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WASHINGTON, Mar. 15, 2017 - Midwest farmers aren’t planting cover crops extensively enough to significantly reduce nutrient runoff in rivers and streams, according to a study that used satellite maps to track the prevalence of cover crops in 2015 and 2016.
“At current rates of progress, it will take decades to get use of cover crops at the scale needed to make a real difference. That’s too long to wait,” says the report by the Environmental Working Group and Practical Farmers of Iowa.
The groups call for increasing federal funding for planting cover crops and suggest shifting some money from crop insurance and two commodity programs, Price Loss Coverage and Agriculture Risk Coverage.
The report studied three states, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, all of which have used state funds to help promote cover crops, supplementing the federal assistance that is available through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Stewardship Program.
The report found that 2.6 percent of corn and soybean acres in Iowa were planted to rye, oats or other cover crops in the winter. In Illinois, cover crops were identified on 2.3 percent of the state’s corn and soybean acreage.
Cover crops were more common in Indiana, having been planted on 7.1 percent of corn and soybean acres there. Another 4 percent of agricultural land in Indiana is planted to winter wheat, which has similar environmental benefits to cover crops, About 2 percent of Illinois cropland is planted to winter wheat. There are only negligible amounts in Iowa.
The authors estimate that it would take Iowa at least 30 years at current state and federal funding levels to reach the statewide target for cover crops, even if all farmers continued to use cover crops after getting the initial state and federal funding, and the study claims that usually doesn’t happen. The analysis estimated that 40 percent of farmers who received funding to try out cover crops continued to use them when they no longer had the federal or state assistance.
Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said the report wrongly assumes that 60 percent of farmers stop using cover crops once their funding ends. “It is much more likely many of those farmers are trying cover crops on a different field on their farm,” he said. “From our surveys and interactions with farmers we are seeing most farmers continue with cover crops and expand acreage, not abandoning the practice.”
Northey also disagrees with cutting farm programs to increase assistance for cover crops. “The federal crop insurance program is too important to farmers and should not be undermined. That said, I do think there are opportunities to provide additional resources for water quality efforts.”
Iowa is the only state to make its cost-share data publicly available and to also have a goal for cover crops. Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy includes several scenarios. One such scenario estimates that planting cover crops on 12.6 million corn and soybean acres, coupled with wetlands restoration and other measures, would reduce nitrate losses by 42 percent and phosphorus runoff by 30 percent. Cover crops are estimated to reduce nitrate leaching by 35 percent and reduce soil erosion by more than half.
Rick Robinson, who is environmental policy adviser for the Iowa Farm Bureau, emphasized that the Iowa strategy relies on more than cover crops. Iowa farmers have more acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program through the targeted continuous signup, 1.09 million acres.
The state also has 629,000 acres of prime pollinator habitat, second only to Kansas, he said. “More sustained growth will happen as additional funding is identified by the legislature for all of the strategy’s practices,” he said. “Our conservation programs are certainly working better, smarter. Better days are ahead.” | <urn:uuid:e2fbc9ea-6c57-450e-9188-fda71a0ad3a8> | {
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From the moment she organized her first Earth Day in 1970, Barbara Sattler, DrPH, RN, FAAN, says the environment, social justice, and human health have been important issues to her.
Sattler started her career in nursing focused on the individual patient, but in the 1980s, she began looking at the health of the whole community, specifically those exposed to environmental risks. For example, she noticed changes in the behavior of workers in a chemical plant that manufactured pesticides. She also worked with Baltimore youth on urban environmental health problems such as lead poisoning. As a nurse, Sattler says, it's important to help people make better decisions about possible exposures. "We hope nurses realize their capacity to educate patients and fellow nurses about critical issues such as the chemicals we use in our everyday lives."
Sattler is a professor at the School of Nursing and teaches in the Community/Public Health Nursing program—the only nursing program in the country with an environmental focus. Sattler encourages her students to ask what they can do as nurses to make policy changes for environmental health issues.
As the director of the Environmental Health Education Center at the University, Sattler helps Maryland hospitals consider their ecological impact on patient health and makes efforts to integrate environmental health into the nursing field. She says, "We [nurses] need to be one of many that take responsibility for environmental health."
In order to live more sustainably on a daily basis, Sattler recommends recycling, taking advantage of carpools or public transportation, and conserving energy by turning off lights at the end of the day. For more information on how to live sustainability, see "Make Your Living Space a Green Space." For more information on how to bring sustainability into health care, visit "Resource Guide."
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Doctrine and Covenants Lesson #17
Principles of the gospel begin with faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and continue with enduring to the end by obedience to commandments such as consecrating, paying tithing, fasting, sacrificing, and serving. Joseph Smith learned and taught these commandments line upon line.
The commandment to tithe is given to a group, and disciples have a collective responsibility. The message is not that individuals will necessarily receive financial rewards for tithe paying but that every individual has an obligation to the Lord and to his kingdom to pay tithing so that his people as a whole will prosper.
Although many in the early decades of the Church were slow to obey the principle and practice of tithing, leaders continued to affirm the obligatory nature of the commandment. In January 1845 the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles under the direction of President Brigham Young issued an epistle reminding the Saints of their duty to pay tithing (History of the Church 7:358). In 1881 obedience to the law of tithing became a requirement for temple attendance (Journal of Discourses 22:207-208) for those with an income. In May 1899 a manifestation was given to President Lorenzo Snow that even though the Church was beleaguered by financial difficulties, it was nonetheless bound by the law of tithing, as were its members individually, and all would be blessed materially and spiritually by heeding it (LeRoi Snow, Improvement Era, p. 439).
The practice of tithing in the Old Testament is linked to Temple offerings. The law of Moses sometimes mentions tithes in connection with heave offerings. Clay fragments at Masada document the inhabitants’ practice of the priestly tithe.
Fasting regularly and giving the food saved to the hungry, especially our enemies, is the surest route to world peace as well as world health. Impelled by universal human emotions in the face of hunger, especially in a crisis, we have shown we can unite in ways we seem unable to do in other matters, even in something so basic as arms reduction.
General principles of the fast include prayerful preparation concerning the subject of the fast and frequent contemplation and meditation throughout to achieve oneness in purpose and spirit with the Lord; a quiet, humble, and cheerful conduct befitting one seeking blessing or spiritual enlightenment (Matt. 6:16-18; cf. 3 Ne. 13:16-18); and a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving when ending the fast. | <urn:uuid:16b5c0dd-4a62-46c8-945a-be701bbffa7b> | {
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speech and language therapist with more than 40 years of experience working with people who have special needs. She has a particular interest in Rett syndrome, and the general field of sensory and learning disabilities:
Since at least 2005, eye tracking has been used in conjunction with technology for access to communication systems for disabled persons: allowing the user to speak, send e-mail, browse the Internet, and perform other such activities, using only their eyes.
The most widely used current designs are video-based eye trackers. A camera focuses on one or both eyes and records their movement as the viewer looks at some kind of stimulus. Most modern eye-trackers use contrast to locate the center of the pupil and use infrared or near-infrared light to create a corneal reflection. The vector between these two features can be used to compute gaze intersection with a surface after a simple calibration for an individual – in other words, the computer can tell what the user is looking at. The new Tobii PCEye is an easy to use, stand-alone eye control device that can be used with most personal computers. It is quick to set up, highly accurate and provides total control of the computer using only the person’s eyes.
Director Global Services and Education Tobii Dynavox:
In 2001 Tobii began developing eyetracking systems for use in child development research. Analysis customers needed an eyetracker which allowed natural movement and did not require the person using the system to stay still. It was at this point that people with physical disabilities started to use Tobii eyegaze systems for communication. People with cerebral palsy and ALS now had a system which did not need complex calibration and difficult set up. Most of all, they could move naturally in front of the computer screen.
At this time, it was not envisaged that girls with Rett Syndrome would use eyegaze. Typically, someone with Rett Syndrome is ambulant and has hand movement. This led professionals looking for AAC solutions to focus on tablet computer based systems. However, the apraxia in girls with Rett Syndrome makes consistent functional hand use difficult to achieve. Eyegaze is a much more successful approach. It is a more natural interaction for someone with apraxia and gives the girls an access method they can rely on and trust themselves to succeed with. Nowadays, we have hundreds of girls accessing computers and AAC systems around the world, with varying success it must be said. As an AAC system, it still needs to be taught and parents and professionals must commit to consistent interaction methods. This also means that people like to trial a system first. However, the first barrier of access does seem to be overcome best with eyegaze systems.
More information http://www.tobii.com/en/assistive-technology/north-america/disabilities/common-disabilities/rett-syndrome/
special educator, speech and language therapist:
Every child has a right to communicate and we, as a society, are obligated to do everything to respect this right and to make communication possible. It’s a fundamental aspect during social and emotional development, education, work or simply daily life. It’s a fundamental aspect while forming family bonds, making friends, standing up for oneself. Every child wants to communicate and IS able to communicate. Each and every behavior is a message, a communicate. Just not always it is a verbal communication.
There are children that cannot communicate verbally. But this doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to say. When I meet a child with severe disability, a child who is not able to speak nor to control hand movements, I always get a feeling that there are so many words kept in a cage of disability. And I can’t wait to get to those words, to make communication possible – cause it is every time a life changing experience to see a child being understood for the first time. Eyetracking is sometimes the only way to set free those trapped words.
It is especially exceptional when it comes to the children with Rett syndrome. Girls are finally able to control computer cursor by eye movements, they don’t need to fight with their own body anymore. There is no pressure to make a precise hand movement in certain amount of time – a child can just look at the screen and…the communication begins. It begins with playing simple cause and effect games, with drawing, with choosing from two – three objects, and then, step by step, we are heading to messages and a real conversation. It is a very individual process but each time I have a privilege to observe a child during this journey with eyetracking, it’s clear how engage the child is, how skills develop during the process and also how tension fades away to give a space to joy of interactive play and communication. Thanks to eyetracking we can give a child a way to set free those trapped by disability words and to make communication effective. | <urn:uuid:5f43d030-cd91-4993-a1d2-d1b1db9f4fd1> | {
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Singular and Plural Possessive Nouns Task Cards: This set includes 48 Task Cards to be used while teaching or reviewing singular or plural possessive nouns.
Three different task card sets are included (16 cards in each set):
Set one: Singular Possessive Nouns
Set two: Plural Possessive Nouns
Set three: Singular & Plural Possessive Nouns
Student Directions: Students will choose a task card. They will read the phrase on the task card and will write the possessive form of the noun on the recording sheet provided.
** All three sets of task cards include a recording sheet and an answer key.
This set will look best if printed in color on white card stock or greyscale on colored card stock. Then, laminate and cut out to use year after year! | <urn:uuid:c496100d-c290-4f57-a110-20c7259b7dd9> | {
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Pre-conception nutrition is a vital part of preparing for pregnancy. Factors such as a woman's weight compared to her height and what she eats can play an important role in a mother's health during pregnancy and the health of her developing fetus.
A mother's pre-pregnancy weight has a direct influence on her baby's birthweight. Studies show that underweight women are more likely to give birth to small babies, even though they may gain the same amount in pregnancy as normal weight women. Overweight women have increased risks for complications in pregnancy such as gestational diabetes or high blood pressure. Consult your physician about whether you need to lose or gain weight before becoming pregnant.
Many women do not eat a well-balanced diet before pregnancy and may not have the proper nutritional status for the demands of pregnancy. Generally, a pregnant woman needs to add about 300 extra calories to meet the needs of her body and her developing fetus. However, those calories, as well as her entire diet, need to be healthy, balanced, and nutritious.
The food guide pyramid is a guideline to help you eat a healthy diet. The food guide pyramid can help you eat a variety of foods while encouraging the right amount of calories and fat. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Department of Health and Human Services have prepared the following food pyramid to guide you in selecting foods.
Click Image to Enlarge
The Food Pyramid is divided into 6 colored bands representing the 5 food groups plus oils:
- Orange represents grains: Make half the grains consumed each day whole grains. Whole-grain foods include oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, whole cornmeal, brown rice, and whole-wheat bread. Check the food label on processed foods - the words “whole” or “whole grain” should be listed before the specific grain in the product.
- Green represents vegetables: Vary your vegetables. Choose a variety of vegetables, including dark green- and orange-colored kinds, legumes (peas and beans), starchy vegetables, and other vegetables.
- Red represents fruits: Focus on fruits. Any fruit or 100 percent fruit juice counts as part of the fruit group. Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, and may be whole, cut-up, or pureed.
- Yellow represents oils: Know the limits on fats, sugars, and salt (sodium). Make most of your fat sources from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils. Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard, as well as foods that contain these.
- Blue represents milk: Get your calcium-rich foods. Milk and milk products contain calcium and vitamin D, both important ingredients in building and maintaining bone tissue. Use low-fat or fat-free milk after the age of two years. However, during the first year of life, infants should be fed breast milk or iron-fortified formula. Whole cow’s milk may be introduced after an infant’s first birthday, but lower-fat or skim milk should not be used until the child is at least two years old.
- Purple represents meat and beans: Go lean on protein. Choose low fat or lean meats and poultry. Vary your protein routine - choose more fish, nuts, seeds, peas, and beans.
Activity is also represented on the pyramid by the steps and the person climbing them, as a reminder of the importance of daily physical activity.
To find more information about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and to determine the appropriate dietary recommendations for your age, sex, and physical activity level, visit the Online Resources page for the links to the Food Pyramid and 2005 Dietary Guidelines sites. Please note that the Food Pyramid is designed for persons over the age of two who do not have chronic health conditions.
In addition to the pyramid food groups, the following nutrients should be included in a woman's pre-conception diet and continued into pregnancy:
- folic acid
The US Public Health Service recommends that all women of childbearing age consume 400 micrograms (0.4 mg) of folic acid each day. Folic acid, a nutrient found in some green, leafy vegetables, most berries, nuts, beans, citrus fruits, fortified breakfast cereals, and some vitamin supplements can help reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord (called neural tube defects). The most common neural tube defect is spina bifida (in which the vertebrae do not fuse together properly, causing the spinal cord to be exposed) which can lead to varying degrees of paralysis, incontinence, and, sometimes, mental retardation.
Folic acid is most beneficial during the first 28 days after conception, when most neural tube defects occur. Unfortunately, many women do not realize they are pregnant before 28 days. Therefore, folic acid intake should begin prior to conception and continue through pregnancy. Your physician will recommend the appropriate amount of folic acid to meet your individual needs.
Most physicians will prescribe a prenatal supplement before conception, or shortly afterward, to ensure all of the woman's nutritional needs are met. However, a prenatal supplement does not replace a healthy diet.
Many women have low iron stores as a result of monthly menstruation and diets low in iron. Building iron stores helps prepare a mother's body for the needs of the fetus during pregnancy. Good sources of iron include the following:
- meats - beef, pork, lamb, liver, and other organ meats
- poultry - chicken, duck, turkey, liver (especially dark meat)
- fish - shellfish, including clams, mussels, oysters, sardines, and anchovies
- leafy greens of the cabbage family, such as broccoli, kale, turnip greens, and collards
- legumes, such as lima beans and green peas; dry beans and peas, such as pinto beans, black-eyed peas, and canned baked beans
- yeast-leavened whole-wheat bread and rolls
- iron-enriched white bread, pasta, rice, and cereals
Preparing for pregnancy includes building healthy bones. If there is not enough calcium in the pregnancy diet, the fetus may draw calcium from the mother's bones, which can put women at risk for osteoporosis later in life. The recommended calcium intake for most non-pregnant women is 1,200 milligrams and an additional 400 milligrams is needed during pregnancy. Three or more servings of milk or other dairy products each day equals about 1,200 milligrams of calcium.
Always consult your physician regarding your healthy diet and exercise requirements.
Click here to view the
Online Resources of High-Risk Pregnancy | <urn:uuid:237d8733-69da-4d8d-97ac-20e72cb99a16> | {
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Children's Literature Page
“Obviously we can’t control all people in the world. But we can continue to remind ourselves of what is important and try to live in ways nourishing for human beings. It is most important to know about lives that seem, on the surface, unlike our own. We must remind ourselves and our children that the Middle East is a complicated center of dramatic cultural and religious history and the vast majority of people living there would love to be our friends.”
~~Naomi Shihab Nye
If we are to endure as human beings, we must learn as much as possible about others in our world. To that end, I have selected a beginning collection of books about Islamic traditions and Muslim culture for the very young, for older children, and for young adults, as well as those for parents and teachers. The stories, the poetry, the illustrations, the historical figures, and the folktales all contribute to that wonderful magic that transports readers to other places, other times, other worlds. Such reading can help young people integrate in their own lives the increased knowledge, deeper understanding, and a caring acceptance of others vital to all of humanity.
Ahsan, M.M. Muslim Festivals. Illustrated by M.M. Ahsan. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Enterprises, 1987.
Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila S. Blair. Islamic Arts. Art and Ideas. London: Phaidon Press, 1997.
Bloom, Jonathan and Sheila S. Blair. Islam : A Thousand Years of Faith and Power. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2002.
Burns, Khephra. Mansa Musa. Illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon. San Francisco: Harcourt Brace, 2001.
Chalfonte, Jessica. I Am Muslim. New York : PowerKids Press, 1996.
Clark, Emma. Sinan: Architect of Istanbul. Illustrated by Emma Alcock. London: UK: Hood Hood Books,
Cohen, Barbara and Bahia Lovejoy. Seven Daughters and Seven Sons. New York: Atheneum, 1982.
Durkee, Noura. Animals of Paradise. Illustrated by Simon Trethewey.London, UK: Hood Hood Books, 1997.
Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner. Toronto, CA: Groundwood, 2000.
Esposito, John., Editor. The Oxford History of Islam. New York. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Ghazi, Suhaib Hamid. Ramadan. Illustrated by Omar Rayyan. New York: Holiday House, 1996.
Goodwin, Jan. Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World. New York: Plume, 1995.
Heide, Florence Parry and Judith Gilliland. The Day of Ahmed’s Secret. Illustrated by Ted Lewin. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1990.
Heide, Florence Parry and Judith Gilliland. The House of Wisdom. Illustrated by Mary Grandpre. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1999.
Heide, Florence Parry and Judith Gilliland. Sami and the Time of the Troubles. Illustrated by Ted Lewin. New York: Clarion Books, 1992.
Husain, Shahrukh. What Do We Know about Islam? Illustrated by Celia Hart. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1995.
Islam: Empire of Faith: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/ [PBS Program]
Johnson-Davies, Denys. Rumi: Poet and Sage. Illustrated by Laura De La Mare. London, UK: Hood Hood Books, 1996.
Kessler, Cristina. One Night: A Story from the Desert. Illustrated by Ian Schoenherr. New York: Philomel Books, 1995.
Khan, Rukhsana. The Roses in My Carpets. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. New York: Holiday House, 1998.
Kurtz, Jane. Pulling the Lion’s Tale. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Lewin, Ted. The Storytellers. Illustrated by Ted Lewin. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1998.
Lunde, Paul. Islam. London, UK: Dorling Kindersley, 2002.
McMane, Fred. Hakeem Olajawon. New York: Chelsea Books, 1999.
Maalouf, Amin and Jon Rothschild. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. London, UK: Schocken Books, 1989.
MacDonald, Fiona. A 16th Century Mosque. Illustrated by Mark Bergin. New York : P. Bedrick Books, 1994.
Marshall, Julia. Suleiman the Magnificent: The Story of Istanbul. London: Hood Hood Books, 2002.
Matthews, Mary. Magid Fasts for Ramadan. Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. New York: Clarion Books, 1996.
Naff, Alixa. The Arab Americans. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2002.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Habibi. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Sitti’s Secrets. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. The Flag of Childhood: Poems from the Middle East. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2002.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. The Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings from the Middle East. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey. And the Earth Trembled : The Creation of Adam and Eve. Illustrated by Neil Waldman. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1996.
Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey. The Hundredth Name. Illustrated by Michael Hays. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 1995.
Rumford, James. Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325-1354. Illustrated by James Rumford. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Rummel, Jack. Muhammad Ali. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.
Shah, Idries. The Boy Without a Name. Illustrated by Mona Caron. Cambridge, MA: Hoopoe Books,
The Three Princes: A Middle Eastern Tale. Retold by Eric A. Kimmel. Illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher. New York: Holiday House, 1994.
Weiss-Armush, Anne Marie. Arabian Cuisine. Illustrated by John Berry. Beirut, Lebanon : Dar An-nafaés, 1984.
Wprmser, Richard. American Islam: Growing Up Muslim in America. New York: Walker & Co., 1994.
Zeman, Linda. Sindbad. Illustrated by Ludmila Zeman. Toronto, CA: Tundra Books, 1999.
Zhang, Song Nan, The Children of China. Illustrated by Song Nan Zhang. Plattsburgh, NY: Tundra Books of Northern New York, 1995.
Children's Literature Page | <urn:uuid:dabd2fac-8cff-40bf-869e-a6339a37fd6e> | {
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You are going to start with planning your dinner. You will work in groups of four. The teacher decides who you work with.
Step 1 ( week 1)
You and your group will choose a country from the six below:
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- New Zealand
Step 2 ( week 1: deviding the roles. Week 2 and week 3: finding the information and adding the pictures)
Every member has to find information about the history, traditions or food. One person should also find pictures and make the product look good. Below are the tasks. Divide the tasks in your group. The information you write ( The A4's) will be part of your menu.
- One student finds information about the history of the country. He/ she summarizes this information on one A4 (without pictures).
- One student finds recipes for five dishes of the country. These dishes are: one starter, one main course, one dessert and two small treats for in between the other meals.
- One student finds information about traditions and history of the food. This will be one and a half A4.
- One student will find pictures for the menu and make sure that the menu and the information on the menu looks good.
* Every group needs to find at least one other internet source about the country. When you look at the sources you see that there are already 2 sources for your country. You have to find one other source.
* The use of a dictionary is allowed. (A link to an online dictionary is added to the resources.)
Step 4 ( week 4).
All the information found should be put together in one menu.
The first two pages should be about the history and traditions of the country. The next pages are about the dishes.
Step 5 ( week 5: English-Speaking-World Dinner)
The teacher will pick one of your meals for our World Class Dinner.
Beware that your group has to prepare this meal (yes, you will have to make it yourselves).
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One question, 3 parts
A. Find an equation for the plane consisting of all points (x,y,z) that are equidistant from the points (-4,2,1) and (2,-4,3).
B. Find the points A on the line with symmetric equations x=y=z and B on that with equations x+1=y/2=z/3 such that |AB| is the shortest distance between the two lines. Hence compute the shortest distance.
C. Let L be the line of intersection of the two planes with equations x+2y-z=2 and 2x-y+4z=5. Find the point A on this line such that the distance from (0,0,0) to A is the shortest from 0 to L.
needdd urgent helppp cant find solutions to these types of problems anywhere! | <urn:uuid:602c325c-8822-41f4-842e-067ade2e5d76> | {
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MS SQL Server Data Type TEXT or VARCHAR?In MS SQL Server 2005 two new data types were introduced: VARCHAR(MAX) and NVARCHAR(MAX). These two new data tyoes have the advantages of the old text type: They can contain op to 2GB of data, but they also have most of the advantages of varchar and nvarchar like the ability to use string manipulation functions such as substring().
Also, varchar(max) is stored in the table's (disk/memory) space while the size is below 8Kb. Only when you place more data in the field, it's is stored out of the table's space. Data stored in the table's space is (usually) retreived quicker. So, never use TEXT (or NTEXT), as there is a better alternative: (N)VARCHAR(MAX).
Only use VARCHAR(MAX) when a regular VARCHAR (with length) is not big enough (8Kb).
In DeZign for Databases you still select TEXT and NTEXT but it is better to replace them with the VARCHAR alternative. You can use the Search and replace data types function to replace the data types in your complete data model. | <urn:uuid:c71716e4-7031-4c47-b3a2-fbfdce98107d> | {
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Click here to learn more.
March 27, 2014: We've scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it's all right here.
Erin Cramer was home sick recently when the dog she’d adopted two months earlier started acting strangely. Clobber, a Greyhound, was standing with his nose against a wall upstairs in her Indianapolis home. She tried to take him outside, but he immediately pulled her back inside, and raced back up the stairs the moment she took off his leash. Still not sure what Clobber was up to, Cramer went to the laundry room, where she felt like she was hit by a “wall of gas.” It turned out that her water heater was leaking gas into the room, and a plumber she called for help told her it was also sparking. “[The plumber] said it probably would have ignited the gas fumes and taken out not only this house but several around me,” Cramer said. She’s very grateful to her alert dog. “If it wasn’t for him coming into our lives, we probably wouldn’t be here right now.” — Watch it at Indiana’s Fox 59
Just a month after it shocked the world by euthanizing a healthy giraffe, Denmark’s Copenhagen Zoo said it killed two lion cubs and their parents on Monday, in preparation for the arrival of a new male lion. The decision has sparked a massive global backlash on social media. The zoo defended itself, saying it had to do this for genetic purity and conservation. “If the zoo had not made the change in the pride now, then we would have risked that the old male would mate with these two females — his own offspring — and thereby give rise to inbreeding,” officials said in a statement. The situation has caused an uproar among animal activists around the world. Gerald Dick, executive director of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, explained that American zoos prefer to use contraception to prevent overpopulation or inbreeding, European zoos often favor animals expressing their natural behavior and use selective euthanasia as a last resort. — Read it at The New York Times
A new study shows a Cuvier’s beaked whale was able to hold its breath while diving for more than two hours and reaching nearly two miles below the surface off the coast of Southern California. Scientists from the Cascadia Research Collective used 3,700 hours of satellite data to study the whales’ diving behavior. “It’s remarkable to imagine these social, warm-blooded mammals actively pursuing prey in the darkness at such astounding depths, literally miles away from their most basic physiological need: air,” said lead author Gregory Schorr. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE. — Read it at Discovery News
Pandas Have a Sweet Tooth
Giant pandas might eat bamboo almost exclusively, but a new study finds that they also love sugar. The research team gave pandas at the Shaanxi Wild Animal Rescue and Research Center in China two bowls of water over the course of six months. One contained only water, and the second contained water with one of six natural sugars at varying concentrations. They found that the bears had a clear preference for the sweetened water — and they preferred natural sugars to artificial sweeteners. The researchers also used DNA testing to confirm that pandas have sweet-taste receptors. "Our results can explain why Bao Bao, the 6-month-old giant-panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is apparently relishing sweet potato as a first food during weaning," said study leader Danielle Reed of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. The results were published in the journal PLOS ONE. — Read it at Live Science
Emergency dispatchers in Nebraska were concerned when they answered a 911 call recently and were met only with breathing and scratching. Then, they learned that the call had not come from a person in distress, but from a little dog who accidentally dialed 911 from her owner’s smartphone when she was trying to curl up next to her on the couch. The owner, Melissa Acosta, realized Sophie, her 2-pound Japanese Chin, had called 911 when she heard a voice from her phone asking for the address of the emergency. Acosta called the incident “a little embarrassing.” — Read it from AP via the Washington Post
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Researchers found that dogs became
aggressive and pushy when their owners
showed interest in a plush toy dog.
Our editors' favorite books this summer
include Misty of Chincoteague and the
buzzed-about new novel The Bees.
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advice from these travel-savvy canines.
Dr. Ann Hohenhaus breaks down the
similarities and differences in the ways
cancer can affect humans and animals.
The Kooikerhondje is a fun-loving and
intelligent red and white Dutch retriever
who was bred to lure ducks into a…
If the video doesn't start playing momentarily,
please install the latest version of Flash. | <urn:uuid:c8086313-266d-422a-9ecb-36e630a946e3> | {
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SWOT is a neat thinking tool: rather than just throw ideas around to try to unpick a problem or situation it uses words to direct attention. As an acronym it stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. For example, if you had an idea for writing a book and wanted to analyse it you might think about the following:
- Strengths: what resources do you have? What knowledge can you pass on?
- Weaknesses: what will you struggle with in the writing? What is difficult to share?
- Opportunities: can you use the same material for something else? What doors might it open?
- Threats: why might this not work? Is there a potential downside by doing it?
I love tools based around framing words and SWOT is a really flexible tool. It works well for reviewing a PhD thesis during viva preparation too:
- Strengths: what are the highlights of the thesis? What might others find valuable?
- Weaknesses: what parts are difficult to explain? What are the limitations of what you’ve done?
- Opportunities: how might you extend your work? What can you do now?
- Threats: how might someone criticise what you’ve done? Are there any potential problems?
What else can you do to look at your thesis a little bit differently? | <urn:uuid:ddd5d5c7-f65c-4f91-a44b-c3da2ac7afdd> | {
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Forces of Nature Series : Gravity
Gravity, one of science and nature's biggest mysteries and of all the forces of Nature, the least understood. Out of all the forces Gravity is the weakest and the weakest by far. Gravity, like the other forces of nature, came into existence very soon after the instant of the Big Bang and held its influence on the expanding and cooling universe. The attraction of Gravity eventually caused early gases to form stars and planets etc.
Think of this, gravity as we loosely understand it can keep our planet orbiting the sun and the sun orbiting the centre of galaxy but if we jump up and down we can overcome it! A colossal force of nature that keeps order and alignment in the cosmos can be overcome by us weak and feeble humans here on Earth.
From the strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force the protons, neutrons and atomic nuclei as a whole can be observed to develop an understanding of the forces themselves. Gravity doesn't have a matter make up. The closest physicists have come is the Graviton, a hypothetical particle that forms a composite make up of matter with gravitational effect.
As always I love to debunk common misconceptions about science. Gravity isn't actually a downward force. If you are in a car and the accelerator is pressed hard it will push you back into the seat. So that places gravity as in and down making it radially inward. Radially inward gravity also explains why planets and stars are spherical as opposed to flat.
Gravity in its true definition is an attractive force. The phenomenon brings all things with mass together. In the 17th Century Issac Newton formed the best mathematical basis for understanding gravity. He concluded that the net force of gravity can be measure by multiplying the mass of two objects like the Earth and Moon as an example and dividing by the distance between them.
Earths gravity, often referred to as free fall is 9.8 metres per second squared near the surface. Earth's surface gravity. Depending on pressure, density and the force of a planet this measure can vary from planet to planet or moon to moon.
Irregular patterns in the orbit of Uranus actually contributed to the discovery of Neptune using Newton's laws of gravitation. For the following 200 years or so, gravity was an undisputed force and had very little opposition and universal agreement.
Einstein's General Relativity gives the most accurate understanding of our notion of gravity. I have written about this previously but will give Relativity a bigger series in the future. Relativity postulates that gravity is a manifestation of a curved spacetime. Please don't mix up spatial curvature and the curvature of space and time. The curviture as a rule of thumb increases as you go closer to a centre of mass. Time slows closer to the centre of mass to an outside observer. Black holes have the most extreme curvature in the universe so for an outside observer time actually stops. If you were standing on the Earth watching someone fall into a black hole, to your eye that person would be falling forever. For the person inside the hole, all of time would pass them by. All of it!
Gravity has caused the most debate and discussion over the centuries. Do we know what it is? Technically speaking no! We can see the effect it has on objects and bodies we can see and feel but the actual gravity itself we cannot. We can only go on what our minds and measurements believe it is! | <urn:uuid:1ac9c162-c37a-4cbe-bea9-c2087e77076e> | {
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Nutrition and sports performance is a complex and essential relationship for serious sports men and women to understand and it can help them achieve success in their chosen sport. Sports nutrition also aids injury prevention and speeds up recovery times from an injury. The correct diet and fluid intake coupled with appropriate training is the difference between winning and losing. Fuelling the body with the right nutrition can be key to success.
Good sports nutrition promotes brain function and muscle activity. Physical training and performance requires the right diet (quantity and quality) that will provide the athlete with energy. Each sport has its own individual requirements as does each individual sports man and woman. These requirements dictate the nutritional demands of training and competition. Sports nutrition applies scientific methods to the applications of the sport to provide a diet that meets the needs of both athlete and discipline.
Sports performance is fundamentally affected by dehydration. The importance of water and fluid replacement in sports nutrition is paramount to supporting the activity of tissue cells in the body. These cells carry nutrients and oxygen around the body, eliminating toxins and removing excess body heat. During physical exercise, body heat increases and water is lost through evaporation or sweating. In hot environments, sports activity can attribute to sweat losses of 4-5 pints an hour. Water loss is partly offset by metabolic water produced from proteins, carbohydrates and fat metabolising in the body. However, sports nutrition dictates that hydrating the body properly requires fluid intake before, during and after activity.
A sports nutritionist will calculate fluid losses by measuring body weight before and after a session to determine how much fluid is required. Optimum levels should never be exceeded as overloading on fluids can lead to stomach discomfort and breathing difficulties during the activity. Modern sports nutrition recommends special carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks for intense activity that has a longer duration but water is typically recommended for low to moderate level activity.
A diet rich in carbohydrate and low in fat improves long-term and short-term sports performance. High-intensity exercise requires more carbohydrates to ensure the liver and muscle glycogen levels are high. High liver and muscle glycogen levels improve performance and glycogen present in the liver is a source of glucose for the brain (important for concentration, alertness and reaction time). A wide range of carbohydrates are required to ensure essential vitamins and minerals are present. Potatoes, bananas, pasta, bread, vegetables, cereals and porridge are a good source of carbs for sport.
Protein plays an important role in sports nutrition by building muscle and repairing it. Athletes should aim to eat a range of foods that will provide the necessary levels of protein. Foods such as lean meat, fish, eggs, beans and pulses, milk, yoghurt, cheese and cereals will provide protein needs. High protein sports nutrition does not necessarily lead to greater muscle mass as excess protein in the body is metabolised or excreted. The extra amount of food required for sport is usually enough to provide the correct intake of protein without resorting to increased portions or protein supplements. High-protein diets can be expensive and will decrease the bank balance before increasing muscle mass. A good sports nutritionist can ensure there are adequate nutrients and calories for an athlete to support the requirements of their sport. | <urn:uuid:5716a9ec-82fc-456e-b7e2-7d1f2897ba40> | {
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Interview conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, BA Hons (Cantab)
How many people smoke in the United States and Mexico?
Dr. DePinho –There are more than 94 million former and current smokers in the United States, and more than 21 million in Mexico, according to the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Fact Sheet.
This specific initiative is importantly focused on comprehensive tobacco control in youth, involving prevention and cessation, wherever necessary. What might actually speak more powerfully to your question is that in the United States 3,800 children start smoking every day. That’s a dire statistic.
In Texas, 27,000 children will become daily smokers each year. We have about 17% of high school students smoking and another 9% using smokeless tobacco products. Quite strikingly, in Mexico, about 27% of high school youth (between the ages 13 and 15) smoke. Unfortunately, many of them become lifelong customers.
How do the smoking rates compare to other countries in the world?
Dr. DePinho – In the U.S., we’ve made good inroads and progress because we’ve had a comprehensive campaign against smoking for some years now.
But in other countries, particularly in Asia and certain Latin American countries, the magnitude of the problem has continued unabated. We and others have worked very hard to try to help those countries curb the use of tobacco, but in China, for example, this is a particularly alarming problem.
Why is it important to run anti-smoking campaigns?
Dr. DePinho – Both smoking prevention and cessation are important. When you think about prevention, the focus is on helping people avoid smoking in the first place. Indeed, if you achieve that, it is one of the most effective ways of curbing the societal trends in smoking itself. That is an important aspect because tobacco products are so addictive that once you start it is hard to stop.
Cessation has been effective with a variety of strategies but the important thing is that this is an effort that is comprehensive in nature, involving both prevention and cessation.
It is important to run these campaigns because tobacco is such a major cause of cancer, and of many other significant diseases – particularly lung and heart disease. So it extracts a very significant social, emotional and economic toll on families around the world. Indeed, recent estimates suggest that a good half of cancer can be prevented through a variety of strategies.
Smoking and obesity are major causes of cancer. And so, people not smoking would have a profound impact on lung cancer incidence and the development of a variety of other cancers and chronic diseases.
Dr Mohar – It is important to note that tobacco doesn’t only cause cancer but it also causes other types of pathology associated with chronic disease.
Tell us about the anti-smoking campaign which is going to be launched by the University of Texas, the National Institute of Cancer of the United Mexican States, and the Commission of National Institutes and High Specialty Hospitals?
Dr. DePinho – The mission of MD Anderson is to eradicate cancer in Texas, the nation and the world. Reflected in that effort is a major global academic program that we’ve had for many years now that has enabled us to form collaborative relationships with 26 sister institutions around the world. So this is part of our effort to reach out and collaborate with other governmental agencies and cancer institutions to try to prevent, detect and treat cancer to solve a major humanitarian crisis.
As you might know, MD Anderson is the largest cancer center in the United States; it has more than 19,000 employees and 7,000 trainees. It has a singular focus on cancer and a significant reach within the United States and internationally in terms of patient treatment. MD Anderson also has major efforts in prevention and cancer control all the way through to survivorship.
This is part of our general plan to help curb the impact of cancer across the globe. MD Anderson is the number one cancer center in the U.S. according to the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals survey and it has the largest research program focused on cancer supported by the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Specifically, this effort relates to a major initiative that MD Anderson has launched called the Moon Shots Program. This program is designed to accelerate the decline in cancer mortality across major cancer types including lung cancer amongst other cancers. What we’ve articulated over the past year is a very action-orientated, milestone-driven effort to try to reduce cancer mortality in this decade using prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship efforts.
So in the context of prevention we’ve put an enormous emphasis on what we call cancer control. In other words this is not simply an academic exercise in which we’re trying to discover more prevention strategies, etc. We know an awful lot about the instigators of cancer and how they can be thwarted. This effort is about converting that knowledge and those discoveries into actions and deliverables.
The actions are evidence-based strategies to curb the use of tobacco in children and this effort uses many different strategies to achieve the deliverable of helping inspire children to not smoke in the first place. We feel that this is a very important flagship project of the Moon Shots Program at MD Anderson where our strategy is to engage many stakeholders, government, educators, media, and legislators to assist us in developing policies, educational activities, and services that are evidence-based and proven to curb the use of tobacco.
Dr Mohar – I just want to emphasize that I think this specific collaboration is a great opportunity. For the first time we really have a joint effort in smoking control with MD Anderson and not only with the Mexican NCI but with the Mexican NIH, particularly with the Lung Institute, the public Health Institute, the Heart Institute and naturally the Cancer Institute.
Why have these institutions decided to collaborate on an anti-smoking campaign?
Dr. DePinho – Well this builds on the wonderful relationship that we already have with Mexico and its cancer institutions, so we are very proud of this collaboration. We have collaborated on other fronts before, but one of the things that is very inspiring about the Mexican government and its Ministry of Health is its strong passion for prevention.
This is the lowest of the low hanging fruit with respect to curbing the humanitarian crisis of cancer. We are building on a collaborative relationship from our global academic program that already exists to enable us to move forward and make a huge impact on this particular aspect of our cancer campaign.
Dr Mohar - I think this collaboration will strengthen the efforts of the Mexican NIH to have a better control of smoking cessation.
It is a huge vow here in Mexico, but I think that the Mexican NIH together with the leadership and authority on Cancer that MD Anderson has worldwide, will be able to provide a better campaign.
How will this collaborative campaign differ from previous smoking and tobacco-cessation campaigns?
Dr. DePinho – This is a comprehensive, action-orientated effort that involves trying to inspire legislative policies and leverage the power of mass media, and industries such as Hollywood. It is about developing innovative platforms that reach children such as video games.
It is about developing educational materials that will inspire children at different ages and different backgrounds – cultural, ethnic, and otherwise - to really understand what tobacco use does to a person. They need to really understand and gain sufficient motivation and practical tools to help them avoid tobacco experimentation and potential downstream addiction.
At least in Texas, what has been lacking has been a comprehensive, culturally- and linguistically-tailored effort to inspire children from not smoking in the first place.
What we’ve learned is that no single strategy is effective in isolation, and that we’ll need a variety of coordinated strategies involving policy, education, mass media, and others that really get into children’s minds and help them understand the good choices that they can make throughout their lives from a health standpoint. So this is very action oriented.
What is this collaborative campaign hoping to achieve?
Dr. DePinho - One of the things we want to do with this, again it really speaks to the specificity of our effort and the effectiveness, is to really understand how it is that we can inspire Hispanic children specifically to not start smoking. So this specific initiative is designed to develop platforms and strategies for Hispanic children in Texas – as we have a very large Hispanic population – and in Mexico.
With the platforms that we develop, we will then scale those proven efforts into other Hispanic communities in the United States and other Hispanic cultures, Latin countries, etc. throughout the world. So this is the first step in a comprehensive global effort to work with a variety of collaborators to curb the use of tobacco in Hispanic cultures.
Dr Mohar – Although this is a long-term battle, we really hope to see improvements in the short-term.
Are there any plans to collaborate with more institutions to create an even larger campaign?
Dr. DePinho - Absolutely. We’re very interested in collaboratively developing and implementing tailor-made initiatives for Asian countries and a variety of other countries, so that we can really connect.
It is very important that people recognize that you really need tailor-made efforts that enable us to speak to that child of a particular age in a particular cultural context. The kind of sports figures, pop stars, etc. that one would engage in Mexico to assist in communicating such a message would be different from a similar effort in Japan, for example.
What do you think the future holds for smoking prevention and cessation campaigns?
Dr. DePinho - I think we have made terrific progress over the last decade where we have seen strong collaborative campaigns such as in the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control or in some regions of the U.S.
We hope to establish similar trends across the globe with the ultimate goal of eradicating the use of tobacco which is a major cause of morbidity, mortality and human misery.
Would you like to make any further comments?
Dr. DePinho - I think for the first time in the history of the field of cancer we have a very strong understanding of the major instigators of the disease and for those with established cancer, how to control them using game-changing technologies based on our strong understanding of its genetic basis.
So we are at a very special turning point in the history of the field and we are in a position now to decisively reduce the incidence of death due to cancer. The next decade will be one in which we start to turn the tide against this dreaded disease. And in particular, for us to really impact substantively in the near term, prevention and early detection will be major components of our war on this disease.
Where can readers find more information?
Dr. DePinho - They can visit our website: http://www.mdanderson.org/
They can also find more information on our Moon Shots Program here: http://cancermoonshots.org/
About Dr DePinho and Dr Mohar
Ronald A. DePinho, M.D., is President of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research program has focused on the molecular underpinnings of cancer, aging and degenerative disorders and the translation of such knowledge into clinical advances.
Dr. DePinho’s independent scientific career began at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he was the Feinberg Senior Scholar in Cancer Research. He then joined the Department of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Department of Medicine and Genetics at the Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, he was the founding Director of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. DePinho is a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Cancer Research, and has served on numerous advisory boards in the public and private sectors including co-chair of advisory boards for the NCI Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium and for the Human Cancer Genome Altas Project.
Dr. DePinho studied biology at Fordham University, where he graduated class salutatorian, and received his M.D. degree with distinction in microbiology and immunology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
For his fundamental contributions to cancer and aging, he has received numerous honors and awards including the March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Award, James S. McDonnell Scholar Award, the Cancer Research Institute Scholar Award, the Melini Award for Biomedical Excellence, the Irma T. Hirschl Award, the Kirsch Foundation Investigator Award, and the Richard and Claire Morse Scholar Award.
He is the 2002 recipient of the American Society for Clinical Investigation Award, the 2003 AACR Clowes Award, the 2007 Helsinki Medal, the 2007 Harvey Lectureship and the 2009 Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Prize. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
In 2010, Dr. DePinho was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, he was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a founder of Aveo Pharmaceuticals and a number of biopharmaceutical companies focused on cancer therapy and diagnostics.
Dr Alejandro Mohar is the Director of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico. He has held this position since 2003. Prior to this he was the Director of Research there. In 2010 he received an award for 25 years’ service in the National Cancer Institute.
He received his MD from the Medicine Faculty, UNAM. From 1982 he held a Fellowship in Pathological Anatomy at the National Institute of Nutrition. He received his M.Sc, and D.Sc, in Science in Epidemiology from Harvard University, School of Public Health.
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Turtle Nesting Beach
The following ten guidelines have been provided to make travelers to the Caribbean,
1. Don't leave trash behind! Plastic bags are often mistaken for jelly fish and eaten by turtles and can kill them. Turtles often get tangled in discarded fishing line and drown!
2. Don't allow dogs on the beach. They sniff out the nest dig, them up, destroy the eggs and kill hatchlings.
3. Campfires can literally "bake" the nests below, and discourage a mother from coming ashore.
4. Don't stake beach umbrellas. All to often, the pole is driven right through the nest below. Armchair umbrellas are recommended.
5. Always turn off floodlights and porch lights on all beachfront property.
6. Don't walk on the beach with a flashlight or shine one in its face. Flash photography frightens females and cause them to stop nesting.
7. If you come upon a female, leave her alone! Don't touch her! Stay out of view.
8.Don't touch the eggs. You can damage or contaminate them.
9. Never destroy turtle tracks!! They help researches locate and identify the nests that turtles leave behind.
10. Don't drive out on the beach. You can destroy entire turtle nests!! | <urn:uuid:2a7a1531-9f22-4111-b307-bc78e783e717> | {
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The people and information sources parents surround themselves with may influence their choice to vaccinate their children or not, according to a survey from one county in Washington state.
Of almost 200 parents who took the survey, almost all said they had groups of people offering advice on vaccination, but those who chose not to fully vaccinate their children were more likely to have larger social groups and to turn to other sources, such as books, pamphlets, and the Internet, for guidance.
"The take-home message from this is that the social networks for the majority of parents are extremely important in affecting vaccination decisions," said Emily Brunson, the study's author from Texas State University in San Marcos. "Especially the people in the parents' networks suggesting non-conformity is greater than anything else—including the parents' own beliefs on vaccination," she added.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends young children under the age of six years old get a series of shots that protect against 14 preventable diseases, including chickenpox, measles, and whooping cough.
Last year the U.S. experienced one of the largest whooping cough outbreaks in half a century, which officials attributed to vaccines wearing off and to parents skipping pertussis vaccinations for their children.
The latest report on vaccination rates from the CDC shows 95 percent of kindergarten-aged children receive their vaccinations, but many children still receive their shots late. The fear is that parents who don't vaccinate or who delay vaccinating their children put their own kids as well as others at risk for developing preventable disease.
Last year the U.S. experienced one of the largest whooping cough outbreaks in half a century, which health officials attributed both to vaccines wearing off and to parents simply skipping the pertussis vaccinations for their children.
For the new study, Brunson surveyed parents to see what impact a person's social group and information sources had on their decision to vaccinate their children.
The people who took the survey were recruited from around King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle, and were U.S.-born, first-time parents with children younger than 18 months old. Overall, 126 "conformers"—people who vaccinated their children according to the recommended schedule, and 70 "non-conformers"—people who didn't stick to the schedule—took the survey between March and July 2010.
Of those 70 "non-conformers," 28 were getting their children all the recommended shots, but not on time. Another 37 were only partially vaccinating their children and five were not vaccinating their children at all.
About 95 percent of all parents reported having a group of people offering advice on vaccination, but "non-conformers" tended to have larger groups of people to tap for information than "conformers." "Non-conformers" typically reported about seven people who gave them advice, compared to about five people in "conformer's" social groups.
The people included in those groups were similar among the two types of parents. Spouses and partners were usually the most important advisers, followed by doctors, family and then friends. Typically, "non-conformers'" groups included about 72 percent of people who recommended against vaccination in some way. That compared to 13 percent among "conformers." "Non-conformers" were also more likely to seek outside sources, such as books, news programs, and the Internet. Compared to 80 percent of "conformers" who said they used those outside sources, all "non-conformers" said they did.
Brunson writes in the journal Pediatrics that her findings show health care providers are only a part of parents' social networks.
She adds that it's essential for programs trying to increase vaccination rates to also focus on "communities more broadly so that the other people parents are likely to consult ... are also included."
Dr. Joseph Anthony Bocchini, Jr., chairman of Pediatrics Medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, said the new study adds additional information by using a social network approach for the first time to understand parents' decisions about vaccinating their children.
"I think that what needs to be done is that everybody needs to understand the importance of vaccines. And they're not only important for the people who receive them but they're also important for the community," said Bocchini, who was not involved in the new research.
He said that in addition to doctors, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC have valuable information on their websites about vaccinations for children. | <urn:uuid:e6a4706c-bde3-4549-8a3a-c86efee96311> | {
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The INUVIK site has been chosen carefully. Its geographical location corresponds perfectly to the Swedish Kiruna station on the opposite side of the Arctic, where DLR’s partner SSC has been receiving polar data for decades. Incorporating its own receiving station at O’Higgins (Antarctic), DLR is now operating a global network of stations that can record data from each polar orbiting satellite. This is an essential precondition, taking into account the extreme amount of data being recorded and transmitted by the TanDEM-X mission, and guarantees rapid response time with respect to observed phenomena.Canada expects from this cooperation the intensification of satellite observation of the arctic region. The satellite data recorded at INUVIC will contribute substantially to sustainable development within the ecologically vulnerable arctic region, which is increasingly stressed by the exploration of oil, gas and mineral resources.
In the course of the conception and implementation of the receiving facilities, extreme challenges had to be mastered. INUVIK is situated in the permafrost region. Typical seasonal temperature variations lie in between -45C and 30C, where even in summer the ground thaws only to a max. depth of ½ meter. In order to guarantee the stability of the 31 ton antenna, 16 pillars of each 14m length had to be drilled into the ground. The antenna itself was transported by a convoy of trucks from its production site at Los Angeles via the Dempster Highway to the northernmost outpost of Canada, which can be reached by road. The journey was also used to set up GPS elevation profiles, to be used later as reference data for the calibration of TanDEM-X.
Having now completed the mechanical installation, the electronic components will be put into operation. First tests of the integrated system are scheduled to start in September. The entire work plan is synchronised with the launch of the TanDEM-X satellite expected to take place October, 21.
Besides the TanDEM-X data acquisition, the involved partners plan to develop the Inuvik site as data hub for global earth observation stations and for arctic environment research. | <urn:uuid:7d48326a-13c1-4e3b-87f5-fce6693c2928> | {
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Television has transformed from its earliest days in which it was confined as a medium to low picture quality and a small screen. However, like other forms of media, technological advances have transformed television into a medium that transcends the traditional domestic limiters initially in place into a wide reaching media entity. This shift was, in part, due to the technology of screens- small, portable, and high-definition screens that allow you to take your television with you wherever you go. The uses of portable screens extend beyond just television viewing and are now utilized for many other uses. Screens allow the viewers a privileged look at the world, reaching far beyond what is in your immediate field of vision. In this way, screens (and by extension television) break down the wall between public and private spaces more today than ever before. As Patricia Phillips was quoted in the article “Domesticity at War”: “just as the public space has become diminished as a civic site, the home has become in many senses, a more public forum. The public world comes into each home as it never has before through television, radio and personal computer'" (Colomina 9).
For Homeland, a television show in which the plot centers on the War on Terrorism in post 9/11 America, the notion of screens breaking down the barrier between what is private and what is public takes on another layer of significance. For example, in the first few episodes of Homeland season 1, Carrie Mathison’s domestic space was taken over by the surveillance equipment she used to observe Stg. Brody in order to prove her theory that he is involved in an upcoming terrorist plot. Additionally, while Carrie has her reasons for beginning her surveillance of Brody and his family, she is essentially invading their domestic space by her spying on and watching Brody and his family. As Beatriz Colomina writes in her article, “not only were these computers ‘concerned’ exclusively with domestic issues (displacing onto themselves traditional forms of domestic relations in areas as crucial as housework, decoration, companionship) but moreover, domestic space itself was deeply disturbed” (5). Therefore, we can see how the act of looking (either through a screen as with Carrie or a window as with Brody watching his wife, Jessica, and her former lover) is framed as a disturbance of the safety of the domestic space. We can also recognize this as an intrusion of privacy through Carrie’s reaction to the intimate moments between Brody and Jessica. Although Carrie’s initial reaction was to look away from the screen, the voyeuristic need to watch pulls her back in. This relation to the screen also means we can simultaneously view and be viewed. As Margret Morse wrote in “An Ontology of Everyday Distraction” television screens create a “dualism of outside/inside within these separate realms” which “means that a connection with ‘outside’ drifts between a ‘real’ outside and an idealized representation” (202). After watching Brody for more than a month, the lines between subject and observer have begun to blur for Carrie as by episode 4, Carrie has come to know Brody so well she can predict what he is going to do before he does it. This further breaks down the separation of private lives and the public image Brody is creating for the world.
Additionally, to look at this on another level, Brody’s message to his terrorist cell also directly invaded the domestic spaces of countless television viewers as he broadcast the message through the TV screens whenever he appeared on camera. By using mass media as a way to contact his terrorist cell, Brody was imbedding an extra layer of information directly into the TV screens. As Morse said, “discursive segments also constitute a plane of passage between the shows, items, and stories embedded within the plane” meaning that within the televisual plane, there can be many layers of meaning. Although as in the case with Brody, the meanings only become visible to those who know when and where to look (205). In this instance, as well as with Carrie’s surveillance, one type of gaze is privileged over another through the technology, viz. the screens, which allow for one to engage in this type of looking. | <urn:uuid:c5c25457-2973-4729-a472-8a718b6d5118> | {
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Elstow in the Romano-British Period
The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] contains information on the county’s historic buildings and landscapes and summaries of each entry can now be found online as part of the Heritage Gateway website. Elstow has good evidence of settlement during the Romano-British period.
A complex area of extensive cropmarks west of Peartree Farm [HER 1624] include both Iron Age and Dark Age features. Some linear features seem to have originated in the Iron Age and extended into the Romano-British period. South-west of the farm pottery from the 3rd and 4th centuries was discovered in 1936 [HER 263]. Another complex area of cropmarks to the north of the farm [HER 1625] was investigated prior to the construction of the Bedford Southern Bypass. Evidence showed an Iron Age field system seemingly being replaced by a Romano-British farm in the 2nd century AD. It lay east of a track and seems to have gone out of use by the 4th century. A 2nd century coins was found nearby years later. Field walking in 1999 east of Wilstead Road uncovered Iron Age and Romano-British pottery [HER 18247]. A site east of Elstow Lodge shows an Iron Age site extending into the Romano-British period [HER 8356]. A Roman road identified by the Viatores, a group dedicated to finding Roman roads in the modern British landscape, runs by this site.
An excavation at Elstow Abbey between 1965 and 1972 uncovered Roman pottery and coins [HER 15309]. In the south of the parish Roman pottery and tile has been discovered by field walking prior to a major development [HER 18248]. The tile indicates a villa or farm may have stood on the spot or nearby. A Roman brooch known as a bow brooch due to its shape was found at Elstow [HER 15896]. It is made from copper alloy. In 2001 and 2002 excavations west of the A6 during the construction of Progress Park revealed another Romano-British brooch [HER 18233].
An agger has been identified east of Medbury Farm [HER 735]. An agger is a Roman road – it would have been slightly raised in the landscape and convex in shape allowing water to drain into ditches dug along its length. West of Harrowden another agger has been identified [HER 3639], crossing Elstow Brook at a ford indicated by limestone slabs [HER 10476]. | <urn:uuid:ce19b42c-8a3a-4b36-9fe4-2e4f13f66367> | {
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A pterygium is a wing-shaped growth that can occur on the eye and eventually cover and alter the shape of the cornea. Pterygia consist of abnormal conjunctival tissue (the membrane that covers the eye) . Pterygia can be small or grow large enough to affect a person’s vision. It is not clear why pterygia form, but they are twice as likely to occur in males than in females and are most often found in people who live in eye-irritating environments, such as windy climates, smoky places or sandy tropical locations.
While pterygia aren’t dangerous, if large enough, they can obstruct a patient’s vision. The most commonly reported symptoms of pterygia are irritation, redness, dryness, tearing and the sensation of having something stuck in the eye. In most cases, it’s the symptoms of pterygium that are treated, not the pterygium itself. Eye drops and other medications are given to alleviate the dryness and other bothersome effects of the pterygium. Surgical excision of the pterygium is reserved for the most severe cases.
Surgery to remove the pterygium is done on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. Patients usually go home the same day and are in very little pain. During the recovery period, the patient may wear a patch to protect the eye and apply drops to the eye or ointments in order to speed up the healing process. Redness and irritation may be present as the eye heals from the surgery.
Because the symptoms of pterygium closely resemble the symptoms of other, more serious eye diseases, proper diagnosis by a qualified ophthalmologist is very important. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms associated with pterygium, schedule a complete consultation with one of our qualified ophthalmology staff. Our professionals can determine whether you might be a candidate for pterygium excision and decide which other avenues of treatment may be available to you. | <urn:uuid:b2a147e0-9441-4a8f-8a8f-6bdcaa580c19> | {
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What is Frustration?
It is a feeling of disappointment and discomfort aroused in the mind of human beings only when something has went wrong with them or they are not able to achieve the goals that they had set for themselves. In every ten people seven are affected by it and out of them three are severely affected. It is a mental feeling that is growing like other dangerous diseases such as AIDS.
In today’s competitive scenario every person has his targets that he wanted to achieve timely and if he is not able to achieve his targets he is frustrated. This frustration can affect the mind in negative way in which person’s thinking power gets slowed down. Frustration led a person a take wrong decisions and as a result of which he is not able to come with innovative ideas. His creativity gets stopped down. He is not able to achieve all his targets and is left with only his uncompleted plans and unachieved targets. Such a frustrated person goes far away from reality.
How this feeling of frustration does arise?
Firstly the feeling of frustration is aroused in human beings when they are not able to achieve the targets that they had set for themselves. Secondly the feeling of frustration is aroused when they compare themselves with others and find that they are lacking behind while others had made a rapid progress but they had remained where they were earlier. This causes frustration in them. When the people misinterpret their capabilities and set those targets which are far away from their potentials. They just compare themselves with those who are more educated or are equipped with high potential or more resources and then set their target up to those levels where they factually could never reach. And then when they are not able to meet their targets they get frustrated.
It is the fact that everyone on this earth are not born with same potential and have same abilities and in same area. If they misinterpret their functional area and start their career in line in which they are weak or the line which is not meant actually for them. Then this results in frustration on the condition of being not achieving the targets. Example: Some people enjoy the post of CEO in reputed companies just because they are born in high society and rich family even though they are not that much talented while others although they are more qualified and talented struggles hard to acquire he middle class jobs also. If common man does not make effort to remove these types of social injustices then this led to frustration in them. The involvement of large number of young persons in activities like terrorism is also an outcome of frustration. | <urn:uuid:e381826d-9d2d-4120-8b8d-6bfce5c381e0> | {
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Constitution of Oregon: 2014 Version
The Oregon Constitution was framed by a convention of 60 delegates chosen by the people. The convention met on the third Monday in August 1857 and adjourned on September 18 of the same year. On November 9, 1857, the Constitution was approved by the vote of the people of Oregon Territory. The Act of Congress admitting Oregon into the Union was approved February 14, 1859, and on that date the Constitution went into effect.
The Constitution is here published as it is in effect following the approval of amendments and revisions on November 4, 2014. The text of the original signed copy of the Constitution filed in the office of the Secretary of State is retained unless it has been repealed or superseded by amendment or revision. Where the original text has been amended or revised or where a new provision has been added to the original Constitution, the source of the amendment, revision or addition is indicated in the source note immediately following the text of the amended, revised or new section. Notations also have been made setting out the history of repealed sections.
Unless otherwise specifically noted, the leadlines for the sections have been supplied by Legislative Counsel.
XI Corporations and Internal Improvements
XI-A Farm and Home Loans to Veterans
XI-D State Power Development
XI-E State Reforestation
XI-F(1) Higher Education Building Projects
XI-F(2) Veterans' Bonus
XI-G Higher Education Institutions and Activities; Community
XI-H Pollution Control
XI-I(1) Water Development Projects
XI-I(2) Multifamily Housing for Elderly and Disabled
XI-J Small Scale Local Energy Loans
XI-K Guarantee of Bonded Indebtedness of Education Districts
XI-L Oregon Health and Science University
XI-M Seismic Rehabilitation of Public Education Buildings
XI-N Seismic Rehabilitation of Emergency Services Buildings
XI-O Pension Liabilities
XI-P School District Capital Costs
XI-Q Real or Personal Property Owned or Operated by State
XII State Printing
XIV Seat of Government | <urn:uuid:35144dd3-3195-400a-8314-6c46d34c97a5> | {
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Submitted to: American Chemical Society Symposium Series
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: June 1, 1998
Publication Date: N/A
Technical Abstract: Plants sequester and concentrate secondary compounds for two primary reasons. First, their tissue and cellular localizations are usually related to their biological function. For example, many of the secondary products found in secretory glands covering the aerial portions of plants are involved in the interaction of the plant with insects, other herbivores, and microbes that are likely to encounter the contents of these glands in their initial interaction with the plant. Secondly, localization or sequestration can also be required due to the autotoxicity of the secondary compound. Examples are artemisinin and hypericin, both of which are highly phytotoxic compounds sequestered by the producing species in specialized structures to avoid autotoxicity. Examples of how such localizations can provide clues to biological function and how understanding biological functions might lead to commercial uses of these compounds are discussed. | <urn:uuid:6e1ad82c-29e1-4a59-ba28-40de11b29d6d> | {
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How to write kanji | NihongoUpHow to write kanji
Posted on October 31st, 2009 by seifip in Design, Language |
When a student is taught kanji, one of the first thing that is explained to him is the concept of stroke order—the one and only correct way of writing kanji characters. Unfortunately, the reason behind it as well as the main rules are often left undiscussed. Most students are left wondering about why they are supposed to learn one more characteristic for each of the already complicated character, and some of them decide not to follow any of the well established rules at all. In this article I’ll try to explain why it generally is important to use correct stroke order and what are the basic rules that should cover the majority of the kanji characters.
Why is kanji stroke order important? Lean the art of Calligraphy
First of all, unlike the Latin alphabet (or Cyrillic, for that matter) the Chinese characters and their Japanese deviations are always monospaced—each character occupies the same amount of space. When you combine this typographic rule with the often incredible amount of strokes involved, it becomes clear, why writing nicely looking characters may be so difficult. Shodō (書道, Japanese calligraphy) is an art that was practiced for centuries in Japan and thus, the proper way of writing kanji is a very well researched topic. You may not believe it at first, but try writing the same kanji with different stroke orders and you’ll see the difference. Moreover, in Japan, an opinion about you may be formed based on your calligraphy. In the same way as by speaking improperly, your bad handwriting may make a bad impression on the others.
Windows 7 TIP Japanese - Handwriting recognition
Secondly, stroke order is a great learning aid. Especially for some of the more complicated characters, one may forget how precisely a it character look, yet remember how to write it by following the correct order. This phenomenon is called motor memory and you probably already experience it in your every day life. Actually, neuromuscular facilitation is involved even in basic task like speech—one doesn’t think about complex tongue, lips, and other movements—and is the primary cause of accents.
At last, traditional paper kanji dictionaries are often organized by stroke order, and even if one decides to use computer handwriting recognition—be it a Tablet PC, a smartphone, or a dedicated denshi jisho (電子辞書, electronic dictionary)—it will work best if you use the correct stroke order.
Posted on October 31st, 2009 by seifip in Design, Language
Read more at: NihongoUp Blog
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Mumbai: You've seen those beautifully handwritten scripts inscribed on stone monuments or in religious manuscripts written on palm leaves. Now see scripts come alive through calligraphy on T-shirts, CD covers, wedding cards, mugs, books, fashion wear and even as body art.
The aesthetics of calligraphy, i.e. the art of beautiful handwriting, has transcended into the commercial realm rather than being just confined to sophisticated use.
Achyut Palav, a celebrated city-based calligrapher and alumni of J.J. School of Art has a studio stocked with various products done in calligraphy. Ranging from mugs, glass items to T-shirts and books, the items are worth a buy. Palav is credited to having presented calligraphic prints in a fashion show, designing logos, body painting, home interiors, event invites, wallpapers and book covers etc. "Calligraphy can be done using different techniques and in different media. I have travelled all over India and have noticed that there still exists a lacuna in the execution and utility of calligraphy" he says, adding further that he has plans to open a calligraphy school very soon.
Says Santosh Kshirsagar, 49, professor at theJ.J. School of Art who has been in the field of calligraphy and typography for 20 years now, the key to popularising calligraphy lies in interacting with the youth and making them not only appreciate calligraphy but also motivate them to take up calligraphy in the indigenous Indian scripts. "Calligraphy is not just about acquiring the skill but it is equally about expressing yourself and adding your interpretation to the art work," he says.
Kshirsagar also insists that introduction of calligraphy at the school level is vital.
At present though, J.J. School of Art runs a four year degree course in Applied Art with specialisation in photography, typography and illustration among other subjects. Calligraphy is part of the typography course. Calligraphy artists feel the scope for students learning calligraphy nowadays is varied and well paying. Since the demand has grown and commercial requirements are manifold, a student can choose to be part of the professional world in areas like jewellery designing, body art, fashion, advertising and films and begin earning a minimum salary of Rs15,000.
While western calligraphy takes its root from the Roman alphabets, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy are still deeply entrenched in their day-to-day local tradition in the form of artefacts and gifts. Nepalese, Tibetan, Iranian calligraphy have also stood the test of the time. With 10 scripts existing in India, when it comes to Indian calligraphy, there is scope for a lot more work.
Read the rest of the Calligraphy Story
Having seen autoportrait-robot-painter now, here is Japanese wooden doll Robot that performs Calligraphy.This doll looks sweet and charming and looks more like a sculpture than a robot. It is a formation by Hisashige Tanaka the founder of Toshiba. In Japanese such dolls are called Karakuri Ningyo and were mechanized in Japan from the 18th century to 19th century. Karakuri means puppet while Ningyo means person and shape.
Read the rest of the story and watch the Calligraphy doll video
Posted by John Harmon at 9:48 AM
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A black and red sculpture stands in the middle of the main street in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul. Curvy and fluid, the three-meter tall sculpture evokes a pair of graceful red-crested cranes spreading out their wings. It is "Poe," by sculptor Lee Jae-ok.
One will be surprised to find out that it was also intended to be shaped like the Chinese letter "Poe," which means to spread out. It is Lee's style to transform two-dimensional calligraphy into a three-dimensional sculpture.
Lee's solo exhibition is currently running at Juliana Gallery in Cheongdam-dong. The first floor of the gallery is packed with the artist's colorful calligraphy-originated sculptures.
"When I make the letters into sculptures, both its indicative and figurative charms are brought to light," Lee told The Korea Herald.
Her method is possible because Chinese letters are pictographic. But she does not simply stick to expressing the letters' original meanings. Instead, Lee translates the lines and shapes of each letter in her own way and creates new figures.
For example, Lee turned the Chinese letter "lak," which means to enjoy, into a yellow flower. Not only does the shape resemble the letter, but the vivid color and the bouncy lines itself are very joyful. Naturally, she titled the work "Pleasure."
"An-yang" resembles a couple dancing the waltz. The turquoise figure, which seems to be the male, leads the dance and the yellow figure follows in tiptoes like the female dancer. Dancing peacefully is what came to Lee's mind when she thought of the word "An-yang," which means to relax.
Lee Jae Ok's work is better acclaimed overseas than in Korea. "These were showcased in many art fairs such as Art Cologne or Art Chicago and received a great applause," said Juliana Park, director of Juliana Gallery, to The Korea Herald.
"Foreigners found them very unique because it is a totally different type of sculpture from what they used to see. They are fascinated at the fact that calligraphy can be turned into sculptures, and at the works' oriental beauty."
The colorful works now on display are Lee's third version of the series. She had first made them in a more simple tone with bronze and nickel.
"More creative and fancier versions will be coming up next," Lee said.
The exhibition runs through Jan. 31 at Juliana Gallery in southern Seoul. For more information, call (02) 514-4266.
By Park Min-young
Posted by John Harmon at 12:46 PM
ASK Tony Yong what’s in a word and this 50-year-old Chinese
calligrapher will tell you that this is where the entire knowledge of
universe is housed.
Words, opines this father of three, have the potential of becoming more powerful than any weapon invented by man.
is this realisation that makes this former amateur jockey take his work
very seriously, more so during the Lunar New Year season when the
Chinese embark on a massive campaign of sorts to ensure they start the
New Year with a positive frame of mind.
And speaking of words,
one of Yong’s favourite phrases is, “We must be grateful for the number
of years that heaven has bestowed upon us.”
“This is very fitting for the new year season as it reminds us that we should never be apprehensive about growing older.
is why I like Alan Tam’s (popular Hong Kong singer) attitude where he
maintains he will always be 25 years old. One need not be afraid of
growing old as long as one remains young at heart,” said Yong who jogs
and does yoga every morning to keep fit.
Of course it does make one wonder why such an active character like Yong had opted for a desk job.
“Do you know that doing Chinese calligraphy is a bit like kung fu?” Yong disclosed.
According to this self-taught artist, the process of writing each character requires a high level of consciousness.
each stroke that is executed, the artist has to know the amount of
pressure to exert, the type of hand movement to employ and the amount
of ink can be loaded onto the brush.
Even the length of time the tip is in contact with the scroll is taken into consideration.
Yong would affirm that it is the peace he experiences during the
process which has made him stay in the profession for the past seven
by GRACE CHEN
Posted by John Harmon at 12:12 PM
Sunday, December 21, 2008
They consulted a "German sinologist," but that person obviously didn't provide the same translation that some Chinese readers of the scientific journal did:
With high salaries, we have cordially invited for an extended series of matinées. KK and Jiamei as directors, who will personally lead jade-like girls in the spring of youth, beauties from the north who have a distinguished air of elegance and allure, young housewives having figures that will turn you on; Their enchanting and coquettish performance will begin within the next few days.
Sounds like James Bond should start reading scientific journals from the Max Planck Institute. He loves an "enchanting and coquettish performance." Apparently, so do German scientists!
I believe it is safe to say that cross-cultural understanding in the scientific community just keeps growing bigger and longer.
Science Magazine Turns the Heat Up [via Foreign Policy Passport]
Posted by John Harmon at 1:40 AM
Sunday, September 14, 2008
A mammoth work employing the skills of 10,000 people has just been
completed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. The work has already
earned recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the
calligraphy work with the highest number of contributors.
|A mammoth work employing the skills of 10,000 people has just|
been completed in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region.
The huge calligraphy piece was accomplished in Wuhai city in Inner
Mongolia. Wednesday's unveiling was accompanied by a performance of
folk arts. The art piece is ten meters long and three metres wide.
The piece is inscribed with the characters "Tai Yang Shen", the
Chinese characters for "God of Sun." It's a deity worshipped by the
ancestors of people who live in the area today. Local calligrapher Wang
Qijing wielded the huge brush to accomplish the central characters of
the work. Then ten thousand local people joined in to create the three
Chinese characters in different styles of calligraphy. The scroll also
bears the totem of the ancient Sun God.
Posted by John Harmon at 3:44 PM
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
An international team of calligraphers and artists is working on The Saint John's Bible, portions of which are presently on display at the Tacoma Art Museum. It's the first commissioned handwritten, illustrated Bible in 500 years.
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times religion reporter
• The exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum runs through Sept. 7 and features about 100 pages from The Saint John's Bible.
Information: 253-272-4258 or www.tacomaartmuseum.org.
• Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral hosts a lecture by the Rev. Eric Hollas on The Saint John's Bible, 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday, in the cathedral's Bloedel Hall, 1245 10th Ave. E., Seattle. Free and open to the public.
• Vashon Island artist Suzanne Moore discusses her work on the project at0 10:30 a.m. Aug. 12 (free with museum admission), and 7 p.m. Aug. 21 (free program and admission as part of Free Third Thursday) at Tacoma Art Museum.
These days, when Bible verses can be pulled up instantly online and printed Bibles are readily available, an international team of monks, calligraphers and artists — including an illustrator on Vashon Island — is creating a Bible the old-fashioned way.
Team members are making their own goose-feather quills, using hand-ground paints, and writing and drawing on pages of treated calfskin.
They're eight years into the creation of The Saint John's Bible, billed as the first commissioned handwritten Bible since the invention of the printing press some 500 years ago.
Creating a masterpiece
The idea for a handwritten Bible, Hollas said, came from Jackson.
Jackson has said that creating such a work is to a calligrapher what painting the Sistine Chapel would be to an artist.
For the monks at Saint John's Abbey and Saint John's University, which jointly commissioned the $3.5 million project, there were plenty of reasons not to start the project. There was the cost and amount of work involved — not to mention a long list of competing priorities, among which "making a Bible was not high," Hollas said.
Hollas said such personal touches distinguish handwritten, illustrated Bibles.
Calligraphy can have shadings in the same way music can — quiet like a string section, dramatic like brass. That's very different from print Bibles, in which the same typeface is used to describe walking through the Red Sea, Jesus' crucifixion and the dietary restrictions of traditional Judaism.
"With calligraphy, you can let the emotions speak in a way that print does not," Hollas said.
And there's something to be said for the role of art in inspiring and deepening faith.
Biblical tradition is not just about abstract concepts, rules and laws, said Gregory Wolfe, publisher and editor of Image, a national journal based at Seattle Pacific University that explores art and faith.
Read the complete story by Janet I. Tu
Thursday, July 17, 2008
History of Persian Scripts: In the ancient Persia and in the different historic eras, languages such as “Ilami”, “Avestaaee”, “Pahlavi”, and “Farsi-e-Mianeh” were spoken. It is believed that ancient Persian script was invented by about 500-600 BC to provide monument inscriptions for the Achaemenid kings. These scripts consisted of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal nail-shape letters and that is the reason in Farsi it is called “Script of Nails” or “Khat-e-Mikhi”.Ancient Persian Script - “Script of Nails” or “Khat-e-Mikhi”Centuries later, other scripts” script such as “Avestaee” and “Pahlavits were created.
The Avestan alphabet or “Avestaaee” was created in the 3rd century CE for writing the hymns of Zarathustra. Avestan is an extinct Indo-Iranian language related to Old Persian and Sanskrit. Avestaaee script was related to the religious scripts of Zoroastrians’ holy book called “Avestaa” and unlike the nail script -that was carved on flat stones-Avestaaee script was written with a feather pen, usually on animal-skin pages. It is surprising that this script has similarities with Arabic scripts such as “Sols” and “Naskh” that centuries later were invented. However, unlike these scripts, letters in Avestaaee were not connected to each other to form a word but they just were written separately next to each other (similar to Latin scripts). However it wrote from right to left.
Old Persian Script: “Avestaaee” Script
After initiation of Islam in the 7 th century, Persians adapted Arabic alphabet to Farsi language and developed contemporary Farsi alphabet. Arabic alphabet has 28 characters and Iranians added another four letters in it to arrive at existing 32 Persian (Farsi) letters.
Contemporary Persian Script: “Farsi” Script
Major Contemporary Classical Persian Calligraphy Scripts: “Nas’taliq” is the most popular
contemporary style among classical Persian calligraphy scripts. It is known as “Bride of the Calligraphy Scripts”. As a matter of fact, this calligraphy style has been based on such a strong structure that it has changed very little since that time. It is as if “Mir Ali Tabrizi” has found the optimum composition of the letters and graphical rules so it has just been fine-tuned during the passed seven centuries. Nas’taliq is the most beautiful Persian Calligraphy style and also technically the most complicated. It has strict rules for graphical shape of the letters and for combination of the letters, words, and composition of the whole calligraphy piece as a whole. Even the second popular Persian calligraphy style i.e. “Cursive Nas’taliq” or “Shekasteh Nas’taliq” noticeably follows the same rules as Nas’taliq, with more flexibility of course.
Posted by John Harmon at 10:32 PM
Thursday, July 10, 2008
As an art form, seal cutting imposes exact demands upon scholar-artists, in terms of calligraphy, layout and line. Seasoned advertising man, Guo Chunning, beat 1,300 other professionals with his entry - a powerful seal, which drew from history and reflected China's modern progress.
The designer chiseled the English word "Beijing", and the Arabic figures "2008" together in archaic calligraphy styles.
Seal cutting is a time-honored art among the literati and dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). The Chinese character for a seal is composed of two words: zhua, which means hand, and jie, a tally issued by a ruler to generals or envoys as credentials.
Originally, dukes and princes handed a tally to their trustees to perform a difficult mission. The seal stood for conferment, responsibility and obligation. As a symbol for trust and promise, a seal paves the way for clear communication and authenticity of the message. Chinese believe winning the 2008 bid represented both the trust of the Olympic family as well as a promise made on behalf of the 1.3 billion Chinese people.
On July 13, 2001, the Beijing delegation solemnly proclaimed in Moscow that China would go all out to make the 2008 Olympic Games a phenomenal success. The unique seal serves as a testimony that "for the world's good faith in us, we shall requite with success and honor".
A Chinese seal is always red, which also symbolizes the burning Olympic flame. For millenniums, red has been the color for supreme happiness, widely used for grand or blissful occasions. This auspicious color was chosen for the national flag when the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. A seal was also part of a Chinese scholar's standard paraphernalia.
One's work must be rich in flavor, grand and lofty in taste, effortless in craftsmanship, and most important of all, the work should in itself be rich with meaning. The 2008 emblem is an amazing enigma for connoisseurs and veterans. For one thing, it looks like the Chinese character of wen, short for wenhua, which means culture or civilization. As one of the world's ancient civilizations, China contributes a rich legacy of sports.
Qigong and martial arts are but two of the most well-known varieties. Modern archery, shooting and skiing have evidently evolved from ancient Chinese recreation and sports.
The Olympic seal also resembles the Chinese character jing, which means Beijing, a city that has thousands of years of history. From a different angle, one can also see a girl dancing with a red silk ribbon. She is full of youthful vigor and feminine grace and is welcoming guests and athletes from all over the world. Another reading reveals a human figure sprinting to the finish line. He is celebrating Olympic athleticism and is the flower of life in full blossom. He is growing tall in the bright Olympic sun. The designer finally chisels Arabic figures "2008" together in archaic calligraphy styles.
(Source: China Daily)
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Odds and ends for February 10
Recorders used to boost language skills
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Six-month-old Jaiven James doesn’t even notice the pager-sized recorder that fits snuggly into the pocket of his shirt, recording every gurgle, every cry, every word he hears.
The Providence boy is an early participant in a city project that aims to boost the language skills of low-income children by using recorders to count the words they’re exposed to.
Studies show poorer children enter school having heard millions of fewer words than more affluent children, a disadvantage that can limit future educational success and occupational opportunities.
“We want to close that gap, and the best way to do it is by training parents from Day 1,” says Stephanie Taveras, a social worker who is coaching Jaiven’s mother, Ashley Cox, on ways to boost her children’s language skills.
The project, called Providence Talks, beat out proposals from more than 300 cities last year to win a $5 million prize offered by then-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The voluntary program began last month with 75 families and hopes to serve 2,000 families by mid-2016.
The initiative targets what early childhood development experts call the word gap, a problem that takes a lasting economic and educational toll on America’s poor.
A landmark 1995 study found that children in families receiving welfare hear less than one-third as many words per hour as their more affluent peers, and they reach age 4 having heard 32 million fewer words than children from wealthier families. Students who begin school with this disadvantage are less likely to succeed academically or professionally later in life.
It’s a problem with long-term implications for Rhode Island’s capital city, where one-third of children live in poverty and two-thirds of kindergarteners enter school already behind on national school readiness benchmarks.
Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who isn’t related to the social worker, said he wants his city to prove the word gap can be bridged by giving parents just a little help.
“Mayor Bloomberg deserves a lot of credit. This is an opportunity to transform early childhood education in our country,” said the mayor, who tested the program on his 2-year-old daughter. “I’m hoping people say, ‘This began in Providence.’”
The recorder acts as a language pedometer, counting the number of words and conversations throughout the day and distinguishing between young and adult voices and electronic noises like radio and television. Data from the device can show how often a parent interacts with a child and how often the television is on.
Parents of participating children are advised to record an entire day’s worth of audio every few weeks. A social worker picks up the device from the home and uploads the data to a computer. The social worker then returns to review the results with parents and offer suggestions for how they can better engage their children.
“The science is solid: Children who hear more language — not just more, but richer language that’s relevant, that’s positive — are associated with better outcomes,” said Stanford University psychology professor Anne Fernald, who has used the device in her research and who is a scientific adviser to Providence Talks. “Talking to children really matters.”
Jaiven’s older brother Jaiden has been participating in Providence Talks for just a few weeks but is already seeing progress. The number of words the 16-month-old heard jumped by a few thousand from the day of his first recording to his second.
“I was expecting it to go up, but I’m very happy,” said their mother, Ashley Cox, 25, who has four sons in all. She said that since enrolling in Providence Talks, she’s started reading to her children more, engaging them in more conversations and limiting the time the television is on.
City officials insist data from the devices will be kept confidential and it would be nearly impossible for anyone to use the devices to obtain actual recordings of a family’s conversations. Still, the idea of city officials strapping recording devices to toddlers attracted the interest of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
ACLU policy associate Hillary Davis said her organization looked into who would have access to the records and how the privacy of families — or guests who happen to stop by when a recording is underway — would be protected.
“The intent is obviously to serve the families and the community, but there hadn’t been any real conversation about how this could be misused,” Davis said. “We’re not sure the safeguards are 100 percent there yet.”
Parents who enroll in the program are asked to sign a release and to inform any friends or family who stop by if the recorder is in use. They’re also given two other bits of advice: Don’t get the device wet and don’t let curious toddlers see the contraption being slipped into the pocket of their specially designed onesie. The device is sturdy, but toddlers can be remarkably clever.
“The key,” Taveras, the social worker, told Cox with a smile, “is to do it without him noticing.”
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The book of Isaiah is named for its author, the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah means, “Jehovah is salvation” or “Salvation is of Jehovah.” He is rightly called “the Evangelical Prophet of the Old Testament.” By common consent, he ranks among the great literary geniuses of all time and his book is recognized as a part of the world’s great literature.
According to tradition, Isaiah was martyred, sawn asunder, Hebrews 11:37. Just so, in the hands of destructive modern critics his book has suffered, being cut up into many parts. Consequently, liberal Biblical scholars today deny the unity as well as the Isaiahan authorship of this great work. They affirm that it is the product of various authors, writing at different times, long after Isaiah’s death. Then an unknown redactor combined the various elements into the book that we know today as Isaiah.
In view of the above errors, it is refreshing to read Dr. Gingrich’s thoroughly orthodox, expanded, analytical outline of Isaiah. His exposition comes from a balanced and responsible conservatism which gives the work an abiding value. Like his other books, this one begins with a full general introduction, treating such topics as authorship, unity, historical background, importance, etc. This is followed by a succinct exegesis and explanation of the text. Both the layman and the busy preacher can use this commentary and quickly come to the heart of a passage and receive much help. | <urn:uuid:f87bcaf1-9545-4960-b965-569cfe6ab5f3> | {
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Study: More Vitamin D Could Mean Fewer Cancers
NEW YORK - Thousands of cases of breast and colon cancers might be averted each year if people in colder climates raised their vitamin D levels, researchers estimate in a new report.
A number of studies have suggested that vitamin D may be important in cancer risk. Much of this research is based on cancer rates at different latitudes of the globe; rates of breast, colon and ovarian cancer, for example, are lower in sunnier regions of the world than in Northern climates where cold winters limit people's sun exposure.
Sunlight triggers the synthesis of vitamin D in the skin, and people who get little sun exposure tend to have lower stores of the vitamin.
Complementing these studies are lab experiments showing that vitamin D helps prevent cancer cells from growing and spreading, as well as some clinical trials in which people given high doses of vitamin D showed lower cancer risks.
For the new study, researchers at the University of California used data on average wintertime blood levels of vitamin D and rates of breast and colon cancers in 15 countries.
They found that rates of the diseases tended to fall as average vitamin D levels climbed, according to their report in the journal Nutrition Reviews. The protective effect against colon cancer seemed to begin when blood levels of vitamin D reached 22 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL); for breast cancer, that number was 32 ng/mL.
The average late-winter vitamin D level among Americans is 15 to 18 ng/mL, according to the researchers.
They argue that, based on their data, if Americans were able to maintain a vitamin D level of at least 55 ng/mL, 60,000 cases of colon cancer and 85,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented every year. Worldwide, those figures could be 250,000 and 350,000, respectively.
"This could be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and short intervals -- 10 or 15 minutes a day -- in the sun," lead study author Dr. Cedric F. Garland, a cancer prevention specialist at the University of California San Diego, said in a statement.
No one is recommending that people bake in the sun to reach high vitamin D blood levels. According to Garland, spending a matter of minutes in the midday sun, with 40 percent of the skin exposed, is enough. For fair-skinned people, the researchers estimate that just 3 minutes in the sun can be adequate, while darker-skinned people may need about 15 minutes.
A lifeguard in Southern California, Garland said, may have little need for extra vitamin D to reach potentially protective levels, whereas a Northerner who tends to stay indoors much of the year may need much more.
Garland and his colleagues recommend that, in addition to modest sun exposure, adults get 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day -- which is the "tolerable upper intake level" set by U.S. health officials.
That limit exists because of the risk of vitamin D toxicity, which causes elevated calcium levels in the blood and problems such as nausea, weight loss, fatigue and kidney dysfunction.
SOURCE: Nutrition Reviews, August 2007.
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The baking industry is chock full of old ovens, many of which have been around for 20, 30, 40 and even 50 years. The baking industry also is full of new ovens with old designs. Although ovens may appear shiny on the outside, their baking chambers and control systems merely are repeats of old designs with slight modifications at best.
However, a new breed of ovens slowly is infiltrating the baking industry. These ovens apply the latest advancements in electronic controls and challenge common design theories. These ovens bake, control and manage energy consumption better than old ovens. More importantly, they solve common problems that plague most ovens in the industry. When purchasing your next oven, make sure it addresses the following issues:
1) Baking chamber: For years, baking chambers have been painted steel finishes. But is this necessarily the most efficient method? One oven manufacturer says no, and has designed an oven that uses stainless steel in its baking chamber to improve the radiant heating process.
2) Burners and ignition systems: As energy prices continue to skyrocket, any measure designed to save energy pays big dividends. As ovens are major consumers of energy, bakers should examine new ovens carefully to ensure that they have the capabilities to monitor burners. In older ovens, if a burner fails to ignite, gas continues to be sent to the burner. New ovens feature control systems that automatically turn the burners’ valves off if they do not ignite, which reduces gas consumption. In addition, ovens with advanced electronic controls also alert operators that a burner is malfunctioning.
A baker also should make sure an oven’s burners are electronically controlled through PLC’s, which provide independent burner controls. This measure reduces gas consumption by shutting off and turning on burners during the bake cycle to maintain consistent temperatures throughout the oven.
3) Controls: Oven control is one of the most important aspects of baking, and one of the biggest advancements in new ovens. Whereas old ovens use switches to control baking, new ovens feature encoder control systems that are controlled through a PLC. This allows bakers to change an oven parameter automatically through a PLC, instead of manually modifying switches.
"Your operator has more control over the oven, hence more even baking and less energy usage," one oven manufacturer says.
Ovens with operator interfaces used in conjunction with PLC’s also provide bakers enhanced controls to better manage product changeovers.
"One of the biggest oven issues in the industry is product changeovers," one oven manufacturer says. "If you have to change your oven, you have to change your burner rates and there can be a lot of time between changeovers."
Operator interfaces give bakers the opportunity to use recipe management systems. These systems allow bakers to set up baking profiles in an oven to automatically change from one product to the next with a push of a button.
In addition, one new oven also features a tray tracking system that monitors when the last tray of a product run is going through the oven. As the last tray goes through each zone, the oven automatically starts adjusting zone temperature for the next run.
Problem Solver Quick Tip
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On June 2012 Teflpedia was named Teflnet Site of the Month by Tefl.net. | <urn:uuid:22f2e36f-f023-4d79-a84f-16d25fa6965d> | {
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Trees in farmland provide valuable ecosystem services that enhance agricultural productivity and income, as well as supporting biodiversity such as birds. A better understanding of the benefits of farmland trees for birds, specifically the relative value of native and exotic trees, is essential in developing effective management options, particularly within tropical regions with intense cultivation pressure. In farmland in central Uganda, neither total bird species richness nor richness of forest visitors (non-forest dependent) were related to any measures of tree cover, whereas richness of forest-dependent bird species showed a positive relationship with the number of native tree species. The density of 10 out of 17 forest-dependent bird species within farmland showed at least one significant relationship with measures of tree cover; variables relating to native trees typically had more, and stronger, positive effects on bird density than exotic trees. The combined density of 17 forest-dependent bird species on farmland was positively related to both the total number of native trees and number of large native trees. Increasing the density of forest-dependent bird species by 1 bird ha−1 within a farmland site is predicted to require c. one to two large native trees, or c. 30 native trees of all sizes, per ha. Despite comprising c. 40% of all trees, exotics exerted little positive influence on forest birds, possibly because these offer poorer resources in terms of foraging, nesting and shelter. While numerous previous studies in the tropics have considered the value, for birds, of tree cover in farmland, few have focused on tree size or species composition. This study suggests that the retention or planting of native trees is an important tool for conserving forest birds within farmland, will provide additional ecosystem services, and should be encouraged through, for example, agricultural development schemes, extension advice and demonstration farms. | <urn:uuid:786fae71-793d-415e-9152-95ad478dcdba> | {
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- få varen levert rett hjem!
Sendes normalt fra oss i løpet av 10 virkedager
When Jennifer Owings Dewey and her husband adopted the orphaned raven they named Clem, he was six inches long, cold, wet, and ugly. First published in 1986, Dewey's straightforward account of Clem's first year, illustrated with her beautiful drawings, won an award from the National Association of Science Teachers as an Outstanding Science Book for Children. Ages 9-12. | <urn:uuid:59c91d90-75ba-4362-80e5-49f3b494f5af> | {
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Application ID: 474
This example demonstrates how to model a phase change and predict its impact on a heat transfer analysis. When a material changes phase, for instance from solid to liquid, energy is added to the solid. Instead of creating a temperature rise, the energy alters the material’s molecular structure. Equations for the latent heat of phase changes appear in many texts but their implementation is nonstandard. Heat consumed or released by a phase change affects fluid flow, magma movement and production, chemical reactions, mineral stability, and many other earth-science applications.
This 1D example uses the Heat Transfer in Porous Media interface from the Heat Transfer Module to examine transient temperature transfer in a rod of ice that heats up and changes to water. In particular, the model demonstrates how to handle material properties that vary as a function of temperature.
This model proceeds as follows. First, estimate the ice-to-water phase change using the transient conduction equation with the latent heat of fusion. Next, compare the first solution to estimates that neglect latent heat. Finally, run additional simulations to evaluate impacts of the temperature interval over which the phase change occurs.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:Heat Transfer Module Subsurface Flow Module
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Specification Chart and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this. | <urn:uuid:53d83f60-e1ac-461c-8be6-a91c2bd7d777> | {
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Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Beaks for Artificial Limbs?
Scientists are considering it:
The beak, made of hard chitin and other materials, changes density gradually from the hard tip to a softer, more flexible base where it attaches to the muscle around the squid's mouth, the researchers found.
That means the tough beak can chomp away at fish for dinner, but the hard material doesn't press or rub directly against the squid's softer tissues.
Herbert Waite, a professor in the university's department of molecular, cellular & developmental biology and co-author of the paper, said such graduated materials could have broad applications in biomedical materials.
"Lots of useful information could some out of this for implant materials, for example. Interfaces between soft and hard materials occur everywhere," he said in a telephone interview.
Frank Zok, professor and associate chair of the department of materials, said he had always been skeptical of whether there is any real advantage to materials that change their properties gradually from one part to another, "but the squid beak turned me into a believer."
"If we could reproduce the property gradients that we find in squid beak, it would open new possibilities for joining materials," Zok said in a statement. "For example, if you graded an adhesive to make its properties match one material on one side and the other material on the other side, you could potentially form a much more robust bond."
The researchers are learning lessons that can be applied to medical materials in the future, said Phillip B. Messersmith of the department of biomedical engineering at Northwestern University.
Messersmith, who was not part of the research team, noted that hard medical implants made of metal or ceramic are often imbedded in soft tissues.
"The lessons here from nature might be useful in transitions between devices and the tissues they are imbedded in," he said in a telephone interview.
Posted on April 4, 2008 at 4:38 PM • 4 Comments | <urn:uuid:5b2b0538-59f5-45c7-90d0-67f74ed6c3d3> | {
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From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
- This page is used to post news stories related to the creation vs. evolution controversy which have been published in the press during the last 12 months.
- Usage: Please place links in chronological order. Limit description to one sentence and do not add links to the description. A duplicate of news item should also be placed on one or more of the topic news pages found in the table below.
- Dinosaur Blood Vessels Survived 80 Million Years Without Fossilizing Tiny, delicate vessels that carried blood through a duck-billed dinosaur 80 million years ago never fossilized and still contain the beast's tissue, a new study finds. Yahho News, December 10, 2015
- Evaluating Homo naledi Lee Berger’s remarkable cache of hominid bones found deep in a South African cave is generating a lot of news, but major questions remain. Creation Evolution Headlines, September 19, 2015
- Ancient fossils in African cave are tantalizing glimpse of early man Scientists are revealing details about their discovery of a treasure-trove of fossils in a South African cave that they believe is one of the richest collections of an early-human species ever found. USA Today, September 10, 2015.
- Scientist Out For Dinosaur Blood Scientists said Tuesday they have discovered what appear to be red blood cells and collagen fibres in dinosaur bones, a find that may boost prospects of prising organic remains from a much wider range of fossils. Geology Page, June 10, 2015.
- Scientists Find Evidence of Genesis Flood and Noah's ArkMysterious metal lumps discovered along the ocean floor queued up scientific minds in a puzzle that's amounted to nothing more than guessing games until now.CharismaNews. March 20, 2015
- Human embryos 'genetically modified for the first time after leading scientists pioneer controversial technique' Human embryos have been genetically modified for the first time ever, which could soon lead to the creation of designer babies.Leading American scientists have secretly carried out extensive work into altering the DNA of human embryos.The Independent. March 15, 2015
- UK Scientists: Aliens May Have Sent Space Seeds To Create Life On Earth Scientists in the U.K. have examined a tiny metal circular object, and are suggesting it might be a micro-organism deliberately sent by extraterrestrials to create life on Earth. The Huffington Post. February 13, 2015.
- As Pastor Faces Lifetime in Prison, Supporters Argue Persecution Kent Hovind is set to be back in court next month on charges, and supporters are encouraging Christians and all Americans to take action. New American. February 03, 2015.
- Speck of Interstellar Dust Obscures Glimpse of Big Bang A new analysis has confirmed that the BICEP signal was mostly, if not all, stardust, and that there is no convincing evidence of inflation. New York Times. January. 30, 2015.
- Student sues school district after her forced 'confession' Not long after a student from Loomis Basin Charter School (LBCS) invited her two friends to a Creation seminar held off campus, school officials became livid, summonsing her to the principal's office four times in the same day in order to force her into writing a "confession" of what she had done. OneNewsNow December 10, 2014.
- Robot Sub Finds Surprisingly Thick Antarctic Sea Ice Not only is the amount of sea ice increasing each year, but an underwater robot now shows the ice is also much thicker than was previously thought, a new study reports. Accu Weather, November 30, 2014
- Star Trek-like invisible shield found thousands of miles above Earth Shield blocks so-called "killer electrons," which whip around the planet at near-light speed and have been known to threaten astronauts, fry satellites and degrade space systems during intense solar storms. Phys Org, November 26, 2014.
- Cosmic Case of Missing Stars Baffles Scientists A massive population of stars is missing, and scientists are stumped as to where it could be. Live Science, November 24, 2014.
- 'Missing link' found for ancient sea reptile Scientists said on Wednesday they have unearthed in China the fossil of a small ichthyosaur with large, flexible flippers that let it move around on land like a seal. IOL SciTech, November 6 2014.
- Nature Reports Armitage Discrimination Case The leading scientific journal has reported Mark Armitage’s lawsuit against California State University for firing him as a creationist. Creation Evolution Headlines, November 5, 2014.
- Imprisoned Creationist Faces New Charges Only months away from being released to a halfway house after nearly eight years in prison, the popular creation-science lecturer and theme-park creator known as Dr. Dino is facing new charges in his tax-related case. World Net Daily, November 3, 2014.
- Pope Contradicts Genesis Account of Creation, Argues ‘God and Evolution’ Are Compatible Pontiff Francis reaffirmed long-held Catholic beliefs that evolution is not “inconsistent” with Creation. Christian News Network, October 27, 2014.
- Rapid Evolution in Real Time On islands off the coast of Florida, scientists uncover swift adaptive changes among Carolina anole populations, whose habitats were disturbed by the introduction of another lizard species. The Scientist, October 23, 2014.
- Evolution Is Not Random (At Least, Not Totally) Mutation hotspots and preserved regions of DNA reveal that changes are not the nonrandom processes that were originally assumed. Live Science, October 02, 2014.
- Big Bang blunder bursts the multiverse bubble Premature hype over gravitational waves highlights gaping holes in models for the origins and evolution of the Universe Nature, June 3, 2014.
- Dallas researchers out to scientifically prove biblical version of creation The Institute for Creation Research received featured news coverage, including interviews with several of their scientists. Dallas Morning News, August 15, 2014.
- Noah's Ark Project May Get $18 Million in 'Tourism Incentives' From Kentucky The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority has given "preliminary approval" on the Ark Encounter project overseen by a Christian apologetics group known as Answers in Genesis. Christian Post, August 5, 2014.
- Camp Teaches Kids How to Defend Evolution Against Creation ‘Bullying’ The First Unitarian Universalist “Church” of Springfield Missouri sponsored the evolution camp for about 30 children. Christian News Network, July 28, 2014.
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The research team carried out a time trends analysis on the rates of illness and death for allergic disorders, excluding asthma. They used national representative data and information from national surveys, consultations with primary care health practitioners, prescriptions, hospital admissions, and deaths.
Diagnoses of allergic rhinitis and eczema in children have trebled over the past three decades, but the prevalence of symptoms seems to have fallen recently. Hospital admissions for eczema have also stabilised since 1995, while those for allergic rhinitis have fallen to about 40% of their 1990 levels.
Similarly, consultations with a family doctor for hay fever rose by 260%, and for eczema by 150%, between 1971 and 1991. But once again, rates have stabilised in the past decade, the figures indicate. However, hospital admissions for anaphylaxis (serious allergic reaction in several areas of the body) have risen by 700%, those for food allergy by 500%, and those for the skin allergy urticaria by 100%.
Rates of angio-oedema, in which an absence of a specific protein promotes tissue swelling, leading to difficulties breathing, also rose by 40%. Prescriptions for all types of allergy have also increased since 1991, the data show.
The findings suggest that while eczema and hay fever may have peaked, systemic allergies may be on the increase, say the authors. They speculate that some of the trends could be explained by changes in medical practice and care, but they could also be attributable to changes in the sources of allergic disease.
MEDICA.de; Source: BMJ Specialty Journals | <urn:uuid:b98c64cb-c2cb-4cab-8d41-73b56967c04a> | {
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By Lorrie Akins
Clarke County Public Schools hosted a writing conference using Ruth Culham’s 6 + 1 Traits on Friday, March 25, 2011. Winchester, Manassas, and Prince William County Public Schools, as well as Clarke teachers, journeyed together with presenter Karen Harris through the writing process using the traits of writing.
Karen carefully guided teachers in developing instruction to help children develop the traits… ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. Karen shared from her wealth of knowledge and experience regarding the writing process. She served as a teacher and principal before retiring and hitting the road to share the traits worldwide. Her journeys with writing have recently taken her to Budapest with an upcoming return trip on the schedule.
Karen’s positive attitude toward her students as they developed writing skills carried over into the workshop, inviting teachers to think outside the box. The writing skills of an unidentified child were compared at the beginning and end of a school year. The end of the year sample demonstrated a definite increase in skill level with all the traits. With this in mind, teachers were able to experience the process as they first wrote a shopping list of items to be purchased at a store of their choice. The list was then pared down to five items. Upon completion, the teachers rewrote the list with the intention of giving it to another person to shop. Being specific in order to acquire the items in mind was essential. Specificity required the use of all the traits. Teachers then shared their list with a neighbor and reported on the experience with the group. Their experience was no different from a child’s as some experienced frustration with coming up with the precise words or product name for an item.
One person wanted a two carat Tiffany diamond from a jewelry store. The listener asked for one slightly important detail, “Earrings or ring?” Another person wrote a list thinking a child would be shopping, so one item on the list included a “red, ripe tomato that was firm, but not too soft.” It became obvious that audience was important. This fun activity was one of many Karen shared to use with students.
Karen also emphasized the strong connection between writing and reading. Books or stories read in class can serve as models for the traits in the writing process. The “craft of writing” over time becomes an art as children are better equipped and able to communicate with their readers.
Participants left with a greater understanding of the language inherit in the writing process of 6 + 1 Traits and better equipped for developing instruction with their students. Thanks to Karen Harris, the passion for writing will live on in the school systems represented.
Lorrie Akins teaches Reading K-1 at Berryville Primary and has been a teacher at CCPS since 1988. She holds a Bachelors degree in Education from the University of Maine, Farmington and a Masters degree in Education from Shenandoah University. | <urn:uuid:3ca99de4-ebc9-4a69-bf07-1f22def4e1a5> | {
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People sometimes ask me how I come up with the topics for the column each week. Most of my ideas spring from current events -- shuttle launches, missions now in orbit or on their way to distant places, and the seemingly endless parade of new discoveries from the Hubble Space Telescope and other instruments in space.
Other topics come from questions asked by schoolchildren, and sometimes I come across a fascinating bit of information or a new way of looking at something that I just have to share.
And there are times when I seek input. "Hey, Kris," I asked the other day. "What do you want to read about this week?"
"Baseball" was her immediate answer. Kristen is 11 and baseball is her life right now. I didn't see how I could tie baseball into astronomy. Maybe the reaction of a thrown ball on another planet or in the shuttle? Hmmm -- no, but maybe in the future when I have time to do the math and pull the physics together.
"Reading" was her second suggestion. Ah, one of her other favorite pastimes -- and that I can do. After all, now that school is out for the summer it's a perfect time for kids like Kristen to do some reading just for pleasure.
Recommendations: One of my favorite books for readers of Kristen's age is called "How Come?" Written by Kathy Wollard and cleverly illustrated by Debra Solomon, the book gives answers to questions that all kids have about science. Parents out there know the ones I mean: "What is a black hole?" and "Why are the dinosaurs extinct?" and "Why are bubbles round?"
This is one of my primary source books when preparing for a new onslaught of eager third- and fourth-graders each year, and the writing is engaging enough to appeal to readers on higher levels.
"Why is space black" is a good question to use as an example. Wollard's answer takes readers into the effect of our atmosphere on light, Olbers' Paradox, and Edgar Allen Poe.
During the day, Wollard writes, the air molecules in our atmosphere reflect sunlight. That's why the sky is dark in the "daytime" on the moon, because it has no atmosphere.
Astronomers then wondered that if space is infinite and is filled with an infinite number of stars, then why isn't our night sky filled with a blaze of stars? The 19th century astronomer Wilhelm Olbers popularized the question and it became known as Olbers' Paradox.
Various theories have been proposed to answer the question, and the best so far looks to the very beginnings of the universe for the answer: That the stars don't actually go on forever. Wollard notes that in Poe's "Eureka: A Prose Poem," he writes "in the blackness of space, we see the nothingness that existed before the birth of the stars." This may be close to the truth, and it's neatly put, too.
Red planet: This will be the summer of Mars, and an excellent way to keep in tune with the red planet is the book "An Earthling's Guide to Mars." Written by Carolyn Sumners of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the book is lavishly illustrated with NASA photos and drawings by space artist Pat Rawlings.
NASA Director Daniel Goldin has mentioned recently that he expects humans to travel to Mars in the next 20 years. He may be optimistic, but the next logical place to satisfy the human need for discovery is indeed our neighboring planet. "An Earthling's Guide to Mars" opens with a look at an imaginary trip to Mars and ends optimistically with people actually arriving there on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 2019). In between are pages of good science, factual and entertaining information and answers to the questions that many kids have about Mars.
For kids (and skywatchers of all ages) who want to learn the constellations, I'd suggest two classic books and one new volume. They're "Find the Constellations" by H.A. Rey (better known as the author of the Curious George books), "365 Starry Nights" by Chet Raymo and a new book by John Mosley, a colleague at the Griffin Observatory in Los Angeles: "Stargazing for Beginners."
Adult readings: I'm not letting the adults off the hook with this homework assignment. There is a wealth of great books on astronomy for the general public, and I'll list only three as a representative sample.
One of my favorite books is "Blind Watchers of the Sky: The People and Ideas that Shaped Our View of the Universe" by Rocky Kolb, head of the Fermilab Theoretical Astrophysics Group. Don't let his lofty position scare you, however -- the book is entertaining, funny, and educational. You'll have to check your library for this one, as it's out of print.
If you want a quick read and laughs, then by all means pick up Eric Schulman's "A Briefer History of Time: From the Big Bang to the Big Mac." This sideways look at the important events in our universe's history will have you in stitches and wishing the book was longer.
Other authors: I'd happily suggest that any book by David Levy is well worth reading, but if I had to pick one I'd suggest a recent work, "The Ultimate Universe: The Most Up-to-Date Guide to the Cosmos." This Levy is the same Levy as in the latter part of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in 1994, and he writes monthly in the Parade Magazine supplement to The Vindicator.
What am I reading this summer? I have two books just waiting for those rare quiet moments. The first is "An Intimate Look at the Night Sky" by Chet Raymo, a star guide that I'm sure will include his poetic musings about life and the universe. I became hooked on Raymo not because of his "365 Starry Nights," but from "The Soul of the Night," another book I'd recommend for adult readers.
Also waiting is "Parallax: The Race to Measure the Cosmos" by Alan Hirschfeld. I really don't know what to expect with this book, but it promises to be as engaging and readable as Dava Sobel's "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time."
If you like historical detective novels, then both of these should be just right. | <urn:uuid:9db7d6f0-207f-4f6c-84c5-14ee04bba642> | {
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Optical Society
American Institute of Physics
Historic First Images of Rod Photoreceptors in the Living Human Eye
Adaptive optics technology likely to spur sight-saving interventions, usher in new era of eye disease research, diagnosis and treatment
WASHINGTON, June 8–Scientists today reported that the tiny light-sensing cells known as rods have been clearly and directly imaged in the living eye for the first time. Using adaptive optics (AO), the same technology astronomers use to study distant stars and galaxies, scientists can see through the murky distortion of the outer eye, revealing the eye's cellular structure with unprecedented detail. This innovation, described in two papers in the Optical Society's (OSA) open access journal Biomedical Optics Express, will help doctors diagnose degenerative eye disorders sooner, leading to quicker intervention and more effective treatments.
"While therapies are only emerging, the ability to see the cells you are trying to rescue represents a critical first step in the process of restoring sight," says researcher Alfredo Dubra of the University of Rochester in New York, who led the team of researchers from Rochester, Marquette University, and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), Milwaukee. "It's impossible to overemphasize how important early detection is to eye disease."
"One of the major hurdles in detecting retinal disease is that by the time it can be perceived by the patient or detected with clinical tools, significant cellular damage has often already occurred," adds team member Joseph Carroll of MCW.
The breakthrough that is ushering in a new era of eye disease research, diagnosis, and treatment is an improved design of a non-invasive adaptive optics imaging system. Dubra and his colleagues were able to push the device's resolution to its optical limits of nearly 2 microns (a micron is 1/1,000 of a millimeter), or the approximate diameter of a single rod in the human eye.
Figure 1– The image on the left shows the smallest cones at the center of the retina, (the fovea). Whenever we direct our gaze at something, for example to read, the image of what we are looking at is formed over these very important cones. The image on the right shows a more eccentric retinal location, in which the large bright dots with a dark ring around them are cones, and the surrounding (and far more abundant) smaller spots are rods.
Rods are much more numerous than cones and are vastly more sensitive to light. With the optical design method successfully demonstrated by Dubra's team, even the smallest cone cells at the center of the retina, known as the foveal center, can be seen very clearly. Rods can be seen clearly in a less central retinal location. (Fig. 1)
"This is a really exciting breakthrough," says Steve Burns, a professor in the School of Optometry at Indiana University, who is not involved in the Biomedical Optics Express research. "Imaging contiguous rod mosaics will allow us to study the impact of a whole new class of blinding disorders on the retina. Since many of the eye diseases most amenable to intervention affect the rods, this should become a major tool for determining what treatments work best for those disorders."
De-twinkling Stars, Visualizing Rods
In astronomy, adaptive optics is able to correct for the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere, effectively removing the "twinkling" from starlight and rendering cosmic objects as very sharp points of light. To achieve this correction, the AO system requires a reference point—either a bright, nearby star or an artificial "guide star" produced in the upper atmosphere by lasers mounted on a telescope. By monitoring that reference point, AO systems use a deformable mirror to create the exact but opposite distortion that is happening in the atmosphere. The result is a clearer image with much greater resolution.
Just as light passing through the atmosphere becomes bent and distorted, so too does light passing through the front part of the eye. This distortion is inconsequential on the scale of human vision, but poses a significant barrier in the microscopic realm of medical imaging.
In 1997, David Williams of the University of Rochester led the group that first demonstrated using AO technology to study the interior of the human eye. In this system, called an adaptive optics ophthalmoscope, a laser creates a reference point that is used to correct the blurring of the image obtained with a fundus camera. Today the fundus camera is commonly replaced by a second laser for imaging, which is known as an adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope. By moving the laser point across the retina and correcting the distortion along the way, line-by-line an accurate image emerges, in much the same way that a CRT monitor renders an image.
Though earlier AO systems could effectively image cones and have become a mainstay of high-resolution retinal imaging research, the smaller rods, which outnumber cones 20 to 1 in the retina, have eluded clear and contiguous observation in the living eye.
The breakthrough in the design of the AO instrument that led to clearly visualizing rods was, according to Dubra, "embarrassingly simple, and relied on well-known equations and concepts." By simply folding the spherical mirrors that act as lenses in the instrument into a three-dimensional structure, the image quality of the retina was improved sufficiently to clearly resolve the contiguous rod mosaic, as well as the entire cone mosaic at the foveal center.
"By combining careful optical engineering, excellent adaptive optics control, and knowledge of the visual system the authors have made a major advancement in both biomedical imaging and vision science," says Burns.
Improving Patient Care
According to the researchers, their next step is to develop a clinical model that could be widely available. A related task is simplifying and teaching the art of interpreting AO images to guide clinical decisions about diagnosis and treatment.
When that occurs, hopefully in the next 5 to 10 years, doctors will likely be able to routinely peer into a living human eye with such precision and clarity that they will be able to see and evaluate individual rods–and do three things never before possible: accurately describe the physical presentation of specific rod disorders–the "phenotype" of a disease, intervene with early treatment at the first sign of disease, and even determine how individual cells are responding to a specific treatment.
"That's what's really exciting about this imaging device: it can really make a difference in a patient's life," says Carroll. "The ability to now resolve these cells opens up new possibilities for improving care that researchers have been anticipating for a long time—such as using the information in these retinal images to aid in targeting, delivering, and evaluating therapies."
Paper: "Non-invasive imaging of the human rod photoreceptor mosaic using a confocal adaptive optics scanning ophthalmoscope" Biomedical Optics Express, Volume 2, Issue 7, pp. 1864-1876.
Paper: "Reflective afocal broadband adaptive optics scanning ophthalmoscope" Biomedical Optics Express, Volume 2, Issue 6, pp. 1757-1768.
The papers appear as part of a special feature issue of Biomedical Optics Express on "Cellular Imaging of the Retina."
EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution images and a video of Dubra explaining the importance of the research are available. Contact Lyndsay Meyer, [email protected] or 202.416.1435.
About Biomedical Optics Express
Biomedical Optics Express is OSA's principal outlet for serving the biomedical optics community with rapid, open-access, peer-reviewed papers related to optics, photonics and imaging in the life sciences. The journal scope encompasses theoretical modeling and simulations, technology development, and biomedical studies and clinical applications. It is published by the Optical Society and edited by Joseph A. Izatt of Duke University. Biomedical Optics Express is an open-access journal and is available at no cost to readers online at http://www.OpticsInfoBase.org/BOE.
Uniting more than 106,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org. | <urn:uuid:ff672afd-6499-468e-a1ab-83e09b221137> | {
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During the Great Depression large corporations began to dominate the landscape of America's commerce as smaller companies increasingly folded under disastrous economic forces. Times were hard for the average American, and companies that could produce durable goods at low prices successfully jockeyed themselves ahead of the competition. Against this competitive backdrop both Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Montgomery Ward & Co. became almost synonymous with home appliances as they respectively grew to gargantuan proportions selling a wide array of goods through catalog mail order.
Sears would eventually win the mail order wars, but in the 1930s the two retail giants were still nearly equal in size, and their buying and selling power was enormous. Intense competition kept prices low, which was exactly what the average American needed in those Depression days when each and every penny counted. Most American families received both catalogs, and centrally positioned in those catalogs were a wide array of gasoline engines.
Montgomery Ward sold water-hopper engines under its own Sattley brand name, in part manufactured by Nelson Bros. Co., Saginaw, Mich. From 1932 to 1936 Nelson Co. also produced all of Montgomery Ward's air-cooled engines.
Montgomery Ward was proud of these engines and called them its Aero-Type Sattley gasoline engines. With horsepower ratings of 3/4, 1-1/2 and 3, they all used a cast iron base to hold the gasoline and oil. They were equipped with a fuel pump, and also an oil pump to lubricate the connecting rod.
These upright Aero-Type Sattleys all used flyball-type governors and incorporated the magneto into the flywheel.
The smaller 3/4 HP Sattley, rated at 1,750 rpm, used a kick-start and overhead valves. From 1932 through 1934, this engine used a Maytag-type flywheel and magneto, but didn't use an air shroud. A flat belt pulley was attached to the flywheel and a V-belt pulley was set on the kick-start side. In 1935 and 1936, this engine changed to incorporate a normal flywheel and a sheet metal shroud. The horsepower rating remained the same. The small 3/4 HP Sattley had a bore and stroke of 2-1/4 inches (9 cubic inches).
Both the 1-1/2 and 3 HP engines used a 2-3/4- inch bore and a 3-1/4-inch stroke (19 cubic inches). During the five years it was offered on the market, the 1-1/2 HP crank-start engine was rated 1 HP at 1,200 rpm and 1-3/4 HP at 1,750 rpm. Sold by Montgomery Ward in 1935 and 1936, the 3 HP engine also was crank-started. It used a higher compression ratio and a larger venturi carburetor, and was rated at 1,800 to 2,600 rpm. The 3 HP Sattley's cast aluminum air shroud completely covered the head and cylinder, and the shroud had slots for ventilation that gave it a streamlined appearance.
The Sattley engines' shipping weights were 70, 115 and 150 pounds respectively. Apparently, the 1-1/2 and 3 HP engines eventually changed to heavier flywheels, but prices remained respectively stable from 1932 to 1935 at approximately $37.50, $44 and $54.25. All prices increased 10 percent in 1936. The 3 HP engine's price tag, for example, jumped from $54.25 to $59.95.
In the spring of 1937, the Montgomery Ward catalog listed all of the air-cooled engines that Wisconsin then produced. The 1937 and 1938 Montgomery Ward catalogs show six single-cylinder, air-cooled Wisconsin engines, each looking slightly taller than the preceding one. The picture is deceptive, however.
By Montgomery Ward's own measurements, the two smallest engines (1 and 2 HP) were 18-3/4 inches in height, the middle two engines (3 and 4 HP) were 20-5/16 inches in height, and the two largest engines (5 and 7 HP) were 24-3/8 inches in height. Their physical size did not increase proportionately with horsepower change. Rather, physical engine size changed depending on which class of horsepower an engine occupied - two sizes in each class.
In 1939, Ward began using the familiar two-letter designation for each model that Wisconsin had produced since 1931 (see chart below). Prices remained relatively stable through 1941, with the AA selling for $45.85 in 1937 and the AH selling for $124.50 the same year. The AA's shipping weight was 90 pounds, and the AH's was 215 pounds.
The four largest Wisconsin-built one-cylinder, air-cooled engines sported air-vane governors, but when Wisconsin changed to flyweight governors in 1942, an 'H' was added to the model name. These newly revamped engines became models ADH, AEH, AFH and AHH. In that same year, Montgomery Ward - along with the rest of the engine industry -emphasized peak horsepower ratings. With Wisconsin's change in compression and carburetors, the AEH was rated as 6 HP at 2,600 rpm (the AE was 4 HP at 1,750 rpm), and the AHH was rated at 9-1/4 HP at 2,200 to 2,400 rpm (the AH was 7 HP at 1,750 rpm). Prices increased by 15 percent in 1942 because of the impending war. That year, for instance, the AA sold for $56.95 and the AHH sold for $139.95.
Wisconsin Engine Sizes and Their Model Numbers
Wisconsin engines used two letters to designate bore size and horsepower:
AA: 2-1/4 inches
AB: 2-1/2 inches
AC: 2-5/8 inches
AD: 2-3/4 inches
AE: 3 inches
AF: 3-1/4 inches
AG: 3-1/2 inches
AH: 3-5/8 inches
*The only Wisconsin with a 2-5/8-inch bore was the 70-cubic-inch Model AC4 inline four-cylinder, air-cooled engine. It was rated 12 HP at 1,750 rpm and 16 HP at 2,600 rpm. The Model AG, with a 3-1/2-inch bore and 6 HP, wasn't listed in the general catalog, but it was available on special order.
These were all industrial-strength engines, made with tapered roller bearings on each end of the crankshaft and equipped with separate magnetos. For that reason, it's surprising these engines were priced cheaper than Briggs & Stratton engines built for Sears. In 1938, for example, Montgomery Ward's 4 HP (23 cubic inches) AE sold for $80.95, while a Sears Model X with the same cubic inch and horsepower rating sold for $82.95. The situation remained pretty much the same in 1941: Montgomery Ward's 6 HP AEH sold for $91.95, and the Sears' similarly rated Model Z sold for $96.50.
In 1937 Montgomery Ward chose an engine made by the Hummer Manufacturing Co. of Springfield, Ill., for its smallest engine offering. The Hummer-made engine had a bore of 2-1/8 inches and a stroke of 1-3/4 inches (6.2 cubic inches). Power output was 5/8 HP at 1,750 rpm, but the little engine produced 4/5 HP at 2,300 rpm. The little Hummer engine was unusual in a couple of respects. First, the magneto wasn't located under the flywheel as with most small engines, but drove off the crankshaft's power take-off end. Second, it was one of the few engines that turned counterclockwise when viewed at the flywheel.
Montgomery Ward only used the Hummer engine in 1937. At $27.95, the manufacturer possibly couldn't continue production at such a low price. Montgomery Ward's rival, Sears, had been selling similarly small engines made by Briggs & Stratton starting in 1933, and by 1936 Sears was selling its 1/2 HP Briggs' Model L washing machine engine with base for $35.95. Sears reduced that price to $33.95 by 1937, possibly due to fierce competition between Sears and Montgomery Ward since the latter preferred to under-price its competitor. Although Montgomery Ward appeared to have a comfortable margin despite the discontinuation of the Hummer engine, competition would soon become very tight.
Montgomery Ward's smallest engine offering in 1938 was built by John Lauson Manufacturing Co., New Holstein, Wis. With a 2-inch bore and a 1-7/8-inch stroke (5.9 cubic inches), it was rated 5/8 HP at 1,750 rpm and 9/10 HP at 2,300 rpm. This engine had many good features: ball bearings on both ends of the crankshaft, an oil pump, a magneto under the flywheel and a flyweight mechanical governor. Best of all, the Lauson-made engine only weighed 31 pounds (total shipping weight of 33 pounds) and sold for $27.95.
Sears made moves to stay competitive with Montgomery Ward, selling the new and smaller 1/2 HP (at 2,300 rpm) Briggs & Stratton Model WM engine. This new engine (with a separate gas tank) was designed for washing machine service and sold for $27.95. The Briggs-made engine's shipping weight was 40 pounds.
Competition was getting too close, so for 1939 Montgomery Ward introduced the Lauson-built RLC. Priced at $24.49, it was rated 1/2 HP at 1,750 rpm or 5/8 HP at 2,400 rpm, and it had a 1-3/4-inch bore and a 1-7/8-inch stroke (4.5 cubic inches). The addition of a kick-starter bolstered the many good features already noted, but the RLC also used a suction carburetor and had a rectangular gas tank mounted on the front of the air shroud. All RLC engines have four bolts in the head.
The back cover of the March 1996 Gas Engine Magazine shows four views of a restored Lauson RLC in color. Read with a magnifying glass, the engine's tag appears to indicate it's a Montgomery Ward engine. I own one of these, and all the ones I've seen carry the Montgomery Ward label. The color is given as bright orange, but all of the Lauson-built engines I've seen look orange with some red mixed in.
In 1939 Montgomery Ward also released the Model RSC. Rated at 5/8 HP at 1,750 rpm and 1 HP at 2,400 rpm, it had a 2-inch bore and 1-7/8-inch stroke (5.9 cubic inches). This model also sported the kick-starter and it sold for $31.89. Shipping weight for both the RLC and RSC was 40 pounds and 42 pounds, respectively.
Montgomery Ward also sold a special RSC without a governor and fitted it with a larger oil pump and a high-speed Tillotson carburetor. This special RSC had a six-bolt head, and by 1940 peak horsepower reached 1-4/5 at 4,800 rpm. The actual weight was 27 pounds, and it sold for $34.95.
By 1940, Montgomery Ward was also selling a larger Lauson-built engine with a bore and stroke of 2-1/4 inches (9 cubic inches), and an increased horsepower of 2-1/4 at 3,400 rpm. This engine had all the good features of previous models, but at 60 pounds its shipping weight was a little heavier, and the price was a little higher at $51.89. These four Lauson-built engines continued in Montgomery Ward's line-up, but the average price increased by about 22 percent by 1942.
Sears was still selling the little Briggs-made engine (4.5 cubic inches) in 1939, but now with a cast iron base with a base-bolted gas tank. No frills were found on this basic engine: no kick start, no oil pump and an airvane governor. The price was $22.95, but was increased to $23.40 in 1940 and $23.90 in 1941. Montgomery Ward, in turn, reduced the price of its little RLC to $23.89 to compete with Sears, undercutting Sears by 1 cent! The following year, Sears replaced this Briggs engine with a Briggs & Stratton Model U that sold for $31.90.
Success Meant Diversity
Looking to broaden its market, in 1938 Montgomery Ward began selling Continental water-cooled engines in models ranging from 15 to 165 HP. A 15 HP water-cooled Continental, complete with clutch and power take-off, was $249.50. In 1941 Montgomery Ward began selling the first of Wisconsin's V4 engines. The 92-cubic-inch VE4 produced 20 HP at 2,200 rpm and was available with an electric starter. Montgomery Ward listed it for $214.50 in its Spring/Summer 1941 catalog.
By 1941 the retail giant also sold Hercules gasoline and diesel engines, as well as Atlas diesel engines. The catalog aptly summed up Montgomery Ward's reasoning: 'Wards can furnish any type of industrial engine made - from 6 to 169 HP.'
Water hopper-equipped, slow-speed engines were also still being sold in this time period, and Montgomery Ward also did well with its sales of electric-generating power plants. A small 1937 catalog advertised them, highlighting an Onan-made air-cooled engine on the front cover. Onan air-cooled engines powered many of their electric plants, and Onan's larger two-and four-cylinder water-cooled engines were used, as well.
After World War II, some adjustments to Montgomery Ward's engine catalog inevitably had to be made. The first adjustment was to sign a contract with the Clinton Engine Co. to supply the catalog company's small, air-cooled engines. Many more decisions had to be made in the search for success in post-World War II America, but the continual struggle between the two largest mail order firms ultimately took a toll on Montgomery Ward. That, however, is part of the rest of the story about Montgomery Ward, which will be told at another time.
Contact engine enthusiast Kenneth Scales at 2601 Shadybrook Way, Oklahoma City, OK 73141; (405) 769-4171; e-mail: [email protected] | <urn:uuid:8de794cd-90d7-4ef3-aa73-0b31aa511fd6> | {
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Discourse Processing here is framed as marking up a text with structural descriptions on several levels, which can serve to support many language-processing or text-mining tasks. We first explore some ways of assigning structure on the document level: the logical document structure as determined by the layout of the text, its genre-specific content structure, and its breakdown into topical segments. Then the focus moves to phenomena of local coherence. We introduce the problem of coreference and look at methods for building chains of coreferring entities in the text. Next, the notion of coherence relation is introduced as the second important factor of local coherence. We study the role of connectives and other means of signaling such relations in text, and then return to the level of larger textual units, where tree or graph structures can be ascribed by recursively assigning coherence relations. Taken together, these descriptions can inform text summarization, information extraction, discourse-aware sentiment analysis, question answering, and the like. Table of Contents: Introduction / Large Discourse Units and Topics / Coreference Resolution / Small Discourse Units and Coherence Relations / Summary: Text Structure on Multiple Interacting Levels
What people are saying - Write a review
I like this book for its coverage and clarity. A very good reference to start with discourse processing. After reading that, one should definitely look into more recent papers, since the field has seen a lot of progress during the last five or six years (distributional semantic representations, deep learning approaches to discourse, etc. which have less of linguistic formality and more of data science and machine learning aspects). | <urn:uuid:0ee1d00e-735b-4476-9cee-c27efc7d56f7> | {
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and we replace our point charge with a charge distribution over some region of . This may be concentrated on some surfaces, or on curves, or at points, or even some combination of the these; it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we can write the amount contributed to the electric field at by the charge a point as
So to get the whole electric field, we integrate over all of space!
Now we want to take the divergence of each side with respect to . On the right we can pull the divergence inside the integral, since the integral is over rather than . But we’ve still got a hangup.
Let’s consider this divergence:
Away from this is pretty straightforward to calculate. In fact, you can do it by hand with partial derivatives, but I know a sneakier way to see it.
If you remember our nontrivial homology classes, this is closely related to the one we built on — the case where . In that case we got a -form, not a vector field, but remember that we’re working in our standard with the standard metric, which lets us use the Hodge star to flip a -form into a -form, and a -form into a vector field! The result is exactly the field we’re taking the divergence of; and luckily enough the divergence of this vector field is exactly what corresponds to the exterior derivative on the -form, which we spent so much time proving was zero in the first place!
So this divergence is automatically zero for any , while at zero it’s not really well-defined. Still, in the best tradition of physicists we’ll fail the math and calculate anyway; what if it was well-defined, enough to take the integral inside the unit sphere at least? Then the divergence theorem tells us that the integral of the divergence through the ball is the same as the integral of the vector field itself through the surface of the sphere:
since the field is just the unit radial vector field on the sphere, which integrates to give the surface area of the sphere: . Remember that the fact that this is not zero is exactly why we said the -form cannot be exact.
So what we’re saying is that this divergence doesn’t really work in the way we usually think of it, but we can pretend it’s something that integrates to give us whenever our region of integration contains the point . We’ll call this something , where the is known as the “Dirac delta-function”, despite not actually being a function. Incidentally, it’s actually very closely related to the Kronecker delta
So anyway, that means we can calculate
This integrand is zero wherever , so the only point that can contribute at all is . We may as well consider it a constant and pull it outside the integral:
where we have integrated away the delta function to get . Notice how this is like we usually use the Kronecker delta to sum over one variable and only get a nonzero term where it equals the set value of the other variable.
The result is known as Gauss’ law:
and, incidentally, shows why we wrote the proportionality constant the way we did when defining Coulomb’s law. The meaning is that the divergence of the electric field at a point is proportional to the amount of charge distributed at that point, and the constant of proportionality is exactly .
If we integrate both sides over some region we can rewrite the law in “integral form”:
That is: the outward flow of the electric field through a closed surface is equal to the integral of the charge contained within the surface. The second step here is, of course, the divergence theorem, but this is such a popular application that people often call this “Gauss’ theorem”. Of course, there are two very different statements here: one is the physical identification of electrical divergence with charge distribution, and the other is the geometric special case of Stokes’ theorem. Properly speaking, only the first is named for Gauss. | <urn:uuid:d095aab0-1d8a-4ca6-a444-dfbd2efebc74> | {
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If tawhid (Oneness of God) constitutes the ideological foundation of Islam, the concept of man’s Khilafah (vicegerency/caliphate) provides the operational framework for the Islamic scheme of life.
The story of Adam and Eve is found in almost all religious and major cultural traditions. But in these narrations, fact and fancy are found intermingled. The way the Qur’an narrates this event is crucial to the understanding of the Islamic world-view.
God declared His intention to send a vicegerent (khalifah) to the earth. He created Adam and Eve from the same substance. They were destined to play this role of vicegerency and were endowed with the ‘knowledge of the things’ to do the job well. Then they were put to a test and were asked not to approach a certain tree. They fell victim to the evil persuasions of Satan and committed sin. But immediately after sinning they repented their mistakes, sought God’s forgiveness and were forgiven. It was after they were forgiven and redeemed that they were sent down to the earth to play their role as vicegerents of God. They were promised Divine Guidance and were assured that those who followed that guidance would be successful. Adam was the first man to receive this guidance and convey it to his progeny.
Adam and his childrenare not obligated to feel “guilty” or “shame” for anything. Rather, they realize that only the children of Adam have the highest rank and honor in the entire universe as the “trstees/moral agents/vicegerents/khalifas” on earth.
Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I will create a vicegerent (khalifah) on earth.” They said: “Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?” He said: “I know what ye know not.” TMQ 2:30.
The children of Adam, according to the Quran, inherited the lofty and divine duty as the khalifah (trustee, moral agent, vicegerent) to fight the evil forces in order to restore the divine system on earth. This was the holy mission from the very begining of man’s journey for which we will be questioned at the end of our journey.
What would be the “job description” of such a person who was a “vicegerent” (khalifah) of God on earth? | <urn:uuid:8df1333c-100b-440b-9b15-b7318f560a73> | {
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Doors of Precession, The
by Helen Berigni
The doors of precession were opened by our ancestors eons ago when our deepest sense of the infinite was reaffirmed through scientific observation and the belief in something much larger and more powerful than ourselves. The moon afforded our first glimpses of eternity through careful observation of its changing face. Not only did it act as a guide through the seasons of the year, but miraculously, the moon showed change over longer periods of time. The doors to the precessional cycles of the moon and the stars were accessible and the worship began. Both woman and man became a vital part of the process, and the moon became a symbol of life, death and regeneration. As progenitor of growth, the moon opened the doors to the mystery of time, and the evidence of the moon's power over the ebb and flow of the tides, over the lives of plants and animals, and over the human cycles took definite mythological form.
In the Paleolithic Era, the first moon goddess appears holding the horn of a bison or auroch. Known to archeologists as the Venus of Laussel, Dordogne, France this figure portrays the moon's growth cycle from the newly crescent moon to the full moon in the thirteen vertical strokes on her elevated bison horn. Here, we have firmly established two concepts that will remain constant from the Paleolithic Era of approximately 23,000 BC to the Bronze Age. The first concept is that the moon is a power of regeneration of life from death, a parallel made from observing the growth of the moon from the new moon to the full moon with the growth of plants and with the growth of humans; the goddess's left hand draws the viewer's attention to her womb indicating the parallel to the growth of life itself. The second concept is the idea that the moon and the bison are one in the same power. Therefore, the process of regeneration of life from death or the creation of life itself must involve both a feminine and a masculine force as the bison is an adept representation of the fecund power of the masculine.
The sacredness of the number thirteen also identifies lunar cycles beyond their monthly course. Every two and one half years, a thirteenth moon occurs in order for lunar time to be in sync with the journey of the sun throughout the year. In the context of Paleolithic art, early man was most interested in depicting what Joseph Campbell describes as a "timeless idol of the nature religions" where man records the unusual or the aberrant as forms of nature worthy of deification (Transformations of Myth Vol. I). The thirteenth moon held by the goddess is just such a "timeless idol" because it allows us to believe in the unusual or magnificent departure of nature from the aesthetic field of concrete abstraction to the dramatically different, a concept indigenous to Paleolithic art.
The shift from the timeless idol of nature in the Paleolithic art to the abstract and temporarily ordered process of Neolithic art is as remarkable as the shift from a cyclical to a linear understanding of time and history from ancient times to the present. We harken back to our first recognition of the counterparts between the celestial and the earthly in the figure of Laussel with an understanding of how much we have changed. As W.B. Yeats outlines in his book A Vision, the moon must remain the primary mask in the development of our lives (78-81). Our first moon goddess and bison's horn is therefore understandably part of a group of four of goddesses which might possibly represent each mask we must don or each of the four phases of the moon: first quarter, full, last quarter and new. Unfortunately, little detail on the figures in low relief is clearly discernible other than the fact that two of the four elevate an object and the fourth is a mirror image of herself (Leroi-Gourhan 303).
However, the one perceptible image of our goddess with the thirteen strokes on the bison's horn might be the most telling. In an astounding work of archeoastronomy, Sun, Moon and Stonehenge, Robin Heath remarks that the number thirteen is "a very lunar number." Heath reminds us that our own age has lost track of the larger cycles of the precession of the stars at the vernal equinox where each 2,000 years is measured by the rising constellation at the vernal equinox. The Taurean Age or the Age of the Bull, from approximately 4,000 to 2,000 BC, was an era ruled by Venus with the Moon exalted. The worship, that perhaps is even older than this recorded time with its roots reaching into the Paleolithic Era, was eventually dissipated by the Iron Age, or the Age of Aries, and then the modern age, or the Age of Pisces which "threw out the Goddess religions, and anything lunar automatically went out with the package" (33). The precessional cycles, divisible by thirteen to yield exact 2000 year periods, were ignored, and we were no longer interested in "the realities which inform us that there should be thirteen ages." Likewise, the fact that the moon moves just over thirteen degrees a day around the earth, and the fact that it makes just over thirteen orbits in one solar year, clearly visible to a causal observer, have also been ignored (Heath 34). With this in mind, our goddess' thirteen takes on deeper significance and leaves us to ponder exactly how much our ancestors were aware of the cycles of precession.
When the Paleolithic period of cave sanctuaries gives way to the emergence of the city civilizations of the Neolithic Era, the belief in the moon goddess and her bison remains a dominant motif with some adaptations. Here, notes Campbell, "a remarkable thing happens in certain places and certain times, namely the timeless idol of the nature religions yields to a temporally ordered process so that civilizations emerge that have histories, a youth, a maturity and an aging" (Transformations of Myth Vol. I). With this emphasis on time and its continuum, it is no wonder that the goddess and the bull, now a domesticated bison that needs protection and food, become a central image of the Neolithic culture at places such as Çatal Hüyük. New images of bucrania and other depiction of bulls are still associated with time, regeneration, birthing and, of course, the moon, when the bison or auroch now extinct in the nearby Taurus Mountains and on the Konya Plain are replaced by the image of the bull. The goddess and the bull have evolved, yet they retain much of their former symbolic value.
In a study of The Goddess of Anatolia, James Mellaart remarks that the bull is now represented by its head alone in many of the temples at Çatal Hüyük. He offers several sound reasons for this. First, Mellaart states, the bull's head emerges from the goddess in her birthing position as a frontal representation of the actual birth process and that the uterus with its fallopian tubes looks remarkably like a bull's head, hence the choice of the bull's heads at Çatal Hüyük. Mellaart refers to an earlier study of birth and death symbols in the Neolithic done by D.O. Cameron where she diagrams the female organs of reproduction clearly illustrating their similarity to the bull's head and horns where even the infundibulum or flower-like ends of the fallopian tubes appear as rosettes in Neolithic art complementing this "potent symbol of generation, never entirely replaced by the later patriarchal phallic symbol" (9). Then, Mellaart asserts, the bull's horns represent the moon in its waxing and waning stages and are associated with the regeneration of the life forces such as women's menstrual cycles and water as a source of life (23). Likewise, Campbell states that the bull's heads at Çatal Hüyük are representations of the moon dying and being resurrected again through the "birth giving form" of the goddess where the mother receives us in death and the mother brings us into life (Transformations of Myth Vol. I).
Although the goddess is portrayed as the mother in her birthing form, she might also be considered as consort and lover to the bull. In Neolithic symbology, the goddess figures are transformers of the life force in a dual role as both mother and lover. This is best represented in a relief of the goddess discovered at Çatal Hüyük where the goddess is back-to-back with herself embracing a male on the left side and holding a child on the right. As the center of the agricultural and emotional life of the community, the goddess acts as the key symbol of the mythology. She is "the primary mythological figure personifying the energies of nature which transform past into future, semen into child, seed into produce, and so forth" (Campbell Transformations of Myth Vol. I). The moon in bull form, therefore, might be considered both the consort and the son of the goddess. In one wall painting at Çatal Hüyük, a male is actually depicted with bull's horns perhaps indicating his ritual role.
According to Marija Gimbutas, the bull as the moon is part of a cluster of images surrounding the goddess of the Neolithic Era in her role as the goddess of life, death and regeneration. This image-cluster, states Gimbutas, is made up of "symbols of becoming" such as crescents and the horns of the bull which symbolize the waxing and waning aspects of the moon. The bull and moon are clearly the invigorating force of life, and "the worship of the moon and horns is the worship of the creative and fecund powers of nature." The role of the goddess is primary in this process, and the role of the bull is essential in both its life-giving and death embracing aspects. Therefore, the bull is represented in sets of four to symbolize the four stages of the moon from the first quarter moon, to the full moon, to the third quarter moon of descending energy and subsequent disappearing, and, finally, to the death of the moon in its new moon phase. Often depicted as four-fold designs on pottery, this abstract symbology presents a continuous striving towards the act of creation from death (Old Europe 91).
Gimbutas remarks that "a portrayal of the head of a bull with the lunar disc between its horns occurs in a relief on a vase from a Late Cucuteni site of Podei" with the bull's horns shown upside down in one section of the vase perhaps to symbolize the dead or sacrificed bull. "The Great Goddess," states Gimbutas "emerges from the dead bull in the shape of a bee or butterfly "(91). This symbol emphasizing the birth and death process as a continuum with what Gimbutas calls "periodic regeneration" is easily adapted and aptly suited for the process in the heavens where the moon is observed as doing much the same. It is no wonder that the horns of the bull or the sacred horns of consecration, which resemble the lunar crescents, become important symbols in the Neolithic Era. Hundreds of horned stands with a hole in the center for the insertion of some divine image associated with the goddess of regeneration are found in Vinca and East Balkan civilizations. Gimubtas asserts that they are probably associated with the sacrificed bull's body from which new life emerges in the form of the "epiphany of the Goddess" (93).
The "epiphany of the Goddess," continues Gimbutas, takes on many forms in Neolithic culture when shown in conjunction with the horns of the bull or moon. Her epiphany may take the form of the bee and the butterfly, or it may take the form of a flower, a tree, or a column of watery substance. In frescos at Çatal Hüyük, the bull and goddess are also associated with triangles, diamonds, honeycombs, caterpillars, bands or multiple zig-zags (water), hands, brushes, whirls, and eggs, all symbols of becoming and regeneration. On ceramic art, sculptures of bulls or horns, especially in vase painting, are "consistently allied with the energy symbols of snake coils, concentric circles, eggs, cupmarks, antithetic spirals, and life columns." A tiny bull from Bavaria even has four dots on its forehead which are repeated over concentric circles most likely representing the four phases of the moon (Language of the Goddess 265-67).
In human terms, the "epiphany of the Goddess" would most likely be equivalent to the resurrection and rebirth of the soul of the individual after death. This would easily explain why the horns of the bull are found on or inside many of the megalithic monuments of the Neolithic Era in Western Europe. Gimbutas notes that in the tombs on Sardina which date to the fifth millennium B.C., "Sardinians carved one of the important symbols of regeneration-the bovid head, or bucranium-into many hypogea walls" (Living Goddesses 63). The bucrania are found above the tomb's entrance, on both sides of the entrance, or inside the tomb. The idea of regeneration of life or resurrection of the soul is further emphasized by the ochre-red walls of the tomb, symbolizing re-birth from the mother-goddess, and the decorations on the walls in the tomb that often contain images of regeneration such as double spirals and/or moon cycle symbols (63).
On the entrance to a subterranean tomb of the Ozieri of Sardinia, there are four bull's heads across the top of the entrance to the tomb and one larger bucrania on the side of the entrance (Gimbutas Living Goddesses 36). The four bucrania, like the four bucrania in the temples of Çatal Hüyük and the four-fold designs on the pottery of the other Neolithic peoples, quite possibly represent the four phases of the moon. The larger, fifth head on the side entrance might signify the completion of the process of the moon's precessional cycle. In other words, the moon's orbit around the earth will be in sync with the orbit of the earth around the sun in five years. This coordination of lunar-solar time is often represented by the number five in archeoastronomy where monuments such as Stonehenge accurately record the syncretization of the moon and the sun, an event noticeable and perhaps sacred to the ancients.
In The Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt, Anthony West remarks that the number five is the number of eternity or the universal number symbolizing reconciliation, "incorporating the principles of polarity in the manifested universe" (52). In this philosophy, the regeneration of the soul might be seen as both an event in the sky and an event in human history where the finite is reconciled with the infinite or the individual is reunited with the goddess and becomes part of eternity through her powers of regeneration. The four directions of the universe and the four phases of the moon are made complete with the addition of the fifth element representing the human transformed into the eternal. As a person stands in an ancient monument, the four directions become her vantage point, and she becomes the fifth dimension or the zenith. Hence, the form of the Egyptian pyramids which enable the soul to aspire to the heavens. Whether the Neolithic peoples of Western Europe and the Mediterranean were suggesting this in their bucrania on their tombs is speculative; however, it is quite possible that civilizations such as these were as advanced as the Egyptians when it came to archeoastronomy and the philosophy of the infinite.
The actual process of ascension and the rising of the soul to eternal life are often symbolized by life itself emerging from the horns of the bucrania in Neolithic sculpture and art. Like the epiphany of the goddess, the epiphany of all life depends on the growth cycles represented by the bull or the moon. According to Gimbutas, the process of new life emerging from the bull or the moon is often associated with "cosmogonic primordial waters" of a "taurian nature" where the invocation of a name in Lithuanian such as "Bitinelis (from 'bite, bee') or "Pilvinas (fat drones with a round, drumlike stomach)" invokes the creation of a lake. Gimbutas remarks that: "The names of such bull-lakes are of great semantic interest for the connections they reveal between the bull, the moon, water, drones, peas and snakes." Some small bull figurines were found near the edge or in the middle of water basins with plants and flowers or bees springing from the bull's body. Additionally, the regeneration of life from the bull is represented by the butterfly, an apt symbol of ascension (Language of the Goddess 270).
Some confusion as to the actual nature of these symbols emerging from the bull or the sacrificed body of the bull occurs later in history when Porphyry, a philosopher of the Third Century from the Levant, quotes Sophocles as saying: "Moreover, the ancients gave the name of 'Melissae' to the priestesses of Demeter who were initiates of the chthonian goddess; the name 'Melitodes' to Kore (Persephone) herself; the moon (Artemis) too, whose province it was to bring the birth, they called 'Melissa,' because the moon being a bull and its ascension the bull, bees are begotten of bulls. And souls that pass to the earth are bull-begotten" (Ransome 107). Although this statement unknowingly echoes the Neolithic beliefs of regeneration, it was literally interpreted as a swarm of insects appearing from the carcass of the sacrificed bull as a symbol of new life; fortunately, this idea was laid to rest by the mid-nineteenth century, and the idea of "spontaneous generation" is interpreted as dramatic (Gimbutas Language of the Goddess 270).
However, the tradition of strange bee-like creatures or goddesses of a butterfly nature emerging from the sacrificed bull does have a literal and very real basis. Near many slaughterhouses, there is a pond or run-off water source where the blood of the sacrificed bulls drains. On the surface of the water of this blood-pond, bees and butterflies gather to feed on the blood-filled waters. On occasions where the bull has just been sacrificed, the water surface of the pond may be covered with masses of butterflies and bees sustaining themselves on the nourishment of the bull's blood. The entire water surface appears as a pulsating force of new and vibrantly colored life seemingly possible only with the blood of the sacrifice. Interestingly enough, this gives yet another meaning or dimension to Gimbutas' references to the bull ponds or lakes and the association of the bull with water, butterflies, and bees. The bull, bees, and butterflies are also connected, by both Porphyry and Sophocles, with the chthonian goddess, or the goddess of the waters of death, and with the moon goddess, or the goddess of regeneration.
The associations of the bull's heads and the image-clusters of regenerative life forms with emblems such as the bee and butterfly with their "antennae like bull horns and wings in the form of a lunar crescent" become a dominant theme in Neolithic art because of their similar forms (Gimbutas Old Europe 183). However, the images of death such as the vulture or vulture skulls which also appear frequently with bucrania are less similar in schematic form to the bull and the moon. Although they are depicted in many Neolithic temples, the vultures and bird forms appear as separate deities from the image-cluster, yet as a necessary part of the schemata. As an early association of the bird-goddess, the vulture appears on temple murals at Çatal Hüyük in reference to the Neolithic excarnation rites. According to Melaart, as the giver of life, the goddess as vulture is also the taker of life because she cleaned the dead before the bodies were returned to the family for burial and rebirth (24). Campbell also notes a chapel in Çatal Hüyük where the bull's head as returning moon has a vulture facing it on another wall where the vulture is eating back the head of a headless body as a type of rebirth or recycling of the soul which, according to Campbell, might be construed as being contained in the head. (Transformations of Myth Vol. I).
Although the majority of the representations of the bull or moon and the goddess of regeneration are in artistic forms, a significant number of representations in the Neolithic Era are abstract symbols depicting the same process of life, death, and re-birth associated with the moon and the passage of time. It is almost as if a symbolic language has been created to express the passage of cyclical time. Gimbutas notes that spirals, circles, coils, crescents, hook, horns, four-corner signs, brushes, combs, hands and feet, and animals with whirls or processions are all symbols of energy and unfolding. Gimbutas continues: "These dynamic symbols are either themselves energy incarnate or are stimulators of the process of becoming. Moving up, down, or in a circle, they symbolize cyclical time. The pulse of life demands an unending stream of vital energy to keep it going" (Language of the Goddess 277). Among those mentioned many such as horns, crescents, and the four-corner signs are obviously notations of lunar cycles.
The lunar cycle is represented by a left crescent, a full moon in the center, and a right crescent moon. This symbol used today to indicate the monthly cycle of the moon is an exact representation of the moon as it rises in the east as first quarter moon, becomes full further south, and then sets in the south-west as the third quarter moon each month. As a unit of four, which takes into account the new or dark phase of the moon, the symbols appear as four-corner signs. Crescents and concentric circles on Neolithic pottery and on passage graves are lunar notations indicating the waxing moon, the full moon, the waning moon and the new moon in its four stages, respectively. The bull is represented in this symbolic language in the abstract with a crescent moon as his horns or as a U-sign indicating the bucrania. As mentioned previously, the U-sign for the bucrania is on hypogea and tombs as well as on the pottery.
Perhaps, the most interesting symbol of this language of lunar becoming is what Gimbutas calls "the hands of the Goddess" found on the walls of Neolithic shrines (Language of the Goddess 306). At Çatal Hüyük, one panel contains nineteen hands of red and black, which represent the colors of life and death, respectively. The hands form two vertical columns and are joined by a honeycomb, the symbol of regeneration associated with bees. In the palm of each hand is a circle or concentric circles with dots or lines in the center of each circle, most likely full moon symbols for different full moons over a period of nineteen years. In another shrine, the same hand motif appears below two bull's heads, each marked with a honeycomb pattern. It is quite possible that the measurement of this nineteen year cycle, where the moon after 235 lunations meets the sun at exactly nineteen solar years, was one of the most important time-keepers of lunar precession for the ancients, especially when the full moon is measured in the horns of Taurus every year in the night sky.
On the standing stones, mounds and circles found in Europe, there is evidence that the Neolithic culture reached a sophisticated and advanced stage in astronomy. Monuments, passage-graves and stone circles such as those found in France, Germany, Great Britain, and Spain contain ancient calendar notations which represent the cycles of the year as well as the cycles of precession. The symbolic language containing notations of astronomy which has been depicted Son the walls of shrines and hypogea as well as on the Neolithic pottery at Çatal Hüyük takes a sophisticated form on the monuments of the late Neolithic Era in Europe and the British Isles. On the monuments of this culture, the cycles of the moon are clearly indicated as a vital part of the religious life, the language, and the science of an advanced civilization concerned with the passage of time beyond the yearly cycle. The documentation of the lunisolar and stellar precessional cycles through the skies is an attempt on the part of our ancestors to understand the infinite, important enough to them as it could be to us, to carve into the stones of time.
The language of the stones on the ancient monuments in Europe and the British Isles resembles the symbolic language described by Gimbutas as a language with an energy incarnate to stimulate the process of becoming. Although there is a lack of any animal forms, such as the bull and the bee or butterfly, the language itself is a vibrant language created to express the passage of cyclical time as a monumental event. In The Stones of Time by Martin Brennan, Brennan observes that: "It is essential to realize that in megalithic art the elements in a composition are frequently different aspects of one thing in the process of change" (156). The position of the designs in the mound and the relative time at which the moon or the sun's rays illuminate the designs brings them to life as a process rather than a static form of symbolic expression.
In the Brú na Bóinne complex of mounds which includes Newgrange, Dowth, and Knowth and the nearby mounds at Loughcrew in nearby Ireland, the symbolism of the moon is depicted as twelve full moons to represent the yearly cycle using circles and crescents much the same as those depicted at Çatal Hüyük. However, on a stone on the outer circumference of the mound at Knowth (SW22), the intercalary moon is represented in a more complicated pattern than it is represented on the five bucrania at Çatal Hüyük. Here, the pattern of the full moons and crescents has a center wave depicting a five year calendar complete with the intercalary moons in order to balance lunar and solar time, the basis of the calendar of the ancient Celts. On the Knowth stone, according to Brennan, "Each turn of the wavy line represents one month, or a complete circuit of the distinct but related pattern of crescent and circle repeat units which are closely matched to the phases of the moon" (144).
Precessional cycles of the moon engraved on the monuments are as complicated as the circles, crescents, and wavy lines when they represent the cycles of the moon longer than the five year cycle. At the Neolithic mounds of Knowth and Dowth, spirals indicate the way in which sequences are arranged perhaps indicating the unfolding of time, and a cartouche of nineteen lines near a group of arcs and circles indicates the nineteen year cycle of the moon (Brennan 143). At Dowth, one kerbstone charts the series of eclipses in the nineteen year lunar cycle, and the total number of kerbstones around the monument represents the nineteen year cycle (Murphy 1-4). Although the bucrania are not represented in the symbolic language on the stones at the Brú na Bóinne, the symbol of the "U," depicted in sets or four or outlining a set of crescents at Knowth reflects the "inherent symmetry manifested by the moon and the heavens." Brennan believes it may represent "the dome of the heavens," or a figure of the firmament of the heavens hovering over the stones themselves (154).
Both the lunar cycles of precession and the "U" are represented at the Neolithic stone circles in Europe and the British Isles as well as on the mounds. Instead of using symbols and notations to illustrate the astronomy, the stone circles of time are interactive with the elements. The patterns of the moon, sun, and stars are seen through the trilithons or over the site lines of the circles of stones bringing our ancestors an immediate experience with the infinite cycles of time. The sense of becoming an active part of the changing cycles of time by observing the celestial bodies first hand, perhaps in ritual as well as individual use, brought our ancestors a full sensory and intellectual experience with the heavens.
In bringing down the moon, the ancients were also concerned with identifying the lunar cycles of precession caused by the pulls of the moon on the earth by noting what astronomers call "nutation." "The circular path of precession that the celestial pole of the earth traces out on the celestial sphere is not perfectly smooth, but slightly wavy. This irregularity is called "nutation," the result of a regular 'nodding' of the earth's poles towards and away from the ecliptic poles" (Ridpath 43). Lunar nutation is represented on certain of the stone circles; nutation is actually seen where the full moon rises and sets at different declinations over a period of 18.6 years representing the changing position of the moon. Represented in the hands of the goddess at Çatal Hüyük and on the stones at Knowth in the wavy lines and crescents, the nineteen year cycle and the nutation of the moon are both an important foundation to express the idea of the infinite through the precise. Here, in the stone circles, is where cosmology melds with the symbols of a culture that reveres the moon both in the imagination and in reality. This does not take away from the art and symbolic language of the ancients in their desire to express their awe of the infinite but adds a dimension to it.
The nineteen year cycle and the nutation cycles of the moon recorded
at the stone circles expresses the idea of regeneration or periodic growth
and a sense of becoming by directly witnessing the powers of regeneration.
Like the monthly cycles of the regeneration of the moon, the precessional
cycles are part of the lunar wave of eternal undulating energy which all
plant and animal life responds to. In a practical sense, the observations
of these declinations of the rising and setting of the full moon on the
horizon in different positions forming an arc or part of a continuing wave
afforded the ancients another calculable way of determining when they would
have more moonlight at the winter solstice or how the tides would change
over time. In an abstract sense, the chartings of the nineteen year cycle
and those of nutation gave them a sense of being part of an infinitely larger
cosmos than themselves. Even in a ritual sense, observing the wave of moons
over the stones in larger cycles helped them keep track of time in their
When the builders of Stonehenge began to record the cycles of time in the late Neolithic Era, they started with the lunar notations of the nineteen year cycle. In Stonehenge I, the first circle of holes called the Aubrey Holes, is a circle of 56 holes which represents three nineteen year cycles of the moon or more precisely what is closer to three 18.6 year cycles. Perhaps, the circle also represents a full lifetime of an adult, or in the language of the goddess, it may represent the triskele of the maiden, the mother and the crone, three stages of the feminine cycle. The 56 markings in the circle are siting holes on the horizon which may have once held huge posts, perhaps posts which supported a circular platform of wooden lintels used as a level wooden horizon to accurately record the risings and settings of the heavenly bodies (Heath 4). Thus, the ancients would have had a full circle of the horizon for viewing the moon, the stars, the planets and the sun. In other words, the Aubrey Holes may have acted as a full representation of the life cycle on earth and in the heavens.
The Aubrey Holes also act as a lunisolar calendar, another symbol of the circle or wheel of life where the moon and the sun are brought into the same circle and their cycles are charted in corresponding patterns. In this configuration, markers are moved from one hole to another at dawn and dusk to chart the diurnal rhythm of the day/night cycle. According to Heath: "The Sun marker is moved two holes every thirteen days, thus copying the Moon's daily angular motion. The calendar is therefore an 'integrated' soli-lunar calendar, and if the Moon marker is made to skip over the Sun marker at every new Moon, and a further skip forwards is made at the four key points in the year, equinoxes and solstices, an accuracy of 99.9% may be achieved for the Moon, whilst the Sun's accuracy remains at 99.8%" (55). At a glance, the Aubrey Holes depict the current phase of the moon, the current season, and the position of the moon and the sun in the year.
Finally, the Aubrey Holes accurately predict lunar eclipses. By moving marker stones around the 56 Aubrey Holes, one move for each year, the position of the moon in the nineteen year cycle is easily kept track of thereby allowing the ancients to know the most likely time of the year when lunar eclipses occur. Using the Aubrey Holes, a lunar eclipse occurs "about three holes in a clockwise direction from the previous eclipse on one particular side of the circle. Three holes corresponds to nineteen days, and in nineteen years, the cycle of eclipses completes a full circuit" (Heath 57). The symbolic use and the sacredness of the number "nineteen" is both aesthetically pleasing and mathematically accurate. It is no wonder that the Druids when using Stonehenge at a later date in history still sang their sunrise and sunset songs to deify the movements of the moon and the sun while moving a marker around the circle of life.
Almost contemporary with the Aubrey Holes, a ditch and bank with a wide gap in the bank facing the northeast were dug at Stonehenge I in the late Neolithic Era. The ditch and the bank which was originally six feet high would have provided a level horizon in the center of the circle to view the heavenly bodies. From the center of Stonehenge, the gap in the bank subtends an angle of 10 degrees, just covering the arc of the horizon where the moon would appear to rise during one half of the nineteen year cycle (Wood 100). The gap in the bank was once flanked with two large stones, one of which is the Slaughterstone. During this early stage of Stonehenge, a number of post-holes were also discovered around the entrance of the gap in the bank which marks the extreme lunar risings in the nutation cycle of the moon. These post-holes mark the direction of the rising of the midwinter full moon, as seen from the center of the circle, disclosing yet another marking of the worship of the moon in its nutation cycle in the night sky (Wood 101).
Astronomers who have studied Stonehenge from Gerald S. Hawkins and Alexander Thom, to John Edwin Wood and Robin Heath agree that the original Stonehenge was about lunar astronomy and was a lunar observatory from its earliest times. The earliest known observer of this phenomenon was Diodorus Siculus, a Greco-Roman historian writing in the first century B.C, who describes the ancient peoples to the north, called the Hyperboreans. Diodorus states that these ancient peoples worshipped the god Apollo when Apollo visited the island they inhabited every nineteen years at their "magnificent circular temple adorned with many rich offerings" (Heath 181). Although Diodorus accurately records the observance of the nineteen year cycle of the moon at the circular temple, which is presumably Stonehenge, he might have translated their worship of Apollo as a worship of Apollo and Artemis, the deities of the sun and the moon, respectively, enlivening the discussion to include both the sun and the moon in their corresponding cyclical patterns that are depicted at the circle of the Neolithic peoples.
The observance of the cycles of the precession of the moon is indigenous to the stone circles and circle formations of the Neolithic culture of Europe and the British Isles and not just a phenomenon of Stonehenge I. Of the many circles, standing stones, U-shaped stone formations, and stone rows of the Neolithic culture, there are a dozen or so sites that have been identified as observatories of the lunar cycles beyond the year. Within a few hundred years of building Stonehenge I, the Neolithic peoples built the Dorset Cursus, a ceremonial path or enclosure bordered on either side by a low bank and ditch similar to the one on the Avenue of Stonehenge I (Hawkins 78). From the center of the cursus, there is a terminal which is a carefully leveled platform that acts as an observatory for sitings of the moon on the horizon. The cursus provides sightlines for the moon at minor and major standstill points in its nutation cycle (Wood 102).
Further to the south-west of Stonehenge and the Dorset Cursus, on the moors of Dartmoor in Devon, is a stone complex that dates to 3500 B.C. Merrivale, or "the pleasant valley," is a complex of several stone circles, an avenue, a double row, a single row, a cist, standing stones, and hut-circles that formed a Neolithic settlement. The row of standing stones marks the moon's maximum and minimum rising points against the horizon serving as a backsight for the nutation cycle of the moon (Heath 26). At lands-end in Cornwall at the very tip of south-west England, four stone circles, known as Boscawen-Un, Maen yu daus, the Merry Maidens, and Tregeseal East are all circles of nineteen stones that date to the Late Neolithic Era. Boscawen-Un and the Merry Maidens, both with granite stones that face towards the interior of the ring, have legends associated with them about maidens turning to stone as they danced for the full moon ceremonies (Burl 34). These circles, as well as Tregeseal and Maen yu daus, clearly mark the nineteen year cycle of the moon and perhaps served as temples of the moon.
In Scotland, the Stones of Stenness in Orkney or "The Temple of the Moon" and Temple Wood in Kilmartin or "Half Moon Wood" are two Neolithic observatories that are associated with the moon through their popular names. The Standing Stones of Stenness or Temple of the Moon is a Late Neolithic circle-henge with more impressive and taller stones than the Ring of Brodgar or Temple of the Sun whose stones are visible to the north. At Stenness, the henge's ditch and bank may have risen 6 feet above ground, and the stones themselves stand as tall as 18'6" high. Legend has it that in the time it takes for the moon to travel its path through the night sky, a dance or procession around the stone called the Odin Stone by the Vikings was performed; at nine full moons, the dancers looked through a hole in the Odin Stone hoping for a vision of the future (Burl 148). At Temple Wood or Half Moon Wood, the Kilmartin stones, a small northern ring which began as a timber setting, accurately measures the declinations of the moon in its nutation cycle or journey through the heavens (Wood 109-12).
In addition to the circles and standing stones in the Neolithic complexes, the "U" formation of stones take a central role in depicting the cycles of the moon. Looking back to the bucrania images with their "U" shape and the association of the "U" as part of the lunar wave charted at Knowth, and looking forward to the "U" shape of the bluestones at the center of Stonehenge III that measures the nutation cycle of the moon, the "U" acts as a central image for the moon in many cultures. From the northern islands of Scotland to Central Europe, the image is dominant. For instance, the stones Machrie Moor in Southwest Scotland on the Isle of Arran, are Neolithic monuments consisting of ruined chambered tombs, hut-circles, and megalithic rings erected around two concentric rings of posts with a horseshoe-shaped timber setting at their center (Burl 114-15). Like the horseshoe stones discovered at Carnac and in the Gulf of Morbihan, France, the Machrie Moor horseshoe marks the extreme rising and setting points of the nutation cycle of the moon using the "U" shape.
The Neolithic horseshoes of stone discovered in France are Tossen-Keler on the northwest coast of Brittany, Er-Lannic on the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany, and Kerlescan West and North at Carnac on the southwest coast of Brittany. At Tossen-Keler, there is a horseshoe-shaped cromlech open to the east with fifty six stones flanked by two entrance stones. This granite horseshoe that dates back to 3300 B.C., most likely represents the same lunar alignments that the 56 Aubrey Holes mark as the cycles of precession of the moon. The opposing chevrons and the hafted stone axe engraved on three of the stones are similar to the images of regeneration discovered at Çatal Hüyük. Unfortunately, the horseshoe at Er-Lannic in the Gulf of Moriban was partly-submerged when the sea level rose in Roman times; however, the stones that are still visible measure the moonsets and moonrises at their most northern positions. There are two horseshoes at Carnac: Kerlescan West is a horseshoe open to the north-east with an avenue of eighteen stones, and Kerlescan North is an enormous horseshoe whose exact number of stones is beyond determining (Burl 251-59).
Although the stones of time speak to us of the patterns of the moon in terms of astronomy and symbology, traces of the ideology represented in the lunar cycles of precession are apparent in later texts that describe the Neolithic peoples and their beliefs. The beginning of what Gimbutas has called the belief in the moon's ability to regenerate life and bring forth life through symbols of becoming is evident in the Irish mythology in the Lebor na h Uidre, The Book of the Dun Cow, a surviving manuscript from the Twelfth Century. Here, one of the five holy people mentioned in the "Dinnsenchas" or poems of the sacred places of Ireland, named Tuan, The White Ancient, represents the belief in reincarnation and the regeneration of the spirit. Moreover, Tuan is the memory of learned truth, legend and knowledge. He is the story-bearer who witnesses the conquests of the tribes of Ireland over thousands of years, first as a man and then as a stag, a boar, and a sea-eagle, Lord of the Skies. Finally, he is born as a salmon, eaten by the wife of Cairell, and born again as a man, the son of Cairell, King of Ireland. As a precursor of Taliesin, the Welsh bard, and Amairgen, the Irish bard, Tuan truly represents the ideas of becoming and regeneration. Like the bull and the moon that are born of the goddess, Tuan opens the doors of precession recording the life of our ancestors and regenerating with each cycle of time. As The White Ancient and Lord of the Skies, Tuan embodies the cycles of time.
The myths of life, death and regeneration evolve into a monomyth of importance
in the Bronze and Iron Ages of Europe and the Mediterranean. From the Minoan
mythology of the goddess and the moon as the bull, to the Greek and Celtic
myths of the goddess and the moon as the bull, the moon is an ever-present
symbol in the process of becoming. Its phases act as a guide throughout
the year, and the cycles of precession evident in the five and nineteen
year cycles of the moon open doors to cycles in our lives and the lives
of our ancestors. Again, through the magnificent temples of the ancients,
the lunar cycles of precession are experienced as a rejuvenation of spirit
which offers glimpses of eternity. From the epiphany of the goddess, the
progenitor of birth, and the waxing and waning of the moon as the fecund
powers of the bull, the primary masks of our development open the doors
Brennan, Martin. The Stones of Time. Rochester, Vermont: Inner
Burl, Aubrey. A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
Cameron, D.O. Symbols of Birth and Death in the Neolithic Era.
Kenyon-Deane, Ltd., 1981.
Campbell, Joseph. "And We Washed Our Weapons in the Sea: Gods and
Goddesses of the Neolithic Period" Program 3, Vol. I, Tape II.
-------. Transformations of Myth Through Time. Public Media Video, 1989.
Gimbutas, Marija. The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe: Myths and
Images. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
-------. The Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols
Western Civilization. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1989.
-------. The Living Goddesses, Ed. Miriam Robbins Dexter. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1999.
Hawkins, Gerald S. Stonehenge Decoded. New York: Dell Publishing, 1978.
Heath, Robin. Sun, Moon, and Stonehenge. Cardigan, Wales: Bluestone
Leroi-Gourhan, André. Treasures of Prehistoric Art. New
Mellaart, James. "Çatal Hüyük and Anatolian Kilims"
The Goddess of
Anatolia. Volume II. Adenau, West Germany: Eskenazi, 1989.
Murphy, Anthony. "Astronomical Significance of Kerb 51 at Dowth"
Mythical Ireland. 4 November 2004 <http://mythicalireland.com/>.
Ransome, Hilda. The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore.
Houghton Mifflin, 1937.
Ridpath, Ian, Editor. Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook.
Edinburgh Gate, England: Longman, 1998.
West, Anthony. Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt.
New York: Julian Press, 1987.
Wood, John Edwin. Sun, Moon and Standing Stones. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1978.
Yeats, William Butler. A Vision. London: MacMillan, 1974. | <urn:uuid:47a102c7-3a93-4db4-b872-0f491516273b> | {
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Did you know that head injuries, and particularly repeated concussions, may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease?
A traumatic brain injury that results in the loss of consciousness has been shown to increase the risk of dementia by as much as four times [i]. According to some research, this is because head injuries may increase the levels of protein in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, such as amyloid [ii].
Who is most affected by traumatic brain injuries?
Children under the age of 4 and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 have an increased risk of traumatic brain injuries. However, a 2013 study showed that adults over the age of 75 are most at risk of experiencing a traumatic brain injury [iii]. A chief contributor to this statistic is the increased risk of falls in the senior population.
The use of antipsychotics in older adults who live in long-term care may also increase the risk of falls. Read our position statement regarding antipsychotics.
How can I reduce my risk of traumatic brain injury?
These three changes can significantly reduce your risk of traumatic brain injury:
- Wear an approved helmet when engaging in activities like skating, skiing, skateboarding, rollerblading and cycling.
- Drive safely and always wear a seat belt to reduce injuries in an accident.
- Prevent falls! Falls are one of the major causes of head injuries in older adults. Many falls can be prevented:
- remove tripping hazards in your home such as items on a staircase, small area rugs or shoes in a hallway
- move frequently used items so a chair or step ladder is not required to reach them
- review medications and dietary supplements (prescription and over-the-counter) with your doctor or pharmacist to avoid medications or combinations that may affect balance
- improve lighting indoors and outside to improve visibility, especially around stairways, hallways and entrances
- install and use safety features like handrails on all stairs (interior and exterior) and grab bars in bathrooms
- exercises to improve your strength, balance and flexibility
- reduce or eliminate the use of antipsychotics in long-term care
Learn more about how you can reduce the risk of falls at home.
I’ve had previous concussions. How can I reduce my risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease?
The proper treatment and rehabilitation for a head injury will depend on the severity of the injury. Make sure that you work with your care team to monitor and respond to your symptoms in order to pave the way to optimal rehabilitation.
The risk of dementia seems to be tied to the severity of the traumatic brain injury. However, there are many other lifestyle factors that may reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. These lifestyle habits include diet, exercise, and reducing stress. Learn more about brain health and reducing your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
- Traumatic Brain Injury info sheet: http://alzheimer.ca/sites/default/files/files/national/other-dementias/rarer_dementias_traumatic_brain_injury_e.pdf
- Protect your head: http://alzheimer.ca/en/on/About-dementia/Brain-health/Protect-your-head
[ii] Is there a link between head injury and dementia? https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/info/20053/research_projects/1058/is_there_a_link_between_head_injury_and_dementia
[iii] Center for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html | <urn:uuid:e337cc1b-fe04-451f-9b3c-f57ad6306a1d> | {
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Music from Myanmar
According to historical and archaeological evidence, the art of Myanmar music dates back to Pyu Period which flourished from the First to the Ninth centuries. In 802 A.D. Srikhestra, the Pyu kingdom, despatched a diplomatic and cultural mission comprising 35 members to the court of a Chinese emperor of Tang dynasty ( 618-907 AD) at the then capital of Chang-an (Xian).The Chinese historical archives described in detail the visit and the performances of the Pyu entertainers. They took with them 22 kinds of musical instrument. The Chinese emperor and the whole court were greatly fascinated by the performing arts of the Pyus or the ancient Myanmars.
Myanmar music changed and developed much through the past centuries both in terms of the art form and musical instruments. But one Peculiar character of Myanmar music remains: it is never written or recorded. Although attempts have been made to write Myanmar music through various systems of notation, most Myanmar musicians still cling to the traditional method of teaching, learning and playing music by heart or by ear.
Download the music samples below to experience the charms of Burmese music. These samples were arranged and recorded by Herve Flejo, one of the principals of Thanakha Travels and Tours.
Burmese music track 1 (1MB mp3)
Burmese music track 2 (1MB mp3) | <urn:uuid:3b96ab8b-34fd-425d-a3db-2309a9e1f192> | {
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The great plains are the vast open spaces of our planet. These immense wilderness areas are seemingly empty. But any feeling of emptiness is an illusion - the plains of our planet support the greatest gatherings of wildlife on earth: two million gazelles on the Mongolian steppes, three million caribou in North America and one and a half million wildebeest in East Africa. Close on their heels come an array of plains predators including eagles, wolves and lions.
At the heart of all that happens here is a single living thing - grass. Flooded, burnt, baked and frozen - grass is almost indestructible, able to survive from the baking savannahs of Africa to the frozen tundra of the Arctic, from the floodplains of India to the high altitude steppes of the Tibetan plateau. Together, these hugely productive grassland plains encompass a quarter of the land on earth and bear witness to some of the most dramatic wildlife stories on our planet. | <urn:uuid:b6cd5d36-a2d6-44ad-8e47-faf0749ae11a> | {
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You are here
The Mental Health Bell
The Mental Health Bell: A Symbol of Hope
Cast from shackles which bound them, this bell shall ring out hope for the mentally ill and victory over mental illness.
—Inscription on Mental Health Bell
During the early days of mental health treatment, asylums often restrained people who had mental illnesses with iron chains and shackles around their ankles and wrists. With better understanding and treatments, this cruel practice eventually stopped.
In the early 1950s, Mental Health America issued a call to asylums across the country for their discarded chains and shackles. On April 13, 1956, at the McShane Bell Foundry in Baltimore, Md., Mental Health America melted down these inhumane bindings and recast them into a sign of hope: the Mental Health Bell.
Maryland Gov. Theodore McKeldin and Mrs. A. Felix DuPont in 1953 pour the metal made from melted chains used to restrain people with mental illnesses to create the Mental Health Bell.
Now the symbol of Mental Health America, the 300-pound Bell serves as a powerful reminder that the invisible chains of misunderstanding and discrimination continue to bind people with mental illnesses. Today, the Mental Health Bell rings out hope for improving mental health and achieving victory over mental illnesses.
Over the years, national mental health leaders and other prominent individuals have rung the Bell to mark the continued progress in the fight for victory over mental illnesses. | <urn:uuid:8f34f9be-5309-4d53-a8a5-329b7e61d0ab> | {
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Clay minerals point to vast Martian lakes
Water, water, everywhere
A study published today in Nature indicates that large swathes of the ancient Martian highlands, comprising about half the planet, contain clay-like minerals which can only form in the presence of water, demonstrating that the Red Planet once hosted "vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life", as NASA puts it.
Said minerals, called phyllosilicates, were spied by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and other instruments aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They "preserve a record of the interaction of water with rocks dating back to what is called the Noachian period of Mars' history, approximately 4.6bn to 3.8bn years ago", and while they were buried by subsequent volcanic activity during drier periods, impact craters have exposed them to view.
John Mustard, a member of the CRISM team from Brown University, and lead author of the Nature study, explained: "The minerals present in Mars' ancient crust show a variety of wet environments. In most locations the rocks are lightly altered by liquid water, but in a few locations they have been so altered that a great deal of water must have flushed though the rocks and soil. This is really exciting because we're finding dozens of sites where future missions can land to understand if Mars was ever habitable and if so, to look for signs of past life."
The latest results back an earlier CRISM study published in the 2 June issue of Nature Geosciences which demonstrated that Mars was not awash with water, but that the liquid was present on the surface during some considerable time.
A close look at a northern-Mars impact basin called the Jezero Crater using the CRISM and High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment identified "three principal classes of water-related minerals dating to the early Noachian period", viz: aluminum-phyllosilicates; hydrated silica or opal; and the more common and widespread iron/magnesium-phyllosilicates. Significantly, the variations in the minerals "suggest that different processes, or different types of watery environments, created them".
NASA elaborates: "Thousands to millions of years after the clays formed, a system of river channels eroded them out of the highlands and concentrated them in a delta where the river emptied into a crater lake slightly larger than California's Lake Tahoe, approximately 25 miles in diameter."
NASA's image of the Jerezo Crater shows that "ancient rivers ferried clay-like minerals (shown in green) into the lake, forming the delta":
Bethany Ehlmann, another member of the CRISM team from Brown and lead author of the Jerezo study, concluded: "The distribution of clays inside the ancient lakebed shows that standing water must have persisted for thousands of years. Clays are wonderful at trapping and preserving organic matter, so if life ever existed in this region, there's a chance of its chemistry being preserved in the delta." ® | <urn:uuid:4ef5c7ab-5b6e-40d4-b965-3447c4d58f7a> | {
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Each of the two threadlike strands into which a chromosome divides longitudinally during cell division. Each contains a double helix of DNA.
More example sentences
- Any bias in the segregation of one or the other of a pair of homologous chromosomes or chromatids between the oocyte and the polar body can have a dramatic effect on the genetic makeup of a population.
- A double crossover involving one linear chromatid and both chromatids of the circular chromosome generates a linear trimer.
- One is the nonreciprocal transfer of information of both DNA strands of a donor chromatid to a chromatid of the homologous chromosome.
early 20th century: from Greek khrōma, khrōmat- 'color' + -id2.
Definition of chromatid in:
- The British & World English dictionary | <urn:uuid:c0de58d9-9e64-4e08-8c1c-42fb658dd3cc> | {
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Cervical cancer kill you
Others are studying ways to manage the late effects that may occur long after treatment. Talk with your doctor about clinical trials for symptoms and side effects. There are also clinical trials that are studying ways to prevent cancer. The women decide to participate in clinical trials for many reasons.
For some women, a clinical trial is the best treatment option available. Because standard treatments are not perfect, women are often willing to face the added uncertainty of a clinical trial in the hope of a better result. Other women volunteers for clinical trials because they know that these studies are the only way to make progress in the treatment of cervical cancer. Even if they do not benefit directly from the clinical trial, their participation may benefit future patients with cervical cancer. When a placebo is used in a study, it is done with the full knowledge of the participants. For more information on placebos in clinical cancer trials.
To participate in a clinical trial, women must participate in a process known as informed consent. The doctor must also list all the risks of the new treatment, which may or may not be different from the standard treatment risks. Finally, the doctor must explain what will be required of each patient in order to participate in the clinical trial, including the number of doctor visits, tests, and treatment schedule. Patients who participate in a clinical trial may stop participating at any time for any personal or medical reason.
This may include the new treatment does not work or there are serious side effects. Clinical trials are closely monitored by experts who look for problems with each study. Research through clinical trials are underway for all types of cancer. For specific topics being studied for cervical cancer, learn more in the latest research section.
In addition, this site offers free access to an educational program based on the video on clinical trials on cancer, located outside of this guide. The next section of this guide is the last search. He explains the fields of scientific research currently going for this type of cancer. Since 2004, several Phase III clinical trials used docetaxel as part of clinical trials looking for a survival benefit in men with advanced prostate cancer. More than half of the trials failed to produce positive results and others have produced very poor results.
With such high levels of Phase III failures, it makes sense to change the design of clinical trials. 2 identify and focus on the most likely to benefit from a medication or special treatment patients. Then design small studies including only patients. 3 determine what success is – improved survival, improved quality of life, less risk of toxicity, etc. There have been too many failures in RCMPA III phase clinical trials to justify further again and again the same procedures. The tests are expensive, patients are exposed to potentially toxic agents with little benefit, and some effective drugs can be moved to approval.
Studies should focus on providing the highest probability of significantly improving the lives of patients. As someone with stage 4 prostate cancer that is currently undergoing chemotherapy, this author is about as eager for effective treatment against cancer or even a cure as you can get. Milestones selected in the cancer research and the discovery of the NCI. Over the past 250 years, we have witnessed many historical discoveries in the effort to make progress against cancer, a condition known to mankind for thousands of years. This timeline shows some milestones in the history of cancer research.
Percivall pott identifies a relationship between exposure to fireplace soot and the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the scrotum in chimney sweeps. His report is the first to clearly link environmental exposure to cancer development. The first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer. William Halsted performed the first radical mastectomy to treat breast cancer. | <urn:uuid:7c2e383e-a021-4edb-b345-7acdd3a3d8a1> | {
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Japan’s Hydrogen Highway
Japan’s hydrogen highway system was brought into place because of the 4-year Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Project (JHFC). Twelve hydrogen fueling stations have been built in 11 cities in Japan.
Japan’s Hydrogen Highway
Two hydrogen fueling stations that were built for Expo 2005 in Seto-North and Seto-South have been moved to the Chubu International Airport where only one is in operation now. Eight Toyota / Hino FCHV buses were refueled at these stations for the World Exposition Fair of 2005. The stations dispensed 1,300 kg of hydrogen gas during the Expo.
One hydrogen fueling station that had been operational in the city of Hadano in the Kanagawa Prefecture was the world’s first station to dispense hydrogen made by reforming kerosene. The station built by the Idemitsu Kosan Company required extensive desulfurization technology.
The other Japanese cities that currently have operational hydrogen fueling stations include Ome-shi, Senju, Kasumigaseki, Ariake, Sagamilhara, Yokohama-Asahi, Kawasaki, Yokohama-Tsurumi, Yokohama-Daikoku and Kimitsu-shi.
The Ome-shi hydrogen station operates by reforming natural gas, which is readily available. The Ome-shi station is also a mobile station and services areas not covered by the fixed hydrogen stations. The Senju station is an LPG reforming station run by Tokyo Gas and Nippon Sanso.
The Kasumigaseki hydrogen fueling station is a mobile station located near Tokyo. The components of this hydrogen refueling station are brought inside and night and moved outside for use in the morning hours. The Ariake hydrogen refueling station is equipped to dispense both gaseous and liquid hydrogen. This is one of only two stations capable of dispensing liquid hydrogen in Japan.
The Sagamilhara hydrogen fueling station was the first of its kind installed at an existing LP gas station. The station uses alkali diaphragm water electrolysis to generate hydrogen gas. The Yokohama-Asahi hydrogen fueling station is the first station in Japan to reform high-purity hydrogen from naphtha.
The Kawasaki hydrogen fueling station is the world’s first station to reform methanol in order to attain the hydrogen gas. Methanol reforming is safer than natural gas reforming in that it can be done at lower temperatures with less energy expended.
The Yokohama-Tsurumi hydrogen fueling station is Japan’s first off-site station that refuels fuel cell vehicles through a trailer. The Yokohama-Daikoku hydrogen station uses steam reforming of de-sulfurized gasoline to produce hydrogen. Behind the station is a showroom and garage for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
The Kimitsu-shi hydrogen station uses coke oven gas (COG) to mass-produce liquid hydrogen. The by-product COG is produced in the steel-making process and everyday this facility manufactures 0.2 tons of high-purity liquid hydrogen.
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Blackboard-and-chalk schooling may make a comeback as an oasis from the digital age. Photo: Michel Touraine
School will be a different world within 10 years, says Professor Neil Selwyn. If it still exists.
Students will no longer carry school bags laden down with books to their classes. Textbooks, along with computers and laptops, will have disappeared from the classroom, as will paper-and-pen exams. Then again, even the classroom itself may be empty of students.
This could lead to us having an external cognitive hard drive you could plug into your brain.
Professor Selwyn says the traditional features of a conventional school, such as a library full of books, will have been replaced by digital editions; laptops and PCs by palm-sized smart phones, tablets and ‘‘fablets’’, a cross between the small screen of the smart phone and the tablet computer; exams by online tests; and perhaps the school itself will have gone and a virtual teaching institution on the worldwide web taken its place.
‘‘Everyone will have their own personal computer device in their palm,’’ Professor Selwyn says. ‘‘And that will change many things in school in terms of communication, social networking, information-gathering and so on.’’
A professor of education who came to Monash University from the Institute of Education at the University of London, Professor Selwyn’s research and teaching focuses on the place of digital media in everyday life, and the sociology of technology use in education.
‘‘Another thing that will happen are online exams – NAPLAN is going live in 2016 and exams are already taken on the web by students in Europe on a large scale,’’ he says. ‘‘Instead of having an open-book exam, it will be an open internet exam.’’
By 2023, ‘‘virtual schools’’ will have sprung up where students learn online, just as Australian university students have been doing for the past 20 years. Professor Selwyn says the US is already far down the track of establishing online schools, with up to 2 million students enrolled in virtual K-12 institutions where they are taught via the internet.
‘‘In the US, 27 states now have official state-run virtual schools, and Philadelphia has just announced plans to open a very large virtual school,’’ he says. ‘‘But the rise of the virtual school is a result of budget constraints, falling enrolments and more kids beginning to take subjects online while also attending face-to-face teaching. Even now, if you live in rural Victoria, there’s nothing to stop a child taking a virtual class in languages or other subjects.’’
‘‘Blended learning’’, where students learn with others in a class as well as online at home, will become as much a part of Australian schools as it has in higher education, Professor Selwyn says. Sometimes this will be for logistical reasons such as remoteness or where students are unable to attend school because of medical problems. In other cases, the virtual school will serve as a ‘‘halfway house’’ where students can study online while also taking some classes in a regular school.
‘‘Then there are the massive open online courses or MOOCs that are beginning to be prepared for schools – with big online groups of school kids learning together. The first experiment with MOOCs is taking place in Florida and when you have big publishing companies such as Pearson involved, you can see where this is headed.’’
Looking a little further into the future, Professor Selwyn refers to the development by Monash researchers of a bionic eye that can manipulate the visual cortex of the brain: ‘‘This could lead to us having an external cognitive hard drive you could plug into your brain. Called metacognition, the idea is still very speculative but the potential is there to have this interface between the human brain and the technology.’’
The use of robots as teachers might also sound far-fetched but, he says, Japan has been using robots as teacher replacements for 10 years – in some cases even replacing the need for students to go to school. He refers to the case of a girl with a degenerative disease who has an ‘‘avatar robot’’ that takes her place at school and interacts with the other students.
‘‘At the University of London, we had people who were embedding computer devices in a forest. Students could go into the forest and, holding a communication device, interact with microchips embedded in the trees and plants to learn about them. That would be great in a way but I like going on nature trips to discover things by myself so the danger is that technology runs away with itself and you end up with a solution in search of a problem!’’
Despite all the technological advances, Professor Selwyn cannot see the time when the bricks-and-mortar school will have entirely disappeared. He says schools tend not to be taken over by new technologies, rather teachers adapt them to suit their needs.
‘‘History tells us that overnight nothing will change radically: schools will still exist, kids will still go to school, perhaps with smaller bags, but they will have personal electronic devices, flexibooks and face online exams. Teachers, too, will be familiar with these things because now there’s a digital generation of teachers having grown up with the technology.’’
Technologically proficient teachers are important because students are not effective users of technology when it comes to learning, he says. Teenagers are very good at downloading videos or MP3 files but in terms of meaningfully using the technology to access information or collaborating to learn, adults are often needed to support them and show them what to do.
‘‘We have students at university who need help in learning to think critically about the way they use technology. So teachers have a key role to play. It’s not a matter of the kids taking over to show the adults how to use the technology, but rather the adults supporting the kids in learning how to use the technology.’’
Professor Selwyn has concerns that learning is not necessarily the driver behind schools being persuaded by international corporations to introduce new technology. He finds it worrying that Philadelphia is adopting virtual schooling to cut its spending on schools, not to tackle the educational problems the technology is supposed to be solving.
‘‘Many schools are investing in iPads for every student because it has been sold to them as a way of saving money. Which is crazy when you think of the short-term outlay on the technology with no evidence it will save money,’’ he says. ‘‘I’m also worried by the ‘individualisation’ of learning – where instead of being taught by a teacher, learning something becomes the responsibility of the student. This has big implications for the nature of schools.’’
Professor Selwyn says one of the ‘‘beautiful things’’ about school is that it is a communal endeavour. The new technologies are great in allowing people with the resources and the motivation to learn more in different ways. But the technology will not resolve inequalities between students: it will help some and leave others behind, exacerbating the social divisions it has failed to address.
‘‘It could be that old-fashioned schooling will make a comeback in 30 years, with school becoming an oasis to get away from the digital age, a place where you can go and slow down, and talk to people – back to the idea of learning from someone else by listening. We might be losing that in this rush to an individualised education.’’
He believes parents, teachers and schools need to look carefully at the issue of individualising learning. If the technology is being used to cut corners, to provide a second-rate education, people should see that for what it really is and do something about it. | <urn:uuid:4db15d11-8142-4a10-9f7e-a2232a69cdc4> | {
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A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), Poverty Reduction Programs Help Adults Lacking College Degrees the Most, finds that 87% of working-age adults (18 to 64 years of age) lifted out of poverty by poverty-reduction and safety net programs are in families that have no members with a college degree. More than half of these adults are white. These adults and their families would be significantly and negatively impacted by cuts to these programs.
The report examined the impact of safety-net and poverty-reduction programs like Social Security, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) on poverty among working-age adults between 18 and 64 years of age. Without factoring in income from these programs, the poverty rate in 2014 was 30.4% among adults in families without a bachelor’s degree and 8.7% for those in families in which at least one person had a bachelor’s degree. If income from these programs were accounted for, the poverty rates would be 18.5% and 6.4% for adults in families without and with a bachelor’s degree, respectively.
Among working-age adults in families without a bachelor’s degree who would otherwise be in poverty, 6.2 million whites (44%), 2.8 million blacks (43%), 2.4 million Hispanics (28%), and 0.7 million adults of other races (37%) were lifted out of poverty by these programs.
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government: formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic
state of civil and political rights: Free
constitution: revision of Constitution of 1874 approved by the Federal Parliament 18 December 1998, adopted by referendum 18 April 1999, officially entered into force 1 January 2000
legal system: civil law system influenced by customary law
legislative system: bicameral Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) consists of the Council of States (Standerat) and the National Council (Nationalrat)
judicial system: Federal Supreme Court, whose judges are appointed by Parliament for a 6-year term
religion: Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other
year of last executions: 0-0-0
death sentences: 0
international treaties on human rights and the death penalty:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (aiming to the abolition of the death penalty)
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
6th Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (concerning the abolition of the death penalty)
European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances
Statute of the International Criminal Court (which excludes the death penalty)
After abolishing the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 1942, Switzerland became fully abolitionist in 1992. The last execution was conducted in 1944. On May 3, 2002 Switzerland deposited with the Council of Europe the instrument of ratification of Protocol No 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms banning the death penalty in all circumstances.
On December 19, 2016, Switzerland once again co-sponsored and voted in favour of the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.
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Bone Health and HIV Disease
As people living with HIV take HIV drugs over time, a growing list of conditions has become a concern for those who try to manage their overall health. One of these is bone loss, which occurs more often in HIV-positive people. Research has not found the exact cause or causes for this higher rate.
The research and health service communities are trying to find answers to ensuring bone health in people with HIV. We already know a good deal about bone loss, much because of research done in postmenopausal women. Things can be done to improve bone health, and many of those are under the control of the patient.
The loss of bone mineral density, or BMD, can occur anywhere in your body. However, weight-bearing joints and bones are more prone than others including your hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, spine and wrist. This publication will focus on the two most common types of bone loss, osteopenia and osteoporosis, with some information on osteonecrosis.
Bone is living tissue and is in constant change during your life. It's made of several materials, mainly collagen and minerals. Collagen gives your bones a soft flexible framework. The minerals, like calcium and phosphorus, help harden the framework for strength. Vitamin D is also important, as it helps the body absorb calcium and slows the kidneys from removing it. Together these materials help bones withstand stress. Bone also has an outer layer of nerves and small blood vessels.
To keep bones healthy, your body removes old bone (bone resorption) as it adds new bone (bone formation). The peak bone mass usually occurs around age 30. After that, bone density naturally declines over time. The ageing process can remove more bone tissue than it replaces -- making it less dense, weaker and more prone to injury. Having the right amount of minerals in your body as well as good bone formation and resorption will help maintain healthy bones.
Simply put, everyone. Although bone loss occurs naturally as people age, other factors can contribute to it. In general, the following factors make it more likely that you'll face bone loss.
Osteopenia is a loss of bone density, and over 18 million Americans have it. It is not the same as osteoporosis, which is explained below. Importantly, having osteopenia doesn't mean you'll develop osteoporosis. In fact, most people do not.
While a diagnosis of osteopenia may be upsetting, it's perhaps a small wakeup to do something about it. It's a condition that can be stopped and even reversed. First, osteopenia may be due to having a natural lower bone density. Second, there are ways to improve your bone health. These are found in the section, Preventing bone loss.
Generally osteopenia has no symptoms. You likely will not notice any pain or change in your bones. The only way to know you have this condition is by getting a bone density test done. Although the bone loss in osteopenia is generally less severe, it still means the bone has weakened and may be prone to fractures.
Osteoporosis is a loss of bone mass and is the most common bone disease. Over 10 million Americans live with it, and 3 out of 4 of them are women. It causes over a million bone fractures each year, most in the spine and hip. Primary osteoporosis is the natural loss of bone, especially in women after menopause. Secondary osteoporosis occurs from taking medicines or having a chronic condition. This may be more of an issue for people with HIV because of chronic illness, weight loss, lengthy bed rest, etc.
Osteoporosis is not the same as osteopenia, which is explained above. It's is a more serious condition, and people who have it are more prone to bone fractures and breaks. It results from too much bone resorption and not enough formation. In this condition, holes (lacunas) develop in the bone further weakening its structure.
Osteoporosis is a condition that many older adults know. So its diagnosis at an earlier age, especially for those with HIV, can feel especially upsetting. You can help prevent it through better nutrition and staying active. These and other ways to improve your bone health are found in the section, Preventing bone loss.
Many men don't think they're at risk for osteoporosis, or osteopenia. In general, men have larger frames and their bodies start losing bone later in life and at a slower rate. However, men are still at risk, probably later in life and for men with low levels of testosterone. Many men with HIV have low testosterone and may want to talk to their doctors about their bone health.
Symptoms of osteoporosis may not appear before a fracture happens. If they do, they may include joint pain and tenderness, backache, feeling of weakness and loss of height. After a fracture, the pain may be much more severe. The only way to know you have this condition is by getting a bone density test done. Dental x-rays sometimes show bone loss, which may mean osteoporosis in other body parts.
Osteonecrosis is the death of bone tissue. Bone can die if its blood supply is cut off. This is called avascular necrosis, a condition that has been seen in the hips of people with HIV. It may occur in any bone though it most often occurs at the ends of a long bone. It may affect one or more bones or joints at the same time.
It's not known what causes avascular necrosis in people with HIV. Possibilities include bone and blood vessel damage, long-term use of certain medicines, chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, and excessive use of alcohol.
Symptoms of osteonecrosis may include pain -- sometimes severe -- in the affected area, especially in joints like the hip, wrist or spine. This may occur only when you bear down on the bone or joint or it may be constant. Other signs are joint stiffness, soreness, less range of motion, muscle spasms, a feeling of weakness, arthritis, and bone damage and collapse.
The goals for treating the condition are to stop any more damage and to improve the person's ability to move. A person with less severe osteonecrosis may be given pain killers or medicines to improve bone density as well as support tools like a cane or crutches. In more severe cases, a person may need surgery, which could include reshaping, grafting or replacing the bone or joint.
Unfortunately, many find out they have bone loss only after they've fractured or broken a bone. To detect bone loss before this happens, several bone density tests are available. Most are painless and they vary in cost and length of time to take. However, there are no standards of care for using them in people with HIV. In general, the longer you've lived with HIV and the more risk factors you have, the more likely bone tests may be needed.
DEXA ScanThe DEXA (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry) scan is a kind of x-ray and is the most common and accurate way to measure BMD. It can detect as little as 2% of bone loss per year, and it uses only 10% of the radiation used in a routine x-ray. It's painless and takes 10-15 minutes.
CT ScanThe CT (computer tomography), or CAT, scan uses x-rays and a computer to make images of the bone. It can detect osteopenia, osteoporosis and osteonecrosis. The scan is painless and gives more detail than an x-ray, though it uses radiation. A scan can last from 5-30 minutes.
X RayA standard x-ray is not useful in diagnosing osteopenia or osteoporosis because it's not sensitive enough to detect minor bone loss. It's used mostly to detect osteonecrosis, showing the amount of severe damage to the bone. An x-ray is painless and quick to take, though it uses radiation.
MRIThe MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan can detect osteopenia, osteoporosis and osteonecrosis. It uses magnets and radio waves to create detailed pictures of the bone. It's painless and can last up to 45 minutes. An MRI does not use radiation like an x-ray or CT scan.
Bone BiopsyA biopsy is usually done to detect osteonecrosis. A sample of bone is removed during surgery or with a needle and local anesthesia. This is an invasive test that takes time, causes discomfort, and may need recovery time.
Bone Density Test ResultsYour test result is written as a T-score and Z-score. The T-score compares women and men to a "normal" healthy person of their own sex. A normal T-score, or healthy bone density, is a number above -1.0. A score for osteopenia will be between -1.0 and -2.5, while osteoporosis is less than -2.5.
The Z-score compares your BMD to someone of your own age, sex, weight and ethnic origin. This can provide helpful information for your doctor as well. A T-score is better used for detecting osteoporosis.
Almost 80% of your bone density is determined by your heredity. The other 20% can be affected by changes in lifestyle. In general, many of the ways to prevent bone loss in people with HIV are the same for postmenopausal women. Some strategies have been tested in HIV-positive people.
LifestyleChanging your lifestyle can help prevent bone loss. Keeping a normal body mass is one important way -- keeping your weight in proportion to your height and body frame. Smoking and drinking alcohol also contributes to bone loss, as well as excessive caffeine use. So reducing tobacco, caffeine and alcohol use is likely to benefit your bone health.
Bone loss can also occur from injuries to the bone, like a fracture or break. By reducing your risk of falling or tripping, you can help prevent bone injuries. Adults may need to safeguard their lives as they get older. Being aware of your surroundings, clearing clutter from your home, and carefully walking up and down stairs or hills are just a few ways to lower your risk.
DietIn general, Americans do not get enough calcium or vitamin D to maintain their bone health. This also applies to people with HIV of all ages. Most adults should get between 1,000-1,200mg of calcium a day. Pregnant and postmenopausal women should get 1,500mg. Daily amounts should not exceed 2,000mg. You can get calcium from eating milk products, tofu, and vegetables and leafy greens like broccoli and spinach. Some foods are enriched with added calcium, like orange juice.
Some people, including older adults, may not get enough vitamin D due to a lack of physical activity or exposure to sunlight. The daily amount for most adults is 200 IU. For men and women 50 and above, the amount should increase to 400-600 IU a day. People with osteoporosis may need up to 800 IU daily.
Vitamin D is found in eggs, liver, some fish oils, and fish like salmon and swordfish. You can also get enough vitamin D by getting about a half hour of sunlight each day, as your body makes it from the contact of sun to your skin. This may be more difficult for people with low physical activity or during winter months.
Phosphorus is another mineral important to maintain bone health. It's found in milk products, peanuts and beans, though most people do not need to take extra amounts of it.
ExerciseBeing active day to day and getting exercise helps make bones denser and stronger. Weight-bearing activities force your body to work against gravity. These include power walking, jogging, climbing stairs, dancing or running, where your legs and feet support your body's weight. Resistance exercises include stretching and lifting weights to help strengthen your muscles and bones. Before beginning an exercise routine, talk to your doctor or a certified trainer to learn the type of exercise that would be best for your health.
SupplementsSupplements can help support your body's ability to stop and reverse bone loss. Many people do not get enough calcium or vitamin D in their diets. Some cannot tolerate milk products or consume foods high in calcium. Still others, including older adults who go without direct sunlight for periods of time, may not get enough vitamin D. Taking supplements may be an option in these cases.
Many drugstores and health food stores sell calcium tablets, and some come packaged with vitamin D. Discuss with your health provider all supplements you take or want to take to ensure you're getting the right daily amount. High levels of calcium and vitamin D can cause problems of their own. If you take a multivitamin, check the label as many already contain calcium and vitamin D.
PrescriptionsCertain prescription drugs can increase bone loss, especially when used over time or at high doses. Avoiding or switching from these medicines can help. Some of these are HIV-related drugs like pentamidine, steroids like cortisone and prednisone, or other drugs like phenobarbital and ketoconazole. Talk to your health provider or pharmacist about which increase bone loss and discuss your options.
Currently, there are no standards of care for using bone density tests or treating bone loss in people with HIV. What we know about treating bone loss comes from research on postmenopausal women and older men and men with low levels of testosterone.
Pain RelieversYour doctor may prescribe pain killers like aspirin and ibuprofen. These help control any discomfort you may be having but will not correct actual bone loss.
Medicines Used for Resorption ProblemsA few medicines called bisphosphonates lower the rate of bone resorption, thereby stabilizing bone density. Little is known about how they affect people with HIV. They may be prescribed with calcium and vitamin D supplements. Side effects can include difficulty swallowing, inflammation of the esophagus, and gastric ulcer.
BisphosphonatesThis type of drug is often prescribed for bone less. However, early results from a large study reported in January 2008 show some evidence of aseptic osteonecrosis -- a bone condition that results from poor blood supply causing bone death. Though the rate for this side effect is relatively low, it may be an issue for some people, notably older adults. Bisphosphonates have a long half-life of up to 10 years, which may allow them to reside in bone tissue and cause bone damage.
Medicines Used for Hormone Therapy
Short-term hormone therapy is used to relieve hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. However, in postmenopausal women, it also prevents bone loss and fractures and improves bone density. Many brands come as a pill or skin patch.
Estrogen therapy is usually given with progesterone, which lowers the risk of cancer of the uterus. Its long-term use can increase the chances for heart attack, blood clots, stroke and breast cancer. Therefore, weigh the pros and cons of hormone therapy with your health provider when considering it for bone loss.
Another type of estrogen is called a SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator). Evista (raloxifene) prevents and treats postmenopausal osteoporosis, improving the density of the spine and neck. Unlike other estrogen therapy, Evista is less likely to cause cancer of the uterus. Side effects can include hot flashes, leg cramps, blood clots, vaginal dryness, swelling, pain or tenderness, muscle and joint aches, and weight gain.
As for men, taking testosterone will help prevent or treat bone loss, especially in the spine. It's not used in women. One small study in men with HIV showed that the density of the spine had significantly improved. Several brands come as an injection (taken every 2-3 weeks), gel (rubbed on skin daily) or skin patch. Many men who take this therapy report feeling better and having more energy. It should not be taken by men with prostate cancer. Side effects can include swelling in the hands and feet and enlarged prostate gland and breasts.
Medicines Used to Form Bone Tissue
Parathyroid hormone helps your body store a healthy amount of calcium and phosphorus in your bones. A rather new form of this, Forteo (teriparatide), improves bone density in men and women. It's given by injection once a day, is currently approved for only 24 months of use, and costs more than other bone loss therapy.
Forteo lowers the risk of fractures in postmenopausal women and likely also in men. It's used for treating postmenopausal osteoporosis, and for primary osteoporosis and secondary osteoporosis caused by low testosterone in men. No studies have been done in people with HIV. The most common side effects include headache, nausea, vomiting, leg cramps and dizziness.
Bone loss is a process that happens as you age. Older adults are more prone to bone problems because of ageing and other factors like poor nutrition, lack of activity, lower levels of sex hormones, and medications. Anyone, including people over 50, can try to improve their bone health through the ways found in the section, Preventing bone loss. Talking to your health provider about other ways, including bone scans and medicines, can help encourage stronger bone and overall health.
The medicines used to treat bone loss are available by prescription through a health provider. People who lack coverage for meds can sometimes gain access to them through the manufacturers' Patient Assistance Programs. A good resource for this is www.rxassist.org, though you must sign in for the service. Another online resource is www.pparx.org.
Much of what we know about bone loss has come from the research done in postmenopausal women and older men. Although this helps, it doesn't answer the unique issues that people living with HIV face, especially as they begin to confront bone loss earlier. Unfortunately, the results so far have tended to contradict one another.
One belief is that HIV itself affects bone loss. In general, people with HIV face more bone loss than HIV-negative people of the same sex and age. Why this happens is not clear. HIV activates the immune system, which in turn may affect bone health. Since it infects different cells in the body, it may also affect bone marrow cells which may then affect bone health. HIV can also increase the level of proteins which may add to the loss of bone tissue.
Another belief is that HIV drugs help cause bone loss, specifically protease inhibitors. A couple of studies have reported this, but others have not. Protease inhibitors also tend to deplete the body of vitamin D, which is key to keeping bones strong. Recent research showed that Viread (tenofovir) contributed to some bone loss, but it's not confirmed by other studies. Some data point to NRTIs in general. Yet another study compared two different HIV class regimens and found that neither affected bone loss.
These studies stress the need for more research on finding the underlying reasons for bone mineral loss and other bone disorders in people with HIV. This will help people living with HIV and their doctors get ahead of this issue before serious bone damage can occur.
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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, , at sacred-texts.com
Introduction to Ephesians
Section 1. The Situation of Ephesus, and the Character of its People
This Epistle purports to have been written to the "Saints in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus," though, as we shall see, the fact of its having been directed to the church at Ephesus has been called in question. Assuming now that it was sent to Ephesus, it is of importance to have a general view of the situation of that city, of the character of its people, and of the time and manner in which the gospel was introduced there, in order to a correct understanding of the Epistle. Ephesus was a celebrated city of Ionia in Asia Minor, and was about 40 miles south of Smyrna, and near the mouth of the river Cayster. The river, though inferior in beauty to the Meander which flows south of it, waters a fertile valley of the ancient Ionia. Ionia was the most beautiful and fertile part of Asia Minor; was settled almost wholly by Greek colonies; and it embosomed Pergamos, Smyrna, Ephesus, and Miletus; see "Travels" of Anacharsis, i. 91, 208; vi. 192, 97, 98. The climate of Ionia is represented as remarkably mild, and the air as pure and sweet, and this region became early celebrated for everything that constitutes softness and effeminacy in life. Its people were distinguished for amiableness and refinement of manners, and also for luxury, for music and dancing, and for the seductive arts festivals occupied them at home, or attracted them to neighboring cities, where the men appeared in magnificent habits, and the women in all the elegance of female ornament, and with all the desire of pleasure (Anachar).
Ephesus was not, like Smyrna, distinguished for commercial advantages. The consequence has been that, not having such advantage, it has fallen into total ruin, while Smyrna has retained some degree of its ancient importance. It was in a rich region of country, and seems to have risen into importance mainly because it became the favorite resort of foreigners in the worship of Diana, and owed its celebrity to its temple more than to anything else. This city was once, however, the most splendid city in Asia Minor. Stephens, the geographer, gives it the title of "Epiphanestate" (Most Illustrious). Pliny styles it "the Ornament of Asia." In Roman times it was the metropolis of Asia, and unquestionably rose to a degree of splendor that was surpassed by few, if any, oriental cities.
That for which the city was most celebrated was the Temple of Diana. This temple was 425 feet in length, and 220 feet in width. It was encompassed by 127 pillars, each 60 feet in height, which were presented by as many kings. Some of those pillars, it is said, are yet to be seen in the mosque of Sophia at Constantinople, having been removed there when the Church of Sophia was erected. These, however, were the pillars that constituted a part of the temple after it had been burned and was repaired, though it is probable that the same pillars were retained in the second temple which had constituted the glory of the first. All the provinces of Asia Minor contributed to the erection of this splendid temple, and 200 years were consumed in building it. This temple was set on fire by a man named Herostratus, who, when put to the torture, confessed that his only motive was to immortalize his name. The general assembly of the states of Ionia passed a decree to devote his name to oblivion; but the fact of the decree has only served to perpetuate it; Cicero, De Nat. Deor. 2. 27; Plutarch, Life of Alexander; compare Anachar. vi. 189. The whole of the edifice was consumed except the four walls and some of the columns. It was, however, rebuilt with the same magnificence as before, and was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. It is now in utter ruin. After the temple had been repeatedly pillaged by the barbarians, Justinian removed the columns to adorn the Church of Sophia at Constantinople. The place where it stood can now be identified certainly, if at all, only by the marshy spot on which it was erected, and by the prodigious arches raised above as a foundation. The vaults formed by them compose a sort of labyrinth, and the water is knee-deep beneath. There is not an apartment entire; but thick walls, shafts of columns, and fragments of every kind are scattered around in confusion (Encyclopedia Geog. ii. 273, 274).
During the reign of Tiberius, Ephesus was greatly damaged by an earthquake, but it was repaired and embellished by the emperor. In the war between Mithridates and the Romans, Ephesus took part with the former, and massacred the Romans who dwelt in it. Sylla severely punished this cruelty; but Ephesus was afterward treated with leniancy, and enjoyed its own laws, along with other privileges. About the end of the 11th century it was seized by a pirate named Tangripermes, but he was routed by John Ducas (the Greek admiral) in a bloody battle. Theodorus Lascarus, a Greek, made himself master of it in 1206 a.d. The Muslims recovered it in 1283. In the year 1401 Tamerlane employed a whole month in plundering the city and the neighboring country. Shortly afterward, the city was set on fire, and was mostly burnt in a combat between the Turkish governor and the Tartars. In 1405 it was taken by Muhammed I, and has continued since that time in the possession of the Turks (Calmet).
There is now (circa 1880's) a small, ordinary village, named Ayasaluk, near the site of the ancient town, consisting of a few cottages, which is all that now represents this city of ancient splendor. Dr. Chavolla says, "The inhabitants are a few Greek peasants, living in extreme wretchedness, dependence, and insensibility; the representatives of an illustrious people, and inhabiting the wreck of their greatness - some in the substructions of the glorious edifices which they raised - some beneath the vaults of the stadium, once the crowded scene of their diversions - and some by the abrupt precipice in the sepulchres which received their ashes. Its streets are obscured and overgrown. A herd of goats was driven to it for shelter from the sun at noon, and a noisy flight of crows from the quarries seemed to insult its silence. We heard the partridge call in the area of the theater and the stadium. The glorious pomp of its pagan worship is no longer numbered; and Christianity, which was here nursed by apostles, and fostered by general councils, until it increased to fullness of stature, barely lingers on in an existence hardly visible" (Travels, p. 131, Oxford, 1775). A very full and interesting description of Ephesus, as it appeared in 1739, may be seen in Pococke's Travels, vol. ii. part ii. pp. 45-53, ed. Lend. 1745. Several ruins are described by him, but they have mostly now disappeared. The Temple of Diana was on the western side of the plain on which the city was built, and the site is now in the midst of a morass which renders access difficult. The ruins of several theaters and other buildings are described by Pococke.
In the year 1821 Mr. Fisk, the American missionary, visited the city of Ephesus, of which he has given the following account: "We sent back our horses to Aisaluck, and set out on foot to survey the ruins of Ephesus. The ground was covered with high grass or grain, and a very heavy dew rendered the walking rather unpleasant. On the east side of the hill we found nothing worthy of notice; no appearance of having been occupied for buildings. On the north side was the circus or stadium. Its length from east to west is forty rods (one stadium). The north or lower side was supported by arches which still remain. The area where the races used to be performed is now a field of wheat. At the west end was the gate. The walls adjoining it are still standing, and are of considerable height and strength. North of the stadium, and separated only by a street, is a large square, inclined with fallen walls, and filled with the ruins of various edifices. A street running north and south divides this square in the center. West of the stadium is an elevation of ground, level at the top, with an immense pedestal in the center of it. What building stood there it is not easy to say. Between this and the stadium was a street passing from the great plain north of Ephesus, into the midst of the city.
"I found on the plains of Ephesus some Greek peasants, men and women, employed in pulling up tares and weeds from the wheat. I ascertained, however, that they all belonged to villages at a distance, and came there to labor. Tournefort says that, when he was at Ephesus, there were 30 or 40 Greek families there. Chandler found only 10 or 12 individuals. Now no human being lives in Ephesus; and in Aisaluck, which may be considered as Ephesus under another name, though not on precisely the same spot of ground, there are merely a few miserable Turkish huts.
"The plain of Ephesus is now very unhealthy, owing to the fogs and mists which almost continually rest upon it. The land, however, is rich, and the surrounding country is both fertile and healthy. The adjacent hills would furnish many delightful situations for villages if the difficulties were removed, which are thrown in the way by a despotic government, oppressive agas, and wandering banditti" (Missionary Herald for 1821, p. 319).
Section 2. The Introduction of the Gospel at Ephesus
It is admitted by all that the gospel was introduced into Ephesus by the apostle Paul. He first preached there when on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, about the year 54 a.d. Act 18:19. On this visit Paul went into the synagogue, as was his usual custom, and preached to his own countrymen, but he does not appear to have preached publicly to the pagan. He was requested to remain longer with them, but he said he must, by all means, be in Jerusalem at the approaching feast - probably the Passover, Act 18:21. He promised, however, to visit them again if possible, and sailed from Ephesus to Jerusalem. Two persons had gone with Paul from Corinth - Priscilla and Aquila - whom he appears to have left at Ephesus, or who, at any rate, soon returned there, Act 18:18, Act 18:26. During the absence of Paul there came to Ephesus a certain Jew, born in Alexandria, named Apollos, an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, who had received the baptism of John, and who taught the doctrine that John had taught, Act 18:24-25.
What was the precise nature of that doctrine it is now difficult to understand. It seems to have been in substance: (1) that repentance was necessary, (2) that baptism was to be performed, and (3) that the Messiah was about to appear. Apollos, who had embraced this doctrine with zeal, was ready to defend it, and was in just the state of mind to welcome the news that the Messiah had come. Priscilla and Aquila instructed this zealous and talented man more fully in the doctrines of the Christian religion, and communicated to him the views which they had received from Paul, Act 18:26. Paul, having gone to Jerusalem as he planned, returned again to Asia Minor, and taking in Phrygia and Galatia in his way, he revisited Ephesus, and remained there for about three years (Act 18:23; Act 19:1 ff). It was during this time that the church was founded, which afterward became so prominent, and to which this Epistle was written. The principal events in the life of Paul there were:
(1) His baptizing the twelve persons whom he found there, who were disciples of John; see notes at Act 19:1-7.
(2) Paul went into the synagogue there and engaged in an earnest discussion with the Jews respecting the Messiah for about three months Act 19:8-10.
(3) when many of the Jews opposed him, he left the synagogue and obtained a place to preach in, in the schoolroom of a man by the name of Tyrannus. In this place he continued to preach without molestation for two years and proclaimed the gospel, so that a large portion of the inhabitants had an opportunity to hear it.
(4) the cause of religion was greatly promoted by the miracles which Paul performed Act 19:11-17.
(5) Paul remained there until his preaching excited great commotion, and he was finally driven away by the tumult which was excited by Demetrius, Acts 19:23-41.
At this time the gospel had secured such a hold on the people that there was danger that the Temple of Diana would be forsaken, and that all who were dependent upon the worship of Diana for a livelihood would be thrown out of employment. It is not probable that Paul visited Ephesus after this, unless it was after his first imprisonment at Rome; see the introduction to 2 Timothy. On his way from Macedonia to Jerusalem he came to Miletus, and sent for the elders of Ephesus and gave them his deeply-affecting, parting address, expecting to see them no more Act 20:16.
Paul remained longer at Ephesus than he did at any other one place, preaching the gospel. He seems to have set himself deliberately to work to establish a congregation there, which would ultimately overthrow idolatry. Several reasons may have led him to depart so far from his usual plan by laboring so long in one place. One may have been that this was the principal seat of idolatry in the world at that time. The evident aim of Paul in his ministry was to reach the centers of influence and power. Hence, he mainly sought to preach the gospel in large cities, and thus it was that Antioch, and Ephesus, and Corinth, and Athens, and Philippi, and Rome, shared so largely in his labors. Not ashamed of the gospel anywhere, Paul still sought mainly that its power should be felt where wealth, and learning, and genius, and talent were concentrated. The very places, therefore, where the most magnificent temples were erected to the gods, and where the worship of idols was celebrated with the most splendor and pomp, and where that worship was defended most strongly by the civil arm, were those in which the apostle sought first to preach the gospel.
Ephesus, therefore, as the most splendid seat of idolatry at that time in the whole pagan world, particularly attracted the attention of the apostle, and hence it was that he was willing to spend so large a part of his public life in that place. It may have been for this reason that John afterward made it his permanent home, and spent so many years there as the minister of the congregation which had been founded by Paul; see section 3. Another reason why Paul sought Ephesus as a field of labor may have been that it was at that time not only the principal seat of idolatry, but was a place of great importance in the civil affairs of the Roman empire. It was the residence of the Roman proconsul, and the seat of the courts of justice in Asia Minor, and, consequently, was a place to which there would be attracted a great amount of learning and talent (Macknight). The apostle, therefore, seems to have been anxious that the full power of the gospel should be tried there, and that Ephesus should become as important as a center of influence in the Christian world as it had been in paganism and in civil affairs.
Section 3. Notices of the History of the Church at Ephesus
The church at Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia, and the first one mentioned to which John was directed to address an epistle from Patmos Rev 2:1-7. Little is said of it in the New Testament from the time when Paul left it until the Book of Revelation was written. The tradition is, that Timothy was a minister at Ephesus, and was succeeded by the apostle John; but whether John came there while Timothy was living, or not until his removal or death, even "tradition" does not inform us. In the subscription to the Second Epistle to Timothy, it is said of Timothy that he was "ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians;" but this is of no authority whatever. All that can be learned with certainty about the residence of Timothy at Ephesus is what the apostle Paul says of him in his First Epistle to Timothy Ti1 1:3, "As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine."
From this it would appear that the residence of Timothy at Ephesus was a temporary arrangement, designed to secure a result which Paul wished particularly to secure, and to avoid an evil which he had reason to dread would follow from his own absence. That it was only a temporary arrangement, is apparent from the fact that Paul soon after desired him to come to Rome, Ti2 4:9, Ti2 4:11. The Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy was written but a few years after the first letter. According to Lardner, the first letter was written in the year 56 a.d., and the second letter in the year 62 a.d.; according to Hug, the first letter was written in the year 59 a.d., and the second letter in the year 61 a.d.; according to the editor of the Polyglott Bible, the first letter was written 65 a.d., and the second letter in 66 a.d. According to either calculation, the time of the residence of Timothy in Ephesus was brief. There is not the slightest evidence from the New Testament that he was a permanent Bishop of Ephesus, or indeed that he was a "bishop" at all, in the modern sense of the term. Those who may be disposed to look further into this matter, and to examine the relation which Timothy sustained to the church of Ephesus, and the claim which is sometimes set up for his having sustained the office of "a bishop," may find an examination in the Review of Bishop Onderdonk's Tract on Episcopacy, published in the Quarterly Christian Spectator in March, 1834, and March, 1835, and republished in 1843 under the title of "The Organization and Government of the Apostolic Church," pp. 99-107.
Whatever was the relation which Timothy sustained to the church in Ephesus, it is agreed on all hands that John the apostle spent a considerable portion of his life there. At what time John went to Ephesus, or why he did it, is not known now. The common opinion is, that he remained at or near Jerusalem for some 15 years after the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, during which time he had the special charge of Mary, the mother of the Saviour; that he then preached the gospel to the Parthians and the Indians, and that he then returned and went to Ephesus, in or near which he spent his latter days, and in which, at a very advanced age, he died. It was from Ephesus that, under the Emperor Domitian, 95 a.d., he was banished to the island of Patmos, from which he returned in 97 a.d., on the accession of Nerva to the crown, who recalled all who had been banished. At that time, John is supposed to have been about 90 years of age. He is said to have died at Ephesus in the third year of Trajan (in 100 a.d.), at about 94 years of age. For a full and interesting biography of the apostle John, the reader may consult the "Lives of the Apostles," by David Francis Bacon, pp. 307-376.
Of the subsequent history of the church at Ephesus, little is known, and it would not be necessary to dwell upon it in order to an exposition of the Epistle before us. It is sufficient to remark, that the "candlestick is removed out of its place" Rev 2:5, and that all the splendor of the Temple of Diana, all the pomp of her worship, and all the glory of the Christian church there, have faded away alike.
Section 4. The Time and Place of Writing the Epistle
It has never been denied that the apostle Paul was the author of this Epistle, though it has been made a question whether it were written to the Ephesians or to the Laodiceans; see Section 5. Dr. Paley (Horae Paulinae) has shown that there is conclusive internal proof that this Epistle was written by Paul. This argument is derived from the style, and is carried out by a comparison of this Epistle with the other undoubted writings of the apostle. The historical evidence on this point also is undisputed.
It is generally supposed, and, indeed, the evidence seems to be clear, that this Epistle was written during the imprisonment of the apostle at Rome; but whether it was during his first or his second imprisonment is not certain. Paul was held in custody for approximately two years in Caesarea Act 24:27, but there is no evidence that during that time he addressed any epistle to the churches which he had planted. That this was written when he was a prisoner is apparent from the Epistle itself. "The two years in which Paul was imprisoned at Caesarea," says Wall, as quoted by Lardner, "seem to have been the most inactive part of Paul's life. There is no account of any proceedings or disputations, or of any epistles written in this space." This may have arisen, Lardner supposes, from the fact that the Jews made such an opposition that the Roman governor would not allow him to have any contact with the people at large, or procure any intelligence from the churches abroad.
But when he was at Rome he had more liberty. He was allowed to dwell in his own hired house Act 28:30, and had permission to address all who came to him, and to communicate freely with his friends abroad. It was during this period that he wrote at least four of his letters - the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Epistle to the Philippians, the Epistle to the Colossians, and the Epistle to Philemon. Grotius, as quoted by Lardner, says of these Epistles, that though all Paul's Epistles are excellent, yet he most admires those written by him when a prisoner at Rome. Concerning the Epistle to the Ephesians, he says it surpasses all human eloquence - rerum sublimitatem adaequans verbis sublimioribus, quam ulla unquam habuit lingua humana - describing the sublimity of the things by corresponding words more sublime than are found elsewhere in human language. The evidence that it was written when Paul was a prisoner is found in the Epistle itself.
Thus, in Eph 3:1, he says, "I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ - ὁ δέσμιος τοῦ Χπριστοῦ ho desmios tou Christou - for you Gentiles." So he alludes to his afflictions in Eph 3:13, "I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you." In Eph 4:1, he calls himself the "prisoner of the Lord," or in the margin, "in the Lord " - ὁ δέσμιος ἐν Κυρίω ho desmios en Kuriō. And in Eph 6:19-20, there is an allusion which seems to settle the inquiry beyond dispute, and to prove that it was written while he was at Rome. He there says that he was an "ambassador in bonds" - ἐν ἅλυσε en haluse - "in chains, manacles," or "shackles;" and yet he desires Eph 6:19-20 that they would pray for him, that utterance might be given him to open his mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, that he might speak boldly as he ought to speak.
Now this is a remarkable circumstance. A man in custody, in bonds or chains, and that too for being an "ambassador," and yet asking the aid of their prayers, that in these circumstances he might have grace to be a bold preacher of the gospel. If he was in prison this could not well be. If he was under a strict prohibition it could not well be. The circumstances of the case tally exactly with the statement in the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that Paul was in custody in Rome; that he was permitted to "dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him" Act 28:16; that he was permitted to call the Jews together and to debate with them freely Act 28:17-28; and that Paul dwelt in his own hired house for two years, and "received all that came in with him, preaching the kingdom of God," etc. Act 28:30-31. So exactly do these circumstances correspond that I have no doubt that that was the time when the Epistle was written.
And so unusual is such a train of circumstances - so unlikely would it be to occur to a man to forge such a coincidence, that it furnishes a striking proof that the Epistle was written, as it purports to be, by Paul. An impostor would not have thought of inventing such a coincidence. If it had occurred to him to make any such allusion, the place and time would have been more distinctly mentioned, and not have been left as a mere incidental allusion. The apostle Paul is supposed to have been at Rome as a prisoner twice (compare the introduction to Second Timothy), and to have suffered martyrdom there about 65 or 66 a.d. If the Epistle to the Ephesians was written during his second imprisonment at Rome, as is commonly supposed, then it must have been somewhere between the years 63 and 65 a.d. Lardner and Hug suppose that it was written April, 61 a.d.; Macknight supposes it was in 60 or 61 a.d.; the editor of the Polyglott Bible places it at 64 a.d. The exact time when it was written cannot now be ascertained, and is not material.
Section 5. To Whom Was the Epistle Written?
The Epistle purports to have been written to the Ephesians - "to the saints which are at Ephesus," - Eph 1:1. But the opinion that it was written to the Ephesians has been called in question by many expositors. Dr. Pales (Horae Paulinae) supposes that it was written to the Laodiceans. Wetstein also maintained the same opinion. This opinion was expressly stated also by Marcion, a heretic of the second century. Michaelis (Introduction) supposes that it was a "circular epistle," addressed not to any congregation in particular, but that it was intended for the Ephesians, Laodiceans, and some other churches of Asia Minor. He supposes that the apostle had several copies taken; that he made it intentionally of a very general character so as to suit all; that he affixed with his own hand the subscription, Eph 6:24, to each copy - "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity;" that at the beginning of the Epistle the name was inserted of the particular church to which it was to be sent - as "to the church in Ephesus" - "in Laodicea," etc.
When the several works composing the New Testament were collected into a volume he supposes that it so happened that the copy of this Epistle which was used was one obtained from Ephesus, containing a direction to the saints there. This is also the opinion of Archbishop Usher and Koppe. It does not comport with the design of these notes to go into an extended examination of this question; and after all that has been written on it, and the different opinions which have been entertained, it certainly does not become any one to be very confident. It is not a question of great importance, since it involves no point of doctrine or duty; but those who wish to see it discussed at length can be satisfied by referring to Paley's "Horae Paulinae;" to Michaelis' "Introduction," vol. iv. chapter xx., and to the "Prolegomena" of Koppe. The arguments which are alleged to prove that it was addressed to the church at Laodicea, or at least not to the church at Ephesus, are summarily the following:
(1) The testimony of Marcion, a heretic of the second century, who affirms that it was sent to the church in Laodicea, and that instead of the reading Eph 1:1, "in Ephesus," in the copy which he had it was "in Laodicea" But the opinion of Marcion is now regarded as of little weight. It is admitted that Marcion was in the habit of altering the Greek text to suit his own views.
(2) the principal objection to the opinion that it was written to the church at Ephesus is found in certain internal marks, and particularly with the lack of any allusion to the fact that Paul had ever been there, or to anything that particularly related to the church there. This difficulty comprises several particulars.
(a) Paul spent nearly three years in Ephesus, and was engaged there in deeply interesting transactions and occurrences. He had founded the church, ordained its elders, taught them the doctrines which they held, and had at last been persecuted there and driven away. If the Epistle was written to them it is remarkable that there is in the Epistle no allusion to any one of these facts or circumstances. This is the more remarkable, since it was his usual custom to allude to the events which had occurred in the churches which he had founded (see the Epistles to the Corinthians and Philippians), and, since on two other occasions, he at least makes direct allusion to these transactions at Ephesus; see Acts 20:18-35; Co1 15:32.
(b) In the other epistles which Paul wrote, it was his custom to salute a large number of persons by name. However, in this Epistle, there is no salutation of any kind. There is a general invocation of "peace to the brethren" Eph 6:23, but no specific mention of an individual by name. There is not even an allusion to the "elders" whom, with so much affection, he had addressed at Miletus Acts 20, and to whom he had given so solemn a charge. This is the more remarkable, as in this place he had spent three years in preaching the gospel, and must have been acquainted with all the leading members in the congregation. To the church at Rome, which he had never visited when he wrote his Epistle to the Romans, he sends a large number of salutations 1 Cor. 16; to the church at Ephesus, where he had spent a longer time than in any other place, he sends none.
(c) The name of Timothy does not occur in the Epistle. This is remarkable, because Paul had left him there with a special charge Ti1 1:3, and, if he were still there, it is singular that no allusion is made to him, and no salutation sent to him. If he had left Ephesus, and had gone to Rome to meet Paul as he requested Ti2 4:9, it is remarkable that Paul did not join his name with his own in sending the Epistle to the church, or at least allude to the fact that he had arrived. This is the more remarkable, because in the Epistles to the Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians, the name of Timothy is joined with that of Paul at the commencement of the Epistle.
(d) Paul speaks of the persons to whom this Epistle was sent as if he had not been with them, or at least in a manner which is hardly conceivable, on the supposition that he had been the founder of the church. Thus, in Eph 1:15-16, he says, "Wherefore also after I heard of your faith in Christ Jesus," etc. But this circumstance is not conclusive. Paul may have been told of the continuance of their faith and of their growing love and zeal, and he may have alluded to that in this passage.
(e) Another circumstance on which some reliance has been placed is the statement in Eph 3:1-2, "For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given to you-ward," etc. It is argued (see Michaelis) that this is not language which would have been employed by one who had founded the church, and with whom they were all acquainted. He would not have spoken in a manner implying any doubt whether they had ever heard of him and his labors in the ministry on account of the Gentiles. Such are the considerations relied upon to show that the Epistle could not have been written to the Ephesians.
On the other hand, there is proof of a very strong character that it was written to them. That proof is the following:
1. The common reading in Eph 1:1, "To the saints which are in Ephesus." It is true, as we have seen, that this reading has been called in question. Mill says that it is omitted by Basil (lib. 2, Adversus Eunomium), as he says, "on the testimony of the fathers and of ancient copies." Griesbach marks it with the sign "om.," denoting that it was omitted by some, but that, in his judgment, it is to be retained. It is found in the Vulgate, the Syriac, the Arabic, and the Ethiopic in Walton's Polyglott. Rosenmuller remarks that "most of the ancient codices, and all the ancient versions, retain the word." To my mind this fact is conclusive. The testimony of Marcion is admitted to be of almost no authority; and as to the testimony of Basil, it is only one against the testimony of all the ancients, and is at best negative in its character; see the passage from Basil, quoted in Hug's Introduction.
2. A slight circumstance may be adverted to as throwing light incidentally upon this question. This Epistle was sent by Tychicus Eph 6:21. The Epistle to the Colossians was also sent from Rome by the same messenger Col 4:7. Now there is a strong improbability in the opinion held by Michaelis, Koppe, and others, that this was a "circular" letter, sent to the churches at large, or that different copies were prepared, and the name "Ephesus" inserted in one, and "Laodicea" in another, etc. The improbability is this, that the apostle would at the same time send such a circular letter to several of the churches, and a special letter to the church at Colossae. What claim had that church to special notice? What pre-eminence had it over the church at Ephesus? And why should he send them a letter bearing so strong a resemblance to that addressed to the other churches, when the same letter would have suited the church at Colossae as well as the one which was actually sent to them; for there is a nearer resemblance between these two epistles, than any other two portions of the Bible. Besides, in Ti2 4:12, Paul says that he had sent "Tychicus to Ephesus;" and what is more natural than that, at that time, he sent this Epistle by him?
3. There is the utter lack of evidence from manuscripts or versions, that this Epistle was sent to Laodicea, or to any other church, except Ephesus. Not a manuscript has been found (circa 1880's) having the name "Laodicea" in Eph 1:1; nor any manuscript which omits the words "in Ephesus." If it had been sent to another congregation, or if it had been a circular letter addressed to no particular congregation, it is scarcely credible that this could have occurred.
These considerations make it plain to me that this Epistle was addressed, as it purports to have been, to the church in Ephesus. I confess myself wholly unable, however, to explain the remarkable circumstances that Paul does not refer to his former residence there; that he alludes to none of his troubles or his triumphs; that he makes no mention of the "elders," and greets no one by name; and that, throughout, he addresses them as if they were personally unknown to him. In this respect, it is unlike all the other epistles, which he ever wrote, and all which we should have expected from a man in such circumstances. May it not be accounted for from "this very fact," that an attempt to specify individuals where so many were known, would protract the Epistle to an unreasonable length? There is, indeed, one supposition suggested by Dr. Macknight, which may possibly explain to some extent the remarkable circumstances above referred to. It is, that an instruction may have been given by Paul to Tychicus, by whom he sent the letter, to send a copy of it to the Laodiceans, with an order to them to communicate it to the Colossians. In such a case everything local would be designedly omitted, and the Epistle would be of as general a character as possible. This is, however, mere conjecture, and does not remove the entirety of the difficulty.
Section 6. The Object for which the Epistle Was Written
Very various opinions have been formed in regard to the design for which this Epistle was written. Macknight supposes that it was with reference to the Eleusinian mysteries, and to various religious rites in the Temple of Diana, and that Paul intended particularly to state the "mysteries" of the gospel in contradistinction from them. But there is no clear evidence that the apostle had any such object, and it is not necessary to go into an explanation of those mysteries in order to an understanding of the Epistle. The Epistle is such as might be addressed to any Christians, though there are allusions to customs which then prevailed, and to opinions then held, which it is desirable to understand in order to a just view of it. That there were Jews and Judaizing Christians in Ephesus, may be learned from the Epistle itself. That there were those there who supposed that the Jews were to have a more elevated rank than the Gentiles, may also be learned from the Epistle; and one object was to show that all true Christians, whether of Jewish or pagan origin, were on a level, and were entitled to the same privileges. That there was the prevalence of a false and dangerous philosophy there, may also be learned from the Epistle; and that there were those who attempted to cause divisions, and who had violated the unity of the faith, may also be learned from it.
The Epistle is divided into two parts -
I. The doctrinal part Eph. 1-3; and
II. The practical part, or the application Eph. 4-6.
I. The doctrinal part comprises the following topics:
(1) Praise to God for the Revelation of his eternal counsels of recovering mercy, Eph 1:3-14.
(2) a prayer of the apostle, expressing his earnest desire that the Ephesians might avail themselves fully of all the advantages of this eternal purpose of mercy, Eph 1:15-23.
(3) the doctrine of the native character of man, as being dead in sins, illustrated by the past lives of the Ephesians, Eph 2:1-3.
(4) the doctrine of regeneration by the grace of God, and the advantages of it, Eph 2:5-7.
(5) the doctrine of salvation by grace alone without respect to our own works, Eph 2:8-9,
(6) The privilege of being thus admitted to the fellowship of the saints, Eph 2:11-22,
(7) A full statement of the doctrine that God meant to admit the Gentiles to the privileges of his people, and to break down the barriers between the Gentiles and the Jews, Eph 3:1-12.
(8) the apostle prays earnestly that they might avail themselves fully of this doctrine, and be able to appreciate fully the advantages which it was intended to confer; and with this prayer he closes the doctrinal part of the Epistle, Eph 3:13-21.
II. The practical part of the Epistle embraces the following topics, namely:
(1) Exhortation to unity, drawn from the consideration that there was one God, one faith, etc., Eph. 4:1-16.
(2) an exhortation to a holy life "in general," from the fact that they differed from other Gentiles, Eph 4:17-24.
(3) exhortation to exhibit "particular" virtues - "specifying" what was required by their religion, and what they should avoid - particularly to avoid the vices of anger, lying, licentiousness, and intemperance, Eph 4:25-32; Eph. 5:1-20.
(4) the duties of husbands and wives, Eph 5:21-33.
(5) the duties of parents and children, Eph 6:1-3.
(6) the duties of masters and servants, Eph 6:4-9.
(7) an exhortation to fidelity in the Christian warfare, Eph 6:10-20.
(8) Conclusion, Eph 6:21-24.
The style of this Epistle is exceedingly animated. The apostle is cheered by the intelligence which he had received of their deportment in the gospel, and is warmed by the grandeur of his principal theme - the eternal purposes of divine mercy. Into the discussion of that subject he throws his whole soul, and there is probably no part of Paul's writings where there is more ardor, elevation, and soul evinced, than in this Epistle. He approaches the great doctrine of predestination as a most important and vital doctrine; he states it freely and fully, and urges it as the basis of the Christian's hope, and the foundation of eternal gratitude and praise. Perhaps nowhere is there a better illustration of the power of that doctrine to elevate the soul and fill it with grand conceptions of the character of God, and to excite grateful emotions, than in this Epistle; and the Christian, therefore, may study it as a portion of the sacred writings eminently suited to excite his gratitude, and to fill him with adoring views of God. | <urn:uuid:be23f658-e791-4ec7-b18d-ecb51fb4f7e2> | {
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By studying disadvantaged children, Richard Tremblay has traced the roots of chronic aggressive behaviour back as far as infancy. Now he hopes to go back further.
Hochelaga was the original Iroquoian name for the village that ultimately became Montreal, but it is also the name of a rough-hewn French–Canadian neighbourhood located east of — and a world away from — the cosmopolitan city centre. The district's tidy two- and three-storey brick duplexes, adorned with Montreal's characteristic wrought-iron staircases, predominantly house families that have, because of poverty and lack of education, never quite attained thriving middle-class status.
During the 1980s, public-school officials identified Hochelaga and many other impoverished neighbourhoods in the eastern part of Montreal as places where kindergarten children disproportionately displayed severe behavioural problems, such as physical aggression. The school system asked a young University of Montreal psychologist named Richard Tremblay for help.
“Their parents didn't have a high-school diploma, and many of the mothers had their first child before the age of 20,” Tremblay says of the families he began to study, as he walks along Rue Ontario in Hochelaga on a sunny afternoon in September. Those were the women, he adds, “most at risk of having children who have problems”.
Over the past three decades, Hochelaga and similar neighbourhoods have served as living laboratories in the study of the roots of aggression. Since 1984, Tremblay and his collaborators have followed more than 1,000 children from 53 schools in the city from childhood into adulthood. And in 1985, he initiated a ground-breaking experiment in which some families of at-risk children were given support and counselling to help curb bad behaviour. His research overturned ideas about when aggressive behaviour first emerges, and showed that early intervention can deflect children away from adult criminality.
Written By: Stephen S. Hall
continue to source article at nature.com | <urn:uuid:e84def15-09aa-45b1-9eb6-c71c6e83b9d7> | {
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The goal is to bring micro fuel cells closer to reality using fuels such as glucose, methanol, and hydrogen.
The Sandia Polymer Electrolyte Alternative (SPEA) operates as high as 140°C and produces peak power of 1.1 W/cm 2 at 2 A/cm 2 at 80°C. Under identical operating conditions, the SPEA material puts out more power with methanol and hydrogen than does Nafion, the state-of-art PEM material for fuel cells. This suggests the Sandia material may be a potential alternative to Nafion.
There are several advantages with the SPEA material operating at high temperatures. It makes possible smaller fuel-cell stacks thanks to better heat rejection, enhanced water management, and its significant resistance to carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Researchers are now trying to reduce the internal resistance of the fuel-cellmembrane electrode assembly. SPEA fuel cells may see use in sensors, cell phones, laptops, and automobiles. | <urn:uuid:6cd94c0e-b0d4-4020-88b5-10414ec0e62d> | {
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Vaccines are causing an unprecedented number of mutations creating superbugs and potent viruses and bacteria that may eventually threaten future generations and humanity itself. Evidence continues to mount from the scientific community who now admit that certain vaccines are in-fact causing both viral and bacterial mutations. Ironically, the same researchers assert that “better” vaccines are needed to offset the rise in persistent mutations.
Life-threatening pathogens are capable of evolving rapidly and developing genetic decoys that serve to disguise them from even the most powerful drugs. University of Oxford researcher Rory Bowden found that pathogens switch genetic material with other bacteria, but predominantly for the part of the genome responsible for making the cell coating, which is the area targeted by vaccines. Former post-doctoral researcher of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Grainne Long found that vaccination led to a 40-fold enhancement of B. parapertussis colonization in the lungs. His data suggested that the vaccine may be contributing to the observed rise in whooping cough incidence over the last decade by promoting B. parapertussis infection.
An acellular whooping cough vaccine actually enhances the colonization of Bordetella parapertussis in mice; pointing towards a rise in B. parapertussis incidence resulting from acellular vaccination, which may have contributed to the observed increase in whooping cough over the last decade.
Despite widespread vaccination, whooping cough incidence is on the rise worldwide, making it a disease virtually immune to vaccines.
Dangerous new strains of whooping cough bacteria are now evading Australia’s vaccine against the disease and entrenching a four-year epidemic that could soon spread overseas, Sydney scientists have found in research that raises questions about the national vaccine program. | <urn:uuid:ba063c76-7c23-4c66-b008-29dd3771ca55> | {
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These days, we mostly associate indoor baseball with the various indignities of Tropicana Field or perhaps the kitsch-irony of the maybe-to-be-razed Astrodome. However, the playing of our baseball in enclosed spaces far predates anything within recent memory. As it so happens, it traces back to Thanksgiving Day, 1887.
Here's an excerpt from a New York Times dispatch dated November 26, 1900 ...
In keeping with that particular era in journalism, there's likely some lore among the truths. With that said, "Say, boys, let's play baseball," is a darned fine flourish, as creation myths go.
As noted later in the article, for that first indoor game, a boxing glove was the ball, and a broom was the bat. The encounter concluded with a score of 41-40, which sounds not like a game for connoisseurs or those with jobs, hobbies, families. Later, proper equipment was introduced, and the game spread beyond the confines of the upper Midwest.
The first sanctioned game of indoor baseball took place in the Philadelphia State Fairground Building on Christmas Day, 1888. In front of 2,000 onlookers, the Downtowners prevailed over the Uptowners by a tally of 6-1, which sounds much more reasonable
By 1891, the aforementioned George W. Hancock, father of this runaway child, had put indoor baseball rules to paper ...
The following photo, of an indoor tilt from 1905, will give you an idea of what such a contest looked like:
(Image: The Design Morgue)
A bit cramped and perhaps haphazard, but slapdash baseball is better than no baseball, as I'm sure you'll agree.
With a larger-than-usual ball, crude bat and conspicuous absence of gloves, indoor baseball was not unlike what we now call 16-inch or "Chicago" softball, which, I can witness, is a stupendous and edifying pursuit.
Anyhow, by 1939 baseball legend Tris Speaker and others were so emboldened as to launch the National Professional Indoor Baseball League, which, as SABR notes, lasted all of 30 days. So that didn't take. However, indoor baseball can be thought of as having two distinct evolutions.
The first and arguably most notable is that it matured into the sport of softball, which these days is, of course, a prominent women's sport at the collegiate level and otherwise harbor to too many avocational athletes to count. In fact, the American Softball Association cites that same Thanksgiving day in 1887 as its sport's point of origin, albeit with details and back-story somewhat different from those noted above.
The other evolution of indoor baseball can be thought of in these visual terms ...
Let us now give solemn thanks for this bounty of space-age baseball, which first crawled from the primordial muck on Thanksgiving Day, 1887. | <urn:uuid:9c308832-74f6-4335-97af-96a7b747cf69> | {
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Thackeray spent his formative years at the Charterhouse, which he parodied in his later fiction as “Slaughterhouse”.
William Makepeace Thackeray (18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was one of the great English novelists of the 19th century. He is best known for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, in which he lampooned English society while retaining his distinctively light touch.
Thackeray was born in Calcutta, India. His father, a secretary to the board of revenue in the British East India Company, died in 1815, and as a result Thackeray was sent to England to begin his schooling. He was educated at schools in Southampton and Chiswick and then at Charterhouse School, which he disliked, later parodying it in his fiction as “Slaughterhouse”.
After Charterhouse, Thackeray struggled to find his way in life. He did not finish his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge, nor his studies to become a barrister at Middle Temple. Although his father had left him a small legacy, Thackeray squandered much of it on gambling and by funding two unsuccessful newspapers, The National Standard and The Constitutional, for which he had hoped to write.
Forced to consider a profession to support himself, he turned to art, which he studied in Paris. Nevertheless, he did not pursue it except in later years as the illustrator of some of his own novels and other writings.
Thackeray’s years of idleness ended when he married Isabella Gethin Shawe on 20 August 1836. Thereafter he began “writing for his life”, as he put it, turning to journalism in an effort to support his young family. He worked primarily for Fraser’s Magazine, for which he produced art criticism, short fictional sketches and two longer fictional works, Catherine and The Luck of Barry Lyndon.
In 1840, after giving birth to the couple’s third child, Isabella entered a terrible depression. Finding he could get no work done at home, Thackeray began to spend more and more time away, until finally, in September 1840, he realised just how bad his wife’s condition was.
Struck by guilt, he took his Isabella to Ireland in a misjudged attempt to resolve the situation. During the crossing, however, Isabella threw herself into the sea, and had to be pulled from the waters. Shortly after, her mental condition deteriorated into a permanent state of detachment. Unaware of the world around her, she ended up confined in a home near Paris, and remained there until her death in 1893. She outlived her husband by thirty years.
After his wife’s illness, Thackeray became a de facto widower, never establishing another permanent relationship. All the same, his writing output remained undiminished, and with the Snob Papers (serialised 1846/7), Thackeray firmly established himself as one of the finest writers of his day.
Even before Vanity Fair completed its serial run, Thackeray had become a celebrity: the reading public considered him second only to Charles Dickens, whom he both deplored and admired.
Thackeray’s final years were spent producing several large novels, notably Pendennis, The Newcomes and The History of Esmond; giving lectures in London on the English humorists of the eighteenth century; and editing the newly established Cornhill Magazine.
He was not a well man during this time, and he was plagued by a recurring stricture of the urethra that laid him up for days at a time. He suffered a stroke on 23 December 1863, aged 52, and was found dead in his bed in the morning. An estimated 7000 people attended his funeral at Kensington Gardens.
Notwithstanding his dislike for his days at Charterhouse, Thackeray was honoured in the Charterhouse Chapel with a monument after his death.
Over the years the Charterhouse has gathered a wealth of materials relating to Thackeray, including drawings, busts and letters. | <urn:uuid:6ec70896-5029-461b-b86b-bd6a829cffa5> | {
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When Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was invited to address the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in 2005, a few hundred members petitioned to have the invitation rescinded. They felt a religious leader had no place at a scientific meeting. The invitation stood and the Dalai Lama posed a challenging question to the gathering: What relation could there be between spiritual tradition and modern science?
In fact the Dalai Lama had sparked this dialogue about science and spirituality as early as the 1980s which led to the creation of the Mind & Life Institute, dedicated to studying contemplative science and contemplative neuroscience—the scientific study of the brain of the expert meditator.
Research has started to explain why training the mind to meditate offers so many cognitive and emotional benefits. These benefits have been known for thousands of years by those drawn to such practices, but never backed by scientific research until recently.
This research coincides with further neuroscientific findings that show that the adult brain can still be deeply transformed through experience. For instance when you learn to play a musical instrument your brain undergoes changes whereby certain areas of the brain actually get larger through a process called neuroplasticity. A similar process appears to happen when you learn to meditate.
The cover article in the November 2014 issue of Scientific American, describes how three major forms of meditation from the Buddhist tradition—focussed attention, mindfulness, and loving-kindness—activate and develop corresponding brain areas, which can be observed through the latest advances in neuroimaging. Some of these findings are summarised below.
Focussed Attention and the Neuroscience of ‘Wandering Mind’
The first form of meditation, known as focussed attention, aims to quieten and centre the mind in the present moment while developing the capacity to remain vigilant to distractions. The meditator typically directs attention to one thing such as the in-and-out cycle of breathing. Naturally the mind wanders and the practice is to notice when this happens and restore the object of focus.
Neuroimagery linked with this practice shows that a part of the brain known as the default-mode network (DMN) is activated when concentration is lost and the mind wanders. The DMN is a kind of autopilot that steps in with control when we become distracted. The brain will carry on with the task even if we’re no longer present to what’s happening. That’s a really good thing because in this case the task is breathing!
When we realise we’ve been distracted a different part of the brain, called the salience network, is activated. This functions like a compass needle that triggers an alarm if it strays from an intended direction. The salience network can be trained in meditation practice and is a part of the brain’s cognitive cycles involved in sustaining concentration on one thing.
Finally the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe are engaged in “taking back” attention to the object of focus by detaching it from any distracting stimuli. The prefrontal cortex then continues to retain a high level of activity as the attention remains directed to the object of focus, such as the breath.
Expert meditators with more than 10,000 hours of practice show more activity in these attention-related brain regions compared with beginners. Their brain imagery resembles expert musicians and athletes capable of sustaining a sense of effortless concentration and control during their performances.
Mindfulness and Attentional Blink
The second meditation form studied by researchers, mindfulness, tries to cultivate a less emotionally reactive awareness to emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment to prevent them from spiraling out of control and creating mental distress. The meditator remains open and attentive to any arising experience without focusing on anything specific. This is also sometimes called open-monitoring meditation.
Researchers measured what is known as attentional blink, which is the time the brain takes to ‘reset’ in-between two experiences. Often if the delay between two experiences is less than 300 milliseconds, the second one goes unnoticed. If the delay is greater than 600 milliseconds it is usually detected without difficulty. The reset time is connected with how easily the brain is able to ‘let go’ of one arising experience and be open to the next.
Research showed that mindfulness practice, which cultivates a nonreactive form of sensory awareness, resulted in reduced attentional blink after three months of intensive practice. Meaning that the brain’s capacity to remain open to new experience significantly increased.
Expert meditator’s brain activity, compared to novices, was also shown to diminish in anxiety-related regions such as the amygdala. Anxiety is often a core emotion connected with mental flight and dissociation from experience, it is often an habitual response of trauma survivors. In long-term meditator’s the actual size of the amygdala decreases. This insight may be particularly helpful in dealing with distress and traumatic pain, which may otherwise be feared and repressed from conscious processing.
Loving Kindness and Attunement to Suffering
Finally, another type of practice studied by researchers is known in the Buddhist tradition as compassion and loving kindness and fosters an altruistic perspective toward others. This has proved to be more than just a spiritual exercise with potential benefits for health care workers, teachers and others who run the risk of emotional burnout linked to the distress experienced from deeply opening to another person’s plight.
The practice begins by focusing on an unconditional feeling of benevolence and love for others, accompanied by the silent repetition of a phrase conveying this intent. After a week of practice, novice subjects watched video clips showing suffering people with more positive and benevolent feelings than non-meditators.
Instead of leading to distress and discouragement, the practice reinforced inner balance, strength of mind, and a courageous determination to help those who suffer. This is like the difference between a loving, comforting mother at the side of a sick child versus a mother overwhelmed with anxiety at the sight of her child’s distress. In the latter case the mother may end up with the common experience of burnout, which ultimately won’t do her or her child much good.
A Way to Well-Being
These and many more studies are demonstrating the important place that contemplative and meditative practices may have on brain development and cognitive processes critical for mental and emotional health.
Many therapists now recommend mindfulness meditation to support psychotherapy. Some psychotherapists undergo long-term mindfulness training themselves, integrating this into their practice. They can therefore provide their clients the unique opportunity to experience the majority of the therapy session in mindfulness.
If you’re interested in such an integrative approach to psychotherapy, don’t be afraid to enquire about any mindfulness training your therapist has received and if they integrate this in their practice. Meanwhile, if you’re new to mindfulness and meditation practice and want to try it out yourself, then a great place to get started is Mark Williams and Danny Penman’s book, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World.
And of course feel free to get in touch if you have any questions that I can assist you with or to book a session to see what a mindful approach to psychotherapy is like in practice and how it can help you.
Phone: 07710 511 517 | <urn:uuid:d5c6add8-fa6f-4744-b54c-b2766f1c6b80> | {
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Certificate Course in School Classroom Material Development
About The Course
Classroom Material Development offered by internationally approved International Teachers Training Academy is an all-inclusive course on accumulation of materials in one place. Materials do not simply suggest flash cards or charts – but a varied resource material, which includes using technology – materials or information that can be used in creating projects in EVS and English – Science hands on activities among other things. These come very handy for teachers as the always demanding school curriculum including innovative ideas and projects for its exhibition and subject oriented days (like science day/ art exhibitions etc.).The ideas are all very simple, cost effective and an endeavor to use re-cycled, waste everyday materials commonly found. The importance of the course is that it compiles the materials in one place – thus saving time to search for effective ideas on the internet or from other sources. This course will be immensely helpful for both aspiring as well as active teachers as this course focuses on areas that will make learning effective and teaching memorable.
As teachers, it is so important to have adequate supplies of resources to draw upon for modification in classroom contexts. In this course it guides teachers, who are loaded with application of the concepts learned throughout the specialization, to create their own toolbox designed with the knowledge of effective teaching aids.
Course Duration: The course duration is of 60 hours which covers a period of 3 months to complete the course. The flexibility to finish it in a shorter span of time is also available. For further guidance kindly get in touch with the admission’s department.
Eligibility criteria: 10 + 2
Module 1: Materials to develop fine motor skills (2-4 years old )
Module 2: Song rhymes and games, Arty ideas, Projects
Module 3: Integrating curriculum content, Language Activities
Module 4: Activities related to Science subjects
Module 5: Classroom Material Exploitation
Module 6: Using technology
Course Fees : Certificate Course in Classroom Material Development fee is Rs 8,000 for online mode (160 USD for International students) | <urn:uuid:4eedd7ef-802a-45ba-a649-629ea99c7b1f> | {
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The Roerich Pact in India
India with its incredible cultural heritage and spiritual subtlety was among the first countries to respond to Nicholas Roerich’s appeal for the necessity to protect cultural properties. As far back as the 1920s and 1930s the Committee of the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace was founded in India concurrently with France, Belgium and the USA. The outstanding figures of India including Jagadish Bose, S.Radhakrishnan, C.V.Raman, Dr. James Cousins and many others ardently supported Nicholas Roerich’s ideas. The great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote to Nicholas Roerich: «I have keenly followed your most remarkable achievements in the realm of Arts and also your great humanitarian work for the welfare of the nations, of which your Peace Pact idea with a special Banner for protection of cultural treasures is a singularly effective symbol. - <…> I feel sure that it will have far-reaching effects on the cultural harmony of nations».
Such organizations as the Historical Scientific and Research Institute (Andhra), Allahabad Municipal Museum, Bharat Kala Bhawan in Banaras, the Maha Bodhi Society, Indian Women Association, and almost entire mass media expressed their commitment to the Pact.
The Hindu Historical Congress in Allahabad unanimously accepted the resolution of joining the Roerich Pact. The oldest Indian literary society Nagari Pracharini Sabha in Banaras highly appreciated and supported the Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace at the meeting on November 6, 1938. The Banner of Peace was unfurled in Karachi on November 17, 1938.
The Roerich Pact and Banner of Peace movement developed with renewed vigour after the terrible and unprecedented destruction of World War II. In these years the Roerichs did much for the promotion of the Pact in their beloved India. They were preparing documents, applying to the legal bodies, made publications in press and established relations with eminent Indian leaders. On April 18, 1946 the Sixth All-India Cultural Unity Conference convened in Calcutta. The resolution noted that the conference “fully appreciates the sincere efforts of Professor Nicholas Roerich” and strongly supports the Roerich Pact.
In 1948 India released from colonial dependence under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru decided to approve the Roerich Pact. India raised the Banner of Peace.
Swami Jagadisvarananda, the eminent Indian religious leader wrote in his message to the Banner of Peace Convention: “Nicholas Roerich, the academician, founder and driver of a unique humanitarian movement, is the soul of the world Art and Сulture. – Dr. Cousins correctly recognized him as “spiritually of the Himalayas”, because he is actually the prophet of new humanity and messenger of the new world culture. Roerich is our chief, who started new significant chapter in the history of mankind by setting up a movement for the Pact and Banner of Peace.”
"Let us Save the Living Tissue of Culture"
Millennia-old Indian culture has a special significance for our planet. It stands on the eternal values that bind together the past, present and future. Ancient temples, unique manuscripts with the sacred texts of the Vedas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the religious dances, sculpture and painting have absorbed all the ancient spiritual knowledge and carefully carried it through the ages. They talk about the origin of the universe and the cycles of its development, the cosmic processes, and moral and ethical laws. They are a valuable source of knowledge, not only for Indians but for all mankind. They contain the beneficial energy of the human spirit, connecting us with the world of Beauty and the Supreme Truth. "In art,” wrote Rabindranath Tagore, “our inner essence sends its response to the Supreme Creator who reveals himself to us through the world of endless beauty, which is above the colorless world of facts."
Traveling throughout India, Nicholas Roerich studied its culture and history from the days of ancient civilization to the great historical epochs. He captured on his canvases ancient temples and monasteries, ancient sculpture and mural paintings. They inspired mankind in the past and will continue to inspire and guide it to even greater achievements in the future – but only if humanity is be able to preserve them for the future.
Currently numerous cultural heritage monuments of India having worldwide significance are under the protection of UNESCO. Nevertheless, the problem of protecting monuments is becoming increasingly relevant. Cultural properties continue to be destroyed, and not only by time, but also by human indifference and ignorance. However, Roerich claimed that there would be no future without the past. Destroying the past, its cultural and historical monuments, abolishing the power of beauty, we are destroying our future. Moreover, the fewer are the true works of art and architecture, the weaker is the space of culture, and the more the damage to the energy needed for our evolution.
The Roerich Pact is an important evolutionary initiative aimed at preserving the priceless cultural treasures of our planet. It reminds people that above conflicts and fires there are universal and international values that need to be protected. It calls for constant, consistent and courageous protection of Culture. The Roerich Pact works for our future. | <urn:uuid:2864ed7e-d84a-47ad-8126-06a4b373ccba> | {
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On Friday 25th January 2019, Year 3 had a special European celebration day and everyone looked great in their outfits.
The children spent the day learning about a variety of famous European artists including Michelangelo, a famous artist from Italy who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The children were challenged to lie under the table and paint a picture onto paper stuck to the underside of the table! It was really tricky but lots of fun and helped the children to realise just how impressive Michelangelo’s paintings were. They also learnt about Rembrandt, who was a portrait painter from Holland and created some very unusual portrait pictures using rubbers to draw with!
Throughout the day the children took their learning outside and completed a landmark construction challenge and a highlight of the day for everyone was pizza making, especially when they got to eat them!
The day finished with a special class assembly where the children got to share their learning about different European countries. Everyone had an amazing day! | <urn:uuid:5a5424c2-b7b9-47b4-9a62-791fb917461b> | {
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Harrison, Terry Department of Anthropology, Paleoanthropology Laboratory, New York University, New York, New York.
- New World monkeys
- Links to Primary Literature
- Additional Readings
The mammalian order to which humans, monkeys, and apes belong. Primates other than humans are generally arboreal mammals (living in trees) with a geographic distribution restricted largely to the tropics. Unlike most other mammalian orders, the primates cannot be defined by a diagnostic suite of specializations, but are characterized by a combination of primitive features and progressive trends. These include (1) increased dominance of vision over olfaction (the sense of smell), with eyes more frontally directed, development of stereoscopic vision, and reduction in the length of the snout; (2) eye sockets of the skull completely encircled by bone; (3) loss of an incisor and premolar from each half of the upper and lower jaws with respect to primitive placental mammals; (4) increased size and complexity of the brain, especially those centers involving vision, memory, and learning; (5) development of grasping hands and feet, with a tendency to use the hands rather than the snout as the primary exploratory and manipulative organ; (6) progressive elaboration of the placenta in conjunction with a longer gestation period, small litter size (only one or two infants), and precocial young; (7) increased period of infant dependency and more intensive parenting; and (8) a tendency to live in complex, long-lasting social groups. See also: Mammalia; Social mammals; Sociobiology
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When to Compost with a Container
Although a simple compost pile will certainly give you nice, rich organic matter for your garden and keep your food waste out of landfills, it isn't always the best option. In some situations, it makes more sense to compost in a container.
Acceptable landscape aesthetics vary widely by individual, neighborhood, and community standards. If you're fortunate to live where local government encourages home composting to reduce solid waste sent to landfills, you may be surrounded by supportive neighbors who also compost.
On the other hand, you may be surrounded by those who are less enthusiastic and don't want to see your mounds of organic matter from their backyard or windows. Using containers that hide organic matter with fully enclosed sides or containers that you can tuck discretely into out-of-view locations forestalls potential complaints.
Other good reasons to employ containers in your composting efforts include the following:
Containers keep your stockpiles of dried materials, such as leaves, straw, and sawdust, under control until you need them. Without some type of holding unit, your carefully collected ingredients might end up scattered around the yard the next time a mighty wind blows through.
Keeping kitchen scraps in and pests out is another important benefit offered by containers that are completely enclosed and feature secure lids..
When it comes to efficient composting, maintaining the overall size and shape of your original pile of ingredients is easier within the confines of containers. When compost materials have sufficient mass (at least 1 cubic yard), they're better able to self-insulate to maintain consistent moisture levels and higher temperatures, conditions that speed decomposition.
Fully enclosed bins help organic matter retain moisture, a characteristic that's useful if you live in an arid climate. Decomposition slows down when the compost pile dries out.
If you live in a rainy climate, enclosed bins keep heavy rains from soaking organic matter. Wet piles turn anaerobic and smelly.
Some bins offer insulating qualities that help increase and maintain higher temperatures inside. | <urn:uuid:28508d3d-da43-40e8-8d1b-6c087d16c097> | {
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Whenever antivirus software is mentioned, someone always seems to chime up and say they don’t need an antivirus because they’re careful. This isn’t true. No matter how smart think you are, you can still benefit from an antivirus on Windows.
The idea that antivirus software is only necessary for irresponsible Windows users is a myth, and a dangerous one to spread. In an age where zero-day vulnerabilities are found and sold to organized crime with alarming frequency, even the most careful of users are vulnerable.
Being Smart Only Helps So Much
Many people think that you can only get malware by downloading suspicious files, running unpatched software, visiting the wrong websites, and doing other irresponsible things like having the Java plug-in enabled in your web browser. It’s true – this is how most people pick up malware. But this isn’t the only way malware can spread.
We have previously written about “zero-day” exploits – vulnerabilities that the bad guys find first. Ones we don’t know about, which we can’t protect ourselves from. At events like Pwn2Own and Pwnium, contestants are challenged to compromise fully patched software like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, and more for a financial reward. These browsers and plug-ins inevitably fall as the contestants use unpatched security flaws to crack their security.
These flaws are corrected as soon as they’re found, but new ones inevitably pop up.
In other words, your computer could be infected just from you visiting a website. Even if you only visit websites you trust, the website itself could be compromised – something that happens with alarming frequency these days.
An Antivirus is the Final Layer of Protection
An antivirus is your final layer of protection. If a website uses a security flaw in your browser or a plug-in like Flash to compromise your computer, it will often attempt to install malware – keyloggers, Trojans, rootkits, and all sorts of other bad things. These days, malware is the domain of organized crime looking to gather financial information and harness your computer for botnets.
If a zero-day in a piece of software you use does give the bad guys an opportunity to get malware onto your system, an antivirus is your last layer of defense. It shouldn’t be your only layer of protection, but it is an important one. And there’s no good reason not to run an antivirus on Windows.
Why Wouldn’t You Run an Antivirus?
Some people believe that antivirus software is heavy and slows down your computer. This was certainly true in the past. Older Norton and McAfee antivirus software suites were infamous for slowing down your computer more than actual viruses would. They’re full of notifications and inducements to keep paying for a subscription and buy more expensive security suites, just as adware annoys you with requests to buy products.
This isn’t true anymore. Computers have become so fast that antivirus software doesn’t weigh them down like it used to. There are also more efficient security suites that are lighter on resources. The free Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7 or included Windows Defender on Windows 8 are lightweight antivirus programs created by Microsoft. They don’t try to sell you anything at all.
An antivirus program like Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender is free, won’t noticeably slow down your computer, won’t harass you to buy anything, and doesn’t include an annoying update process (it updates through Windows Update). If it does slow things down, you can use exclusions to exempt certain trusted files from the antivirus scans.
Antiviruses like Microsoft Security Essentials are a very low-hassle way to increase your security. There’s no reason not to use them – unless you just want to brag online that you’re too smart for an antivirus.
You Should Still Be Careful
An antivirus is only a single layer of security. No antivirus program is perfect, as all the antivirus tests show nothing catches all malware all of the time. if you don’t exercise caution, you may become infected by malware even if you’re using an antivirus (Of course, performing scans with other antivirus programs may help find malware your antivirus suite can’t find.)
Be careful about the files you download and run, keep your software updated, uninstall vulnerable software like Java, and more – but don’t drop your antivirus defenses completely just because you’re being careful. A zero-day in your browser, a plugin like Flash, or Windows itself could open the door to infection, and an antivirus is your last layer of protection.
Malware isn’t what it used to be – much of it is created by organized crime to capture financial information and other sensitive data. Antivirus software helps you stay ahead of the bad guys by a little bit more, and it’s worth using.
Of course, this advice only applies to Windows. Linux computers don’t need antivirus software, and the reported threat of Android malware has been overblown as long as you play it safe. Windows is still the wild west in many ways, and even Macs have recently been brought to their knees — by Java security flaws, of course. | <urn:uuid:88c078dc-21fa-4d81-be56-61c0abdd3a6e> | {
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Accepted Scientific Name: Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose
Cactaceae (Britton & Rose) 4: 38. 1923 [24 Dec 1923] nom. cons. prop. Britton & Rose
Origin and Habitat: Coryphantha retusa is endemic to Mexico (Oaxaca, Puebla).
Altitude range: It occurs at elevation of 1,700 to 2,300 metres above sea level.
Habitat: Xerophyllous scrub, open Quercus forest and grasslands on lava soil. Accompanying species can be Mammillaria carnea, Ferocactus recurvus, Escontria chiotilla and Stenocereus stellatus. Little is known about the population size because it is difficult to distinguish Coryphantha retusa from other species in the genus. Little is known about the threats to this species because of the taxonomic uncertainty.
- Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose
Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose
Cactaceae (Britton & Rose) 4: 38. 1923 [24 Dec 1923] nom. cons. prop.
- Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose
- Coryphantha cephalophora (Salm-Dyck)
- Cactus cephalophorus (Salm-Dyck) Kuntze
- Echinocactus cephalophorus (Salm-Dyck) Poselg.
- Mammillaria cephalophora Salm-Dyck
- Coryphantha mammillariaeformis (Salm-Dyck)
- Melocactus mammillariaeformis Salm-Dyck
- Coryphantha retusa var. melleospina (Bravo) Bravo
- Coryphantha melleospina Bravo
- Coryphantha retusa var. pallidispina Backeb.
Description: Coryphantha retusa is a small greyish-green cactus thickly covered with tawny wool. Many of the yellowish-brown spines are curved backward. The flowers are deep yellow and borne from the centre of the plant. It flowers profusely.
Note: Coryphantha retusa is difficult to distinguish from Coryphantha pycnacantha as well as other species in the genus. The taxonomy of this species needs further research to determine its status.
Stem: Generally not offsetting, rarely clumping when old. Depressed spherical 5-10 cm in diameter, 3-8 cm tall, with narrowed base and very woolly apex. Epidermis dark green or greyish-green.
Tubercles: Conical, flattened above (retuse), unequally swollen, but variable in width and shape rounded, up to 8 mm tall with abundant wool in the axil and furrow when young, parastichy arrangement: 8-13 (13-21).
Areoles: Oblong 4 x 2 mm wide.
Central spines: Absent. (very rarely has 1 central spine )
Radial spines: 6-12 ( to 15) pectinated, 3-4 of them on each side, strong subulate, flattened, curved to the body and slightly downward, radiating the lowest on straight downwards, the 3-5 in the upper part of the areoles thinner needle like. All 14-20 mm long, pale-yellow/white with darker tips later turning grey.
Flowers: Bell shaped, central, up to 4 cm cream or yellow, perianth segment lanceolate,oblong, acute, filaments reddish, anthers yellow, stigma and lobes whitish-yellow.
Blooming season (in habitat): Flowering time is between June and October
Fruits: Olive green, juicy, oblong 30 x 9 mm.
Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Coryphantha retusa group
- Coryphantha retusa (Pfeiff.) Britton & Rose: has greyish-green stems covered with tawny wool. The yellowish-brown spines are curved backward. Flowers deep yellow borne from the centre. Distribution: Mexico (Oaxaca, Puebla).
- Coryphantha retusa var. pallidispina Backeb.: has 15 yellowish to pale-grey spines, among them 12 more rigid with thickened bases, the other 3 much thinner. The tubercles are more closely set than the type.
Bibliography: Major references and further lectures
1) Edward Anderson “The Cactus family” Timber Press, Incorporated, 2001
2) James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey "The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass" Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
3) David R Hunt; Nigel P Taylor; Graham Charles; International Cactaceae Systematics Group. "The New Cactus Lexicon" dh books, 2006
4) N. L. Britton, J. N. Rose “The Cactaceae. Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family.” Volume 4, The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington 1923
5) Curt Backeberg “Die Cactaceae: Handbuch der Kakteenkunde” Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart New York 1982–1985
6) Reto Dicht, Adrian Lüthy “Coryphantha: Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA” Springer Science & Business Media, 14 March 2006
7) Arias, S. 2013. Coryphantha retusa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 08 June 2015.
8) Cecile Hulse Matschat “Mexican Plants for American Gardens” Houghton Mifflin, 1935
9) Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton “Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names.” Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 2010
10) Reto F. Dicht, Adrian D. Lüthy “Nomina Cactacearum Conservanda sive Rejicienda Proposita.” In: Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives. 10: 19–22 2000.
Field number SB544 (Collector Steven Brack), Mitla, Oxaca, Mexico. (Coryphantha retusa) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli
In habitat. Spines are pectinated pale-yellow/white with darker tips later turning grey. (Coryphantha retusa) Photo by: Agócs György
Field number SB544 (Collector Steven Brack), Mitla, Oxaca, Mexico. (Coryphantha retusa) Photo by: Cactus Art
Mammillaria retusa (Coryphantha retusa) Photo by: Cactus Art
It is a dull-green cactus thickly covered with tawny wool and rounded, flattened above (retuse) tubercles. (Coryphantha retusa) Photo by: Cactus Art
Habit, among grasses in Mexico. (Coryphantha retusa) Photo by: Agócs György
Cultivation and Propagation: In culture Coryphantha retusa is without problems, but it grows slowly. It does best in slight shade, but does well in full sun, too. It is sensitive to over-watering (rot prone), and needs a very porous soil with good drainage.
It flowers quite early, but needs about 8-12 years to reach its typical, definite aspect. It tolerates fairly low temperatures as long as it is kept dry (hardy to -5° C or less, for short periods of time).
Propagation: Propagation is by seed.
|Back to Mammillaria index|
|Back to Cactaceae index|
|Back to Cacti Encyclopedia index| | <urn:uuid:d54d342c-3366-4b49-a7cf-f349e7049804> | {
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Week 5 - A Poem by Robert Burns
'Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation' was written in 1791 (highlighting a lingering hostility towards the union almost a century later), it articulates many of the popular anti-union feelings after 1707.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Attribution for this resource:
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On 3 February 2018, the Government announced a further $440 million for preschool education in 2019. This is in addition to the $428 million announced as part of the 2017-18 Budget to continue support for preschool throughout 2018. This funding will be provided through an extension to National Partnership arrangements.
This will benefit over an estimated 348,000 children in 2019 across all preschool settings, and bring the total Commonwealth investment in preschool to $3.7 billion since 2008.
Importantly, it will provide funding certainty for preschools and long day care centres as the government implements school and child care reforms this year.
Further information is available at the following links:
- Commitment to quality preschool education
- Information for preschool services
- Information for kindergarten services
What is Universal Access?
Universal access ensures that a quality preschool program is available for all children in the year before full-time school. The program is to be delivered by an early childhood teacher that meets National Quality Framework requirements, for 15 hours per week or 600 hours a year, depending on the service type. National Partnership arrangements include a focus on increasing participation by Indigenous, as well as vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
All Australian children who attend preschool will benefit from this initiative.
Research shows that participating in a quality preschool program can significantly increase positive education and life outcomes for children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Proof of long-lasting benefits of preschool can be seen in assessment results for Year 3 students, where children who attended preschool obtain consistently better results across all areas.
Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data demonstrates that children who attend preschool are also less likely to be developmentally vulnerable across all five developmental domains upon arrival at school.
While attendance is not compulsory, preschool programs are delivered in a range of settings including child care, stand-alone preschools and school-based preschools, in order to meet the needs of working families, and will be accessible to all Australian children, regardless of their location.
Who funds Universal Access?
States and territories are responsible for the provision of preschool, with Commonwealth funding a contribution to 'top up' arrangements and ensure families have nationally consistent access to 15 hours per week, or 600 hours per year, in the year before full-time school. This investment has increased enrolments in preschool, which has grown significantly from an estimated 206 000 in 2008 to nearly 345 000 in 2016.
How is Universal Access linked to the National Quality Framework?
The Australian Government's universal access commitment is also supported by the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care. This framework includes a National Quality Standard to ensure high quality and consistent early childhood education and care in a long day care, family day care, outside school hours care and preschool services across Australia. The Standard underpins services' policies and practices in the areas that impact on a child's development and help families make informed choices about which service is best for their child.
Under the National Quality Framework, long day care and preschool services must have an early childhood teacher in attendance, with specific requirements varying depending on the size of the service.
See more on the National Quality Framework page of the Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority website.
Who do I contact for more information?
States and territories have responsibility for the provision of preschool or kindergarten in their jurisdiction. Please contact the relevant state or territory government departments listed below for more information:
|Who do I contact for more information?|
|NSW||Department of Education||www.dec.nsw.gov.au||1300 679 332|
|VIC||Department of Education and Training||www.education.vic.gov.au||03 9637 2000|
|QLD||Department of Education and Training||www.deta.qld.gov.au||1800 454 639|
|WA||Department of Education||www.det.wa.edu.au||08 9264 4111|
|SA||Department for Education and Child Development||www.decd.sa.gov.au||1800 088 158|
|TAS||Department of Education||www.education.tas.gov.au||1800 816 057|
|ACT||Education and Training Directorate||www.det.act.gov.au||02 6207 5111|
|NT||Department of Education||www.education.nt.gov.au||08 8999 5659| | <urn:uuid:bab25364-6594-4302-bc9f-370dae0b80f7> | {
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An innovative Australian e-learning method has been developed to assist students on construction sites connecting and receiving advice from professional trainers. The state-of-the-art video response technology has been developed by The Green Building Institute in partnership with a variety of leading Registered Training Organisations, in an attempt to reduce the need for students and apprentices to travel to campuses, and increase their time spent onsite.
The lessons are presented using multi-media video and animation, allowing award winning and industry leading trainers to demonstrate practical tasks that workers can copy on their work-site. At the time of publication, there were over 3000 video lessons available on topics ranging from basic safety inductions and sustainable building practices, to detailed instructional videos for practical tasks and technical skills.
A more efficient, flexible, and mobile workforce? That sounds good to us. | <urn:uuid:a5da5a09-dede-4896-ad94-f2bf7b1a36f8> | {
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Gospel Music: Tracing Back Its Roots
Ever since some cognitive human beings have set foot on Earth, music has greatly taken part of their lives. The folks belonging to the days of yore created their own musical arrangements by plucking strings and hitting things like wood, hide, or stone. The sounds of nature have also served as one pleasant musical sound for them. They undoubtedly took pleasure listening to the sound of the waterfalls, the animals, and even the weather-related reverberations.
Music has then taken a further course. Throughout the passing of time, people have invented creative means of creating music. From the schools to the churches, there is music. The music industry has also created varied genres of music for all occasions.
You will often see or hear people preaching about the word of God. The gospel of the Lord is being delivered through the means of other people who serve as His own instruments. Simply listening to His words enlightens your spirit, right? God has often reminded His people to love one another as he loves everyone. He places every creation he has made under His care. Although every person has been created in His image and likeness, still no one leads a perfect life. To put it in a much simpler term, no one is as perfect as God is.
One’s spirituality and faith can thus be manifested by several means. Reading the bible, following the ten commandments of God, praying, singing gospel music, and attending mass are among the typical ways by which one’s spirituality is nourished. They often say that those who sing praise twice. Thus, by singing the gospel music, you are praising twice!
What is gospel music?
Gospel music is a religious music that contains the word of God. Gospel music is at all times used as one medium to praise God Almighty. In varying tunes and arrangements, gospel music can always be heard during the celebration of the mass, praise and worship activities, and healing mass.
There is no limit as to the use of gospel music. You can even make it as your morning praise habit. You can listen to it while driving your car. Or you can let it resound in your house. Some gospel music singers perform the genre in nightclubs and secular settings. These days, more and more gospel music are hence becoming danceable therefore making the enlightening of the spirit more effective.
The Roots of Gospel Music
The gospel music was first popularized by the African-American churches way back in the 1930s. Two styles of the gospel music emerged in those days—that of the black people and that of the white southerners. Despite the two separate styles, gospel music still traces its roots from the Methodist hymnal. There came a time when the artists from the two separate categories sang the gospel music of each other.
The onset of gospel music has marked a phenomenon in America regardless of the distinction between the while and black churches. Indeed, gospel music has reached Australia that gave birth to the gospel choirs of Jonah and The Whalers and The Elementals plus the beginning of the Australian Gospel Music Festival. Norway also gave rise to both the Oslo Gospel Choir and the Ansgar Gospel Choir.
The Influences of Gospel
The trendy pop music had greatly influenced the gospel artists. In turn, gospel music has also influenced the rhythm and blues singers of the 1940s up to the 1950s.
Gospel music has reached the peek of its popularity. Until now, several other gospel musical artists are gaining their own fame for the genre and a lot other patrons are getting drawn on them. | <urn:uuid:dc582e68-a3e6-473d-9888-373472496be5> | {
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Your favorite word could be our Word of the Day!
1690s, with adjectival suffix -al (1) + Modern Latin centrifugus, 1687, coined by Sir Isaac Newton (who wrote in Latin) in "Principia" (which is written in Latin), from Latin centri- alternative comb. form of centrum "center" (see center (n.)) + fugere "to flee" (see fugitive). Centrifugal force is Newton's vis centrifuga.
centrifugal cen·trif·u·gal (sěn-trĭf'yə-gəl, -trĭf'ə-)
Moving or directed away from a center or axis.
Transmitting nerve impulses away from the central nervous system; efferent. | <urn:uuid:9664730d-0e97-41fb-95e3-69cefa8aff09> | {
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BY ELISABETH A. HALL, FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL
Rising utility costs, ballooning gasoline prices, college tuitions and emergency expenses all add to the strain placed on a family’s tight budget. These expenses and more are causing many families to revise their budgets continually.
Children overhear financial discussions and casual statements spoken about saving for the next family vacation or a new car. They see prices on nearly every item in the stores and are aware that their parents work. Despite being aware that money is a part of life, many parents wonder just how much financial information should be shared with the kids.
Whether your family is pinching pennies or financially sound, do your children understand the concepts of saving and spending money? How much do your children know about your financial footing? Knowing when, where, and how to approach financial topics with your children will alleviate your children’s confusion and allow for a much more open and honest exchange between you and them.
ELISABETH A. HALL
One of the most important first steps in discussing finances with your children is to be age-appropriate. Remember that $100 to a four year old is like $100,000 to an adult. Money values and denominations are difficult concepts for children to grasp, so using things that they can relate to easily will help. For example, if you’re currently experiencing a budget crunch, explain to your child that paying the telephone bill each month is like purchasing five Barbie dolls all at the same time. This type of connection will help your children start to understand the value and importance of money.
Keep It Simple
Children are constantly asking us as parents to buy something or take them somewhere. Next time you’re faced with these types of questions, answering your children honestly will make the conversation go much more smoothly. By simply replying, “I’d love to go to the movies, but my job only pays me every
other Friday. This Friday is not the week I get paid, so we’ll go to the park instead.” Responding in this manner lets your children know that going to the movies, an amusement park, or the like is something that costs money. It’s OK to not always have the funding available to do something every weekend.
Choose the Right Time
Engaging your children in a discussion about the family finances at the grocery store or when their friends are visiting is not the best time. Preparing your children for what you expect of them prior to entering a store or having friends over is a much better way to avoid uncomfortable situations. Before unbuckling the seat belt and entering the store, say to your children, “We’re going into the store to buy milk, eggs, bread, etc. Sometimes I allow you to pick things out that you’d like, but this is not one of those times. Today, we are only buying what’s on my list. Agreed?” By addressing the issue prior to entering the store, you have effectively stopped the badgering before it even begins. This same tactic can be used when your children are entertaining guests. Instead of waiting for their friends to arrive and then engaging in a discussion over ordering pizza, just let the kids know ahead of time what is expected.
Establishing an allowance for children is a great idea – if it is pared with an equally effective reward system. Just like you and I work to earn the money we save and spend, children should also learn to work to earn privileges and benefits. By expecting children to engage in age-appropriate chores, the value of the money or reward becomes much more meaningful. A chart posted on the fridge or other prominent place allows kids to track their progress and know exactly what is expected of them. Also note that “an allowance” doesn’t necessarily have to be cash. Tickets to the movie theater or a coupon for a “chore-free day” can be equally as motivating for children to earn.
Paying for the Roof Over Their Heads
Certainly we’ve all struggled with getting our kids to turn the lights off or take a quicker shower. Many times, however, children don’t think of these actions as costing money. To help them better understand the cost of electricity or water usage, take the time to show your children your next utility bill. By allowing them to see the charges, your children gain a greater perspective on the value of conserving energy and water. Not only are you teaching a valuable financial lesson, but also one that helps the environment as well.
“How Much Do You Make?”
Many times parents struggle with knowing the best way to handle this important question. Children automatically think that a credit card or debit card means there is a limitless pile of money available. Teaching your children how credit cards and debit cards work will help them grasp the reality that using “plastic” doesn’t replace “cold hard cash.”
Opening up to children about the family finances is a great idea. By allowing them to understand the value of money, children gain a greater respect for you and for what they have already. Following the simple steps outlined above will help you make the topic of money a much more enjoyable one for your and your family. n
Elisabeth A. Hall is a Financial Professional with Alliance Advisory Group in Jamestown, NY. She serves as Vice President of the local National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors for Chautauqua County and is a member of the Million Dollar Round Table. Mrs. Hall can be reached by calling (716) 483-1531 or via email at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:1b0091a8-bb32-4c4d-a101-7ffb6b02533c> | {
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Which Joe gave his name to ‘sloppy joes’? We look at five interesting sandwiches and their lexical origins.
A long, steep slope, especially one at the edge of a plateau or separating areas of land at different heights.
mountain, hill, height, alp, aiguille, serac, puy, crag, tor, inselbergView synonyms
- ‘The sides of abyssal hills are fault escarpments created by vertical uplift of the sea floor during many events of fault slippage that produce frequent earthquakes.’
- ‘Crossing the Hakos Mountains at the edge of the Namibian escarpment is our greatest challenge.’
- ‘Flat alluvial fields rise up from the river to meet undulating slopes and escarpments that have been in cultivation since the sixteenth century.’
- ‘The lowland rainforest is abruptly fractured by the Pakaraima Mountains, an area dominated by bold escarpments and lush, forested valleys.’
- ‘Perhaps the most striking feature is the steep escarpment that characterizes the northwest-facing edge of the Cotswold Hills.’
- ‘The first couple of miles are along the top edge of the western escarpment of the Hambleton Hills.’
- ‘From the pass head due south up the ridge, along a rocky escarpment then up grassy slopes to a stony summit.’
- ‘Sherpa villages cling to the sides of sheer mountain slopes or sit on top of steep escarpments.’
- ‘To efficiently harvest the region's trees, which average 20 cm in diameter and are perched on slopes and rocky escarpments, calls for some innovative and hardworking contractors.’
- ‘Once the more resistant gently dipping rocks of the Cotswolds have been removed, the underlying softer beds are easily eroded, so the Jurassic escarpments to the east of the Vales of Evesham and Gloucester retreated through time.’
- ‘The area sits in the western Rift Valley adjacent to the escarpment of the Fipa plateau.’
- ‘It was like an escarpment, sloping up gently on one side and dropping vertically to 90m on the other.’
- ‘The country's central regions are marked by plateaus and escarpments.’
- ‘It is built in a lovely location on the edge of an escarpment looking out over the Vale of York.’
- ‘Many other streams and waterfalls run through this area's rocky escarpments and narrow valleys.’
- ‘Just after that there are good views west off the edge of the escarpment in addition to those north towards the Cleveland Hills.’
- ‘Whereas tectonic activity may supply the thickened crust and the high surface altitudes, most of the Earth's dramatic scenery, from sea cliffs to continental escarpments to deep mountain valleys, is cut by erosional processes.’
- ‘The escarpment where the plateau met the plain became the Vindhya mountains.’
Early 19th century: from French escarpement, escarpe ‘scarp’, from Italian scarpa ‘slope’. Compare with scarp.
We take a look at several popular, though confusing, punctuation marks.
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, discover surprising and intriguing language facts from around the globe.
The definitions of ‘buddy’ and ‘bro’ in the OED have recently been revised. We explore their history and increase in popularity. | <urn:uuid:375b575f-7cc2-46bf-a06e-091f68ec866f> | {
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Balancing Equations/Carbon compounds
Number of atoms in reactants = Number of atoms in products
(aq) dissolved in water (aqueous solution)
Caron is a element found in group 4 of the periodic table. This means there are 4 electrons on the outer shell.
This means that carbon atoms can bond together to make chains of ulimited size. Som bonds on the carbon atoms remain free to join with other atoms to form carbon compounds.
Organic chemisrty / Alkanes
Organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen and are the basis of all life. They are found in all living things. The study of this is called organic chemistry.
An alkane i a SATURATED HYDROCARBON
A hydrocarbon is an organic compound containing hydrogen and carbon only. The 'spine' of a hydrocarbon is made up of a chain of carbon atoms. When more than one carbon atom is present, they are joined by single covalent carbon-carbon bonds.
A covalent bond is a very strong bond formed when electrons are shared between non-metals. We can say that the carbon bonds are saturated because each carbon atom is bonded to the maximum number of atoms. THIS IS KNOWN AS AN ALKANE.
The next three simplest alkanes are- ethane, propane and butane. They are fairly unreactive but do burn well
The alkenes are another type of hydrocarbon.
They are very similar to the alkanes, except that they are joined by a double covalent carbon-carbon bond. Because they are not bonded to the maximum number of atoms we call them unsaturated hydrocarbons.
A simple test to distingush between alkanes and alkenes is to add bromine water. Alkenes will decolourise bromine water as the alkene reacts with it. Alkanes have no effect on it.
Ethene can be reacted with water in the presence of catalyst to produce ethanol.
Cracking the breaking down of a long-chain hydrocarbon molecules into more useful short-chain hydrocarbon molecules, which release energy more quickly when burned.
The long-chain hydrocarbon is heated until it vaporises.
The vapour is then passesover a heated catalyst where a thermal decomposition reaction takes place.
When alkanes are cracked both alkanes and alkenes are formed.
Monomers to Polymers.
Polymers are long-chain molecules.
They are formed from unsaturated monomers.
A monomer is a short-chain hydrocarbon molecule.
Monomers join together to form long-chain hydrocarbon molecules (polymers)
Because alkenes are unsaturates, they are very good at joining together.
Addition polymerisation- is when alkenes join together without producing another substance.
Properties of Polymers.
They have good strength and elasticity
They do not corrode
They are good electrical and thermal insulators
They have low densities
They can be made into any colour
They can easilt be moulded into any shape
Thermosplastics can easily be softened and remoulded into new shapes.
Their polymer chains are held together in their structure by weak intermolecular forces which also give the material some stregth.
However, these forces can easily be over come by applying heat, which softens the polymer and enambles it to be reformed as the chain slip easily over each other. It is not very rigid becuase there are fewer remaining forces.
Can be softened and moulded into a new shape the first time they are heated. (theycant be resoftened and reshaped)
The starting materials first react together when they are heated to form a thermosetting polymer, and they release water molecules. This is a condensation reaction.
The molecules in the resulting thermosetting polymer are crosslinked, making the polymer rigid and strong, and unable to be reshaped when reheated
Changing properties/disposing of plastics
Plasticisers- are added to make thermoplastics more flexible. The plasticiser molecules fill the gaps between the chains, allowing them to slip over each other more easily.
UV (ultraviolet) and thermal stabilisers- are added to prolong a plastics life.
Crosslinking agents- encourage the molecules to form cross links. This increases high temperature performance (melting point) and gives a more stable plastic.
Burning plastics- produces air pollution.
Landfill sites- most plastics are non-biodegradable- they will not decompose and rot away meaning plastics will build up.
Shorter chain hydocarbons are better fuels because when they are burned they release energy more easily.
To keep up with demand and increase relative amounts - longer-chain hydrocarbons are broken down in shorter-chain hydrocarbons by cracking.
These compounds are used to fuel transport, heat homes, make substance for drugs, food, cosmetics, cleaning products, plastics for clothing, bags, electrical equipment etc...
Vegtable oils- are used in cooking and are unsaturated. They are liquids at room temperature because they high levels of monounsaturated and polynsaturated fats.
monounsaturated- have have only 1 double carbon-carbon bond BUT polyunsaturated have 2 or more.
Relative Formula Mass
The development of new medication is a lengthy and expensive process.
The relative formula mass of a compound is the sum of all its elements added together. To calculate it we need to know the formula of the compound, and the relative atomic mass, of all the atoms involved.
...is a meaure of the amounts of reactants that end up as useful products.
Calculating atom economy-
Atom economy = ( mass of (atoms in) useful product / Total mass (of atoms) of product ) x 100 %
expected yield- is the amound of product expected from a reaction
Theoretical yield- calculated from the masses of the atoms
Actual yield- the actual mass obtained from the reaction in the experiment
Percentage yield = (Actual yield/Maximum theoretical yield) x 100 %
- Addition- when molecules react together to produce a larger molecue with no other product.
- Empirical- the simplest ratio of atoms in a compound as reperesented by the chemical formula.
- Hydrogenate- to add hydrogen to an unsaturated compound
- Synthesis- the formation of a compound from its constituent elements | <urn:uuid:98156e7d-ab49-4fe8-b586-86fd7da44c53> | {
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Researchers find blood pressure sensor in the liver
Berlin – German researchers have identified a completely new target for blood pressure regulation in the liver of mice. In yesterday’s issue of Neuron (69 (2) pp. 332-344) the team headed by Friedrich Luft (MDC Berlin) and Professor Jens Jordan (Hanover Medical School) report that they identified a receptor of osmolality that measures the body's water balance and „feels“ how many molecules are dissolved in a litre of fluid. The blood pressure switch termed TRPV4 is an ion channel within sensory neurons of the liver. In mice it is triggered simply by drinking water. Sudden water intake led to an elevation of blood pressure in mice with the intact TRPV4 channel but not in knock-out mice. Also, in patients with a damaged nervous system, blood pressure readings can rise by as much as 50 mm Hg if the patients drank a half litre of water in one draft, the researchers said. As it seems, each species has a characteristic set point for osmolality, which depends to a great extent on the immediate living conditions. The researchers are now seeking to analyse the processes downstream of the receptor. "The effect of drinking water on blood pressure regulation is already leading to therapeutic consequences in the daily routine of the hospital," Professor Jordan stressed. "We tell patients to drink water who, due to blood pressure regulation disorders, suffer from fainting attacks when standing. This alleviates the symptoms and at the same time we are able to reduce the amount of medication. | <urn:uuid:670d1430-bac2-4dd2-be49-ab25e2338f4e> | {
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Lung Transplantation in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension
Issued by the Scientific Leadership Council
This information is for general information only. These guidelines may not apply to your individual situation. You should rely on the information and instructions given specifically to you by your PH specialist and/or the nurses at your PH Center. This information is general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. It is not intended as legal, medical or other professional advice, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for consultations with qualified professionals who are familiar with your individual needs.
Lung transplantation is a treatment option for selected patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) when medical therapy is no longer effective. Lung transplantation can prolong survival and improve quality of life, but some patients have significant complications and may not realize its potential benefits.Although lung transplantation offers a potential cure for PH coupled with improved quality of life, it may lead to shorter survival, on average, compared to other solid organ transplants. Potential complications include organ rejection, infections, side effects of drugs that suppress the immune system and lung transplant recipients need to be followed closely by a transplant center that may not be close to home.
Some lung transplant patients survive ten years or more with a good quality of life; however, some patients survive only a few months or less because of serious complications. Even at the best transplant centers, the survival statistics for lung transplants are lower overall than for kidney, liver or heart transplants. The current lung transplant survival statistics from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Registry show an overall one-year survival of 74 percent and a five-year survival of 45 percent. Thus, survival is less than five years for more than half of the patients who receive a lung transplant. The major long-term problem is chronic rejection, which results in persistent worsening function of the transplanted lung or lungs. Chronic lung rejection occurs earlier and more frequently in lung transplant recipients as compared to recipients of other transplanted organs.
Unfortunately, the timing of lung transplantation cannot be controlled, even though it is a critical issue for many patients. The majority of donor lungs are obtained from donors who die from accidental injuries, making the availability of donor organs unpredictable. The number of patients who need lung transplants considerably exceeds the number of available donor lungs, and lungs are transplanted according to the recipient’s indication for transplant (e.g. pulmonary hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis). A number of other factors are used to calculate the lung allocation score (the current process by which patients are listed to obtain a lung transplant), which reflects disease severity and urgency of transplantation as well as the likelihood that a patient will survive to at least one year following transplantation. Emergency lung transplantation is sometimes possible, but it cannot be done unless the patient has already been evaluated by a transplant center.
The distribution of donated organs in the United States is regulated by the United Network for Organ Sharing, and additional information is available on their website. Outside of the United States, the process of getting listed for lung transplantation is, in general, much more difficult and the availability of organs is somewhat limited but varies from country to country. Additional information about lung transplantation worldwide is available at the website of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.
Deciding on the optimal time to be listed for transplantation is often difficult. This is especially true in patients receiving epoprostenol (Flolan) or other intensive PH treatment, although three separate retrospective analyses that included nearly 400 patients with idiopathic PH receiving epoprostenol found that failure to improve clinically or hemodynamically one year after starting therapy was associated with a significantly worse outcome. In general, PH in its early stages does not immediately threaten the life of the patient, so transplantation is not recommended at that time. On the other hand, the possibility of transplantation should be discussed before patients are too ill. When transplantation is considered late in the course of the disease, there is a substantial risk that the patient will not survive until donor lungs are available. The approach followed by many centers is to add a patient (if eligible; see below) to the transplant waiting list at the time he or she initiates epoprostenol or other aggressive therapy. If the patient subsequently improves with treatment, he or she may choose to become inactive on the waiting list. Once listed for transplantation, patients do have the right to transfer their care to another center. It is also possible to be placed on more than one list in different geographic regions.
Transplantation of a single lung works very well for many lung diseases, and many patients with PH have had a single lung transplant with good long-term results. However, nearly all transplant centers currently prefer to transplant both lungs (double-lung transplant) for patients who have PH, in part because there are generally fewer postoperative complications. Transplantation of the heart and both lungs (heart-lung transplant) may be needed in some patients and, in general, waiting time is longer when more than one organ is needed. Living donor lung transplantation (taking a lobe of one lung from a living person) is possible but requires two other healthy individuals, much larger in stature than the recipient, to each donate one lobe of a lung. Thus, living donor transplantation is mainly performed in pediatric patients who receive lung tissue from adult donors. Few living donor transplantations have been performed, and this option is available at only a few centers. At least one donor parent has died due to complications of the donation surgery.
Candidate selection criteria for lung transplant and post-transplant treatment regimens vary from center to center. The majority of centers transplant patients with idiopathic PH and congenital heart disease-related PH. Patients with PH related to diseases that affect more than just the lungs, such as those with scleroderma, are generally evaluated on a case-by-case basis and are not considered for transplantation at some centers. The age cutoff for listing PH patients may be somewhat lower than for patients with other types of end-stage lung disease requiring only single-lung transplantation. Generally, to be considered for double-lung transplant patients must be less than 60 years old and for heart-lung transplant they must be less than 50 years old. Systemic illnesses such as poorly-controlled diabetes with related complications in other organs, significant coronary artery disease or cancer (other than localized skin cancers) most often exclude patients from consideration for lung transplantation at the majority of centers. In addition, a detailed psycho-social evaluation is performed at all centers to determine whether patients are fully committed to lung transplantation and whether there will be adequate social support after transplantation. Support from family or friends is essential for a successful outcome because of the complicated post-transplant care. Patients should therefore inquire about the specific acceptance and rejection criteria at the center performing their evaluation.
Lung transplantation remains the only curative treatment for PH. However, while it may cure PH, it presents a wide range of new challenges for patients. Lung transplantation is most effective for patients who have a positive attitude and are not troubled by the need to take multiple medications daily or to have frequent medical testing.
PHA is proud to be able to make educational materials and programs like these available for free to everyone because of the generous support from members of the community just like you. Donations are welcome! | <urn:uuid:f1ae3634-cd0a-4340-801f-876dda98e413> | {
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The land which would some day become Wood County, Texas, USA has been the scene of human habitation for thousands of years providing sustenace and dwelling for various peoples because of the bountiful water, forest, land and lifestyle resouces which still attract people here today.
Evidence indicates human presence here in native American Clovis cultures in prehistoric times. Historical evidence points to the arrival of the native Americans known as the Caddos as early as the first Century, A. D. Living in the forests of the Sabine River Valley and its tributaries (including the Lake Fork and Big Sandy Creeks and their water sheds), the Kadhadacho (as the Spanish called them) were in their early period mound builders and the westernmost people of the Missippian Mound Culture. They had abandoned these practices by the arrival of Europeans in the 1500’s. The Spanish and French noted them as they moved through the Sabine Valley area and traded with the loosely allied groups described as the Caddo Confederation. Hasinai Caddo tribes populated this area during historic times.
Indian artifacts have been found from North to South in the county. Examples include the Caddo Trace area at Winnsboro where Indian and Spanish relics possibly from trading have been found and the discovery of Indian villages and burials in the Quitman area. Also, Native American relics have been found south in the Mineola Nature Preserve area just north of the Sabine River.
This first “nation” having dominiion over the area which is now Wood County had no real flag as they are known by us today.
The first European nation to claim the area of Wood County was Spain,and Texas north to the Red River was a part of the vast Empire of Spain from the 14th Century until 1821 as part of Spanish Colonial America.
Following the end of the successful rebellion against Spain by Mexico, Wood County was a part of the Mexican State of Coahuila and Texasfrom 1821 until its own succesful rebellion against Mexico.
The Republic of Texas was born in 1836 and the area that would become Wood County was in the northermost area of the large orginal Nacogdoches County during the period ofthe Republic. It was during this period that Martin Varner settled in Wood County. Varner is recognized as the first settler and also the person who cut the first road into the county (1840). Then, in 1846, Texas became a state of the United States.
That same year Texas became a part of the United States of America, larger counties were broken up, and Henderson County was formed. It included areas from Houston and Nacogdochescounties including the area of present-day Van Zandt and Wood Counties. Just two years later in 1848, Van Zandt County was created and it included the area that would become Wood County when it was created in 1850. (Creation timing was such that Wood County residents of 1850 are listed on the census of Van Zandt County.)
In 1861, Texas followed the actions of a number of Southern states and voted to withdraw from the United States of America and join the Confederate States of America. With the surrender of the Confederate government following four bloody years of warfare in 1865, Texasentered a period of military government by the United States. In 1866 a nullification of the secession vote was passed by a Texas constitutional convention, and in 1869 Texans were again authorized to vote for members state officers. In 1870, Texas’ elected representatives were allowed back into the United States Congress. | <urn:uuid:8f8daac3-7308-4c4c-a721-41c87e83221e> | {
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Obesity May Raise Kids' Allergy Risk
"Obese children and teens are at increased risk for allergies, especially food allergies, say U.S. researchers.
The study authors analyzed data from 4,111 participants, aged 2 to 19, who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and found that obese children and teens were 26 percent more likely to have any kind of allergy, and 59 percent more likely to have a food allergy, than their normal-weight peers.
'We found a positive association between obesity and allergies,' senior author Dr. Darryl Zeldin, acting clinical director at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), said in an institute news release. 'While the results from this study are interesting, they do not prove that obesity causes allergies. More research is needed to further investigate this potential link.'" | <urn:uuid:f17b4af3-5589-470d-9384-c33be8ef3e24> | {
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As the world turns its sporting gaze towards Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics, The Physiological Society journal Experimental Physiology marks the occasion with a special issue exploring the biological and environmental challenges elite winter athletes must overcome to win gold.
"When most people think about these games we conjure up glorious images of snow and high mountains", said co-editor Mike White from the University of Birmingham, "but when Physiologists think of cold and altitude most immediately think of environmental challenges including hypothermia and hypoxia."
To explore these challenges the editors avoided the standard, resisted the stereotypical and rejected dated physiological methods to create an innovative and integrative new approach to study and debate the limitations to performance in elite winter sport.
The Biathlon, an event combining cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, serves as an ideal example for physiologists. For Biathletes high aerobic capacity and motor functions are vital to success while performance limitations include the ability of the respiratory system at high-altitude and in cold environmental conditions.
"When skiing, a fall is always possible," said author Richard Ferguson from Loughborough University. "The question is whether or not the fall was preventable, and if it resulted from muscle fatigue or failure to execute a motor programme correctly the answer is yes."
The Biathlon also involves shooting, with a miss incurring a penalty lap of the circuit which has a strong influence on the race result.
"When looking at shooting, Martin Lakie's expertise on tremor and John Cootes' understanding of heart rate recovery come to the fore" said co-editor Stuart Egginton from the University of Birmingham. "The mechanical correlates of the heart beat and pulse wave propagation though the arm have a clear impact on accurate sighting of the target. Whether errors can be avoided by having a rapid heart rate recovery and a longer interpulse interval in which to shoot is debated here."
The papers also reveal how the physiology of a medal winning performance in many winter sports is still far from fully understood. Writing in the preface to this special issue, world renowned explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: "While it is surprisingly to me how much we already know, these papers also identify where our knowledge is inadequate to allow a full mechanistic explanation. It is particularly gratifying to see how information from different disciplines is being harnessed to this end."
Explore further: Should men cut back on their soy intake? | <urn:uuid:e6a3b4f0-9e03-44e2-9fd8-7dbef815f54d> | {
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This volume presents a new theme of ecological networks in agricultural systems. Agriculture is the dominant human activity shaping the Earth's land surface. While agriculture provides many of the productivity services that facilitate our current human society, it also greatly impacts on the environment and may ultimately limit humanity's "safe operating space". Here, the editors have assembled a set of seminal papers that address these current and emerging topics in intensive agricultural systems. Given the diversity of agricultural systems and landscapes, the papers largely deal with concepts designed to unify our understanding of agriculture and the ecosystem goods and services delivered by it. This includes how we might join above- to below-ground agricultural networks and consolidate into networks the many interacting types of habitats that exist across agricultural landscapes. In the data papers, the editors also present our current best understanding of how to construct and test trophic networks, and predict for future changes in agricultural system perfomance.
- Networking Agroecology: Integrating the Diversity of Agroecosystem Interactions; David A. Bohan, Alan Raybould, Christian Mulder, Guy Woodward, Alireza Tamaddoni-Nezhad, Nico Bluthgen, Michael J.O. Pocock, Stephen Muggleton, Darren M. Evans, Julia Astegiano, François Massol, Nicolas Loeuille, Sandrine Petit and Sarina Macfadyen
- Connecting the Green and Brown Worlds: Allometric and Stoichiometric Predictability of Above- and Below-Ground Networks; Christian Mulder, Farshid S. Ahrestani, Michael Bahn, David A. Bohan, Michael Bonkowski, Bryan S. Griffiths, Rannveig Anna Guicharnaud, Jens Kattge, Paul Henning Krogh, Sandra Lavorel, Owen T. Lewis, Giorgio Mancinelli, Shahid Naeem, Josep Peñuelas, Hendrik Poorter, Peter B. Reich, Loreto Rossi, Graciela M. Rusch, Jordi Sardans and Ian J. Wright
- Empirically Characterising Trophic Networks: What Emerging DNA-Based Methods, Stable Isotope and Fatty Acid Analyses Can Offer; M. Traugott, S. Kamenova, L Ruess, J. Seeber and M. Plantegenest
- Construction and Validation of Food Webs using Logic-based Machine Learning and Text Mining; Alireza Tamaddoni-Nezhad, Ghazal Afroozi Milani, Alan Raybould, Stephen Muggleton and David A. Bohan
- Interaction Networks in Agricultural Landscape Mosaics; François Massol and Sandrine Petit
- Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Agricultural Networks: Implications for Sustainable Management; Nicolas Loeuille, Sébastien Barot, Ewen Georgelin, Grigorios Kylafis and Claire Lavigne
- Modelling Interaction Networks for Enhanced Ecosystem Services in Agroecosystems; Philippe Tixier, Nathalie Peyrard, Jean-Noël Aubertot, Sabrina Gaba, Julia Radoszycki, Geoffrey Caron-Lormier, Fabrice Vinatier, Grégory Mollot and Régis Sabbadin
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Guy Woodward is Professor of Ecology in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London and Series Editor for Advances in Ecological Research. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including recent papers in Nature, Science and Nature Climate Change, with a strong emphasis on understanding and predicting how aquatic ecosystems and food webs respond to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stressors, including climate change, chemical pollution, habitat degradation and invasive species. Much of this work covers multiple scales in space and time and also a range of organisational levels - from genes to ecosystems. His research group and ongoing collaborations span the natural and social sciences, reflecting the need for multidisciplinary approaches for addressing the environmental challenges of the 21st Century.
Dave Bohan is an agricultural ecologist with an interest in predator-prey regulation interactions. Dave uses a model system of a carabid beetle predator and two agriculturally important prey; slugs and weed seeds. He has shown that carabids find and consume slug prey, within fields, and that this leads to regulation of slug populations and interesting spatial 'waves' in slug and carabid density. The carabids also intercept weed seeds shed by weed plants before they enter the soil, and thus carabids can regulate the long-term store of seeds in the seedbank on national scales. What is interesting about this system is that it contains two important regulation ecosystem services delivered by one group of service providers, the carabids. This system therefore integrates, in miniature, many of the problems of interaction between services. Dave has most recently begun to work with networks. He developed, with colleagues, a learning methodology to build networks from sample date. This has produced the largest, replicated network in agriculture. One of his particular interests is how behaviours and dynamics at the species level, as studied using the carabid-slug-weed system, build across species and their interactions to the dynamics of networks at the ecosystem level. | <urn:uuid:dcf94898-3f16-4bed-a1e1-e56c94e6a747> | {
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Boy Scouts of America or BSA was founded in the United States in 1910. The organization was founded in Washington, DC, by Chicago publisher William Boyce.
The BSA is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
The BSA was chartered by the US Congress in 1916. A few other youth programs have congressional charters, including the Girl Scouts of the USA and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
The BSA is made up of various programs: Tiger Scouts (first graders, or 7-year-olds); Cub Scouts (second through fifth graders, or 8, 9, and 10-year-olds); Webelos Scouts (fourth-and fifth-graders, or 10-year-olds); Boy Scouts (11 through 17-year-olds); Varsity Scouts (14 through 17 year-olds); and Venture Scouts, which is a is a year-round program for young men and women who are 14 (or 13 years of age and have completed the eighth grade) through 21.
Membership in Boy Scouts has declined by about a third since 1999. As of Dec. 31, 2012, youth membership totaled 2,658,794. There are also 1,039,825 adult members, who are mostly leaders of various groups.
As of Dec. 31, 2012, there were 108,971 units (crews, teams, troops and packs) in the BSA.
More than 70% of BSA troops are affiliated with a church or a religious group.
The Boy Scouts announced last month that the organization would consider changing their ban on openly homosexual scouts and troop leaders. The new policy would allow local leaders to decide "consistent with each organization's mission, principles or religious beliefs" whether to open troops they sponsor to openly gay people.
The proposal comes after a Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that found the organization has the right to keep gays out.
A poll released Feb. 6 showed a majority of American voters think the Boy Scouts of America should lift their ban on gay Scouts and scoutmasters.
The Quinnipiac University survey indicated 55 percent of respondents said the ban should end, and 33 percent said it should remain in place. There was a gap among man and women in the poll -- 61 percent of women supported allowing gay members, while 49 percent of men supported such a move.
Among more recent controversies, the BSA came under fire last year after Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio den leader, was dismissed by her local Boy Scout officials for being a lesbian. On Feb. 5, Tyrell presented a petition she said was signed by 1.4 million people supporting the change to the BSA policy.
On May 23, the group made a historic decision when its 1,400-member national council voted to allow openly gay youths to join scouting starting Jan. 1, 2014. The BSA, however, will maintain its ban on gay adult leaders. | <urn:uuid:e15e5493-4e55-4d11-9068-fc58add50899> | {
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Hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy and macular degeneration are just a few of the genetic-based abnormalities that might someday benefit from gene therapy using Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Most people think of HIV as the carrier of potentially lethal AIDS. The characteristic that makes HIV so effective is the virus's ability to penetrate non-dividing cells, which are the majority of cells in our bodies. That same characteristic gave scientists the idea of re-engineering the virus for beneficial purposes.
Salk scientists have been experimenting with stripped-down versions of the virus – copies that are no longer able to reproduce themselves once they infect a cell. Instead, the engineered viruses deliver genes to replace those that are defective or missing from the cell.
Genetically engineered HIV is particularly well suited for acting as this kind of vector for other reasons as well. Salk researchers have used them to engineer a system for increasing the efficiency of the virus by targeting it to specific, active locations on the DNA. Being able to target delivery minimizes the possibility of inserting genes into random or even potentially dangerous locations on the host's DNA
So far, genetically engineered viruses have been used to deliver the clotting factor gene – the gene missing in hemophiliacs – to laboratory animals. They have also transferred therapeutic genes to the retinal cells of mice with progressive retinal degeneration. Gene therapy may have applications for people with nerve damage, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's, for example.
Parkinson's disease results from the loss of brain cells that produce a neurotransmitter called dopamine, the lack of which results in significant mobility impairment. In recent experiments, Salk scientists have introduced genes responsible for producing dopamine into rat skin cells. They then introduce those cells into the brains of laboratory rats with Parkinson's like syndrome.
The new cells secrete dopamine and improve the rat's motor abilities for several weeks. The near-term goal is to create nerve cells that produce dopamine over a longer timeframe. The long-term goal is to induce the development of new nerve cells with the ability to produce dopamine.
These kinds of genetic therapy research projects have far reaching implications for male infertility, for color blindness, and for spina bifida along with a range of other birth defects.
Salk technology at the heart of gene therapy success
November 6, 2009
Gene Therapy Postpones Lou Gehrig's Disease Symptoms
August 7, 2003
It was the early 1990s and Salk Professor Inder Verma had the deadly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in his sights. One of his institute colleagues had contracted AIDS after receiving infected blood during heart bypass surgery, and Verma witnessed the terrible efficiency of the virus and the dreadful consequences of the disease.
The HIV was proving a fierce adversary to researchers the world over. During the previous few decades, biologists had developed a basic understanding of how viruses like HIV work. A virus inserts itself into or otherwise hijacks our cells, using our cellular machinery to rapidly reproduce. Most viruses prey on our dividing cells, happily multiplying until our healthy immune systems prevail. But one of the HIV's most fearsome aspects is that it can also introduce itself into the genes of our non-dividing cells, like the cells in our brains and the immune system.
Verma, the American Cancer Society professor of Molecular Biology in the Salk's Laboratory of Genetics, started thinking about this unusual characteristic of the HIV in a rather radical and unexpected way. What if, he thought, "we could engineer the virus, entirely removing its ability to cause disease, while retaining its ability to enter non-dividing cells?"
Read more in InsideSalk» | <urn:uuid:fe574340-ef00-4d92-9f36-5466c8e8d18e> | {
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Battle Abbey pupils were invited to form a shield wall as part of Dan Snow’s BBC drama documentary ‘1066: A Year to Conquer England’.
The pupils, from Battle Abbey Senior School, adopted the role of both Saxon defender and Norman attacker to recreate the tactics adopted in the Battle of Hastings.
Under the oversight of historian Dan Snow, pupils put to the test the Saxon shield wall which was historically said to be virtually impenetrable to enemy attack.
The documentary was filmed last year as part of the general focus on the 950th anniversary of the Battle.
In the three-part series, Dan Snow explores the political intrigues and family betrayals between Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans that led to war and the Battle of Hastings. The documentary is available on the BBC iPlayer until April 11. | <urn:uuid:19cc9eda-0276-48cf-9b69-e5a3493dc6eb> | {
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United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1995 - Botswana, 30 January 1996, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa368.html [accessed 24 July 2014]
This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
BOTSWANA Botswana is a longstanding, multiparty democracy. Constitutional power is shared between the President, Sir Ketumile Masire, and the 44-member popularly elected lower house of parliament. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), continued to dominate the National Assembly, holding 31 of 44 seats. The opposition Botswana National Front (BNF) holds the remaining 13 seats. In October 1994, the President was reelected in free and fair elections for a third 5-year term. The Government respects the constitutional provisions for an independent judiciary. The civilian Government exercises effective control over the security forces. The military, the Botswana Defense Force (BDF), is responsible for external security. The Botswana National Police (BNP) are responsible for internal security. Members of the security forces occasionally committed human rights abuses. The economy is market-oriented with strong encouragement for private enterprise. Steady diamond revenues and effective economic and fiscal policies resulted in steady growth, although the economy grew at a relatively modest annual rate of 4 percent following a downturn from 1991 to 1993. Per capita gross domestic product was approximately $2,800 in 1995. Over 50 percent of the population is employed in the informal sector, largely subsistence farming and animal husbandry. Rural poverty remains a serious problem, as does a widely skewed income distribution. The Constitution provides for citizens' human rights, and the Government generally respects those rights in practice. Despite some continuing problems, Botswana's overall human rights record has been consistently positive since independence. There were credible reports that the police sometimes mistreated criminal suspects in order to coerce confessions, and members of the police riot squad were accused of using excessive force in quelling violent student demonstrations in February. Women continued to face legal and societal discrimination, and violence against women is a continuing problem. Some Batswana including groups not numbered among the eight "principal tribes" identified in the Constitution, because they live in remote areas, still do not enjoy full access to social services and, in practice, are marginalized in the political process. In many instances the judicial system did not provide timely fair trials due to a serious backlog of cases. Trade unions continued to face some legal restrictions, and the Government did not always ensure that labor laws were observed in practice. The Government took a number of steps to address human rights problems in 1995. In September the Government announced plans to construct a separate detention facility for refused asylum seekers, and in August Parliament ratified the Citizenship Amendment Act, designed to bring Botswana legislation into conformity with the Constitution, and remedy citizenship gender inequities. In March Botswana ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Respect for Human Rights
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political killings. In a case related to February's violent student protest, a member of the riot police (the Special Support Group - SSG) was convicted of the murder of a young man who apparently had no connection with the demonstrations. Hearings in mitigation of sentence were scheduled for February 1996.
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution explicitly forbids torture, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. The authorities generally respect this prohibition in practice, and in some cases have taken disciplinary or judicial action against persons responsible for abuses. However, instances of abuse do occur. While coerced confessions are inadmissible in court, evidence gathered through coercion or abuse may be used in prosecution. There were credible reports that police sometimes used intimidation techniques in order to obtain evidence or elicit confessions. In the past, police sometimes suffocated criminal suspects with a plastic bag. In 1995 there were no allegations of similar mistreatment, and beatings and other forms of extreme physical abuse remained rare. In February some poorly trained members of the SSG reportedly used excessive force to quell violent student demonstrations over the Government's failure to prosecute suspects in a ritual murder of a 14-year-old girl. In separate incidents related to the demonstrations, one person was killed and another paralyzed. Several students arrested after the riots alleged police assault. Students who had been detained were released and charges against them dropped. Unlike past years, there were no reports that Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) wardens tortured suspected poachers in remote areas. Both the DWNP and the rest of the Government have long condemned such practices. Prison conditions meet minimum international standards, although overcrowding is a problem. The Government permits visits by human rights monitors, and women in custody are placed in the charge of female officers. The Government neither forcibly repatriates nor deports failed asylum seekers, but it has incarcerated them alongside convicted felons. By mid-year all previously incarcerated asylum seekers had been permitted to move to Dukwe Refugee Camp, and only a few new arrivals suspected to be economic migrants were being incarcerated. In September the Government announced plans to build a dedicated facility for refused asylum seekers.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Under the Constitution "every person in Botswana" is entitled to due process, the presumption of innocence, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. The authorities respected these guarantees in practice. Upon arrest, suspects must be informed of their legal rights, including the right to remain silent, to be allowed to contact a person of their choice, and generally to be charged before a magistrate within 48 hours. A magistrate may order a suspect held for 14 days through a writ of detention, which may be renewed every 14 days. Most citizens charged with noncapital offenses are released on their own recognizance; some are released with minimal bail. Detention without bail is highly unusual, except in murder cases, where it is mandated. Detainees have the right to hire attorneys of their choice. Poor police training and poor communications in rural villages make it difficult for detainees to obtain legal assistance, however, and authorities do not always follow judicial safeguards. The Government does not provide counsel for the indigent, except in capital cases, and there is no public defender service. Two nongovernmental organizations (NGO's)--the University of Botswana Legal Assistance Center and the Botswana Center for Human Rights--provide pro bono legal services, but their capacity is limited. Constitutional protections are not applied to illegal immigrants, although the constitutionality of denying them due process has not been tested in court. Following student demonstrations in February (see Section 1.c.), police arrested several hundred persons. All detainees were subsequently released and charges were dropped. The Government does not use exile for political purposes.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the Government respects this provision in practice. The judiciary consists of both a civil court (including magistrates courts, a High Court, and a Court of Appeal) and a customary (traditional) court system. The law provides for the right to a fair trial. The civil courts remained unable to provide for timely, fair trials in many cases, however, due to severe staffing shortages and an accumulated backlog of pending cases. The courts are making a major effort to clear this backlog, especially in murder cases. Most trials in the regular courts are public, although trials under the National Security Act (NSA) may be held in secret. As a rule, courts appoint public defenders only for those charged with capital crimes (murder and treason). Those charged with noncapital crimes are often tried without legal representation if they cannot afford an attorney. As a result, many defendants may not be informed of their rights in pretrial or trial proceedings. Implementation of the 1994 Anticorruption Act assuaged earlier concerns that it would weaken the defendant's constitutional presumption of innocence. Most citizens encounter the legal system through the customary courts, under the authority of a traditional leader. These courts handle minor offenses involving land, marital, and property disputes. In customary courts, the defendant does not have legal counsel and there are no precise rules of evidence. Tribal judges, appointed by the tribal leader or elected by the community, determine sentences, which may be appealed through the civil court system. The quality of decisions reached in the traditional courts varies considerably. In communities where chiefs and their decisions are respected, plaintiffs tend to take their cases to the customary court; otherwise, people seek justice from the civil courts. There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The Constitution provides for the protection of privacy and the security of the person, and government authorities generally respect these rights.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and the Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of expression, both individual and corporate, and the Government respects this right in practice. Botswana has a long tradition of vigorous, candid, and unimpeded public discourse. The independent press is small, but lively and frequently critical of the Government and the President. It reports without fear of closure, censorship, or intimidation. The Government also subsidizes a free daily newspaper which depends heavily on the official Botswana Press Agency (BOPA) for its material. The broadcast media remain a government monopoly, with radio the most important medium of information in this highly dispersed society. Radio Botswana follows government policies and draws most of its stories from BOPA. Opposition leaders have access to the radio, but they complain--with some justification--that their air time is significantly limited. There are no privately owned radio or television stations, but there is a semilegal television station broadcasting to viewers in the capital city. Independent radio and television from neighboring South Africa are easily received. On occasion the Government has taken steps, under loosely defined provisions of the NSA, to limit publication of national security information. However, the courts dismissed in March the only recent case, filed in 1993, against two journalists. Academic freedom is not restricted.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government respects this right in practice.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There are no barriers to domestic and international travel or migration. Citizenship is not revoked for political reasons. The Government cooperates with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. There were no reports of forced expulsion of those having a valid claim to refugee status. While asylum seekers entering Botswana are still occasionally placed in prisons with convicted felons on arrival, the Government has made substantial progress in providing a more secure environment for those whose applications for permanent asylum have been rejected. In August it released a number of failed asylum seekers from prison and permitted them to reside at Dukwe Refugee Camp, and in September announced plans to build a separate facility for asylum seekers.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercise this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal adult (21 years) suffrage. The Botswana Democratic Party continued to dominate Parliament following the October 1994 elections, ensuring the reelection of BDP leader Sir Ketumile Masire as President. The opposition Botswana National Front, the only opposition party to win seats, increased its representation from 3 to 13 seats. The House of Chiefs, an advisory upper chamber of Parliament with limited powers, is constitutionally restricted to the eight "principal tribes" of the Tswana nation. Consequently, other groups (e.g., the Basarwa "bushmen," Herero, Kalanga, Humbukush, Baloi, or Lozi) are not represented there. Given the limited authority of the House of Chiefs, the impact of excluding other groups of Botswana citizens is largely symbolic, but it is viewed as important in principle by some non-Setswana speakers. Members of the National Assembly are required to be able to speak English. This restriction has never been challenged in court. In practice, women are underrepresented in the political process. Although women constitute just over 50 percent of the population, there are only 4 women among the 44 members of the National Assembly, and only 2 women in the Cabinet.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
Domestic and international human rights groups operate without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials are generally cooperative and responsive to such inquiries.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution and Penal Code forbid discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, nationality, or creed, but do not address discrimination based on sex. These provisions are implemented in practice by the government authorities.
Violence against women, primarily beatings, remains a serious problem. Under customary law and in common rural practice men have the right to "chastise" their wives. Statistics are believed to underreport the levels of abuse against women. Police are rarely called to intervene in cases of domestic violence, and there were no court cases related to domestic violence in 1995. Spousal abuse is beginning to receive increased attention both from the media and from local human rights groups. Women in Botswana do not have the same civil rights as men. However, one important step was the resolution of the "Unity Dow" case through the ratification of the Citizenship Amendment Act in August. This Act brought an end to discrimination against women in transmitting citizenship to children. A number of other laws, many of which are attributed to traditional practices, restrict civil and economic opportunities for women. A woman married in "common property" is held to be a legal minor, requiring her husband's consent to buy or sell property, apply for credit, and enter into legally binding contracts. Women have, and are increasingly exercising, the right to marriage "out of common property," in which case they retain their full legal rights as adults. Polygyny is still legal under traditional law and with the consent of the first wife, but it is rarely practiced. The Government announced its intention to review all potentially discriminatory legislation, although the precise modalities of this review had not been finalized at year's end. Well trained urban women enjoy growing entry level access to the white collar job market, but the number of opportunities decreases sharply as they rise in seniority. Discrimination against women is most acute in rural areas where women work primarily in subsistence agriculture. A number of women's organizations have emerged to promote the status of women. The Government has entered into a dialog with many of these groups. While some women's rights groups reportedly felt that the Government has been slow to respond concretely to their concerns, women's NGO's say that they are encouraged by the direction of change, and by the increasingly collaborative relationship with government authorities. Within the Ministry of Labor and Home Affairs, the coordinator of the small Women's Affairs Unit is charged with handling women's issues.
The Government provides 7 years of education for children. The rights of children are addressed in the Constitution and the 1981 Children's Act. Under the Act, Botswana has a court system and social service apparatus designed solely for juveniles. There is no pattern of societal abuse against children. Botswana ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in March.
People with Disabilities
The Government does not discriminate on the basis of physical or mental disability, although employment opportunities for the disabled remain limited. The Government does not require accessibility to public buildings and public conveyances for people with disabilities, and the NGO community has only recently begun to address the needs of the disabled.
The Tswana majority, of which the Constitution recognizes eight principal tribes, has a tradition of peacefully coexisting with "minor" tribes. Each of the eight principal tribes is represented in the advisory House of Chiefs, while the other groups are permitted only a subchief, who is not a member of the House. Other than the lack of schooling in their own language and representation in the House of Chiefs, Botswana's Bantu minorities and nonindigenous minorities, such as the white and Asian communities, are not subject to discrimination. However, the nomadic Basarwa remain marginalized and have lost access to their traditional land. The Basarwa are vulnerable to exploitation, and their isolation, ignorance of civil rights, and lack of representation in local or national government have stymied their progress.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution provides for the right of association, and in practice, all workers, with the exception of government employees, are free to join or organize unions of their own choosing. Government workers may form associations that function as quasi-unions but without the right to negotiate wages. The industrial or wage economy is small, and unions are concentrated largely in the mineral and to a lesser extent in the railway and banking sectors. There is only one major confederation, the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU), but there are no obstacles to the formation of other labor federations. Unions are independent of the Government and are not closely allied with any political party or movement. Unions may employ administrative staff, but the law requires elected union officials to work full time in the industry the union represents. This severely limits union leaders' professionalism and effectiveness and has been criticized by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). In addition, the law severely restricts the right to strike. Legal strikes are theoretically possible after an exhaustive arbitration process, but in practice none of the country's strikes to date has been legal. Unions may join international organizations, and the BFTU is affiliated with the ICFTU. The Minister of Labor must approve any affiliation with an outside labor movement, but unions may appeal to the courts if an application for affiliation is refused.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution provides for collective bargaining for unions that have enrolled 25 percent of a labor force. In reality, only the mineworker unions have the organizational strength to engage in collective bargaining, and collective bargaining is virtually nonexistent in most other sectors. Workers may not be fired for union related activities. Dismissals may be appealed to labor officers or civil courts, but labor offices rarely do more than order 2-months' severance pay. Botswana has only one export processing zone--in the town of Selebi-Phikwe--which is subject to the same labor laws as the rest of the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Constitution specifically forbids forced or compulsory labor, and it is not praticed.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Although education is not compulsory, the Government provides 7 years of free education to every child, and most children in Botswana take advantage of this opportunity. Only an immediate family member may employ a child 13-years-old or younger, and no juvenile under 15 years may be employed in any industry. Only persons over 16 years may be hired to perform night work, and no person under 16 years is allowed to assume hazardous labor, including in mining. District and municipal councils have child welfare divisions which are responsible for enforcing child labor laws.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum monthly wage for full time labor is $100 (270 pula), which is just under 50 percent of what the Government calculates is necessary to meet the basic needs of a family of five. The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, and each of the country's districts has at least one labor inspector. The Ministry of Labor began developing a small number of potential cases to take to the Industrial Court, but none had been brought before the Court by year's end. Formal sector jobs almost always pay well above minimum wage levels. Informal sector employment, particularly in the agricultural and domestic service sectors where housing and food are included, frequently pay below the minimum wage. The Ministry of Labor recommends a monthly minimum wage of $92.60 (250 pula) for domestics, but this is not mandatory. Illegal immigrants, primarily Zambians and Zimbabweans, are easily exploited as they would be subject to deportation if they filed grievances against employers. Botswana law permits a maximum 48-hour workweek, exclusive of overtime which is payable at time and a half for each additional hour. Most modern private and public sector jobs are on the 40-hour workweek. Workers who complain about hazardous conditions cannot be fired. The Government's institutional ability to enforce its workplace safety legislation remains limited, however, by inadequate staffing and unclear jurisdictions between different ministries. Nevertheless, worker safety is generally provided for by employers, with the occasionally notable exception of the construction industry. | <urn:uuid:3947a5f5-5b67-4705-a347-5f7d9e817ea0> | {
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A German and Ireland led team collaborated to manufacture a medical device which can detect the bacteria presence in urinary tract in an hour’s time
A speedy detection of infection in a urinary tract has been made possible by a group of researchers in Germany and Ireland. The journal published indicates such a medical device which can identify Escherichia coli (more commonly known as E. coli) and Enterococcus faecalis — two species known to cause urinary tract infections — within 70 minutes, directly from patients’ urine samples
The new diagnosis makes a marked improvement over the previous medical techniques available, which often takes 24 hours of more-to detect a bacterial infection in the urinary tract.
As reported by IANS
The lab-on-a-disc platform uses Raman microscopy, a modern optical detection method.
This medical diagnostics device is designed to harness centrifugal force to capture the tiny bacteria directly from patients’ samples of bodily fluids…in this case, urine, the study said.
The work involves extremely small sample sizes, on the scale of a small raindrop, so the device needed to be a microfluidic one.
“Our device works by loading a few micro liters of a patient’s urine sample into a tiny chip, which is then rotated with a high angular velocity so that any bacteria is guided by centrifugal force through microfluidic channels to a small chamber where ‘V-cup capture units’ collect it for optical investigation,” Ulrich-Christian Schroder from Leibniz Institute of Technology in Germany explained.
The findings appeared in the journal Biomicrofluidics | <urn:uuid:0af7394f-7a1b-458c-af14-5037081b24aa> | {
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Many Japanese woman, including younger female members of parliament, are hopeful for a change that has eluded them for many years under the previous administration
“The Japanese voters have greater expectations of women than before,” said Yoriko Madoka, a member of the House of Councilors (the upper house of Japan’s National Diet) since l992. The women in parliament will bring changes to Japanese politics, added the acknowledged gender advocate within the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
Exposed to the realities of Japanese society, the new and younger female members of parliament are more aware of gender issues and of the need to get rid of discrimination against women, said Madoka.
In terms of female presence in politics, Japan ranks 99th in the world, up from its previous standing of 134th, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organisation of Parliaments.
This shows that women’s involvement in politics is increasing. The current female composition of the lower house, numbering 54 , or 11.3 percent of the total—up from 9.2 before the last election—is still far below the 30 per cent government had set in 2005 as the target ratio of women in important positions by 2020.
Yet the number of women parliamentarians who now sit in the House of Representatives is already unprecedented in the history of Japanese politics, thanks in part to women’s groups that campaigned hard to send more women to parliament. | <urn:uuid:389d49e6-2fb0-41a7-af37-e6a6d479cf62> | {
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Daughter of Byzantine Emperor Arcadius and Empress Eudoxia. Her father died when she was 15, and she became regent of the empire on 4 July 414 until her younger brother Theodosius was old enough to rule. Pulcheria took special care of her brother’s education, ensuring a strong religious background. She took a vow of chastity, and worked for religious reform and evangelization through the empire.
When Theodosius took the throne, Pulcheria faded for a while into court life. She supported Pope Leo the Great regarding the Monophysite controversy, and when Theodosius married in 421, his wife convinced him to exile Pulcheria.
On the death of Theodosius, Pulcheria was recalled to be empress of the Byzantine Empire. She sponsored the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and supported the Church against the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies. Built churches, hospitals, hospices, and a university in the city of Constantinople.
- July 453 of natural causes
- against in-law problems
- against the death of parents
- people in exile
- victims of betrayal
- “Saint Pulcheria“. CatholicSaints.Info. 28 June 2009. Web. 4 May 2015. <> | <urn:uuid:74286971-801c-47a0-b2f3-448a0518a8bc> | {
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San Diego, California - Most adults have already made decisions about whether to smoke or how often they indulge in an alcoholic beverage. You’re probably even fairly desensitized to the amount of advertising for those products you’re subjected to every day.
But what about your child?
A new study released today shows youth are widely exposed to alcohol, tobacco and unhealthy food products and advertising at the retail level across San Diego County. More than 67 percent of surveyed stores in San Diego County have exterior advertising for unhealthy products according to the study.
The local findings are part of a statewide study conducted for the Healthy Stores for a Healthy Community campaign, a collaboration among advocates for nutrition, tobacco use prevention and alcohol prevention.
“Research shows that young people are highly influenced by the marketing of products like tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) child health medical officer. “The choices kids make today could lead them down a path toward a healthy lifestyle or a life of obesity, addiction and chronic diseases and the advertising they are exposed to can play a large part in their decisions.”
A team of 34 adults and 30 youth conducted the study in San Diego County on behalf of HHSA and eight community partners. They went out in pairs to 278 licensed retail establishments in the County to conduct the survey.
Highlights of the study include:
· 42 percent sell tobacco products near candy at the checkout and are located near schools
· 78 percent sell candy-, mint- and liquor-flavored non-cigarette tobacco products and are located near schools
· 45 percent of stores have exterior alcohol advertising
· 31 percent have alcohol ads near candy or toys or below 3 feet from the ground
· 59 percent sell sugary drinks at the checkout
“The survey results provide great information as we continue to work with communities and their residents to implement the County’s Live Well San Diego initiative and work to improve the health of our neighbors and our communities,” said Sidelinger.
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AJN, American Journal of Nursing:
AJN On the Cover
On a quiet countryside outside the town of Piazza Armerina in Central Sicily sits the ancient palace Villa Romana del Casale, dating back to the late 3rd and early 4th century CE. Buried in a mudslide and forgotten for 700 years, this large agricultural estate was once occupied by Rome's elite and today is one of Sicily's most popular tourist destinations. The reason is that it houses the world's largest and richest collection of Roman mosaics. In light of our focus on women's health this month, we chose to feature on our cover one of the most famous of these—the so-called “Bikini Girls.”
Figure. In light of ...Image Tools
Found in what's called the “Chamber of the Ten Maidens” (Sala delle Dieci Ragazze), the set of 10 mosaics covering the floor depict athletic women running, weight lifting, discus throwing, and tossing a ball. One is crowned with a wreath of flowers and appears to be holding the palm of victory. The women are wearing clothing resembling present-day bikinis, hence the mosaic's nickname.
Excavations of the site, which began in 1929 and continued until 1960, unveiled some 50 rooms covered by the well-preserved polychrome mosaic floors. Believed to be the work of North African craftsmen, the mosaics depict mythology, sporting activities, and hunting and domestic scenes of the era.—Alison Bulman, senior editorial coordinator
© 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. | <urn:uuid:de58a173-ca65-4aea-b55d-b7850e1e62b7> | {
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|Eagle Harbor Range Lights||Seeing The Light|
To assist vessels in locating the narrow opening in the bar, local mariners quickly installed a day range on the shore. While no record of the appearance or construction of this private range has survived, it likely consisted of two white wooden poles or skeletal towers placed on shore in a direct line with the opening in the bar. From a safe distance beyond the bar, mariners would move parallel to the shore to a point at which the two ranges lined-up one behind the other. Keeping the ranges thus aligned as they turned shoreward and entered the harbor put them on a course safely through the opening. Since these ranges were unlighted, they only served their purpose during daylight hours, and vessels wishing to enter the harbor at night were forced to wait offshore until sunrise or chance breaking up on the rocks of the bar.
In the annual inspection of the area in 1863, the Lighthouse Board Inspector noted that a similar day range had been installed by private interests in Copper Harbor, and that both locations would benefit by the installation of lighted ranges to facilitate safe entry at all times of day. While it was further noted that of the two locations the need was most pressing at Eagle Harbor, no action was taken by the Board towards seeking the necessary funding, since the majority of Federal Government's funds being diverted to support the Civil War.
The Civil War behind them, the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers dispatched an officer to Eagle Harbor to supervise a project of harbor improvement in 1866. With a plan to enlarge the opening in the bar to a width of 130 feet and a depth of 14 feet, the resulting improvement opened the harbor to the largest vessels of the day, allowing it to serve as one of a chain of harbors of refuge planned for Superior's south shore.
With the exact location of the enlarged channel known in 1873, the engineer in charge suggested that the time was right for the construction of the range lights, and the Lighthouse Board in turn recommended their construction in its annual report for that year.
Congress responded favorably with an appropriation of $8,000 on March 3, 1875, and the District Inspector visited Eagle Harbor to negotiate for the purchase of the necessary land for the station on a location close to the mouth of the Cedar River. While the site selected was low and swampy, it was predicated by the location of the new channel. As was frequently the case, title to the land was not quickly obtained, and it was not until the spring of 1877 that a clear title was finally obtained. Construction of the ranges began immediately, just as work on opening the new channel through the bar was completed.
The plan drawn up for the Eagle Harbor range lights was a new design, but ended-up being duplicated at Copper Harbor in 1869, and at Presque Isle and Baileys Harbor in 1870. The rear range was a two-story wood frame keeper's dwelling with a small wooden lantern on the peak at the end of the roof facing the lake. The first floor contained a kitchen, living room and a bedroom, and the second floor one large bedroom. A wooden staircase connected the two floors and continued into the lantern, which was equipped with a tubular tin lamp atop a small cast iron pedestal. The lantern was lined with copper sheeting as a protection against fire, and shelves were built into the walls to hold wicks and other supplies.
The front range consisted of a small 25-foot tall wooden structure, the lower section being square in plan, with the upper half octagonal, capped with an iron roof with round ventilator ball. A set of wooden stairs lead to a floor located at the point at which the building became octagonal, with a tubular tin lamp similar to that in the rear range mounted on a small cast iron pedestal centered on this floor. A window on the lake side of the structure limited the visibility of the light to a small arc out in the lake, to ensure that it was not visible until it was close to being lined-up below the light in the rear range. A second, smaller window was located on the opposite side, and was installed to allow the keeper to verify that the front range light was working from within the comfort of the rear range dwelling.
George Howard was appointed as the station's first keeper, and reported for duty at the station on August 11, 1877. With work on the station complete, Howard officially exhibited the Eagle Harbor Range Lights for the first time on the evening of September 20, 1877.
In order to better mark the location of the channel through the bar, two huge pine lumber cribs were constructed on the ice at each side of the opening during the winter of 1878. Filled with rock blasted from an area onshore, the ice was subsequently cut away around the cribs, and they were lowered to the bottom.
By virtue of the station's location, the area was evidently frequently soggy, if not covered with water. To help combat the rot that accompanies such dampness, the rear range building was elevated two feet above its foundation in 1884, and new foundation walls and a cellar were constructed beneath. 1894 saw the replacement of the old tin lanterns with newer lens lanterns, and the following year 1,000 feet of plank walk, elevated two feet off the ground, was installed to allow movement between the two structures without having to wade through the seemingly ever present standing water and mud.
Evidently the foundation modifications undertaken in 1884 were insufficient, as the rear range building was elevated a further two feet in 1901. The cellar floor was raised two feet and a new concrete cellar floor was poured. A two-story barn was built to the rear of the dwelling, and considerable re-grading was undertaken to allow the water to drain in the area of the walkway between the front and rear ranges.
Unfortunately, by the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, vessel traffic in and out of Eagle Harbor had dwindled significantly, with the lighthouse tenders being virtually the only large vessels entering the harbor. As a result, it was determined that the range lights no longer served their former vital function, and they were exhibited for the last time at the close of the 1911 season of navigation. Their only eulogy being an ignominious entry in a listing of "stations which were discontinued during the fiscal year" in the 1912 annual report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses.
No longer serving any official purpose, the rear range dwelling was offered for sale at auction in 1930, with the stipulation that it would have to be moved from its existing site. Detroit resident Gertrude Rowe entered a bid of $400 for the structure, with the intention of moving it to her property across Highway 26 to serve as a summer cottage. Being the highest bidder, she arranged to pay the County Road Commission to use one of their large tractors to make the move. Waiting until the winter of 1932, when the ground would be frozen and the going easier, the tractor hitched up to the wheeled platform which had been placed beneath the structure, and the move was underway. Unfortunately, the wet conditions around the building reared their ugly head once again, as the tractor became mired in the mud beneath the snow. A second County tractor was dispatched to the site, and freed the first, whereupon the dwelling slowly made its way across the road to its new home.
While it is not known what became of the front range light, the rear range still serves as a summer cottage for Gertrudes' son Dr. Robert Rowe and his family, and is locally known as the "Tower and Lantern" cottage.
In the latter part of the twentieth
century, the range lights were replaced with a pair of simple steel
poles with red and white daymarks and modern acrylic optics, which still
serve to guide pleasure boaters making their way into Eagle Harbor. Although most visitors likely have no idea
as to its original purpose, the old brick oil storage
building still stands sentinel duty close to the new front range light. The
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The world of genetics is confusing AF. But trust me, you will be hearing more and more about genetics in the coming years. In 2003 researchers completed The Human Genome Project, a many year endeavour to sequence the human genome and understand what our genes can tell us about our health. And one of the most important genes identified was MTHFR.
MTHFR is the acronym for the gene that makes methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. This is an essential step in the methylation pathway – a complex pathway that results in the production of neurotransmitters (mental health), glutathione (liver, inflammation and antioxidant health), and processing of estrogen and testosterone (hormone health). Methylation has been considered by many to be the most important enzyme function in the human body.
Somewhere between 30-50% (perhaps more) people carry a mutation (also called a single nucleotide polymorphism – or SNP) in the MTHFR gene, with an estimated 14-20% of people having a more severe mutation. First identified by the Human Genome Project, researchers noted that people with the MTHFR mutation were more likely to develop certain diseases, including ADHD, autism, Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis and autoimmune disorders.
|Deep vein thrombosis||Neural tube defects||Gluten intolerance||Pernicious anemia||Schizophrenia||Chronic fatigue syndrome|
|Post-menopausal depression||Chemical sensitivities||Parkinson’s||Irritable bowel syndrome||Pre-eclampsia||Stroke|
|Spina bifida||Bipolar disorder||Male infertility||Vascular dementia||Blood clots||Congenital heart defects|
|Gastric cancer||Migraines with aura||Low HDL cholesterol||Epilepsy||Atherosclerosis||Oral clefts|
|Type I Diabetes||Cervical dysplasia||Glaucoma||Prostate cancer||Multiple sclerosis||Essential hypertension|
|Thyroid cancer||Premature death||Heart murmurs||Placental abruption||Myocardial infarction||Tongue tie|
|Asthma||Bladder cancer||Low testosterone||Heavy metal toxicity|
Conditions Associated with MTHFR Polymorphisms
It is important to remember that just because you have inherited a gene (thanks mom and dad), does not mean you will develop one of these health conditions. There are many factors (diet, lifestyle, nutritional status, environment) that contribute to gene expression.
Your genes are not your destiny, but they are your tendency
MTHFR C667T and MTHFR A1298C
Two main MTHFR mutations have been identified and are the focus of most research.
Mutations are inherited from our parents, and as such we have two copies of each gene. A mutation on either of these genes can be heterozygous (+/-) – meaning only one copy is abnormal – or homozygous (+/+), meaning both inherited copies is mutated. Homozygous mutations are more likely to cause health problems. And having a homozygous mutation in both MTHFR C667T and MTHFR A1298C is considered to be the most problematic.
The Consequences of MTHFR Mutations
The importance of the methylation cycle, impacted by MTHFR mutations, can not be understated. Some of the consequences of altered MTHFR function include:
- Decreased methylation
- Increased heavy metal toxicity (iron, copper, lead, mercury)
- Low iron (often secondary to elevated copper)
- Increased homocysteine leading to vascular inflammation (cardiovascular disease, increased blood pressure, increased risk of vascular dementia)
- Poor conversion of homocysteine to glutathione (increased stress, fatigue, toxin build up, cellular stress)
- Poor conversion of homocysteine to methionine (increased atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, anemia, inflammation)
- Decreased production of SAMe and decreased serotonin levels (depression)
Nutrigenomics for MTHFR
One of the main reasons I became interested in genetic medicine, is the ability of nutrients, diet and lifestyle to strongly influence the function of our genes. This field of study is known as nutrigenomics.
When we know what our genetic tendencies are, we can alter and optimize them through dietary and supplemental choices. It’s an empowering way to look at our bodies.
In order to optimize MTHFR function, there are some things that need to be avoided:
- Synthetic folic acid – further slows the MTHFR function
- Cyanocobalamin – a form of vitamin B12 that slows methylation
- Birth control pills – block the uptake of folate in the gut
- Methotrexate – another medication that blocks folate uptake
- Proton pump inhibitors – a medication for heartburn that alters stomach acid levels and decreases vitamin B12 absorption
- Processed grains – contain synthetic folic acid
- Mercury amalgams and heavy metals – can lead to greater heavy metal toxicity due to poor metal clearance
Individuals who have MTHFR polymorphisms will often thrive with appropriate nutritional support. Supplements that can help to improve methylation are the cornerstone of MTHFR therapy.
Supplemental Support for MTHFR
Folate – natural folate, from leafy green plants (foliage – that’s how folate got its name!) and natural supplements will help to improve methylation. Especially important during the months prior to pregnancy, women of reproductive age with MTHFR mutations should be taking folate regularly.
Vitamin B6 – an essential cofactor in the methylation pathway, vitamin B6 helps to ensure folate works properly.
Vitamin B12 – vitamin B12 is a methyl donor – it contributes a methyl group to the methylation pathway, allowing it to function at optimal capacity. B12 should be taken in the methylcobalamin or hydroxycobalamin form, and never in the cyanocobalamin form.
TMG (Trimethylglycine or Betaine) – another methyl donor, providing three methyl groups to the methylation cycle, this nutrient is commonly deficient in people with MTHFR. Stress, infections, inflammation and high levels of heavy metals will all increase the demand for THM. In a healthy body, plenty is made, but it is also available as a supplement and in foods such as broccoli, beets and other vegetables. TMG is especially useful for people with depressive symptoms as it increases the production of SAMe.
SAMe – a consequence of poor MTHFR function is low levels of SAMe. Essential for the production of serotonin, low SAMe can be associated strongly with depression. SAMe acts as a methyl donor in the body, and is made in the body through methylation processes. Supplementation is available although often levels improve with supplementation of methyl donors, B12 and folate.
NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) – a direct precursor to the production of glutathione. NAC can be used to support detoxification and decrease oxidative damage in people with MTHFR mutations.
You’re not alone! The study of genetics, and the influence of our genes on our health, is some pretty deep, dark science stuff! But it’s also incredibly informative, and empowering. And if you’ve ever wondered how your genes are impacting your health, you should consider genetic testing and working with a Naturopathic Doctor, Geneticist or Functional Medicine Doctor who can help you understand your genetic tendencies, and realize your optimal health potential.
The advice provided in this article is for informational purposes only. It is meant to augment and not replace consultation with a licensed health care provider. Consultation with a Naturopathic Doctor or other primary care provider is recommended for anyone suffering from a health problem. | <urn:uuid:0f534c00-6834-415d-b3b6-9d723b300162> | {
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A new post containing a cartoon from Josh will appear every hour. At the end of the 24 hours, everything will be collated on a single page. Readers are encouraged to post skeptical arguments below, as well as offer comments on what has been seen from the Climate Reality Project so far.
Warming up the thermometers
The surfacestations project found that the majority of official climate thermometers in the USA were improperly sited by the government’s own standards.
Many are near air conditioners or in parking lots.
Above: official USHCN weather station, in the parking lot, Atmospheric Science Dept. University of Arizona, Tucson. Photo: Warren Meyer
Many, like the University of Tucson shown above, have been closed by NOAA since the project started: An old friend put out to pasture: Marysville is no longer a USHCN climate station of record.
The first peer reviewed paper didn’t find a strong effect on the mean temperature, but we did find something nobody else had, and that is that the dirunal variation over the last century is flat.
Temperature trend estimates do indeed vary according to site classification. Assuming trends from the better-sited stations (CRN 1 and CRN 2) are most accurate:
- Minimum temperature warming trends are overestimated at poorer sites
- Maximum temperature warming trends are underestimated at poorer sites
- Mean temperature trends are similar at poorer sites due to the contrasting biases of maximum and minimum trends
- The trend of the “diurnal temperature range” (the difference between maximum and minimum temperatures) is most strongly dependent on siting quality. For 1979-2008 for example, the magnitude of the linear trend in diurnal temperature range is over twice as large for CRN 1&2 (0.13ºC/decade) as for any of the other CRN classes. For the period 1895-2009, the adjusted CRN 1&2 diurnal temperature range trend is almost exactly zero, while the adjusted CRN 5 diurnal temperature range trend is about -0.5°C/century.
- Vose and Menne[2004, their Fig. 9] found that a 25-station national network of COOP stations, even if unadjusted and unstratified by siting quality, is sufficient to estimate 30-yr temperature trends to an accuracy of +/- 0.012°C/yr compared to the full COOP network. The statistically significant trend differences found here in the central and eastern United States for CRN 5 stations compared to CRN 1&2 stations, however, are as large (-0.013°C/yr for maximum temperatures, +0.011°C/yr for minimum temperatures) or larger (-0.023°C/yr for diurnal temperature range) than the uncertainty presented by Menne at al (2010).
More detailed results are found in the paper, including analyses for different periods, comparisons of raw and adjusted trends, and comparisons with an independent temperature data set. More here
A follow up paper is in the works looking at other issues in the metadata, such as airports, rural/urban etc.
Josh put a lot of work into these, so if you like the work, drop by the tip jar. Unlike Gore’s CRP, he won’t spam you asking for more. Buy him a beer, he’s worked a long time bringing us enjoyment with only some “attaboys” sent his way. | <urn:uuid:6e875931-919a-4466-9cfc-70a16f13356f> | {
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Department of Immunology
Immunology is the study of biological systems used to defend the body against microbial pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Evolution over the past several million years has equipped the immune system with a set of pattern recognition receptors, including the Toll-like receptors (TLRs), to distinguish self from microbial pathogens. The innate immune response, a first line of defense, is initiated by signaling through the TLRs, by bacteria DNA, lipoproteins and polysaccharides, as well as viral RNA. Triggering TLRs activates antigen presenting cells (APCs) to upregulate costimulatory molecules and secrete cytokines, which allow these APCs to initiate immune responses.
The other arm of the immune system is the adaptive immune response, which uses antigen-specific receptors called antibodies and T-cell receptors (TCRs), found on B cells and T cells, respectively. These specific receptors drive highly efficient immunological responses that possess memory.
Please view our Research page to learn more about the exciting research taking place in the Department of Immunology.
The goal of MD Anderson's Department of Immunology is to perform multidisciplinary research and educational activities in basic and cancer immunology.
The new Center for Cancer Immunology Research (CCIR) is one of the six collaborative programs in biomedical research that make up the McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer. The CCIR state-of-the-art facility for immunology research provides a platform for integrating basic and clinical immunology research programs.
Additionally, the Center for Inflammation and Cancer is one of several interdisciplinary research centers in the MD Anderson Institute for Basic Science, with the goal to provide an interactive platform across MD Anderson and the Texas Medical Center to study cross-regulation of inflammatory cell types and tumor microenvironments and the underlying molecular mechanisms using both animal models and patient samples.
Through our commitment to research and education, we hope to train future generations of high-caliber immunologists, as well as to advance knowledge of cancer, the immune system and how to direct the immune system toward eradicating cancer.
- LISTEN to Jim Allison, Ph.D., and Padmanee Sharma, M.D., Ph.D., discuss how immunotherapy is changing cancer treatment
- Dr. Allison shares Tang Prize for his immunotherapy innovation
- Dr. James Allison elected fellow of the AACR Academy
- Immunotherapy innovator wins 2014 Canada Gairdner International Award
- Cancer immunotherapy leader Allison to receive 2014 Szent-Gyorgyi Prize
- MD Anderson Announces Collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Innovation on cancer immunotherapy
- MD Anderson teams up with Pfizer to advance cancer immunotherapy
- Science names cancer immunotherapy its 2013 Breakthrough of the Year
- The Immunology Program Student Retreat took place on May 16 - 17, 2014 at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. Click the links below to see the Program and Photo Album.
- Congratulations to our Immunology Students for winning best poster and presentation awards at the Retreat!
- Jolie Schafer and Kyle Jackson - Best mini-posters
- Kalyan Nallaparaju and Todd Bartkowiak - Best posters
- Stephanie Dorta-Estremera and Felix Nwajei - Best oral presentations | <urn:uuid:89fc30eb-61b1-4dac-8f90-0f19a832ec5d> | {
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In the 80s, Microsoft became the biggest technology company in the world. The invention of the Windows operating system made computers usable for the everyday person. The company continued to grown throughout the 90s, with better and better versions of Windows and other software and hardware ventures. However, Microsoft floundered in the age of the Internet.
While its operating system was the platform that most people used to access the web, it was overtaken on several innovative fronts by Google, Apple, and other tech companies. It seems that the company has completely lost its innovative thinkers and now leans on its successful products: Windows and Office. The company has been in a tail-spin for years, and the future seems bleak.
One of Microsoft’s weakest points is that they like to copy other innovators who have had success in a particular market. Look at the iPod and iPhone. Microsoft saw that Apple had created a genius business model based on a digital marketplace. Enter Zune, Microsoft’s answer to the iPod. It’s basically a poorly rehashed iPod with its own music marketplace.
Most teenagers today probably don’t even know what Zune is, because it never really left the ground. Microsoft thought that they could simply copy what another company had done without adding any innovation, and it would be a success. Wrong. The Zune was a failure from the beginning. A former Microsoft executive said that Apple killed the Zune before it even launched and that ”they weren’t brave enough” to compete with the technology. Now Zune resides as a music marketplace on the Xbox console. The music players are no longer being made.
The next biggest failure of Microsoft’s would have to be the Internet Explorer browser. Back in the 90s, Microsoft managed to be the dominant browser by far, with nearly 90% of users using the software to browse the fledgling World Wide Web. That number has dropped to 25%, while its main competitor Google Chrome has 42% of the user base as of June 2013.
The Internet browser failed to keep up with web standards and became a sluggishly slow browser to use. Web coders hated Internet Explorer for the longest time because they would have to put fixes into their code so that web pages would be viewed correctly. With the smooth running, highly extensible Google Chrome having nearly twice the market share, Internet Explorer isn’t looking to rebound any time soon.
The current failure of Microsoft seems to be one of the two things that keeps the company in the black: its Windows operating system software. The Windows 8 operating system launched with the idea that computing was moving towards tablets, and away from PCs. So, for Windows 8 they made their operating system optimized for the tablet market. While the operating system is a fresh new look and actually is great on a tablet, they seemed to forget that their staple consumer resides in the business sector. With the functionality of Windows 8 focused on a tablet and mobile market, businesses are holding their breath to upgrade from the much more business friendly Windows 7.
Alongside Windows 8, Microsoft released its Surface tablet. The tablet was designed to be a business friendly tablet that incorporated everything that people loved about Windows, including Microsoft Office. While the tablet is impressive in places, it’s failed in its release by falling millions of sales short of its goals. Once again, Microsoft steps into a category that has already matured, expecting that it can take over market share without a killer edge in innovation. Seriously, slapping a rubber keyboard onto a tablet isn’t that useful.
There are many other Microsoft failures, but they have some successes. The Xbox has been a successful dance into the video game console market place and the Xbox 360 was a great follow up. The Xbox One was announced in June of 2013 and unfortunately for Microsoft, the tech world is saying that Sony’s Play station 4 is going to be the clear front runner from now on.
Microsoft’s problem is clearly an innovation problem. They’ve copied Google; they’ve copied Apple (multiple times over many decades); and they’ve tried to copy Sony. Many of their copycat schemes have succeeded to bring the company vast fortune . However, the gig seems to be up for Microsoft as the young innovative crowd finds itself centered in next generation companies like Google. The company looks to be on a slow painful decline as it continues moderate success mixed with incalculable failure.
Serge is the technical founder at Edictive, production management software based in Sydney, Australia. | <urn:uuid:d17b490f-439b-4936-92af-1e360d5c45f8> | {
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“Cloud Computing” is one of those buzzword terms that’s been driving everybody nuts for a while now, at least from what I’ve seen. But what does it really mean to people? Often when a term gets thrown around enough to become a “buzzword”, it starts losing its meaning because people grow numb to it. Once that happens, you get pushback from people, even people to whom the buzzword applies.
Computing in “the Cloud” is one of those terms. Like the term or not, Cloud Computing is here, and has been here for a while now, and if you’re like most people on the Internet, it applies to you in at least some way, whether you admit it or not.
Here’s how it applies to you, and how it applies to me.
What are we talking about here?
“Cloud Computing” is defined by Wikipedia as ” Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid”. There’s more to it than that, but still, that sums it up pretty well.
Basically put, if you keep anything somewhere other than on your local computer, you are in effect accessing a part of the “Cloud”. This is made possible in general by the Internet, but the definition can also include any networked computer resources that centralize data or applications to be accessed from somewhere else, whether that’s over an intranet, a private bit of fiber, or a group of networks connected together privately.
Okay, so why all the buzz?
There’s no doubt about it, over the past few years, the term “Cloud Computing” has become a buzz word that has been overused, driven straight into the ground. So much so that even mention the word “cloud” in a service, or in a Linux distro and you immediately see pushback from people who are sick and tired of seeing the term bandied about (like some of the comments on this recent review of a cloud-centric Linux distro).
I think it’s pretty understandable when something gets that overused in our daily technospeak. But there’s a reason for buzz. As a concept, the Cloud is a new idea, an important development in how we as humans manage, visualize, and distribute information and access to it. It’s a paradigm shift that has only been around for a decade and a half or so on any practical scale, and with the spread of more accessible broadband for everyday folks out there, it’s difficult if not impossible to avoid its effects.
It’s important because it cuts the bonds that tie us to compartmentalized stuff. Rather than having to physically go here to access your address book, and physically go there to listen to your favorite music, and go somewhere else to read your email, it means if you need to, you can do all of those things from anywhere you are connected. With the propagation of mobile internet, for the first time in human history, everything you need is now literally at your fingertips. This is sort of a “data liberation”, in a way… it provides individuals with a lot of power. Power to get to what they need, wherever they are, and whenever they need it.
Some of the controversy is, however, not just attached to the stigma of a term being overused to the point of becoming a buzzword. A lot has been said about our society becoming too “connected”, and the concept of the Cloud is a big enabler for people becoming that way.
It’s harder to leave work at the office when you are connected via a mobile device (be it a smartphone, a laptop, or a netbook) 24/7. It can be difficult to enjoy a quiet meal with your sweetheart when you’re getting notified whenever someone you follow tweets about something that sends an SMS notification to your phone. Or an email containing a link to a funny Youtube video. Or an alert that a server is down at work.
There’s little doubt that this “constant connectivity” is making waves, and that’s understandable. I’ve known people who have really let it erode their lives and let it create a lot of stress. I think there’s a healthy balance to be had, but with something this hard to ignore that’s also this new and powerful, there is a bit of adapting people need to do in order to incorporate it into their lives with moderation.
Like anything else, it’s a tool. Used right, it can make your life easier, better, more focused. Used wrong, or overused, and it will make you an overworked, overstressed, nervous wreck. Just like anything else.
My own life in the Cloud
Like a lot of people out there, I swiftly grew sick and tired of the buzzword being used like crazy, particularly in technology articles. Everything is “Cloud this”, and “Cloud that” and “gee whiz lookit the Cloud!”.
So, also like a lot of other people, I largely ignored the term and dismissed it as a lot of hype. Until I took a closer look at what, exactly, it meant.
And then I realized that my life was already “Cloudy”, and had been, long before the term “Cloud Computing” became a buzzword.
And, if you’re reading this, I’d bet you that yours is too, even if you’re one who — like me — put up the Buzzword Shield and roll your eyes every time you see yet-another-tech-article about the Cloud.
It’s the little things that drag you in
If you use any kind of webmail, you’re technically Cloud Computing. If you use any kind of social networking at all — Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, many others — you’re utilizing the Cloud, to communicate, to store photographs, messages, information about other people.
It’s deceptively easy, really. You put more and more of what you need out there, and the next thing you know, you’re Cloud Computing without even thinking much about it. “What’s John’s email address? Hang, on, he’s in my Gmail contacts.”
“You’re looking for a job? Check this out, someone I used to work for is hiring. I’ll bring up my LinkedIn updates, I just saw yesterday that they’re looking for someone like you.”
It doesn’t take much to take advantage of such a powerful way to access even simple information. Convenience is king, and the Cloud makes that more possible than ever before.
How I Cloud
A little while back, when I decided to move past the buzzwords and take a closer look at the reality of Cloud Computing, I realized how much of my own life is lived “out there”.
I use Facebook to communicate with and keep in touch with old high school friends, buddies from my Navy days, and a few out of state relatives. I can use Facebook from my home computers, my laptop, or my phone. While a lot of that is just entertainment, it’s also a great practical way for me to keep in touch with a couple hundred people that I might not otherwise even be able to find without such a powerful tool.
It’s led to my getting back in touch with people from my military time that I thought I’d never see again.
And now, using what I have at my fingertips, I can be a part of their lives, albeit in a small, digital way.
But it also means I can find my friend Jake, whom I hadn’t seen in over a decade, and have dinner at his house when my wife and I happened to be in his neck of the woods anyway a couple of months ago.
It also means that I was able to keep on top of what was going on with my uncle, who was ill and eventually passed away several months ago, because his wife and daughter and son kept me and other loved ones apprised.
It isn’t all just goofy Internet memes and games. There’s actual practical benefit to be taken advantage of there.
I use LinkedIn as a kind of Facebook for professionals — which is largely its purpose. In my line of work, networking with other people in my profession is the only way I’ve ever really found a job that was worth keeping, and LinkedIn is the primary way I do that.
I use Dropbox to centralize several gigs of my most important stuff. It’s free, it’s fast, it’s 100% cross platform (I use it on Windows machines and my Linux machines, and my wife uses hers on OS X), and with it, I can get to anything I need from my Dropbox folder, anywhere I am, as long as I have an Internet connection. Even if I do not, if I’m using a computer on which Dropbox is installed, that data is synced from the time I was last connected, so I at least have a recent version of it.
So if I’m at a friend’s house and he wants a copy of my resume to forward to someone that might want to hire me, I say “hang on a sec, let me use your computer to log into my Dropbox account; I have my most recent resume there”. Or if I want to give him a document from a project we’re working on together, or whatever. Dropbox is a great way to keep all of my most important, dynamic data centralized so I can get to it no matter where I am. No more “oh crap, the most recent version of this is on my other computer” or “damn it, my hard drive just failed, and I didn’t have this stuff backed up”.
I also have my own web hosting (for which I pay), where I have a lot more space which I can use to share things with others, host files for myself to get to elsewhere (that might not necessarily fit in my Dropbox folder), and I have created some FTP subaccounts for some close friends to use to help them centralize things as well.
I have my own domain, which I have pointed at that web hosting, but for email I have my domain mail hosted at Google, which is free. Like my web hosting, I use this to create subaccounts for friends so they can have email at my domain.
Along with the email accounts, this comes with all the other tools Google has to offer, such as Google Docs (which we use sometimes for collaborating), and Google Calendar, which I use to organize my personal life as well as to schedule game sessions for my group of tabletop (pencil-and-paper) gamers.
I access all of these things from my phone as well, so if I need to figure out if I’m free on a certain date, I’m a couple of clicks away from seeing my Google calendar, even if I’m out on the street somewhere.
Lately when it comes to docs, I’ve also been playing around with Zoho, which is so easy to use and so feature rich, it’d be conceivable to be a replacement for local office productivity apps on a machine that has an “always on” Internet connection. I like it better than Google Docs, myself.
I listen to Last.fm for variety in my music. From there I can stream just about anything for which I have a mood, and I don’t need to eat up the precious hard drive space on my older laptop (if I’m using that one), since I don’t need to store any music locally on it.
And speaking of local music, I have my own Sockso music server set up on my home network, so I can stream my own extensive MP3 collection over my home network, or, if I log into it remotely, anywhere I have an internet connection.
That same computer hosting my Sockso server also has a Windows server running in VirtualBox hosted on it. I have port forwarding for port 3389 going directly to that virtualized Windows guest so I can use Remote Desktop and connect to a fully functional Windows environment any time I need to, anywhere I happen to be. While I don’t have much need for Windows very often these days, it’s invaluable for testing things that aren’t working, or to test and see HOW something works, particularly if I’m troubleshooting something for a client or a friend, remotely. With a couple of clicks and a couple of keystrokes, I’m instantly connected to my own private Windows environment.
See, the Cloud can apply to one’s own private network, private cloud as well.
Additionally, since I mentioned tabletop roleplaying games earlier, I keep all of my campaign logs for my games online (like this one, just as one example), so that my players and I can get to them no matter whose house from which we’re gaming, and I don’t need to worry about sending out a cumbersome document to everyone, or losing anything if I have a local computer failure.
Sure, we are now using a lot of technology to centralize information for it, but the game is still played in person, around a table, with dice, and paper. Mixing old with new.
Via my bank, which allows me to do just about anything via online banking, I never have to actually physically go to a branch, not unless I’m needing to cash an actual check that somebody wrote me for some reason. I can access my bank account from anywhere I have Internet, and make transfers from account to account, check my balances, see when my credit card is due, look at how much I have open on my home equity line of credit, pay bills, you name it.
Heck, even this blog, The Linux Critic, I use regularly as kind of my Cloud-based procedure notebook… I regularly access older posts as reference, in a “how do I?” sort of way. That was one of the purposes of this blog when I started it, as a private Linux reference (that might help others too), and it’s easier than keeping such things locally.
My point to all this? I use the Cloud in my every day life, and I use it a lot. It protects me from data loss (because a lot of this stuff is stored elsewhere, in some cases in multiple locations even), it makes the things important to me more accessible, and it allows me to quickly and easily share information with friends, coworkers, colleagues, and collaborate on projects, or just have fun.
The cost, and where things are going
So what is the cost? Well, everything comes at a price. How steep that price is remains largely your own choice. Yes, there is a monetary price — I pay for my smartphone data services, and I pay for my web hosting, and I pay for my broadband internet — but there is also another couple of costs associated.
One of those costs I already mentioned, that of being “too connected” in our daily lives. I’ve learned how to moderate that, to use it as a tool, but to disconnect when necessary. I use it, not the other way around. I feel that this is the most important lesson that a lot of people in our modern society need to learn yet. You have to learn that, or it’ll drive you nuts, believe me.
That’s one price to pay.
The big cost
The other one is privacy. Well, privacy and security combined. You can’t turn on the news these days without hearing about someone being stalked via their publicly shared activities via social networking sites, or losing a job because of something they said on their Facebook or Twitter page.
Endless controversy surrounds what Google does with the data it hosts for, and collects about users. Not to mention the rather shady things Facebook is disclosing to third parties without users’ consent (or in many cases even users’ knowledge).
The simple fact of the matter is, unless your Cloud is a 100% private one (mine is partially private, since some of it is on my home, private server that belongs to nobody but me), that means you’re trusting some of your data — or all of your data — to a third party.
This is taking a risk.
But that risk can be managed. Think about it. You are trusting your most important data to third parties all the time anyway. Your bank has enough sensitive information on you to make your life REALLY suck if they misplace or misuse it. Your employer does too. So does the IRS. And your doctor. Heck, even your utility companies have a lot of personally identifiable information that could be used for nefarious purposes, or at least cause some damage on accident if something got misplaced, miskeyed, or misused.
And that does happen. All the time. Which means that we have to be careful with our information, our data, and with whom we trust it, especially in a day when technology is now making it possible to access and utilize that information in ways never thought possible, even 15 years ago.
So, knowing this, why do I stick my neck out in the Cloud like I do?
Simple. Because I’m very cognizant of it, and very privacy conscious, and I’m willing to make reasonable exceptions in areas where I can still manage my own exposure, manage my own risk.
Example. Facebook. That’s a biggy. As I mentioned, people shoot themselves in the foot with Facebook all the time, every day. There are a lot of complaints out there about how Facebook provides (or doesn’t provide) adequate privacy controls to end users, and while this is true, most of the actual trouble people get into with Facebook is directly related to oversharing.
My Facebook account is pretty solidly locked down. If you are not one of my Facebook friends, you won’t see my photo albums, you won’t see my face, you won’t see where I work, or my phone number, or my date of birth, or any of my status updates, or notes, or things I “like”. You won’t even see with whom I am friends on Facebook. Basically put, unless you’re in the very exclusive “Trent’s Friends” selection of people, you won’t see anything but my name. That’s it.
And I’m picky about whom I invite to that party. If you say something stupid on Facebook that gets you in trouble at school, or fired from your job, it’s because you said it in a way that didn’t have any reasonable expectation of privacy. It means that you didn’t lock down your account with the tools you have available to you, or you added your boss to your friends list. Or both.
You have to use a little bit of common sense about what you share in social networking. Yes, there are issues with how Facebook shares your information with 3rd parties; that’s another discussion. And I have issues with that too.
But by and large, most of the mishaps involving social networking are pretty easily controlled via some common sense, and thinking before posting.
Likewise, you still want to make sure that wherever you’re keeping your “stuff” in the Cloud it’s someplace legitimate, with adequate security and with adequate password protection.
And don’t keep anything out there that would cause you massive embarrassment if it were made public. Consider the “Cloud” to be kind of like keeping some of your stuff in a storage unit out in town. You can keep it reasonably safe, locked, and secure.
But you have to be reasonable. If you’re suspected of breaking the law, nobody will stop law enforcement from opening it up and looking around if they have a warrant to do so. Least of all the person in charge of that storage facility.
So in short, be privacy conscious about the Cloud and what you put there, and where. Use strong passwords, and change them regularly.
Like it or not, and like buzzwords or not, Cloud Computing isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Like I’ve been saying, I found myself having a lot of stuff in the Cloud before I had even heard the term, much less had the chance to grow sick of hearing it. And you probably do.
As the Internet grows, and technology enables a lot of new ways of interacting with and sharing and accessing information, the Cloud will become more and more a part of our everyday lives, and it will eventually kind of fade into the background.
I’d be willing to bet that back when the power grid was first coming together, electricity in homes had its associated buzzwords too, and I’d bet that a lot of people were annoyed by it and got tired of hearing about it. But eventually it wasn’t something people really thought about. You just flipped a switch and the light came on. No big deal.
There are some bumps in the road ahead, undoubtedly. People need to learn how this works, learn how to incorporate it into their lives without letting it rule them, and without paying too high a price in monetary terms and in terms of privacy and security as well.
But it’ll happen. Just around the corner will be the day — and I don’t think it’s very far off — when you just flip the switch, and you’ll be living in the Cloud without even thinking about it. | <urn:uuid:e7baae29-8ff0-447a-853a-4d1a5fd93e33> | {
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