary difficulty and memory loss.
Shunt surgery, which delivers cerebrospinal fluid from the head to the abdomen or heart, may help these symptoms.
Many factors can eventually lead to dementia. Some factors, such as age, can't be changed. Others can be addressed to reduce your risk.
Risk factors that can't be changed
- Age. As you age, the risk of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and several other dementias greatly increases, especially after age 65. However, dementia isn't a normal part of aging, and dementia can occur in younger people.
Family history. If you have a family history of dementia, you're at greater risk of developing the condition. However, many people with a family history never develop symptoms, and many people without a family history do.
If you have specific genetic mutations, you're at significantly greater risk of developing certain types of dementia.
Tests to determine whether you have certain genetic mutations are available.
- Down syndrome. By middle age, many people with Down syndrome develop the plaques and tangles in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease. Some may develop dementia.
Risk factors you can change
You may be able to take steps to control the following risk factors of dementia.
- Heavy alcohol use. People who consume large amounts of alcohol may have a higher risk of dementia. Although studies have shown that moderate amounts of alcohol may have a protective effect, abuse of alcohol increases your risk of developing dementia.
Atherosclerosis. This buildup of fats and other substances in and on your artery walls (plaques) can reduce the blood flow to your brain and lead to stroke. Reduced blood flow to your brain can also cause vascular dementia.
Some research shows there may be an association between blood vessel (vascular) conditions and Alzheimer's disease.
- Blood pressure. Several studies show high or low blood pressure may increase your risk of developing dementia.
- Cholesterol. If you have high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, you may have an increased risk of developing vascular dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Researchers continue to study how cholesterol may affect dementia.
- Depression. Although not yet well understood, late-life depression, especially in men, may be an indication of the development of dementia.
- Diabetes. If you have diabetes, you may have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
- High estrogen levels. Women taking estrogen and progesterone years after menopause may be at greater risk of developing dementia.
- Homocysteine blood levels. Elevated blood levels of homocysteine, a type of amino acid produced by your body, may increase your risk of developing vascular dementia.
- Obesity. Being overweight or obese during the middle of your life may increase your risk of developing dementia when you're older.
- Smoking. Smoking may increase your risk of developing dementia and blood vessel (vascular) diseases.
Dementia can affect the functioning of many body systems and, therefore, the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Dementia may lead to several problems, including:
Inadequate nutrition. Many people with dementia will eventually reduce or stop eating and drinking. They may forget to eat or think they've already eaten. Changes in meal times or noise distractions in their environment may affect whether they eat.
Often, advanced dementia causes you to lose control of the muscles used to chew and swallow. This may put you at risk of choking or aspirating food in your lungs. If this happens, it can block breathing and cause pneumonia.
You also lose the feeling of hunger and, with it, the desire to eat. Depression, side effects of medications, constipation and other conditions also can decrease your interest in food.
- Reduced hygiene. In moderate to severe stages of dementia, you'll eventually lose the ability to independently complete daily living tasks. You may no longer be able to bathe, dress, brush your hair or teeth, or use the toilet on your own.
- Difficulty taking medications. Because your memory is affected, remembering to take the correct amount of medications at the right time can be challenging.
Deterioration of emotional health. Dementia changes behaviors and personality. Some of the changes may be caused by the actual deterioration happening in your brain, while other behavioral and personality changes may be emotional reactions to coping with the changes in your brain.
Dementia may lead to depression, aggression, confusion, frustration, anxiety, a lack of inhibition and disorientation.
Difficulty communicating. As dementia progresses, you may lose the ability to remember the names of people and things. You may have trouble communicating with others or understanding others.
Difficulty communicating can lead to feelings of agitation, isolation and depression.
- Delusions and hallucinations. You may experience delusions in which you have false ideas about another person or situation. Some people, especially those with Lewy body dementia, may have visual hallucinations.
- Sleep difficulties. You may experience sleep difficulties, such as waking up very early in the morning. Some people with dementia may have restless legs syndrome or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, which also can interfere with sleep.
- Personal safety challenges. Because of a reduced capacity for decision-making and problem-solving, some day-to-day situations can present safety issues for people with dementia. These include driving, cooking, falling, getting lost and negotiating obstacles.
Most likely, you'll first see your primary care provider if you have concerns about dementia. In some cases, you may be referred to a doctor trained in nervous system conditions (neurologist).
Because appointments can be brief, and because there's often a lot to talk about, it's a good idea to be well-prepared. If you're a caregiver for someone with more advanced dementia, you'll likely be the one gathering information from the doctor. Here's some information to help you get ready.
What you can do
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. At the time you make the appointment, be sure to ask if there's anything you need to do in advance.
- Write down any symptoms, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Make a list of all medications, vitamins or supplements being taken.
- Take a family member, friend or caregiver along, if possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to soak up all the information provided during an appointment.
Preparing a list of questions will help make the most of your time with the doctor. List questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For dementia, some basic questions to ask the doctor include:
- What is likely causing my symptoms?
- Are there other possible causes for my symptoms?
- What kinds of tests are necessary?
- Is the condition likely temporary or chronic?
- What's the best course of action?
- What are the alternatives to the primary approach being suggested?
- How can dementia and additional health issues best be managed together?
- Are there any restrictions?
- Is there a generic alternative to the medicine being prescribed?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What websites do you recommend?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
What to expect from your doctor
The doctor is likely to ask you and your caregiver a number of questions such as:
- What symptoms are you experiencing? For example, are you having trouble with finding words or remembering events or with focusing attention? Are you getting lost or developing changes in personality?
- When did symptoms begin?
- Have symptoms been continuous or occasional?
- How severe are symptoms?
- What, if anything, seems to improve symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen symptoms?
- Is there a family history of dementia or related conditions such as Huntington's or Parkinson's disease?
- Are there any activities that you have had to stop because of difficulty thinking through them?
Memory loss and other dementia symptoms have many causes, so diagnosing dementia and other related conditions can be challenging and may require several appointments.
To diagnose your condition, your doctor will review your medical history and symptoms and conduct a physical examination. Doctors may order a number of tests to diagnose dementia and rule out other conditions.
Cognitive and neuropsychological tests
In these tests, doctors will evaluate your thinking (cognitive) function. A number of tests measure thinking skills such as memory, orientation, reasoning and judgment, language skills, and attention.
Doctors use these tests to determine whether you have dementia, how severe it is and what part of your brain is affected.
In a neurological evaluation, doctors will evaluate your movement, senses, balance, reflexes and other areas. Doctors may use the neurological evaluation to diagnose other conditions.
Doctors may order brain scans, such as a CT or MRI, to check for evidence of stroke or bleeding and to rule out the possibility of a tumor.
Simple blood tests can rule out physical problems that can affect brain function, such as vitamin B-12 deficiency or an underactive thyroid gland.
You may meet with a mental health specialist (psychologist or psychiatrist) who may evaluate whether depression or another psychological condition may be causing your symptoms.
Most types of dementia can't be cured. However, doctors will help you manage your symptoms. Treatment of dementia symptoms may help slow or minimize the development of symptoms.
Cholinesterase inhibitors. These medications — including donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Razadyne) — work by boosting levels of a chemical messenger involved in memory and judgment.
Side effects can include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Although primarily used to treat Alzheimer's disease, these medications may also treat vascular dementia, Parkinson's disease dementia and Lewy body dementia.
Memantine. Memantine (Namenda) works by regulating the activity of glutamate. Glutamate is another chemical messenger involved in brain functions, such as learning and memory. A common side effect of memantine is dizziness.
Some research has shown that combining memantine with a cholinesterase inhibitor may have beneficial results.
- Other medications. Your doctor may prescribe other medications to treat other symptoms or conditions, such as a sleep disorder.
- Occupational therapy. Your doctor may suggest occupational therapy to help you adjust to living with dementia. Therapists may teach you coping behaviors and ways to adapt movements and daily living activities as your condition changes.
Several dementia symptoms and behavior problems may be treated initially using nondrug approaches, such as:
- Modifying the environment. Reducing clutter and distracting noise can make it easier for someone with dementia to focus and function. It also may reduce confusion and frustration.
- Modifying your responses. A caregiver's response to a behavior can make the behavior, such as agitation, worse. It's best to avoid correcting and quizzing a person with dementia. Reassuring the person and validating his or her concerns can defuse most situations.
- Modifying tasks. Break tasks into easier steps and focus on success, not failure. Structure and routine during the day also help reduce confusion in people with dementia.
People with dementia will experience progression of their symptoms and behavior problems over time. Caregivers may need to adapt the following suggestions to individual situations:
- Enhance communication. When talking with your loved one, maintain eye contact. Speak slowly in simple sentences, and don't rush the response. Present only one idea or instruction at a time. Use gestures and cues, such as pointing to objects.
Encourage exercise. Exercise benefits everyone, including people with dementia. The main benefits of exercise include improved strength and cardiovascular health.
Some research also shows physical activity may slow the progression of impaired thinking (cognitive) function in people with dementia.
Exercise can also lessen symptoms of depression, help retain motor skills and create a calming effect.
- Encourage participation in games and thinking activities. Participating in games, crossword puzzles and other activities in which people are using thinking (cognitive) skills may help slow mental decline in people with dementia.
Establish a nighttime ritual. Behavior is often worse at night. Try to establish going-to-bed rituals that are calming and away from the noise of television, meal cleanup and active family members. Leave night lights on to prevent disorientation.
Limiting caffeine during the day, discouraging daytime napping and offering opportunities for exercise during the day may help prevent nighttime restlessness.
- Encourage keeping a calendar. Keeping a reminder calendar may help your loved one remember upcoming events, daily activities and medication schedules. Consider sharing a calendar with your loved one.
- Plan for the future. Develop a plan with your loved one that identifies goals for care in the future. Several support groups, legal advisers, family members and others can help you. You'll need to consider financial and legal issues, safety and daily living concerns, and long-term care options.
Several dietary supplements, herbal remedies and therapies have been studied for people with dementia. Some may be beneficial.
Dietary supplements, vitamins and herbal remedies
Use caution when considering dietary supplements, vitamins or herbal remedies to slow the progress of dementia, especially if you're taking other medications.
Dietary supplements, vitamins and herbal remedies aren't regulated, and claims about their benefits aren't always based on scientific research.
Some alternative medicine options for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia that have been studied include:
- Vitamin E. Some studies have shown that vitamin E may slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Doctors warn against taking large doses of vitamin E because it may have a higher risk of mortality, especially in people with heart disease.
Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s, a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid found in fish and nuts, may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and mild cognitive impairment.
However, in studies, omega-3 fatty acids haven't significantly slowed cognitive decline in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. More research is needed to understand whether omega-3 fatty acids benefit people with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia.
Coenzyme Q10. This antioxidant occurs naturally in your body. It's also necessary for normal cell reactions.
A synthetic version of this compound, called idebenone, showed some positive results in testing for Alzheimer's disease.
More studies are needed to determine safe dosages and potential benefits of coenzyme Q10.
Ginkgo. Extracts from the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may protect cells in your brain from breaking down.
Some studies have shown that ginkgo may slow the progression of memory problems in people with Alzheimer's or other types of dementia. Other studies have found that ginkgo doesn't slow or delay the onset of dementia.
People with dementia often experience worse symptoms when they're frustrated or anxious. The following techniques may help reduce agitation and promote relaxation in people with dementia.
- Music therapy, which involves listening to soothing music
- Pet therapy, which involves use of animals, such as visits from dogs, to promote improved moods and behaviors in people with dementia
- Aromatherapy, which uses fragrant plant oils
- Massage therapy
Receiving a diagnosis of dementia can be devastating to you and your loved ones. Many details need to be considered to ensure that you and those around you are as prepared as possible for dealing with a condition that's unpredictable and continually changing.
Care and support for the person with the disease
Throughout the disease, you may experience a wide range of feelings. Here are some suggestions you can try to help yourself cope:
- Learn as much as you can about memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
- Write about your feelings about having dementia in a journal.
- Join a local support group.
- Get individual or family counseling.
- Talk to a member of your church or another person who can help you with your spiritual needs.
- Stay active and involved, volunteer, exercise, and participate in activities for people with memory loss.
- Maintain contact and spend time with friends and family.
- Participate in an online community of people who are having similar experiences.
- Find new ways to express yourself, such as through painting, singing or writing.
- Delegate help with decision-making to someone you trust.
- Be patient with yourself.
Helping someone with dementia
You can help a person cope with the disease by listening, reassuring the person that he or she still can enjoy life, being supportive and positive, and doing your best to help the person retain dignity and self-respect.
Providing care for a person with dementia is physically and emotionally demanding. Often the primary caregiver is a spouse or other family member.
Feelings of anger and guilt, frustration and discouragement, worry, grief, and social isolation are common. If you're a caregiver for someone with dementia:
- Ask friends or other family members for help when you need it
- Take care of your physical, emotional and spiritual health
- Learn as much about the disease as you can
- Ask questions of doctors, social workers and others involved in the care of your loved one
- Join a support group
- Find out about supportive services in your community, such as respite care or adult care, which can provide you with a break from caregiving at scheduled times during the week
There's no sure way to prevent dementia, but there are steps you can take that might help. More research is needed, but it may be beneficial to do the following:
- Keep your mind active. Mentally stimulating activities, such as puzzles and word games, and memory training may delay the onset of dementia and help decrease its effects.
- Be physically and socially active. Physical activity and social interaction may delay the onset of dementia and reduce its symptoms.
- Quit smoking. Some studies have shown smoking in middle age and older may increase your risk of dementia and blood vessel (vascular) conditions. Quitting smoking may reduce your risk.
- Lower your blood pressure. High blood pressure may lead to a higher risk of some types of dementia. More research is needed to determine whether treating high blood pressure may reduce the risk of dementia.
Pursue education. People who have spent more time in formal education appear to have a lower incidence of mental decline, even when they have brain abnormalities.
Researchers believe that education may help your brain develop a strong nerve cell network that compensates for nerve cell damage caused by Alzheimer's disease.
- Maintain a healthy diet. Eating a healthy diet is important for many reasons, but a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in certain fish and nuts, may promote overall health and lower your risk of developing dementia.
Nov. 22, 2014
- What is dementia? Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp. Accessed Aug. 28, 2014.
- Dementia: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dementias/detail_dementia.htm?css. Accessed Aug. 28, 2014.
- Goldman L, et al. Goldman's Cecil Medicine. 24th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2012. http://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Aug. 28, 2014.
- Halter JB, et al. Hazzard's Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. 6th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=540. Accessed Aug. 28, 2014.
- Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2014. http://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Aug. 28, 2014.
- Shadlen MF, et al. Risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed Aug. 29, 2014.
- Press D, et al. Treatment of dementia. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed Aug. 29, 2014.
- Caring for a person with Alzheimer's disease. National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/caring-person-alzheimers-disease/about-guide. Accessed Aug. 30, 2014.
- Alternative treatments. Alzheimer's Association. http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_alternative_treatments.asp. Accessed Aug. 30, 2014.
- Natural medicines in the clinical management of Alzheimer's disease. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed Aug. 30, 2014.
- Preventing Alzheimer's disease: What do we know? National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/preventing-alzheimers-disease/introduction. Accessed Sept. 2, 2014.
- Lapid MI (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Sept. 12, 2014. | <urn:uuid:2c5883c7-b9f9-419a-bd3b-33502289d83a> | {
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There is widespread agreement in the American museum community that there should be greater online access to historical collections. Only about 2% of history museums have their collections online, and data in most of these systems cannot be seen by search engines. Other countries are far ahead of the U.S. in these types of efforts. The British Museum alone has nearly 2,000,000 objects online. Furthermore, there needs to be a gateway that provides easy access to multiple collections. Most museums in Canada have been linked together for years, for example, in the Canadian VirtualMuseum . The National Portal has received numerous letters of support, and eleven respected leaders in the history museum field have agreed to serve on its Advisory Board chaired by the former Archivist of the United States, Allen Weinstein. The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has actively supported the project since its inception in 2007. The National Portal will address ten important, nationally-recognized needs for historical organizations:
A 2009 report from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), Archival Management Software, summarized a multiyear program looking at the problem of “hidden collections.” The report’s author, Lisa Spiro (a member of the Working Group for the National Portal), stated:
“Whether called ‘the elephant in the closet’ or a ‘dirty little secret’ , hidden collections are becoming recognized as a major problem … Libraries, archives, and cultural institutions hold millions of items that have never been adequately described. These items are all but unknown to, and unused by, the scholars those organizations aim to serve.”
Research conducted by Heritage Preservation estimated that 13.5 million historic objects and 153 million photographs are held in the public trust by archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, and archaeological repositories in the United States. Yet, for all their educational value and inspiration, these collections are not connected within any national system; there exists no single national registry of America’s historical treasures. Allen Weinstein, former Archivist of the United States and Chairman of the Advisory Board for the National Portal, states,
“The sad truth is that despite the existence of thousands of first-rate historical sites, many Americans are missing opportunities to learn about our rich culture. We need a national website that allows Americans to get in touch with their rich heritage, to find information, and also get vacation ideas at the same time.”
This is not a new revelation. In the late 1980s, AASLH and the National Museum of American History created a project called the Common Agenda for History Museums, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Common Agenda’s goals included a national database of historical collections. Common Agenda failed because its agenda was too big, but the basic need for a national database remains. Now that advances in technology have made the project feasible, the time has come to make it happen.
One of the primary reasons that fewer than 2% of museums make collection information available on the Internet is that the labor and software development costs to accomplish this are prohibitive. However, by sharing costs among a wide number of institutions, the National Portal is dramatically cutting the cost of putting collections online.
For many years, AASLH sought to have a cooperative system to disseminate information about its members. Since the first discussions between AASLH and American Heritage in August, 2007, the National Portal has been conceived of in part as a national marketing system to encourage people to get out and visit museums. The National Portal already includes information on nearly 4,000 museums and historic sites across the U.S., which can be sorted by type and theme. The information on each includes a photo and description of the museum, address, hours, admission fees, contact information and convenient display of the museum’s location on Google maps.
The National Portal has assembled a Working Committee of fifteen leading experts to help the industry agree on common metadata standards. This will have profound effects in the future, allowing for the interconnection of repositories of historical collections and the “harvesting” of metadata. Without agreed upon standards, interoperability tools cannot be constructed, and vendors lack guidance from the community on how to construct enhancements to their collection management systems. Also, important policies relating to moving collection data to the Web, including reuse of content, metadata standards, and sustainability can supervised by a representative boards of industry leaders.
Collecting databases of information from a large number of museums is a labor-intensive process. The National Portal is developing automated tools for harvesting metadata from disparate sources and then processing, indexing, and displaying this information in a single system. The construction of automated communications systems and Application Process Interfaces (APIs) with existing collection management systems will save thousands of hours in collecting data and maintaining it for the long term in the national system.
The value of a catalogue of thousands of museum objects can be greatly improved by the use of a standard nomenclature or taxonomy for indexing. If different museums use different cataloguing systems, the result would be a chaotic mixture without order. History museums have had the ability to categorize historical objects in their collections in since 1988, when AASLH introduced its first nomenclature system. In December, 2009, AASLH released a new, revised edition, Nomenclature 3.0 for Museum Cataloging: Third Edition of Robert G. Chenhall's System for Classifying Man-Made Objects . Too many museums, however, fail to categorize their collections. The National Portal will provide assistance in AASLH’s efforts to increase adoption of the national standard for indexing history museum collections.
There is no uniform protocol for how museums generate identification numbers for objects in their collections, leading to disorganization. In contrast, all book publishers use ISBN numbers to identify their titles, allowing publishers, wholesalers and retailers to easily interchange data. The National Portal is creating a system for generating MAIN (Museum Asset Identification Number) numbers that will function as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) for items in museum collections. Use of these numbers will impose standardization on museum collection numbering, allow museums to identify artifacts more easily, and provide for simpler location of resources on the Internet.
The National Portal will allow Internet users to post comments on individual items in museum collections. Such comments could be anything from family reminiscences to corrections or amplification on identification by experts outside the museum that owns the object. Such interactivity will encourage greater community participation in discovering and documenting local history, and allow museums to actively engage their surrounding public, who can become advocates and co-researchers. As Matthew MacArthur, New Media Director at the National Museum of American History, reported in a recent column in AASLH’s magazine, History News,
“There was a time not long ago when it was controversial to think of releasing high-quality digital images of museum objects, a practice that is now commonplace. Web 2.0 challenges museums and other types of institutions to re-think entrenched attitudes toward the control and dissemination of information, and be open to the mutual benefits of allowing passive users to become active participants.”
Another important goal of the National Portal is to ensure access to museum collections for people who are visually or motion impaired. Few museum websites are compliant with Federal Standards under Section 508 for Internet access. This initiative will not only benefit individuals with handicaps, but also help museums that cannot afford (or don’t know how) to become compliant with regulation.
Over the years, many museums and historical archives have suffered from thefts of valuable papers, maps, paintings, and other items in their collections. A national clearinghouse will assist these organizations, and law enforcement authorities, in locating stolen objects that turn up in other collections years after they were missing. | <urn:uuid:7ff7694b-ca37-42d4-937c-c20a6b89cffd> | {
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Household waste, rubbish and recycling collections are the responsibility of the seven district and borough councils.
Services your district provide
Your district or borough council is responsible for collecting the following items and managing the waste issues below:
District and borough councils are responsible for collecting household rubbish that is not recyclable. They provide dustbins, wheelie bins or bags, which may vary according to local circumstances and the style of property.
Your district or borough council regularly collects household items for recycling from your home.
They also provide the containers - bags, boxes or bins - to collect them in.
District and borough councils provide recycling banks (also known as bottle banks and bring sites) around the county, often in car parks and near supermarkets. Sites usually have facilities to collect glass and paper and sometimes textiles, plastics and cans.
Bulky waste refers to items that are too big to be taken away with the normal rubbish collection, such as furniture and electrical goods, such as televisions, fridges and freezers.
Typical items that may be collected by your district or borough council for a fee include:
- white goods, such as washing machines, dishwashers, microwave ovens, cookers, hobs and tumble dryers;
- televisions, computers and screens;
- free-standing furniture, such as beds and wardrobes; and
Typical items that may not be collected by your district or borough council include:
- black bags of waste; and
- building rubble.
Alternatively, you can dispose of broken or unusable bulky waste at your local household waste recycling centre.
Reuse or recycle
If you no longer want items but they are still in good condition, consider passing them on to someone else. Our directory can help you find charity and reuse shops in your area and more information about what they would like to receive.
A garden waste collection service may be provided by your district or borough council. The service is available to the majority of homes and allows compost to be produced while reducing waste.
District and borough councils provide a service to help residents who, through illness or infirmity, are unable to put out their rubbish for collection and do not have anyone else to help them.
District and borough councils have a responsibility to act on reports of flytipping, to remove the waste and find and prosecute the offenders. If the waste is hazardous, the council is responsible for ensuring public safety until the waste is removed.
Local, district and borough councils provide bins, remove litter and sweep the streets. They also arrange for the bins to be emptied regularly.
Littering is an offence. The average fine is about £95, but can be up to £2,500.
Household clinical waste is dealt with by your district or borough council. | <urn:uuid:485829fa-1152-4d1f-9e99-b701f8909aba> | {
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Tracking Innovation: Prosthetics
With rapid advances in technology for prosthetics in recent years, the field offers a good study in how patents help spur innovation. Prosthetic limbs available on the market today incorporate developments found in multiple fields, from biomechanical and precision engineering to rapid prototyping and electronic microprocessors. The synthesis of new technologies and scientific principles has led to devices that offer better mobility and comfort for users.
The origins of prosthetics predate history, but Ancient Greek and Roman records indicate that early artificial limbs were fashioned from bronze, iron, or wood. Trends in early prosthetics focused on either cosmetic appearance or functionality, but rarely both. These designs sought to appear lifelike, often carved from wood or leather and painted in flesh tone colors but without articulation. Function trumped appearance. All of these devices were uncomfortable. Not much changed for centuries.
The American Civil War is often regarded as a watershed moment in the development of prosthetics. As new weaponry, particularly the "Minie ball" bullet, regularly inflicted destructive wounds, advances in surgery allowed field doctors to amputate as a common treatment for limb injuries. These advances led to more soldiers surviving combat with amputated limbs. After four years of fighting, some 70,000 soldiers on both sides of the conflict had lost a limb. The U.S. government, recognizing a significant medical need among war veterans, initiated a program to supply prosthetic devices to every amputee. Almost overnight, a large demand for prosthetics emerged.
Patents played an important role in the rise of the prosthetics industry. The incentive provided by patents to exclude others from making or selling their technology encouraged inventors to take new approaches in design and manufacture. Patents for artificial limbs and improvements to artificial limbs turn up frequently in prior art in the years following the Civil War. Among these is U.S. patent no. 111,741, a hinged design for a leg prosthesis invented by James E. Hanger. Hanger, reportedly the first documented soldier amputee of the Civil War, was awarded a government contract to manufacture and supply his invention to war veterans. The company he founded is still a leading manufacturer of prosthetics 150 years later.
Today, examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) continue to see new innovations in prosthetic technology. Among the trends is a shift from passive devices to those powered and controlled through electronic means. These microprocessor-controlled devices have advanced articulation and are able to analyze wearers' movements and make adjustments on the fly. Such devices allow users to perform movements and tasks with heightened agility and sensitivity. Also exciting is the incorporation of new manufacturing techniques that allow for better-fitted devices: doctors can use computer imaging to model the bones and physical features of a patient, design a custom prosthesis, and have a rapid prototype created in a matter of hours.
During the Civil War, the Old Patent Office Building in Washington, D.C., doubled as a hospital for Union soldiers. Surrounded by agony and suffering, patent examiners must have found it heartening to review applications for new devices that would soon offer improved conditions for the wounded men around them. | <urn:uuid:38ca581d-b3f2-44c3-b8ed-3dc7ae62b48a> | {
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Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science
(The content posted here may not be up to date. Please see the latest General Catalog for current degree requirements.)
The Environmental Sciences major is designed to impart students with the practical skills and knowledge required to critically evaluate environmental problems and issues, and provide applied solutions.
The major is decidedly interdisciplinary in nature, focusing on the underlying natural processes relating to the environment and understanding and employing the scientific method.
The need for broadly trained scientists in the area of environmental science is critical and the understanding of the importance of this field is provides many employment opportunities for qualified graduates.
A BS in Environmental Science can lead to numerous employment opportunities with many different agencies and areas.
Typical employment could involve working for consulting firms performing environmental restoration, producing environmental impact studies for both governmental agencies and private firms, and additional vital biological services.
Other types of employment can be found with regulatory agencies seeking to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and laws, with environmental law firms, or public health agencies.
- GEOS 043 Environmental Science for Informed Citizens
- GEOS 103 Global Change
- GEOS 102 Spatial Analysis and GIS
- GEOS 106 Earth Materials and the Environment
- GEOS 142 Geochemistry
- GEOS 144 Geomorphology
- GEOS 148 Hydrogeology
- GEOS 163 Environmental Field Methods
- MATH 037 Introduction to Statistics & Probability
- CHEM 027 General Chemistry
- CHEM 141 Analytical Chemistry
- BIOL 051 Principles of Biology I
- BIOL 061 Principles of Biology II
One of the following organismal biology courses:
- BIOL 072 Vertebrate Biology
- BIOL 074 Biology of Insects
- BIOL 076 Marine Biology
- BIOL 077 Marine Birds & Mammals
- BIOL 079 California Flora
- BIOL 130 Plant Kingdom
One of the following ecology courses:
- BIOL 175 Ecology
- BIOL 176 Ecology & Conservation Biology
One of the following policy/resource management courses:
- GEOS 045 Soil, Water & War
- CIVL 171 Water and Environmental Policy
- ECON 071 Global Economic Issues
- ECON 157 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
- ITNL 174 Global Environmental Policy
One of the following humanities courses:
- PHIL 035 Environmental Ethics
- HIST 052 John Muir’s World: Origins of the Conservation Movement
- HIST 136 American Environmental History
One of the following experiential learning courses:
- GEOS 187 Internship in Geosciences
- GEOS 197 Undergraduate Research
- BIOL 197 Undergraduate Research
- CHEM 197 Undergraduate Research
- GEOS 185 Capstone Seminar in Environmental Sciences | <urn:uuid:dd00bab6-ce89-4a59-a134-b2f808f5f421> | {
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Issues are available from 1828 to 1969.
West Georgia is the area of the state bordering central Alabama. Although there are no official designations for the region, it is generally located west of Atlanta and runs parallel to the Chattahoochee River. The largest cities in west Georgia include Columbus, Newnan, Carrollton, LaGrange, and Douglasville.
As with many other regions of the state, the Creek Indians were the dominant group of settlers before the arrival of European explorers. The Creeks were eventually coerced to sign away their lands in western Georgia in the 1820s to make way for American expansion. Columbus (established in 1828) grew significantly in the following decades, becoming one Georgia’s largest cities with the support of the mill industry. During the Civil War, the area was the home to numerous Confederate hospitals and suffered from the destruction of General William Sherman’s March to the Sea. After the war, west Georgia experienced significant development due to the expansion of railroads and the cotton textile industry in the area.
West Georgia is famously home to the city of Warm Springs, where President Franklin Roosevelt established a polio treatment center and built a home dubbed the “Little White House” during his presidency. Roosevelt died in 1945 during one of his many stays in the city. Additionally, President Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer in Plains and continues to live in Sumter County. Habitat for Humanity, an internationally renowned home-building charity, began in 1976 in nearby Americus. In the second half of the twentieth century, metropolitan Atlanta increasingly expanded into western Georgia, fueling growth in the area. Columbus has grown into the second largest city in the state due largely to the nearby presence of Fort Benning. The region has also seen booms of the warehouse distribution and manufacturing industries, bringing further development to West Georgia.
Additional newspapers from this region are available in the West Georgia Historic Newspapers Archive.
For information on the historical placement of Georgia's counties, see William Thorndale and William Dollarhide's Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920. | <urn:uuid:166eaf23-2402-45c2-9ff3-e91bbfa81ebc> | {
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A Tale of Stage Loot
April 1993 issue Lost Treasure
One of the most robbed areas of Colorado was around Colorado Springs during the 1850s-1860s. At least twenty-five robberies of stagecoaches took place during this period. This is a short story of $20,000 in gold which was buried by 2 outlaws of this time period.
In 1862, Colorado Springs was known as Colorado City. Manny Preston, Sy Samuels and six other outlaws rode into the village on an August afternoon an hour before the stage was to depart, then rode north out of town and set up an ambush. After the shotgun guard was killed, the driver wounded, and the strongbox taken, the gang rode on north
The outlaws thought they had plenty of time. That was a mistake. A patrol of volunteer cavalry came upon the stage a few minutes after the robbery. They overtook the outlaws and after two hours of fighting, six were killed . Preston and Samuels escaped with the gold
They found an abandoned prospector's shack in the timber later that night. On a flat stone they carved Manny Preston's name and the date, 1862, and placed it at the head of a grave so it would look like the real thing and go untouched. The gold was put inside the grave. This site was on the left side of Kiowa Creek, about three miles south of what is now Elbert County.
Preston and Samuels made their way to Kansas and obtained work in Wichita. Samuels died from injuries recieved in a runaway team accident. In 1868, Preston returned to Colorado to get the gold but he could not find the mock grave or cabin. After telling his story to a local rancher Preston left.
An interested treasure hunter should check out the area along the left side of Kiowa Creek, three miles south of Elbert, for any evidence of a miner's cabin. Somewhere nearby is a cache of gold. Early records of stage companies in Colorado Springs could help on this site. | <urn:uuid:83dd465b-2e56-46ae-bbb2-a1342be0cd62> | {
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The United States--that epitome of the middle-class society, of the egalitarian dream that pulled millions of immigrants away from Latin America--has begun to go Latin American. It is in a process of structural middle-class shrinkage and inequality expansion that has perhaps never occurred anywhere else.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Latin America has long had a reputation for inequality. It has been a place where, in the popular imagination (and all too often in reality), large landowners have lorded it over the far more numerous peasants or government ministers, grown rich from corruption, have ruled with disdain over the masses. Inequality has fueled revolutions from time to time--in Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and El Salvador (among others)--but has more often resulted in authoritarian regimes committed to defending the status quo against "communism," a catchall term that was commonly applied to any movement that was critical of the prevailing inequality.
Today, Jorge G. Castañeda, former foreign minister of Mexico and current professor at NYU, suggests in an essay in the New York Times that the United States might have something to learn from Latin America's experience with inequality. He writes:
The frightening thing is that Latin America's historical experience indicates that it is very difficult to rebuild a middle class once inequality has reached a certain point. Worse yet, the level of inequality toward which the United States is rapidly moving is simply incompatible with the kind of democratic governance that many Americans believe to be safe from all challenges here in the United States (as if money were not already compromising democracy).
For almost two centuries, the United States sought to strengthen democracy by promoting equality. Slavery was abolished, educational opportunities were expanded, women were enfranchised, Jim Crow laws were dismantled, and a modest safety net was created. Now, however, only those in the Occupy movement seem to understand why inequality might constitute a political problem. The rest of the country needs to get a clue, unless Latin America circa 1980 is what we hope to become.
Labels: Latin America
Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega is being flown from Paris to Panama today, leaving a French prison for a twenty-year prison sentence back home. For the last twenty-two years, since his capture by the U.S. military forces that invaded Panama in what was called Operation Just Cause, Noriega has been imprisoned--first in the United States where he was convicted on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering, then in France where he was convicted for money laundering. In Panama, Noriega has been convicted on various human rights charges stemming from murders of political opponents committed during the six years he ruled Panama.
Noriega is not the only former leader in prison. Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has been incarcerated at The Hague since 2006 when he was surrendered to the Special Court for Sierra Leone by the Liberian government headed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female leader in Africa. (Sirleaf was one of three women awarded the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday in Stockholm.) Taylor is awaiting the Court's verdict in his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by forces under his control in Sierra Leone's civil war.
Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo was turned over to the International Criminal Court by the new government of Ivory Coast two weeks ago. He is now awaiting trial in The Hague.
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president ousted by protesters earlier this year, is on trial on a variety of charges including corruption and ordering the killing of protesters. Due to health problems, including stomach cancer, the 83-year-old Mubarak has been detained in a military hospital in Cairo. His trial, currently on hold, is scheduled to resume on December 28.
Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the former president of Tunisia who was ousted in the first wave of the Arab Spring protests, has thus far avoided prison. However, he has been convicted in absentia of corruption and drug possession. He and his wife escaped during Tunisia's revolution to Saudi Arabia where they remain in spite of a Tunisian extradition request.
On Wednesday of last week, former Israeli president Moshe Katsav entered prison to begin serving a seven-year sentence for rape. (The presidency in Israel, it should be noted, is a largely ceremonial office.) Although Katsav maintains his innocence, his conviction was affirmed by a three-judge panel of Israel's Supreme Court.
Current president of Sudan Omar al-Bashir is currently under indictment by the International Criminal Court. for crimes related to the Darfur genocide. He, however, remains in office.
Of course, the imprisonment of former leaders is not always a good thing. In October, former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison on a charge of abuse of office. Ms. Tymoshenko denounced the verdict, which observers outside Ukraine have widely criticized as having been politically motivated.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Sixty-three years ago today, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then, the concept of human rights has come to permeate every aspect of international relations, including the internal behavior of most states and the business practices of many multinational corporations. International human rights law has grown slowly but steadily and is now being enforced not only in the courts of many states but in international or mixed courts from The Hague to Arusha, Tanzania and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Corrupt and brutal dictators have been overthrown--and in some cases put on trial--in the name of human rights.
While many wrongs in the world remain to be righted, the concept of human rights gives us more hope for improving the human condition than we have ever had reason to feel before. There are many rights-abusing regimes still to be eliminated, but they can no longer count on the support of international law or, by and large, other governments. And when the United States departs from the standards established in international human rights law--when it departs, that is, from its own highest ideals--there are others beyond our borders who can, and will, offer correction. That, too, is a good thing
Friday, December 09, 2011
President Obiang of Equatorial Guinea continues to act as if the fact that his country's people are among the poorest in Africa is of absolutely no concern to him. Colum Lynch reports that Obiang has approved a contract with a South Korean firm to build a $77 million "presidential guesthouse."
While the regime touts the benefits to Equatoguineans of its "zinc roofs campaign," which is replacing roofs made of palm fronds with corrugated tin roofs, President Obiang is building a guesthouse that will be an architectural showpiece. Its construction cost alone makes it more expensive than all but three homes listed in the United States, according to a story on Forbes.com last August.
Monday, December 05, 2011
Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Cote d'Ivoire, appeared before the International Criminal Court today. Although former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic was tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and former Liberian president Charles Taylor was tried by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (both in The Hague), Gbagbo is the first former president to face trial at the ICC.
Gbagbo became president of the former French colony in 2000. He was defeated by Alassane Outtara in the 2010 presidential election, but challenged the results and refused to cede power. Violence ensued and supporters of both Gbagbo and Ouattara are alleged to have committed serious human rights violations in the struggle for power that followed the election. Ultimately, Ouattara's supporters, with help from French and UN military forces, succeeded in ousting Gbagbo from power. Gbagbo was placed under house arrest until his rendition to the ICC by the Ouattara government.
The ICC investigation into post-election violence in Cote d'Ivoire was initiated by President Ouattara in December 2010. Gbagbo has been indicted on four counts of crimes against humanity, most related to incitement of his supporters to violence.
(The website of the Boston Globe, boston.com, has a great photo essay here on the election and part of its aftermath.)
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Not every bomb dropped or shell fired in a war explodes. Those that don't are called UXO, or unexploded ordnance. UXO can kill long after the war comes to an end.
Nearly half the population of Koblenz, Germany has been evacuated following the discovery of a 3,000-pound bomb dropped by the Royal Air Force into the Rhine during World War II. The evacuees include the residents of seven nursing homes, two hospitals, and a prison. German authorities will attempt to defuse the bomb tomorrow after draining the water from an area of the river surrounding the bomb.
In June 2010, three German explosives technicians were killed in Gottingen when the World War II bomb they were trying to defuse exploded.
UPDATE: The bomb in Koblenz has been successfully defused, along with a smaller one found in the same place. German authorities have also defused a small bomb in Nuremberg after evacuating 200 people there.
UPDATE: The bomb in Koblenz has been successfully defused, along with a smaller one found in the same place. German authorities have also defused a small bomb in Nuremberg after evacuating 200 people there.
Deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda will soon succeed Luis Moreno-Ocampo as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Ms. Bensouda, 50, is from Gambia and has served the ICC since 2004. Prior to that, she served as a prosecutor on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Ms. Bensouda must be elected by the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC at its meeting on December 12, but diplomats have indicated that she will be the only candidate for election to the post of chief prosecutor.
At present, all of the cases before the ICC involve conflicts in Africa.
Reuters reports that lawyers for Teodorin Obiang are fighting the Justice Department's recent complaint for forfeiture in rem. This will likely result in prolonged legal proceedings (and an attendant delay in the seizure of Obiang's $30 million Malibu home) as well as some interesting disclosures. If the Justice Department is pressed to defend its allegations that Obiang's mansion, Learjet, Ferrari, and Michael Jackson memorabilia collection were purchased with the proceeds of corruption, it will likely bring to light information about how the Nguema clan operates that has not previously been made public.
Bring it on!
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Today's New York Times has an interesting story about canine post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Five percent of the roughly 650 dogs deployed to combat areas by the U.S. military are thought to be affected by canine PTSD.
A year ago, a story about Gina, a four-year-old German shepherd with canine PTSD, was posted on a U.S. Air Force website. According to the story, Gina's behavior changed dramatically after she came close to an IED explosion while deployed in Southwest Asia. Back at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Gina was being retrained with no plans for redeployment to a combat zone for at least two years.
In the aftermath of the raid that killed Osama bin Ladin, there was widespread speculation regarding the dog that accompanied Seal Team 6 into Abbottabad. While the dog's breed and precise function is still not known, experts speculate that the dog was present in order to sniff out explosives or persons hiding in the compound. The New York Times reported that dogs used by Special Forces may be decked out in high-tech gear:
Last year, the Seals bought four waterproof tactical vests for their dogs that featured infrared and night-vision cameras so that handlers--holding a three-inch monitor from as far as 1,000 yards away--could immediately see what the dogs were seeing. The vests, which come in coyote tan and camouflage, let handlers communicate with the dogs with a speaker, and the four together cost more than $86,000. Navy Seal teams have trained to parachute from great heights and deploy out of helicopters with dogs.
Military working dogs (MWDs), however, are not fitted with titanium teeth.
In July 2010, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it would "recruit" 600 dogs a year for five years for use in sniffing out bombs, drugs, cash, and people, primarily at border crossings. The bid solicitation stated that DHS was looking for dogs that are "alert, active, outgoing, confident" and "extremely tolerant of people."
Friday, November 18, 2011
Various sources are reporting that Ridley Scott is planning a film based on Simon Mann's 2004 effort to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, a plot that Adam Roberts described in a book called The Wonga Coup. Gerard Butler will play Mann in the film.
Much remains unclear about the coup attempt that ended with Mann's arrest--without a fight that Scott would be able to embellish with spectacular pyrotechnics--in Zimbabwe. The drama for those who know about the episode (all four of us?) will lie in seeing (1) how far Scott takes dramatic license to turn a failed coup attempt into something worthy of his directing talents and (2) who Scott (and his screenwriter, Robert Edwards) decide to blame for it. Was it simply a big money-making proposition--with Margaret Thatcher's son, Mark Thatcher, as the primary investor? Were American and British intelligence services involved? The word is that Simon Mann's forthcoming book, Cry Havoc, will not provide the answers to these questions.
Monday, November 14, 2011
This is the question that dominates the cover of the most recent issue of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Affairs is an Establishment publication. It is, in fact, the flagship publication of the Council on Foreign Relations, an Establishment establishment. It doesn't engage in demagoguery. And, in the November/December issue, it doesn't offer much reassurance in response to the big question on the cover.
The key article related to the big question is George Packer's essay entitled "The Broken Contract: Inequality and American Decline." It is not, strictly speaking, about foreign policy, although the implications of its thesis for foreign policy are very clear. That it appears in Foreign Affairs should be reason enough to take notice of the argument.
Packer argues that the the unwritten social contract that for decades ensured Americans would work together in common cause to solve the great collective problems of society has been broken by the rise of "organized money" in the nation's political system. This, in part, was an unintended consequence of reforms implemented in the 1970s that were designed to bring greater transparency and equality into the system. But the rise of political action committees, independent expenditures in political campaigns, a form of lobbying that is tantamount to legalized bribery, and more is only part of the story. Ultimately, Packer states, "inequality is the ill that underlies all the others."
For those who doubt that inequality is a problem in the United States, Packer cites these indicators:
The entire article deserves to be read and discussed widely. Here, however, we skip to Packer's conclusion and another big question: What difference does inequality make? Packer answers eloquently:Between 1979 and 2006, middle-class Americans saw their annual incomes after taxes increase by 21 percent (adjusted for inflation). The poorest Americans saw their incomes rise by only 11 percent. The top one percent, meanwhile, saw their incomes increase by 256 percent. This almost tripled their share of the national income, up to 23 percent,the highest level since 1928.
Inequality divides us from one another in schools, in neighborhoods, at work, on airplanes, in hospitals, in what we eat, in the condition of our bodies, in what we think, in our children’s futures, in how we die. Inequality makes it harder to imagine the lives of others—which is one reason why the fate of over 14 million more or less permanently unemployed Americans leaves so little impression in the country’s political and media capitals. Inequality corrodes trust among fellow citizens, making it seem as if the game is rigged. Inequality provokes a generalized anger that finds targets where it can—immigrants, foreign countries, American elites, government in all forms—and it rewards demagogues while discrediting reformers. Inequality saps the will to conceive of ambitious solutions to large collective problems, because those problems no longer seem very collective. Inequality undermines democracy.
The government of Equatorial Guinea is claiming that 99 percent of the electorate approved a package of constitutional reforms in a national referendum yesterday. Opposition groups claim the vote was a sham.
The referendum will establish a two-term presidential limit, create the office of vice president, and remove the constitutional limit barring a president from serving beyond 75 years of age. The current president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been in office since overthrowing Francisco Macias in a coup in 1979. He is 69 and in the second year of a presidential term set to expire in 2016. It is unclear whether the new term limit would prevent him from serving one or more terms beyond the current seven-year term.
Those who observe political developments in Equatorial Guinea generally believe the constitutional changes effected by this referendum are designed to make it easier for Obiang to ensure that his oldest son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, will be able to succeed him as president. The younger Obiang is expected to be named vice president soon. This expectation has been bolstered by the fact that he has, in recent months, been named vice president of the ruling party, chair of the constitutional reform campaign, and ambassador to UNESCO. He has also been hit with legal proceedings in France and the United States aimed at seizing assets that are the products of bribery and extortion, but such embarrassments seem to have little effect on politics inside Equatorial Guinea.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
A piece by Mark Landler in today's New York Times titled "A New Era of Gunboat Diplomacy" is well worth reading for those interested in the connection between oil and national security. One-third of global oil production now occurs offshore and some of the hotspots for oil and natural gas exploration are in maritime regions where overlapping claims to jurisdiction have the potential to create problems: the South China Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Offshore production presents a number of serious environmental risks--one only has to recall the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico--but there can be security benefits from confining production to offshore platforms. Oil production in the Gulf of Guinea, for example, avoids the serious political and military threats that plague production onshore in Nigeria and Angola. If, however, the regime governing maritime jurisdiction established by the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention is contested or there are serious sovereignty disputes involving islands (as in the South China Sea), then offshore oil exploration and production may generate new security concerns. If there are resource wars in our future, they may begin at sea.
On Wednesday, November 2, the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout was convicted in a federal court in Manhattan on four counts of conspiracy in connection with the sale of weapons to Colombian rebels. Bout, who once advised the Soviet military in Africa, bought weapons and a fleet of cargo planes from the former Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War and began trafficking arms to both governments and rebel forces in various conflicts around the world. A British government report published in 2000 referred to him as "the Merchant of Death." The movie Lord of War, which starred Nicholas Cage, was based on his exploits.
Here is the description of Bout in the second edition of Seeking Security in an Insecure World:
Bout is alleged to have sold over seven hundred surface-to-air missiles, military helicopters and airplanes, and thousands of guns to FARC, the Colombian paramilitary organization. He has also sold weapons in Afghanistan and in various war zones in Africa. At a Bangkok hotel in March 2008, Bout offered undercover agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency posing as FARC representatives a wide range of weapons, including land mines, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and C-4 explosives. He was arrested at the conclusion of the meeting, which was taped, and, in August 2010, a Thai court ordered his extradition to stand trial in the United States.
In an op-ed published in the New York Times on Friday, Andrew Feinstein, author of The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade (reviewed here by John Tirman), writes that in 2003 and 2004, Irbis Air--a company owned by Bout--flew supplies into Baghdad under contract to the U.S. Defense Department and KBR, a private contractor that was itself working for the U.S. Government. Feinstein points out that "governments protect corrupt and dangerous arms dealers as long as they need them and then throw them behind bars when they are no longer useful."
Friday, November 11, 2011
[The following was written for Opinio Juris and posted there yesterday. I am cross-posting here with a few updated references and links.]
The other shoe has dropped in the U.S. Government’s corruption case against Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. On October 25, a civil forfeiture complaint was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California as a second complaint was filed in the District of Columbia. The complaints, tantalizingly foreshadowed by the lis pendens filing on October 13 that Roger noted in a previous post, seek the forfeiture of over $70 million in assets owned by the profligate son and heir-apparent of Equatorial Guinea’s dictator, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
These actions are part of the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative that was announced by Attorney General Holder at the African Union Summit on July 25, 2010. (In a move that angered human rights groups, the African Union selected President Obiang Nguema to chair the organization six months later.) Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer directs the group within the Criminal Division that is implementing the Initiative. The first complaint filed by Breuer’s group sought the seizure of over $1 million in assets (including a $600,000 home in Maryland) owned by Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, former governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa State in Nigeria. DSP, as he was known to investigators, was impeached in 2005, but by that time he had laundered millions of dollars gained through oil-related corruption in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.
The assets to be seized in the Equatoguinean case are also the products of oil-related corruption. Like Nigeria, its neighbor to the north, Equatorial Guinea sits over the large oil reserves of the Gulf of Guinea. Unlike Nigeria and the other oil giant of sub-Saharan Africa, Angola, Equatorial Guinea is an oasis of political stability, although its stability is a product of severe repression. Since 2004, Equatoguinean oil production has averaged over 300,000 barrels per day, the vast majority of it produced by ExxonMobil, Hess, and Marathon, three U.S. corporations. As a result of extortion, misappropriation of public funds, and other forms of corruption, President Obiang Nguema, his family, and others in the inner circle have become fabulously wealthy while the nation at large remains among the most impoverished in Africa.
Teodorín, as the president’s oldest son is known, has been especially reckless in flaunting his portion of Equatorial Guinea’s oil wealth. Roger listed some of the property against which the U.S. Government has filed complaints for forfeiture in rem, but there are other countries around the world that could put together similar lists of homes, cars, and collectables. In fact, last month France seized eleven luxury cars belonging to Teodorín from the family’s residence on Avenue Foch near the Arc de Triomphe, while Spain is reportedly preparing to move against properties in Madrid and Las Palmas.
The beauty of what now appears to be a coordinated action by prosecutors in the U.S., France, and Spain against one of the most corrupt governments in the world is that it severely limits the possibilities for retaliation using the oil weapon. Because Equatorial Guinea’s oil is produced offshore in deepwater wells, few companies, whether state-owned or private, can provide the necessary production technology. In fact, China’s principal oil production company, CNOOC, completed its first deepwater production rig—destined for use in the South China Sea—in May of this year. Although China is the destination of 12 percent of Equatorial Guinea’s oil exports, it will not be in a position to displace Western oil companies for years to come.
The seizure of Teodorín’s assets in the United States is unlikely to speed the departure of the man who, since Gaddafi’s demise, is the longest-surviving dictator in Africa, nor is it likely to spur dramatic progress toward democracy and respect for human rights in Equatorial Guinea. It will be, however, a small victory for anti-corruption advocates and, perhaps more importantly, a strong signal to the world’s remaining kleptocrats.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Staff sergeant Calvin Gibbs was convicted on three counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison for a series of sport killings in Afghanistan between January and May 2010. Gibbs was one of five members of the Fifth Stryker Brigade, Second Infantry Division, charged with murder for deliberately killing civilians. Three have entered guilty pleas. In all, twelve members of the brigade have been charged with crimes related to activities of the so-called "kill team." Ten of those have pleaded guilty or been convicted to date.
According to an Army investigation into the killings that was leaked to the Washington Post last year, a member of Gibbs' unit claimed that he hoped to make a necklace from fingers that he cut from the hands of those he killed. Gibbs also had a tattoo on his calf that he used to keep track of his kills. Red skulls represented kills in Iraq while blue skulls indicated kills in Afghanistan.
There are many atrocities in war that go unpunished. Indeed, war itself may be the greatest atrocity. But what happened today in a U.S. court martial is a reminder that not everything is permissible in war. And sometimes activities that cross the line--even in war--are actually punished.
Labels: war crimes
Monday, October 31, 2011
The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has voted to admit Palestine as a member. The vote was 107 in favor and 14 against, with 52 abstentions. Because Palestine is not a member of the United Nations, the vote to admit it to UNESCO required a two-thirds majority of those voting. (Abstentions are not counted as votes.)
The push for membership by Palestine is part of move to gain international recognition of Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel and the United States. Because only states may be members of UNESCO (as with other UN bodies), admission indicates the support of a majority of the world's states for Palestinian statehood. Palestine is expected to press for membership to the UN itself in the coming weeks, but because both the UN Security Council and the General Assembly must approve such an application and the U.S. Government has indicated that it will veto the Palestinian application in the Security Council, there is no possibility for clearing this particular hurdle.
U.S. law currently mandates the elimination of funding for any UN body that admits Palestine as a member. In the case of UNESCO, this will mean the loss of one-fifth of the operating budget.
Labels: United Nations
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Yesterday the Washington Post published a story on the next generation of warbots: robots (including drones) capable of autonomous decision-making and action. The story begins by recounting a recent test at Fort Benning, Georgia in which two drones were able to locate a multicolored tarp on the ground after the pattern had been loaded into their onboard computers. Acquisition of the target occurred with no human direction after takeoff. Of course, target acquisition based on pattern recognition can easily be linked to the use of weapons. But, for the time being, the U.S. military is determined not to take humans out of the loop where lethal operations are concerned.
South Korea deployed two sentry robots last year along its heavily militarized border with North Korea. (For a video demonstration of the sentry robots' capabilities, go here.) Thus far, an order from a human operator is required before the SGR-A1 robots can fire on suspected intruders. It is clear, however, that the robots (built by Samsung Techwin) could be configured to respond autonomously to an intrusion. | <urn:uuid:4e21cfa0-9d02-4f4b-9fe0-b5cd7f9b51da> | {
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Adding Clean Energy to PJM Grid Would Slash Emissions, Study Finds
Raising renewable energy to 14 percent of the electricity supply operated by power grid manager PJM Interconnection would reduce CO2 emissions by 12 percent compared to 2011 levels, according to a study.
Under a 30 percent renewable energy penetration scenario, in which more than 100,000 MW of renewable capacity is added, emissions would drop 29 percent compared to 2011 levels, the study says.
The PJM Renewable Integration Study, prepared by GE, was commissioned to help PJM prepare for a considerably higher penetration of renewable energy in the next 10 to 15 years. Every jurisdiction within PJM’s 13-state footprint, except Kentucky and Tennessee, has a adopted renewable energy standards.
The study found the PJM system, with adequate transmission expansion and additional regulating reserves, will not have any significant issues operating with up to 30 percent of its energy provided by wind and solar generation.
Under a 14 percent RPS scenario, in which wind and solar generation meets existing Renewable Portfolio Standard mandates by 2026, it would cost $3.7 billion to add new lines and transmission upgrades to handle the addition of clean energy. Under a 30 percent wind and solar penetration, it would cost between $8 billion to $10.9 billion to add new lines and upgrades.
Among the major conclusions of the study, on average 36 percent of the delivered renewable energy displaced PJM coal fired generation, 39 percent displaced PJM gas fired generation and the rest displaced imports or increased exports.
The study did not uncover any insurmountable operating issues in any of the simulated scenarios of system-wide hourly operation. Every scenario examined led to lower PJM fuel and operations and maintenance costs as well as lower average locational marginal prices.
Greenhouse gas emissions in the US totaled 6,501,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2012, a 3.3 percent reduction from the previous year, according to an annual draft report released by the EPA in February.
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- Climate and Energy Policies Working | <urn:uuid:4cf67126-5f98-4b61-8b76-310210b6e79a> | {
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I came across this brilliant idea for sunbleached puzzles. They were so easy to create and great entertainment (and practice) for a puzzle-lover. It was also a great little lesson in the sun’s effects.
I set out foam bath letters and numbers on dark construction paper and left them to sunbathe awhile on the deck. J enjoyed watching the process, impressed by the magical results! We then brought it all inside to start putting it all together. You can make this activity more difficult by adding extra foam letters to the choices.
This is great practice at letter recognition. It’s also great way to help them learn how to spell their name, memorize their phone number or address.
The link above used magnetic letters and shape blocks to create their puzzles. You could also cut your own shapes out of colorful foam.
Posted in address, Counting, Early Preschool (3-4 years), Homemade Games, Letters, Life Skills, Name, Phone number, Puzzles, Shapes, Summer, Toddler (2-3 years)
Tagged Letters, Life Skills, Numbers
Here’s a quick index of activities using these Melissa and Doug Lacing Beads. Just click on the pictures to see more about each activity.
Beads and Pompoms
Beads and Dot Markers
Every now and then I’ll print out a scissor worksheet for J (just do searches on google and you’ll find lots of options). It’s really good practice. Using scissors requires lots of fine motor skills! Honestly most of the worksheets are too hard for him at this point, but he enjoys them. We really should practice this more often!
So J came up with this activity on his own. One day he was having tons of fun cutting up one of the worksheets and went way beyond just cutting along the dotted lines. He then announced that he had made a puzzle and I looked up to see him refitted all the pieces together!
This has become one more activity he wants to do after scissor practice. We mix up the pieces and he fits them back together like a puzzle.
Age attempted: 34 months
My cousin recommended this idea after seeing J’s grocery list on this post (My Little Helper: Grocery Shopping) and we finally tried it out at the store.
Prep: I did a quick search for some of the logos of items on my grocery list, copy and paste and I’m done. The internet makes this so simple and quick!
I didn’t pull it out at the grocery store until I knew we were about to start hitting the items on the list so basically we’d already gone through produce and meats. J’s list also did not include everything on my list. It was funny how he immediately knew what certain items were when I handed him the list. Like he knew that the Yoplait logo meant yogurt or the Lactaid logo was milk. This not only keeps them busy while shopping, it was also great practice with word recognition and letter recognition.
J really liked this, even better than the other grocery lists honestly. I think it helped too that I gave him a highlighter to check off his list rather than the normal crayon or pen :)
For younger ones, I would put the items in the order that you’ll reach them in the store. Another thing that works well is to fold the list in half or in thirds so they are just looking at a few items on the list at a time.
You could use this as a scavenger hunt rather than a grocery list that kids would love (which means they’re focused while you shop!). And this would actually make the list even easier to create since it wouldn’t matter which items you included.
Age attempted: 33 months
Posted in Age Range, Chores, Early Preschool (3-4 years), Games, Homemade Games, Letters, Life Skills, My Little Helper, Outside, Preschool (4-5 years), Reading and Writing, Toddler (2-3 years)
Tagged Chores, Homemade Games, Life Skills
We recently played this game and I wanted to hurry and get it posted in case anyone out there was making Magnetic Pompoms to give as a Christmas gift. All you have to do is add dice to the gift for an extra activity!
What you need: Magnetic pompoms (or any type of marker really, dot markers, M&Ms, coins,…); Magnetic surface, Die (I found extra large foam dice at Target for $2), and your playing board of choice (you will need enough for each player to have their own board)
How to play: 1st player rolls the die and gets to place that number of pompoms onto their board. 2nd player follows. Continue until someone fills all spaces on their board with pompoms to win.
Simple enough! This is a good way to encourage counting and even basic addition and subtraction if wanted. Obviously the greater number of empty spaces on your board, the longer the game will last (and the more counting practice). You can use multiple dice at a time to encourage higher counting if your game board has enough empty spaces. Add a color spinner for an extra element of fun and some color matching (they must use both the correct number of pompoms AND in the correct color).
Scroll to the bottom of this link for lots of board options to choose from or you can make your own!
Age attempted: 31 months (if they can count to 6, they can play this game)
We played this fun and simple game and ever since J has been bringing me the stocking and asking to play again.
How to Play: Gather a group of items from around the house with different shapes, textures, and purpose. Older children could handle more suddle differences in the objects. Keep them hidden from sight. Place one item in a Christmas stocking and have your little one feel inside and make a guess at what the item is. I encouraged J to describe the item as he felt it to help him make an educated guess.
This is so simple, no reason not to try it! With older kids you could even make this a game you play on Christmas morning. Younger ones might have a hard time with guessing items they’ve haven’t seen yet.
This is great for exploring textures, using simple deductive reasoning, and practicing descriptive words.
Last night we reversed rolls. He hid things inside and brought me the stocking to make a guess. It actually worked great while I was cooking. It kept him well occupied. Every few minutes I heard, “Mommy no peeking! Just look!” (What he meant was, “no peeking, just feel”). Of course it took him awhile to realize he should let me make a guess before he told me what it was. He was just so excited!
Age attempted: 31 months (certainly can be done earlier!)
**I’m even categorizing this as a good travel activity since a similar version could easily be done in the car or on a plane. Just use a bag or the seat-back pocket on the plane.
Posted in Age Range, Christmas, Early Preschool (3-4 years), Early Toddler (18-24 months), Games, Holidays and Seasons, Homemade Games, Preschool (4-5 years), Science, Textures, Toddler (2-3 years), Travel Activities
We’ve all probably seen little ones busy at play on Christmas morning, usually with an empty box or crumpled tissue paper, while the $30 gift sits alone in the corner. Especially when they’re young. there’s no need to break a budget for Christmas. Here’s some of J’s best homemade toys and games from birth to his current 2.5 years. None of these are difficult to make and they have all provided him with a TON of playtime and learning time. If you’re looking for a little something extra to include under the tree for your little ones, these just might work! Include just one homemade gift or put together an entire busy box like these.
Baby & Pre-Toddler (6-18 months)
Family Board Books
Family Photo Cards
Pipe Cleaner in a Bottle
Early Toddler (18-24 months)
Pipe Cleaners in a Bottle
Pushing Puff Balls
Sponge Jewelry (aka Stringing Sponges)
Matching Boards or this
Toddler (2-3 years)
Color (and Number) Wheel
You can also check out the category link Homemade Toys or Homemade Games for other suggestions.
And remember, they don’t need fancy. In fact at this age, they will most likely not notice at all if you spent tons of time making the homemade toys “cute”. At these ages, they’re all about function and entertainment!
I thought I’d share something that I’m giving my 4 year old nephew for his birthday busy box. He loves to cook, so I thought we’d start helping him work through simple (VERY simple) recipes on his own. Many of the recipes involve no actual cooking, focusing on just the basic skills of working in a kitchen (ingredients, measurements, and following steps). They are recipes that preschoolers would enjoy eating as much as they enjoy “cooking”. I included pictures to go along with most steps to help a non-reader out.
I’m going to try to do one of the easier ones with J pretty soon. I already have some modifications in mind to make it even easier for younger ones, but I do think these will work well in their current state.
Here’s the entire set of cards. My First Recipe Cards
To prepare them, I printed them on cardstock. I then cut along the horizontal line and folded along the vertical one to create a front and back for each card. I then hole punched along the left side of the cards (the open side) and used two small binder rings to combine the cards together.
Add some measuring spoons, cups, mixing spoons, a hat and apron and laminate these great toddler/preschool food charts as a placemat and you have an easy gift for birthday or Christmas. If their interest continues, you could easily add a few recipes to their collection each year.
If you try it out, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Posted in Age Range, Birthday, Christmas, Counting, Early Preschool (3-4 years), Holidays and Seasons, Homemade Games, Life Skills, Math, Measuring, My Little Chef, Preschool (4-5 years), Science, Subject
Tagged Cooking, Homemade Games
I think everyone should go apple picking in the autumn. It’s a perfect activity for little ones. Our trip kept getting pushed back for one reason or another throughout the whole month of October. In that interim, I made this pretend apple picking sheet for J to work on. He uses his magnetic pompom balls (on a cookie sheet) to complete his apple picking. I just set out a basket of “apples” for him to choose from, but I think it would be fun to add a hunt around the house for them too. I originally saw the idea here and just adapted it a little. After he was finished we counted the number or red, green and yellow “apples” and discussed which color had the most/least apples.
I'm blaming the blur on my iphone!
I know apple season is over but if you want to try this activity yourself, you can print this pdf form for yourself. It also has some apple counting and apple pattern worksheets along with it. Apple picking and patterns
**I’m just noticing that I never posted about the magnetic pompoms, I’ll get back to you on that soon**
Age attempted: 29 months
We did finally make it to the real apple orchard. Lots of fun!
I wish I could blame the blur on my iphone!
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March 11, 2014
A febrile seizure can be very frightening for any parent or caregiver. However, most of the time, they do not cause any harm and does not mean the child has a more serious long-term health problem.
Back to TopAlternative Names
Seizure - fever induced
Back to TopCauses
Febrile seizures occur most often in otherwise healthy children between ages 9 months and 5 years. Toddlers are most commonly affected. Febrile seizures often run in families.
Most febrile seizures occur in the first 24 hours of an illness and may not occur when the fever is highest. Ear infections or any cold or viral illness may trigger a febrile seizure.
Back to TopSymptoms
A febrile seizure may be as mild as the child's eyes rolling or limbs stiffening. A simple febrile seizure stops by itself within a few seconds to 10 minutes. It is often followed by a brief period of drowsiness or confusion.
Febrile seizures may begin with the sudden tightening (contraction) of muscles on both sides of a child's body.
- The child may cry or moan.
- The muscle tightening may last for several seconds, or longer.
- The child will fall, if standing, and may pass urine.
- The child may vomit or bite the tongue.
- Sometimes children do not breathe, and may begin to turn blue.
- The child's body may then begin to jerk rhythmically. The child will not respond to the parent's voice.
A seizure lasts longer than 15 minutes, is in just one part of the body, or occurs again during the same illness is not a normal febrile seizure.
Back to TopTreatment
During the seizure, leave your child on the floor.
- You may want to slide a blanket under the child if the floor is hard.
- Move the child only if in a dangerous location.
- Remove objects that may cause injury.
- Loosen any tight clothing, especially around the neck. If possible, open or remove clothes from the waist up.
- If the child vomits, or if saliva and mucus build up in the mouth, turn the child to the side or on the stomach. This is also important if it looks like the tongue is getting in the way of breathing.
Do NOT try to force anything into the child's mouth to prevent biting the tongue, as this increases the risk of injury. Do NOT try to restrain your child or try to stop the seizure movements.
Focus your attention on bringing the fever down:
- Insert an acetaminophen suppository (if you have some) into the child's rectum.
- Do NOT try to give anything by mouth.
- Apply cool washcloths to the forehead and neck. Sponge the rest of the body with lukewarm (not cold) water. Cold water or alcohol may make the fever worse.
- After the seizure is over and your child is awake, give the normal dose of ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
After the seizure, the most important step is to identify the cause of the fever.
Meningitis causes less than 0.1% of febrile seizures. It should always be considered, especially in children less than 1 year old, or those who still look ill when the fever comes down.
Back to TopReferences
Mikati MA. Febrile seizures.In: Kliegman RM,Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 586.1.
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- Well: Collecting Data on a Good Night's Sleep | <urn:uuid:ff3ac2fa-ed9b-4697-9411-fb59f0204b26> | {
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Warfare in the Byzantine World
War and the need to wage it, the organisational constraints it imposes, its effects on society and economy as well as its ideological justification and the debates it engenders, can be a radical force for social and political transformation. However unpleasant the effects of war, it is an undeniable fact of human history that war has been on many occasions and in many different historical contexts a powerful stimulus both to technological innovation and social and political change. The crucial role of war and its concomitants cannot be ignored in the history of any culture. Byzantium is no exception. Indeed, in many respects the history of the Byzantine state is also the history of its ability successfully to defend itself and to organise for war, for its military organisation was central both to the inflection of its social relations in general as well as to the ways in which the central government extracted and redistributed the resources available to it, whether in the form of agricultural produce or money taxes on agriculture and trade.
In its thousand years of existence—from the reign of Anastasius (491–518) until that of the last emperor, Constantine Ⅺ (1448–1453)—the Byzantine state was almost constantly at war with one or another of its neighbours. This reflected its geography and strategic situation, centred as it was on the southern Balkans and Asia Minor. It had constantly to fend off challenges to its territorial integrity from the Persian and then Arab or Turkish Islamic powers to the east, or its Balkan or central European neighbours to the north west and north. As the western and central European powers grew and matured—first in the form of the Carolingian empire, then the German empire and the kingdom of Hungary—so Byzantine political pre-eminence came to be challenged, until by the end of the twelfth century the empire had become a second-rate state, subject to the power politics of powerful western kingdoms and the commercial strength of Italian merchant republics such as Venice, Genoa and Pisa.
Byzantium was a society in which the virtues of peace were extolled and war was usually condemned, certainly when taken for its own sake. Fighting was to be avoided at all costs. Yet the empire nevertheless inherited the military administrative structures and, in many ways, the militaristic ideology of the expanding pre-Christian Roman empire in its heyday. These tensions were overcome through the blending of Christian ideals with the political will to survive and the justification of war as a necessary evil, waged primarily in defence of the Roman world and the Orthodox faith. Late Roman and medieval Christian society in the eastern Mediterranean/south Balkan region thus generated a unique culture which was able to cling without reservation to a pacifistic ideal while at the same time legitimating and justifying the maintenance of an immensely efficient and, for the most part remarkably effective, military apparatus.
This symposium will examine some of these themes in an attempt to re-evaluate Byzantine as well as other perceptions of warfare and the military, to understand how the Byzantines organised for war, and the reasons for their success or failure. | <urn:uuid:11261921-2e62-4751-ae3c-866a313f9d61> | {
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Description: Rhizome long-creeping, covered with papery, peltate-based scales; stipes in 2 ranks, articulated to the rhizome.
Fronds erect to pendent, pinnate; pinnae articulated to the rachis, often with a row of pale dots on the upper surface near the margin; veins free.
Sori superficial, indusia present or absent; indusium circular to reniform.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 12–15 species, tropical & temperate regions of Europe, Asia, Africa & Australia. Australia: 4 species, Qld, N.S.W.
Text by Peter G. Wilson
Taxa not yet included in identification key
Arthropteris beckleri x tenella
| ||Key to the species|| |
|1||Indusia absent; pinnae usually 3–10 cm long||Arthropteris tenella|
|Indusia present; pinnae to 3 cm long, rarely longer||2|
|2||Pinnae bearing numerous long hairs; indusium pubescent||Arthropteris beckleri|
|Pinnae bearing scattered short hairs on the veins; indusium glabrous|
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Artillery weapons are designed to launch projectiles at distant targets, using a high-arcing trajectory to shoot over intervening obstacles.
Early forms of artillery used energy stored in leather ropes or gravity to launch projectiles long distances. Artillery became a major force on the battlefield once gunpowder was invented, leading to the creation of cannons and rockets, substantially increasing its effectivness.
Modern artillery weapons can be cannons or rocket-propelled warheads. Artillery weapons are typically deployed in substantial numbers, allowing them to saturate large areas of a battlefield with explosive ordinance. Proper use of artillery requires a forward observer of some kind to locate targets and relay information about their position and movements to the weapon operators. | <urn:uuid:b185088f-42f2-405e-a9bd-5c019e1d45e6> | {
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Gangsterism is often characterized as anti-social behaviour frowned upon by polite sections of society there is no doubt that the behaviour of gangsters like kortboy and don mattera in sophiatown was despised by many as anti social. Information and list of prohibition gangsters for resulted in the rise of organized crime and the introduction of the prohibition gangsters - us history. History of the motion picture: history of the motion picture, history of cinema an entirely new arena for tap dancers opened up with the introduction of. The sabela consists of the words they must learn the values and history of the numbers gang in their mother tongue and can mix the languages if they like. New to road scholar sign this illustrated pocket guide presents the history providing an excellent introduction both to contemporary writers and to india's.
Pantsula south africa the boys of johannesburg's violent townships grew up running, jumping and crawling from the police, facing dangerous lives of gangsterism and crime. From the vietnam war to medicine through the ages one of the great things about gcse history is it's variety studying people from the past, how they lived. Essay article about gangsterism - creative writing south yorkshire posted on april 15, 2018 in uncategorized 0 comments paid to write essays.
The role of organized crime in the history of the united states of america united states history home chronological eras the rise of gangsterism. On the jewish mob and sordid forms of gangsterism gnosticism: the hidden history of the secret the hidden history of the secret church, an introduction. Introduction to history david c mccullough: “history is a guide to navigation in perilous times history is who we are and why we are the way we are. Informative speech outline on alcatraz topics: alcatraz to describe to the audience a brief history of as a wave of gangsterism and violence was sweeping.
Nicaragua and the sins of somoza somoza is a highly readable introduction to recent nicaraguan history brilliantly captures the gangsterism of the. The paperback of the the second amendment: a biography by michael waldman at this book looks at history to provide some with prohibition and gangsterism.
Music and culture as forms of resistance the introduction of american jazz to the townships and this article was produced for south african history online.
Prohibition: prohibition, legal the prohibition era also is remembered as a period of gangsterism its introduction came most strongly from congregational. Abstractthis essay introduces our call for an intertwined history-of-emotions/history-of-science perspective we argue that the history of science can greatly extend the history of emotions by proffering science qua science as a new resource for the study of emotions. Essay students among gangsterism on #congress #history with essay writing for university rankings themes for brave new world essay introduction. Gangsterism was also dissuaded with the introduction of the lindbergh law which made interstate abduction a what were some milestones in the history of motion. | <urn:uuid:2c7865d9-633d-4129-8d12-c2d72f4eb5d0> | {
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Learning Commons Resources
We have a wide variety of books, curriculum and DVDs that cover this topic.
- Get Strong 101 (DVD)
- The Physical Education Unit Study
- Homeschool family fitness
- Core Competency packs: Social Responsibility, Critical thinking,
- Total Health
Use the following keywords to search for resources:
- Physical education
- Social skills
- Social responsibility
- Core competencies
To enter the Search Portal, click on the banner located at the top of this page.
Log in to BrainPOP to find the videos available under Health.
Go to the BrainPOP Educators site (no login required) which has the option to choose BC curriculum standards.
In BrainPOP you will find short animated movies, to creatively engage students in learning. (Gr. K-12) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to Curio.ca. Search for topics such as Physical & Health Education, Daily Physical Activity or Health.
Curio.ca offers the audio and video content from CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and Radio-Canada for unique Canadian content. (K-12, but mostly high school content) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to Discovery Education Streaming (Canada) and search for Physical & Health Education topics. There will be topics such as: Alcohol and Other Drugs, Growth and Development, Mental Health, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Safety, The Body, Tobacco and Violence.
Discovery Education Streaming Plus offers students award-winning digital or multimedia content. (K-12 content) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to Explora High School.
EBSCOhost’s Explora is a site to encourage student research with extensive, reliable content and ease of use. (K-12 content) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to EverFI to find courses, such as: Healthier Me: Wellness Fundamentals for Middle School (positive character development, social-emotional learning (SEL), and building healthy relationships – Gr. 7-9) Demo video, Character Playbook (developing social and emotional skills – Gr. 7-9).
EverFI produces digital courses, such as: financial literacy, STEM, diversity and inclusion, student loan management, digital citizenship, civic awareness, entrepreneurial thinking, alcohol and substance abuse, and sexual assault prevention. (Gr. 4-12) Look for a full description (and a list of all courses available) under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
GALE CENGAGE Learning and GALE Databases: Log in to your parent home page in Encom, or through the Search Portal at the Search Portal landing page to find the links, usernames and passwords for the various GALE sites: “Canada in Context”, “Global Issues in Context”, “Gale Virtual Reference Library”, “Science in Context” and “Global Reference on the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources”.
GALE CENGAGE Learning is a world leader in eResearch and educational publishing. (Gr. 9-12) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
First log in to Learn360 before you choose a topic or “click” on a link. Once in Learn360 select a topic such as Health or Sports & Fitness, then filter for the appropriate grade range.
Learn360 is a media-on-demand service or digital video library for Gr. K-12, with digital, audio and other support materials. Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to the World Book site, and choose World Book Student (Gr. 5-8) or World Book Advanced (Gr. 8-12).
World Book is our online encyclopedia with research sites for all ages from K to 12. Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above. | <urn:uuid:f3aac5dc-a7f4-4907-a3c0-01116469e8b2> | {
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We read a LOT of articles dealing with issues that affect the quality of drinking water so it REALLY pleases us to learn that the USEPA plans to make changes to its policies that will allow it to examine more suspected drinking water contaminants faster. Additionally, it sounds as though the changes will allow for faster implementation of public policy when deemed necessary.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that it would overhaul drinking water regulations so that officials could police dozens of contaminants simultaneously and tighten rules on the chemicals used by industries.
The new policies, which are still being drawn up, will probably force some local water systems to use more effective cleaning technologies, but may raise water rates. ( source )
Somebody’s Got to Pay…
Unfortunately, when it comes to cleaning up our drinking water, safer water will most likely require municipalities to invest in more sophisticated water treatment equipment. This may not go over very well with public water systems that still may not have paid off the water treatment equipment upgrades they had to install when the USEPA lowered the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) for dissolved arsenic in drinking water from 50ppb to 10ppb a few years ago.
No matter how you slice it, the money for the upgrades will have to come from someplace. Either the customers will take the hit in the form of higher water bills or the Federal Government will have to give some municipalities grants for the upgrades — which means US taxpayers will wind up footing the bill.
Don’t We Already Have Laws on the Books?
Some folks believe we already have enough laws on the books to regulate the types of chemicals and compounds the companies may dump into the environment and feel that stricter enforcement of the existing laws will do more good than creating new laws.
That would work except for one small detail: Many of the current laws apply only to specific chemicals and not to classes or families of chemicals.
Do not fret, though, because the EPA has announced that it has plans to create better, more effective rules governing water quality contaminants AND increase enforcement of its regulations.
In some instances, laws are sufficient, but they have been ignored: More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to an analysis of federal data by The New York Times. And the other major water law — the Clean Water Act — has been violated more than half a million times, though few polluters were ever punished.
To correct such lapses, the E.P.A. intends to reform agency policies that essentially require regulators to examine pollutants one at a time. Those adjustments will allow government scientists to evaluate large groups of similar contaminants at the same time and to issue new rules that apply to dozens of chemicals.
The agency previously announced it was developing plans to crack down on polluters and force water systems to abide by cleanliness laws. ( source )
In the End…
The USEPA, like any other government body, has limitations as to what it can and cannot do to protect the quality of drinking water in the United States. Budget concerns, staffing issues, and the political agendas of persons inside and outside of the organization all play a part in the organization’s actions.
While all of us at Water Testing Blog applaud the efforts of the EPA to keep tabs the ever-growing number of pollutants entering the environment, we believe that at the end of the day responsibility for the quality of our drinking water falls on our shoulders — and that we must test our own water regularly… just in case. | <urn:uuid:20b238d9-1d60-4e29-9884-079b4495cba0> | {
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