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The study into the migratory habits of shorebirds predicted that a loss of 23 to 40 percent of their main feeding areas could lead to a 70 percent decline in their population.
Led by a team of scientists from Australia’s government-backed National Environmental Research Program, the study said some areas have already reported alarming population losses of 30-80 percent.
“Each year, millions of shorebirds stop at coastal wetlands to rest and feed as they migrate from Russia and Alaska to the coasts of Southeast Asia and Australasia,” said researcher Richard Fuller.
“We’ve discovered that some of these wetlands are highly vulnerable to sea level rise and might be lost in the next few decades.
“If the birds can no longer stop at these areas to ‘refuel’, they may not be able to complete the journey to their breeding grounds.”
The researchers studied wetlands along migration routes across Alaska, Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.
In many cases rapid coastal development and reclamation for agriculture were already chewing into tidal wetlands the birds use as feeding grounds on their long journeys, which sometimes extend half way around the world.
Species showing signs of being in trouble include the bar-tailed godwit, curlew sandpiper, great knot, grey-tailed tattler, lesser sand plover, and red knot, said the study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal.
The scientists used “graph theory”, a mathematical approach, to estimate the impact of the loss of these wetlands on shorebirds.
It found that if a tidal wetland habitat served as an important “stepping stone” for the shorebirds, a small amount of habitat loss could trigger disproportionately large declines in bird populations.
“This is because some of these tidal wetlands are ‘bottleneck’ sites where the majority of the birds stop to refuel,” said Takuya Iwamura, of Stanford University.
“For example, we discovered that a sea level rise of 150 centimetres (59 inches) may result in the loss of 35 percent of coastal wetlands, but it could lead to a 60 percent decline in curlew sandpipers, eastern curlews and great knots.”
The scientists are embarking on a second study to identify the best ways to save the disappearing shorebirds and get a better grip on the scale of the problem. | <urn:uuid:ba0fe31f-27d9-404c-9b07-d1293ce39667> | {
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By Natalie Strom
A local tourist attraction on Marco Island is now offering marine education to Collier County students. The Dolphin Explorer, a dolphin-sightseeing boat owned by Sea Excursions, has developed a ten-week lesson plan for grades two through five revolving around the science attained on every single one of its public-offered trips.
As a sightseeing vessel, guests board the boat knowing they will be seeing a dolphin or two. What they don’t realize is that they are actually part of a science experiment. The only on-going study of dolphin activity in Southwest Florida, crew members use guests to help track dolphins, identify them and identify their behavior. All a part of the 10,000 Islands Dolphin Study, crew members of the Dolphin Explorer ask guests to help identify each dolphin they see by their unique dorsal fins that act as a fingerprint.
The team of four, Chris Desmond, James Livaccari, Kristen Froelich and Kent Morse, have been accumulating data since 2006 and have identified 60 to 70 dolphins that “live” on Marco Island. The first two babies of the season were spotted just days ago.
Guests of the Dolphin Explorer leave with an extensive knowledge of the 10,000 Islands Dolphin Study as well as a new sense of enthusiasm regarding conservation methods. The crew of the Dolphin Explorer knows they can stimulate this same response in students in Collier County and other parts of the country. After all, their pilot program in Pittsburgh last year was so successful, the two participating schools have signed on for this year as well.
Susan Kosko teaches at Crafton Elementary School in Pittsburgh, one of the two schools which utilized the Dolphin Explorer’s learning program last year. She is excited to share the new, streamlined program with her new students after such positive results last year. “Students were eager to enter my class and reluctant to leave,” she says of the program. “I witnessed my students become leaders among their peers.”
Now, Collier County schools have a chance to try out this innovative and exciting learning method. “Our main priority over the summer was to structure each lesson plan and make sure we have our own research involved. Every lesson plan about our local dolphins will feature the numbers and the data that we have. It’s very personalized,” explains Kristen Froelich, Education and Media Specialist for the 10,000 Islands Dolphin Project.
Schools will have the option of a two or three day-a-week program for ten weeks. The environmental studies program will be offered three times throughout the current school year.
Schools can sign up to start in October 2012, January 2013 or March 2013. The program is designed to offer up to 30 lesson plans each about 45 minutes in length accompanied by a 15 minute live chat session from the Dolphin Explorer vessel. All lessons are based around the local environment, ocean systems, science and conservation.
“Last year the pilot program was such a success and it had such an effect on the students. It got them more excited about school and reading in particular,” adds Froelich. “We’ve brought in more science, writing and critical thinking. The lessons coincide with the Common Course Standards that 48 of the states follow which basically sets guidelines as to where students should be at each grade level.”
Teachers are sent complete lesson overviews that feature topics such as mangrove systems, dolphin moms and calves, water salinity and much more. Each lesson offers vocabulary, presentations, live interaction with the Dolphin Explorer, readings and worksheets.
The best part of the ten-week course? Students will be offered a field trip at the end, having the chance to go out on the Dolphin Explorer to bring all that they’ve learned into a fun, interactive, real-life setting.
While Collier schools are just learning of the new program now, the Dolphin Explorer crew is hopeful to have schools in the area sign on for the January and March sessions.
Learn more about the program by contacting Kristen Froelich at [email protected] or visit www.dolphinstudy.com to learn more about the Dolphin Explorer and its 10,000 Islands. | <urn:uuid:442af5bc-8c15-4be3-bf06-68bd854af6e5> | {
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Economists have long been concerned with the state’s role in bringing about a just distribution of income. The fact that many governments choose to conduct significant redistribution through in-kind rather than cash transfers is an enduring puzzle. Economic theory suggests that the recipients of in-kind transfers would generally be at least as well off and often better off given the equivalent amount in cash.
Table 1 provides some evidence regarding the percent of GDP that is devoted to five types of in-kind programs in OECD countries. The largest share of public in-kind spending concerns health care, followed by education. But child care, housing, and active labour market programs are also important. Most countries have some form of food subsidy program (such as a school lunch program) as well, although the OECD does not track public expenditures on these programs so they are not included in Table 1.
|Table 1: Public Expenditures on Five In-Kind Programs, Selected OECD Countries|
|Health||Housing||Child Care||Education||Active Labour Market|
|%GDP 2002||%GDP 2001||%GDP 2003||%GDP 2003||%GDP 2001|
Notes: Dots indicate share is less than .1% of GDP. Child care also includes pre-primary education. Education includes primary, secondary, and tertiary. Active labour market policies include, but are not limited to job training and search assistance. See Currie and Gahvari for sources.
A popular economic justification for in-kind transfers is based on the idea that governments want to target transfers to the needy for efficiency reasons, but that they cannot accurately identify the poor. Hence the government must rely on individuals to self-identify as needy. If cash is offered, all individuals have an incentive to claim they are poor, making cash subsidies an inefficient tool for targeted transfers. In-kind transfers can serve as a separation device. This is the so-called "self-targeting" property of public provision. Nichols and Zeckhauser (1982) were the first to apply this idea to the provision of in-kind transfers.
But it is difficult to find with examples of large-scale transfer programs that are purely self-targeted. Although many programs have elements that are designed to get recipients to self-select , the authorities still expend considerable resources determining eligibility, and most recipients are required to document their eligibility at regular intervals. Moreover, attempts to differentiate between the needy and others by imposing transactions costs that only the needy will bear run the risk of screening out many truly deserving recipients.
A second potential explanation for in-kind transfers views them as a way of improving the efficiency of the tax system. The idea is that taxes distort labour supply, but that the provision of in-kind goods that are complementary to labour might mitigate this distortion. In Currie and Gahvari (2008) we argue that this is unlikely to be the main motivation for most of the programs we consider. For one thing, many programs count the elderly as their primary beneficiaries, even though most elderly are no longer participating in the labour market. And there are many examples of in-kind programs that discourage labour supply by creating large “notches” in budget constraints. At a notch, a household that increases earnings by $1 may lose much more than $1 in benefits when the value of in-kind benefits is correctly accounted for (see Blundell and MaCurdy 1999 for some important examples).
A third explanation for in-kind programs is the Samaritan's dilemma, introduced in the literature by James Buchanan (1975). Bruce and Waldman (1991) provide an illustration in which current transfer recipients are entitled to receive benefits as long as they are poor. This undermines their incentives to invest in activities that will raise their income since they bear the costs of such investments, but not the benefits. It is assumed that the government cannot credibly commit to end benefits for poor who do not invest, so the equilibrium is one in which the poor do not invest and the government continues to support them.
One way out of the dilemma is to invest directly in the education of the poor in an attempt to enhance their human capital. Cash aid can also be tied to other benefits that will improve the human capital of the recipient. The conditional cash transfer programs that have become popular in many developing countries can be seen as a response to the Samaritan's dilemma. In these programs, parents are usually required to consume another benefit, such as sending their children to school or to medical clinics, in order to receive their cash benefits. Still, while these programs are gaining a foothold in OECD countries, they are still the exception rather than the rule, so that the Samaritan’s dilemma cannot be regarded as a general explanation for in-kind transfers.
A fourth explanation involves pecuniary effects. The government can lower the price of the publicly-provided good by pushing up its supply. The government might wish to do this in order to achieve a policy objective in addition to redistribution. Public housing policies that aim to preserve low or moderate income housing in expensive urban areas can be seen as one example. However, government programs may also raise prices. Programs that purchase food and redistribute it may be seen as a form of agricultural price support. Finkelstein (2007) provides evidence that the introduction of the US Medicare program (public health insurance for the elderly) has driven up medical costs by making the elderly, who are the largest consumers of medical care, insensitive to price.
Fifth, the policy literature often discusses politics as a reason that transfers are supplied in-kind. For example, in the debate over welfare reform in the US, there were proposals to "cash out" the Food Stamp Program (FSP). However, these proposals were resisted by an unlikely coalition of agricultural interests (who have always supported the program) and advocates for the poor, and the program escaped the radical restructuring that befell cash transfer programs. By focusing on particular goods, in-kind programs can create political constituencies in addition to those who are the recipients of the transfers. Political arguments are also used to justify the appeal of universal in-kind transfer programs.
Unfortunately, most theoretical treatments do not explicitly distinguish between cash and in-kind transfer programs.
With the possible exception of political economy arguments, it seems unlikely that any of the explanations given above provides a sufficient justification for the wide variety of benefits that are offered in kind. The traditional justification for in-kind transfers has been "paternalism." Paternalism has different formulations in the literature. One useful example involves inter-dependent preferences. If members of society care about the consumption patterns of the poorest rather than their utility, then the unconstrained choices of the poor may create negative externalities for those who care about them. “Specific egalitarianism,’’ the idea that while income inequality per se may be acceptable, all individuals should receive adequate food, medical service, and housing, is also a form of paternalism. Paternalistic arguments assume particular force when the intended recipient is a child but the transfer goes to parents. Parents may not take full account of the utility of their children when making decisions, or they may neglect to factor in externalities. For example, suboptimal spending on children's education may lead not only to poorer prospects for children and their parents, but also to slower future economic growth.
A related hypothesis that has received little attention is that in-kind transfers are an attempt to redistribute from parents to children within the family. This can be done by transferring items that benefit children in amounts greater than those that would have been purchased by parents out of the equivalent cash transfer. Why would the government try to override the parent's preferences? A classical utilitarian answer could be that the kids enter separately into the objective function of the social planner and do not simply enter through their effects on the parent's utility functions, which is of course consistent with paternalism.
Alesina, Glaeser, and Sacerdote (2001) argue that racism is an important reason for the relative lack of political support for cash transfers in the US since transfers go disproportionately to black families. They argue that while many European countries also have sizeable minority populations, US blacks are more disadvantaged relative to the average citizen than most European minority groups. They also argue that political institutions in the US (such as the primacy of the courts), as well as features such as a relatively dispersed population, have diluted the political power of the poor in the US relative to Europe. The idea that racism is central to the way that the US transfer system has evolved, suggests an interesting twist on paternalistic arguments about the role of transfers—perhaps the US system’s reliance on in-kind transfers reflects a sense that the poor cannot be trusted with cash. The US experience with a large, persistently underprivileged minority may be salient for a Europe facing the rise of an immigrant underclass.
Finally, social insurance constitutes an important element of government redistributive programs. They are often justified on the basis of failures in markets dealing with risk due to the asymmetric information between agents. However, social insurance does not have to take the form of in-kind benefits, so that this literature is largely silent on the question of why benefits are delivered in-kind rather than in cash.
Economists appear to feel that paternalism is either too simple or too unattractive a rationale for large scale government programs. Hence, they have expended considerable creativity positing other explanations. A hard look at existing programs suggests that many of these alternative explanations have merit in particular cases. But it is hard to escape the conclusion that paternalism remains a fundamental underlying rationale for in-kind transfers. It is likely that in this far from perfect world, there is a legitimate role for in-kind transfers. If that role is largely paternalistic, then it brings three policy questions sharply into focus: When, and for which groups, is paternalism justified? Who decides on the bundle to be delivered in-kind? And how can we know when the efficiency costs of in-kind transfers outweigh the benefits of ensuring that the chosen groups receive the chosen bundle? The answers to these questions are key to improving the equity and efficiency of the in-kind transfer system.
Alesina, Alberto, Edward Glaeser, and Bruce Sacerdote. 2001. Why Doesn't the U.S. Have a European Style Welfare State?Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Fall, 187-278.
Blundell, Richard and Thomas MaCurdy. 1999. Labor Supply, Orley Ashenfelter and David Card (eds.) The Handbook of Labor Economics (Amsterdam, North Holland).
Bruce, Neil and Michael Waldman 1991. Transfers in kind: Why they can be efficient and nonpaternalistic. American Economic Review, vol 81, 1345-1351.
Buchanan, James M. 1975. The Samaritan's dilemma. In Edmund
Phelps, ed, Morality, and Economic Theory. New York: Russell Sage, 71-85.
Currie, Janet and Firouz Gahvari. 2008. Transfers in cash and in-kind: Theory meets the data. The Journal of Economic Literature, forthcoming.
Finkelstein, Amy. 2007. The Aggregate Effects of Health Insurance: Evidence from the Introduction of Medicare, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122 #1, 1-37.
Nichols, Albert L. and Richard J. Zeckhauser. 1982. Targeting transfers through restrictions on recipients. American Economic Review, vol 72, 372-377. | <urn:uuid:a91eb30d-f854-4edf-bdad-298d4523b750> | {
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Today, November 30th, is the Remembrance Day for Lost Species – a day to commemorate the many species that are disappearing daily.
I have chosen to commemorate the tragic passing into extinction of the last Rabb’s Fringe-Limbed Tree Frog, Ecnomiohyla rabborum. The last member of this species, a male known as ‘Toughie’ died in the Atlanta Botanical Garden on the 26th of September, 2016. The generic name Ecnomiohyla derives from the Greek word ecnomios (“marvelous” or “unusual”) and Hylas, the companion of Hercules.
This was indeed a truly extraordinary species for many reasons. First, this frog could fly. Because of various adaptations, including an extended flat humerus, skin flaps and giant finger pads, this large frog was able to glide as much as 9 metres through the air, steering as it went. Second, it could change colouration almost instantly according to what it landed on in its Panamanian forest home – a process called metachrosis. And third, these frogs practised an extreme form of care for the next generation: the males submerged themselves in water and allowed their tadpole babies to nibble away, exfoliating them, as a way of providing the tadpoles with food.
I am creating a print commemorating this incredible frog with a new design to be made into luxurious silk scarves. These will be available at the Last Chance Casino, an event hosted by Synchronicity Earth on March 9, 2017, at One Embankment. If you are interested in attending, please contact them via their website.
Newton Paisley aims to engage people with the conservation of endangered species and to raise money to support conservation. For every metre of our printed linen that is sold, 100 square metres of critical wild habitat is conserved, through the World Land Trust. We embrace the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication’s message that it is through focussing on ‘Love. Not loss’ that we can turn things around in this extinction crisis.
In that spirit, we love you Rabb’s Fringe Limbed Tree Frog. | <urn:uuid:ca7d3237-e692-4bc7-a4f6-85a4a8811dbd> | {
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Every now and then, an author comes around that is worth reading, even after death. Howard Peckham is that author. Peckham, who died in 1995 served as both a history professor at the University of Michigan and director of the Clements Library from 1953-1977. He wrote numerous articles and several books during his life. His most well-known book was Pontiac and the Indian Uprising (1948), which explored the famous Indian rebellion of 1763 led by Pontiac, in which he placed Pontiac in the context of a local leader within a greater anti-English movement by the Native Americans.
Another well-known work by Peckham is The Colonial Wars, 1689-1763 (1964). This book chronicles the history of the series of wars between the English and French, and their respective colonists in North America, as well as the Native Americans. This work, though dated, is well worth reading in order to begin understanding much of the period covered by this site. If one desires great reads by an accomplished historian, then consider reading Howard Peckham. | <urn:uuid:c83960a4-78aa-47cd-934b-fb8cae3b3e67> | {
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Life expectancy in some parts of the UK has plummeted, according to official figures.
By 2041, women will live to 86.2 years and men 83.4 years, projections by the Office for National Statistics showed – a decrease of almost a whole year compared to previous figures released in 2015.
An analysis of the data, conducted by Public Health England, found alarming disparities in longevity by local authority.
Residents in former mining towns and isolated rural areas saw the biggest fall, while London and the southeast continued to see a rise in longevity, The Times reported.
In Torridge, Devon, male life expectancy dipped to 79.2 years – a decline of more than a year. Hartlepool saw a similar decline of more than 12 months to 76.4. In Amber Valley, Derbyshire, female life expectancy dropped by more than a year to 82.4 compared to 2015’s figures.
Labour MP Dan Jarvis, whose Barnsley Central constituency has one of the lowest rates of life expectancy in the country, told The Independent urgent re-evaluation of public policy was required to reverse the trend.
“The decline in life expectancy in post-industrial areas is an incredibly concerning, if not surprising, development. It is part of a larger inequality between North and South: in employment rates; in levels of public spending; and in education and health outcomes,” he said.
“If we are going to reverse this trend, then we need to recognise the status quo is not working for large parts of our country.
“Post-industrial communities must be given the funding and powers to tackle this problem through wide-reaching devolution settlements.”
While experts were unclear on the exact causes for the fall, some have in the past pointed to rising obesity rates for stagnating life expectancy levels.
Now, many are pointing to cuts to frontline services along with growing levels of inequality for an overall decline in public health.
Danny Dorling, professor of human geography at the University of Oxford, said influenza, obesity, alcohol and smoking could largely be ruled out as contributory factors.
“The fall in life expectancy in several geographical areas of England is most likely a result of the effects of public service cuts and austerity,” he said. “Many other possibilities can be ruled out. Rates of smoking and drinking alcohol have fallen in recent years so that cannot be blamed. Between 2009 and very late 2017 there has been no serious influenza outbreak.
“A government that has chosen to make these cuts, and any of the organisations it directly sponsors, will understandably find this very hard to face up to.”
In November, an article in the British Medical Journal Open found that severe public spending cuts in the UK were associated with 120,000 deaths between 2010 and 2017.
Dr Wanda Wyporska, executive director of the Equality Trust, said the decline fits with an overall increase in inequality in deprived areas.
“In a country with such high inequality, it is not surprising that we are seeing a decline in life expectancy,” she said.
“Inequality leads to earlier deaths and poorer quality of life. We know that we expect to see inequality increase in former industrial areas, so this is not surprising.
“How many more of these reports do we need before the government takes this seriously?”
Professor Peter Bradley, knowledge and intelligence director at Public Health England, recognised the overall decline in life expectancy, but advised caution in drawing conclusions pending further research.
“As has been widely reported, the rate of increase of life expectancy in England has slowed down in recent years, with the relative increase in deaths in 2015 a contributory factor,” he said.
“Care needs to be taken when analysing and interpreting local authority data as their small populations mean that their life expectancy is subject to more fluctuations from year to year.
“We will continue with further work to understand the trends and geographic patterns to establish if there are factors that can be addressed.” | <urn:uuid:31adcc71-f34e-4b29-9575-e57223a267eb> | {
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- Premier Blogs
- Win Stuff
Jimmy Page onstage with Led Zeppelin in 1975. Photo by Ron Akiyama courtesy of Frank White Photo Agency.
One of the earliest examples of a multi-neck guitar is dated to circa 1690, and built in the style of the famed Alexandre Voboam. It is a small-sized guitar with an even smaller, almost ukulele-sized, guitar grafted to its treble side. This instrument would have been made for a professional musician who performed with an ensemble or orchestra. The purpose of the second set of strings was to allow the player to transpose on the fly.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, multi-necked guitars appeared on a semi-regular basis, but never in any kind of large-scale production. It wasn’t until the 1890s, when modern manufacturing methods facilitated a sharp increase in instrument production, that multi-neck instruments could be made and distributed in the kind of scale that would allow for widespread usage. As multi-neck guitars began to be used more frequently, there became a greater and greater demand for the instrument—it built upon itself.
The double-neck guitars of the 1890s reflected the tastes of the times. What became popular were things like harp guitars, lute guitars and mandolin guitars. The playing method differed from instrument to instrument. On the harp guitar, the extra strings were intended to mostly drone along with the guitar. On a mandolin guitar, one neck was played at a time. While none of these instruments set the world on fire, they did achieve enough popularity to establish the concept of a multi-necked guitar as a viable instrument.
The Early Lap Steels
As we know, the popularity of Hawaiian music in the late 1910s and ‘20s led to the emergence of the guitar—particularly the lap steel guitar—as an accepted instrument in popular music. The portability and accessibility of the guitar lent itself to usage across the entire spectrum of society, from front-porch pickin’ to ballroom jazz. The need for more volume from the instrument lead to the amplification and electrification of both lap steel and Spanish-style guitars in the late 1920s.
The earliest multi-neck electric guitars were lap steels. The famed lap steel guitarist Alvino Rey, who seemed to have had a hand in a multitude of early electric guitar inventions, claimed to be one of the first electric lap steel players to use instruments with more than one neck. Rey, like many other lap steel players before and after, knew that the instrument required multiple tunings to keep up with a band or orchestra. He found that the ultimate solution was to have more than one set of strings on the same instrument. By the mid-1930s Rey had commissioned a dual-neck steel from Gibson. By the end of the decade there were a number of steel players utilizing two- and three-neck instruments.
Immediately after the end of World War II, a number of different builders—Leo Fender and Paul Bigsby to name two—made businesses of building multi-neck steel guitars. Indeed, multi-neck steels were a core part of the Fender business throughout the 1950s. But steels were not the wave of the future, and both Fender and Bigsby would focus the bulk of their efforts on the single-neck electric Spanish guitar. But that didn’t mean the end of multi-neck guitars. In fact, it was just the beginning.
Doubleneck Spanish-style electric guitars may have existed prior to World War II, but these would have been one-off pieces. In the years just after the war, most manufacturers—players as well—were just trying to get their footing with the new standard of electrification. Once this new standard was accepted, people began to expand their vision of what an electric guitar could be, and what it could do. It was the economic and cultural climate of the 1950s that brought the doubleneck electric guitar from the freak show onto the main stage of music. | <urn:uuid:6eb4955c-ee53-402c-9b55-54925e836b4d> | {
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Anthropologists Rachel Caspari and Sang-Hee Lee were astounded when they saw the numbers. After spending years studying fossilized teeth in museums around the world they were finally able to document one of the most dramatic turning points in the history of human evolution.
About 32,000 years ago, the researchers found, human longevity took a giant leap upward. In fact, the number of people surviving into old age more than quadrupled during what may have been a relatively brief period of time.
Why that happened is still a bit of a mystery, although the researchers have their hunches. But the consequences are clear. Population size grew dramatically, and with more and more people around, particularly older folks with a bit of wisdom and experience, new ideas began to emerge.
More people shared the chores of raising children and gathering food, and that left more time for leisure activities. People probably began to dream more, and shared more ideas with more people. Some became artists. Others, in time, musicians.
Population reached a "critical mass," as Caspari puts it, and from all those folks sitting around the campfire sharing ideas, modern humans began to emerge. It was not just evolution. It was revolution. This old planet would never be the same again.
Caspari, of the University of Michigan's Anthropology Museum, and Lee, of the University of California, Riverside, published their findings in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Lee, who is temporarily in South Korea as a visiting scholar at Chonnam National University, has described the events of that era as a period of "creative explosion." The research dovetails with other studies that show the importance of having elders around the campfire.
"The elders may have served the same purpose as computer hard drives serve today," Lee told the Riverside Press Enterprise. "They were the archives of vital information."
Caspari has been working on this project for 15 years, believing that key evidence about the mystery of human evolution could be found in old teeth. So she, and later Lee, traveled the Earth, visiting museum after museum, dating molars from 750 fossils. Those teeth, in the back of the mouth, were used to chomp through mammoths, so the amount of wear depended on how long the person lived.
That technique is not precise enough to come up with exact dates, but it's good enough to divide the fossils into two groups: those who died before or soon after reaching the age of reproductive maturity, about the age of 15, and those who lived at least twice as long, so they were old enough to become grandparents.
"We aren't talking about living into your 80s," Caspari says. Human life span in those days was pretty brief, under the best of circumstances, so even living into your 30s was quite an achievement.
The fossils came from Neanderthals, who later became extinct, and humans who ranged across Europe and western Asia when much of the world was covered with glaciers. Wear on the molars showed that life spans increased gradually across all groups until about 30,000 B.C., but at that time something quite remarkable happened.
The Neanderthals remained the same, with a gradual increase in longevity, but the ratio of older to younger persons took that giant leap forward among humans. And that, the researchers argue, gave humans an evolutionary edge in the battle for survival.
This research follows a different course from the work of many who have searched for some link between the emergence of modern human anatomy, about 100,000 years ago, and the big changes seen in the structure of human society about 70,000 years later.
"A lot of people have tried to link the two," Caspari says. "But you don't see modern human behavior with the emergence of anatomical modernity. You see it much later."
"So perhaps what was needed was more ideas, and that can come from having a large number of people around," she says. As Lee suggests, you can store a lot more stuff on a bigger hard drive. But what could have caused such a dramatic leap in longevity?
Strength in Numbers
Caspari says there probably wasn't a single trigger, or single event, that increased the odds of living longer.
Most likely, she says, a few humans just lived a bit longer, for whatever reason, and the rest of the tribe discovered that it's good to have a few codgers in the camp. They could tend to the kids, freeing mom to paint on the walls of the cave. And sometimes they had been down the trail once or twice before and knew the safe way through harm's way.
So instead of casting the old folks off, they took care of them, and as they say, their numbers multiplied.
"All of this can happen very quickly," Caspari says. "When you think about the population growth that has happened in the last couple of hundred years, it's incredibly dramatic, and that's just a snap of the fingers. Think of the magnitude of that increase."
So with an increasing population, society began to grow more complex, leading ultimately to the eras of kings and bureaucrats, priests and science writers. We didn't get where we are just because of human evolution, she argues. It's the other way around.
"We have culture driving human evolution," Caspari says. There are far more of us because our ancestors decided there was strength in numbers.
Of course, with the planet's current population at 6 billion plus, and climbing, it's possible to overdo a good thing.
Lee Dye’s column appears weekly on ABCNEWS.com. A former science writer for the Los Angeles Times, he now lives in Juneau, Alaska. | <urn:uuid:faa8df86-ad98-4d7d-9d83-8ae212460cfd> | {
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The Anxiety Nervous System
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
The human nervous system has two separate parts.
The Voluntary and the Autonomic System.
The Voluntary system
This is concerned with movement and sensation. When we lift our hand up it's the voluntary nervous system coming into action and lots of nerves (motor and sensory nerves amongst others) are moving.
The Autonomic System
This controls areas which we have less control over. These include heart rate, digestion of food, blood pressure, etc. Basically our nerves leave the spine to connect to our major organs and glands. The nerves either stimulate or inhibit them.
THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM HAS TWO BRANCHES
The sympathetic nervous system sounds like it has a calming influence, but in fact it’s the complete opposite. The sympathetic helps to prepare the body to defend itself by activating glands and organs. This is called the Fight or Flight response.
Nerves send more blood to the muscles and the brain. The heart rate and blood pressure increase, whilst blood flow to non-essential organs and the digestive system decreases. When you’re experiencing a Panic Attack or high anxiety this is basically what’s happening. The thyroid and adrenal glands are activated to provide energy to run or fight. That’s we you may feel your heartbeat, your mouth goes dry, difficulty in swallowing, etc. Stress, panic and nervousness is what you feel when the sympathetic nervous system ‘kicks in’.
If the sympathetic nervous system is constantly being activated it is not good for our bodies. The body’s energy should be used to provide nourishment, repair the body, elimination of waste. But if most of our energy is being used to prepare us to fight or run we start to feel run down.
A good example is imagining having all the nations’ resources being placed to defend the country. In a short term emergency it’s very helpful, but should it go on for too long the nation becomes depleted, poorer and weaker.
The adrenaline rush of a panic attack is always followed by a feeling of being tired and irritable as the body is depleted of resources.
There is an answer to this ……………..
The parasympathetic nervous system
This is concerned with healing, nourishing and regeneration of the body. Its nerves stimulate the immune system, digestion and organs that promote wellbeing.
The parasympathetic nervous system can be activated by relaxation, rest and happy/positive thoughts. This is promoted by a balanced life and looking after oneself. If you can do this, it will promote your body to heal itself.
If you can activate the parasympathetic state as much as possible its helps to heal ill heath, both mental and physical.
At certain parts of the day or after a hard day’s work you may feel fatigued or lethargic. This is not something you should fight or believe is unhealthy. Rather, it indicates a state of rebuilding and repair in progress.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW –
- The sympathetic and parasympathetic system cannot both work at the same time. Either one or the other is working. The sympathetic is the one that will always take over if there is a perceive threat of survival.
- The goal is to try and turn off the sympathetic nervous system in order to promote balance and healing. Simple ways to do this is rest, meditate, relax, hot bath, happy thoughts, good diet, exercise, message, etc. If you are always stressed, angry, negative, resentful, push yourself above your endurance, eat a poor diet, then the body will shift towards the sympathetic side.
Think of your body as a car. The sympathetic is the accelerator pedal on the car. It gets you all ‘revved up’. The parasympathetic is like the break. However, unlike a car, when the brake is applied is begins to heal oneself.
In today's frantic life more and more people are experiencing anxiety and panic problems. These people do not have balanced autonomic systems. The fight or flight response has been developed over thousands of years when we were cavemen in prehistoric times. Back then it’s was useful if we came across a saber toothed-tiger or another tribe we needed to run or fight.
But today are threats are more physiological.
-Your boss has just shouted at you
-A car cuts you up on the motorway
-It’s getting near the end of the month and you’re short of money again
-Your neighbour has just put a shed up in the back garden and its blocking the view you use to have.
All these scenarios cause worry, anger, resentment, and fear – negative thoughts
The balanced individual
When the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system work together (as they should), a person can rest and relax easily, and quite often. If the need arises the person can also perform quickly and competently. If a challenging, stressful situation arises they are able to respond with energy, enthusiasm and dynamism.
A balanced person can choose to rest easily and sleep deeply. The parasympathetic system will take over and reduce the activity of the brain, muscles and glands.
ARE YOU A SYMPATHETIC/ANXIETY TYPE PERSON
Some people are more prone to remaining in a sympathetic state. This is generally caused by two things
- Some sort of prolonged state of stress like the loss of a loved one, stressful job, financial pressures, etc.
- Not looking after one’s body and burning the candle at both ends. So this could be lack of sleep, poor nutrition, too much alcohol, drugs, not relaxing and enjoying yourself as much, etc.
Anxiety and panic can affect any person although a genetic disposition and how we were brought up is also a factor.
People who tend to be more outgoing, aggressive and hostile at times, often sweat more, have higher blood pressure and sugar levels, and more frequent bowel movements.
These people are more prone to feeling, irritability, nervousness and anxiety. The sympathetic nervous system is more active and firing off the adrenal glands.
However anxiety can also affect less outward people. If you tend to internalize everything, over analyze and tend to be a deep thinker then it can happen to you as well. If social situations are difficult and you may have been a shy anyway, then any unusual sensation can be magnified into something catastrophic.
As I have stated when the sympathetic system dominates your body it can lead to a person being sensitized to certain situations. So standing in a queue of people now becomes a nightmare and a panic attack waiting to happen. This is more a mental and lifestyle tendency than anything else. The sympathetic system is exhausted and the world they perceive continues to stimulate it. As a result, the body is not sent back to the parasympathetic state to rebuild and heal. Eventually the body becomes nutritionally depleted and the person becomes literally ‘burnt out.’
Unfortunately in today’s society children are also suffering more panic attacks and anxiety due to poor diets, stress, difficult upbringing and nutritional deficiencies.
Causes of panic attacks.
There are several causes as I have stated above. It’s mainly a life style pattern. Some people analyze too much or worry excessively, others have too much work. These are lifestyles issues.
Others spend too much time thinking negatively. They live in fear, anger or resentment. They walk, eat, talk and think at a rapid pace, faster than what their bodies can cope with. They have poor nutrition, which adds to their feeling of panic and anxiety.
With today’s 24hrs news (which is mainly bad) this promotes fearful thinking. Also we live in an age where we have more knowledge about the world – good or bad.
If you take the above along with the pollution and toxic chemical in our food, air and water, you can see how our nervous system is being disturbed.
The cycle of fear
A person can become so used to feeling anxious and tired that when they get a good rest one day, they use up their energy the next, instead of continuing to rest. In doing this they are not allowing their bodies to use the energy to replenish and heal. They tend to stay out of balance and feeing nervous.
The early sign of your body being in a sympathetic or anxious state is much of the time you will be feeling tired and irritable. As the condition develops you may find yourself feeling depressed, lethargic or moody. Other systems will include, insomnia, rapid heartbeat, sensitivity to light, disturbed digestion, headaches, etc. If this stage continues then this can lead to full blown panic attacks. At this stage you can be paralyzed and crippled by fear and panic. Functioning as a ‘normal’ human being becomes impossible.
The Symptoms Of Anxiety
A balanced person
Well this doesn’t happen very often and this is what I’m working towards and you should be. It tends to be seen more commonly in spiritually developed people. I’m not saying that you have to go to church, but you have to learn to meditate and believe in something higher than just everyday moans and groans. A balanced person will live for today and not worry about the future or regret things they did in the past. They will almost always be relaxed, and not react to stress. Their mind, body and spirit will be in a state of peace and contentment.
By doing this you can learn the discipline to think and live differently and change your lifestyle for a better, happier life. One can reduce stress and strain on the body through rest, so the body can rebuild and replenish.
HOW TO LIVE A BALANCED LIFE TO CURE ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS
Ways to keep you nervous system functioning properly.
Practice Forgiveness. This will place you in a position of power and compassion. If you allow yourself to feel like a victim, you will lose your self-confidence and encourage the fight or flight feelings.
I did not name this website POSITIVE PANIC ATTACKS FOR NOTHING! You must remain positive and keep thoughts and emotions uplifted and optimistic as possible.
Improve your diet. One the easiest things to do that will make dramatic changes to your health. You need to cut out the coffee, tea and alcohol. These are stimulants and will give you a lift initially and then you will feel the drop in energy later. You must cut out the sugary cakes, sweets, chocolate, etc. Keeping your blood sugar balanced is essential in overcoming panic attacks. Ideally you should be eating 5 mini meals day. Make sure you eat breakfast – as the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Your meals should contain a mixture of a protein, complex carbohydrate and fruit. Its sound complicated but it’s not. Please read my post on diets here.
Find inner Peace. I’m not asking you to walk around with a fake smile of your face all day. As you know happiness can be short lived and you cannot possibley be happy all of the time. People who walk around with fake smiles are often covering up their inner feelings of unhappiness. Inner peace is a state in which you are totally content in your own skin and the world around you. Even if the world is not to your liking you can choose to let go. Finding inner peace is letting go of your demons inside and not trying to control things.
Reduce your stress. Sounds like common sense which it is, although most us just get caught up in life and don’t see how stressed we have become. Stress is an activator of the sympathetic nervous system. Amongst other reasons, stress and anxiety can arise in the body due to tiredness, fatigue, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, not enough relaxation, etc. Stress can also come from psychological pressures such as a heavy workload, family stress, bereavement, etc. You can also get stress from the environment, such as noisy neighbours or polluted water, air, etc. Just think of the amount of chemicals you put on your body this morning – deodorant, shampoo, soap, makeup, etc.
So in short reduce stress by looking after yourself, change your perception of what triggers stress and eat healthy. Try to limit the amount of toxic things you come into contact with.
Research is currently being done into electromagnetic stress from the use of computers, mobile phones, televisions and other electrical devices. It’s best not to use these things too much and not to sleep to close to clock radios.
Practice deep Slow Breathing. You can help switch off your sympathetic nervous system and this reduces anxiety by slow deep breathing. Like any skill it takes some time how to master but it can be very effective to reduce stress.
Vitamins and Minerals. Apart from just eating a more nutritious diet your body is probably run down so certain vitamins and minerals are essential to help it get back into balance. Animal proteins are particularly helpful for the nervous system and brain as it contains proteins and fats which our nerves need. These include the omega 3 and omega 6 essential fatty acids. Foods which are considered vital for a healthy nervous system are nuts, meats, eggs, beans, root vegetables and oily fish such as salmon and sardines.
Supplements that are helpful in calming the nervous system down are Zinc, magnesium and calcium. If you feeling run down it may be a good idea to take vitamin and mineral supplements. B-complex vitamins are also important. They can be obtained through Animal Products (meat, fish, poultry, shellfish, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.), leafy vegetables, water melon, some fruit juices, etc.
Other relaxing inducing nutrients are GABA, L-carnitine and L-taurine. Herbs that have calming properties on the nervous system are skullcap and hops, passion flower, valerian, amongst others. My personal favourite is chamomile tea. Research has indicated this will help and is definitely better then drinking caffeine in tea and coffee.
Exercise. Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety. It eliminates stressful chemicals and produces the feel good ones, like endorphins. The exercise has to be vigorous though. By this I mean you have to get out of breath. This can produce the symptoms of panic that your try to avoid (like feeling out of breath), but they CANNOT HARM YOU. Challenge your thoughts and the benefits will become apparent. If you think about it the fight or flight response means your body wants to do something physical. In exercising you’re doing exactly what your body wants. Just don’t push yourself beyond your physical endurance. Just take it slowly and build it up one step at a time.
Be aware of who and what truly gives you energy, versus whom or what mainly takes energy away from you.
Do your best to stay grateful for what you have. Just appreciate what you have and who you are. Too often we look at other people and feel envious of what they have or who they are. If you feel like this you will always be unhappy no matter what you have. Be thankful for everyday and just live it to its full potential.
Learn to relax and rest. Makes sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Do not eat a heavy meal before you sleep and avoid stimulants like tea or alcohol. Learn to relax by meditation, hot baths, relaxing music, etc. Listen to your body. At certain parts of the day you will feel more like relaxing than others. Do not fight this, it’s your bodies’ way of telling you it wants to just slow down and relax for a few minutes.
Do not compare yourself with other people. This causes fear, resentment and anger. If you look at the world it never seems fair from our limited point of view. However there is often much that is hidden. Maybe if you knew more about other people lives you would be less anxious to trade places.
The circle of fear. One the main reasons why panic attacks keep continuing in people is fear of fear. If we strip this down its first fear fuelled by second fear. Dr Clair Weekes was one of the first people to recognize this. If you can learn to stop adding fuel to the panic fire you can definitely heal a lot quicker. So the next time your heart palpitates don’t think “I’m having a heart attack”, take a deep breath, smile and say “Every day I feel stronger and healthier”.
Train your mind to stay away from negative thoughts that induce emotions of fear, anger and guilt. These thoughts turn on the sympathetic nervous system and keep it active. Meditation, challenging thoughts, diet, relaxation, distraction techniques can help. It’s very hard to get better if you’re in a bad circle of friends or relationship. Choose your friends and relationships carefully. Think about whether your work, family and all your activities either help achieve inner peace or are a roadblock to it.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO……….
Everyone who suffers from panic attacks and anxiety will have an overactive nervous system. It’s essential you understand that your sympathetic nervous system is causing this, and in calming it down you can be healthy and well again. As with my story, panic attacks, anxiety, nervousness, whatever you want to call it, caused me to search for answers and question how I was living my life. This led me to change my lifestyle, the way I thought and my eating habits. This helped develop my inner potential and make me a better person. If you are willing to change your thought patterns and lifestyle, you too can experience a state of contentment and bliss that comes with having a balanced nervous system.
Like what you read?
If so, please join to receive exclusive weekly tips & tools to overcome anxiety and panic attacks, and get a FREE COPY of my eBook, How to Recover & Cure Yourself of Anxiety & Panic Attacks! Just enter your name and email | <urn:uuid:1456f21b-60ae-4008-91fe-ae06403c5199> | {
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Plasma Galaxies June 2, 2006Posted by jtintle in Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), Deep Space, JPL, NASA, Satellite, Space Agencies, Space Fotos, TPOD, Website.
Laboratory experiments, together with advanced simulation capabilities, have shown that electric forces can efficiently organize spiral galaxies, without resorting to the wild card of gravity-only cosmology–the Black Hole.
Many of astronomy's most fundamental mysteries find their resolution in plasma behavior. Why do cosmic bodies spin, asked the distinguished astronomer Fred Hoyle, in summarizing the unanswered questions. Plasma experiments show that rotation is a natural function of interacting electric currents in plasma. Currents can pinch matter together to form rotating stars and galaxies. A good example is the ubiquitous spiral galaxy, a predictable configuration of a cosmic-scale discharge. Computer models of two current filaments interacting in a plasma have, in fact, reproduced fine details of spiral galaxies, where the gravitational schools must rely on invisible matter arbitrarily placed wherever it is needed to make their models "work".
The photograph of spiral galaxy M81 above is one of the first images returned by NASA's new Spitzer space telescope, an instrument that can detect extremely faint waves of infrared radiation, or heat, through clouds of dust and plasma that have blocked the view of conventional telescopes. The result is the picture of striking clarity.
Beneath this photograph we have placed snapshots from a computer simulation by plasma scientist Anthony Peratt, illustrating the evolution of galactic structures under the influence of electric currents. Through the "pinch effect", parallel currents converge to produce spiraling structures.
To see the connection between plasma experiments and plasma formations in space, it is essential to understand the scalability of plasma phenomena. Under similar conditions, plasma discharge will produce the same formations irrespective of the size of the event. The same basic patterns will be seen at laboratory, planetary, stellar, and galactic levels. Duration is proportional to size as well. A spark that lasts for microseconds in the laboratory may continue for years at planetary or stellar scales, or for millions of years at galactic or intergalactic scales.
Plasma experiments, backed by computer simulations of plasma discharge, are changing the picture of space. Plasma scientists, for example, are able to replicate the evolution of galactic structures both experimentally and in computer simulations without recourse to a popular fiction of modern astrophysics –the black hole. Astronomers require invisible, super-compressed matter as the center of galaxies because without Black Holes gravitational equations cannot account for observed movement and compact energetic activity. But charged plasma achieves such effects routinely | <urn:uuid:a5b06430-54ba-4869-ada9-9af433bfc4a7> | {
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While perhaps not visible to everyone, in type design there are an infinite number of ways to make variation, innovation and improvement. In every step of the process of making a typeface there are opportunities to express personal preference. To a lay person the differences between typefaces might be difficult to spot, that does not mean that these differences do not exist. It does not mean that the differences are meaningless, nor does that take away the type designers’ right to claim a design to be his (or hers).
Intellectual property rights belong to the creator, they are not granted on the perceived value to society. Think about scientific research that is not understood by others not in the same field. The research does not become less useful because of this, nor does this break the bond between the work and its creator. Not everyone can tell the difference between Helvetica and Univers, this does not make either typeface a less personal expression of their respective designers.
Designing a typeface is a process in which a large number of (arbitrary) decisions on detail, construction, contrast, and relationships have to be taken. All of these decisions are choices between many options and alternatives for a particular situation. These decisions are made by the designer for many reasons, based on experience, preference, purpose, time, etc. If a typeface was made by someone else, it would have been different, even if the intent was to make the same thing. It is that collection of personal, specific decisions and opinions that make a typeface useful, appropriate, good or bad, that is its value. That also makes a typeface undeniably the intellectual property of its designer.
By looking at these decisions in a typeface, it is possible to tell whether a designer set out to make, for instance, a sans serif based on a low expansion contrast, or whether he tried to copy Helvetica. It is possible to tell whether a work is original or derived. It is possible to separate typefaces with added value from the ones with borrowed value. It is possible to distinguish between those who actually endeavour to make something new, and those who profiteer.
Note that not all derived designs are pirated. There are many cases where an existing design was built on, changed to fit a particular project, technology etc. In such a case, the design is licensed from the designer or publisher.
Making a good typeface is a lot of work. Stealing a typeface seems easier. But ripping off a typeface and claiming it as one’s own is counter-productive, uncreative, and in general corrosive to type and typography. This fails to contribute anything. Usually the profiteers are incapable of developing their own ideas, because if they had even the smallest spark of insight, they would take on the challenge of making their own type. Instead their underdeveloped typographic minds are occupied to make new TrueType versions of existing fonts, yet somehow they have perceived that their work is more about quantity than quality. Primarily of course because if they knew how to make good quality, they would not bother with the quantity, but perhaps also because of a denial of their own lack of talent.
There is an ever increasing need for new shapes, new ideas, new views in graphic design. Making new typefaces is an important part of typography and graphic design, and in a smaller way, culture in general. Repackaging existing typefaces, stealing designs, ripping off, “extracting”, whatever it is called, is a profiteer’s way of making money on someone else’s intellectual property (a practice which happens to be quite illegal in all developed countries except the USA). Catching a ride on someone else’s experience, parasites on ideas. The legalities of typeface theft are only a comfort to the profiteers themselves. To the rest, the designers, the typographers, anybody who uses type in an honest way, US copyright law only illustrates the lack of knowledge about the discipline. The type industry is not big, and spread all over the world, it cannot put together the massive budgets that the music and motion picture industry have to lobby for basic rights for basically equivalent intellectual property. Yet, small as it is, the type industry provides building blocks that are used in almost any other flavour of industry.
Considering that the type industry now consist of hundreds of small businesses, usually just one and two people with a computer and an idea, it is disappointing that in the US, the place where the concept of property, material and intellectual, has been an important force behind so much development and enterprise, the intellectual property of type design is valued in a such a manner. Font pirates steal from many, many, small companies, independent designers, people with ideas. There is no Robin Hood romance involved, there is no justice being done by offering fonts dirt cheap on rip-off CDs. If anything, font pirates would compare to ordinary highway robbers. Perhaps competition made them diversify.
Pirates that continue to advertise their contraband prevent new typefaces from being developed by denying income to the designers whose work is pirated. It denies graphic designers, typographers, everybody who uses type in some form or other, the new typefaces they look forward to. Pirates have no interest in type, they have an interest in the use that people have for type. Counter them when possible, be aware of their schemes. Distrust wonderful offers: one thousand legal fonts for $20 is not possible, just like a new car radio or a mountain bike for a fiver. | <urn:uuid:ea76a8c7-559f-4732-88bf-7d3f43b0d51d> | {
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University of Pennsylvania Health
System in Pursuit of Lung Cancer Vaccine
(Philadelphia, PA) - Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania
have initiated a clinical trial directed at developing a better treatment
for lung cancer. For patients who undergo surgery for their lung cancer,
the treatment involves taking the tumor that was removed and processing
it to make a vaccine. The lung cancer vaccine, developed by AVAX Technologies,
is based on vaccine technology that has been shown promising results in
patients with metastatic (stage III and IV) melanoma with no serious side
effects observed to date. The goal of this vaccine is to decrease the
high recurrence rate that can be seen after surgery for lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer for both men and women, exceeding
the combined mortalities for breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer,
and pancreatic cancer. Even patients fortunate enough to have their cancer
detected at the earliest stages (I and II) of lung cancer where surgical
resection may be an option, there are high recurrence rates. With surgery
alone, the recurrence rate can be as high as 20 -40% for stage I disease,
the earliest stage. For stage II lung cancer, the recurrence rate is usually
in the 40-60% range. The prognosis is significantly worse for the more
advanced stages, those less amenable to surgical resection. Recurrence
outside the lung is the most common and lethal form of relapse.
In an effort to decrease this recurrence rate, administration of postoperative
chemotherapy has been studied. For the very earliest form stage I cancer
the toxicity of chemotherapy is often thought to outweigh the benefits,
and recently data emerged that chemotherapy is less effective than originally
believed for the more advanced form of stage I lung cancer. Despite many
advances in surgical technique and postoperative care, there remains a
pressing need for better systemic treatments for lung cancer patients.
The recurrence of cancers at distant sites is a reflection of the cancer’s
ability to evade the arm of the patient’s immune system that is
normally responsible to preventing cancer cells from being able to grow.
Joseph Friedberg, MD, principal investigator on the study
states, “The idea is to take the patient’s own tumor cells,
inactivate them and treat them with a chemical, called a hapten, which
may make them more stimulatory to the immune system. Hopefully this will
allow the immune system to identify and destroy the patient’s own
cancer cells that have escaped the lung, addressing the defect in the
immune system that has allowed cancer to spread in the first place.”
The endpoint of this initial trial will include safety and a measure of
immunological efficacy known as Delayed Type Hypersensitivity which will
be assessed in response to the patient’s own inactivated lung cancer
cells. In previous melanoma trials, AVAX has shown that the development
of a positive DTH response to a patient’s own tumor cells increased
the likelihood that the patient would have clinical benefit. These results
have been published in prominent oncology journals. Participation in the
vaccine trial does not preclude administration of conventional chemotherapy
for patients who wish to also receive this type of systemic treatment
Editor's Notes: Dr. Friedberg has no financial interest
in AVAX Technologies, Inc.
Individuals that would like to learn more about how to participate in
this study can call the Research Coordinator, Jennifer Beecham, at (215)
PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise
dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research,
and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first
medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt
of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S.News & World
Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools.
Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine
is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the
next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals,
all of which have received numerous national patient-care honors [Hospital
of theUniversity of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's
first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice
plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities;
and home care and hospice. | <urn:uuid:f3bceed0-fdc6-416d-91cd-5846f52bf319> | {
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Grief is how one reacts to a loss. Losses can range from loss of employment, pets, status, a sense of safety, order, possessions, to the loss of the people nearest to us, and even to symbolic loss.
All loss involves the absence of someone loved or something that fulfills a significant need in one’s life.
Our grief response to loss is varied and includes a wide variety of responses that are influenced by personality, family, culture, and spiritual and religious beliefs and practices. Grief may be experienced in the combination of mental/emotional,
physical, or social reactions. Mental/emotional reactions can include anger, guilt, anxiety, sadness, depression and despair. Physical reactions can include sleeping problems,
changes in appetite, physical problems, or illness. Social reactions can include feelings about taking care of others in the family, role changes in the family, returning to work, or differences in social situations.
There is no right or wrong way to grieve after a significant loss. Most discover how to eventually move on with life, even though the grief experience is a difficult and trying time.
Coping styles depend on one’s personality and their relationship with the person who has died. This experience can also be affected by one’s cultural and religious background, coping skills, mental history, and their support system. Although
everyone experiences grief when they lose someone, grieving affects people in different ways. How it affects you partly depends on your situation and relationship with the person who died.
The circumstances under which a person dies can influence grief feelings. For example, if someone has been sick for a long time or is very old, you may have expected that person's death. Although it doesn't necessarily make it any easier
to accept (and the feelings of grief will still be there), some people find that knowing someone is going to die gives them time to prepare. And if a loved one suffered a lot before dying, a person might even feel a sense of relief when the death occurs.
If the person who has died is very young, though, you may feel a sense of how terribly unfair it seems.
Losing someone suddenly can be extremely traumatic, for example as a result of violence, heart attack, or an accident.
It can take a long time to overcome a sudden loss because you may feel caught off guard by the event and the intense feelings that are associated with it. Losing someone because he or she committed suicide can be especially difficult to deal with.
People who lose friends or family members to suicide may feel intense despair and sadness because they feel unable to understand what could have led to such an extreme action. They may even feel angry at the person - a completely normal emotion. Or they
could feel guilty and wonder if there was something they might have done to prevent the suicide.
Bereavement is the period after a loss during which grief is experienced. The time spent in a period of bereavement depends on how attached the person was to the person who died, and how much time was spent anticipating the loss. Bereavement,
while a normal part of life for us all, carries high risk factors when no support is available. Severe reactions to loss may carry over into familial relations and cause trauma for children and spouses: there is an increased risk of marital breakup following
the death of a child, for example. Many forms of what we term 'mental illness' have loss as their root, but covered by many years and circumstances this often goes unnoticed. Issues of personal faith and beliefs also come under severe attack as persons
reassess personal definitions in the face of great pain. Probably the best resource to avoid problems are early intervention and caring support, and understanding of the experience.
Some view the process of bereavement as having several phases:
Shock and numbness: Usually occurring soon after a death, this is evident when the person finds it difficult to believe the death has occurred. the person is stunned and numb. They may have feelings of unreality, depersonalization,
withdrawal, and an anesthetizing of affect. These feelings often occur early in grief, and may be a self-protective way of getting through the facts of the death. Persons often remark on how someone appears stoic or strong when they are actually in shock.
Yearning and searching: As shock and numbness recede, there remains the tendency to “forget” the person has died. Perhaps one catches a glimpse of somebody who reminds them of the deceased, or you expect them to be there
when you first arrive home. This process has also been referred to as 'pining.' Common reactions include feelings and even cognitions of 'seeing' the deceased for fleeting moments, hearing the door at the time they used to come home, or even incorrectly
'finding' the person, for example in a crowd, although intellectually realizing this is not so. This process appears to be an attempt of the person to cognitively and emotionally begin to let go, by coming to terms with the reality of the loss.
Disorganization, despair, and suffering: As the reality of the absence of the person who died settles in, it is common to feel depressed and find it difficult to think about the future. You may be easily distracted, or have difficulty
concentrating and focusing on any one task. There are no easy answers to assuage this difficult experience: it must simply be endured, although it may take years of all of the above experiences overlapping, waxing and waning before the last process takes
place. The suffering process typically involves a wide range of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, as well as an overall sense of life seeming chaotic and disorganized. The duration of the suffering process differs with each person, partly depending on
the nature of the loss experienced. Some common features of suffering include:
•Sadness. Sadness is perhaps the most common feeling found in grief. It is often but not necessarily manifested in crying. Sadness is often triggered by reminders of the loss and its permanence. Sadness may become quite intense
and be experienced as emptiness or despair.
•Anger. Anger can be one of the most confusing feelings for the grieving person. Anger is a frequent response to feeling powerless, frustrated, or even abandoned. Anger is also a common response
to feeling threatened; a significant loss can threaten a person's basic beliefs about self and about life in general. Consequently, anger may be directed at self, at God, at life in general for the injustice of the loss, for others involved, or, in the
case of death, at the deceased for dying.
•Guilt. Guilt and less extreme self-reproach are common reactions to things the griever did or failed to do before the loss. For example, a
griever may reproach him/herself for hurtful things said, loving things left unsaid, not having been kind enough when the chance was available, actions not taken that might have prevented the loss, etc.
•Anxiety. Anxiety can range from mild insecurity to strong panic attacks; it can also be fleeting or persistent.
Often, grievers become anxious about their ability to take care of themselves following a loss. Also they may become concerned about the well-being of other loved ones.
•Physical, behavioral and cognitive symptoms. Often, grief is accompanied by periods of fatigue, loss of motivation or desire for things that were once enjoyable, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, confusion, preoccupation,
and loss of concentration.
Suffering is often the most painful and protracted stage for the griever, but it is still necessary. For most people, these many emotional and physical reactions are common symptoms that will stabilize and diminish with time as the
person moves through the grieving process. If these symptoms persist, it may be important to seek professional help.
Reorganization and recovery: As one slowly makes the adjustment to all the ways in his or her life that have changed as a result of the loss, a sense of reorganization and renewal begins to evolve. Life is forever changed after a significant
loss, but you slowly learn how the different aspects of your life become reprioritized as you “pick up the pieces” and begin to move on. As recovery takes place, the individual is better able to accept the loss, resume a "normal" life,
and to reinvest time, attention, energy and emotion into other parts of his/her life. The loss is still felt, but the loss has become part of the griever's more typical feelings and experiences. Many times, in widowhood, one is so much a part of
their spouse, that new definitions of identity must take place for healing. For the elderly after a lifetime of defining themselves in terms of their marriage relationships, this may take the rest of their lives.
Coping With Grief
The grieving process is very personal and individual - each person goes through his or her grief differently. Some people reach out for support from others
and find comfort in good memories. Others become very busy to take their minds off the loss. Some people become depressed and withdraw from their peers or go out of the way to avoid the places or situations
that remind them of the person who has died. Just as people feel grief in many different ways, they handle it differently, too.
For some people, it may help to talk about the loss with others. Some do this naturally and easily with friends and family, others talk to a professional therapist. Some people may not feel like talking about it much at all because
it's hard to find the words to express such deep and personal emotion or they wonder whether talking will make them feel the hurt more.
A few people may act out their sorrow by engaging in dangerous or self-destructive activities. Doing things like drinking, drugs, or cutting yourself to escape from the reality of a loss may seem to numb the pain, but the feeling is
only temporary. The person isn't really dealing with the pain, only masking it, which makes all those feelings build up inside and only prolongs the grief.
Grief puts a great stress on the physical body as well as on the psyche, resulting in wear and tear beyond what is normal. Further, grief is often accompanied by crying, lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and ceasing to care for one's
physical and emotional well being. All these can contribute to a predisposition for illness in bereavement.
Many studies have looked at the bereaved in terms of increased risks for stress-related illnesses such as colitis and breathing difficulties, and so forth in the first six months following a death. Others have noted increased mortality
rates a greater risk of suicide in teens following the death of a parent. Children may exhibit signs of delinquency, rage, introversion or other problems. Further, grief can insidiously work in family relationships as individual members sort or
act through their feelings about the death.
While the experience of grief is a very individual process depending on many factors, certain commonalities are often reported. Nightmares, appetite problems, dryness of mouth, shortness of breath, sleep disorders and repetitive motions
to avoid pain are often reported, and are perfectly normal. Even hallucinatory experiences may be normal early in grief.
Special Death Situations
Death of a child can take the form of a loss in infancy such as stillbirth or neonatal death, SIDS, or the death of an older child. In all cases, parents find the grief devastating and
while persons may rate the death of a spouse as first in traumatic life events, the death of a child holds greater risk factors. This loss also bears a lifelong process; one does not get 'over' the loss
but instead learns to assimilate and live with the death. Intervention and comforting support can make all the difference to the survival of a parent in this type of grief but the risk factors are great
and may include family breakup or suicide. Feelings of guilt, almost always unfounded, are pervasive, and the dependent nature of the relationship disposes parents to a variety of problems as they seek
to cope with this great loss. This, coupled with normal experiences of grief, can be overwhelming.
Although the death of a spouse may be an expected change, particularly as we age, it is a particularly powerful loss of a loved-one. A spouse, though, often becomes part of the other
in a unique way: many widows and widowers describe losing 'half' of themselves, and after a long marriage, at older ages, the elderly may find it a very difficult assimilation to begin anew. Further, most
couples have a division of 'tasks' or 'labor', e.g. the husband mows the yard, the wife pays the bills, etc. which in addition to dealing with great grief and life changes means added responsibilities for
the bereaved. Social isolation may also become eminent as many groups composed of couples find it difficult adjust to the new identity of the bereaved.
Many other losses predispose persons to physical and emotional risk. Loss reactions may occur after the loss of a parent, sibling, friend, romantic relationship, a vocation, a pet a
home, children leaving home (empty nest), a favored appointment or desire, etc. While the reaction may not be as intense as the loss of a child or spouse, experiences of loss may still show in these forms
Loss as experienced by a child: This section is adapted from the AACAP: Children and Grief website and specially
deals with some issue of children and grief. If this section is not relevant to you, please scroll through the next 4 (four) paragraphs.
When a family member dies, children react differently from adults. Preschool children usually see death as temporary and reversible, a belief reinforced by cartoon characters who die and come to life again. Children between five and
nine begin to think more like adults about death, yet they still believe it will never happen to them or anyone they know. Adding to a child's shock and confusion at the death of a brother, sister, or parent is the unavailability of other family
members, who may be so shaken by grief that they are not able to cope with the normal responsibility of childcare.
Parents should be aware of normal childhood responses to a death in the family, as well as signs when a child is having difficulty coping with grief. It is normal during the weeks following the death for some children to feel immediate
grief or persist in the belief that the family member is still alive. However, long-term denial of the death or avoidance of grief can be emotionally unhealthy and can later lead to more severe problems. Once children accept the death, they are
likely to display their feelings of sadness on and off over a long period of time, and often at unexpected moments. The surviving relatives should spend as much time as possible with the child, making it clear that the child has permission to show his
or her feelings openly or freely.
The person who has died was essential to the stability of the child's world, and anger is a natural reaction. The anger may be revealed in boisterous play, nightmares, irritability, or a variety of other behaviors. Often the child will
show anger towards the surviving family members. After a parent dies, many children will act younger than they are. The child may temporarily become more infantile; demand food, attention and cuddling; and talk baby talk. Younger children frequently
believe they are the cause of what happens around them. A young child may believe a parent, grandparent, brother, or sister died because he or she had once wished the person dead when they were angry. The child feels guilty or blames him or herself because
the wish came true.
A child who is frightened about attending a funeral should not be forced to go; however, honoring or remembering the person in some way, such as lighting a candle, saying a prayer, making a scrapbook, reviewing photographs, or telling a story may be helpful.
Children should be allowed to express feelings about their loss and grief in their own way.
Helping Yourself Deal with Grief
The following has been adapted from the kidshealth website.
The loss of someone close to you can be stressful. It can help you to cope if you take care of yourself in certain small but important ways. Here are some that might help:
Remember that grief is a normal emotion. Know that you can (and will) heal from your grief.
Participate in rituals. Memorial services, funerals, and other traditions help people get through the first few days and honor the person who died.
Be with others. Even informal gatherings of family and friends bring a sense of support and help people not to feel so isolated in the first days and weeks of their grief.
Talk about it when you can. Some people find it helpful to tell the story of their loss or talk about their feelings. Sometimes a person doesn't feel like talking, and that's OK, too. No one should feel pressured to talk.
Express yourself. Even if you don't feel like talking, find ways to express your emotions and thoughts. Start writing in a journal about the memories you have of the person you lost and how you're feeling since the loss. Or write a song, poem, or tribute
about the person who died. You can do this privately or share it with others.
Exercise. Exercise can help your mood. It may be hard to get motivated, so modify your usual routine if you need to.
Eat right. You may feel like skipping meals or you may not feel hungry - but your body still needs nutritious foods.
Join a support group. If you think you may be interested in attending a support group, ask an adult or school counselor about how to become involved. The thing to remember is that you don't have to be alone with your feelings or your pain.
Let your emotions be expressed and released. Don't stop yourself from having a good cry if you feel one coming on. Don't worry if listening to particular songs or doing other activities is painful because it brings back memories of the person that you
lost; this is common. After a while, it becomes less painful.
Create a memorial or tribute. Plant a tree or garden, or memorialize the person in some fitting way, such as running in a charity run or walk (a breast cancer race, for example) in honor of the lost loved one.
Getting Help for Intense Grief
If your grief isn't letting up for a while after the death of your loved one, you may want to reach out for help. If grief has turned into depression, it's very important to tell someone.
How do you know if your grief has been going on too long? Here are some signs:
You've been grieving for 4 months or more and you aren't feeling any better.
You feel depressed.
Your grief is so intense that you feel you can't go on with your normal activities.
Your grief is affecting your ability to concentrate, sleep, eat, or socialize as you normally do.
You feel you can't go on living after the loss or you think about suicide, dying, or hurting yourself.
It's natural for loss to cause people to think about death to some degree. But if a loss has caused you to think about suicide or hurting yourself in some way, or if you feel that you can't go on living after your loss, it's important that you tell someone
Grief is a normal and natural, though often deeply painful, response to loss. The death of a loved one is the most common way we think of loss, but many other significant changes in one's life can involve loss and therefore grief.
Everyone experiences loss and grief at some time. The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief is likely to be.
Each individual experiences and expresses grief differently. For example, one person may withdraw and feel helpless, while another might be angry and want to take some action. No matter what the reaction, the grieving person needs the
support of others. A helper needs to anticipate the possibility of a wide range of emotions and behaviors, accept the grieving person's reactions, and respond accordingly.
Grieving and responses to loss can be helped by psychotherapy. A wide variety of therapeutic approaches used by psychologists and other mental health professionals have been shown to
be very effective.
Would You Like Personal Assistance?
If you really want help dealing with your feelings and emotions, changing your behavior, and improving your life and the approach and office hours of typical therapists and counselors do not fit your life style or personal needs, I may have a solution.
By using very flexible office appointments, telephone consultations, email, teleconferences, and the willingness to travel and meet with you personally in your home, office, or other location, I can be available to help you anytime and anywhere.
Feel free to contact me now for your free initial consultation. Once you become an existing client, you will be given a pager number where you can reach me whenever you need.
Glossary of Terms
Glossary of terms about end-of-life decision-making:
Advance directive - A general term that describes two kinds of legal documents, living wills and medical powers of attorney. These documents allow a person to give instructions about future medical care should he or she be unable to
participate in medical decisions due to serious illness or incapacity. Each state regulates the use of advance directives differently.
Artificial nutrition and hydration - Artificial nutrition and hydration (or tube feeding) supplements or replaces ordinary eating and drinking by giving a chemically balanced mix of nutrients and fluids through a tube placed directly
into the stomach, the upper intestine or a vein.
Assisted suicide - Providing someone the means to commit suicide, such as a supply of drugs or a weapon, knowing the person will use these to end his or her life.
Benefits and burdens - A commonly used guideline for deciding whether or not to withhold or withdraw medical treatments. A benefit can refer to the successful outcome of a medical procedure or treatment. Outcomes can be medical (e.g.
the heart beats again) or functional (e.g. the person is able to walk to the bathroom after being incapacitated by a stroke), or it supports the patient’s values (for example, the patient is able to die at home as he wished). However, a benefit
from one point of view can be experienced as a burden from another and might be viewed differently by doctors, patients and families. For example, if a patient is resuscitated and the heart starts beating again, this is a successful outcome from a medical
point of view and a doctor may consider it a benefit. To the patient who is dying from a serious illness or disease, resuscitation may cause further injury and only contribute to the overall experience of suffering. This success, from the doctor’s
point of view, might actually be experienced as an additional burden by the patient. Discussions of the benefits and burdens of medical treatments should occur within the framework of the patient’s overall goals for care.
Bereavement - The period after a loss during which grief is experienced. The time spent in a period of bereavement depends on how attached the person was to the person who died, and how much time was spent anticipating the loss.
Best interest - In the context of refusal of medical treatment or end-of-life court opinions, a standard for making health care decisions based on what others believe to be "best"
for a patient by weighing the benefits and the burdens of continuing, withholding or withdrawing treatment. (Contrast with "substituted judgment.")
Brain death - The irreversible loss of all brain function. Most states legally define death to include brain death.
Capacity - In relation to end-of-life decision-making, a patient has medical decision making capacity if he or she has the ability to understand the medical problem and the risks and benefits of the available treatment options. The
patient’s ability to understand other unrelated concepts is not relevant. The term is frequently used interchangeably with competency but is not the same. Competency is a legal status imposed by the court.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation - Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a group of treatments used when someone’s heart and/or breathing stops. CPR is used in an attempt to restart the heart and breathing. It may consist only of
mouth-to-mouth breathing or it can include pressing on the chest to mimic the heart’s function and cause blood to circulate. Electric shock and drugs also are used frequently to stimulate the heart.
Clear and convincing evidence - A high measure or degree of proof that may be required legally to prove a patient’s wishes. A few states require clear and convincing evidence that an incompetent patient would want to refuse life-support
before treatment may be stopped unless the patient has completed an advance directive authorized by the state's law.
Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) order - A DNR order is a physician’s written order instructing health care providers not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in case of cardiac or respiratory arrest. A person with a valid DNR
order will not be given CPR under these circumstances. Although the DNR order is written at the request of a person or his or her family, it must be signed by a physician to be valid. A non-hospital DNR order is written for individuals who are at home
and do not want to receive CPR.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) - A group of governmental and private agencies that provide emergency care, usually to persons outside of health care facilities; EMS personnel generally include paramedics, first responders and other
Euthanasia - The term traditionally has been used to refer to the hastening of a suffering person's death or "mercy killing". Voluntary active euthanasia involves an intervention requested by a competent individual that is
administered to that person to cause death, for example, if a physician gives a lethal injection with the patient’s full informed consent. Involuntary or non-voluntary active euthanasia involves a physician engaging in an act to end a patient’s
life without that patient’s full informed consent. See also Physician-hastened Death (sometimes referred to as Physician-assisted Suicide).
Grief - Grief is how one reacts to a loss. Grief reactions may be experienced in response to physical losses, such as death or in response to social losses such as divorce or loss of a job. All loss involves the absence of someone loved
or something that fulfills a significant need in one’s life.
Guardian ad litem - Someone appointed by the court to represent the interests of a minor or incompetent person in a legal proceeding.
Incompetent - See "Capacity."
Healthcare agent - The person named in an advance directive or as permitted under state law to make healthcare decisions on behalf of a person who is no longer able to make medical decisions.
Hospice care - A program model for delivering palliative care to individuals who are in the final stages of terminal illness. In addition to providing palliative care and personal support to the patient, hospice includes support for
the patient’s family while the patient is dying, as well as support to the family during their bereavement.
Intubation - Refers to "endotracheal intubation"
the insertion of a tube through the mouth or nose into the trachea (windpipe) to create and maintain an open airway to assist breathing.
Legislation - Laws enacted by state or federal representatives.
Life-sustaining treatment - Treatments (medical procedures) that replace or support an essential bodily function (may also be called life support treatments). Life-sustaining treatments include cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical
ventilation, artificial nutrition and hydration, dialysis, and certain other treatments.
Living will - A type of advance directive in which an individual documents his or her wishes about medical treatment should he or she be at the end of life and unable to communicate. It may also be called a “directive to physicians”, “health
care declaration,” or “medical directive.” The purpose of a living will is to guide family members and doctors in deciding how aggressively to use medical treatments to delay death.
Mechanical ventilation - Mechanical ventilation is used to support or replace the function of the lungs. A machine called a ventilator (or respirator) forces air into the lungs. The ventilator is attached to a tube inserted in the nose
or mouth and down into the windpipe (or trachea). Mechanical ventilation often is used to assist a person through a short-term problem or for prolonged periods in which irreversible respiratory failure exists due to injuries to the upper spinal cord or
a progressive neurological disease.
Medical power of attorney - A document that allows an individual to appoint someone else to make decisions about his or her medical care if he or she is unable to communicate. This type of advance directive may also be called a health
care proxy, durable power of attorney for health care or appointment of a health care agent. The person appointed may be called a health care agent, surrogate, attorney-in-fact or proxy.
Palliative care - A comprehensive approach to treating serious illness that focuses on the physical, psychological, spiritual, and existential needs of the patient. Its goal is to achieve the best quality of life available to the patient
by relieving suffering, by controlling pain and symptoms, and by enabling the patient to achieve maximum functional capacity. Respect for the patient’s culture, beliefs, and values are an essential component. Palliative care is sometimes called “comfort
care” or “hospice type care.”
Respiratory arrest - The cessation of breathing - an event in which an individual stops breathing. If breathing is not restored, an individual's heart eventually will stop beating, resulting in cardiac arrest.
Surrogate decision-making - Surrogate decision-making laws allow an individual or group of individuals (usually family members) to make decisions about medical treatments for a patient who has lost decision-making capacity and did not
prepare an advance directive. A majority of states have passed statutes that permit surrogate decision making for patients without advance directives.
Withholding or withdrawing treatment - Forgoing life-sustaining measures or discontinuing them after they have been used for a certain period of time.
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| Psych Associations | | <urn:uuid:6126267b-f21d-407e-a289-d3a7eecd64d1> | {
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Free open source application developed for study of fluid dynamics
Engineers at Stanford University have developed an open-source application that lets users model the effects of fluids moving over aerodynamic surfaces.
SU2 is a free, fully customisable software package that is said to incorporate everything an engineer needs to perform a complete design loop for optimising the shapes of aerospace systems.
"In engineering circles, the discipline is known as computational fluid dynamics," noted research associate Francisco Palacios, who led the team. "Creating custom software applications to accurately model the interactions of an object in flight can take months, even years, to write and perfect. And yet, when the student graduates, the software is often forgotten.
"These are incredibly complex calculations involving innumerable variables. Essentially, every student has to create their own code for their specific designs, even though the equations at the core are virtually identical."
Witnessing all of the coding his students were doing, and realising that much of it was built on a common foundation, Palcios led a team of multi-disciplinary engineers in compiling, debugging and documenting the application that became SU2.
"People can use this for everything from rockets to the design of more efficient wind turbines, and even boats and racecars," said PhD candidate Sean Copeland. "Just plug in the geometry of your plane, wing or rotor, and tell the program to increase lift or reduce drag, for instance. SU2 goes to work, optimising the shape for you in an automated way, showing you exactly where to alter your designs for maximum effect."
SU2 also comes with a quick-start guide, in-depth tutorials and a public forum where users and developers can seek advice and post support questions.
"These materials are exhaustive and continually updated," said Palacios. "Students can hit the ground running."
This material is protected by MA Business copyright
see Terms and Conditions.
One-off usage is permitted but bulk copying is not.
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Atom economy (atom efficiency) is the conversion efficiency of a chemical process in terms of all atoms involved and the desired products produced. Atom economy is an important concept of green chemistry philosophy, and one of the most widely used metrics for measuring the "greenness" of a process or synthesis.
Atom economy can be written as:
For a Multi step process, where the intermediates are formed in one step and consumed during a later step
- A + B --> C
- C + D --> E
- E + F --> G
% Atom Economy = Mol Weight (G)/ (Mol Wt (A + B+ D + F)
Atom economy is a different concern than chemical yield, because a high-yielding process can still result in substantial byproducts. Examples include the Cannizzaro reaction, in which approximately 50% of the reactant aldehyde becomes the other oxidation state of the target; the Wittig reaction, which uses high-mass phosphorus reagents that ultimately become waste; and the Gabriel synthesis, which produces a stoichiometric quantity of phthalic acid
If the desired product has an enantiomer the reaction needs to be sufficiently stereoselective even when atom economy is 100%. A Diels-Alder reaction is an example of a potentially very atom efficient reaction that also can be chemo-, regio-, diastereo- and enantioselective. Catalytic hydrogenation comes the closest to being an ideal reaction that is extensively practiced both industrially and academically.
Atom economy can also be adjusted if a pendant group is recoverable, for example Evans auxiliary groups. However, if this can be avoided it is more desirable, as recovery processes will never be 100%. Atom economy can be improved upon by careful selection of starting materials and a catalyst system.
Poor atom economy is common in fine chemicals or pharmaceuticals synthesis, and especially in research, where the aim to readily and reliably produce a wide range of complex compounds leads to the use of versatile and dependable, but poorly atom-economical reactions. For example, synthesis of an alcohol is readily accomplished by reduction of an ester with lithium aluminium hydride, but the reaction necessarily produces a voluminous floc of aluminum salts, which have to be separated from the product alcohol and disposed of. The cost of such hazardous material disposal can be considerable. Catalytic hydrogenolysis of an ester is the analogous reaction with a high atom economy, but it requires catalyst optimization, is a much slower reaction and is not applicable universally.
Creating reactions utilizing atom economy
It is fundamental in chemical reactions of the form A+B→ C+D that two products are necessarily generated though product C may have been the desired one. That being the case, D is considered a byproduct. As it is a significant goal of green chemistry to maximize the efficiency of the reactants and minimize the production of waste, D must either be found to have use, be eliminated or be as insignificant and innocuous as possible. With the new equation of the form A+B→C, the first step in making chemical manufacturing more efficient is the use of reactions that resemble simple addition reactions with the only other additions being catalytic materials.
- Trost B. M. (1995). "Atom Economy. A Challenge for Organic Synthesis". Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 34 (3): 259–281. doi:10.1002/anie.199502591.
- Sheldon R. A. (2000). "Atom efficiency and catalysis in organic synthesis" (PDF). Pure and Applied Chemistry. 72 (7): 1233–1246. doi:10.1351/pac200072071233.
- Atom Economy: A Green Chemistry Module.[dead link]
- Solaza, B.; Huguet, J.; Karpf, M. & Dreiding, A. S. (1987). "The Synthesis of (+/-)Isoptychanolide by Application of the a-Alkynone Cycilsation". Tetrahedron. 43 (21): 4875–4886. doi:10.1016/S0040-4020(01)87670-5. | <urn:uuid:bbcf6148-cd45-441d-8665-721a49979f82> | {
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Running a Program As Administrator
By Terry Stockdale for TerrysComputerTips.com
One of the biggest problems with Windows over the years has been security.
For a long time, Microsoft seemed to consider that businesses running enterprise-level servers might need security, but that individual and home users had no need for any such protection.
Fortunately, on day, they woke up to realize that the Internet is a rough place, with people who want to attack and subvert (or even just attack and damage) other people’s computers and data. Bill Gates wrote a letter to Microsoft employees re-focusing them to security being a priority.
As a result, we have seen Windows versions become more and more secure. We even saw Windows Vista with its first incarnation of User Account Control with its extreme overkill.
Windows 7 relaxed some of those controls — or at least gave control of their level of interference to the Administrator users on the computer.
Which brings us to the questions of “Who is an Administrator user on our computer?” and “why do we even have an Administrator user ID?”
In early versions of Windows, it was basically anyone. When the concept of Administrators and normal users was introduced into Windows, there were simply too many things that users needed to do that required Administrator privileges.
Want to install a program? That took Administrator privileges. Get a new printer? You had to be an administrator to be able to do it.
Why not use an administrator account all the time? The problem is that any malware you might execute accidentally (by opening an attachment, running a program, etc.) would inherit the privileges of the user starting that program. If the administrator did it, the malware had full control over the system.
The secure answer was “Make an administrator account and a limited user account. Use the limited user account for normal purposes, and switch users when you need to do something that required administrator privileges.”
It sounded great in concept. It worked great with Unix and Linux. But, that approach was a flop with Windows.
The problem was that the user-switching function was extremely easy with Unix and Linux. With Windows, on the other hand, you could either log out as one user and then log in as another (a slow process) or use the “Fast User Switching” (a.k.a., Switch Users) function to change to a different user. Unfortunately, Fast User Switching didn’t always work.
As a result, most users ran as Administrator users. Of course, the computer manufacturers tended to encourage that in order to enhance the user experience (in other words, reduce tech support calls).
So, now we know what Administrator users are (full-privilege users), why they exist, and why limited-users exist. So, how can you check who is an administrator on your computer and change their type, if you want.
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Why are horseflies more attracted to certain parts of lakes and to certain people?
Female (and only female) horseflies attack because they need a meal of blood protein to hatch their eggs. When you’re feeling like an all-too-attractive target, it may help to remember that you’re not really their preferred victim. If a cow, a moose, or one of the other ungulate mammals were handy, the flies might leave you alone. That’s probably because these animals are bigger and easier to spot. They also give off more carbon dioxide and moisture, which are sensory cues for most biting flies, including mosquitoes and blackflies. Another reason for the flies’ preference for ungulates could be a longer shared evolutionary history.
The tabanids (the group that includes deerflies and horseflies) are also visual predators with huge eyes and acute eyesight, able to detect movement, contrasts, shiny objects, and non-moving silhouettes from great distances. Scientists believe horseflies see a target, fly towards it, then home in on the sensory cues as they get close.
Ontario is well endowed with 48 of the 75 known species of horseflies in Canada. Like most biting flies, they’re found in moist areas, such as ponds, marshes, and bogs. Keeping to drier ground won’t protect you because they’re such strong, fast fliers, but it would help to stand beside somebody a lot bigger than you. | <urn:uuid:625ae5ed-2120-4c77-8c45-59dac300def2> | {
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Pesticides Taking Toll on Farmworkers
This is the first in a two part series on protections for farmworkers from pesticides.
Read part two, Farmworker Mother To EPA: We Deserve Protections, and the accompanying special feature, Pesticides: The Workplace Hazard The EPA Is Ignoring.
If the apples in your local store are bug-free because of pesticides, then you might ask who the pesticides hurt before the apples left the farm. That’s because many pesticides are toxic enough to seriously harm the humans who work in the orchards.
A growing number of Americans recognize the hazards of toxic chemicals and as a result have reduced their consumption of produce grown with pesticides to protect their family’s health. But while U.S. consumers are finding ways to protect themselves, far too little is being done to protect farmworkers, who are on the frontlines of exposure to high levels of toxic pesticides.
To address this urgent need, this week farmworkers from across the nation are meeting in Washington, D.C. with their members of Congress to call for stronger protections from hazardous pesticides. These farmworkers and their allies seek to strengthen the Worker Protection Standard under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, a set of outdated safeguards the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to revise for more than 20 years despite overwhelming evidence of their inadequacy.
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas)
“If policy makers truly listened to the stories of what is going on, laws would change,” said Mily Treviño-Sauceda, a former farmworker who founded a women’s farmworker group in California and is president of the National Farmworker Women’s Alliance. She added that if farmworkers aren’t protected from pesticide exposure, neither are their communities, their school-aged children, nor the food our plates.
There are an estimated 5.1 billion pounds of pesticides applied to crops annually in the United States, and thousands of farmworkers each year experience pesticide poisoning. It is well-documented that a significant number of the nation’s estimated 1–2 million farmworkers and their families are exposed to toxic pesticides. These exposures result in serious short and long-term health impacts, including stinging eyes, rashes, blisters, nausea, headaches and even death. Long-term impacts include delayed and include infertility, birth defects, endocrine disruption, neurological disorders and cancer.
“We are still dealing with very dangerous chemicals in agriculture,” said Edward Zuroweste, Chief Medical Officer for Migrant Clinicians Network. Zuroweste also spent more than 20 years as a doctor treating farmworkers on apple orchards in rural Pennsylvania. “No one can dispute that these chemicals are dangerous, they are carcinogenic, they can cause birth defects, and they can cause death from acute poisoning.”
“The laws of our country afford far less workplace protection to farmworkers than most workers receive in other industrial sectors,” explains Earthjustice president Trip Van Noppen. The farmworkers and advocates are asking the EPA to update the Worker Protection Standard to:
- Provide more frequent and more comprehensible pesticide safety training for farmworkers
- Include information about farmworker families’ exposures to pesticides in the required training materials
- Ensure that workers receive information about specific pesticides used in their work
- Require safety precautions and protective equipment limiting farmworkers’ contact with pesticides
- Require medical monitoring of workers who handle neurotoxic pesticides
“Despite the clear hazards of their work, farmworkers are not even guaranteed basic on-the-job protections to mitigate exposure to the highly toxic pesticides that threaten their well-being and that of their families and children,” said Van Noppen. “The threat facing millions of farmworkers who work in our nation’s fields, farms and nurseries is not only toxic but fundamentally unjust, and the EPA has a legal duty to correct this.” | <urn:uuid:6617013f-3ba1-4d11-930c-bf7c855fc844> | {
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Degenerative back conditions are spinal changes that most often occur during the aging process, usually after age 40, and they can sometimes result after repeated injuries to the area such as sprains, strains and overuse. Sometimes patients experience degenerative conditions that are asymptomatic, and some individuals develop painful problems as their spines change.
The following are several different spinal disorders that can develop because of degeneration, presented by the Santa Monica spine surgeons at The Spine Institute Center for Spinal Restoration.
Degenerative Disc Disease
When the normally supple and spongy vertebral discs begin to age, they start to dry out and get smaller. The shrinkage may cause pain when the vertebrae begin to rub against each other or press against the spinal nerves.
Spinal stenosis occurs when changes along the spinal column cause the canal to become smaller. The constricted area often results in nerve compression, and can result in pain, numbness and tingling that starts in the lower back and travels down the legs and into the feet. Cervical spinal stenosis can be dangerous because it can compress the spinal cord causing cervical myelopathy that is marked by generalized weakness and a deterioration in motor skills.
As the spinal column ages, arthritic changes in the vertebral column cause the bones to become stiff and develop spurs, or bony outgrowths. The spurs can contribute to spinal stenosis and cause pain when they get large enough that they compress the spinal nerves.
The slow breakdown of the vertebrae and discs can cause the discs to herniate, or bulge out of the line of the spinal column. The bulging protrusion may push up against the spinal nerves and cause an irritation that results in painful symptoms. Sciatica is commonly caused by a herniated disc in the lumbar region that constrict the large sciatic nerve.
A patient’s diagnosis and individual symptoms will help to determine the best treatment options. If conservative methods such as physical therapy and medications do not help to relieve pain, a number of surgical options could offer relief. In addition to traditional spinal fusions, advancements in technology and the industry have paved the way for more motion-preserving options such as cervical and lumbar artificial disc replacement.
To request more information or an in-person consultation to further discuss your surgical options, reach out to Dr. Bae of The Spine Institute Center for Spinal Restoration and take the first step toward a pain-free lifestyle. | <urn:uuid:9d8804d6-2ab9-42dd-a140-0153e8b9a79a> | {
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Common Core State Standard SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.
FOR THE WEEK OF AUG. 14, 2006
Terror plot brings new air travel fears
Some journalism critics say the news media occasionally go too far in terrorism reports and give details that help our enemies. Start a class discussion about whether coverage of the London plot was appropriate or revealed too much. What facts about these cases do students think newspapers should never print?
Tighter airport safeguards and travel delays have a wide impact, so newspapers combine local coverage with staff and wire service reports from around the nation and abroad – as they do daily on diverse subjects. Ask students to identify where foreign and national news mainly appears in the print or online newspaper (besides the front page). Initiate a discussion about why readers should be aware of events beyond their city, state and country.
Travel reports appear regularly in newspapers and typically aren’t about red alerts. Invite class members to check recent issues, especially from a Friday or Sunday, for articles about nearby and distant places to visit. Ask for comments on whether examples they find make a visit seem worthwhile and whether ways to learn more are given.
Just as summer vacations are wrapping up and many families squeeze in a final trip before the new school year, air travel is tougher and scarier. British authorities last week blocked a major terror plot that they and U.S. leaders say was aimed at nine flights from London to New York, Washington and California. In response, President Bush authorized a “red alert” terrorism warning -– the highest ever -- for commercial flights from Britain and raised security on all domestic and international flights. "You can't go overboard when you're trying to save lives," the president’s press secretary says.
Britain arrested 24 people accused of planning to blow up as many as 10 U.S.-bound planes with peroxide-based liquids and gels disguised as beverages or other common items in hand luggage. They reportedly would have been set off by portable camera flashes or detonators masquerading as electronic devices. “We’ve prevented an attempt to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale,” says London’s deputy police commander.
The U.S. raised its color-coded threat alert to the maximum level -- “severe risk of terrorist attacks” -- for incoming flights from Britain. “We cannot be sure that the threat has been entirely eliminated or the plot completely thwarted,” Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff said. In addition, carry-on luggage is banned indefinitely on trans-Atlantic flights from Britain. Fliers there and here can’t bring any liquids into the cabin except baby formula or medicine.
President says: “This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11. . . . But obviously, we're still not completely safe, because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in. . . . Travelers are going to be inconvenienced as a result of the steps we've taken. I urge their patience and ask them to be vigilant.”
Who’s behind the plot? “It was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope. It was in some respects suggestive of an al-Qaeda plot.” -- Michael Chertoff, U.S. secretary of Homeland Security
Another concern: Next month is the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., which causes fear about a symbolic new strike.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2014
We welcome comments or suggestions for future topics: Click here to Comment | <urn:uuid:7bec8b97-64a0-4b3d-8918-16525c7fc19a> | {
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Posted on: 18 July 2016
Lacerations, or cuts, happen all the time. Whether it's a tiny paper cut or a cut from a knife while chopping vegetables – they happen frequently. Since they are so common people often think about them as a minor problem. No, a cut isn't a life threatening emergency, but it can spiral into a more serious concern if it is not cared for correctly. Make sure you know how to properly care for your cut as well as how to monitor the healing process.
Caring For Your Cut
If the wound is bleeding, apply pressure to stop it. Next, you want to clean the area. Some people simply run their hands under the water for a few seconds, but this doesn't really do the job. To clean a wound, you need to use an antibacterial soap to wash the area and then run it under the water for several minutes. Antibacterial soap removes harmful bacteria.
Keeping the area under the water for several minutes helps remove any particles that might be stuck inside the wound that could potentially lead to an infection. If it's a minor cut, you can then apply an ointment with antibacterial qualities and place a bandage over it.
Don't Blow On The Wound
Don't ever blow on your cut. For some reason, people often think blowing on the cut will make it less painful. Not only is this not the case, but it can actually do more harm than good. The mouth is home to a countless number of bacteria, both good and bad.
When you blow on the wound, you introduce all the bacteria from your mouth to the wound, increasing the risk for infection. Never blow in an open wound.
When To Be Concerned
It's also important that you know what a problem looks like when monitoring the healing of your wound. First, always be cautious about warmth. If the area around the cut is warmer than the rest of your body, this is often an indication of infection. Infection typically also causes a throbbing sensation and in advanced stages may also produce a pus discharge.
You also want to observe the skin around the wound. If the skin starts to darken and look black, this is cause for concern. Although rare, this is an indication that the skin around the wound has died. This problem may also produce a foul odor. If any of these issues occur, prompt medical treatment is important.
Make sure you understand that all cuts can't be self-treated. Deep wounds or those that are bleeding heavily should be treated by a medical professional.
Click here for urgent care or do an online search.Share | <urn:uuid:e773cb7b-09a7-41aa-baba-30b38471565a> | {
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We can definitely say that the computer revolution which had so greatly spread world wide, is on its logical finish. It doesn’t mean that the progress in this area of technology and science is going to finish. No way. It just means that the computer and PC for more clearance had already taken its place in the life of society as an irreplaceable assistant of the man as a universal means for communication, entertainment, study, and is generally taking more and more that before was belonging to books and all kinds of paper databases.
Along with the favorite PC our life was enriched by new phenomena and conceptions, about which none was really thinking about and had a very unclear idea about. To be more specific it’s the slogan appeared not so long ago: “new generation chooses games”ť. But computer games are not the only subject of entertainment industry born by computer revolution. In general the opportunities opened by computer era made a big revolution in the world of visual art giving more space to work on for movie effects specialists, designers, artists, photographers, etc. For a long time the level of technology has been limiting computers in their capacities of being used in art related industries, the workstations used for graphics modeling coasted millions of dollars and couldn’t be an instrument of design. But as soon as technological side of a computer became more advanced it turned to be a powerful tool for solving of numerous problems. A modern artist gets unlimited possibilities of using colors, hues, making special effects and colored reliefs. But as this art was made on the screens of computer monitors, the results of such creative work often look unnatural if printed, everybody agrees that the sphere of exhibition of such works has to be only on the screen of the monitor. The same image on the paper and on the screen has different influence on a persons esthetic world.
Printed images of computer art loose their effective influence, uncatchable feelings of uniqueness and inner meanings.
The opportunities of realistic reflection of our imagination and fantasy are the very advantages of computer arts, because computer technologies can exactly unite the power of human mind, imagination, reflection of feelings along with high speeds and ability of monotonic work made by machines. This union makes new relations between a human and a computer.
The whole process of computer graphics creation involves some kind of compromise between changing emotions of an author and external, independently developing technologies. This process or a struggle makes the equilibrium between improving, changing technologies and the creative process of an artist in the forms and meaning area of computer art. The majority of computer artists mark that because of the changes and innovations in the area of computer graphics tools, methods and applications introduce new limits to their creative work, unknown before, they, artists, feel the displacement of their attention to the new, reserved areas of their creative abilities. The words design and model don’t mean that computer art can be considered as rational, scientific, or more over surface and accidental work. This process demonstrates the colored application of rational parameters: sorted and grouped combinations of them appear in the motion of the soul, and the advantage of the man is emotional part, while the advantage of a computer is technical perfection of the ideas and thoughts realization.
As the result the esthetics of this art depends upon the behavior of the spectator. An artist makes just the basic form, describes the wide context of what’s happening, provides the diversity, complication of the environment, and later organizes the “points of entrance”ť into the system, by means of which the spectator gets access into created virtual space. This scheme defines the limits of interactive art, that are on the wide level of penetration into the life of big groups, on the level of individual experience of the participant of creative process.
The set of terms: spectator, watcher, participant, publics, player it’s more appropriate to use just the only name of all these roles. It’s the term “user”ť, because only the word “user”ť is the most fundamental and includes a wide range of interaction between an individual and interactive system , no matter if this interactive system can be called art or not.
One of innovations that penetrated into our life with computers are the computer games. They appeared in the begging of computer era as a mean of stress removal, that happens to programists working all day long on PC. And later they step by step occupied an important place in the world of high technology. For a long period of time the spread and influence of computer games industry was not that visible, because the games to the mot part were very primitive. The ideas of the designers were limited by computer abilities. But since 90th with rapid development of hardware and operation systems, with the appearance of 3D video accelerators designers got a lot of space fort their creative work and realization of the bold ideas. It’s not a surprise that a big part of PCs bought nowadays are bought for playing games and entertainment. Actually for a majority, computer games are not just means of stress cure but, if not a religion, then the “life style”ť.
The twentieth century would have a lot surprises to our predecessors. A lot of modern art have it’s basics in technology, as photography, cinema, modern architecture (which is a good example of symbiosis of art, technology, science and rationalism), modern music (which is represented by a variety of electronic instruments), so there is no wonder that the branches of a specific parts of math science as math modeling, games theory together with electronics gave a birth to a new form of world perception called “virtual reality”ť.
Then to decide this essential problem it’s better to be defined with the sides of this question:
1. Graphics of the modern computer games is an essential and integrated part of pop culture, if to look on this question locally it’s a part of modern pop art, and that’s why it can be discussed from the esthetic position.
2. As any other kind of results of the creative process computer animation or computer graphics appeals fist of all to the inner world of a person.
3. Computer animation is a synthetic kind of art and its roots go all the way to “old”ť (classical and traditional) types of creative work graphics, painting, literature, and cinema.
And now lets cover all these points in details.
Speaking about popular modern art we basically mean those wanted products of civilization that have their purpose not to satisfy the material needs, but to the main place spiritual needs of a man. Modern popular art basically includes TV shows, fiction, movies, cartoons, etc. By “using”ť it the man tries to satisfy his “hunger”ť in emotions, feelings, and tries to compensate the lack of emotions by accepting this virtual reality. From this side, the computer game is an integrated part of modern popular culture.
The popularity of this kind of software is obvious, because it takes one of the top places in the computer related goods trade.
If to speak about connection of computer game with the inner world of a person, it can be compared to the reading the book. While playing a game or while reading a book, a man is putting himself in the artificial world of virtual reality. But to the difference to a book the game is very interactive, which makes more realistic the penetration to the world of the game, while if reading a book a person has to use the “ready product”ť, watching it but not taking any participation in.
Another thing is the attention the game developers pay to all kinds of game demos, screen savers, game hero’s encyclopedias, and other attributes that don’t have any relation to the playing game process. This attachments to the games, mostly apprehended as fine game editions are the means of influence on our emotions, that make our mind pay more attention to the game and make play it. By means of that the designers using just the visual means reach their goal, they opportunity to a person to get rid of his routine problems and move to the world of illusions.
Basically it is the main goal of every kind of art, isn’t it? But they do it without paints and brushes.
By the words of scientists who work on the problem of psychological perception of the surrounding world, a healthy person gets 98% of information by eyesight and hearing. That’s why the “magic of computer games”ť is basically the game graphics, that has its ancestors in the face of animation, cinema and painting; that was modernized by the use of math and physics laws of space and motion, that all together gave a birth to computer animation.
The topic of literary origins of computer games can be developed independently. But it’s important to note that nearly every game has its own scenario, which often can be though to be a literary work. Often the backgrounds to the release of new games are fiction, historical events, fantasy.
The development of computer industry with its great and wide opportunities gave the birth to the new type of virtual art, as well as to new professions as computer designers, computer animation developers, etc. This new art, as I’ve mentioned before, unites the talent of an artist with the knowledge of computer programming and math modeling.
Many begging artists find out that they can realize themselves in computer animation industry. The knowledge of art is essential in virtual art as well. John Miles, creative director of Bullfrog, says: “A traditional education in art and qualification are very important for all artists that participate in the process of game design. They influence the working process in different ways, and giving a valuable experience to the developers team”¦ Making a team I choose only those who are talented in tradition art, and choose a suitable job for them”ť.
The most part of companies doesn’t care if an artist they employ is not acquainted with 3D modeling on computer.
The traditional skills are more important then computer skills. After all if you can not draw, it doesn’t matter that you can use applications for 3D modeling. Jason Batterly says: “A computer is just an instrument. It’s more important to have an art preparation, even from historical point of view.”ť
Computer animation requires a lot of skills. The whole process can be considered to be similar to the cinematography, but here an artist plays one of the first roles. The textures, backgrounds are the work for painters; while 3d modeling is an area for creative work of sculptors. Even so that computer art requires basically the skills of an artist and classical art conception is the engine for future development of this evolved art, the changes in this area of needed artists will be more obvious in future.
The 20th century as well as the 21st century, are the centuries of a high level of urbanization, globalization and other social processes which have some disadvantages. The biggest of them is lack of time for natural communication because of busy life rhythm. A person doesn’t find time enough for communication and for social participation.
At this point the interactive and virtual reality compensates the reality of life. The same thing happens to art. From year to year the art appreciated by the majority of people turn to be more and more interactive even so that it demonstrates intelligence, the power of human mind and thought, the ability for development.
It’s agreed that nowadays people struggle with system of reality perception, not only with their feelings and emotions in interactive environment. It’s to complicate to determine and realize the meaning and sense of computer graphics, animation because of high abstraction level of this art and inability to separate in the mind these conceptions as soon as they begin to differ from simple since. The nature of this problem in thought to be in the computer’s structure. For the majority it’s the mean of art and life reflection like a TV set, but in reality the environment created with the help of computer gives more abilities for work, then for its reflection. The whole idea of technology with the constant dynamics in its core gives more opportunities for realization and experiences for learning using computer, then it’s given in reality. The same thing is about art. The 20th century showed that classical art inherited new features like the use of metal, welding, constructive materials along with other means of technology. On this scene the usage of computer looks like a logical continuation to these innovations by demonstrating unlimited opportunities for artists with the only limit, their imagination. To the most part only art created with a help of computer modeling will address the demands of current century with its changeable rhythm and demands.
May be the interactive, virtual culture will be that one that will definitely follow the words of Oscar Wilde that “life should learn from art”ť. | <urn:uuid:5d377b80-7ea3-4837-8557-99452cd97e89> | {
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Bow Bay Window Curtain Rods ( Decorative Bay Window Curtain Rods #1)
Bowbow1 (bou),USA pronunciation v.i.
- to bend the knee or body or incline the head, as in reverence, submission, salutation, recognition, or acknowledgment.
- to yield;
submit: to bow to the inevitable.
- to bend or curve downward;
stoop: the pines bowed low.
- to bend or incline (the knee, body, or head) in worship, submission, respect, civility, agreement, etc.: He bowed his head to the crowd.
- to cause to submit;
- to cause to stoop or incline: Age had bowed his head.
- to express by a bow: to bow one's thanks.
- to usher (someone) with a bow (usually fol. by in, out, etc.): They were bowed in by the footman.
- to cause to bend;
make curved or crooked.
- bow and scrape, to be excessively polite or deferential.
- bow out, to resign a position or withdraw from a job, competition, obligation, etc.: He bowed out after two terms as governor.
- an inclination of the head or body in salutation, assent, thanks, reverence, respect, submission, etc.
- make one's bow, to appear publicly for the first time, as a performer, politician, etc.: The young pianist made her bow last night to an appreciative audience.
- take a bow, to step forward or stand up in order to receive recognition, applause, etc.: The conductor had the soloists take a bow.
Baybay1 (bā),USA pronunciation n.
- a body of water forming an indentation of the shoreline, larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf.
- [South Atlantic States.]an arm of a swamp.
- a recess of land, partly surrounded by hills.
- an arm of a prairie or swamp, extending into woods and partly surrounded by them.
Windowwin•dow (win′dō),USA pronunciation n.
- an opening in the wall of a building, the side of a vehicle, etc., for the admission of air or light, or both, commonly fitted with a frame in which are set movable sashes containing panes of glass.
- such an opening with the frame, sashes, and panes of glass, or any other device, by which it is closed.
- the frame, sashes, and panes of glass, or the like, intended to fit such an opening: Finally the builders put in the windows.
- a windowpane.
- anything likened to a window in appearance or function, as a transparent section in an envelope, displaying the address.
- a period of time regarded as highly favorable for initiating or completing something: Investors have a window of perhaps six months before interest rates rise.
- chaff1 (def. 5).
- [Pharm.]the drug dosage range that results in a therapeutic effect, a lower dose being insufficient and a higher dose being toxic.
- See launch window.
- a specific area at the outer limits of the earth's atmosphere through which a spacecraft must reenter to arrive safely at its planned destination.
- a section of a display screen that can be created for viewing information from another part of a file or from another file: The split screen feature enables a user to create two or more windows.
- to furnish with a window or windows.
- [Obs.]to display or put in a window.
Curtaincur•tain (kûr′tn),USA pronunciation n.
- a hanging piece of fabric used to shut out the light from a window, adorn a room, increase privacy, etc.
- a movable or folding screen used for similar purposes.
- [Chiefly New Eng.]a window shade.
- a set of hanging drapery for concealing all or part of the stage or set from the view of the audience.
- the act or time of raising or opening a curtain at the start of a performance: an 8:30 curtain.
- the end of a scene or act indicated by the closing or falling of a curtain: first-act curtain.
- an effect, line, or plot solution at the conclusion of a performance: a strong curtain; weak curtain.
- music signaling the end of a radio or television performance.
- (used as a direction in a script of a play to indicate that a scene or act is concluded.)
- anything that shuts off, covers, or conceals: a curtain of artillery fire.
- a relatively flat or featureless extent of wall between two pavilions or the like.
- [Fort.]the part of a wall or rampart connecting two bastions, towers, or the like.
- curtains, the end;
death, esp. by violence: It looked like curtains for another mobster.
- draw the curtain on or over:
- to bring to a close: to draw the curtain on a long career of public service.
- to keep secret.
- lift the curtain on:
- to commence;
- to make known or public;
disclose: to lift the curtain on a new scientific discovery.
- to provide, shut off, conceal, or adorn with, or as if with, a curtain.
Rodsrod (rod),USA pronunciation n., v., rod•ded, rod•ding.
- a stick, wand, staff, or the like, of wood, metal, or other material.
- a straight, slender shoot or stem of any woody plant, whether still growing or cut from the plant.
- See fishing rod.
- (in plastering or mortaring) a straightedge moved along screeds to even the plaster between them.
- a stick used for measuring.
- a unit of linear measure, 51⁄2 yards or 161⁄2 feet (5.029 m);
linear perch or pole.
- a unit of square measure, 301⁄4 square yards (25.29 sq. m);
square perch or pole.
- a stick, or a bundle of sticks or switches bound together, used as an instrument of punishment.
- punishment or discipline: Not one to spare the rod, I sent him to bed without dinner.
- a wand, staff, or scepter carried as a symbol of office, authority, power, etc.
- authority, sway, or rule, esp. when tyrannical.
- See lightning rod.
- a slender bar or tube for draping towels over, suspending a shower curtain, etc.
- a branch of a family;
- a pattern, drawn on wood in full size, of one section of a piece of furniture.
- a pistol or revolver.
- [Vulgar.]the penis.
- one of the rodlike cells in the retina of the eye, sensitive to low intensities of light. Cf. cone (def. 5).
- [Bacteriol.]a rod-shaped microorganism.
- Also called leveling rod, stadia rod. a light pole, conspicuously marked with graduations, held upright and read through a surveying instrument in leveling or stadia surveying.
- round metal stock for drawing and cutting into slender bars.
- to furnish or equip with a rod or rods, esp. lightning rods.
- to even (plaster or mortar) with a rod.
- to reinforce (the core of a mold) with metal rods.
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If you make everything with uniform size and shape you can certainly also stack it-up. Put a container containing items you may not use backwards, with a package comprising more commonly used objects forward for easy-access. | <urn:uuid:3393650d-a7c1-48e0-b546-866be1e84b53> | {
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By James H. O’Keefe, MD
More than 150 million Americans enjoy a "cuppa joe" every day — it's the way they start their morning, re-charge their energy mid-day, or cap off a terrific meal. Amazingly, 80 to 90 percent of American adults drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages on a daily basis. Yet a burning question remains: is drinking coffee regularly good or bad for your health, specifically for your heart, blood vessels and brain?
A growing body of research shows that coffee drinkers, compared to those who don't drink coffee, may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, serious heart rhythm problems, depression and neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. These potential benefits have been attributed in part to the antioxidants present in coffee as well as to moderate weight reduction, improved glucose metabolism and reduced inflammation also associated with regular coffee consumption.
Coffee has recently been recommended by a United States review panel to be consumed along with tea in greater quantities, especially as a substitute for high-calorie beverages, such as full-fat milk, diet soft drinks, fruit juices, alcohol, sports drinks and calorically sweetened, nutrient-poor beverages, like colas.
Several micronutrients found in coffee, including magnesium, potassium, niacin, caffeine and vitamin E, could contribute to the observed health effects that have been linked to coffee consumption. But beware, it is a beverage that you may become somewhat hooked on if you drink it daily. Predictable withdrawal symptoms from missing your morning "fix" of coffee include headache, irritability, anxiety, mild depression, sleepiness, inability to concentrate or focus, or even flu-like symptoms. These can occur even after missing as little as one cup of coffee a day! It is the caffeine that is habit forming, and pregnant women are advised to limit caffeine intake to not more than 200 mg per day.
The lesson here? Coffee can be habit-forming, but based on scientific research, with few exceptions, it appears to be a habit that's healthy for your heart and your mind. (P.S. Hold the cream and sugar, please).
Published: November 18, 2011.
James H. O'Keefe, MD, is a board-certified cardiologist at Cardiovascular Consultants and Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, and co-author of The Forever Diet and Lifestyle.
Editor's note: This article is part of a special series brought to you by Missouri Medicine, the Medical Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association (MSMA). MedHelp, Missouri Medicine, and MSMA are collaborating to educate and empower health consumers by making the latest scientific studies and medical research available to the public. Learn more about MSMA and see more from Missouri Medicine.
This is a summary of the article "Cuppa Joe: Friend or Foe?: Effects of Chronic Coffee Consumption on Cardiovascular and Brain Health" by Harshal Patil, MD, Carl J. Lavie, MD, and James H. O'Keefe, MD, which was originally published in the November/December 2011 issue of Missouri Medicine. The full article is available here.
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Even though marketing lessons prepare students to succeed in the business world, they also teach life skills, such as how to deliver a strategic message, generate a positive buzz, create a network, forge partnerships and evaluate situations. Lessons can vary from lecture to direct implementation; however, the more vested students become, the more they will gain from the lessons.
Start a Business
Teach students hands-on marketing skills through a self-sustaining store. Lessons can include selecting items, setting hours and designing advertising, along with creating and implementing the marketing plan. This activity will typically span the school year, and students can carry it through subsequent academic years. According to Lisa Cornwell with the Associated Press, money the students generate from the store can fund its continuation, student activities or scholarships. Although students intend their businesses to become self-sustaining, the point of the activity is not to produce profit for the school, but to teach students how to operate a business. For training materials and support, join the high school division of DECA, formerly known as Distributive Education Clubs of America, or begin a chapter at the school. According to its site, DECA is an “international association of high school and college students studying marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality and marketing sales and service.”
Market the Yearbook
Teach students key business skills by marketing the school yearbook. Since yearbook sales have experienced a downward trend over the last several years, according to an article on the All Business website, this will be a challenge that encourages creative thought. After studying sales numbers from the previous five years, analyzing books and seeking trends, ask the students to set the year's sales goal. The yearbook business easily lends itself to charting numbers in sales by month and profitability margins, which will keep students on track. Beyond teaching slogans and poster board color choices, instruct marketing students to conduct their own on-line marketing research, incorporating their ideas. Planning and marketing innovation will be key in sparking interest in the seemingly dead medium of bound books.
To introduce students to business marketing ideas and terms, teach a basic lesson from the Money Instructor website. The unit may span up to two weeks with a combination of direct instruction and class implementation. The lesson focuses on traditional principles of business such as the four "P's": product, price, place/distribution and promotion. After you introduce these principles, coordinate students into groups of two to four. Ask them to create their own business ideas, complete with slogans, logos, radio and television advertisements and fliers all geared toward their target demographic. Consider using a product base the majority are unfamiliar with to encourage creative thinking and discourage stealing actual marketing campaign ideas. Ask students, for example, to design a product around an excess of chicken feet from an imaginary company.
- Photo Credit matériel écoliers image by Unclesam from Fotolia.com
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For those who teach courses in marketing, there is plenty of information available regarding topics for lesson planning. A truly immersive course,... | <urn:uuid:1fec36a3-25ba-4854-85e3-b2d2261cd7b8> | {
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“Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream.” – W. S. Gilbert
Mycosis fungoides (pronounced my-coh-sis fun-goyd-eez) is the most common form of a type of blood cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The meaning of Mycosis fungoides is “mushroom-like fungal disease,” which refers to mushroom fungus look of the skin in the advanced stages of this disease. Mycosis means any disease caused by a fungus (mold).
The symptoms of this disease are a red rash or patches on the skin, which are often flat and scaly that can sometimes be itchy. Patches are most commonly found on the lower abdomen, upper thighs, buttocks, and breasts. They can disappear and reappear or remain stable over time. In some affected individuals, patches progress to plaques, the next stage of mycosis fungoides.(1)
The National Cancer Institute lists Mycosis fungoides may go through the following phases:
- Premycotic phase: A scaly, red rash in areas of the body that usually are not exposed to the sun. This rash does not cause symptoms and may last for months or years. It is hard to diagnose the rash as mycosis fungoides during this phase.
- Patch phase: Thin, reddened, eczema -like rash.
- Plaque phase: Small raised bumps (papules) or hardened lesions on the skin, which may be reddened.
- Tumor phase: Tumors form on the skin. These tumors may develop ulcers and the skin may get infected.(2)
What is the cause of this blood cancer – cutaneous T-cell lymphoma called Mycosis fungoides?
What is interesting is that the current medical literature claims that this cancer which is named after a fungal disease is not actually caused by a fungus. But they do not know what the cause is today and nowhere could I locate in modern medical literature could I find a cause that would lead to an accurate diagnosis and prognosis.
The two main forms of lymphoma are Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkinlymphoma (NHL). Lymphoma occurs when cells of the immune system called lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, grow and multiply uncontrollably. (Source: Lymphoma.org)
The disease is an unusual expression of CD4 T cells, a part of the immune system. These T cells are skin-associated, meaning that they biochemically and biologically are most related to the skin, in a dynamic manner. Mycosis fungoides is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).(Wikipedia)
A T cell, or T lymphocyte, is a type of lymphocyte (a subtype of white blood cell) that plays a central role in cell-mediated immunity. T cells are critical in the development of protective immunity against a variety of microorganisms as well as the development of autoimmune disease and allergic responses.
An interesting note is that many molds and their mycotoxins such as trichothecenes are toxic to cells and have been documented to cause an unusual expression T cells.
In a 2004 study, Adoptive T-cell therapy for fungal infections in haematology patients, researchers explain the role for CD4 T cells in fungus-specific adaptive immunity is now well established and specific responses by all CD4 T-cell subsets (T helper (Th)-1, Th2, Th17 and regulatory T cells) have been observed. Protective immunity, correlating with production of defensins, inflammation, neutrophil recruitment and fungal clearance is observed following activation of Th1 and Th17 cells. In contrast, the activation of Th2 and regulatory T cells corresponds to inhibition of fungal clearance and immunosuppression, respectively.(3)
Trichothecenes are now recognized as having multiple inhibitory effects on eukaryote cells, including inhibition of protein, DNA and RNA synthesis, inhibition of mitochondrial function, effects on cell division and membrane effects. In animal cells, they induce apoptosis, a programmed cell death response.
The fungus Coccidioides which causes the disease coccidioidomycosis that has been connected to Mycosis fungoides, the outcome of the disease depends to a large extent on the effectiveness of the T-cell-mediated immune (CMI) response to the fungal pathogen. Immunogenicity of a 48-kDa T-cell-reactive protein (TCRP).
The antigen is expressed by parasitic cells and localized in the cytoplasm. It stimulates the proliferative response and production of gamma interferon by T cells of mice immunized with C. immitis spherules. Specific antibody reactive with the recombinant TCRP (rTCRP) was detected in sera of patients with confirmed coccidioidal infection.(4)
Another example of a mold causing an unusual expression of T cells is from Fusarium mycotoxins which cause a decreased percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. In mice orally exposed to AFB1, there is a doserelated suppression of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to keyhole limpet haemocyanin (Reddy and Sharma 1989). Intoxicated mice also exhibit a decrease in splenic CD4 þ T cell number as well as in IL-2 production by splenocytes (Hatori et al. 1991; Dugyala and Sharma 1996).(5)
The history of Mycosis fungoides and how it was connected to the fungus Coccidiodes immitis
If you study the history of Mycosis fungoides, you will clearly see that it looks exactly like a fungal infection and if you research further, you can find scientists, studies, and books that tie this disease to a fungus.
The first person to have documented this disease was a medical student from Argentina named Alejandro Pasados. While he was a student at the Faculty of Medicine of Buenos Aries, he examined a soldier who had lesions all over his body and was diagnosed with fungoid mycosis. He collected material from the wounds and found spores that he identified from the mold (fungus) coccidia.(6)
Coccidioides species are dimorphic fungi with saprophytic and parasitic phases. Humans, dogs, horses, and other animals may serve as hosts. The organisms’ life cycle explains several interesting characteristics of the disease. Coccidioidomycosis is infectious, but not contagious. Nearly all infections are acquired from the environment by the inhalation of airborne arthroconidia from the soil. The organisms are considered to be potential agents of bioterrorism.(7)
Geoffrey Clough Ainsworth (9 October 1905 in Birmingham – 25 October 1998 in Derby), a British mycologist, scientific historian and author who had dedicated much of his life to the study of fungi (molds) had said that fungal diseases are amongst the oldest recognized causes of infection in humans. He wrote a popular book called the History of Mycology published in 1976 by Cabridge University. In Chapter 6, he credits Alejandro Pasados with first recording the disease coccidioidomycosis which is caused by the fungus, coccidia.
Ainsworth also said that this was the opinion of T.C. Gilchrist of John Hopkins University, Baltimore, in 1896 who named the fungus Coccidiodes immitis. In 1900, W. Ophuls and H.C. Moffit had shown that this fungus occurs in the lungs and other organs.
This is described in the book, Transactions of the American Dermatological Association, Volume 22 By American Dermatological Association.
“On June 30th, 1900, Ophuls and Moffit published a case where the pathologic histology, the abscess formation, the identity in every respect of the micro-organisms as found in the tissues were the same as in the above cases and in the case in hand, but where the striking mycosis fungoides-like lesions on the skin were lacking.
The symptom lacking was an important one, but the points of similarity, however, were so well marked that all those who studied the specimens had little doubt of the identity of this case with the others where tubers were present. Ophuls and Moffitt’s case is especially important, because they were able to carry forward the life study of the microorganism one step further than had previously been done.
In the culture tubes they noticed they repeatedly got a fungus having a delicate mycelium, and after getting this fungus, not alone from the original organs studied, but also from the organs of the inoculated animals, they then injected some of the mycelium into guinea-pigs, and caused the disease with its capsulated forms.”
The true science and the masquerading science
A study from 1995 titled, “Commentary: The Masquerades of Coccidioidomycosis,” describes what researchers call oddities, misrepresentations, and masquerades surrounding the disease, Coccidioidomycosis. The scientists in this study list several cases of people who had Valley Fever, also called coccidioidomycosis, an infection caused by the fungus Coccidioides found commonly in the U.S. Southwest but were diagnosed with tumors and cancer.
In another study in 2004, Disseminated coccidioidomycosis with cutaneous lesions clinically mimicking mycosis fungoides, researchers present another case of coccidioidomycosis masquerading as mycosis fungoides
“This report describes the second known case of disseminated coccidioidomycosis mimicking mycosis fungoides since the original description more than 100 years ago. Coccidioidomycosis should be considered in persons from an endemic area presenting with nonhealing or suspicious skin lesions. Diagnosis is established by skin biopsy and silver staining showing granulomas and classic Coccidioides immitis spherules.
Disseminated coccidioidomycosis most commonly involves the skin and can have a variety of cutaneous manifestations. The first description of a Coccidioides immitis infection in 1892 was initially diagnosed as mycosis fungoides. We present the second case of coccidioidomycosis masquerading as mycosis fungoides.”(8)
Yet again in 2006, researchers report in study titled, Mycosis fungoides with coccidioidomycosis, that a patient with mycosis fungoides and infection with Coccidioides immitis of the skin, which has not been previously reported.(9)
Mold Safe Solutions Conclusion
In this article, I went over the history of Mycosis Fungoides and how for many years it was connected to the disease, Coccidioidomycosis caused by the common soil fungus (mold) Coccidiodes immitis. I also provide research showing how people diagnosed with mycosis fungoides also have the fungal infection with Coccidioides immitis of the skin.
We also know what have been called “The Masquerades of Coccidioidomycosis” and what researchers call oddities, misrepresentations, and masquerades surrounding the disease, Coccidioidomycosis. Last but definitely not least, today it has been claimed that we do not know what causes Mycosis Fungoides, aka Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma Blood Cancer.
Based on my research, we have the smoking gun with all the marks and signs indicating the cause, but for some odd reason, the modern medical establishment refuses to examine the true history and actual evidence. It seems to be a case of what the researchers called, “oddities, misrepresentations, and masquerades surrounding the disease.”
I will leave you with a quote from David J. DiCaudo, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Scottsdale, Arizona who said, “Coccidioidomycosis is a ‘‘great imitator’’ with protean clinical manifestations. Knowledge of the diverse cutaneous clues can be helpful in the diagnosis of this increasingly important disease.”
- U.S. National Library of Medicine
- US Cancer Institute
- Adoptive T-cell therapy for fungal infections in haematology patients
- Immunogenicity of a 48-Kilodalton Recombinant T-Cell-Reactive Protein of Coccidioides immitis
- Immunotoxicological risk of mycotoxins for domestic animals
- Adolpho Lutz – Dermatologia e Micologia – v.1, Livro 3 By Jaime L. Benchimol, Magali Romero Sá,
- MYCOSIS FUNGOIDES, TUMOR STAGE, COEXISTENT WITH DISSEMINATED COCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS
- Disseminated coccidioidomycosis with cutaneous lesions clinically mimicking mycosis fungoides
- Mycosis fungoides with coccidioidomycosis | <urn:uuid:4d5e2384-f319-49e2-b96a-7ffa4fda04bd> | {
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The African woman faces many deprivations. She is deprived of basic human rights through the interconnectedness of tradition, culture and values -- values that dictate her place in society, culture that lands all care work burdens on her shoulders.
She is marginalised and vulnerable to violence and abuse because socialisation has taught her to submit and serve the master. Domestic violence enmeshed in the supremacy of the male and subordination of the female is a structural force, which orders her into subservience.
A survivor of not just traditional and cultural dictates, but also of religion, her experiences are rooted in the pervasive features of domestic violence. Strict family, tribal and traditional practices permeate her world and allow her to be the personal property of male other. In the hierarchy of the family, she is beneath not just her husband, but also every other male family member, including her own son.
Commodified to her death, a woman in some parts of the world is male property. Women are known to be subjects of honour killings, which take place to avenge family honour when a woman violates cultural or tribal expectations. With no trial or chance to defend herself, if the public consensus finds here guilty of having an illicit relationship, she becomes the target and may be murdered in restoration of family honour that she would have tarnished.
This practice targets the woman, while the man with whom she may have committed the "crime" with walks away scot-free. Marrying against family wishes by choosing her own husband, seeking divorce for whatever reason or being raped, also renders her a criminal to which death is her sentence.
Subsequently, even in death, she remains a disgrace to the family such that she is not afforded a decent burial, but her body is dumped in the river or buried in special graveyards reserved for crimes of family honour. There are no burial rites and there is no mourning for her loss. Perception, gossip, or rumour or intimation are enough to sentence her to death. As a result, women must obey the prescriptions set for her by society, tradition and culture.
Levirate marriage decrees that a widow be "inherited" by her late husband’s brother remain rife in many parts of the globe. Additionally, sororate marriages – where a widower marries his dead wife’s sister is also existent alongside female genital mutilation and other atrocities.
Access to education is another of her deprivations. UNESCO 2013 revealed that 31 million girls of primary school age were not in school, and that about one out of every four young women in developing countries had never completed their primary school education.
Subsequently, women lose the potential to gainful employment, which would allow her to earn resulting in her further subjugation. She loses the capacity to benefit from education that would see her able to make educated decisions concerning her home, her children, her health and her future.
Woman is deprived of control of her own sexuality, which compromises her sexual reproductive health rights. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 225 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for family planning, contributing to 74 million unplanned pregnancies and 36 million abortions every year, according to figures cited by Women Deliver, a women’s advocacy group. Helping women take charge of their baby-making reduces unsafe abortions and maternal deaths by over 70% each, and conserves precious resources that would otherwise have gone toward pregnancy-related costs.
Additionally, WHO estimates that 800 women die every day from preventable, pregnancy-related causes.
Research has shown that one in every three women are subjected to physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes. From rape and child sexual exploitation to domestic abuse and sexual trafficking, research has shown that gender-based violations withhold women fulfilment and happiness. Sexual assault or persuasive sex is one of the ugliest types of savagery against women and young women, as it doesn't end with the demonstration itself. Assault casualties regularly endure a type of post-awful pressure issue, and other mental issues particularly the individuals who have endured extraordinary dangers, dread and defenselessness.
Assault has additionally been portrayed as the essential instrument of control in a patriarchal culture and is frequently utilised as a component of vengeance or discipline. An extremely normal recognition about assault is that it is by one means or another the woman's blame, regardless of whether as a result of her provocative conduct or dress or on the grounds that she wandered outside the characterized reasonable parameters among outsiders.
Child marriage is a rising African phenomenon. An estimated 210 million girls will become child brides by 2020. Young women who are married before the age of 18 are normally denied an education, are in danger of intricacies identified with untimely childbearing, and rendered more defenceless against intimate partner brutality. Meanwhile, their male counterparts’ lives remain undisturbed, evidence of the prevailing skewed power dynamics.
The absence of equality and equal opportunities is a recurrent occurrence with regards to girls and women. Hinged on patriarchal practices, in a world where only 5% of women are heads of states, men define the rules of engagement and the resultant outcomes, rendering girls and women vulnerable.
In the absence of clean water, reliable energy and adequate sanitation, women and girls are the natural collateral damage. Research has evidenced that where hygienic and adequate sanitation is limited, girls will often miss school during their menstrual cycles resulting in further marginalisation and limitation of their potential. It’s also true that women in developing countries are frequently tasked with fetching water, firewood as well as all household chores.
And so the conclusion of the realities of women and girls is that they remain bound. | <urn:uuid:1aa3f56a-8389-4560-9934-1ad1119dbae5> | {
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Are you using the Wonders reading program in a third grade classroom? If so, I have made vocabulary cards with pictures so that the students can not only see the vocabulary words for each lesson and unit but they can relate the word to the picture that they are given in their textbook. I print them out on cardstock, laminate them and hang them on my wall under each of the essential questions and my students refer to them constantly. If you enjoy these FREE vocab cards, you can buy the rest of Unit 1 and Unit 2 (weeks 1-5 for unit 2 is bundled together). More units to come! | <urn:uuid:9dd9038d-10ea-4413-9132-560457a971fd> | {
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Ground Water, Continued
The Water TableThe water table, defined above as the upper surface of the zone of saturation, is not a static level surface, but rather it generally is a sloping surface that may exhibit hills and valleys similar to those of the land surface. Figure 6 demonstrates diagrammatically some general relationships of the water table to the land surface and to bodies of surface water. Other irregularities may be caused by differences in permeability of water-bearing materials or by unequal additions of water to the groundwater reservoir at different places.
Figure 6--Diagram showing the relation of the water table to the land surface and to bodies of surface water.
Water in the zone of aeration, once it has penetrated below the soil zone, seeps vertically downward until it reaches the zone of saturation, unless it encounters an inclined layer of relatively impermeable rock. Within the zone of saturation the direction in which the water moves is determined by the hydraulic gradient, and generally is toward streams or lakes or areas of lower altitude. In some places the usual direction of percolation may be reversed, as in the vicinity of a stream that is losing water to the materials over which it is flowing or in the vicinity of an artificial lake in which the water level has been raised above the local water table.
The rate at which groundwater percolates is relatively slow as compared with the velocity of water in surface streams. The frictional resistance encountered by ground water as it percolates through the interstices of the rocks is far greater than that created by surface water as it flows over the land. Hydrostatic head and permeability are the important factors determining groundwater velocity.
Shape and Slope
The shape and slope of the water table in Seward County are shown on the map (Pl. 1) by contour lines drawn on the water table. All points on the water table on a given contour line have the same altitude. These water table contours show the configuration of the water surface just as topographic contour lines show the shape of the land surface. The direction of movement of the ground water is at right angles to the contour lines in the direction of the downward slope.
The map (Pl. 1) shows that the general movement of the ground water in Seward County is east-southeastward, but that the slope and the direction of movement of the ground water vary considerably from one part of the county to the other. The maximum slope is in the area of closely-spaced contours in the southwestern part of the county and is nearly 40 feet to the mile, whereas the minimum slope is in the northeastern corner of the county and is about 4 feet to the mile. The average slope along the north line of the county is 5.5 feet to the mile and the average slope along the south line of the county is 16.7 feet to the mile.
The shape and slope of the water table, which determine the rate and direction of movement of ground water, are controlled by several factors. Irregularities in the shape and slope of the water table in Seward County appear to be caused by: (1) the shape and slope of the underlying bedrock floor; (2) discharge of ground water into streams; (3) recharge of the groundwater reservoir by ephemeral streams; and (4) local differences in the permeability of the water-bearing materials. The effect of these factors on the shape and slope of the water table will be discussed separately in the following paragraphs.
The shape and slope of the bedrock floor (the Dakota formation and the Permian redbeds) probably have little or no effect on the configuration of the water table but probably are among the chief factors affecting the general slope of the water table. The slope of the water table in Seward County and in adjacent areas is approximately in the same direction and degree as that of the bedrock floor.
The discharge of ground water into streams is one of the principal factors affecting the shape and slope of the water table in Seward County. Below the point where the 2,710-fool contour line crosses Cimarron River (Pl. 1) the channel of the river has been cut lower than the water table in areas adjacent to the river. The ground water moves toward the river from adjacent areas and discharges into the Cimarron Valley causing a depression of the water table which is indicated by the upstream flexure of the water-table contours. The relation of the water to the stream channel is shown in Figure 6. The greatest upstream flexure of the contours is in the southeastern corner of the county. The flexure diminishes in degree upstream as the difference between the levels of the stream channel and the adjacent water table diminish.
The recharge of the ground water by an ephemeral stream has caused a slight downstream flexure of the water-table contours in the northwest corner of the county. The channel of the river in this area is above the level of the water table, hence water moves downward through the stream bed to create a ridge in the water table.
Local differences in permeability of the water-bearing materials probably is the principal factor causing the steep slope of the water table in the western part of the county. This zone of closely spaced contours extends northwestward through northeastern Stevens County and southeastern Grant County. On both sides of this zone the water table is relatively flat. In the zone of closely-spaced contours the upper part of the zone of saturation probably is in relatively impermeable silt and clay whereas on either side it probably is in more permeable deposits of sand and gravel.
Relation to Topography
Plate 2 shows the relation of the water table to the land surface in Seward County by means of isobath lines which are lines of equal depth to water level. All points on the 50-foot isobath, for example, are points at which the water table lies 50 feet below the land surface. In areas between the 50-foot and 100-foot isobaths the depth to water is more than 50 feet but less than 100 feet. In the preparation of this map an effort was made to take into account the major irregularities of the land surface.
For purposes of detailed descriptions of the groundwater conditions, Seward County may be divided into several areas based upon the depths to water level: (1) Cimarron Valley area, (2) Liberal area, (3) Kismet area, (4) Hayne area, (5) western area, (6) northwestern area, (7) northeastern area, and (8) southwestern area. A brief description of each area follows.
Cimarron Valley area--The Cimarron Valley area includes the flood plain of Cimarron River and the gentle valley slopes adjacent to the flood plain. The depth to water level is less than 50 feet along the deeper part of the valley and ranges from 50 to 100 feet along two narrow sloping belts that border the valley. The shallowest well in the county (80), which has a depth to water level of only 9.5 feet, is in this valley.
Wells in this area obtain water from the alluvium of Cimarron Valley, the Rexroad (?) and Laverne formations, and possibly also from the sand and gravel of the Meade formation. All of the stock ranches in the county are situated in this area. Most of the wells that supply these ranches are on the flood plain and have water levels within 50 feet of the surface.
In 1940 there was one irrigation well which obtained water from the alluvium in this area. The alluvium is capable of supplying abundant quantities of water for irrigation. The height the water must be lifted to the surface is slight, the topography in some places is suited to irrigation, and the soil in many places is not too sandy. It would seem that a well-water irrigation project would have a better chance for success in this area than in any other part of Seward County.
Liberal area--The Liberal area includes approximately 25 square miles of land immediately to the west of Liberal in which the depth to water level ranges from about 75 feet to 100 feet. The ground water probably is obtained from the lower part of the Meade formation and perhaps in part from the Rexroad (?) formation.
The Liberal deep-well irrigation project, discussed later in some detail, was undertaken just outside this area and was not deemed entirely successful, owing mainly to the large drawdown of the water level in the well during pumping. This increased the height it was necessary to lift the water to the surface and added materially to the cost of operation. It is possible that similar difficulty would be encountered in other parts of this area.
Kismet area--The Kismet area includes the City of Kismet, in which the depth to water level is more than 200 feet. A maximum depth to water level of 212 feet was encountered in well 65 in this area. The water is obtained from the Rexroad (?) or Laverne formation. The area roughly coincides with a belt of fairly high sand dunes.
Hayne area--The Hayne area, in which the water level is more than 200 feet below land surface, is the most extensive of the four deep-water areas in the county and, as is true of the others, it coincides with an area of fairly high sand dunes. Its extent is about 43 square miles. The deepest water level found in the county, 249 feet (well 118), is in this area. The water probably is obtained from the Laverne or Rexroad (?) formation.
Western area--The western area includes only about 5 square miles along the western border of Seward County (secs. 17, 18, and 10, T. 32 S., R. 34 W. and parts of the adjacent sections), in which the depth to water level is more than 200 feet. In well 58 in this area the water table is 215 feet below land surface. The Rexroad (?). formation probably supplies water to most of the wells in this area.
Northern area--The northern area comprises slightly more than 3 square miles in the northwestern part of the county in which the depth to water level is more than 200 feet. It extends northward into Haskell County. The water in this area is obtained primarily from the sand and gravel of the Rexroad (?) formation.
Northeastern area--The northeastern area comprises nearly half the county and almost all of the county north of Cimarron River. In this area, the depth to water level ranges from 100 to 200 feet. From the upper edge of Cimarron Valley the area extends northward into Haskell County and eastward into Meade County. Enclosed within it are the Kismet and the northern deepwater areas. Most of the wells in this area obtain their supplies of water from the Rexroad (?) formation and a few wells probably obtain water from the Meade formation.
Southwestern area--The southwestern area includes all of the area south of Cimarron Valley in which the depth to water level ranges from 100 to 200 feet. The water in this area probably is obtained primarily from the Rexroad (?) formation. The Hayne, western, and Liberal areas lie within this more extensive area.
Fluctuations in Water LevelThe water table in any area does not remain stationary but fluctuates up and down much like the water in a surface reservoir. If the inflow to the underground reservoir exceeds the draft, the water table will rise; conversely, if the draft exceeds the inflow, the water table will decline. Thus, the rate and magnitude of fluctuation of the water table depend upon the net rate at which the underground reservoir is replenished or depleted.
The principal factors controlling the rise of the water table in Seward County are the amount of precipitation that passes through the soil and moves downward to the water table the amount of water added to the groundwater reservoir by seepage from Cimarron River, and the amount of water entering the area by subsurface inflow from areas to the west and north. The principal factors controlling the decline of the water table in this area are the amount of water discharged by effluent seepage into Cimarron River, the amount of water lost through transpiration and evaporation where the water table is shallow, the discharge of water through springs, the amount of water pumped from wells, and the amount of water leaving the area by subsurface flow into the areas to the east and south.
Fluctuations of the water table are reflected directly in changes in the water levels in wells. In order to record such changes on a monthly basis, 11 representative wells in Seward County were selected as observation wells. The water levels in these wells were measured in July and August, 1940, during the compilation of the well inventory, were measured by Byrne later in August, 1940, and were measured at monthly intervals thereafter by Richard C. Christy, Woodrow W. Wilson, Allen Graffham, and Howard Palmer. These measurements were tabulated by Meinzer and Wenzel (1943, pp. 146-148; 1944, pp. 167-168; 1945, pp. 150-151).
Table 8--Observation wells in Seward County.
Kansas Geological Survey, Seward County Geohydrology|
Comments to [email protected]
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Sponsored Link •
Sun actually has two distinct implementations of the JVM: the "Classic JVM" and the "Hotspot JVM." The Classic JVM is built upon the foundation of the original JVM implementation -- the one that simply interpreted bytecodes. This JVM comes standard with the Java 2 platform release. The Hotspot JVM, by contrast, is a complete from-scratch rewrite. This JVM implementation will be available separately from the Java 2 platform release under terms that Sun has not yet announced. A beta version of the Hotspot JVM will be made available to a limited number of beta testers on Friday, December 11.
In addition to performance enhancements, the Java 2 platform release involves a few minor changes to the JVM specification. The APIs in Java 2 platform have also undergone changes that will impact JVM implementations. To be considered part of a compliant implementation of the Java 2 platform, all JVM implementations must adhere to these changes. According to Tim Lindholm, coauthor of the JVM specification and a key contributor to the original JVM, "Java 2 [software] is a conservative and evolutionary change as far as the JVM specification is concerned. Most performance enhancements are implementation, not specification."
The new JVM specification has one significant change: slightly relaxed rules for floating point operations. In the original specification, floating point operations were required to truncate intermediate results of calculations so they fit within the 32- or 64-bit size of the ultimate result of the operation. In the new specification, implementations are allowed to let the exponent portion of intermediate results be wider. The aim of this change in the specification is to make it easier to efficiently implement floating point on commonly available hardware, in particular Intel x86. The only place in a runtime instance of a JVM that floating point values with the wider exponent will be allowed is on the operand stack.
This change to the JVM specification also triggered the addition of a
strictfp, to the Java programming language,
and the addition of a new bit to the access flags for methods in the
Java class file. All JVM implementations must continue to support
floating point operations as defined by the original JVM
specification, which is now called "strict mode." Existing JVM
implementations that adhere to the original specification already
support strict mode by definition. New JVM implementations are
required to perform strict floating point operations only in methods
that have the ACC_STRICT access flag set in the class file. The new
Java compiler will set that flag only if the programmer applied the
strictfp keyword to the method or its class. (All the methods in a
class declared strictfp will have their ACC_STRICT flags set.)
In Sun's Classic JVM, the default mode for methods that do not have the ACC_STRICT flag set is to use the wider exponent on the operand stack on Intel/Win32, but not on SPARC/Solaris. On Intel/Win32, the wider exponent improves the performance of floating point operations. On SPARC/Solaris, by contrast, a wider exponent would not help performance, so the Classic JVM's default mode on SPARC/Solaris is the same as strict mode.
According to David Bowen, manager of JDK engineering at Sun Microsystems, "Default mode will in most cases give you the same floating point result as strict." Only the exponent is allowed to be wider in default mode, not the significand. Thus, the result of a floating point operation in default mode will differ from the corresponding strict mode result only if the calculation overflows or underflows in strict mode in places it doesn't in default mode. Because in practice, most floating point calculations occur at a point nowhere near underflow or overflow, default mode will most often yield the same result as strict mode.
Tim Lindholm states that the new floating point rules in the JVM specification are an attempt to make a tradeoff between performance, usability, and portability. Sun's goal is to "keep [the] floating-point as simple, predictable, and reproducible as possible while allowing better performance on popular hardware."
Changes to the Java API in Java 2 platform that will impact implementations of the JVM include:
One of the most significant changes to the Java 2 platform related to the JVM is the security model. This new model builds on the 1.1 security model, which is based on a sandbox and supports code signing. But with its support for permissions and policies, the new implementation offers far more fine-grained control than its predecessor. Each type loaded into a runtime instance of a Java 2 platform JVM is assigned a set of permissions based on a security policy. These permissions define which activities the type is allowed to initiate. For example, a particular class's methods may be allowed to read from a particular file, but not write to that file. A policy, which defines permissions for code based on digital signature and location, can be described in a policy file, which is then read by the JVM.
Another major JVM-related difference between the Java 2 platform and its 1.1 predecessor involves the way classes are loaded. The class loader architecture now supports the Java Extensions Framework, which facilitates the adding in of class libraries that extend the Java platform. Once you have a Java runtime, there is a standard way to add in a library. During class loading, the runtime libraries of the Java API (these are now called the bootstrap classes) are searched first. If the requested type is found, it is loaded loader. If the type is not located in the Java API libraries, the extensions class libraries are searched. Types found here are loaded in via a class loader object. Types not found in either the bootstrap or extensions libraries are searched for in the user classes. Bootstrap, extension, and user classes are actually located in a manner determined by each JVM vendor.
Weak references are an API enhancement that will impact the design of garbage collectors in Java 2 JVM implementations. Weak references enable a program to maintain references to objects without preventing the objects from being garbage collected. In addition, programs can be notified when objects become available for garbage collection. This new functionality, which is required of all compliant implementations of the Java 2 platform, enables programs to cache information in memory and flush the cache when memory is low; to build collections of objects without preventing the objects from being garbage collected; and to implement cleanup activities that can't be performed with finalization.
The performance enhancements offered by Sun are found in their two Java 2 JVM implementations: Classic and Hotspot. According to David Griswold, the performance of the Classic JVM benefits from a "very good JIT compiler" and many assorted performance improvements over previous JVM releases, including:
Another performance enhancement enables a Classic JVM to give memory back to the operating system as it executes. In other words, the memory image of a running JVM can now shrink as well as grow. In addition, the Classic JVM's garbage collector does not pause for garbage collection as frequently as did its JDK 1.1 cousin.
The Classic JVM architecture also supports APIs that facilitate debugging and performance tuning: a new debugger interface (the JVMDI) and a new profiler interface (the JVMPI). These APIs enable developers to select and plug into their JVM the debugger and profiler of their choice.
The Hotspot JVM uses a collection of techniques to enhance performance -- the most significant of which is called "adaptive optimization." The Hotspot JVM begins by interpreting all code, but it monitors the execution of that code. Most programs spend 80 to 90 percent of their time executing only 10 to 20 percent of the code. By monitoring the program execution, the Hotspot JVM can figure out which methods represent the program's "hot spot" -- the 10 to 20 percent of the code that is executed 80 to 90 percent of the time.
When the Hotspot JVM decides a particular method is in the hot spot, it fires off a background thread that compiles those bytecodes to native and heavily optimizes the native code, including even inlining virtual method calls. Meanwhile, the program can still execute that method by interpreting its bytecodes. Because the program isn't held up, and because the Hotspot JVM is only compiling and optimizing the "hot spot," the Hotspot JVM has more time than a traditional JIT to perform optimizations.
The adaptive optimization approach yields a program in which the code that is executed 80 to 90 percent of the time is native code as heavily optimized as statically compiled C++. All this with a memory footprint not much bigger than a fully interpreted program. In plain English: it's fast. The Hotspot JVM keeps the old bytecodes around in case a method moves out of the hot spot. (The hot spot may move somewhat as the program executes.) If a method moves out of the hot spot, the JVM can discard the compiled code and revert back to interpreting that method's bytecodes.
In addition to the adaptive optimization technique, the Hotspot JVM includes several other improvements that address performance bottlenecks in current VMs. For example, Sun claims interface method invocations in Hotspot will not have a performance disadvantage compared to other method invocations. Improved thread synchronization will make invoking a synchronized method much faster, and only a little more expensive than invoking a nonsynchronized method. Finally, Hotspot uses a generational garbage-collection algorithm, which reduces the cost of collecting large numbers of short-lived objects. According to Dave Griswold, the garbage collection of short-lived objects (which typically represent 90 percent or more of all objects) is almost two times faster in Hotspot than malloc() and free() in C.
So what is the current state of the Java Virtual Machine? One area in which Java technology's compatibility and stability problems still persist is in Web browsers. According to Frank Greco, president and CEO of Crossroads Technologies, "for mission critical applications, you don't use applets." The trouble with applets is that the different browsers, even different browser versions from the same vendor, are not bug-for-bug compatible, making it difficult to write an applet that works in all versions of all browsers. In addition, many browsers have a tendency to crash too often to be suited for hosting a mission-critical client.
Sun offers one potential solution to the browser compatibility problem: the Java Plug-in. The Java Plug-in enables users to replace their browser's embedded JVM with one of Sun's JVMs. This technology can help enterprises overcome browser inconsistencies and make deploying applets on an intranet a more viable option.
Outside the browser arena, the compatibility, stability, and performance of Sun's JVM implementation appears to be reasonably good. According to John Neffenger, founder and CTO of Volano LLC, "all the leading JVMs are stable." Volano created the VolanoMark, a "torture test for sockets and threads," to characterize the performance of its Java platform-based chat server on different platforms using various JVM implementations. Neffenger said that "Volano will have at least five JVMs that deliver the speed, stability, and scalability that the Java platform deserves."
java.sun.comwebsite in the same month. | <urn:uuid:573b5d0c-bc32-43c1-a5c9-acf5078359f8> | {
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If you're a teen, chances are pretty good that you have some acne. Almost 8 in 10 teens have acne, along with many adults.
Acne is so common that it's considered a normal part of puberty. But knowing that doesn't always make it easier when you're looking at a big pimple on your face in the mirror. So what is acne, and what can you do about it?
What Is Acne and What Causes It?
Acne is a condition of the skin that shows up as different types of bumps. These bumps can be blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, or cysts. Teens get acne because of the hormonal changes that come with puberty. If your parents had acne as teens, it's more likely that you will, too. The good news is that, for most people, acne goes away almost completely by the time they are out of their teens.
The type of acne that a lot of teens get is called acne vulgaris (the meaning of "vulgaris" isn't as bad as it sounds — it means "of the common type"). It usually shows up on the face, neck, shoulders, upper back, and chest.
The hair follicles, or pores, in your skin contain sebaceous glands (also called oil glands). These glands make sebum, which is an oil that lubricates your hair and skin. Most of the time, the sebaceous glands make the right amount of sebum. As a teen's body begins to mature and develop, though, hormones stimulate the sebaceous glands to make more sebum, and the glands may become overactive. Pores become clogged if there is too much sebum and too many dead skin cells. Bacteria (especially one called Propionibacterium acnes) can then get trapped inside the pores and multiply, causing swelling and redness — the start of acne.
If a pore gets clogged up and closes but bulges out from the skin, you're left with a whitehead. If a pore gets clogged up but stays open, the top surface can darken and you're left with a blackhead. Sometimes the wall of the pore opens, allowing sebum, bacteria, and dead skin cells to make their way under the skin — and you're left with a small, red bump called a pimple (sometimes pimples have a pus-filled top from the body's reaction to the bacterial infection).
Clogged pores that open up very deep in the skin can cause nodules, which are infected lumps or cysts that are bigger than pimples and can be painful. Occasionally, large cysts that seem like acne may be boils caused by a staph infection.
There are a few myths out there about things that cause acne — like the one about eating chocolate causing acne. Some people do find that they notice their breakouts get more severe when they eat too much of a certain food, though. If you're one of them, it's worth trying to cut back on that food to see what happens.
Stress doesn't usually cause acne either (although it can make existing acne worse because stress increases sebum production).
Other myths talk about what helps make acne better. Acne isn't really helped by the sun. Although a tan can temporarily make acne look less severe, it won't help it go away permanently — and some people find that the oils their skin produces after being in the sun make their pimples worse.
What Can I Do About Acne?
To help prevent the oil buildup that can contribute to acne, wash your face once or twice a day with a mild soap and warm water. Don't scrub your face hard with a washcloth — acne can't be scrubbed away, and scrubbing may actually make it worse by irritating the skin and pores. Try cleansing your face as gently as you can.
If you wear makeup or sunscreen, make sure it's labeled "oil free," "noncomedogenic," or "nonacnegenic." This means it won't clog your pores and contribute to acne. And when you are washing your face, be sure you take the time to remove all of your makeup so it doesn't clog your pores.
If you use hair sprays or gels, try to keep them away from your face, as they can also clog pores. If you have long hair that touches your face, be sure to wash it frequently enough to keep oil away. And if you have an after-school job that puts you in contact with oil — like in a fast-food restaurant or gas station, for example — be sure to wash your face well when you get home. It can also help to wash your face after you've been exercising.
Many over-the-counter lotions and creams containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide are available to help prevent acne and clear it up at the same time. You can experiment with these to see which helps. Be sure to follow the instructions exactly — don't use more than you're supposed to at one time (your skin may get too dried out and feel and look worse) and follow any directions to see if you're allergic to it first.
Sometimes even though they wash properly and try lotions and oil-free makeup, people get acne anyway — and this is totally normal. In fact, some girls who normally have a handle on their acne may find that it comes out a few days before they get their period. This is called premenstrual acne, and about 7 out of 10 women get it from changes in hormones in the body.
Some teens who have acne can get help from a doctor or dermatologist (a doctor who specializes in skin problems). A doctor may treat the acne with prescription medicines. Depending on the person's acne, this might mean using prescription creams that prevent pimples from forming, taking antibiotics to kill the bacteria that help create pimples, or if the acne is severe, taking stronger medicines such as isotretinoin, or even having minor surgery. Some girls find that birth control pills help to clear up their acne.
If you look in the mirror and see a pimple, don't touch it, squeeze it, or pick at it. This might be hard to do — it can be pretty tempting to try to get rid of a pimple. But when you play around with pimples, you can cause even more inflammation by poking at them or opening them up. Plus, the oil from your hands can't help! More important, though, picking at pimples can leave tiny, permanent scars on your face. | <urn:uuid:c9372d12-b7f0-49fd-a18f-314a61f5fca8> | {
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Does your teenager seem depressed? If so, listen up.
According to a new national study, 1 in 25 U.S. teens has attempted suicide, and 1 in eight has thought about it.
Reuters.com reports on the study, which was conducted by Harvard University.
The results are based on in-person interviews of 6,500 teenagers in the U.S., as well as questionnaires filled out by their parents.
In addition to asking the young people about their suicidal thoughts or attempts, interviewers also determined which teens fit the bill for a range of mental disorders.
Just over 12 percent of the youth had thought about suicide, and 8 percent had made a suicide plan or actually attempted suicide.
The researchers found that almost all teens who thought about or attempted suicide had a diagnosable mental disorder, including depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, or problems with drug or alcohol abuse.
Dr. Matthew Nock, the psychologist who led the study, says doctors need to get better at figuring out which kids are most at risk of putting themselves in danger.
Once those youth are identified, researchers will also have to determine the best way to treat them.
If your teen seems depressed, reports feelings of hopelessness, talks about death, or starts giving away prized possessions, consult a mental health professional immediately.
For more information on teen depression and suicide, visit the American Psychological Association‘s website.
I’m Bill Maier for Shine.FM.
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You and Your Students!
Vicki Cobb, Education World Science Editor
Kids use their tongues to test pain endurance.
Human Body, Senses
Setting the Scene (Background)
Want to capitalize on the popularity of reality shows such as "Fear Factor" and "Survivor"? Set up a pain-endurance competition for your students! This Show-Biz Science experiment will be a great motivator for your kids, and it will create a wonderful "teachable moment" that imparts a good bit of science.
This is a good activity to do at lunchtime, or at a time when your class is having refreshments. You will want to pay special attention to the timing of the experiment. Soda/pop can go flat pretty quickly -- so you need to do this activity while the soda/pop is at its most fresh and lively. I've found this experiment works best with individual cans of soda that students can pop and pour into cups at a signal. Conduct this experiment as a race with all students starting at precisely the same time.
Tell students they will be participating in an experiment today. The experiment will test just how tough they are: a pain endurance contest. Tell them you will be giving them a couple of signals.
The First Signal
Provide for each student a paper cup and a can of soda/pop. At a signal, students will pop their soda cans and fill their paper cups. Give the signal!
The Second Signal
Now the contest is ready to begin. Tell students that at the next signal they are to stick their tongues into the soda -- and leave them there for as long as they can! How long can they keep their tongues in the soda?
At the second signal, count off 5-second intervals as students keep their tongues in the soda. Do some students have better pain endurance than others have? Most people can hardly last a minute!
Behind the Scenes
The reason students feel pain when they hold their tongues in the soda is because their saliva changes the carbon dioxide in the bubbles into carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is a weak acid that the body's nerves find irritating. This experiment is stimulating the pain receptors in students' tongues.
Students can usually drink carbonated sodas without feeling pain because they swish around the liquid in their mouths; no one place on their tongues is continually bombarded with bubbles.
How do we know this to be true? Two experiments help us understand why.
For additional experiments related to the senses, don't miss Vicki Cobb's Feeling Your Way: Discover Your Sense of Touch (Millbrook Press, Lerner Books).
Article By Vicki Cobb
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Genghis Khan -- Classical Liberal
[Image from The Khan Is Back -- With Korea by His Side]
- [Author Jack] Weatherford presents the 13th century conqueror as a progressive and innovative ruler who not only established international law but subordinated his own power to it. He promoted social tolerance and humanitarian values, outlawing torture, abolishing the sale of women, granting diplomatic immunity, and establishing free trade. He even built schools and championed literacy (thanks to Genghis Khan, Mongolia today has a higher literacy rate than the United States).
Genghis Kahn’s [sic] contributions to Western civilization can hardly be overstated. His trade routes introduced to Europe technologies such as printing, the cannon, compass, and the abacus, as well as Mongol products like tea, lemons, carrots, playing cards, rugs, and pants. The Mongols also developed the first international postal system and paper currency.
Here is more about the Khan's moral beliefs:
- “I hate luxury,” said Genghis Khan, summarizing his ideals, and “I exercise moderation.” Raising his sons to become rulers, he insisted that the key to leadership was self-control, and he cautioned them against pursuing a “‘colorful’ life with material frivolities and wasteful pleasures.”
Indeed, Genghis Khan’s paternal advice offers a timeless wisdom to our own age of unchecked consumption. He claimed that the fall of his enemies had more to do with their weaknesses than his own superior strengths, saying that God had condemned the civilizations around him because of their “haughtiness and their extravagant luxury.”
Materialism, said the man who had conquered the world, leads the soul astray. “It will be easy,” he warned his sons, “to forget your vision and purpose once you have fine clothes, fast horses, and beautiful women.”
And then, he added, “you will be no better than a slave, and you will surely lose everything.”
- The khan’s undeserved bad rap, Weatherford shows, traces back to 18th century European anti-Asian sentiment. Though Renaissance writers praised Genghis Khan’s virtues extravagantly, Enlightenment thinkers blamed him and the Mongols for Europe’s most detestable qualities. In a play intended to attack the French king, Voltaire, perhaps fearing for his head, substituted Genghis Khan for his nation’s cruel and ignorant ruler. He described the khan as a “wild Scythian soldier bred to arms” and his people as “wild sons of rapine, who live in tents, in chariots, and in fields.” They “detest our arts, our customs, and our laws,” Voltaire wrote, “and therefore mean to change them all."
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, pseudo-Darwinian scientists linked criminal behavior biologically to the Mongols, and eugenicists coined the term “Mongoloid” to describe retarded children, who they believed had inherited degraded Mongol genes through centuries of interbreeding.
Oh, yes. Here is the image that led me to the above article, showing the Duke brilliantly cast as the Khan: | <urn:uuid:f29045df-bdfd-4b00-96eb-5e54fe440ab0> | {
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November 8, 2010
Pope Benedict said the world has a responsibility to help refugees find places to live and work in safety, as part of its vocation to form "one family."
Welcoming refugees is an "imperative gesture of human solidarity," the pope said in a message released at the Vatican Oct. 26.
"This means that those who are forced to leave their homes or their country will be helped to find a place where they may live in peace and safety, where they may work and take on the rights and duties that exist in the country that welcomes them."
The pope made the comments in his message for the 2011 World Day for Migrants and Refugees, which will be celebrated Jan. 16.
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The suffetes were the supreme executive officers of the Carthaginian commonwealth. The government was, as has been remarked before, a sort of aristocratic republic, and republics are always very cautious about intrusting power, even executive power, to any one man. As Rome had two consuls, reigning jointly, On. France, after her first revolution, a Directory of five, so the Carthaginians chose annually two suffetes, they were called at Carthage, though the Roman writers call them indiscriminately suffetes, consuls, and kings. Hannibal was now advanced to this dignity; two that, in conjunction with his colleague, he held the supreme civil authority at Carthage, besides being invested with the command of the vast and victorious army in Spain. When news of these events-the siege and destruction of Saguntum, the rejection of the demands of the Roman ambassadors, and the vigorous preparations making by the Carthaginians for war-reached Rome, the whole city was thrown into consternation. The senate and the people held tumultuous and disorderly assemblies, in which the events which had occurred, and the course of proceeding which it was incumbent on the Romans to take, were discussed with much excitement and clamor. The Romans were, in fact, afraid of the Carthaginians. The campaigns of Hannibal in Spain had impressed the people with a strong sense of the remorseless and terrible energy of his character; they at once concluded that his plans would be formed for marching into Italy, and they even anticipated the danger of his bringing the war up to a the very gates of the city, so as to threaten them with the destruction which he had brought upon Saguntum. The event showed how justly they appreciated his character.
Since the conclusion of the first Punic war, there had been peace between the Romans and Carthaginians for about a quarter of a century. During all this time both nations had been advancing in wealth and power, but the Carthaginians had made much more rapid progress than the Romans. The Romans had, indeed, been very successful at the onset in the former war, but in the end the Carthaginians had proved themselves their equal. They seemed, therefore, to dread now a fresh encounter with these powerful fees, led on, as they were now to be, by such a commander as Hannibal. | <urn:uuid:41f278e7-8c80-4244-bf78-72649c6ecf0b> | {
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468 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY
an incision is made in the groin and the pelvis incised and explored. He did a ligation operation for hemorrhoids, wrote in detail on the use of the catheter, and considered the suprapubic opening of the bladder for stone a simple procedure if we can believe him.
The Jewish physicians are important figures in this period of the history of medicine. Many of their scholars attained distinction as sur- geons and writers; the best known of these, Maimonides, or Moses iEgyptius, was surgeon to Saladin and lived in the twelfth century. Spain, the rich Eoman province which had produced Lucan, the Se- necas, Martial and Quintillian, did not entirely lose its traditions of cul- ture after the barbarians from the north fell upon it, and the Moors, hungry for knowledge, came to a feast of which they were soon the masters.
The most distinguished Arabian surgical writer of the ninth cen- tury was Rhazes, a Persian by birth, who was a singer until he was thirty. He was a follower of Aristotle and Galen and wrote some 200 works, including a complete system of medicine and surgery. He treated fractures with intelligence and discussed the treatment of wounds of the intestine. Vesalius thought so well of his principal work that he translated it, but later destroyed the translation. Ali Abbas, who succeeded Ehazes in prestige, wrote a book, the Liber Eegis, dedi- cated to his patron the Sultan. This was the leading Arabian text- book until the Canons of Avicenna appeared. A method of ligating the median basilic vein in troublesome hemorrhage after venessection is de- scribed, as well as the technique of tapping the peritoneal cavity in ascites. This work was translated by Constantine, and printed in Venice in 1492.
Albucasis, a Spanish Moor, born, like Maimonides, near Cordova, was probably the greatest of the Arabian surgeons. He lived in the second half of the tenth century, and is reputed to have attained the age of 101. While his writings cover the entire field of medical knowledge, his three volumes on surgery are most original, and are the first illustrated surg- ical writings that have come down to us. Fabricius, Harvey's teacher, declared that he owed most of his knowledge to three writers, Celsus, Paul of zEgina and Albucasis. Albucasis emphasized the importance to the surgeon of a knowledge of anatomy. In discussing the treatment of hemorrhage he advises the use of the cautery, complete division of the partially severed artery, hemostatic applications and bandaging. He classifies nasal polyps, advises the snare for their removal, has ingenious methods for removing foreign bodies from the ear, makes some advances in genito-urinary surgery, and differentiates between epitheliomata and condylomata. He talks of the extirpation of varicose veins, but wisely says this operation should not be resorted to unless absolutely necessary. He diagnoses fracture of the pubic arch, and when it occurs in the fe- | <urn:uuid:05f4e1c8-5c50-47fc-b931-084ef1a81538> | {
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Learning through newborn screening that your child has a rare health condition can feel overwhelming. In most cases, no other member of your family has had this condition. You might not know where to start looking for information. After you work with your child’s doctor to determine a care plan, you may want to begin thinking about what it means to have a child living with this condition both now and in the future. The information in this section can provide resources, support, and guidance for families as they begin this process.
For videos highlighting family experiences, newborn screening information, and more, check out the Baby's First Test Youtube page!
Take a look around. We look forward to adding your story and experiences to the many voices found here.
Family Experiences - Learn from other families, in their own words, what their journey has been like after a diagnosis
Talking About a Diagnosis - Find tips for sharing information about the diagnosis of your child and things to consider prior to sharing
Advocacy and Support Groups - Connect with others to share stories, encourage each other, and advocate for a better future for all children
Find a Specialist - Get links to find specialists for your child’s medical needs
Insurance and Planning - Access important resources and read about things to consider, in terms of your child's health, from a financial perspective
Looking to the Future - Prepare for changing doctors, navigating the school system, and being ready for emergencies | <urn:uuid:3cb500ea-43f8-43d7-9bae-9301e8d1a534> | {
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Anaerobic exercise is a physical exercise intense enough to cause lactate to form. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power; and by body builders to build muscle mass. Muscle energy systems trained using anaerobic exercise develop differently compared to aerobic exercise, leading to greater performance in short duration, high intensity activities, which last from mere seconds to up to about 2 minutes. Any activity lasting longer than about two minutes has a large aerobic metabolic component.
Anaerobic metabolism is a natural part of whole-body metabolic energy expenditure. Fast twitch muscle (as compared to slow twitch muscle) operates using anaerobic metabolic systems, such that any recruitment of fast twitch muscle fibers leads to increased anaerobic energy expenditure. Intense exercise lasting upwards of about four minutes (e.g., a mile race) may still have a considerable anaerobic energy expenditure component. High-intensity interval training, although based on aerobic exercises like running, cycling and rowing, effectively becomes anaerobic when performed in excess of 90% maximum heart rate. Anaerobic energy expenditure is difficult to accurately quantify, although several reasonable methods to estimate the anaerobic component to exercise are available.
In contrast, aerobic exercise includes lower intensity activities performed for longer periods of time. Activities such as walking, long slow runs, rowing, and cycling require a great deal of oxygen to generate the energy needed for prolonged exercise (i.e., aerobic energy expenditure). In sports which require repeated short bursts of exercise however, the anaerobic system enables muscles to recover for the next burst. Therefore, training for many sports demands that both energy producing systems be developed.
The two types of anaerobic energy systems are: 1) high energy phosphates, adenosine triphosphate and creatine phosphate; and 2) anaerobic glycolysis. The former is called alactic anaerobic and the latter lactic anaerobic system. High energy phosphates are stored in limited quantities within muscle cells. Anaerobic glycolysis exclusively uses glucose (and glycogen) as a fuel in the absence of oxygen, or more specifically when ATP is needed at rates that exceed those provided by aerobic metabolism. The consequence of such rapid glucose breakdown is the formation of lactic acid (or more appropriately, its conjugate base lactate at biological pH levels). Physical activities that last up to about thirty seconds rely primarily on the former, ATP-CP phosphagen system. Beyond this time both aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis-based metabolic systems begin to predominate.
The by-product of anaerobic glycolysis, lactate, has traditionally been thought to be detrimental to muscle function. However, this appears likely only when lactate levels are very high. Elevated lactate levels are only one of many changes that occur within and around muscle cells during intense exercise that can lead to fatigue. Fatigue, that is muscle failure, is a complex subject. Elevated muscle and blood lactate concentrations are a natural consequence of any physical exertion. The effectiveness of anaerobic activity can be improved through training.
- Medbo, JI; Mohn, AC; Tabata, I; Bahr, R; Vaage, O; Sejersted, OM (January 1988). "Anaerobic capacity determined by maximal accumulated O2 deficit". Journal of Applied Physiology. 64 (1): 50–60. doi:10.1152/jappl.19126.96.36.199. PMID 3356666. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- Scott, Christopher B (June 2005). "Contribution of anaerobic energy expenditure to whole body thermogenesis". Nutrition & Metabolism. 14. 2: 14. doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-14. PMID 15958171. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
- Di Prampero, PE; G. Ferretti (Dec 1, 1999). "The energetics of anaerobic muscle metabolism" (PDF). Respiration Physiology. 118 (2–3): 103–115. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.610.7457. doi:10.1016/s0034-5687(99)00083-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27.
- Scott, Christopher B (2008). A Primer for the Exercise and Nutrition Sciences: Thermodynamics, Bioenergetics, Metabolism. Humana Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-1-60327-382-4.
- Robert Donatelli, Sports-specific Rehabilitation, p. 40, Elsevier, 2007 ISBN 0443066426.
- Westerblad, Håkan (1 February 2002). "Muscle Fatigue: Lactic Acid or Inorganic Phosphate the Major Cause?". Physiology. 17 (1): 17–21. doi:10.1152/physiologyonline.2002.17.1.17. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
- McMahon, Thomas A (1984). Muscles, Reflexes, and Locomotion. Princeton University Press. pp. 37–51. ISBN 978-0-691-02376-2. | <urn:uuid:b5178931-ff0a-4cec-b708-c444c21afc97> | {
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Based on this method, they have proposed that cancer cells possibly could be sequestered permanently in a sort of "cancer trap" made of implantable and biodegradable materials.
The vast majority of cancer deaths are due to metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from its primary site to other parts of the body. These metastatic cells tend to move more than their non-metastatic variants but this movement is poorly understood.
The demonstrated device, which takes advantage of a physical principle called ratcheting, is a very tiny system of channels for cell locomotion. Each channel is less than a tenth of a millimeter wide. The asymmetric obstacles inside these channels direct cell movement along a preferred direction.
"We have demonstrated a principle that offers an unconventional way to fight metastasis, a very different approach from other methods, such as chemotherapy," said Bartosz Grzybowski, who is associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. "These are fundamental studies so the method needs to be optimized, but the idea has promise for a new approach to cancer therapy."
To create the channels, the researchers patterned cell-adhesive and cell-repellant chemical compounds onto a substrate. The cells stayed out of the repellant areas and localized onto the "ratchet" channels, which then directed the cells' movements.
Grzybowski and his colleagues took this knowledge one critical step farther: they designed channels that successfully moved the cells of two types - notably, cancerous and non-cancerous - in opposite directions and thus partly sorted them out.
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Harnessing the Complexity of Children's Consumer Culture
In this paper I argue that consumption is a common matrix of childhood experience that children bring to curriculum, schooling and learning. Next I describe how children’s consumer culture (CCC) can be seen to share some important characteristics of complex systems. Finally, I address the question of how the emergent potential of children’s consumer culture could be utilized by educators to assist in the project of forming lifelong ethical relationships with and between peoples, places, things, and thoughts. Unprecedented changes on a global scale have revealed our traditional notions of citizenship as being deficient, partial, and incomplete. These changes prompt us, then, to examine what it might mean to be a citizen in a truly globalized and technologically connected world. Schools and curriculum have an important role to play in an unfolding political project to craft new social, natural, cultural and ethical contracts. The context through which such a project could emerge, I suggest, is from within the complex system that is children’s commercial culture. Neither school and its curriculum nor CCC and its curriculum by themselves have served as effective sites for a successful pedagogy of citizenship. However, both reveal only partial aspects of different cultures of power necessary for citizenship. Both powers exist in a schizophrenic tension. The space created between such tensions might be appropriated to foster a pedagogy for citizenship that emerges from a common curriculum of consumption. A complex systems perspective opens windows of possibilities that might offer a view of how such tensions could be harnessed for this project. | <urn:uuid:4844d8e0-d463-43c0-b6df-74c2c4de8547> | {
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This paper will discuss the Universal Self-Care Requisites, Developmental Self-Care Requisites, and Health Deviation Self-Care Requisites of assessed family according to Orem's Self-Care deficit theory. Family Profile
This large family consists of eighteen children ages four to seventeen. The father (initials F.B.) is approximately forty years old. He is an Admiral in the United States Coast Guard. The mother (H.W.) is approximately forty years old. She is a self employed as a fashion designer. This is a second marriage for both after their respective spouses died. He brings to the marriage eight children. She brings ten; four of these are her biological children. Six are adopted and are of various ethnic backgrounds including African American, Indian and Asian. The children have vastly different interests. The family also has a nanny and a variety of pets. The primary language spoken is English. The children have a multitude of hobbies including boating, music, art and cheerleading. One problem with this family is trying to find a common hobby that all would be interested in participating. Currently this family is not experiencing any health related problems. Family function
Historically families functioned for the purpose of financial survival, educating and socializing their young, passing along religion and culture, reproduce the species and provide protection from hostile forces, (Kaakinen, Hanson, Birenbaum, n.d.). Over time many of these functions have been delegated to sources outside of the family unit. For example education and socialization is now the role of schools. Churches teach religion, police and fire offer protection. Today the term family health is used interchangeably with family function, (Kaakinen, Hanson, Birenbaum, n.d.). Family assessment today looks at the "psychosocial, spiritual and culture of the family. The biopsychosociocultural-spiritual approach refers to individual members as well as the family unit as a whole entity and the family within the community context", (Kaakinen, Hanson, Birenbaum, n.d. pg 572). Families that have the ability to find solutions to adversity are considered resilient. Some brief characteristics of a health family include: good communication and the ability to listen, support of all family members, respect, trust, shared responsibility, shared traditions and rituals, (Kaakinen, Hanson, Birenbaum, n.d.). The blended F.B, H.W. family demonstrated difficulties with communication and coping. F.B. family was used to being given orders and followed them without questions. H.W. family was used to more open communication and the ability to freely express their feelings. All family members showed signs of stress in trying to get used to organization verses chaos. Financially there were no major problems as both parents worked and were able to support their respective children. One of the biggest problems this family faced was finding a large enough place to live. They moved into a huge, old lighthouse that needed major remodeling. The children, who had very different interests and tastes were now having to share their bedrooms with someone quiet the opposite. The family resorted to strict schedules for bathroom time. Environmental Characteristics
This family recently moved into a large, converted lighthouse that needed a complete remodel. The children were assigned bedrooms based on gender and age. The bathroom facilities were limited so scheduled times were posted. Hazards include possible lead based paint and general decay of the home. There is little opportunity for quiet, private space with a family this large. The home is in a secluded area. The school district has arranged for a small bus just to pick up these kids.
Associations of the Family with the Community
"The Ecomap form is a visual diagram of the family unit in relation to other units or subsystems in the community", (Kaakinen, Hanson, Birenbaum, n.d. pg 586). This tool is used...
References: Gulanick, M., Myers, J.L. (2003). Nursing care plans: nursing diagnosis and intervention
(5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby
Kaakinen, J., Hanson, S., Birenbaum, L. (n.d.). Family development and family nursing
assessment (6th ed). Retrieved March 18, 2006 from: http://evolve.elesvier.com/stanhope.
Orem, D. (1995). Nursing: Concepts of practice (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby
Wright, L.M., & Leahy, M. (Eds.). (1994). Nurses and families (2nd ed., Rev.).
Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.
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Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is found in the blood of persons who have this infection. Hepatitis C is usually spread when blood from a person infected with the hepatitis C virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. People can become infected with the hepatitis C virus during such activities as sharing needles, syringes, or other equipment to inject drugs, needle-stick injuries in health care settings, or being born to a mother who has hepatitis C. Less commonly, a person can also get hepatitis C virus infection through sharing personal care items that may have come in contact with another person’s blood, such as razors or toothbrushes or having sexual contact with a person infected with the hepatitis C virus.
How serious is hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis C virus. It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a lifelong illness. Hepatitis C can be either “acute” or “chronic.” Acute Hepatitis C virus infection is a short-term illness that occurs within the first 6 months after someone is exposed to the Hepatitis C virus. For most people, acute infection leads to chronic infection. Chronic Hepatitis C is a serious disease than can result in long-term health problems, or even death.
What can I do if my hepatitis C test is positive?
Contact your doctor, as additional testing may be needed to confirm a diagnosis, to verify if you have liver damage, and for consideration of any treatment. Additionally, if confirmed, you would be counseled on ways to care for your liver and prevent spreading HCV to others. | <urn:uuid:78b2d28f-2350-42be-83d8-b98da9ae54c4> | {
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NASA's Genesis mission is officially open for business today, as it extends its special collector arrays to catch atoms from the solar wind. The atoms it collects, believed to have been part of the solar nebula "cloud" from which our solar system developed, will help scientists gain a better understanding of the conditions in the distant past before Earth and other planets formed.
Genesis, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is the agency's first sample return mission since the last Apollo mission in 1972, and the first ever to return material collected beyond the Moon.
Genesis orbits a point in space, about 1 million miles from Earth in the direction of the Sun, where the gravities of Earth and the Sun balance. The spacecraft first opened its outer shell, then last Friday opened its inner science canister to reveal collector arrays. Today, these arrays fanned out like petals to catch heavier atoms of the solar wind.
"We expect to start getting particle hits right away," said Dr. Donald Burnett, Genesis principal investigator, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "Now we've gotten to the real focus of the mission: the start of science, leading to the return in 2004 and the analysis phase of the mission."
This treasured smidgen of the Sun will be preserved in a special laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, for study by scientists over the next century. It will help scientists understand the composition of the original solar nebula that formed the planets, asteroids, comets and the Sun we know today.
Sample collection will conclude in April 2004, when the spacecraft begins its return to Earth. In September of that year, the samples will arrive on Earth in a dramatic helicopter capture. As the sample-return capsule parachutes toward the ground at the Utah Testing and Training Range of the U.S. Air Force, specially trained helicopter pilots will catch the capsule in midair to prevent the delicate samples from being disturbed by the impact of a landing.
Scientists say that the surface of the Sun, from which the solar wind originates, has preserved the composition of the era when the solar system formed. Study of Genesis' samples will yield the average composition of the solar system to greater accuracy. It will also give clues about the process that led to the incredible diversity of environments in today's solar system.
Genesis carries four instruments: bicycle-tire-sized solar-wind collector arrays, made of materials such as diamond, gold, silicon and sapphire, and designed to entrap solar wind particles; an ion monitor, to record the speed, density, temperature and approximate composition of the solar wind ions; an electron monitor, to make similar measurements of electrons in the solar wind; and an ion concentrator, to separate and focus elements like oxygen and nitrogen in the solar wind into a special collector tile.
The ion and electron monitors were turned on several months ago in preparation for their role during solar-wind collection. The monitors communicate with Earth frequently and will give periodic solar-wind weather reports. "It has been exciting watching the space weather so far," said Dr. Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., head of the team that operates the instruments. "We've had a rather stormy autumn in space, which has been great for checking out our instruments."
JPL, a division of Caltech, manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., designed and built the spacecraft and operates it jointly with JPL. Major portions of the payload design and fabrication were carried out at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and at Johnson Space Center.
More information is available on the web at: http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov . | <urn:uuid:59510f70-4a2f-4b22-8722-946f12a29d23> | {
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Farming the Sahara
- While the market in El Obour is buzzing with activity and goods why is Egypt facing a domestic food shortage?
- What is the government doing to address this crisis?
- Why are some concerned that the current plan from President Abdel and the government will fail?
- Explain the issues around water availability in Egypt.
- When Egypt does produce Ag products they often end up in the European Union. Why is this the case? What are the impacts of this?
- Create a list of challenges that are facing agriculture in Egypt.
- How can these challenges be overcome?
- Which do you feel is the biggest challenge facing agriculture in Egypt?
- Do you believe that Egypt will overcome these challenges and find success? Justify your response. | <urn:uuid:75be0a43-fbae-4280-b389-d42952aee705> | {
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Explores the varied ways in which fish are adapted to the reef environment - the means by which they derive food and shelter, and their interactions. Topics include the grazing activities of parrotfishes and surgeonfishes, the relationships of anemonefishes and their sea-anemone hosts, and the lifestyle of other dominant fish families. Predators of fishes on coral reefs are also covered.
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Wildlife, science and conservation since 1985 | <urn:uuid:11e026f8-a870-4ff3-8a6f-be1ff70ae1a5> | {
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In her 1991 arts of the contact zone, mary louise pratt points out that while colleges and universities have increasingly deployed a. Mary louise pratt's “arts of the contact zone” was first presented in 1990 as the keynote address at the responsibilities for literacy conference. Mary louise pratt is silver professor of spanish and portuguese languages and literatures at new york university, and formerly olive h palmer professor of. Drawing and building on mary louise pratt's notions of the 'contact zone', i highlight i draw and build on the work of mary louise pratt, particularly her concepts 'contact zone' and 'safe pratt, mary louise 1991 arts of the contact zone.
Of cultural appropriation and resis- tance which have enabled them to en- gage in what mary louise pratt calls the literate arts of the contact zone inspired by. 【arts of the contact zone essay】 from best writers of artscolumbia mary louise pratt believes that communities are often seen as the more. Film friday: british columbia's contact zone classrooms, 1849–1925 mary louise pratt, “the arts of the contact zone” profession 91. Arts of the contact zone author(s): mary louise pratt source: profession, (1991), pp 33-40 published by: modern language association stable url:.
Mary louise pratt famously described contact zones as “social spaces where disparate it was pratt's 1991 speech and essay “arts of the contact zone” that . Ashley lazorchak wr 121 rhetorical analysis arts of the contact zone mary louise pratt is a professor at new york university and teaches spanish and. This article explores the space 'in-between' in intercultural arts practice ' contact zone' a term coined by mary louise pratt in the 1990s, who defined ' contact. The 'contact zone' is a concept developed by mary louise pratt (1992) it is a space of colonial encounters where people from very different cultures meet and . The art of the safe house by elizabeth watkins in her essay, “arts of the contact zone,” mary louise pratt defines the contact zone as “ social spaces where.
Mary louise pratt's term in imperial eyes: travel writing and transculturation contact zones are most often trading posts or border cities, cities where the. Mary louise pratt has called a contact zone, have failed to offer a compelling view of public discourse as a forum not only for expressing but negotiating. So last week we began our third and final essay unit with mary louise pratt's arts of the contact zone ever since my sort of pep talk right after. Been mary louise pratt's contact zone, the arts ofwhich have been widely discussed as paradigmatic for multicultural education' the texts produced in many.
Why mary louise pratt's arts of the contact zone is an important lesson in accepting the beliefs of others- even if they differ from our own. Mary louise pratt wrote the essay “arts of the contact zone” with the purpose of explaining that society would benefit if people were exposed to and understood. The conceptual understanding of museums as 'contact zones' has been application of mary louise pratt's (1991) notion of 'contact zones' to a associated with their interpretive communities such as 'artefacts' and 'art.
Mary louise pratt coined the term “contact zone” to describe spaces projects demand a furthering of the arts of the contact zone in order to. Contact zone, at the intersections of two cultures i was fortunate to read a thought provoking essay by mary louise pratt titled, arts of the. Grounds constitutes a contemporary, postcolonial contact zone in zone” has originally been coined by mary louise pratt ( 2008, 2) in. Most english and humanities courses (history, philosophy, art, etc) use the modern pratt, mary louise “the art of the contact zone” david bartholomae and.
Today in class we returned from spring break and began our third unit, which is covering mary louise pratt's arts of the contact zone. In his college english essay fault lines in the contact zone, richard e of his answer, miller calls on mary louise pratt's concept of thecontact zone, a. Cultural “contact zone”, namely, those areas which mary louise pratt defined as the 3 ml pratt, “criticism in the contact zone”, imperial eyes, travel writing and responsibility of this art of narrating (and translating) must belong to a line. Zone literacies, and some from readers of mary louise pratt's arts of the contact zone, published in mla's profession 91 some of the essays had their. | <urn:uuid:a23fa047-8130-42f8-8760-cdfa1367dac9> | {
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Quagga/Zebra Mussel Prevention Program
Quagga and zebra mussels are harmful, highly invasive freshwater species that have been recently discovered in California waters. California’s resources agencies have stated that the further spread of quagga and/or zebra mussels in California waters could result in an environmental and economic disaster. Read more about their introduction into California.
Current infestations in California are limited to quagga mussel infestations in several reservoirs in southern California receiving water from the Colorado River and a zebra mussel infestation at one isolated reservoir in San Benito County. See a map of quagga and zebra mussel sightings. Their appearance has heightened concern that these species may infest other waterways in California.
Recent California legislation, AB 2065, has added a requirement to the California Fish and Game Code requiring owners and managers of reservoirs to assess the vulnerability of their reservoirs for the introduction of nonnative dreissenid mussel species (i.e., quagga and zebra mussels) and to develop and implement a program designed to prevent the introduction of these mussel species.
In waters outside their native range, quagga and zebra mussels are harmful, highly invasive freshwater species. Once introduced, favorable growing conditions and the absence of any natural predators contribute to their rapid colonization and expansion. These mussels can have significant negative impacts to the natural environment, including:
- disrupting aquatic food chains and ecological communities, and
- displacing native aquatic species.
PG&E operates many lakes and reservoirs for the purpose of public recreation and the production of clean, renewable hydroelectricity. Impacts to personal and public property infested with quagga and zebra mussels can be significant, including:
- impacting recreational activities, including sportfishing,
- littering beaches with sharp shells,
- emitting a foul odor as the mussels decompose,
- fouling boats, docks, ramps and other marina facilities, and
- damaging boat engines and steering components.
PG&E Facility/Operation Concerns
In addition to the effect these species can have on local ecosystems and recreational activities, an infestation of either quagga or zebra mussels can hinder water delivery. The mussels’ capacity to clog or foul pipes, pumps, water intake structures, power plant intakes, cooling systems, and fish screens can impact the ability of water agencies to deliver drinking water and utilities to efficiently provide power to its customers. See more images.
PG&E’s Mussel Prevention Program
To protect PG&E assets and the ecological integrity of the waters PG&E manages, and to comply with AB 2065, PG&E has implemented an infestation prevention program at its reservoirs and waterways. This program includes public education, monitoring, and management of those recreational, boating, and fishing activities that are permitted. PG&E will work with local, state and federal agencies, other utilities and recreational facility operators to ensure that the program is effective.
To help prevent the infestation of quagga and zebra mussels, PG&E began implementation of a program in January 2009 that includes the following elements:
- a vulnerability assessment of PG&E lakes and reservoirs to determine the potential for mussel infestation,
- a public education program to inform reservoir users of the infestation risk and measures to prevent an infestation,
- monitoring for early detection of these mussels, and
- management of recreational, boating, and fishing activities, as may be needed.
California Department of Fish and Game Boat Inspection Guidelines
These mussels will clog water pipes, coat piers, and ruin boat motors. Transferring a boat from an infested waterbody to another could spread the mussels. Boaters should check their boat, trailer and vehicle every time their boat is taken out of the lake or reservoir.
When leaving the water:
- Inspect all exposed surfaces - small mussels feel like sandpaper to the touch.
- Wash the hull of each watercraft thoroughly.
- Remove all plant and animal material.
- Drain all water and dry all areas.
- Drain and dry the lower outboard unit.
- Clean and dry all live-wells.
- Empty and dry any buckets.
- Dispose of all bait in the trash.
- Wait 5 days in hot weather and up to 30 days when cool and moist. Keep watercraft dry between launches into different fresh waters.
For more information, boat owners can download the California Department of Fish and Game’s A Guide to Cleaning Boats and Preventing Mussel Damage.
Report quagga and zebra mussel sightings to the California Department of Fish and Game’s mussel hotline: 1-866-440-9530. Please visit the CDFG quagga and zebra mussel webpage for more information.
PG&E appreciates your vigilance and support to keep California’s waters free of invasive mussels. | <urn:uuid:2955b220-50be-4a90-a1fe-c99065e34e37> | {
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Humans have always made inferences about causes and effects, sometimes based on scanty information. Many machines do now, too, and Judea Pearl is frequently cited as a cause.
The computer scientist on Thursday is being named as the latest recipient of the high-prestige Turing Award, which is awarded annually by the Association of Computing Machinery. It comes with a $250,000 prize, provided with financial support from Google and Intel.
Pearl, a professor emeritus at the University of California at Los Angeles, is credited by the ACM with developing key theoretical foundations in the field known as artificial intelligence.
To Vint Cerf, the Internet pioneer who now works at Google and helped lead the award-selection process, the importance of Pearl’s work is not artificial but extremely practical–underlying many kinds of widely used technology, including speech-recognition systems, machine translation and the way Google serves up ads to Web surfers based on partial evidence it gleans about their interests. | <urn:uuid:14d08226-c547-4362-a06a-6e5726edaf14> | {
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Updated on 25 January 2013
Experts at the 2013 Asia PDC emphasize on the need to make the fight against pneumococcal disease, a top healthcare priority
Singapore: International and regional healthcare experts at the 2013 Asia PDC have urged the public to make the fight against pneumococcal disease in young children under five and in adults above 50 years, a top healthcare priority.
The experts met in Singapore to discuss the pneumococcal disease burden in Asia, the need for increased disease awareness and the importance of taking preventive measures to address the disease.
Pneumococcal disease describes a group of illnesses caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae, also called pneumococcus, and can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia, meningitis, middle ear infection and sepsis.
Older adults are equally susceptible and are at a risk of contracting pneumococcal disease. Pneumococcal pneumoniae is the most common form of the disease in adults and is one-of-the-most common causes of community-acquired pneumonia.
"Pneumococcal disease, including pneumonia, is a serious health threat for young children and older adults," said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, head, department of paediatrics, National University Hospital, and president, Asean Paediatric Federation, at the 2013 Asia PDC. "In addition, we are also facing new challenges, including the ageing population in Singapore and the emerging serotype 19A, which further highlighted the need to address this life-threatening disease." | <urn:uuid:83db28de-9981-4b4d-92e1-626d7867ae25> | {
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Landscapes and their soils often are studied and described by the clorpt equation of the state factor theory. It links properties of animals, plants, and soils to the factors climate (cl), organism (o), topography (r), parent material (p) and time (t) or age of an ecosystem. Humans are implicitly contained in the organism factor o, and this study attempts to conceptualize explicitly the role of humans as a state factor in ecosystem study.
After a brief exposition of state factors and their sequences, humans are symbolized by their inheritable attributes, their genotypes, oh, and their external phenotype expressions h. Humans possess culture, c, defined as “products of human work or thought.” When humans enter an emerging ecosystem they bring along a cultural inheritance, ci. Both oh and ci are treated as independent state factors, whereas h and culture elements c are considered being dependent on oh, ci, cl, o, r, p, t, … The concepts are probed for Pacific island cultures, for cultures of Indian hunting tribes of the Great Plains, for midwestern rural trends, and for soil cultivation and plant growth experiments.
Golden Gate Park in San Francisco comprises three consecutive chronosequences differing in the human state factor.
© Williams & Wilkins 1991. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:284b5468-feaa-4755-87c1-241d61adac89> | {
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Your child has gone from tiny newborn to curious infant,
reaching out and exploring his or her surroundings. That curiosity
and readiness to learn will continue as your baby becomes more
mobile during these next few months.
What Is My Child Learning?
Your little one will make great strides in learning. Play
will take on a new dimension as language emerges. During these next
few months, your baby's babbling will start to morph into words
like "mama," "dada," and "baba."
These will emerge randomly at first, but your baby will soon learn
to associate them with mom, dad, and bottle.
Your baby will begin to use gestures like pointing and waving
for expression. This is also the stage where your infant will
understand more of what you are saying, including the word
As your child gets more mobile and interested in exploring,
it's important to provide supervision and to make sure to
childproof the house to prevent accidents.
Babies this age are very busy learning how to move around.
They learn to crawl during this stage, though some will
develop more novel ways of getting around, such as creeping on
their bellies, scooting on their bottoms, or rolling to where they
want to go. It doesn't matter so much how babies get around as
long they're able to move their arms and legs equally and
coordinate both sides of the body.
Babies also become more adept at changing positions, moving
readily from lying to sitting, then pulling themselves to stand.
Holding on to furniture and other large objects nearby, your infant
will take tentative first steps and start cruising along the
furniture. Some babies may even learn to walk independently during
As hand-eye coordination improves, your baby will explore
objects in greater detail, also learning their functions: you use a
brush on your hair, you talk on the telephone.
Stranger anxiety and
also can emerge now. Your baby may get upset when a stranger
approaches or you try to leave, whether you're going into the
next room for a few seconds or leaving your child with a sitter for
the evening. Your baby may cry, cling to you, and resist attention
from others. This is normal and appropriate for this stage of
development, and might intensify in the next few months, then
slowly improve as your child develops the language and social
skills to cope with a strange situation and feels secure that the
separation isn't permanent.
Your baby's ability to get around and never-ending curiosity
boost learning now, so it's important to provide opportunities
- and a safe place - for exploration. Your baby may enjoy playing
with egg cartons, blocks, balls, stacking toys, and push-pull toys.
When your baby is in the bath, provide squeeze toys and cups and
containers to splash around with.
Infants are learning to understand language so continue to talk
to your baby. Introduce simple words by naming familiar objects and
let your baby try to imitate you. Reinforce the words by repeating
them. Encourage your infant's expressions by waiting for a
response when you are having a "conversation."
Continue reading from books with large, colorful illustrations.
Point to the pictures and say what's in them to create
associations between the things your child sees and the words that
Here are some other ideas for encouraging your 8- to
12-month-old to learn and play:
- Encourage crawling during tummy time by helping your baby get
into the crawling position on hands and knees. Place a favorite
toy out of reach and encourage your baby to move toward it.
- Continue to play games like peekaboo, but vary it a bit by
hiding your face with a blanket and letting the baby pull it off,
hiding around the corner, and showing your baby how to cover his
or her own face with the hands.
- Continue to play hide and seek and test your child's
understanding of object permanence. Let your baby watch you hide
a toy - first partially hidden, then covered completely - and let
him or her find it.
- Teach your baby action songs, like "Pat-A-Cake,"
"This Little Piggy," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider,"
and "Pop Goes the Weasel." Babies love to hear and
learn these songs and anticipate the accompanying movements.
There is a wide range of what is normal for babies, and some
babies develop slower and faster than others. Talk with your
child's doctor if you have any concerns.
Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: August 2008
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice,
diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995-2009 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:e758ca9b-c881-4df2-8eb3-9c4232bb301f> | {
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Remembering Steve Jobs, the man who saved Apple
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died Wednesday after battling cancer and related conditions for seven years. He was 56. Jobs, who reigned as Apple CEO for 14 years, resigned his post in August 2011 and was replaced by Tim Cook, who previously was the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Jobs, in turn, was elected as chairman of Apple’s board of directors.
Both as the founder of the first successful personal-computer company and as the man who transformed a nearly-bankrupt Apple into one of the most successful companies on the planet, Jobs established himself as an American icon of business and technology.
Apple: The Early Years
If Steve Jobs had never returned to Apple after 1985, he’d still be remembered for the Macintosh.
Jobs didn’t create the Mac project—it was started by Jef Raskin in 1979—but he took it over in 1981 and brought it to fruition. Jobs didn’t write the code or design the circuit boards, but he was the one who provided the vision that made it all happen. As original Mac team member Andy Hertzfeld wrote, “Steve already gets a lot of credit for being the driving force behind the Macintosh, but in my opinion, it’s very well deserved … the Macintosh never would have happened without him.”
Apple’s introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 introduced the graphical user interface to mainstream desktop computing. The Mac ran on a 32-bit processor (compared to 16-bit processors for other PCs at the time) and had 128K of memory. It was an immediate success: more than 400,000 Macintosh computers were sold in the first year.
The Mac’s impact wasn’t just felt on people who bought it in the ’80s, though: in hindsight, it quite literally redefined what a computer was. Microsoft introduced its Windows program as a reaction to it; by 1995 Windows had duplicated Apple’s graphical interface. Essentially every personal computer in existence now follows most of the paradigms introduced by the original Mac more than a quarter-century ago.
The Mac capped off a series of accomplishments for Jobs in the early days of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976 with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company famously started in Jobs’s garage, where the company assembled its first computer, the Apple I. Its first mass-produced product was the Apple II, which was released in 1977. Designed by Wozniak, the Apple II featured a rugged plastic case, an integrated keyboard and power supply, support for color displays, and a 5.25-inch floppy drive. The Apple II was a wild success, ushering in the personal computer era, and carried Apple through the mid-1980s.
In the early ’80s Apple tried to build on its success with an Apple III targeted at business users, but it was a resounding failure. The story goes that Steve Jobs wanted the computer to run silently—a good example of Jobs’s attention to product detail—so he ordered that it be built without an internal fan. Unfortunately, customers found that the Apple III overheated frequently.
At the end of 1980, Apple went public; its IPO created hundreds of millionaires at the company. In exchange for $1 million of pre-IPO stock, Xerox gave Apple access to its PARC facilities, where Jobs and others saw the progress Xerox was making with the graphical user interface (GUI). That visit led to the Apple Lisa—a Mac-like computer that sold for nearly $10,000, and was never a success—and then the Mac.
Jobs was also a driving force behind the famous “1984” television commercial, directed by Ridley Scott, that debuted during the Super Bowl in January 1984. Jobs and his personally-recruited CEO John Sculley thought the iconic ad was excellent, and purchased 90 seconds of Super Bowl commercial time for the spot. Apple’s board of directors was less convinced of the advertisement’s greatness, and Apple’s advertising agency Chiat/Day resold 30 of those seconds to another advertiser. The ad ran, and the Macintosh went on sale two days later.
Eventually, the Macintosh’s increasingly sluggish sales performance strained the relationship between Jobs and Sculley. Sculley favored introducing more IBM compatibility; Jobs was opposed. Jobs and Sculley each went before Apple’s board and lobbied for the other’s removal. Eventually, on May 31, 1985, Apple announced that—following its first-ever quarterly loss and a round of layoffs—Steve Jobs was leaving the company he’d co-founded. He left with a net worth of $150 million and started his next venture, Next.
In a commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, Jobs said that his firing from Apple in the mid-1980s “was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.” That may have been true for Jobs, who used his time away from Cupertino to not only found Next but also buy a fledgling animation studio that would become Pixar, but Apple racked up more than its share of stumbles. Under several post-Jobs CEOs, Apple tried repeatedly—and failed repeatedly—to release an updated successor to the aging Macintosh operating system. Taligent was the future. Then Copland—”Mac OS 8”—was hyped as the new direction for the OS, only to be abandoned and replaced with an incremental update to the original Mac OS.
In 1996, Apple decided to buy one of two companies that owned modern operating systems that could be the basis for a next-generation Mac operating system. Both were run by former Apple executives. One was Be, run by Jean-Louis Gasseé, which had an intriguing Unix-based OS that could already run on existing Mac hardware. The other was Next, still run by Steve Jobs.
In late 1996, Apple CEO Gil Amelio announced that the company would acquire Next for $400 million. That deal brought Steve Jobs back to Apple, initially as an advisor to Amelio. At the time, Apple declared “the advanced technical underpinnings and rapid development environment of [what became Mac OS X] will allow developers to create new applications that leapfrog those of other ‘modern’ operating systems, such as Windows NT.”
Apple was right—Next’s operating system became the basis for Mac OS X—but it’s unlikely that Amelio predicted precisely how the acquisition would play out. In July of 1997, Apple’s board of directors voted to remove Amelio from his post, naming Jobs the company’s interim CEO.
That move kicked off an era of increasing—and, to date, unceasing—success for Apple and Jobs. In Jobs’s August 1997 Macworld Expo keynote, Apple announced that it was ending the licensing program that allowed other companies to sell Mac-compatible computers and that Microsoft had invested $150 million in the company. Both controversial moves paid off.
A year later, Steve Jobs unveiled the product that perhaps singularly kicked off Apple’s rebound: the original iMac. Jobs had asked designer Jonathan Ive—whom he’d eventually promote to the role of senior vice president of industrial design—to create a colorful, easy-to-set-up, all-in-one computer. The result was a new Mac with a unique look that startled the industry. Its bold color, lack of a floppy drive, and embrace of the new USB connectivity standard were all considered shockers at the time; consumers, however, were delighted. Apple sold 800,000 iMacs in fewer than five months. The floppy faded into history and USB became a roaring success. The iMac, and the Jobs/Ive partnership, cemented Apple’s stance that its insanely great products needed to look the part.
In March 2001, Apple released the first iteration of Mac OS X after a public beta that began in late 2000. The operating system was based on NextStep, the Unix-based OS devised by Jobs’s team at Next. Though it was named as a simple sequel to OS 9, OS X had an entirely new codebase and marked a dramatic new beginning. Jobs had overseen a massive effort at Apple to create native, Unix-based ports of the original Macintosh APIs—programming hooks upon which Mac developers relied, in a system called Carbon. That meant that developers could, with some exceptions, make their software compatible with OS X merely by recompiling it, without needing to rewrite the software from scratch. And applications that weren’t updated for OS X could take advantage of the integrated Classic environment to run OS 9 apps within OS X—making the transition from OS 9 to OS X significantly less painful than many people expected it to be. OS X was a towering achievement for Jobs and Apple, and a welcome respite from the years of promised but unrealized OS upgrades from Cupertino.
Jobs oversaw other massive software undertakings around this time, too. In 1998, the company’s QuickTime authoring standard was being threatened in the digital video editing space by Microsoft’s Advanced Authoring Format; Avid and Adobe had both moved away from the format, and only Macromedia’s KeyGrip software—which had recently been rebranded “Final Cut”—still incorporated it. But Final Cut had been ignored and delayed by the Macromedia higher-ups in favor of development on its Flash software, and its future was thus largely uncertain.
Something had to be done to combat these issues. That solution, as overseen by Jobs, was to buy Final Cut. The company used it to accelerate development on the QuickTime standard, releasing the first Apple-branded version, Final Cut Pro, at 1999’s National Association of Broacasters show. Final Cut Pro 1.0 was designed to provide editors interested in the non-linear space a simpler, low-cost way to get into the business—and to ensure that QuickTime would not go the way of some of Apple’s lost software technologies.
Jobs was refining Apple’s message: The company made the computer you used to create, to explore, to “think different.” And as a direct result of the company’s investment into high-end non-linear editing software, Apple could explore a new area—consumer-level editing.
Similarly, one of the most significant consumer-level Apple products to emerge at this time wasn’t hardware, but software: iLife. The company was ahead of the rest of the industry in realizing that digital media—music, videos, and photos—would soon become central to people’s lives. In 1999, Apple released iMovie (and shipped it with a new iMac DV, for Digital Video), a program designed to let even the most-novice of computer users download video from their video camera and easily turn it into high-quality movies, complete with transitions, titles, and effects.
That was followed, in 2001, by iTunes (which debuted early in the year but became much more significant with the fall debut of the iPod) and iDVD, the latter of which let home-video takers create standard DVDs of their movies, including menus, themes, chapters, and slideshows. And 2002 brought the debut of iPhoto, which similarly made it easy to download and organize photos from digital cameras. By 2003, Apple had improved these programs’ integration with each other and rolled them into a single package, iLife, that shipped with every Mac.
The impact of iLife is often overlooked: It meant that at a time when digital media was ascendant, and Apple was trying to differentiate its hardware from the competition, every Mac included a suite of great, easy-to-use software that let people create and manage that media—something that wasn’t true of any other computer on the market at the time.
“We don’t think the PC is dying at all,” Jobs said during his 2001 Macworld Expo keynote where he discussed Apple’s digital hub strategy. “It’s evolving.”
Apple’s retail strategy evolved as well. In 2001, the company opened up its first retail stores, at a time when other PC makers—most notably Gateway—were stumbling with brick-and-mortar outlets. A decade later, Apple now operates more than 300 stores around the globe. The stores first turned a profit in 2004; last year, they recorded $9 billion in retail sales with $2.4 billion in retail profit. More significant, as Apple likes to point out in its quarterly earnings report, 50 percent of the people buying computers at the Apple Store are first-time Mac customers.
“People just don’t want to buy personal computers any more,” Jobs said in a 2001 video introducing the stores and their philosophy. “They want to know what they can do with them. And we’re going to show to them exactly that.”
Four years after the introduction of OS X, Jobs and Apple instituted another transition—this one away from the PowerPC architecture to chips built by Intel. It was a big gamble for a company that had relied on PowerPC processors since 1994, but Jobs argued that it was a move Apple had to make to keep its computers ahead of the competition. “As we look ahead… we may have great products right now, and we’ve got some great PowerPC product[s] still yet to come,” Jobs told the audience at the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference. “[But] we can envision some amazing products we want to build for you and we don’t know how to build them with the future PowerPC road map.”
The transition went much faster—and much smoother—than anyone, including Apple, had anticipated, thanks in large part to Rosetta. The dynamic translator let applications designed for PowerPC systems run on Intel-based Macs, giving developers time to revamp their products for Apple’s Intel-based future. In fact, PowerPC apps only became obsolete this summer when Apple retired Rosetta with the introduction of Mac OS X Lion.
Beyond the Mac
Of course, the assorted transitions during Jobs’s reign as CEO weren’t confined to the Mac. Perhaps the greatest transition Jobs initiated was moving Apple away from being just a software and computer maker and into the lucrative world of consumer electronics. The shift became official in 2007 when Apple dropped the word “Computer” from its name, simply calling itself Apple Inc.
The shift began with the iPod. When Apple unveiled its music player in the fall of 2001, the market for MP3 players was in its early stages. Devices at the time relied on small amounts of flash memory that could hold only a handful of songs. In short, it was a field that was ripe for innovation—and innovate Apple did with the iPod. The device’s 5GB capacity gave it the storage space to, in Apple’s words, “put 1000 songs in your pocket.” And while not the first hard-drive-based digital music player on the market—Creative’s Nomad series beat it to the punch—the iPod had something going for it that no other company could match: software integration. Though iTunes debuted earlier in 2001, it was with the iPod’s fall introduction that the pieces clicked into place and Apple’s ecosystem started to take shape.
Still, at the time, the iPod met with heavy skepticism. Why was Apple, a computer company, making a portable music player? “We love music,” Jobs said during the iPod’s introduction. “And it’s always good to do something you love.”
It proved to be lucrative for Apple, too. The company has sold hundreds of millions of iPods in the last decade, and though sales growth slowed and then declined in recent years, Apple continues to enjoy a 70 percent share of the MP3 player market. Part of the reason for the device’s success? Apple’s repeated willingness to reinvent the iPod line. Take 2005’s decision to kill off the popular iPod mini and replace it with the smaller, flash0based iPod nano. That kind of thinking, utterly foreign to most companies, was second nature to Steve Jobs: Why not kill a product at the height of its popularity if you’re going to replace it with something even better?
Steve Jobs seemed to anticipate the demand for the iPod from the get-go: “Music’s a part of everyone’s life,” Jobs said at the 2001 launch event. “Music’s been around forever. This is not a speculative market. And because it’s a part of everyone’s life, it’s a very large target market all around the world.”
As it did with the iPod, Apple didn’t create a new product category with 2007’s iPhone introduction. Smartphones existed before Apple came out with its effort, with existing devices aimed largely at business customers who wanted to check their email when they were out and about. Apple instead set its sights on the broader consumer market. It would appeal to the end user by informing its device with the same sensibilities it had used in the Mac: good design, ease of use, and a harmonious marriage between software and hardware.
“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything,” Jobs said at the 2007 Macworld Expo keynote when he pulled the first iPhone out of his pants pocket. “One is very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career. Apple’s been very fortunate. It’s been able to introduce a few of these into the world.”
That may sound like the kind of “reality distortion field”-style hype that Jobs became famous for—and to some extent, it is. But it also happens to be true. Look no further than how other smartphone makers responded—with devices that mirrored the iPhone’s touch-screen controls, powerful Web browser, and array of third-party mobile apps. Where once every smartphone had to have a physical keyboard, many now rely upon just a touchscreen; that’s a direct result of the iPhone’s influence.
Jobs closes out his tenure as Apple’s CEO by leading the company into what’s being billed as the “post-PC” era—a period in which mobile devices no longer need sync up with computers. It was with that vision in mind that Apple rolled out the iPad, which brings PC-style computing into a handheld device. Launched less than two years ago, the iPad has already carved out a new market for tablet computing, with other companies once again trying to keep pace with Apple. It also joins the original Mac, the iPod, and the iPhone among the revolutionary products Jobs helped develop during his Apple career.
Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004. After surgery he returned to Apple, but had to take another leave of absence in 2009, ultimately undergoing a liver transplant. He took his final leave of absence in January 2011.
In August, he formally resigned as CEO. "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come," Jobs said in a letter addressed "to the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community."
"I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role," Jobs wrote. "I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you."
It would be a mistake to characterize Jobs’s time at Apple simply by the products the company released. Those products came about because of principles held by Jobs that he made sure were shared by others at Apple, especially as he refashioned the company following his 1997 return to Cupertino.
The products mentioned throughout this story might not have come to pass were it not for Apple’s constant need to innovate. That’s an attitude driven by Jobs, during flush times as well as well as when the tech business was less than booming. It’s worth noting that some of Apple’s biggest product releases during Jobs’s tenure—the iPod and the iPad, most notably—were developed during recessions when consumers theoretically were less inclined to spend money on pricey electronics.
“The way we’re going to survive is to innovate our way out of this,” Jobs told Time Magazine in early 2002, a strategy the company returned to when the economy went south again in 2008. In both instances, Apple under Jobs upped its research-and-development spending, helping the company produce a strong product lineup that could weather tough times.
It goes without saying that under Jobs, Apple became synonymous with great design. From the early days of the Macintosh, when Jobs agitated for rectangles with rounded corners, no aspect of the design process escaped the company’s attention.
But Jobs was about more than design just for the sake of looking good—the design decisions Apple makes also take usability into account. That 2002 Time Magazine article recounts the creation of the first flat-panel iMac and how Jobs scrapped an early version of the desktop because its design failed to impress. Time’s Josh Quittner recounted the subsequent meeting between Jobs and Apple executive Jonathan Ive:
That’s an approach to creating products that sticks with other Apple employees, even after they leave the company. “You almost imagine that Steve is in your office,” Flipboard founder and ex-Apple engineer Evan Doll told the San Francisco Chronicle. “You say to yourself, what would he say about this? When you’re kicking around an idea for a product, or for a feature, you’ll even say it in discussion—’Steve Jobs would love this!’ or, more often, ‘Steve Jobs would say this isn’t good enough.’ He’s like the conscience sitting on your shoulder.” | <urn:uuid:fa7f4f9d-c3b8-4950-9020-8d3ff3a28b09> | {
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“Every time Setsubun is observed, a band of ghosts would appear,” says Kesako Matsui, a Naoki Literary Prize-winning writer.
What Matsui refers to as “ghosts” are a group of geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha girls) in fancy costumes who, on Setsubun, would visit her Japanese restaurant in Gionmachi, Kyoto.
Setsubun is the ceremony observed on the day before the beginning of spring, according to the lunar calendar. As in the case of Mamemaki (the soybean-tossing ceremony), the geisha and maiko practice on Setsubun was meant to drive off devils believed to come out at the turn of the season from winter to spring.
Then there is Ehomaki (eating a sushi roll toward the direction considered auspicious for that year), which, seemingly, has given a poetic touch to the Setsubun season.
Matsui, however, has a collection of essays on eating habits, Ima Gohan, Mukashi Gohan, in which she states definitively that the Ehomaki custom “has nothing to do with the traditions of Kyoto.”
Instead, the habit of eating sushi rolls on Setsubun is believed to have spread toward the end of the Edo period (1603-1868) on the initiative of a merchant in the Semba district, Osaka.
In the Ehomaki practice, people bite into the whole sushi roll at once, without cutting it, while making wishes in the direction believed to be auspicious for a particular year.
One theory goes that eating Ehomaki originated as one of the pleasures of the patrons of karyukai (the world of the geisha). Perhaps. But in any event the popularity of the custom spread swiftly across Japan around 20 years ago, when major convenience store chains started marketing campaigns to sell the Ehomaki sushi rolls on Setsubun.
This is somewhat akin to the custom of Japanese women giving chocolates as a gift to men on Valentine’s Day. More than half a century ago, a chocolate manufacturer began marketing the chocolate for gift-giving, and the habit has taken root steadily in Japan’s society.
Unlike chocolates, though, sushi rolls include ingredients such as raw fish that do not last long. With marketing battles continuing to heat up, the quantity of unsold sushi rolls has become increasingly noticeable. Voices of criticism have been mounting, particularly since images of unsold sushi rolls being dumped into trash containers in huge volumes proliferated on the internet.
Moreover, this problem is not limited to sushi rolls. According to estimates jointly released by the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry and the Environment Ministry in April 2018, there are about 28,420,000 tons of food waste annually in Japan. Of the figure, it is estimated that wasted food that is abandoned despite being still good enough to eat has reached about 6,460,000 tons every year — or a whopping 50 kilograms per person.
In 2015, the United Nations set one of its goals as: “Let’s reduce waste of food by half by 2030.” Moreover, Japan is the country that gave birth to the term mottainai, meaning “Don’t waste what is valuable.”
The current situation could bring disgrace to Japan as the country that gave birth to the term mottainai.
What can we do to dispel the stigma of Japan as a “major power of leftovers”? The latest surge in online fuss presents a good opportunity for both industry and consumers to ponder what steps must be taken to combat the problem of wasted food.
(Click here to read the article in Japanese.)
Opinion: The Sankei Shimbun | <urn:uuid:f8ff50c7-cfa3-44d8-9ee5-5680a39f0b8b> | {
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This article explores the immediate and long-term effects of the Federal ReserveThe central bank in control of regulating the U.S. financial and monetary system.’s (the Fed’s) purchase of $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed bondsAn assetA valuable item which can be converted to cash by its owner.-backed security representing a claim on the cash flows received on a mortgage loan. (MBBs) during 2009 and 2010, and the current and future benefits of Fed purchases for homebuyer financing.
The federal responsibility to regulate
America’s central bank is responsible for limiting the harmful effects of falling prices and unemploymentWhen an employee loses their job, resulting in no income. associated with the nation’s reduced spending power in times of economic crisis. While many of the painful signs of a recessionAn economic event triggered and controlled by the Federal Reserve to maintain the sustainability of economic growth. are beyond the government’s direct control, the U. S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) does have the crucial authority to alter interest rates through monetary policyThe Federal Reserve's use of short-term interest rates and other infusions and withdrawals of dollars in circulation to control pricing and employment in the economy. and affect the recession’s outcome by doing so.
The Fed is able to lend to banks at a lower cost by printing and increasing the amount of money available to businesses and consumers. A larger supply of money encourages banks to lend and — perhaps most importantly — helps to fight the possibility of consumer and asset price deflation in the market.
While right-wing inflationThe price changes over time in consumer goods and services, quantified in the consumer price index (CPI).-hawks promulgate fear-laden demagoguery about the dangers of inflation simply because the Fed prints money (which—don’t forget — is its job), first tuesday asserts that consumer inflation is not, and will not soon be, a concern for the U.S. economy or the Fed. On the other hand, value deflation —should it develop in prices — is a pernicious bane that threatens from the shadows in times of economic crisis. Japan’s “lost decade” of the 1990s is attributed to consumer and asset price deflation, and our Fed’s efforts to avoid a similar fate in our economy are to be commended. [For more on the realities of inflation, see the October 2010 Article, Deflation’s push on the real estate recovery.]
How, then, can the Fed continue to fight price deflation and job loss after it has already reduced interest rates to near zero? The answer: by buying long-term bonds from banks and private investors — a process which, in turn, requires the minting of new money for the purchase.
Between late 2008 and early 2010, the Fed purchased a total of $1.3 trillion in mortgage-backed bonds (MBBs) from Fannie MaeA government-sponsored entity operating in the secondary mortgage market. (Fannie) and Freddie Mac (Freddie), as well as bonds insured by Ginnie Mae. The Fed has since announced it intends to purchase an additional $800 billion in bonds. This federal bond-purchasing process is referred to as the Large Scale Asset Purchase (LSAP) program.
The LSAP program is intended to depress interest rates on long-term yields (such as 30-year mortgages) since short-term interest rates have already reached their lowest possible level. In theory, this move will prove useful in multiple ways.
First, the Fed’s extensive purchases will indicate to lenders and buyers that the Fed fully intends to maintain short-term interest rates at their current low level. Restoring investorA purchaser who holds a property long-term on a buy-to-let basis as an income-producing investment. Contrast with a speculator who buys-to-flip a property for fast profits, rather than annual income. confidence will support private investment in business and real estate, which is necessary for a stable recovery.
Restoring investor confidence is necessary for a stable recovery.
Second, the purchase of bonds will immediately remove loans from the books of lenders and investors. That money will be injected back into the market via bank reserves and deposits, and made available for investment through lending.
Third, and most importantly, long-term bond purchases by the Fed are expected to reduce the supply of long-term bonds available for investors, thereby raising bond prices and lowering interest rate yields. In short, banks see their cash reserves and deposits increase and lower the interest rates they charge, thus promoting private investment of borrowed funds. So far, signs indicate that these hopes are justified.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF), the LSAP program is likely to lower the national unemployment rate 1.5 percentage points by 2012: a total of approximately three million jobs created nationwide. That translates into roughly 300,000 additionally employed in California during 2011 (the UCLA Anderson School of Management predicts 200,000 in 2011). California real estate brokers (and the Governor) need around 400,000 new jobs annually for a period of at least four years to start smiling again.
Employment is the single most crucial factor determining a homebuyer’s ability to obtain and retain a home, and the LSAP’s role in promoting employment is thus vital. [For more information on the FRBSF’s analysis of the LSAP program, see the FRBSF Economic Letter 2011-03.]
Although it remains uncertain, the FRBSF finds it likely that the Fed’s asset purchases have played an important role in preventing harmful deflation. The FRBSF indicates the current level of inflation in the United States is approximately one full percentage point higher than it would have been without the LSAP program. Given the still-low level of inflation, this means that we would currently be approaching deflationary levels without the LSAP. [For current levels of inflation, see the first tuesday current Market Chart feature, The Consumer Price IndexThe Consumer Price Index measures and tracks the rate of consumer inflation. This is presented as an index of fluctuations in the general price of a wide selection of consumable items, goods and services.]
Results for homebuyers
While homebuyers have benefited from artificially-low mortgage rates brought about by the LSAP program, many are left wondering what other effects the Fed’s asset purchases may have upon the real estate market. After all, the Fed’s extensive resources were largely devoted to the purchase of real estate mortgage debt, especially 30-year loans produced by Fannie and Freddie. In fact, the Fed’s purchases in the LSAP program succeeded in single-handedly sustaining Fannie and Freddie by buying all the bonds needed to fund the mortgages made or guaranteed by both lending institutions in 2009 and early 2010.
As an immediate side effect, housing bond market investors regained a small level of confidence — a good thing for the economy at large.
Meanwhile, 1,500,000 jobs were lost in California through January 2011, and homeowners and homebuyers found themselves wondering what the Fed’s massive bond purchases had done to help them. Did the newly recapitalized lending institutions offer lower rates to homebuyers? Were lenders more or less willing to offer new loans? Who, in the end, actually benefitted from the Fed’s purchase of all these bonds?
The answers to these questions have been examined in a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB). The FRBB examined the results of the Fed’s vast purchase of bonds, in an effort to determine whether homeowners were able to benefit from the Fed’s largesse.
They discovered that interest rates for homebuyers were dramatically reduced immediately after the Fed’s first purchase of bonds in November 2008 — some by as many as 40 basis points. This reduction was not uniform, though, since interest rates rose on mortgages not funded by those bonds (i.e., jumbo loans).
While the FRBB used data from across the nation, the study was focused on California. The results sketch a rough picture of the mortgage refinance situation circa 2009 and 2010 in our home state. As one might expect, the improvement in rates was generally limited to borrowers with high credit scores. [For information on the fallacy of using credit scores to gage creditworthinessan individual’s ability to borrow money, determined by their income and previous debt payment history., see the June 2010 first tuesday article, The FICO score delusion.]
The drop in interest rates was especially prominent for homebuyers who negotiated to pay origination fees on their loans in cash, as opposed to loans where the homebuyer did not pay cash for the fees and either added them to the loan amount or paid an above-par rateThe interest rate without the addition of a yield spread
premium or discount points..
Upon implementation of the LSAP program, the number of homeowners looking for refinance loans tripled immediately, indicating the LSAP was effective in stimulating the mortgage refinancing (refi) market.
However, news of the Fed’s asset purchases did not succeed in increasing the number of homebuyers applying for mortgage loans. In the aftermath of the market crash, the hype of the Fed’s large-scale purchase of home loans did little to stimulate interest in buying homes.
In conclusion, it appears the Fed’s decision to purchase MBBs was a success for owners with sufficient credit and positive equity in their homes; in other words, the wealthy. The LSAP program successfully boosted the ability and motivation for many such homeowners to refinance.
This is good news, since refinancing at a low interest rate is a positive choice that dramatically lowers homeowners’ monthly payments, putting more disposable income in their hands to spend.
However, many homeowners refinanced 30-year mortgages with 15-year mortgages without increasing (or decreasing) their payments — many have even succeeded in decreasing their rates (good for them, but not helpful for the economy). [For more on 15- and 30-year interest rates, see the October 2010 Article, The abuses of lower interest rates.]
On the other hand, benefits were largely limited to those with high credit scores and a positive equity in their home; again, the wealthy. In the meantime, those who had the greatest need to refinance have been unable to do so on improved terms. This includes negative equityThe condition of a property owner owing more on a mortgage than the current fair market value of the encumbered property. homeowners, who still make up 25% to 30% of homeowners in California.
Second wave bond purchases
Two federal authorities have the power to ameliorate a mortgage crisis: Congress and the Fed. When Congress fails to create employment or take other actions through legislative incentives designed to stimulate home sales, the Fed has both the ability and responsibility to make up for Congress’ shortcomings. To fill the present vacuum left by congressional inaction, the Fed has already begun yet another round of large-scale asset purchases (referred to in government circles as quantitative easingThe purchase of government bonds by the Federal Reserve (the Fed) to drive down interest rates and increase liquidity. (QE), with this second round popularly termed QE2).
The QE2 has an effect on the U.S. economy roughly similar to the Fed dropping the discount rateThe interest rate the Federal Reserve charges banks and thrifts who borrow funds directly from the Fed to maintain reserve requirements. by approximately 0.66%: a necessary stimulative measure if they are to encourage borrowing, investing and hiring. Meanwhile, the Fed is unable to actually lower rates: the discount rate currently sits at an extremely low 0.55%, and any drop would bring them practically to zero or below. The Fed can “go negative” with rates by lending dollars now and being repaid a lesser amount sometime in the future: a move that will cause lenders to borrow funds and resume lending practices, but will cause inflation hawks to go crazy.
The QE2 is a necessary stimulative measure to encourage borrowing, investing and hiring.
While the FRBB’s article demonstrates that a second round of asset purchases is unlikely to have a significant effect on low-income homeowners seeking to refinance, QE2 is desirable for an entirely different reason. The Fed’s purchase of bonds acts as an injection of cash into the market. This inflationary measure works to prevent deflation, which would be far more catastrophic than the more easily-controlled. This measure is absolutely necessary to improve employment (by increasing the capital available to businesses) and avoid deflation, both of which are on the cusp of falling backwards. As all are aware, a fall in employment inevitably leads to a corresponding fall in the housing market. The recovery remains far too tenuous to be risked unnecessarily.
The Fed has an endless supply of money to lend, always gets it back, and can never go broke. While the Fed’s purchase of MBBs seems extravagant to the uninformed, it is important to understand that the Fed’s money-printing costs the government absolutely nothing, in contrast to a stimulus package produced by Congress to spend taxpayer money.
The fear the Fed inspires among a “no-change” Congress and some hedge fund investors is based upon an unfounded but persistent belief that inflation arises every time the Fed increases the amount of money printed. No such threat of inflation is present or immediately foreseeable, and any congressional action to prevent the Fed from flooding the market with money to get the economy going would be both uninformed and harmful.
Remember, the Fed always gets its money back, even if it were to drop it to consumers from airplanes. [For more on the Fed’s role in preventing inflation and deflation, see the November 2009 first tuesday article, The Fed to the Rescue.]
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zones" threaten Spooner survival
|One of the innumerable slaughtered birds in the "death zones"
In the past few days, countless numbers of shore
birds have been trapped and killed in mile after mile of nets that cover the shoreline of four different areas of China's
2nd November to this morning, more than 1,500 nets have been found. Each net is between 20 and 25 metres long:
That's more than 33 kilometres or 20 miles of death traps.
In the photo below, you can see the bodies of six wading birds in a 25 metre section
of net. Most nets are emptied daily (and the carcasses sold to local restaurants), so, if the body count in this net were representative of the level of
carnage in the area, then more than 8,000 birds would have been slaughtered yesterday. And close to a quarter
of million birds will be killed during the month of November alone.
But only a few of the numerous coastal areas of Guangdong province have been surveyed
recently; so the number of nets found is likely to be only a small fraction of the number of nets that
have been set.
Whatever the number of nets, the
actual death toll is of course incalculable.
But even in the most optimistic of less-worse-case scenarios, the magnitude of the devastation is unimaginable.
Among the millions of shore birds that run the risk of being netted as they
fly across the coastal areas of Guangdong province, there is an unknown number of Spoon-billed Sandpipers – one of the world's most endangered birds.
As Jonathan Martinez, one of the survey workers who have painstakingly catalogued
the position of every single net, says [by telephone, this morning]:
"It is absolutely certain that Spoon-billed Sandpipers pass through these [heavily-netted]
areas on their way from known migration [stop-over] sites to known wintering locations."
In an email yesterday, Mr Martinez says that Guangdong is the only flyway taken
by Spoon-billed Sandpipers, and that Spooners passing through this area "Encounter a wall of mist nets along more than
several hundred kilometres of coast. And birds wintering in an area with so many nets have simply just no chance to
survive the winter!!!"
is clear that the very survival of this iconic species could well depend on the authorities taking immediate action
in the "death zones" that Mr Martinez and his co-workers
these, the priority is to tear down the nets that scar the sand flats and coastal areas of Dianbai county, which is under
the jurisdiction of Maoming city.
Martinez says [this morning's telephone call], "All of the suitable habitat for Spoon-billed Sandpiper in the area here
is surrounded by nets."
well as this danger, I have also seen long-lens photographs of a poacher in the Dianbai area carrying something than
can only be described as a punt gun. Carrying a gun of any description for any reason is a serious crime in China.
As bad as the situation clearly
is, there is a glimmer of hope:
At least some of the local authorities in Guangdong actually do care, and have struck hard against
the poachers in their areas. Mr Martinez talks glowingly about the efforts of the Xitou Forestry Bureau in Yangxi
county who not only patrol diligently, but also respond immediately when they receive a tip off that there are poachers about.
Their quick response has
resulted in a number of arrests, which in turn have led to a dramatic reduction in poaching activity (as you would expect,
news travels quickly within poaching circles).
the sake of the Spooner (as well as hundreds of thousands of less famous birds), it is critically important that the
Maoming (and other) authorities are equally quick to respond to the cry for help.
If you would like to add your voice to that cry, please post your comments in the
box below the photos.
|6 dead birds in just a few metres of the more than 25 kilometres of nets in Maoming's Death Zone
|Maoming, Dianbai: areas with nets are marked in red; position of hunter with a gun is also marked
Yunnan chainsaw massacre
28th February 2013
|A chainsaw massacre, not a tornado
It was a bitter-sweet experience.
09.10 on the 12th February, I had the tremendous good fortune to glance in the right direction at the right time.
I knew before I picked up my binoculars what it was, but I was unwilling to believe it even as I watched it flap majestically
over the dense canopy of trees that carpets the mountainside close to the Husa township in western Yunnan.
I repeated to myself as I watched the Wreathed Hornbill – one of Yunnan’s rarest and most endangered breeding
birds – fly for more than a mile. I even had time to put my binoculars down and pick up my camera
to get a shot for the record. This would later serve to reassure me that I had enjoyed much more than a
very sweet day-dream.
It was only my third “experience” of this spectacularly
long-winged, prehistoric-looking bird. That’s not many experiences when you consider that I first
came to China to watch birds in 1988 – a quarter of a century ago. For most of that time I could
only dream of finding one. It took me until 28th March 2009 to realise that dream.
Not satisfied with a single encounter, a year later
I went back again to the same place – within a stone’s throw of the border with Burma – and saw the species
This most recent sighting, though, is the most significant of the three because Husa is not a
border area, and it also seems to be a “new” site for this species. Sadly, it is a site that is under threat.
Just after I had pinched myself
and checked to see if the image was really on my camera (it was!) I came back to earth with a bump. Distantly, but alas unmistakeably, I heard the frenzied scream of the spectre that haunts Yunnan’s
forests. It is the sound that sends even the most optimistic of nature-loving souls into a fearfully deep
depression. It is the sound of the chainsaw. It is a sound I heard every day during
my recent visit to Yunnan – except for the time I spent in the Gaoligongshan (but even there, there was evidence of
It was painfully obvious to me that each place I visited had suffered a significant loss of "quality"
trees since my last visit to the area, three years before. In
places to the south of the ridge, the Husa area looked like a tornado had cut a giant's walkway through the ancient
forest. But on closer inspection, I could see that the grand old trees had been logged and replaced by
upstart saplings, which would soon grow into cash crops.
From a bird’s
perspective, not all trees are created equal. It's important to sound a cautionary note here about headline tree-numbers
and reforestation projects generally… because planting the “wrong" trees can be more damaging than
planting no trees at all.
Vast areas of centuries-old forests have been felled in Yunnan and replaced by Australian
eucalyptus, and rubber: two of the worst kinds of "money trees" [The Global Times article here details how the planting of eucalyptus trees in Yunnan is contributing to the province's severe drought.
The China.org article Rubber forest destroying the Xishuangbanna ecosystem is here.]
damage inflicted on the province’s eco-system and the bird and animal life that depend on it is irreparable.
This degradation is painfully obvious to anyone with
an interest in the natural world who has been to Yunnan. The
eco-sensitive Yunnan-visitor will not be surprised by the findings of a report on the state of the
province's forest-cover, published by Greenpeace on the 30th January.
The headline of the press release that heralded the launch of Yunnan Natural Forests
in Crisis is as stark as it is depressing: "Yunnan: Only 9% of the Forest Is Primary Forest".
The release focuses on the report's findings that "...the quality of natural forests is much lower than originally
thought" and that "a massive area of natural forests has clearly been cut and then converted into
plantations." [The press release is here; the report, which is in Chinese, can be downloaded by clicking here].
Even greater devastation has been inflicted by chainsaws over the border in Burma.
In its report Appetite for Destruction (that can be downloaded here) the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) provides evidence that points to a number of Yunnan-based
companies sponsoring those chainsaws.
The EIA report cites an article [Here] written by Mark Mackinnon, a reporter working for The Globe and Mail, who visited Kunming,
the provincial capital of Yunnan, to talk with local timber traders who were buying from and investing in Burma. Mr
Mackinnon spoke with Mr Chen, the office manager of Sen Long Timber, who told him:
“When you cross the border
to the Myanmar side, you can see
the mountains that no longer have any trees on them. Soon
the trees will be all
cut. Without the trees there will be only
mountains. So we will [then] look into mining them.”
Chris Moyes, an EIA forests campaigner, discusses the wider issues concerning the export of
Burmese logs to China in an article published here on the Ecology website. In a typically hard-hitting article, The Economist [here] is also very clear about where that timber is heading:
"Most devastatingly, much of the area's [eastern Burma's Shan
state's] teak has been cut down and smuggled over the border to China, often with the help of the [Burmese] army.
In the hills near the Chinese border it looks as though someone has taken a giant electric shaver to the landscape, so thorough
has been the deforestation."
the extent of the destruction of forests over the the border in Burma, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the lone Wreathed Hornbill I saw at Husa (possibly the first time the species has been seen in the
area) had, following its eviction in Burma's Shan or Kachin state, headed eastwards to Yunnan to seek a new
thought, which entered my head soon after seeing the bird and hearing the chainsaw, added extra poignancy to the sighting.
If this hypothesis is true – that rampant logging in Burma is causing displaced birds to seek sanctuary
in Yunnan – then
the comprehensive protection of the province's remaining primary forest is a matter of life or death to even more birds than previously thought.
|Logging in the Gaoligongshan
Tang dynasty poets waxed lyrical about them; Ming dynasty emperors coveted paintings
of them; Qing dynasty artisans emblazoned their images on the finest porcelain.
much of Chinese recorded history they have been synonymous with longevity and with the best of luck.
Sadly though, the Red-crowned Crane's own luck appears to be running out.
If the dramatic
decline in wintering-numbers witnessed in recent years continues, the Red-crowned Crane's "Western Flyway" population
could become extinct before the end of the decade.
In other words, the species would disappear as a migrant
and wintering bird across a vast swathe of China.
If that happens, then the species' breeding strongholds would be reduced from four to just two: The
non-migratory Japanese population (which, at more than 1,300 birds, has become the largest of the population
groups); and the Russia and NE China population, of just over 1,000 birds, which migrates via the "Eastern Flyway"
to winter on the Korean peninsula (mainly at Cheorwon in the DMZ, but also in three other locations).
In the 1990s, this Eastern Flyway population
was outnumbered by Western Flyway birds by a ratio of 3:1. The accepted wisdom is that the ratio is now 1:2; and nudging
ever closer to 1:3, and a complete reversal of fortunes.
Su Liying and Zou Hongfei in their 2012 paper [Here] described the most recent speed of decline in the Western Flyway
populations as "frightening".
Except for "15-75" birds that winter at the Yellow River Delta
Nature Reserve, in Shandong province, and perhaps a few stragglers elsewhere, the entire Western Flyway population winters at
one location: at Yancheng National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Jiangsu province.
The fall in the Yancheng numbers is, therefore, the
focus of this article:
1,128 Red-crowned Cranes at Yancheng in the winter of 1999-2000.
Nine years on, in 2008-2009, the number wintering there had
fallen to around 400 birds.
and Zou believe that, "Most
recently the decline has occurred more quickly, by 50–150 birds per winter.”
I of course knew that wintering numbers had fallen dramatically in recent years before
I boarded the Yancheng-bound public bus in Shanghai, last week. But I only had the vaguest idea of the root causes of the China-wintering-population's
sad decline. I had thought that the drying-out of the breeding grounds in northern and north-eastern China was largely
Four hours later, I arrived at the city of Yancheng. Less
than one hour taxi-ride after that, I was watching birds at Yancheng NNR. I was also beginning to reshape my opinion
of the issue.
But it was not until my second day there, and only after I had seen a vast area,
that I came to the conclusion that the people who have been responsible for the management policy of Yancheng NNR must
take at least a slice of the blame for the dangerously rapid decline of the Western Flyway population.
To put it bluntly, the extent of the deterioration of the habitat, since my visit there in December 2001,
Where 11 years ago there were reed beds, there were now shrimp and fish
ponds. Miles and miles of them.
On returning to Beijing, I
would spend two days researching the local management-policy changes that had led to this.
On the second day of my digging, I found something that was alarming to say the least:
Buried deep in the vaults of a Chinese search engine, I found a report written by
Xiao Hua [Here] with the headline, "Yancheng Red-Crowned Crane Emergency".
According to Mr Xiao, an investigative reporter, the Yancheng nature reserve authorities signed
a 5 year contract with one named person to lease out 14,918 mu [9.95 square kilometers] of wetland for conversion to aquaculture
[shrimp and fish farming]. The contract period was from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2012.
Xiao reported that the reserve made 2 million yuan per year from this deal, and that the person who had bought
the right to use the land, had then sub-leased it to local farmers, making a sizeable profit.
One of many questions
I haven't been able to find an answer to so far is, what has happened to this land following the expiry of the lease?
Suffice to say that the reserve's management have a golden opportunity to restore this land to
its former glory.
Another key issue is the land use
policy relating to agriculture in the area. To the north of the reserve, there are dozens of square miles
of fields. It is there that I took the photograph of the family of four Red-crowned cranes that appears at the
top of this report.
Although it was of course wonderful to watch these birds, my experience
was sullied by the knowledge that Red-crowned
Cranes are increasingly resorting to looking for food on the vast number of fields that surround the reserve, because they
are being squeezed out of their preferred habitat
Indeed, Su and Zou, citing Ke et al
state that, from 1988 to
2006, between 53.8 and 66.91 per
cent of Yancheng NNR's wetland was lost to “aquaculture, diking, and farming”.
As is well documented, human encroachment of wetlands is
extremely bad news for wildlife.
In China, trapping and poisoning often go hand-in-hand with farming and aquaculture. In their 2012 paper, Su and
Zou list the poisoning incidents of Red-crowned Crane in China that have made it into the public domain.
As they point out, these reports are possibly just the tip
of the iceberg:
Yancheng, in 13 years (from winters of
1995-95 to the winters of 2008-09), 61 birds were found poisoned.
33 of those 61 birds died.
In the winter of 2008-09, seven birds died (all of those that were reported to have
On my visit to Yancheng last
week, I found more than a dozen empty bottles of poison (my photograph appears here). The bottles
were on a path next to a dike, only two hundred yards away from a large flock of Common Cranes [about 1,200 were in the vicinity] and about 20 Hooded Cranes; and
only 1 mile north of where I had photographed the Red-crowned Cranes the day before.
Enquiries on Sina Weibo [China's most popular Twitter-like microblogging
site] revealed that this poison was an agricultural pesticide, and the consensus was that it had been used to treat crops
and not to target cranes or other birds. This may well be the case.
But, the important point to note is that, for more than 5 years now, the
use of any agricultural pesticide has been banned in this area [In October 2007, the Xinhua
news agency reported [Here] that, "The use of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals has also been banned in about 6,000
hectares of farmland surrounding the reserve." ].
Another question this raises is, why had the bottles not been taken away
by patrolling wardens, to be used as evidence to prosecute the farmers who are responsible for the spraying?
On my first day at Yancheng, in addition to the family of four Red-crowned
Cranes, I saw another party of three, that were also feeding on farmland.
On the second day, I saw another party of three near to the reserve
centre, and two adults three miles to the east of the reserve centre (incongruously searching for food on a drained
In summary, in two days birding there, I saw a less-than-grand total of 12 Red-crowned Cranes.
That's not to say that there are not four, or even five hundred more in the core area of the reserve, the
part that the public quite rightly isn't allowed to access.
In 2001, the cranes could be
easily seen from the public vantage points.
On Christmas Eve 2001, I saw
about 100 Red-crowned Cranes.
On Christmas Day 2001, my present was the incredible
sight of an estimated 230 Red-crowned Cranes.
How many birds were actually there this winter,
"Hundreds," I was told. "How many hundreds?"
I asked. "Hard to say," was the reply.
Sadly, I saw more Red-crowned Cranes in what the Jiangsu tourist web site [Here] describes as "...a small zoo where the wounded birds and animals are hosted for treatments..." than I
saw in the wild.
There were 20 Red-crowned Cranes in the "small zoo".
Taking the website at
its word, I looked for signs of injury. The caged birds (four to a cage mostly) looked to be in fine fettle. At
times, some birds would fly around the cage, all the way up to the netting on the ceiling. But they did seem to be very
wary of humans (when three tourists approached them to get some snaps).
Then I saw the sign: "Red-crowned
Crane taming [this word can also be translated as "domesticating" ] centre."
Crane captive breeding... In the beginning 3 eggs from the North-East of China... Failed for many years... First
breeding success here in the year 2000 ... 80 birds reared successfully here... Enjoy crane dancing...
flying displays... and performances in the arena..."
Clearly the sign raises many
more questions than it provides answers.
As I was composing myself, I noticed the terraced seating area overlooking the display area. I looked at
the Red-crowned Cranes in the cages. And I stared at the construction site that will, when complete, create
a semi-circle of cages opposite the terracing that has a seating capacity of a few of hundred people.
7 cages occupied.
18 more being built. Room enough, when finished, for 100 Red-crowned Cranes.
Sadly, the "small zoo",
is about to become a big zoo.
well as the stars of the show, there is also a line-up of warm-up acts:
In another area there were cages with 4 White-naped Cranes; 4 Common Cranes; 2 Demoiselle Cranes; 4 Siberian Cranes;
2 Hooded Cranes; and 2 Oriental White Storks, as well as another 8 Oriental White Storks and a docile Red-crowned
Crane on what the website describes as a "waterfowl lake" - together with a Black Swan, and various other
I then began to grasp the economics of spending tens of millions
of dollars on an enormous (and yet-to-be opened) visitor centre:
Wild wintering cranes are not a
popular tourist attraction. They are extremely wary of humans; and it is cold in Yancheng in winter... sometimes
But the promise of a ringside seat to watch "crane dancing" in the warm Jiangsu spring
sunshine is bound to pull in the crowds.
And Yancheng NNR has access to potentially massive crowds within
one hour's drive. Yancheng is not only famous for its nature reserve, it is also a prefecture level city
with a population of 8.2 million people. The urban centre of which is less than an hour's drive away from the reserve
It's also a city that doubled its GDP during 2006-2010 [The period of China's 11th 5-year plan]. During that period the average per-capita
disposable income of Yancheng's urban residents increased by a whopping 13.5 per cent per year [Source: Here]. Large increases in disposable income above a certain level feed through to rapid growth in car ownership,
which in turn translates to greater expenditure on local tourism.
Other cities in China are
also channelling investment into Red-crowned Crane so-called "eco-tourism" [a term that is used by the Yancheng
city government]. There were at least 10 Red-crowned Cranes in captivity at the “wetland zone” of a “theme
park” in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in 2011, for instance. [Photo of ten birds being taken for a walk by their
keepers is here.]
It is not suggested that these birds came from
is important, however, to find out where all the captive Red-crowned Cranes are; As well as their age, condition and of course
to also pinpoint where they came from, and how they got there.It is also important that one independent organisation (that doesn't have a financial interest) is able to coordinate
this, to ensure that there is a net return of the birds to, as opposed to a net removal from the wild.
I suggest that Rang Hou Niao Fei [Let migrant birds fly], an NGO that has done wonderful work protecting wild birds
in China, steps in.
I do not know how many Western Flyway birds, thus far, have
been returned to the wild from captive breeding projects, but I suspect it is very few.
But I do know that the captive breeding and rearing of Red-crowned
Cranes at Yancheng has nothing to do with the reserve's main conservation goals and responsibilities.
Captive breeding is not the solution to this population's
Clearly, there is only one solution:
existing habitat and restore and secure lost habitat on the breeding, staging, and wintering grounds.
Only then will this precious population of Red-crowned Cranes be pulled back from the brink.
Guangdong lawlessness threatens Spooners
20th January 2013
|Leizhou Peninsular, Guangdong province (north of Hainan island)
It is well known that Guangdong
province is a hot-bed for crimes against bird-kind. Despite recent crackdowns by the Guangdong Forestry Bureau,
it seems that the trapping and trading of countless thousands of birds continues with impunity.
is now light at the end of this extremely long and dark tunnel.
Thanks to the work of foreign birders
in important coastal areas of the province, the dangers that this contempt for the rule of law poses
to the Spoon-billed Sandpiper (aka "Spooner"), one of the world's most endangered birds, has been spotlighted.
The Shenzhen Daily reported on
Friday (article here) that Jonathan Martinez found four Spooners on the Leizhou Peninsular in December.
The paper also reported
that he and Richard Lewthwaite saw 460 mist nets, each about 25 meters long, during a 10-day trip to the Peninsular,
also last month.
Obviously, there is worryingly high probability
that at least one of those four Spooners would be caught in what amounts to 11.5 km of nets.
Mr Martinez told the paper
that, in the early 1930s, a French ornithologist named Pierre Jabouille saw numerous Spoon-billed Sandpipers during the one
and half years he spent studying birds in Zhanjiang, a city in the northeast of the Peninsula.
The future status of the species on the Leizhou
Pensinsular will be, I feel, the acid test for the very survival prospects of this wonderful bird.
It will also be
the barometer of the success or otherwise of the bird protection movement in Guangdong.
There is no doubt that having the Spoon-billed
Sandpiper as the "poster bird" for the campaign will focus the Guangdong authorities' minds on the issue
of bird protection generally (not least because the local threat to the Spooners has already received global attention - here). Nets
don't discriminate between rare and not so rare birds.
Therefore, for every Spooner that is saved by the effort to tear down
the nets and to stop them reappearing, there will also be countless numbers of other birds saved.
Clearly, the Spoon-billed
Sandpiper is an important bird in many ways.
you very much for your comments:
Janurary, Ken Tucker, Dorset, UK
"Thanks again for drawing our attention to this important
conservation issue. Of all the countries that the spoon-billed sandpiper visits, China is probably the most important. Birds
are present in China for the majority of the year - longer than they are in their breeding colonies. This unique species is
the subject of much scrutiny around the globe. The world is watching and waiting to see if it can be saved from extinction.
At the forefront of this fight are the people in China fighting to protect these birds on the migrating and wintering sites.
Good luck in protecting this species. It's future is balanced on a knife-edge and your actions could mean the difference between
extinction and survival. Thank you for being there and standing up for this tiny bird in difficult circumstances."
23 January, Gary Fennemore, England:
The bravery of the people trying to stop this is humbling especialy
when compared to the greed and incompetance of the authorities and poachers.
23 January, Sherri Smith; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA:
"This is a horrible
situation, a national disgrace. I urge the government of China to put a permanent end to these practices."
January, Sebbe, Sweden:
"Very sad to hear about this, responsible governments should
adress this at once!"
23 January, John Eaton, Derby, UK:
of countries and many conservation organisations have come together to try and save the Spoon-billed Sandpiper from extinction.
The help of China and its people is vitally necessary for the success of this project and many people around the world are
currently looking for the Chinese authorities to take a lead and stop the destruction of habitat and the netting of the Sandpipers."
Justin Jansen, Netherlands
One of the most beautiful birds there is, hope it will remain with
us for a long time.
23 January, Wes Serafin; Orland pk il, USA:
our rarer birds."
22 January, Peter, UK:
"Please keep taking photographs of these
obscene acts of barbarism. A nation trying to portray itself as modern and cultured should feel enraged and embarrassed by
22 January, Leiming; Beijing, China:
need pay more attention to the mist nets to protect these endangered bird species!"
21 January, Phil
"It took millions of years for all of this biodiversity to evolve, yet mankind seems set
on a course to destroy it."
21 January, David Gandy; Bangkok,
"Crimes such as this give China a very bad international reputation. The Chinese authorities
need to crackdown on wildlife crime, and understand their country's pivotal role in the future of Asia's wildlife."
January, John Fordham, London
"Spoon-billed sandpipers are a critically
endangered species. Conservation efforts worldwide are trying to protect them and the Chinese authorities must help
out by preventing illegal trapping of these and other species."
21 January, A. Phizacklea,
"These birds belong to everyone and no has the right to trap them anywhere in the world. Let the
the good people of China help to save these birds so we can all enjoy them."
15 swans among many poisoned by poachers
14th January 2013; Dongting Hu, Hunan province
Despite all the fine rhetoric and numerous crackdowns, the demons of Beidagang (where 22 Oriental White
Storks were poisoned to death by poachers several weeks ago) are a long way from being exorcised.
News broke this yesterday afternoon that 15
Bewick's Swans, and many other water birds, have been poisoned to death by poachers at Dongting Hu, one of
China's most important national nature reserves and wintering area for tens of thousands of water birds.
The parallels with Beidagang
are chilling: It is reported that the same poison was used in the same way (by laying poisoned bait in small areas,
controlled by the poachers).
Unlike Beidagang (where only two suspects were reprimanded, after several days investigation), the local authorities
have this time, it seems, struck at lighting speed. It is reported that no fewer than 9 suspects have already
One of the positive parallels with Beidagang is that a team of guardian angels quickly arrived on the ground there.
Li Feng, the photo-journalist who exposed the hunting atrocities in Hunan, is among them. Also, the Blue Sky Rescue
Team, the volunteer group that did such a wonderful job at Beidagang, are on their way there.
As was the case at Beidagang,
time is of the essence. It is critically important that all of the areas that have poisoned bait are quickly located
and rendered safe.
Shanghai volunteers strike hard
12th January 2013; Songjiang, Shanghai
A Rustic Bunting was one of the many birds to be found dead in the 1.9 kilometres of mist
Shanghai volunteers were out in full force today for an all out assault on the nets of the illegal bird trappers
in Songjiang forest area, in the upper reaches of the Huangpu river in Shanghai.
16 volunteers destroyed 153 illegal bird nets, with a total length of more than 1.9 kilometres.
This is an astonishingly successful as well as an extremely tiring day's work.
The leader of the action, whose Chinese name on his microblog can be translated
as bird sentry in action, was too tired to add much more detail than "I'm exhuasted".
His micoblog can be viewed here.
Proof again - if indeed more proof were needed
- that actions speak louder than words.
December 2012; Xingfu Market, Conghua, Guangdong province
Xingfu Market in Conghua,
Guangdong province, is one of the biggest wild bird (and mammal & reptile) markets in China. Click on the above
screengrab to view the report that was broadcast on CCTV13, one of the most important national TV channels, on 4th
from Guangdong writes: "The animals and birds which are sold there live or dead mostly end up on the table in restaurants
or hotels... The demand is increasing due to the increase in wealth of the middle class and although the authorities
are alerted they rarely do anything about it as the stall owners claim with the tacit approval of the police that the animals
are farm reared. It appears that although a number of protected species are daily sold everyone turns a
blind eye to the trade. There are two billboards near the entrance of the market showing 30 species of protected
mammal with the fines listed for anyone found selling them, up to (100,000Rmb), which has absolutely no effect as one trader
says most of the species listed can be found in the market daily...One stall owner on CCTV claimed that 1500-2500kg of animals,
mostly birds were sold daily."
On 10th December, Xingfu Market received a dishonourable mention in the hard-hitting report published
by the Legal Daily (which can be viewed here), which had the following headline "广东建多项机制，保护监管不到位、执法不力将追究领导责任"
[Guangdong province has set-up many mechanisms, but [wild animal] protection continues to be inadequate...This disregard for
law enforcement is the responsibility of those leaders who are in charge of the investigations].
market in Conghua, Guangdong province is clearly a barometer for the success or otherwise of the bird protection movement
Nationwide crackdown on trappers and traders
8th December 2012
It has been a busy 10 days for the departments
responsible for enforcing the law on the illegal trapping and trading of wild birds. Up and down the country, perhaps
thousands of police and officials from the forestry bureau and other law-enforcement departments have been involved in numerous
raids on markets selling wild birds, the restaurants that have them on their menus, and the various other people in the long
and tangled supply chain that sustains what is a multi-million dollar industry.
This unprecedented spate of bird-protection activity is the central government's response to
the poisoning to death of 22 Oriental White Storks at Beidagang, Tianjin, on the 11th November (see earlier reports).
The catalysts for the protection-frenzy are the two "emergency notices"
issued by the National Forestry Bureau [see 30th November article below]. These notices grabbed
the local authorities' attention because they were publicly launched by Zhang Jianlong, the central government department's
vice-minister and, as was reported last week, were backed up by the dispatch of 6 people from the ministry to various
parts of the country, to supervise the local law enforcement effort and also to oversee "a batch of prosecutions".
These proclamations also grabbed the attention of the national and local media
news agencies, who quickly voiced their support for the campaign to make China a safer place for wild birds. The
most high profile report was perhaps an almost 6-minute long news item that exposes the horrors of the bird
trade in Beijing that was broadcast on China Central Television on 30th November [It can be seen here].
The language used in the many reports concerning the law enforcement
activities has some common themes: The action is invariably referred to as a 严厉打击 yanli daji [intense
crackdown] and a 专项行动
zhuanxiang xingdong [special campaign], which is 开展
The photo that heads this report
shows some of the 15 people who were arrested in Suizhong county, Liaoning province, after a "special campaign" was
"launched" by the forestry public security bureau to "intensely crackdown" on the illegal hunting
and trading of birds in the area [the photo links to the report that was published today].
Although these crackdowns on the illegal
hunting, trapping and trading of wild birds are of course good news, there is a concern that many of the local authorities
who have launched them are doing so solely to court positive publicity that will impress their bosses in the central
ministry in Beijing. This cynicism is understandable given the impotence of the same local authorities in the past.
Sadly, it has been the norm for them to 视而不见 shier bujian ["turn
a blind eye"] to illegal bird-catching and trading activities.
One of the "special campaigns" that has raised
more eyebrows than most is the one that was trumpeted by the Guangdong forestry public-security bureau.
On 29th November, shortly after the vice-minister's announcement of the crackdown, it was reported [here] that in October and November it had seized 51,622 wild animals and 9,497 bird nets, following investigations spanning
584 markets and 1,320 restaurants. According to the report, 102 people have been sentenced as a result of the crackdown.
province is one of the hotbeds of illegal bird trapping and trading, and it is a place where local officialdom and the word
of the local authorities is held in low esteem. In a hard-hitting article yesterday, the China Daily reported
that "Only 25 per cent [of local residents] are satisfied or relatively satisfied with the conduct of those working in
local government and public institutions." The article goes on to say that, among those who have sought services
at local government departments, "46 per cent agree that the services are provided only after gifts are offered to officials...".
With this in mind,
it is not surprising that the news from Guangdong has attracted a lot of cynical comment on Sina weibo
(a Chinese Twitter-like microblogging site with more than 400 million registered accounts). Not least because this,
it appears, was the first time that news of the two month "crackdown" had been reported (the campaign
was due to end the following day).
Nor was any information provided on the species that were "seized"
and what happened to them following their rescue or recovery. The report also failed to provide any detail on the
locations of the illegal markets and restaurants.
A tweet by Jiling Zaiyuan, a bird-protection blogger, sums up the mood:
"This is a strange one. Where were 50,000 [animals] seized in such a short time frame? [Surely] it's not unreasonable
to ask for a precise account [to justify the claims]."
Another blogger, commenting on the China-wide crackdown tweeted:
"I hope that the numerous "special campaigns" by the various authorities are in future less special
and actually become an everyday activity".
If this happens (as it surely must), then the Beidagang Heroes would
deserve much of the credit.
They managed to save many storks (13 were rescued and released;
but many more would have died had the poisoned "lure pools" not been found and made safe) and, in so doing, they
also powered a virtuous cycle of publicity that led to the prompt action by the central government, which in turn
fuelled ever more publicity for the campaign to protect China's birds.
as turning a potential horror story into a wonderful success story, the Beidagang Heroes have also lit a beacon of hope
for birds in China.
My translation of 9th November 2012 article in Tianjin Daily News
In order to strengthen the protection of Qilihai Wetland's rare birds, and to create
an excellent environment for migratory birds, a combined law-enforcement operation has just been comprehensively launched.
16 families, 39 genuses, and 182 species of birds have
been recorded at Qilihai; which represents 78% of all bird species ever recorded in our city. In order to protect these
birds, Ninge county [in Tianjin] has invested a total of 400 million yuan [GBP 40 million], and has established Xinghai Lake
bird reserve at Donghaixingtuo Reservoir.
The critical period for the southward migration of birds is precisely now. In order to strike
against law-breakers' wanton bird-catching activity, Tianjin Gu Coast and Wetland national nature reserve and the
relevant departments in Ninghe county have instigated this operation. The most important areas for this law-enforcement action
are: the bird's habitat, the food transportation industry, and farmers' markets. A net is also starting
to be thrown over ad hoc markets; bird-traders; the process [of buying and selling illegally caught birds]; and
the trafficing of all kinds of wild animals.
Baokou village in Ninghe county; Qilihai township; Huaidian village; Panzhuang township; and Zaojia town are the main
places that have launched [these bird protection law-enforcement activities].
Poacher turned game-keeper
My translation of 9th November 2012 Xinhua article
70-something Zhang Houyi: From
the King of Bird Killers to the God of Bird Protectors [in other words, "poacher turned game-keeper"]
destroys the tall bird-catching nets that poachers have erected inside the bird reserve.
The 72 year-old is one of the assistant wardens of East Dongting Lake,
a national-level nation reserve [in Hunan province]. He has protected the migratory birds here for the
past 20 years. When he was young, Mr Zhang was the locally-famous “King of Bird Killers”.
At the beginning of the 1980s, the country resolved to strengthen the
protection of wild birds. At that time, East Dongting Lake became a national-level nature reserve.
Because of the law that expressly forbids the hunting
of level 1 and 2 protected bird-species, and because he felt ashamed, Mr Zhang switched from being the King of Bird Killers
to become the God of Bird Protectors. Every morning, Mr Zhang and his
colleagues patrol several kilometers of lake-side marsh to protect the birds.
Some his former [hunting]
associates could not come to terms with his transformation and ridiculed him; some even threatened him. But
he’s never regretted making the switch.
Mr Zhang believes that protecting birds is not a personal matter, nor
is it merely a matter for reserves; but rather that it is something that everyone should be concerned about. Only
then will Dongting Lake become a genuine paradise for birds.
Painted Snipe, sorry picture
26th October 2012; Xitou, Guangdong province
"During a 3 days visit at Xitou from 26th to 28th of October we have found a total of 32
nets that were, we estimated, 25 metres long, on average .
In other words, the total length of nets in this small,
bird-rich area was about 800 metres.
Most of them were made from old fishing nets and, as such, had
been re-designed to catch larger birds. Small birds should have been able to escape because the mesh used
was quite large.
All of the nets were set up on marshes or wet fields.
We were able
to observe one farmer in the early morning who, while bringing his buffalos to the wet field, came to check
if any birds were in a net.
We saw him releasing a Black Drongo that was tangled in one of the nets.
Having seen that a Greater Painted Snipe was tangled in one of his nets, I quickly went towards it, to release
it before the farmer could capture it.
On my way there I asked the farmer if the net belonged to him.
He said that it did. So I told him that it was prohibited to do what he was doing; and also tried to scare
him by telling him that if he didn't pull the nets down, the forestry department will come back to rmove them.
I then got
to the Greater Painted Snipe and untangled it from the net. As I was doing this, the farmer was about to pick up
a bird that I hadn't noticed previously. It was ensnared in another net.
I then demanded that he give
me the bird.
He refused, so I tried to wrestle the bird from his grip. Finally he let the bird
go, and what appeared to be a Baillon's Crake was again free.As we were searching for a place to release the Greater Painted Snipe, we found another field with many
more nets than the previous place, but with no people in the field.
We released the Painted Snipe there,
and I then pulled down as many nets as I could find in the hope that it will not be re-caught. While
doing this, I was also able to save a Common Snipe."
October 2012; Xitou, Guangdong province
"I found this guy concealed in a small hide in marshes near Xitou.
I was very surprised to see egrets so close to him. And when one of them tried to fly away, I understood [why they
couldn't]. Thy were fixed to the ground by wire.
Looking at the birds with my bins, I realised that
a net was open on the ground near to the egrets. I then understand that he was trying to catch egrets using a clap-net.
When the poacher saw me, he stepped outside
of his hide.
I deliberaly showed him that I was taking photographs of what he was doing.
some distance away from the place and waited there until I left, before returning to pick up all his equipment.
But he probably wasn't aware of the possibility that he could be digiscoped; and I managed to take some
videos and photos of him as he was packing."
|Local heroes. Please click on the photo to see more photos of them.
Many years from now – at a point in time when the number of birds migrating
through China is many, many millions more than it is today; when membership of the CSPB (the China Society for the Protection
of Birds) tops 10 million; and when every school in China has a birdwatching society – legions of older
Chinese birdwatchers will tell and re-tell the horror stories of the dark time when it wasn't like that.
They will tell the young ones of the time when, many years before, millions of migrant birds
were slaughtered for their meat or imprisoned in cages because of their beautiful plumage or melodious
They will tell of the countless numbers
of birds that were left to die in the trappers' nets because they were neither beautiful nor edible.
And they will
talk of the time when not nearly enough people cared.
They will also recount the true story of how this began to change... and how that became the story
a generation of young people.
Many years from now, the
school book "Protecting the environment in China and how you
can help" will tell of the events of the 15th October 2012 and of the local heroes
who, because of what happened on that date, were launched into the limelight to become beacons of hope in what was
a dark period for China's birds.
This is how
the true story of what happened might be told:
Guidong County was an out-of-the-way mountainous area in Hunan
province. It was a remote, backward place. It was also a lawless place. The [Chinese] adage that "The mountains are high and the emperor is far away" was as
true in Guidong in 2012 as it was when the maxim was coined, a thousand years before. Hundreds of people in
Guidong had guns (despite this being a serious crime). Hunting parties of up to 200 would go out at night using
high-power search lights to lure huge numbers of migrating birds, which they mercilessly shot. This
had been going on for years.
Everyone in Guidong, including the local police and authorities, knew this was happening. But nothing had
been done about it. Until, that is, a very brave reporter from the Changsha Evening News, the provincial capital's
most popular newspaper, went to Guidong to expose the criminality there. In several visits, Li Feng
infiltrated the hunters' ring and compiled the evidence that would be the catalyst that changed attitudes. He
secretly filmed the hunters at their "safe houses", the night-time shooting parties, and also filmed the traders
selling the carcasses of the shot birds in local markets.
In Guidong, the
market price of a bird was determined by the length of the bird's neck and by the taste of its meat. Xinhua [China's
official news agency] reported that: "Birds with long necks, such as egrets and herons, sold for between 10 [US$1.60]
and 70 yuan, while short-necked eagles and owls are priced at hundreds of yuan as the taste of their meat is preferred."
Xinhua also reported that in the counties of Guidong, Xinhua and Xinshao, hunting parties from one village alone
could kill,”150 tonnes of wild birds a year".
The local hunting parties also
included rich people from outside the area who would pay a lot of money to shoot herons, egrets, owls, and eagles and
"...Come in luxury limousines with beauties and beers, taking it as
an aristocratic pastime, which has become a troublesome fashion" [Xinhua reported, citing Mr Yang,
a local forestry worker].
In the autumn migration of 2012, Li Feng, a local-hero journalist risked his life to shoot the video that
exposed the gunmen's evil deeds. The video also pointed the finger at the corrupt
local police and officials who allowed this to happen under their noses. The video first ran locally in Hunan.
The people who saw it were outraged. So much so that they told others about it.
In turn, these people passed on the link to their
friends and contacts. The ever vigilant TV networks, realising that this was becoming a big story, began screening
the video locally (in dozens of different places). By the end of the 14th October, many thousands of people had seen
Then, on October 15th, there was a tipping point. During that
day, interest in the story reached critical mass... and the social media version of a reactor meltdown was unleashed.
Interest in the story exploded with such incredible ferocity
that, by the end of that day, millions of people had seen the video or read about the atrocities that had been perpetrated
in Hunan province. The public was horrified and very, very angry.
One blogger, a Ms Liang, wrote on Sina Weibo, "How could this
happen??!! We should be ashamed!! The corrupt officials who let them [the gunmen] get away with it must be severely
In the days following
this news peak, more and more influential news agencies published their condemnation of not just the slaughter, but also the
local authorities' complicity. The China Daily released a hard-hitting opinion
piece (that had first appeared in the Beijing News), which summed up the problem and the solution:
"The truth is that local forestry officials and police are shirking responsibility,
because they can stop the brutal killing of birds if they strengthen joint law enforcement. For a change, they can stop the
selling and buying of migratory birds in local markets, and impose heavy fines on people indulging in such activities".
Tear down those nets!
October 2012; Qilihai & Beidagang, Tianjin
reserve, two nets,each 30 meters long, 1.5 meters wide. about 20 dead birds on the nets, one Little Bunting still alive. I
released it. It could fly. So I let it go.
Beidagang reserve, lots of mist
nets, 1.5 meters in wide.
|The banner reads: The law says that people who catch birds will be severely punished...
10th October 2012;
Beijing, Chaoyang district, close to the Wenyu River
Contributor: Shi Jin
The net had been left
for many weeks.
|October 10th 2012, Beijing, Chaoyang district
12th and 14th March
province, Yangjiang county, Hailing Island and Xitou
"In Guangdong, usually nets are set-up
during the autumn migration. I guess people check them regularly during the peak time, but afterwards the nets are left there
for months. It is very common to see more than 10 to 20 nets, some of which are a few hundreds metres
long. Some ponds or marshes are simply surrounded on each side by nets, giving the birds no chance to escape them."
1st May 2011;
Liaoning province, Dalian,
"Nets were ripped apart and left on the ground for the owner to find - my
daughter (in the one photo) did most of the ripping! The siskin died after I tried tried to release the net from being
tight around its neck. There really wasn't any hope of being successful. The net had mostly siskins and Dusky
Thrush in it. There were Brambling feathers around it though and a few thrush heads."
Contributor: Craig Brelsford (Photo courtesy of Devaram
"I was on Chongming Island, at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Shanghai,
November 2011. I was with Li Jing, a Shanghai birder, and my partner Dev, an Indian birder living in Shanghai.
We found mist nets near Dongtan Reserve. We found no birds in the nets, suggesting
that whoever set the nets up checks them regularly.
We tore the
nets down and called the Forestry Bureau. The Forestry Bureau arrived very quickly. The rangers immediately burned the nets.
As the nets burned, Li Jing and I posed in front of the fire. Dev took our picture."
2nd February 2009;
Hebei, Qinhuangdao, Changli
county, c30km south-west of Qilihai
This Kingfisher (photo below) was one of
several hundred birds that died an agonising death in two hundred metres of net in what seems to be a designated
nature reserve (contact details in the photo below). The net had been left there since the autumn migration. Three
people spent one hour taking it down and packing it into the boot of the car (It was later burnt). The local authorities
were informed of this outrage. (3 photos)
|This sick joke of a sign next to the killing fields says "Protect Birds, Cherish the Environment"
1st May 2009;
Hebei, Qinhuangdao, Nandaihe,
small coastal wood
Contributor: Shi Jin
I waited in the wood for this man (pictured below) to finish setting up
his net before emerging to tear it down in front of him. As I was doing this, he gathered his two cages and ran.
Each cage contained a Chinese Grosbeak, whose song was being used to attract birds into the area he had placed the net.
The attached (including the photo of his registration plate) was sent to the local authorities.
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The report from the Education Cluster documents the challenges of providing an education in the world’s youngest country.
—After decades of conflict left much of South Sudan illiterate, a new round of fighting has further compromised the young nation’s current education system.
Since the South Sudanese Civil War began in December 2013, one in three schools have been attacked by armed forces or groups, according to a report released this month by Education Cluster, a collaboration of NGOs, United Nations agencies, and academics. At the same time, one in four schools reported to be open in 2013 were found to be non-functional by 2016.
This newest report adds to documentation by the United Nations and human rights advocates of child soldiers, school attacks, and an underfunded and underserved education system in South Sudan. While the Education Cluster and other groups have met with some success intervening in schools and advocating for children, the report highlights the difficulty of providing children with education in the world’s newest country, as well as in conflict zones in general.
It’s not just the children who suffer when their learning is terminated or restricted, say education advocates. An entire country – especially a fledging nation like South Sudan – will pay the price for not educating its children.
“When children don’t have access to education, it makes it that much harder for the country to develop economically,” says Jo Becker, advocacy director of Human Rights Watch’s Children’s Rights Division. “Children have fewer opportunities for decent livelihoods, and for getting decent jobs. The consequences are both for the children themselves, in terms of their inability to get ahead, but there are also consequences for the society not having an educated population than can really help it develop economically.”
Education Cluster’s report, “Education Cannot Wait for the War to End,” is the product of a national assessment it conducted of schools in South Sudan in November 2016.
The cluster found that 31 percent of schools have suffered at least one or more attacks from armed forces or groups, and 25 percent of primary schools open in 2013 were found to be non-functional in late 2016. In addition, 31 percent fewer teachers were also registered at the end of the 2016 school year than at its start.
Food shortages were one of the main reasons students dropped out or stopped attending, reports Education Cluster. The government declared parts of South Sudan had been hit by famine in February, with 100,000 of its people facing starvation, and one million more on the brink of famine, according to BBC.
But the whole crisis, warns the report, threatens another generation of South Sudanese with illiteracy, as nearly 50 percent of the its population are under 18. Because of decades of conflict between what is now South Sudan and its neighbor, Sudan, 73 percent of men and 85 percent of women are illiterate, according to government data from 2011 and 2013.
There has been some progress. Under “education in emergencies and protected crises” intervention, the cluster provides classes for children who can attend in a safe space. After that support, 4.6 percent more South Sudanese students passed end-of-primary exams, compared to the nationwide average pass rate. Egypt, Ethiopia, and neighboring Sudan have also agreed to support South Sudanese students seeking college degrees through programs like scholarships and lowered tuition rates. But these are all temporary solutions to an education system badly hurt by civil war.
The most recent conflict may have left as many as 300,000 people dead, Agence France-Presse has reported, and displaced more than 3.5 million, or more than one-fourth of the population. While the conflict has ravaged the country’s oil-dependent economy, children and schools have also been singled out as targets.
“The fabric of this whole country has been ripped apart by this conflict. Pretty much everyone is affected by this war,” Jehanne Henry, a senior researcher in Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division, tells The Christian Science Monitor in a phone interview on Monday.
Both the United Nations and other groups have found that more than 17,000 children have been used as soldiers. According to Ms. Becker, some of these child soldiers told Human Rights Watch that they took up arms because they were deprived of an education. But schools have also been either the targets of attacks or taken over for barracks, military training, or operation centers.
Another problem that has plagued South Sudan is a lack of qualified teachers, stemming from the previous 22-year conflict between what is now South Sudan and its neighbor, Sudan.
“The teachers of those years either died or they joined the [rebel] movement,” Edward Kokole, director of teacher education in South Sudan’s Education Ministry, previously told the Monitor.
In 2015, only o | <urn:uuid:c57736c4-6a31-4788-8185-726795cede30> | {
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Diabetic Foot Wounds as Discussed
by Podiatrist Dr. Sydney K. Yau, DPM
In the United States, diabetes affects approximately 25.8 million people and up to 25% of those people develop a foot ulcer during their lifetime. Diabetic wounds that are left untreated may lead to an amputation. In fact, one in five people with a diabetic ulcer may eventually require an amputation and diabetic wounds are by far the most common cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations.
Diabetes affects the foot in multiple ways that increase the risk of ulceration. Diabetes affects the musculature of the foot and can cause an imbalance in the foot and change the distribution of pressure across the foot. Areas not meant to bear-weight may take increased stress and break down. This is further complicated by neuropathy, or a lack of protective sensation to the foot. Patients with a lack of sensation from diabetes are unable to sense pain and may develop a break in their skin without even knowing it.
Once ulceration occurs, it is important to have it treated quickly. Any opening in the skin increases the patient’s risk for infection. If the foot infection spreads too quickly, amputation may be necessary to salvage the limb and life of the patient.
Patients presenting with a diabetic foot ulcer should be tested for adequate circulation to the foot, as diabetes can also affect the circulation into foot. Adequate blood flow is needed to ensure proper healing of the wound – without blood flow the wound will not heal. Infected wounds need to be drained of any infection and treated with antibiotics. There will always be surface bacteria on the wound, but keeping the bacterial load in wounds down is one of the keys to healing a wound. Debridement of a wound, which means to cut away any dead tissue surrounding or within the wound, is one of the key ways to reduce the bacterial load in a wound.
After making sure there is circulation and that any infection is well controlled, one of the mainstays to treating a diabetic foot ulcer is to offload it. Since diabetic foot wounds develop often due to repetitive stress in a particular area, our goal is to distribute the pressure differently in order to heal the wound. Many modalities can be used for this and each modality can be beneficial. Modalities can include a total contact cast, walking cast, healing sandal, or orthotic. Some patients may require surgery either to realign deformities or remove bony prominences that may be causing increased pressure in the area of concern.
The prevalence of diabetes is increasing and with it diabetic foot wounds. Diabetic foot wounds may lead to amputation, so it is important to have them treated promptly by a professional. Podiatrists are experts in the field of diabetic foot wounds and we not only evaluate and treat wounds, but we aim to prevent them from recurring once they are healed.
If you or someone you know is suffering from a diabetic foot conditions, we welcome you to schedule a consultant with one of our foot and ankle specialists. Please call 877-989-9110 or visit us at www.footankleinstitute.com.
He then went on to complete his surgical reconstruction fellowship with the University Foot and Ankle Institute, one of only a few fellowships recognized by the American College Foot and Ankle Surgeons.
Now playing an integral role at the University Foot and Ankle Institute, Dr. Yau’s treats various sports injuries, including sprains, arthritis and fractures. He also is passionate about helping diabetic patients avoid amputation through correction of deformities and wound healing.
Dr. Yau is available for consultation at our Simi Valley location.
Latest posts by Dr. Sydney K. Yau (see all)
- Six Tips To Keep Your Feet Healthy This Summer (from our own foot expert)! - July 8, 2016
- Everything You Wanted to Know about Athlete’s Foot….OR DIDN’T! - April 13, 2016
- What to Expect When You Fracture Your Ankle - February 15, 2016 | <urn:uuid:06127bdb-c216-4893-a9af-0bee066edf7b> | {
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Throughout history, scientific research and the exploration of new technologies have always been areas of extreme controversy and heated debate. This can be primarily attributed to the fact that they touch upon and affect many aspects of people’s lives, not to mention their direct interference with political, social and religious matters. One of the latest and most ferociously debated technologies, that the scientific community has offered humanity, is the technology of Genetically Modified Organisms and in particular genetically modified foods. A Genetically Modified food is crop plant modified in a laboratory using molecular biology techniques with the goal of producing an organism with specific traits for various reasons. It is therefore only logical, given its nature that such a practice would both raise some serious ethical and moral questions as well as propose very viable solutions to chronic problems the world faces today. An area in which Genetically Modified Organisms are relatively prevalent is agriculture. Genetically Modified foods are created to serve the purpose of creating a crop plant for animal or plant utilization. According to Deborah B. Whitman, outcomes of the genetic modifications are desirable and seemingly harmless characteristics such as making the crop more pest resistant, disease resistant, herbicide resistant, or more nutritionally valuable. In addition to these advantages, this technology also has the potential to solve a very serious issue facing less developed countries; the issue of medication and pharmaceutics. Since the development and mass production of vaccination is very costly and requires a high degree of scientific advancement, many third world countries face a challenge when it comes to that aspect. GM food researchers have the ability to potentially integrate medications and vaccines into crops, thus solving this problem. The use of these techniques can also yield more crops which can help solve food shortages. With the global population hitting almost 6 billion, many parts of the world are bound to face food shortage problems. A continent such as Africa that suffers from a constant increase in population, combined with bad soil and dreadful weather conditions could surely benefit from such technologies. GM foods would definitely help solve this continent’s plight. There are, however, some very serious potential disadvantages. This seemingly incredible technology comes with a very serious price; the use of GM foods in mass agricultural production has the potential to present humanity with an array of consequences that can negatively affect human health, economic prosperity and the environment. Amongst the most potentially destructive effects of GM foods is its potential effect on human health. A significant part of the process relies on the introduction of certain proteins to organisms. Some of these proteins have never been ingested previously by human making their long term effects whether they could be good or bad unknown. The intake of GM foods might also result in unexpected allergic reactions. This happens because the process of developing GM foods sometimes involves the splitting or sharing of genes between organisms. For example if there is a desirable characteristic in organism A, the gene responsible for that characteristic can be extracted or duplicated then installed in organism B , that way both organisms have that desirable quality. The problem occurs when a person who is allergic to organism A ingests organism B (which in this case carries organism A’s gene), which then his body reacts to the newly introduced gene causing various potential harmful effects. The use of GMOs can also affect not only the organism subject to the modification but also the surrounding environment. This occurs specifically during the transfer of pollen between plants during reproduction. For example a plant that has been genetically modified to in order to be resistant to a certain pest can also harm other useful organisms that interact with it. The use of GM foods also affects the economy, both on a global and national scale. The use of GM foods can permanently damage the economy of developing countries. That is because developing countries do not have the technology or capital to develop the GM foods technology, thus putting them in a position where they can’t globally compete with developed countries that produce more and can sell at a cheaper price. Like all newly emerging technologies, the use of GMOs in food production has been met with much opposition from different groups, which is due to the ethical questions that the use of this technology raises. The use of GMOs does however propose solutions to some of the most pressing problems of our time, such as food shortages. It is therefore necessary and obligatory of the international community to carefully examine the long-term effects that the use of such practice might cause. This must happen before making definite judgments and decisions regarding the use of GMOs and more importantly GM foods. -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Whitman, Deborah B. "Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? ” Apr. 2000. Web. 24 Apr. 2010. . [ 2 ]. Whitman, Deborah B. Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? ” Apr. 2000. Web. 24 Apr. 2010. . [ 3 ]. Whitman, Deborah B. "Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? ” Apr. 2000. Web. 24 Apr. 2010. . [ 4 ]. Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee, http://www. macalester. edu/~montgomery/gmos2. htm [ 5 ]. Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee, http://www. macalester. edu/~montgomery/gmos2. htm [ 6 ]. Scientific Facts on Genetically Modified Crops, http://www. greenfacts. org/en/gmo/2-genetically-modified-crops/5-gene-flow. htm
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General anesthesia is a combination of medicines that you inhale through a mask or receive through a needle in a vein to cause you to become unconscious. It affects your whole body. Under anesthesia, you should be completely unaware and not feel pain during the surgery or procedure. General anesthesia also causes forgetfulness (amnesia) and relaxation of the muscles throughout your body.
General anesthesia suppresses many of your body's normal automatic functions, such as those that control breathing, heartbeat, circulation of the blood (such as blood pressure), movements of the digestive system, and throat reflexes such as swallowing, coughing, or gagging that prevent foreign material from being inhaled into your lungs (aspiration).
Because these functions are suppressed, an anesthesia specialist must carefully keep a balance of medicines while watching your heart, breathing, blood pressure, and other vital functions. An endotracheal (ET) tube or a laryngeal mask airway device is usually used to give you an inhaled anesthetic and oxygen, and to control and assist your breathing.
General anesthesia is commonly begun (induced) with intravenous (IV) anesthetics. But inhaled anesthetics also may be used. After you are unconscious, anesthesia may be maintained with an inhaled anesthetic alone, with a combination of intravenous anesthetics, or a combination of inhaled and intravenous anesthetics.
As you begin to awaken from general anesthesia, you may experience some confusion, disorientation, or difficulty thinking clearly. This is normal. It may take some time before the effects of the anesthesia are completely gone.
Risks and complications from general anesthesia
Serious side effects of general anesthesia are uncommon in people who are otherwise healthy. But because general anesthesia affects the whole body, it is more likely to cause side effects than local or regional anesthesia. Fortunately, most side effects of general anesthesia are minor and can be easily managed.
General anesthesia suppresses the normal throat reflexes that prevent aspiration, such as swallowing, coughing, or gagging. Aspiration occurs when an object or liquid is inhaled into the respiratory tract (the windpipe or the lungs). To help prevent aspiration, an ET tube may be inserted during general anesthesia. When the tube is in place, the lungs are protected so stomach contents cannot enter the lungs. Aspiration during anesthesia and surgery is very uncommon. To reduce this risk, people are usually instructed not to eat or drink anything for a certain number of hours before anesthesia so that the stomach is empty. Anesthesia specialists use many safety measures to minimize the risk of aspiration.
Insertion or removal of an ET tube or other airway device may cause respiratory problems such as coughing or gagging. Insertion of an airway device also may cause an increase in blood pressure (hypertension) and heart rate (tachycardia). Other complications may include damage to teeth and lips, swelling in the larynx, sore throat, and hoarseness caused by injury or irritation of the larynx.
Nausea and vomiting are more likely with a lengthy procedure and also with certain types of procedures, such as eye or abdominal surgery. In most cases, nausea after anesthesia doesn't last long and can be treated with medicines called antiemetics. Vomiting may be a serious problem if it causes pain and stress or affects surgical incisions.
Other serious risks of general anesthesia include changes in blood pressure or heart rate or rhythm, heart attack, or stroke. Death or serious illness or injury due solely to anesthesia is rare and is usually also related to complications from the surgery.
Some people who are going to have general anesthesia express concern that they will not be completely unconscious but will "wake up" and have some awareness during the surgical procedure. But awareness during general anesthesia is very rare. Anesthesia specialists devote careful attention and use many methods to prevent this.
eMedicineHealth Medical Reference from Healthwise
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2014 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. | <urn:uuid:c7440585-30a0-454d-a767-98f1a90f0016> | {
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Within the church, on the left hand side of the chancel under a decorated canopy is the tomb of Sir Thomas de Chedder (d.1443), a wealthy Bristol merchant. On the floor is the brass of his widow, Lady Isabel de Chedder (d.1476) dressed in wimple and widow’s weeds. Unfortunately The inscriptions and shields on both brasses are missing.
Born in 1398 East Harptree, Somerset, England. Sir Thomas' daughter Joan married John Talbot, 1st Baron Lisle and 1st Viscount Lisle (1426-1453).
Sir Thomas' brass depicts a typical knight of the early to mid 15th century. He is dressed in plate armour that completely covers his body, his head being protected by a Great bascinet that has a gorget that surrounds his neck.
The great bascinet with its gorget was developed from the 1420's onward, it was a direct result of the inefficiency of the earlier maille aventail to stop the armour piercing arrowhead known as the bodkin.The bodkin was narrow enough to pass through and split the maille rings which could cause severe damage to the neck and upper shoulders. Earlier gorgets simply fixed above the aventail via two rivets at the base of the bascinet, this design used the original helmet and maille but did not protect the sides or back of the neck. A separate gorget was needed that encircled the neck and versions of this style can be seen on effigies and brasses across the country, The design at this stage still incorporated the maille aventail, simply covering it up.
Read more about Henry V and the Damage done by Arrows here.http://paulfranciswalker.blogspot.co.uk/2014_11_01_archive.html
Sir Thomas' gorget is the final stage whereby the maille is discarded and the breastplate and arm protection is designed designed to fit beneath it.
Read more about the bascinet herehttp://paulfranciswalker.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/bascinet-and-hounskull-visor-for-battle.html
The arm protection involves a series of plates that envelope the top of the arm and shoulder, the top terminates at the gorget. The armpit is protected by a Besagew. This plate was popular in the previous century then went out of fashion only to return during this period.
The cuirass consists of a breastplate and backplate with a fauld of eight lames that covered the hips, groin, buttocks and upper thighs. Front and rear would have been held together with a series of hinges down the left and buckled straps down the right.
See my SN markers illustration of a 1450's harness here.
The legs were protected by Cuisse, Poleyn and Greaves. The design being very similar to the previous century.
The cuisse consisted of a large plate that protected the front of the thigh which was fixed via hinges to one or two further plates that ran around the side of the leg. The poleyn, which protected the knee was fixed to the cuisse via rivets and articulation lames. (In Sir Thomas' this is a single plate). Beneath the poleyn was a further articulation lame and a larger plate which rested on the greave,
The greave protected the leg and consisted of two plates, front and rear which joined via hinges on the outer face and buckled strap on the inner. In Sir Thomas' case the buckles are not shown which could be artistic licence but is more likely to be a stud and hole fixing method.
Feet were protected by pointed Sabatons and Sir Thomas' have small plates that follow up underneath the ankle section of the greaves.
The sabatons would have been hinged at the heal to allow access. The spurs bend around the bottom of the greaves.
The Sword is slender and would have had a diamond cross sectioned blade, during this period slashing cuts were useless against armour which gave rise to that narrow blade which could be stabbed into joints or chinks in the armour.
See more of my illustrations here.http://paulfranciswalker.blogspot.co.uk/2014_09_01_archive.html
To see my costumes and armour click here.http://paulfranciswalker.blogspot.co.uk/p/y-armour.html | <urn:uuid:18f02f73-ba89-4007-8814-54adc7f69bf2> | {
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Hartvig Dahl and Virginia Teller
AI needs a formal functional theory of emotions to represent in computer programs our knowledge of emotions. In the theory we propose, emotions are a special class of Intentional states with structural components and properties similar to those of the traditional somatic appetites of thirst, hunger, and sex. These were originally part of a hardwired, phylogenetically adapted, nonverbal feedback system for implicitly conveying information about these states both among and within individual members of the species. A classification system provides two major functional classes of emotions, (1) those serving as Appetitive Wishes toward objects, and (2) those serving as Beliefs about the status of fulfillment of those and other significant wishes. Thus, emotions such as Anger or Fear indicate a wish to attack or escape from some object or situation, while Love or Surprise indicate wishes to care about or explore an object or situation. Emotional wishes, like their somatic brethren, require Consummatory Acts for their fulfillment. The result of these acts are emotions such Anxiety or Depression, which indicate Beliefs that the relevant wishes will be hard or impossible to satisfy, or Contentment or Elation, which function as Beliefs that the wishes have been or are being fulfilled. Together, emotional wishes and beliefs form a comprehensive wish-belief information feedback system with manifold causal consequences. Potential applications include agent-oriented problem solving, animation, and human-computer interaction. | <urn:uuid:5a14a1d6-911c-49c8-8ecb-214fa1169682> | {
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A compound of nitrogenous matter added to the liquor to boost the action of the yeast. Yeast food.
Is added during the winemaking process to help stimulate and invigorate the wine yeast and ensure the fermentation is more active and complete.
Use reliable yeast nutrient frequently.
Make wines too dry instead of too sweet: add sugar later.
Use fermentation traps.
A second wine will require that the pomace or pulp be ameliorated with water, sugar, yeast nutrients, and possibly acid and tannin, but usually not pectic enzyme.
However, in order to reduce the risk of H2S formation, it is wise to add yeast nutrient containing diammonium phosphate (DAP) at the rate of 100-200 ppm during the early stages of fermentation.
24 lbs of crushed blackberries
13 lbs of sugar
6 quarts of fresh hot water
2 teaspoons of yeast nutrient
2 teaspoons of pectic enzyme
8 crushed campden tablets
8 quarts of fresh cold water
1 package of Narbonne wine yeast ...
(SO2 - sulfur dioxide)', '', 250)"; onMouseout="hideddrivetip()"SO2 and yeast nutrients are added. The juice is immediately pumped to fill 225L French oak barrels for fermentation.
high enough level of sugar and with the proper balance of acid and nutrients to sustain a natural fermentation to dryness with stable results. Other fruits or berries may be fermented, but without additions of sugar, acid, or various yeast nutrients, ...
See also: Bottle, Yeast, Wine, Taste, Fermentation | <urn:uuid:381e3aec-ca2b-41f6-a661-b390e026bc19> | {
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Pond 7 of the old Cargill Salt Co. plant between Napa and Sonoma is an improbable sight: a lifeless salt flat spreading across more than 300 acres along the edge of the San Pablo Bay.
The surface is a twisted mass of filthy salt crystals, devoid of plants and avoided by the migratory birds that inhabit nearby marshes.
As long as the pond remains in this state, officials say, it poses a threat to the ecologically sensitive bay: should a rain storm flood the pond and breach the dirt banks, it could wash salt into the open water in concentrations high enough to kill fish and other wildlife.
Napa-Sonoma Salt Marsh Pipeline Project
But finally, two decades after the salt pond was abandoned, there is hope for safely returning it to productive use.
The Sonoma County Water Agency is in the final days of building a $10 million, 3.4-mile pipeline to bring recycled water from the nearby Sonoma Valley sewage treatment plant to the former salt plant, now owned by the state and known as the Napa-Sonoma Salt Marsh.
The agency plans to hold a ceremony Friday to mark the completion of the pipeline, including elected officials and representatives from the local, state, and federal agencies involved in the long-term salt marsh restoration effort.
By this fall, the agency hopes to use the water to help dilute the excessively salty water in a nearby pond, known as Pond 7a. By sometime next year, depending on when the Army Corps of Engineers can complete a separate portion of the project, the agency plans to use the water to dilute the salt pan in Pond 7, releasing it little by little into the bay in safe doses.
The restoration project may take as long as 10 years because of the need to dilute and discharge the salt residue, known as "bittern," slowly and carefully.
The project to restore Pond 7 and several other parts of the old salt plant has been in the making more than 15 years. It has involved a variety of agencies, including the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which owns the land; the Army Corps of Engineers, which is doing much of the infrastructure work; and the state Coastal Conservancy and federal Bureau of Reclamation, which are providing money and technical expertise.
"We underestimated how long it would take to do this and how many agencies, how many partners" it would require, said Grant Davis, general manager of the water agency, as he stood last week at the end of the recycled water pipeline, next to Pond 7. | <urn:uuid:0bdb54f1-1fb4-46cc-9d37-e9b788960973> | {
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IN the guest conductor's dressing room at Avery Fisher Hall, three items adorn the walls. One is a part for the flute from Dvorak's ''New World'' Symphony. The other two are pages from the scores of ''La Mer,'' by Debussy, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. All three bear liberal markings and alterations from two conductors who led those works with the New York Philharmonic: Gustav Mahler and Arturo Toscanini. Visitors are reminded that not only were both gentlemen music directors of that august institution, but they also altered what composers had written, a practice much in vogue for most of the last century.
Throughout music history, from the time the standard repertory developed, performers have added their own personal touches to past masterpieces. This comes under the heading ''interpretation.'' The conductor most identified with the practice of altering printed scores was Leopold Stokowski. But you have only to trace the performance history of Beethoven's symphonies to find all sorts of subtle as well as drastic changes. Conductors like Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Wilhelm Furtwängler, George Szell and Leonard Bernstein, to name a few, have all contributed to the reorchestration of many works by old masters.
In Mahler's case, it is particularly important to understand the dual nature of his musical life. More respected during his day as a conductor than as a composer, he was one of the few who actually advanced the musical art on both fronts. It is his work as a composer that most people know now, but it is clear from the pages on the wall that his creativity was not limited to his own works.
Mahler prepared editions of the symphonies of Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann. The term he used was ''Retuschen,'' ''retouchings,'' more or less. Mahler never intended for his editions to be thought of as in any way his own compositions, but these changes did not go unnoticed.
''Erroneous'' and ''barbaric,'' screamed the Neue Freie Presse in Vienna. The Wiener Abendpost reported: ''Each note is lighted up, the darkest pathways are illuminated, nothing is lost; the voices that murmur in the shadows are exposed to the glare of the sun, airy lines are weighed down, every nervous fiber of the melody is detached and isolated from the sound fabric as if with a scalpel.''Continue reading the main story
The New York Times remarked after a performance of the Ninth Symphony: ''He uses for some passages two pairs of kettledrums, which make a noise that passes beyond the bounds of musical effect. Elsewhere he accentuates the stroke of the drums with nerve-racking results, as in the scherzo, especially at the very beginning, where the rhythm is marked as by the shots of a rifle.''
These kinds of alterations came in for renewed attacks as the early-music aesthetic of ''authentic'' performance took hold in the 1970's and 80's. But the editions are authentic artifacts of Mahler's era, if not Beethoven's, and valuable indications of what Mahler's performances must have sounded like.
On a tour that begins in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday and ends at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 27 and 28, the National Symphony will perform Beethoven's ''Eroica'' and Ninth Symphonies in editions prepared by Mahler. For listeners who have come to expect ''historically informed'' performances, these versions will come as a shock.
So what did Mahler really do, and why?
For a concert in 1900, he wrote, ''Owing to an ear complaint that ultimately left him totally deaf, Beethoven lost his indispensable and intimate contact with reality and the world of physical sound.'' In addition, Mahler cited the changes that were occurring in his day in instruments and in the size of the orchestra.
He used the expansion of the orchestra to supplement and clarify many textures. In Beethoven's time, the string section might have had as few as six or eight first violins and perhaps a single double bass. Mahler could have 20 or more first violins and certainly would have competed with Strauss in using 10 to 12 basses. Such a body of players would have drowned out several passages in the woodwinds. So Mahler frequently ''doubled'' instruments or added others to make sure that a particular figuration was heard. In the ''Eroica'' Symphony, for example, to a line that Beethoven had assigned to a solo flute Mahler added a second flute and an E flat clarinet.
Then there are the changes in the instruments themselves. The French horns in Beethoven's orchestral works would have been ''natural'' instruments. Lacking valves, they could not perform chromatic passages. Mahler, like many before and after him, simply filled in places where notes were missing. The range of most of the woodwind instruments had increased, too, so Mahler used the added notes to keep the flutes, say, from having to drop an octave for a note or two.
Beethoven used blocks of dynamic levels in his orchestral writing. So if a passage is marked fortissimo, the whole orchestra sees the indication. Conductors commonly adjust levels in these places. After all, the trumpets and timpani playing at full force can often drown out an important melodic line in the strings. Mahler is scrupulous in this matter. He makes sure that all of Beethoven's lines are heard clearly.
It is less clear how Mahler interpreted the pieces himself. Reports vary wildly, and we know that he was a spontaneous musician. Yet there are places in the scores where one can recreate Mahler's conducting style. At the start of the finale of the ''Eroica,'' for example, Mahler notes that the pizzicatos represent a child trying to take its first steps and stumbling. To achieve this effect, Mahler added a slight accelerando, as if to exaggerate the child's attempts. The portamentos and Luftpausen (slides and silences) indicated in the parts will come as a shock to many.
It is also illuminating to see what Mahler does not change. No melodic lines or harmonies are altered. In the Ninth, the choral parts remain unchanged, but there are unusual breathing indications for the soloists. Most surprising, Mahler does not comment on the one thing that has caused the most controversy over the years, Beethoven's metronome markings, indicating the speeds of individual movements. Mahler himself abandoned metronome markings after completing his Second Symphony, so he may simply not have considered them important. Indications like ''allegro'' and ''adagio'' were enough.
Today we have moved toward a musical ethic that considers the printed text sacred. But most composers would have welcomed the advances in the development of instruments. Mahler realized that for his own music to survive, it would have to undergo interpretation by others. Great art flourishes precisely because it can be construed in different ways by succeeding generations. Seeing those pages on the wall with the markings of Toscanini and Mahler, we are reminded that music is a constantly evolving creative process. Hearing how those pages sound, no matter what alterations have been made, reminds us of the durability of those masterpieces.Continue reading the main story | <urn:uuid:afd71f42-35aa-4f25-ab32-af2d1152d8e4> | {
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The Right to Petition:
The Case of Mary Easty
One of the fundamental liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment to the American Constitution is the right to "petition the government for redress of grievances." However, the English colonists living in Salem in 1692 - about a century before the Bill of Rights was adopted - did not enjoy this fundamental right.
In 1692, Mary Easty, a condemned victim of the Hysteria, petitioned the court of Oyer and Terminer which had been called to hear the accusations of Witchcraft. However, she did not have the force of law behind her. The judicial system of the seventeenth century had little respect for individuals and did not recognize the legal rights of women at all. In fact her petition was ignored.
Mary Easty's petition is reproduced on the back of this page. Read it carefully. Come to class prepared to discuss it in some detail. How does it reflect the "justice" of the seventeenth century. How would you describe its "tone". What, if anything, makes the document unusual? Would such a petition be ignored today?
Mary Easty's Petition
Shortly before her death on September 22, 1692, Mary Easty sent the following petition to the magistrates of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and to the Essex County ministers:
"To the honorable judge and bench now sitting in judicature in Salem and the reverend ministers, humbly sheweth that whereas your humble poor petitioner being condemned to die doth humbly beg of you to take it into your judicious and pious consideration that your poor and humble petitioner, knowing my own innocency (blessed by the Lord for it) and seeing plainly the wiles and subtlety of my accusers by myself, cannot but judge charitably of others that are going the same way with myself if the Lord step not mightily in. I was confined a whole month on the same account that I am now condemned for, and then cleared by the afflicted persons, as some of your honors know. And in two days time f was cried out upon by them, and have been confined and am now condemned to die. The Lord above knows my innocency then and likewise doth now, as at the Great Day will be known to men and angels. I petition to your honors not for my own life, for I know I must die, and my appointed time is set. But the Lord He knows it is, if it be possible, that no more innocent blood be shed, which undoubtedly cannot be avoided in the way and course you go in. I question not but your honors do to the utmost of your powers in the discovery and detecting of witchcraft, and witches, and would not be guilty of innocent blood for the world. But by my own innocency I know you are in the wrong way. The Lord in his infinite mercy direct you in this great work, if it be His blessed will, that innocent blood be not shed. I would humbly beg of you that your honors would be pleased to examine some of those confessing witches, I being confident that there are several of them have belied themselves and others, as will appear, if not in this world, I am sure in the world to come, whither I am going. And f question not but yourselves will see an alteration in these things. They say myself and others have made a league with the Devil; we cannot confess. I know and the Lord He knows (as will shortly appear) they belie me, and so I question not but they do others. The Lord alone, who is the searcher of all hearts, knows that I shall answer it at the Tribunal Seat that I know not the least thing of witchcraft, therefore I cannot, I durst not belie my own soul. I beg your honors not to deny this my humble petition for a poor dying innocent person, and I question not but the Lord will give a blessing to your endeavors."
Hansen, Chadwick. Witchcraft at Salem. George Brazilfer: New York. 1969. pps. 151-15 2 . | <urn:uuid:a4f8c1cf-7c57-483f-bacb-f6d44cac0cba> | {
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Boiler feed water treatment
Boiler feed water is called the water which supplies the steam generator of steam boilers. This water is made of additional water and condensate.
To condensate losses, additional water is feed from outside to the water-steam-system.
Water, dissolved gasses and salts can cause corrosion and deposits in the water-steam system. To prevent this, several conditioning agents are supplied.
For the conditioning of boiler feed water, sera offers dosing units for several mediums like caustic soda lye (NaOH), trisodium phosphate (Na3PO4), ammonio water (NH4OH) and hydrazine/ levoxine. | <urn:uuid:7eb482b4-6698-4d47-8c49-45cc79def794> | {
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Academic Language: Everyone's "Second" Language
Being able to speak English fluently does not guarantee that a student will be able to use language effectively in academic settings. Fluency must be combined with higher order thinking skills to create an "academic language," which allows students to effectively present their ideas in a way that others will take seriously. The author, an ELL teacher, describes her use of "protocols" (a cheat sheet of sentence starters) to build students' cognitive academic language proficiency.
"Easing Shift to the U.S. is Goal" is an article by Seema Mehta. The author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of newcomer school[s].
The author states that there are arguments between the program supporters and critics. The supporters point out [that] the school[s] "offer a nurturing transition that helps prepare immigrant[s] students to attend traditional American high schools, and it helps them get used to life in [the] United States. And the students think learning in these programs makes them help each other."
The critics, they think these programs block communication[s] between students of different races and cultures. They also point out [that] the "programs segregate immigrant students and deny them access to electives, after-school sports and other opportunities offered to students at regular schools."
The author concludes that even though the critics still argue that schools do not do enough for students, the supporters say the [newcomer] program[s], with stronger academics and limited stays, at a traditional high school, [allowing] immigrant students to interact with English speaking peers.
This summary of a Los Angeles Times article was written by Shirley, one of my 10th grade English language learners, after six months of explicit teaching of academic protocols. Shirley had been in the U.S. for two years. How had she gotten to this level of academic writing?
When I started teaching as a Spanish bilingual teacher of third graders, I was charged with helping my Spanish readers make the transition to English reading. In helping them with this transition, I focused on contractions, cognates, vowel sounds and other discrete items of language that had been shown to help Spanish readers become successful English readers. But I came to believe that those discrete items weren't enough. I found that I often had to help my students develop their thinking skills before they could analyze what the main idea or the details of a story were; or synthesize what a scientific experiment had demonstrated. These critical thinking skills are often referred to as HOTS — Higher Order Thinking Skills. James Cummins refers to the acquisition of academic competence, (which includes HOTS), by English language learners as Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) to distinguish it from Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS).
Studies have shown that in many English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms, teachers often limit students to lower level questioning such as simple recall questions, i.e. What did the girl say?; What was she wearing? They limit the questions they ask to the lower level of questioning rather than challenging their students to critically engage with texts by asking questions at the higher levels of questioning: ie. Why do you think she said that?; What would you have worn to the party? and Why? All too often, school personnel assume that once a student has acquired BICS, the student will be able to use English effectively in academic settings. However, if English language learners are never engaged critically with the curriculum or taught to use higher order thinking skills, how can we expect them to effectively express themselves in academic settings?
In my classroom, my English learners could express what they wanted but something was missing. Their writing, even though I tried to infuse my lessons with HOTS, was still not very effective. I therefore asked myself, "Besides asking higher order questions to facilitate CALP, can the explicit teaching of oral and written academic protocols help students to achieve academic success?"
One of the most common myths regarding the acquisition of language is that once language learners are able to speak reasonably fluently, their problems in school are likely to be over. When a student can talk about a movie or discuss what they ate last night, it does not automatically transfer into better grades at school. This fluency merely reflects their acquisition of BICS. The ability to speak a second language, especially in conversational settings, does not guarantee that a student will be able to use the language effectively in academic settings or to acquire ALP.
Many believe that if we expose English language learners to HOTS, they will achieve CALP. I have come to realize that learning HOTS does not necessarily lead to CALP. English language learners need a third component to achieve academic success; they need to learn academic language. By academic language, I mean the language of power that will ensure that students express themselves in ways that people will listen to them and take their ideas seriously. Language that will also ensure that teachers assess their writing more positively. No one is born with the ability to use academic language; it is a second language for everyone. English language learners must be explicitly taught academic language and given consistent practice with it, as well as HOTS, in order to achieve CALP.
During the past year, I have made the explicit teaching of academic protocols a part of my teaching. After attending a staff development session with Dr. Kate Kinsella, I decided to focus on the academic protocols that she presented. I wanted my students to use academic protocols in classroom settings across the curriculum in all their classes. This article will discuss the protocols, how I infused them into my teaching, and some of the results that were observed with one of my students, Shirley.
I teach in an urban high school where 52% of the student body is Asian, while 47% is Latino. About 31% of the student population is classified as English Language Learners. During the past four years, I have taught a class called "Advanced Writing for English Language Learners". This is the last class students take before they are placed in a regular English-only class. Students in the class range from freshmen to seniors. I have students for daily fifty-five minute periods.
I started the year by talking about language. I explained to my students why I believe that "language is power" and about the value of being able to speak and write effectively. We discussed social registers (i.e. the way you talk to your friends vs. the way you speak to the school principal) and this way, I introduced the topic of academic language. My students were interested and excited because they realized that it could give them power. I explained that I would be giving them papers to which they could refer when they were speaking or writing and that these papers were to be kept in a special part of their binders. I further explained that I wanted them to try and use what they learned in my class in their other academic classes and to report what happened when they did.
I then passed out the academic protocols sheets and told my students that these would be their "cheat sheets". Protocols are sentence starters that can be used to scaffold the acquisition of academic language. When I asked the class to use academic protocols, they could refer to the sheet. I then modeled how the protocols could be used to report out from a group. For example, "The author stated that men had heart attacks more often than women. He explained that men did not often express their feelings. This is of significance because men die at earlier ages than women."
My students sit in groups of four to facilitate cooperative group work so I asked them to discuss what they did over the weekend with each other. While they did this, I walked around and asked them to pick a 3x5 card with the number "1, 2, 3, or 4" on it. The number was placed in front of them while they continued their discussions. This strategy is called "numbered heads" and can be used when students are going to share out from a group.
After a few minutes, I asked that the student with the number 2 in each group (for example) stand and report about their group's activities over the weekend using one of the protocols from their cheat sheets. I modeled how this could be done first, ie. Van mentioned that she went shopping. Moi added that he went to the movies. Shirley was among this first group to report. Shirley had come from Taiwan and like many of my students, never spoke in class. She was very hesitant about her English skills and rarely, if ever, smiled. One of her early papers had spoken of her anger about being brought to a country where she did not have friends nor the ability to talk to anyone. She represented the majority of my class. I had three Latino students, while the rest were from Taiwan, China, and Vietnam.
After this first reporting session, I asked the reporting students how they felt using the academic protocols. Shirley said, "Funny. It's not the way I talk." I then asked the listeners what they thought as they listened to their classmates using academic terms. Cindy immediately piped up, "They sound so smart." Moi said, "It [don't] sound like us." I reminded them about the social registers we had discussed. We then listed some benefits in using academic protocols when we speak and when we write. I also emphasized that academic language is a second language for everyone. And I wanted to make sure that someone taught them this valuable language.
When I taught summary writing, I modeled writing a summary using the academic protocols on their cheat sheets. After they had copied my model, we practiced how we could use the various protocols. For homework, I asked my students to summarize a book or movie and to be sure to include three academic protocols in the summary.
The next day, I asked the students to do a "read around" with their homework summaries before they turned them in. I asked them what they thought about the writing they had shared. Their comments ranged from "it's ok" to "they [the protocols] made our writing sound better." Students also shared that the protocols had helped them to organize their writing and that looking at my model had helped them to really understand how summaries should be written. When students reflect on what they have done and why, they are practicing matacognition and this helps them to internalize what they have learned.
The poem, "Elena", was written by Pat Mora. The poem is about a mother who was [try] to learn English and was try[ing] to help her children when they needed it.
The author discusses that this mother was embarrass[ed] when she couldn't speak English correctly but her children could. She [trying] her best because one day her children would need her help.
The author concludes that mothers always think of their children, and they do whatever they can in order to help their children. The author also points out that people need to learn to speak the language of the country [where] they live.
— Summary written by Shirley after one month of working with protocols
As the year progressed, I had my students read and discuss articles from the Los Angeles Times newspaper. When I read their summaries, I was amazed at the difference the academic protocols had made in terms of helping to organize and to clearly express the students' thoughts. Shirley's writing was clear and concise while many had managed to reduce a summary from two pages to three paragraphs!
Throughout the year, I tried to use the "numbered heads" strategy, the academic reporting protocols as well as the summarizing protocols at least once a month with my students. I also asked them to try to use the strategies in their other classes.
By March, I had begun to see development in my students' writing. Many were using the protocols in their writing without my urging. Members of the class were consistently writing better summaries and Moi, Cindy, and others were even joking and using the oral protocols when reporting to the class. Overall, I was happy with the results I was observing. Most of the students had progressed in their knowledge and use of academic language.
Shyly, hesitantly at first, but with growing confidence as the year progressed, Shirley had begun to smile and to greet me with a quiet "Good morning." During the year, I often asked my students if they were speaking in their other classes. In April, Shirley admitted that she had been trying to speak in other classes and that it was "getting easier." I asked her why. She told me that the monthly poetry recitals in my class and the reporting out from the group activities had helped her feel better about speaking in English. Students told me, "We need to practice our English but teachers don't ask us to speak." After further questioning, I realized that they were referring to the lack of "opportunities to speak" in other classes. As their teacher, I need to provide opportunities for my students to speak and to learn from each other, as well as opportunities to report on what is learned.
One of the ways I have attempted to do this is by having students share an opinion using academic protocols, before they leave my class. If we have been discussing or reading about intelligence, for example, I will write on the board, "Girls are/are not more intelligent than boys because they think before they speak." They can complete the statement any way they please as long as it makes sense and they use an academic protocol. I explain that we will do this once or twice a week to practice using academic language. I try to do it at the end of the period, and I either stand by the door and listen as each student completes the statement (and leaves) or do a "whip" around the room (and no one can leave until everyone has shared).
At the end of the school year when I asked my students to do an evaluation of the class, the two things that they mentioned most were how "using the oral protocols to report for the group was hard but they felt more confident about using English and speaking in their other classes." They also felt that they could now do better summaries because "they could use academic language to say what they wanted."
When I asked Shirley to comment on her writing and speaking during the year, she thanked me because "she hated talking and writing in English before, but the protocols helped." She also added that "now I feel I can write a summary in any class."
This year my students taught me that the use of higher order thinking skills and academic language protocols, when used consistently over time, can facilitate the acquisition of cognitive academic language proficiency. This in turn can lead to academic success for all learners, especially English language learners. Teachers of English language learners, at all grade levels, need to infuse their lessons with both Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and academic protocols, so that all our students can be fluent in academic language, everyone's second language!
Click the "References" link above to hide these references.
Cummins, Jim. (1981). The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. In California State Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework. (pp. 3–49). Los Angeles: Evaluation, Dissemination and Assessment Center California State University.
Delpit, Lisa. (1995). Other peoples' children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The New Press.
Kinsella, Kate, Ed.D. Staff Development on "Reading to Learn: Strategies and Skills that Boost Content Area Reading (Grades 4–12)". March, 2001.
Montaño–Harmon, Maria Rosario. Discourse Features of Written Mexican Spanish: Current Research in Contrastive Rhetoric and Its Implications. Hispania, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 417–425, May, 1991.
This National Writing Project article first appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of California English, the journal of the California Association of Teachers of English.
Comments and Recommendations12 comments | | <urn:uuid:3f9b7139-52cb-42e2-b147-7936abc0cc7e> | {
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Franzén on Use and Abuse of Gödel's Theorem
Don't you wish someone would write a book that catalogs all the various ways in which one can misstate, misunderstand, and misapply Gödel's theorems, and how to correct such misunderstandings? A book that you can send your students off to read when they say stuff like, "Gödel showed that there is no mathematical truth," or "The mind can go outside the system, but no formal system can because of incompleteness, so the mind is not a formal system." Well, it's here. Torkel Franzén has been tireless for at least 15 years in correcting misunderstandings relating to logic on sci.logic (which was a lot of fun in the pre-AOL days), on FOM, and elsewhere. He has a book out last year in the ASL's Lecture Notes in Logic series, which is an excellent technical treatment, and now a fine popular book: Gödel's Theorem. An Incomplete Guide to its Use and Abuse (A K Peters, 2005). A brief excerpt from a forthcoming review in History and Philosophy of Logic:
On the heels of Franzén's fine technical exposition of Gödel's incompleteness theorems and related topics comes this survey of the incompleteness theorems aimed at a general audience. Gödel's Theorem. An Incomplete Guide to its Use and Abuse is an extended and self-contained exposition of the incompleteness theorems and a discussion of what informal consequences can, and in particular cannot, be drawn from them. The book is divided into seven chapters. A brief introduction outlines the aims and contents of the book, a lengthy second chapter introduces the incompleteness theorems and outlines their proofs in non-technical terms, and chapter 3 discusses computability and its connections with the incompleteness theorems. Chapter 7 deals with the completeness theorem, and chapter 8 outlines and criticizes Chaitin's work on information-theoretic complexity and its relationship to incompleteness. An appendix fills in some of the technical details. The remaining three chapters (4−6) are devoted to dispelling confusions about incompleteness. Chapter 4, “Incompleteness Everywhere”, dispenses with some basic misconceptions, examples range from atrocious yet all-too-common claims made in Internet discussions (“Gödel's theorems show that the Bible is either inconsistent or incomplete.”) to published remarks by the likes of Freeman Dyson and Stephen Hawking. As one might expect, the corrections here are often basic (e.g., pointing out that the Bible is not a formal system of arithmetic), but just as often they are quite subtle. The (purported) implications of Gödel's theorems for the character of mathematical knowledge and for the nature of the mind (the anti-mechanist arguments of Lucas and Penrose) receive extended treatment in chapters 5 (“Skepticism and confidence”) and 6 (“Gödel, minds, and computers”), respectively.It's out now from A K Peters; Powell's and Amazon don't ship it yet, but you can preorder from Amazon.
UPDATE: The book's shipping now, and is also available from Powells.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Sol Feferman kindly sent a link to his letter to the editor of the New Your Review of Books on Dyson's review in which he (Dyson) appealed to Gödel's theorem. | <urn:uuid:88788ab2-8d6e-4b68-a268-4db811eafa1a> | {
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: Hello, i read that you use lead stencils to charge select regions of the
: acrlyic, and also saw images of parallel plane discharge. I was thinking,
: is it possible to charge planes to intersect perpendicularly with one
: another so you discharge, two "trees" are formed at right
: angles? Also, wouldnt the edges of the trees kind of swirl towards each
: other following the merging electric field lines?
: Would this be possibly? Or is there already something like this and i just
: missed it?
: Thanks in advance, Steve.
In theory, your idea would work, However, in practice, the accelerator we use is limited to a maximum of 5 MeV. At this beam energy, the charge plane will be located only about 1/2" below the surface of the acrylic that's being irradiated. This is simply too shallow to form a recognizable cross-like structure within a 1" square specimen. If we were to use a significantly more powerful accelerator that drove electrons to a depth of 1" or more, we might be able to form a cross-like pair of charge planes. Higher energy pulsed accelerators do exist but renting beam time on these is either considerably more expensive and others are not available for general research.
There's another difficulty as well. Once irradiated, the imbedded charge plane slowly diffuses with time. The charged cross will develop an expanding cylindrical discharge region centered about the axis where the planes cross. At 5 MeV, about the best we can do is to irradiate various external surfaces to create internal shapes within thicker pieces, such as spheres in spheres, cubes in cubes, or multiple parallel planes. | <urn:uuid:153605fa-dd34-4673-92d0-8e423e066d2f> | {
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In this article from the Topeka Journal, Albin K. Longren predicts that air travel will soon be as common and affordable as travel by motor vehicle. Longren also contends that the airplane manufacturing plant that he intends on setting up will be capable of producing twenty-five airplanes per day in order to meet the anticipated demand.
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: June 12, 1919
This article is an excellent resource that helps students comprehend the level of enthusiasm that accompanied aviation in its early days. In particular, the article helps students appreciate the fact that many aviation pioneers sincerely believed that airplanes would be a common as cars throughout the United States.
KS: 7th: 4.2.A. significance of the work of entrepreneurial Kansans in the aviation industry
Item Number: 213296
Call Number: K629.13, Aviation Clippings, Vol. 1, 1909-1930, item 113
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 213296
Business and Industry - Aviation - Production - Longren
Collections - Library
Curriculum - 7th Grade Standards - Kansas History Standards - 1880s to 1920s (Benchmark 4) - Aviation entrepreneurs (Indicator 6) - Alvin Longren - Albin Longren
Date - 1910s - 1919
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Newspaper - clipping
People - Notable Kansans - Longren, Albin K.
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Thematic Time Period - Industrialization and the National Economy, 1870-1920
Transportation - Air Travel - Companies - Longren
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The greatest problems facing present-day societies are lovelessness and intolerance. The replacement of dictatorships by other loveless administrations cannot lead to any significant social change in societies where hatred and rage predominate. So long as no teacher of love summons the people of a country to love, peace, brotherhood and unity, societies going through such processes can never achieve peace and happiness.
One example of this situation is Libya. When profound social change known as the Arab Spring began in 2010, Qaddafi’s repressive system collapsed along with it in a period of eight months; a new age thus began for Libya.
However, the Qaddafi-free period was a far cry from responding to such vital demands as democracy, liberty, the rule of the law and respect for human rights. Libyans found themselves out of the frying pan and into the fire. There is currently a rabid clash of interests in the country. Since the components that make up the country regard one another with hatred, political authority is far from the democracy desired by the Libyan people. The country, wracked by terrorist actions, clashes between tribes and militias, kidnappings, sporadic invasions of oil fields and people living in abject fear, is on the brink of falling apart.
But how did the country get to this point?
The Qaddafi Period
Libya lies on the southern coast of the Mediterranean and possesses lands rich in oil. Although it declared independence in 1951, it saw Qaddafi come to power in a coup in 1969. Qaddafi established a sort-of republic called ‘Jamahiriya’, meaning state of the masses, intended to bring the tribes of the country together in a spirit of national consciousness. He collected his thoughts in a three-volume tome known as the Green Book. In his view, true democracy was possible with his system which he presented as an alternative to communism and capitalism. Indeed, Qaddafi’s system was nothing other than a synthesis of Arab nationalism and communism as interpreted by Qaddafi; he was clearly much influenced by Mao’s ”Little Red Book”. In practice, the Libyan people were forced to live for years under Qaddafi’s eccentric rule and despotism.
Eighty-five percent of the approximately six million population of Libya consists of tribes and clans; Libya in fact consists of more than 140 tribes. Geographically, ever since ancient times, Libya has consisted of three main regions: Cyrenaica, Tripoli and Phasania. Much of the country consists of desert. In the East is Cyrenaica based around Benghazi, Tripoli around the city of the same name in the West, and Phasania based around Sabha on the Northwest. These three regions are Libya’s power centers.
Rivalry, tensions, disputes and disagreements between tribes and clans came to a halt during Qaddafi’s 42-year iron rule; this violence was halted by violence. Conflicts again raised their head after Qaddafi was overthrown, however.
One of the main problems is the division of Libyan oil resources between Tripoli and Benghazi. Most of the country’s oil fields are in the region of Cyrenaica based around Benghazi. The militia forces that control the oil fields located some 1,000 km east from the capital, Tripoli, want to seize that wealth for themselves. The Libyan government lacks the power and authority to resolve the problem; all it can do is issue threats. Libya’s petrol production has fallen to just 10% of its previous capacity. Declining revenues mean that the people of Libya are unable to import food and other basic needs.
Debates over, and demands for, federalism are one of the main obstacles to stability in Libya. Division means that the people will face still worse problems.
A huge civil war between Eastern and Western Libya is on the horizon.
It is estimated that since the start of the Civil War in 2011 some 1,700 militia groups have emerged; fear and uncertainty therefore reign in Libya today, and nobody is safe. Although the Libyan government is trying to disarm them and bring them under control, it has not been completely successful. The militia are still able to operate freely and regard themselves as executive, legislature and judicial authority. The Libyan government is quite helpless in the face of these militias and has had to officially recognize that they enjoy partial autonomy. Kidnappings, including that of Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaydan in 2013, assassinations, bombings, suicide attacks and illegal acts of all manner are going on. As I said at the beginning of this piece, where there are no policies of love, disagreements turn into conflict and hatred.
There is no doubt that certain Western countries’ plan to design a Libya in line with their own interests play a major role in the current turmoil in Libya. The defenders of untrammeled savage capitalism, with its concept of exploitation, consider their own interests more than the welfare of the people of a country.
The Only Way out for Libya
The present situation in Libya might be described as a dead-end. Some researchers suggest that a “miracle” is needed if Libya is to avoid collapse entirely and pull itself together. The situation in the country, which could be one of the wealthiest in the region with its rich oil and natural gas reserves, is indeed thought-provoking.
There is only one way out for Libya, with its 97% Muslim population: a union of Islamic countries modelled on the European Union and which has signed up to all EU criteria. That union will build a union of nation-states based on love and brotherhood, which has implemented universal human rights and all the ECHR rules. It will be a union containing different ethnic components, in which different beliefs are regarded as enriching, in which ‘peace,’ the root of the word Islam, is fully implemented in all spheres, and which aspires to the utmost levels of art, beauty and quality.
Such a union is also in the interests of the West. Several Western diplomats and investors have been on the receiving end of the violence. A climate of instability threatens not just the Libyans, but all nations. That also has a deleterious impact on tourism and social and cultural life. The differences of opinion, life style and belief between the West and Muslims reveal just how important it is for there to be an arbiter on all matters, from trade to neighborliness, someone to calm matters down, a teacher of love. The policies of love that are so deeply embedded in Islam will appear in a Union of Islamic Countries capable of resolving internal disputes quickly and peaceably.
Adnan Oktar's piece on News Rescue: | <urn:uuid:db545fa8-b414-4474-93ff-281606a1f089> | {
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Reductionism in the neurosciences has been incredibly productive, but it has been difficult to reconstruct how high-level behaviors emerge from the myriad biological mechanisms discovered with such reductionistic methods. This is most clearly true in the case of the motor system, which has long been studied as the programming of motor actions (at its least reductionistic). However, as pointed out by Mars et al., the brain is almost constantly enacting motor plans, and so the initiation of actions is more likely preceded by motor reprogramming than anything else. However, that process has only been studied in the domain of response inhibition, in the sense that previously-programmed actions must presumably be inhibited in order for "reprogramming" to take place.
To clarify the difference between the processes involved in motor programming and in motor reprogramming, Mars et al. used a fairly simple task. Basically, subjects saw one of 4 possible shapes, two of which indicated the need for a left button press, and the other two indicated the need for a right button press. However, subjects were instructed not to respond until they heard a tone, which followed the onset of the shapes by 1-5s on 60% of trials. However, in 15% of the trials (neutral trials), the shape did not appear until the tone occurred (a 0s delay). In another 15% of trials (switch trials), the first shape was followed by one or more different shapes; subjects were to respond according to the last shape seen. Thus, subjects learned to prepare their responses before the onset of the tone, although sometimes this wasn't possible (in the 15% of trials where the tone & shape were simultaneous) and sometimes this was actually a wasted effort (in the 15% of trials in which multiple shapes appeared). Subjects completed this task while being scanned with fMRI, having previously practiced these tasks in the following order: 40 standard trials, 40 neutral trials, 192 trials with all three trials types intermixed.
Along with some fancy statistics, this task allows Mars et al to dissociate the neural processes associated with motor programming (in terms of the neural response to the first shape), motor reprogramming (the neural response to the second shape on 15% of trials), and motor execution (the neural response to the tone). For the fMRI geeks, they used an interesting approach (with references to Toni et al.) in which the jitter between trials is not always an integer multiple of the TR, and they controlled for the differences in trial frequency by retaining only those voxels which showed differential effects in the frequency-matched conditions. (I have some gripes with this latter claim, since a voxel might show differential effects in frequency-matched conditions if those voxels are both frequency sensitive and sensitive to other variables.... anyway.)
Posterior parietal & premotor cortices were involved in movement programming, independent of reprogramming and execution (as assessed by the Nichols et al conjunction technique). On the other hand, switch trials - relative to standard trials - differentially activated left & right insula, right inferior frontal gyrus, and right precentral gyrus. Only the latter region survived a contrast designed to control for the "increased attention to action associated with selecting a response under time pressure" (although this contrast also controls for a frequency difference between the trial types). This has particular relevance for theories of response inhibition, in which right ventral prefrontal cortex is thought to be involved in the cancellation of responses. If that accurately characterized the function of right ventral PFC, we would expect right ventral PFC to be more active during switch than neutral trials (in which no response inhibition should occur). Since they are not, it indicates that right ventral PFC may be important for increased attention to responses under time pressure (to use their phrasing) or, more conventionally, in the processing of the infrequent stimulus.
Nonetheless, Mars et al did observe greater activity in the right prefrontal cortex during the switch trials than the neutral trials, indicating that trial frequency alone is not enough to explain these results. However, this region was in the premotor cortex, not the ventral prefrontal cortex, contrasting with some previous work on the locus of response inhibition.
No regions showed more activity in response to the standard than switch trials, and the authors conducted a control analysis to ensure that none of the above differences were due to between-trial response repetitions vs. switches - i.e., a task-switching effect.)
In summary, Mars et al demonstrate that parietal and premotor regions are involved in programming a response, and that distinct areas of parietal cortex are additionally recruited when reprogramming a response. In the prefrontal cortex, only right premotor regions were specifically involved in the reprogramming of a response after controlling for "time pressure" or frequency sensitivity. In my opinion, this is one of the finest studies to build on reductionism in cognitive neuroscience and reconstruct a more ecologically-valid and network-level picture of the link between brain and behavior.
R. B. Mars, C. Piekema, M. G. H. Coles, W. Hulstijn, I. Toni (2007). On the Programming and Reprogramming of Actions Cerebral Cortex, 17 (12), 2972-2979 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhm022 | <urn:uuid:80d95041-1ad7-47f8-b181-60607179abd7> | {
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Completing a FAFSA is the first step in applying for most federal, state, and college-provided financial aid for students. It stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid because it is filed with the US Department of Education, but most state-sponsored and college-sponsored aid requires the same FAFSA filing, so it is not only for federally sponsored student aid as the name might imply.
The FAFSA is used by aid providers to determine the amount of the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is the amount that they expect the student’s family could contribute toward the student’s college education. EFC varies from student to student since it is based on the specific financial situation of the student and often of the student’s parents as well.
The FAFSA is often 100+ questions long and can cover various areas such as the student’s family situation, the student’s educational background, the student’s educational plans and prospective colleges, the student’s finances, the student’s spouse’s finances, and the student’s parents’ finances. Whether or not parent financial information is required depends on whether or not the student is determined to still be a dependent of one of their parents.
Once the FAFSA application is completed and filed, a federal processor will examine all the information provided and pass the examination results on to the financial aid offices of the preferred colleges listed on the FAFSA. | <urn:uuid:584623d3-d900-46ab-85da-6ef78d46952c> | {
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Operations and Algebraic Thinking
5.OA Write and interpret numerical expressions.
MGSE5.OA.1 Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.
MGSE5.OA.2 Write simple expressions that record calculations with numbers, and interpret numerical expressions without evaluating them. For example, express the calculation “add 8 and 7, then multiply by 2” as 2 × (8 + 7). Recognize that 3 × (18932 + 921) is three times as large as 18932 + 921, without having to calculate the indicated sum or product. Analyze patterns and relationships.
MGSE5.OA.3 Generate two numerical patterns using a given rule. Identify apparent relationships between corresponding terms by completing a function table or input/output table. Using the terms created, form and graph ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.
Number and Operations in Base Ten
5.NBT Understand the place value system.
MGSE5.NBT.1 Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represents in the place to its left.
MGSE5.NBT.2 Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain patterns in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10.
MGSE5.NBT.3 Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths.
a. Read and write decimals to thousandths using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form, e.g., 347.392 = 3 × 100 + 4 × 10 + 7 × 1 + 3 × (1/10) + 9 × (1/100) + 2 × (1/1000).
b. Compare two decimals to thousandths based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons.
MGSE5.NBT.4 Use place value understanding to round decimals up to the hundredths place. Perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths.
MGSE5.NBT.5 Fluently multiply multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm (or other strategies demonstrating understanding of multiplication) up to a 3 digit by 2 digit factor.
MGSE5.NBT.6 Fluently divide up to 4-digit dividends and 2-digit divisors by using at least one of the following methods: strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations or concrete models. (e.g., rectangular arrays, area models)
MGSE5.NBT.7 Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.
Number and Operations – Fractions
5.NF Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions.
MGSE5.NF.1 Add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators by finding a common denominator and equivalent fractions to produce like denominators.
MGSE5.NF.2 Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions, including cases of unlike denominators (e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem). Use benchmark fractions and number sense of fractions to estimate mentally and assess the reasonableness of answers. For example, recognize an incorrect result 2/5 + ½ = 3/7, by observing that 3/7 < ½. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions.
MGSE5.NF.3 Interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator (a/b = a ÷ b). Solve word problems involving division of whole numbers leading to answers in the form of fractions or mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem. Example: 3 5 can be interpreted as “3 divided by 5 and as 3 shared by 5”.
MGSE5.NF.4 Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction or whole number by a fraction. a. Apply and use understanding of multiplication to multiply a fraction or whole number by a fraction. Examples: 𝑎 𝑏 × 𝑞 as 𝑎 𝑏 × 𝑞 1 and 𝑎 𝑏 × 𝑐 𝑑 = 𝑎𝑎 𝑏𝑏 b. Find the area of a rectangle with fractional side lengths by tiling it with unit squares of the appropriate unit fraction side lengths, and show that the area is the same as would be found by multiplying the side lengths.
MGSE5.NF.5 Interpret multiplication as scaling (resizing), by:
a. Comparing the size of a product to the size of one factor on the basis of the size of the other factor, without performing the indicated multiplication. Example: 4 x 10 is twice as large as 2 x 10.
b. Explaining why multiplying a given number by a fraction greater than 1 results in a product greater than the given number (recognizing multiplication by whole numbers greater than 1 as a familiar case); explaining why multiplying a given number by a fraction less than 1 results in a product smaller than the given number; and relating the principle of fraction equivalence a/b = (n×a)/(n×b) to the effect of multiplying a/b by 1.
MGSE5.NF.6 Solve real world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem.
MGSE5.NF.7 Apply and extend previous understandings of division to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions.
a. Interpret division of a unit fraction by a non-zero whole number, and compute such quotients. For example, create a story context for (1/3) ÷ 4, and use a visual fraction model to show the quotient. Use the relationship between multiplication and division to explain that (1/3) ÷ 4 = 1/12 because (1/12) × 4 = 1/3.
b. Interpret division of a whole number by a unit fraction, and compute such quotients. For example, create a story context for 4 ÷ (1/5), and use a visual fraction model to show the quotient. Use the relationship between multiplication and division to explain that 4 ÷ (1/5) = 20 because 20 × (1/5) = 4.
c. Solve real world problems involving division of unit fractions by non-zero whole numbers and division of whole numbers by unit fractions, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem. For example, how much chocolate will each person get if 3 people share 1/2 lb of chocolate equally? How many 1/3-cup servings are in 2 cups of raisins?
Measurement and Data
5.MD Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system.
MGSE5.MD.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units (mass, weight, length, time, etc.) within a given measurement system (customary and metric) (e.g., convert 5cm to 0.05m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems. Represent and interpret data.
MGSE5.MD.2 Make a line plot to display a data set of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8). Use operations on fractions for this grade to solve problems involving information presented in line plots. For example, given different measurements of liquid in identical beakers, find the amount of liquid each beaker would contain if the total amount in all the beakers were redistributed equally. Students able to multiply fractions in general can develop strategies to divide fractions in general, by reasoning about the relationship between multiplication and division. But division of a fraction by a fraction is not a requirement at this grade.
Geometric Measurement: understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and division.
MGSE5.MD.3 Recognize volume as an attribute of solid figures and understand concepts of volume measurement.
a. A cube with side length 1 unit, called a “unit cube,” is said to have “one cubic unit” of volume, and can be used to measure volume. b. A solid figure which can be packed without gaps or overlaps using n unit cubes is said to have a volume of n cubic units.
MGSE5.MD.4 Measure volumes by counting unit cubes, using cubic cm, cubic in, cubic ft, and improvised units.
MGSE5.MD.5 Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume.
a. Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with whole-number side lengths by packing it with unit cubes, and show that the volume is the same as would be found by multiplying the edge lengths, equivalently by multiplying the height by the area of the base. Represent threefold whole-number products as volumes, e.g., to represent the associative property of multiplication.
b. Apply the formulas V = l × w × h and V = b × h for rectangular prisms to find volumes of right rectangular prisms with whole number edge lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems. c. Recognize volume as additive. Find volumes of solid figures composed of two non-overlapping right rectangular prisms by adding the volumes of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real world problems.
5.G Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
MGSE5.G.1 Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).
MGSE5.G.2 Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation. Classify two-dimensional figures into categories based on their properties.
MGSE5.G.3 Understand that attributes belonging to a category of two-dimensional figures also belong to all subcategories of that category. For example, all rectangles have four right angles and squares are rectangles, so all squares have four right angles.
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A record number of manatees have died because of Florida's lengthy winter, and so many manatees are turning up stressed by the cold that it's straining the statewide system for caring for the injured marine mammals.
So far this year the number of manatees killed by the cold is approaching 200, which Martine DeWit of the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute called "really unprecedented."
By mid February, 301 manatees had turned up dead from various causes. The average number of deaths for this time of year over the previous five years is just 10, DeWit said.
Of that number 167 were killed by the cold, she said. Another 50 were spotted dead in the Everglades by park rangers but could not be recovered, and they are also presumed to be cold-related deaths, she said.
The St. Petersburg laboratory where biologists dissect manatees to determine what killed them has been running around the clock to keep up with the load, DeWit said.
Manatees cannot tolerate water temperatures below 65 degrees. Cold-stressed manatees tend to die slowly, with their fat depleting and their immune system failing. The manatees killed by this year's record cold have died more abruptly, with full stomachs and plenty of remaining fat on their bodies.
"It happened so quickly that even if we had been right there, I doubt we could have helped them," DeWit said.
Lowry Park Zoo spokeswoman Rachel Nelson noted that her facility has been moving animals out to make room for what they thought would be an onslaught of cold-stressed animals.
Three were moved to the South Florida Museum in Bradenton to share space with 61-year-old star Snooty the manatee — in a tank that is supposed to hold only two animals — while others were moved to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.
But the onslaught of patients has not been quite as heavy as anticipated, Nelson said, because "so many of the animals just perished.''
Still, there were enough to push the manatee rehabilitation system to take some unusual steps. A pair of ailing manatees that were recently rescued in Crystal River normally would have been treated at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa or Sea World in Orlando. Instead they had to be trucked south to the Miami Seaquarium because those closer facilities had no room.
"The staff is working overtime since the beginning of the year to respond to every animal," said Nicole Adimey, who oversees manatee rescue and rehabilitation efforts for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "This is costing everyone an enormous amount of resources."
Some manatees that have been in captivity have been released back into the wild to make room for the expected influx of more patients. This week Lowry Park Zoo released Slip, a manatee that lived most of its captive life at the Cincinnati Zoo, into Blue Springs.
On Tuesday, five more manatees that Lowry Park has cared for were released in Three Sisters Springs. One came directly from Lowry, and the other four were manatees that Lowry had sent to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park around Christmas to make room.
The state spent about $600,000 last year rescuing and rehabilitating 28 manatees at Lowry Park Zoo, $315,000 rehabilitating 22 manatees at Sea World and $165,000 treating 11 manatees at the Seaquarium. Already 18 manatees have been rescued this year for treatment, Adimey said. She did not know how much money had been spent so far on the animals, but said that the enterprise has "taken an enormous amount of cooperation and jockeying around."
Adimey said it appeared that the manatees may have been holed up for too long in warm-water refuges such as Crystal River's Three Sisters Springs and various power plant outfalls. They grew hungry enough to go back out looking for food, then died from the shock of encountering the cold.
Even in the warm-water refuges, the cold has been a constant threat. Tracy Colson, a long-time manatee watcher and videographer, was at Three Sisters through most of the cold snap and said she has seen things this year she has not seen before, including manatees "shivering so hard their flippers have been shivering" and signs of frostbite.
There was one bright spot, as cold weather pushed the animals to congregate in warmer areas: Biologists were able to count a record 5,067 manatees in state waters last month. | <urn:uuid:cdf3171f-0308-4b95-8b88-9a20fa0ad409> | {
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By now, the negative effects of stress are pretty well known. Stress can lead to skin breakouts, disrupted sleep and even weight gain. But in a massive study, researchers can now confirm that stress also increases the risk for autoimmune diseases, including Crohn’s disease and celiac disease.
The Swedish study was published in the journal, JAMA, last month. In it, close to 1 million people were observed over a 30-year period. While researchers were already aware of that stress can compromise immune function, they set out to discover whether life stressors can increase the risk for autoimmune diseases.
Researchers began with more than 100,000 individuals who were diagnosed with stress-related disorders, including PTSD. These subjects were matched with 1 million other individuals who had no stress disorder diagnoses.
What scientists discovered is that 30 to 40 percent of the individuals diagnosed with a stress-related disorder were also diagnosed with some form of autoimmune disease – 41 diseases to be precise.
Their research also found that the younger the subject was when diagnosed with PTSD, the greater their risk for autoimmune disease was. | <urn:uuid:d4c392e6-2ed6-4e05-b1b2-17534181b533> | {
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Elizabeth Isichei. The Religious Traditions of Africa: A History. Westport: Praeger, 2004. xii + 409 pp. $74.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-325-07114-5.
Reviewed by Joel Tishken (History Department, Columbus State University)
Published on H-SAfrica (January, 2008)
A number of academic disciplines, history chief among them, prioritize analysis over synthesis. Thankfully Elizabeth Isichei pays that tradition no heed in creating another grand work on Africa's religious past. Those familiar with the author's prior work of synthesis on the religions of Africa, A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present (1995), will quickly notice the similar style of this text. Once again the text is an easily readable and engaging narrative, peppered with examples and anecdotes, and clearly organized into frequent subheadings. At times, this reviewer questioned the meta-organization of the text regarding African indigenous religions, an issue I will address in greater detail below. In fairness, the author does acknowledge that her text is but one possible response to the difficulty of writing on a subject as immense as Africa's religious history.
Isichei organizes the work into four major parts that discuss religions to 600 CE: Islam, Christianity, and African traditional religions. The author acknowledges the importance of Gnosticism, Manichaeanism, Hinduism, and Judaism (and, one might add, Phoenician religion, Roman religion, Greek religion, and Baha'ism) for particular epochs and regions of Africa, but says the impact of such religions has not been not sufficiently widespread or long-lasting for inclusion in a text of this nature. I think we can surely agree with the logic behind such a decision, as the impact of these religions has been quite small when compared to that of Islam, Christianity, and traditional religions.
The first part addresses religion to 600 CE. The section title is a bit of a misnomer and contains just two chapters. The first of these chapters is a strong theoretical one on the study of "traditional" religions. I would recommend this chapter to anyone interested in the production of knowledge or the study of religion as it nicely summarizes the nature of indigenous religions as well as extant issues regarding academia's priorities concerning religion. The treatment is very fair indeed and challenges both Eurocentric and nationalist interpretations of Africa's religious past.
Isichei contends, in the last portion of this chapter, that there is a long-standing tradition of using a single culture, or case study, to represent continental trends. I would not challenge the use of such a strategy and am perfectly comfortable with its careful application. What I would take exception with is Isichei's choice of cases to illustrate the nature of traditional religions on a continental scale--ancient Egyptian religion. I do not wish to challenge the African credentials of ancient Egypt and would rather not enter a debate on the nature of the ancient Egyptians. However, I would contend that the themes illustrated by ancient Egyptian religion are anomalous beyond the ancient Nile valley. Ancient Egyptian religion seems a very poor choice to exemplify the nature of African indigenous religions. Moreover, three-and-a-half pages are hardly enough coverage to serve such a critical function. One does not gain a very good understanding of the nature of traditional religions by either the selection of the case or the amount of coverage.
The second chapter of part 1 concerns the early church in northern Africa. The chapter is a strong one, introducing the various churches and movements in ancient North Africa and the Nile valley, yet seems curiously positioned, as it is separated from the later Christian material. But perhaps more importantly, given the brevity of coverage on African traditional religions that precedes it, those readers unfamiliar with Africa's religious past might easily come away with the impression that most Africans prior to 600 CE were Christian.
Isichei proceeds to discuss Islam in part 2. The seven chapters in this part are organized both chronologically and geographically (much like the way A History of Christianity in Africa is organized). North Africa receives most of the focus, which seems a perfectly appropriate decision. Any topic so grand must be selective. The chapters on Islam follow the premise that because Islam traditionally combined religion and politics, a discussion of Islam must largely follow a political history. This strategy is successful, for the most part, and covers the sort of topics (various Islamic empires, an assortment of significant leaders, numerous Sufi orders, Islam and colonialism, and Islam and the modern state) that I imagine anyone would expect to read about in a history of African Islam. The material is very readable and follows Isichei's great narrative style with her usual fascinating examples that likely took years to gather.
Yet I do believe there are three ways in which Isichei's material on Islam may be fairly critiqued. Firstly, the author's coverage of East Africa strikes me as much too slender. East African Islam is discussed in just three pages. I would agree with the author that Islam was largely a coastal, and thereby small, religion for most of East African history. However, given its significant growth in the nineteenth century, modern East African Islam seems worthy of its own chapter, just as Muslim West Africa and Muslim North Africa from the nineteenth century onwards receive separate chapters.
Secondly, there are moments in Isichei's narrative where additional material on theological/ideological history seems warranted. This is perhaps no more apparent than in the material on the Islamic empires of the western Sudan. Though Timbuktu is mentioned as a trading center, the site of a great mosque, and an independent province of a Moroccan empire, there is no discussion at all of Timbuktu as one of the world's most important centers of Islamic learning (madrasah). Nor is there a single mention of Chinguetti, to many still the "seventh holiest city of Islam." Isichei stresses that Muslims of the western Sudan felt they were distant from the Muslim holy lands. This was no doubt true for some Muslims, especially when journeying across the Sahara on the hajj. The distance, however, does not appear to have impeded the western Sudan from becoming a region celebrated for its centers of Islamic knowledge. In the medieval centuries few other parts of the Islamic world could rival places like Jenne, Timbuktu, or Chinguetti in their intellectual vibrancy. As a West African proverb states, "Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom come from Timbuktu." More discussion of kalam and the intellectual contributions made by Africa's Muslims seems warranted.
Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, the author's use of jihad seems to be borrowed from Western politicians, not from Islamic history. Isichei writes, "They turned to holy war, jihad, to create new states where the practice of Islam and social justice might flourish" (p. 61). The concept of jihad means to strive or to struggle and is not entirely synonymous with "holy war." Such striving or struggling can be manifested in numerous ways and can be as simple as striving to pray more often and more fervently, speaking out against injustice, or even writing about Islam. Jihad by the sword is simply one possibility within jihad, and even then Muslims have intensely debated the exact circumstances that permit that sort of jihad. Space does not permit a full exploration of a concept as complicated as jihad, nor am I suggesting that Isichei should have spent a chapter doing so. However, to use the phrase "holy war" as though it were entirely interchangeable with the concept of jihad is irresponsible scholarship, in my opinion.
The third section of the book concerns Christianity. Unlike the previous section on Islam, the material on Christianity is organized chronologically and thematically, with geography serving a more minor organizing role within each chapter. This material covers five major epochs of African Christian history: African Christianity prior to the nineteenth century, when Christianity was restricted to the Nile valley, Ethiopia, Kongo, and Warri; the nature of missionization in the long nineteenth century; African responses and the creation of Ethiopian churches; the advent of Zionist churches; and lastly Neo-Pentecostalism. Given that Isichei has already written a survey book on African Christianity, one might expect this section to be a strong one. And one would be correct in making that assumption. The material is more theoretically and historiographically insightful than the sections on Islam. This is perhaps most clear in the material on the relationship(s) between missions and colonialism. Isichei argues against the standard nationalist interpretation that all missionaries were compliant agents of colonialism. Rather, Isichei contends that while missionaries found colonialism preferable to rule by white settlers or traditional leaders, they were just as often obstacles to colonial rule.
Isichei also makes such contentions in A History of Christianity in Africa. The theoretical insights offered in the Christianity portion are also ones that we can find in her prior survey work. Some of the material can also be found in both books, but I find this entirely forgivable. After all, can one address the subject of African Christianity without discussing Simon Kimbangu or Mangena Maake Mokone? I suppose one could, but poorly. Any of us would address such topics when writing on African Christianity. Despite overlap, this reviewer did not find the material to be redundant compared to Isichei's earlier work. Many examples are different in this text. But most importantly the material is organized differently, providing it with a surprising freshness. I find it difficult to critique the material on Christianity as I find it to be quite well done. Do be prepared for a growing number of Nigerian examples in this material, especially regarding peoples of the Niger delta, but it does not form the majority.
The fourth and final section of this work is entitled "The Changing Face of 'Traditional' Religion." This section is not about traditional religions as such but concerns neotraditional manifestations of indigenous religions. Isichei justifies this decision by explaining that "the ways in which 'traditional' religions are practiced and understood have been modified by encounters with other religious traditions" (p. 228). There is little question this is true. However, even with that being the case, this reviewer was disappointed that the author did not make much attempt at an educated reconstruction. As I remarked above, the few pages on ancient Egyptian religion provided an unsatisfying template, or model. The model is further weakened by the fact that is it never readdressed in this section. It seems an exemplifying model would only make sense if carried from the earlier portion of the book across this later material as well. Thus, if one approaches this text expecting to gain an understanding of the nature of precolonial indigenous religions, one will complete the text unsatisfied.
However, if one approaches this section hoping for a theoretically sophisticated discussion of the impact that missionization, colonialism, and the spread of Western culture (and only in a few examples, Islam) have had upon indigenous religions, then one can finish feeling quite sated. The author examines themes such as divinities, ancestors, secret societies, rituals, and witchcraft, demonstrating the various manifestations that have resulted from modernity's impact on such religions. The true brilliance of this material, in this reviewer's opinion, is its re-examination of such ambiguous terms as "tradition" and "modernity," "progress" and "stasis." In some cases, such as Mami Wata, neo-Yoruba religions, Mwari, and Bori, the religious manifestations have not merely survived, but increased in significance, and in some cases have become international. Isichei revisits a handful of ethnic groups in this material, across themes, particularly the Yoruba and Igbo, thus enabling the reader to gain a fuller sense of how a single neotraditional religion might exist today.
I believe this text would be of value to specialist and nonspecialist alike. The text possesses enough theoretical insights to satisfy the specialist, particularly the first chapter and the fourth section. Additionally, the array of examples could help to thematically illuminate the work of any scholar of African religions. For the nonspecialist, the material on Muslims in Africa and on Christianity in Africa would provide a valuable introduction replete with examples. However, the text does not provide a survey of precolonial indigenous religions. For that subject, Benjamin Ray's African Religions: Symbol, Ritual, and Community (1976) remains the best text.
. Tariq Ramadan, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 113-114.
. I am uncertain why Isichei chose to use the singular "traditional religion" in the titles, as though there is such a thing as a single indigenous religion. The author uses the term in its scholarly acceptable plural form in the text itself.
. Jacob K. Olupona, "Introduction," in Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religions and Modernity, ed. Jacob K. Olupona (New York; London: Routledge, 2004), 2.
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at: https://networks.h-net.org/h-safrica.
Joel Tishken. Review of Isichei, Elizabeth, The Religious Traditions of Africa: A History.
H-SAfrica, H-Net Reviews.
Copyright © 2008 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:16a69e46-9162-418b-aca1-8df1dc92c059> | {
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Knowledge Of Detoxification
Harm can result from detoxification from alcohol and other substances. However, a supervised detoxification affords the patient a safe environment conducive to recovery.
Detoxification, or just simply detox, is the method of allowing the body to clear away the opiates in it. Treatment of symptoms occurring from cessation of use of the addictive substances is the objective of detoxification.
Detox process may be short or long and could be violent or manageable depending on the severity of the addiction. The kind of opiate and the duration it was used for influence what detox will be like.
Hope of treatment with medication provide comfort as the body system rigs drug substance out.
Overcoming these health challenges may take a couple of days or last for some months. Outcome depends on dosage of drug taken and the duration of drug addiction prior to withdrawal.
Contact a doctor immediately to undergo supervised detoxification.
Is It Possible To Undergo Home Detoxification
Picking to detox at your residence can be fatal. Deciding to quit "cold turkey" or with no medical assistance can cause severe problems like seizures and serious dehydration.
Inpatient and outpatient detoxification programs help avoiding difficult situations. Because of deadly complications that can arise, individuals that are heavily hooked are advised to be hospitalised. Inpatient detoxification provides 24-hour assistance and monitoring.
Pregnant And Detoxing From Drugs
Concerns for the health of the unborn baby may motivate an expectant mother to stop her addiction. The side effects of rapid detox could induce distressful moods and harm the unborn child in the initial stages of pregnancy. Professionally supervised detox is imperative and non-negotiable for pregnant women. The same goal is being aimed at by pregnant women when detoxifying. The safety of both the mother and the unborn are the paramount concerns of supervising medical attendants. Medications are introduced to pregnant women to help them achieve a stable state. Alcohol and drug detox commonly cause majority of danger to unborn babies.
The Course Of Detox
The process is not the same for all addicts. Those with addiction are treated specially during the course of detoxification.
In doing so, these steps may be required
- Screening will be done by the resident physicians and personnel to identify mental or physiological concerns.
- Tests including but not limited to blood testing are carried out.
- These tests assist establish the kind of medication needed.
- Furthermore, there is a comprehensive review of opiate, medical and mental past events.
- Exclusive management arrangement for the individual is based on these histories.
- The first step is to stabilize the patient using both medical and psychological therapy.
- The purpose of stabilization is to avoid any way of injury to the patient.
- Because of harm avoidance and minimization of effects of abrupt cessation of the substance, physicians commence some pills.
- Preparations To Treatment
- Arranging for commencement of a treatment program is the last stage.
- How the detoxification will go and other possible outcome will be discussed with the addict.
- For a successful detoxification, treatment within rehabilitation facilities is the finest.
- When patient is hospitalized, this last stage is paramount to ensure patient adherence.
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Detoxification And The Side Effects
Quitting drug dependency could result in painful and dangerous outcome. Medical detox is recommended for this specific reason. The conditions for detoxification are optimized when done medically. Monitoring and evaluation activities vary between different inpatient and outpatients facilities.
Well managed withdrawal program safeguards future consequences of drug and alcohol addiction.
Some of the potential health problems associated with quitting a drug will still manifest regardless of assistance or not. Notable ones are
- Anxious state
- Variable moods
Drug Type And Detoxification
Detoxification is harder for others depending on the opiate that was used. The mental and physical punishment suffered by a patient during withdrawal vary on the abused substance.
For example, Cocaine withdrawal is mental. Detachment from drugs hinges on control of urge and nervousness. Withdrawal from alcohol addiction manifests through physical signs that could lead to convulsions or death.
Reducing the health challenges that arise from breaking the dependence on alcohol by prescribing a medicine that will have the same impact of the drug on the user is the essence of detoxification here. The introduction of medication also addresses the underlying health issues that may cause complications. There may be the need to use prescription drugs to remove the traces of some drugs from the body, some of these drugs are
Risks Of Quick And Extremely Quick Detox
Rapid detox is the process of flushing the drug or toxins from the patient's system faster than the normal process. Proponents and supporters of rapid detoxification push this process with the primary advantage of skipping the dreadful withdrawal symptoms.
It is perilous and also costly to undergo fast detoxification.
The addict will first be given a prescription drug that will serve as a replacement for the addicted drug after he has been induced to sleep , that's part of the rapid detox program. Dependence on opiate like heroin and painkillers is the reason for advancement of this practice. It is noted though that the risks of this procedure do not outweigh the benefits.
A faster program that can take just a couple of hours is known as Ultra-rapid detox. Records from the Coleman institute revealed that for every 500 people that went through extra-fast detoxification, about one usually died.
Less harm is associated with the conventional fast detoxification, which usually lasts for 48 to 72 hours but more costly, than the usual detoxification. Estimated cost of rapid detox goes up to £10,000 without insurance cover.
What Is Next From Detoxification
The initial component for dependency management is detoxification. When done singly, detoxification is inadequate for full rehabilitation. The mental aspect of their dependence should be treated in individuals with craving. They can succeed this with giving advice, support groups or an inpatient rehabilitation program. Expert rehab personnel are able to effectively help you in proceeding to the next stages of the recovery program.
We are extending our help in sourcing the best rehab centre that matches your very needs, so call now on 0800 772 3971! | <urn:uuid:efc44988-001f-40a9-87c6-453cf8e0a486> | {
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When a person has low self-esteem, they don’t feel good about themselves and find it difficult to be proud of the things they do. Overcoming low self-esteem is important because it helps you to be a positive person, deal better with stress and boost your drive to work and play. People with a good self-esteem are more apt to try new things, laugh at their mistakes, communicate effectively and enjoy life more.
Failed relationships, divorce, marital conflict and trouble at work can all play into developing a low self-esteem, especially if you value yourself based on what others think and say about you. Often, our self-esteem is affected when we are young; we may be bullied, ridiculed or told we are stupid. Without the proper resources to counteract this, we begin to agree and feel we are less of a person. Our feelings, thoughts, and beliefs are not valid, and we require others to make us feel good about ourselves. Fortunately overcoming low self-esteem is a learned process and anyone can do it.
Tips for Overcoming Low Self-Esteem
- Acceptance – Before you tackle any problem you first need to admit you have a problem. How is your self-esteem affecting your relationship with others and your life? Confront it and put into motion to change; create the desire to have a positive, healthy self-esteem.
- Ask for Help – Talking to a counselor, friend, pastor or teacher can help you come up with ways to overcome low self-esteem. There may be certain areas of your life you need to address that is the driving force behind the way you feel about yourself. If you can identify them, you can then begin to work on a solution.
- What are You Good At? – We are all good at something, maybe not great but good, so when you are feeling bad about yourself, just think, “I’m good at singing in the shower.”
- Try New Things – Step out of your comfort zone and try new things. If you try something new and fail, that’s okay. Everyone fails from time to time; it is what we learn and how we deal with the failure that matters. Keep trying!
- Volunteer – Self-esteem is about you so when you turn your energy on helping other people by volunteering in your community you are taking the focus off of you and putting it on someone or something else. Volunteering is a rewarding feeling and has many emotional, spiritual and physical benefits.
- Smile – It can’t be expressed enough that smiling is a great way to improve your mood and help you feel good about yourself.
Overcoming low self-esteem is a choice. However, many people don’t realize they are suffering. If you find that you are overly critical of yourself and others, have trouble forgiving, feelings of guilt and shame or need to blame others for problems in your life then you are likely suffering from low self-esteem. Please take the time and learn how good life can be when you take control and change how you feel about who you are. | <urn:uuid:30fa8380-61dd-415c-8b9d-aaa2cbe0f424> | {
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Watch the Canyoneering Safety Video
Traveling into the wilderness, even on short trips, can be challenging and risky and requires careful planning before you begin. Your safety depends on your own good judgment, adequate preparation, and constant observation. Speak with park rangers at park visitor centers for current conditions, weather forecasts, and flash flood potential ratings.
Flash floods, often caused by storms miles away, are a real danger and can be life threatening.
During a flash flood, the water level rises quickly, within minutes or even seconds. A flash flood can rush down a canyon in a wall of water 12 feet high or more.
Know the weather and flash flood potential forecasts before starting your trip. If bad weather threatens, do not enter a narrow canyon.
Flash floods occur even during periods of low flash flood potential. When the National Weather Service states that there is a 30 percent chance of rain, they are not stating that there is a 30 percent chance that it will rain. They are stating that 30 percent of the forecast area will be affected by measurable precipitation. Continuously evaluate weather conditions. If bad weather threatens, avoid traveling in a slot canyon. Watch for these indications of a possible flash flood:
• Any deterioration in weather conditions
• Build up of clouds or sounds of thunder
• Sudden changes in water clarity from clear to muddy
• Floating debris
• Rising water levels or stronger currents
• Increasing roar of water up canyon
If you observe any of these signs, seek higher ground immediately. Even climbing a few feet may save your life. Remain on high ground until conditions improve. Water levels usually drop within 24 hours. Flash floods do occur in the park during periods of low flash flood potential. A moderate or higher flash flood potential should be a serious cause for concern.
What To Bring
Map and Route Description
You must have and use them. Carefully assess your location before beginning your first rappel. Even heavily traveled canyons in the park are routes, not maintained trails. Do you have a map and a route description? Are you confident in your ability to use them? When you enter a canyon and pull your rope after your first rappel, you are committed. You must complete the canyon whether or not it is the canyon that you intended to enter.
Flashlight / Headlamp
Every week, canyoneers spend unintended nights camped in the wilderness of the park. A headlamp could make the difference between spending the night in the canyon and making it out.
First Aid Kit
Even a minor injury can cause major problems in the wilderness.
Could you spend an unexpected night in the canyon?
Food keeps your energy up and helps you stay warm if you remain out overnight.
Can you replace webbing if it is worn? Can you create a new anchor if needed?
The ability to stop, move up, or down while hanging mid-rope is a lifesaving skill that must be learned before you need it. Can you create extra friction? Do you have ascenders? Can you belay the less experienced members of your group?
Rock falls can cause severe injuries.
Know How To Self Rescue
Can you assist another group member? Are you capable of stopping yourself mid-rappel to correct a problem? If not, consider taking a canyoneering course before heading out on your own.
Do Not Jump
Lower leg fractures are the most common injuries suffered in the wilderness. The most common cause of lower leg injuries is jumping. Bring a rope and use it.
Falls from cliffs on trails have resulted in deaths. Loose sand or pebbles on stone are very slippery. Be careful of edges when using cameras or binoculars. Never throw or roll rocks, as there may be hikers below you. Trails can be snow and ice covered in winter.
• Stay on the trail.
• Stay back from cliff edges.
• Observe posted warnings.
• Please watch children.
The desert is an extreme environment. Carry enough water, one gallon per person per day, and drink it. Water is available at visitor centers, campgrounds, and the Zion Lodge. Water flow at natural springs can vary, check for information at visitor centers. Do not drink untreated water. Water collected in the wilderness is not safe to drink without treatment. There are two safe methods to treat water.
- Boil Water
Bring water to a rolling boil for one minute. Add one minute for each 1,000 feet above sea level.
- Filter and Disinfect Water
Filter through an "absolute" 1 micron filter, or one labeled as meeting ANSI/NSF International Standard #53. Then add eight drops of liquid chlorine bleach, or four drops of iodine, per gallon of water and let stand for 30 minutes.
Hypothermia occurs when the body is cooled to dangerous levels. It is the number one killer of outdoor recreationists, even in summer, and it usually happens without the victim's awareness. It is a hazard in narrow canyons because immersion in water is the quickest route to body heat loss. To prevent hypothermia, avoid cotton clothing (it provides no insulation when wet) and eat high-energy food before you are chilled. The signs of hypothermia include:
• Uncontrollable shivering
• Stumbling and poor coordination
• Fatigue and weakness
• Confusion or slurred speech
If you recognize any of these signs, stop hiking and immediately replace wet clothing with dry clothing. Warm the victim with your own body and a warm drink, and shelter the individual from breezes. A pre-warmed sleeping bag will also help prevent further heat loss.
Heat exhaustion occurs when the body loses more fluid than is taken in. Signs of heat exhaustion include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headaches, pale appearance, stomach cramps, and cool clammy skin. If a member of your party begins to experience any of these symptoms, stop your hike immediately. Find a cool, shady area and rest with your feet up to distribute fluids throughout your body. It is important to drink fluids, but it is also important to eat. Drinking lots of fluids and not eating, while suffering from heat exhaustion, can lead to a potentially dangerous condition of low blood salt. If heat exhaustion symptoms persist for more than two hours, seek medical help.
Heat stroke is an advanced stage of heat exhaustion. It is the body's inability to cool itself. Symptoms include confusion, disorientation, behavior changes, and seizures. If you believe that a member of your party is suffering from heat stroke, it is imperative to cool them using any available means and obtain immediate medical assistance. | <urn:uuid:df75e323-fdb1-48cc-bd87-de8536894a73> | {
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n the last decade, science has developed at a mind-blowing pace and dentistry has made amazing progresses. It is not an overstatement that implantology is a branch which revolutionized dentistry. Due to it, we can preserve the integrity of teeth on either side of the edentation without sacrificing healthy dental tissue through polishing. Although the first dental implants where inserted more than 50 years ago, only in the last two decades has implantology become predictable.
Implantology is a surgical specialty, whose purpose is to replace lost or badly damaged teeth by inserting implants under maximum safety conditions. They become the support for ceramic aesthetic restorative pieces.
Jokingly, we say that implantology is the science which deals with titanium screws. Bone integration is the process which has a result the structural and functional direct connection between the bone tissue and the surface of the implant. A quality implant has as specially treated surface for a better adherence of the bone cells. The insertion of the implant depends on the strength of the bone. If the bone is not reliable enough, a graft is added through surgical augmentation.
Implantology is not only the science of bone integration, but also the art of dental aesthetics, the art of tissue manipulation, of camouflage, of optical illusions. During our lifetime, we lose one or several teeth because of accidents, old age or periodontal disease. The goal of implantology is to imitate, as much as possible, the natural look, which requires the outstanding ability of a good surgeon. Therefore, manual labor, the practical skill of performing task with maximum prowess, constitutes a craft.
In conclusion, we can say that implantology is the science of implant bone integration, but the real art is to use this craft towards making people happy. | <urn:uuid:4b62cf98-1123-45b9-8416-ba3a4b1c9192> | {
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Control of the Human B-Globin Gene
The diagram shows some of the gene regulatory proteins thought to control expression of this gene during red blood cell development. Some of the gene regulatory proteins shown, such as CP1, are found in many types of cells, while others, such as GATA-1, are present in only a few types of cells, including red blood cell precursors, and are therefore thought to contribute to the cell-type specificity of beta-globin gene expression. As indicated by the bidirectional arrows, several of the binding sites for GATA-1 overlap those of other gene regulatory proteins; it is thought that occupancy of these sites by GATA-1 excludes binding of other proteins. (Adapted from B. Emerson, In Gene Expression: General and Cell-Type Specific (M. Karin, ed.), pp. 116-161. Boston: Birkhauser, 1993.)
Download an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) version of the image for printing. | <urn:uuid:aca02452-0a8c-477a-bad1-b57cec4276f9> | {
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--HWis8NZBI]One of the most notoriously polluted cities in the U.S., Los Angeles is no stranger to smog. A brown haze can be seen hovering over the city many days of the year. In a region with such a temperate climate, LA's poor air quality is more the result of transportation emissions - freight trucks in particular - than building energy consumption. Now the possibility of an electric freight trucking system is being investigated to help curb LA's pollution.
The idea was presented last month at the Electric Vehicle Symposium as the Siemens eHighway. The system consists of electric wires suspended above a designated highway lane, which would help to propel hybrid diesel trucks down the road. Along the proposed stretch of highway, a truck would be able to enter the lane and attach to the electric cable, switch off its diesel engine, and run on an electric motor. The trucks would have a mechanism known as a pantograph installed, which would automatically engage the cable above, not unlike the device used on the cable cars of yesteryear. The pantograph would be wired to disconnect from the overhead line when the truck driver brakes.
A stretch of Interstate 710, also known as Long Beach Freeway, is slated to accommodate the first eHighway in the U.S., and the first real-world use of the eHighway in the world. The 710 currently funnels huge volumes of freight traffic from the ports of LA and Long Beach north to other parts of the city and out to the rest of the country. Together the two ports account for more than 40% of the freight that is shipped to the U.S., making the 710 an ideal place to test out such a project. If successful, the LA eHighway could allow for the conversion of millions of freight truck-miles from diesel to electric each year.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District, the air quality control agency for much of LA and the surrounding region, hopes to have the project underway within the next 12 months.
~ Allison Bullock | <urn:uuid:0c596f65-ea16-47a7-90a9-4767178afda9> | {
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The Bell P-39 Airacobra had a terrible reputation amongst British and American pilots, but it rapidly became one of the favourite fighters in the Soviet Union. Of the top six Soviet air aces, four scored the majority of their victories in the Kobra.
The first Airacobras to reach the Soviet Union were British Airacobra Is. By the time the Airacobra I entered service with No.601 “City of London” Squadron it was already clear that they would not needed by the RAF. Although that squadron did not replace its Airacobras with Spitfires until March 1942, Churchill offered Russia the RAF’s stock of surplus Airacobras soon after the German invasion, and the first 20 aircraft reached Murmansk by the end of 1941. Eventually the British dispatched 212 Airacobras to Russia, although 54 were lost on the voyage, leaving 158 intact aircraft (Soviet sources claim that the less aircraft were lost). Eventually nearly 5,000 Airacobras would reach the Soviet Union, all but the first 150 from the United States.
Most of the British Airacobra Is ended up at Ivanovo, north east of Moscow where the 22nd Supply Aviation Regiment (22nd ZAP) was based. Assembly of the aircraft began in January 1942, and most of the units to use the Airacobra on the northern and central fronts trained at this unit.
Russian tests gave the Airacobra I a speed of 306mph at ground level and 363mph at 13,800ft, making it as good as the Yak-3 and MiG-3 then in Russian production.
The fighting on the Eastern Front suited the P-39. Both the Soviets and the Germans concentrated on relatively low level activity, designed to support their armies. As a result the Soviet P-39s rarely needed to fight above 15,000ft.
The basic Soviet fighter unit was the Istrebitelnyi Aviatsionii Polk (Fighter Aviation Regiment, or IAPs). Elite units formed part of the Guards, and are known as GIAPs. Some units were created as part of the Guards, while successful fighter regiments were sometimes rewarded with a promotion to the Guards, normally with a change in number.
The first Soviet unit to use the P-39 (or Kobra) was the 19th Guards IAP. This unit had originally been the 145 IAP, before on 7 March 1942 being rewarded with a promotion to the guards. In April 1942 the unit was withdrawn to Afrikanda Airbase to receive its P-39s. The first test flight was made on 19 April 1942 by Captain Pavel Kutakhov, the commander of the regiment’s first squadron. Less than a month later, on 15 May 1942, the squadron returned to the front at Shongui, and on the same day flew its first sortie with the P-39, recording the first two Soviet victories with the Airacobra.
Eventually the P-39 equipped 20 GIAP in Karelia, where it fought alongside 19 GIAP, all five fighter regiments of the Northern Fleet Air Arm, 102 and 103 GIAPs at Leningrad, 191 IAP, operating over southern Finland, while 17 and 78 IAP used their Kobras to protect the Soviet end of the Arctic convoy route.
The majority of American Airacobras reached the Soviet Union from the south, via Teheran. In November 1942 the 25th ZAP was set up at Aji-Kabul in Azerbaijan. Aircraft were assembled at Abadan, before being ferried to Aji-Kabul where they were given to their eventual end users. The P-39 would be at its most effective on the southern fronts, where it would be used by Grigori Rechkalov and Aleksandr Poykryshikin, the 2nd and 3rd ranked Soviet Aces. A limited number of aircraft probably fought at Stalingrad, but they rose to real prominence in the post-Stalingrad battle of the Kuban River.
The Soviet air forces involved in these battles were part of the 216th Air Division, which later became the 9th Guards Air Division (GIAD). By the end of the war the air division was credited with 1,147 victories and contained 31 Heroes of the Soviet Union, amongst them three two time winners and one of only three three-time winners of the award.
The first of the divisions’ regiments to convert to the P-39 was 298 IAP. This unit had been equipped with the Yak-1 until January 1943, when it was withdrawn and given a mix of 20mm and 37mm cannons. The regiment was deployed to Korenovskaya where on 17 March it began to fly in support of the Pe-2s of 219 BAD. Between then and 20 August 1943 the regiment flew 1,625 sorties against 8 Fliegerkorps, took part in 111 air combats, and claimed 167 victories for loss of 30 aircraft destroyed. As a result of this performance on 25 August 1943 the regiment was renamed 104 GIAP.
The 45 IAP had begun to convert to the P-40, but before it could enter service with this aircraft it was decided to convert it to the P-39. The squadron reached Krasnodar on 9 March 1943, but entered combat after 298 IAP. Like that unit 45 IAP performed well enough to be renamed as 100 GIAP.
The third unit to use the P-39 over the Kuban was the 16th Guards IAP, the most famous Soviet fighter unit. Although it was only the second highest scoring unit, it contained the highest number of Heroes of the Soviet Union (15) as well as two two-time winners and one three-time winner of the award. That three-time winner was the second ranking Soviet ace Aleksandr Pokryshkin, who ended the war with 48 Airacobra victories in his total of 59. He won his three awards for combining the second best performance of any Soviet fighter pilot with increasingly important leadership roles – from 1944 he commanded the entire 9 GIAD (Guards Fighter Aviation Division). Amongst his achievements was the introduction of the “Kuban stairs” tactic. This saw the rigid three-aircraft V formation used at the start of the war replaced with formations of two pairs, copied from the Luftwaffe. The lowest flight of four aircraft would be supported by two further flights, each above and behind the previous flight.
The third ranking Soviet ace, Grigorii Rechkalov, also served with 16 GIAP, from the summer of 1942. Like Pokryshkin he scored most of his victories while flying the P-39.
The first successful regiment to use the P-39 on the central fronts was 153 IAP. After training at 22 ZAP this regiment was posted to Voronezh, arriving on 29 June 1942 and entering combat on the next day. Between then and 1 October when the unit was withdrawn to rest it took part in forty-five aerial battles, claimed to have destroyed 64 German aircraft and only lost 8 aircraft in combat. The unit was rushed back into combat in November 1942 to counter a new German offensive, before on 21 November being redesignated as 28 GIAP. Between 1 December 1942 and 1 August 1943 the regiment took part in 66 air battles, flew 1,176 sorties, claimed 63 victories and lost 19 aircraft in combat. Amongst the German aircraft claimed destroyed were 23 Bf 109s and 23 Fw 190s.
30 GIAP also saw success with the P-39. The regiment converted to the P-39 late in 1942, arriving at 22 ZAP as 180 IAP before being rewarded with the Guards designation on 21 November 1942. The regiment returned to the front line in March 1943, taking up a position close to Kursk. In 1944 the regiment took part in Operation Bagration, the invasion of Belorussia and Poland, while in 1945 it took its P-39s to Berlin in the final campaigns of the war.
Not all P-39 squadrons performed well. 185 IAP reached the front just after 153 IAP, but was disbanded (probably in August 1943), and its pilots used to ferry P-39s from Siberia. 494 IAP appears to have been equally unsuccessful, flying on 62 sorties in two months while equipped with the P-39. This unit was disbanded in December 1943.
Amongst the regiments that did perform well was 9 GIAP, known as the Regiment of Aces. This unit scored 558 victories, making it the third most successful Soviet fighter regiment. Unlike 16 GIAP this regiment only used the P-39 for a short time, from August 1943 until July 1944, when it converted to the La-7.
27 IAP also did well, converting to the P-39 in the spring of 1943 and using it during the battle of Kursk and the Soviet counter-attacks that followed.
Of the six Soviet aces generally credited with fifty or more victories, four scored most of their successes while flying the P-39 Kobra. The Soviet (and Allied) second ranking ace of the war, Alexandr Pokryshkin, scored 48 of his 59 victories while flying the Airacobra. To the end of the Second World War these men were able to use this underrated American fighter to take on some of the best German pilots, equipped with the latest versions of the Bf 109 and Fw 190. When the fighting ended there were still 1,178 P-39 Kobras in service with the Soviet air forces. Despite its technical faults, the Airacobra had become the most successful of all lend-lease aircraft sent to Russia, and had played an important role in the final Allied victory.
Bookmark this page: Delicious Facebook StumbleUpon | <urn:uuid:eb718a51-3754-4e98-9262-3a8d82cd8e4d> | {
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Comercio y diplomacia entre Japón y Filipinas en la era Keichō (1596-1615)
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By the end of the sixteenth century, Japan and the Philippines established their first commercial and diplomatic relations, and during the Keichō era (1596-1615) an attempt of cooperation between Madrid and the government of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1598-1616) was planned. This allowed the Spaniards to foster their trade in Japan and to favor its penetration by missionaries.
This volume discusses the different phases of the process of diplomatic/commercial and missionary relations within the context of the internal transformation of Japan and its ambitions for regional influence in Asia, on the edge of the Sinocentrism of the Ming Dynasty. It also analyzes the context of institutional and legal restrictions of the expansion of the Philippine archipelago as well as several factors that eventually led to the failure of the Hispano-Japanese cooperation and to the gradual disappearance of all kinds of formal contacts with Japan in the second decade of the seventeenth century. | <urn:uuid:6a2e19ce-b61b-469e-a68b-566965374526> | {
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And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.
One might ask: “What has this to do with Jesus being married or not being married?”
I would answer: “Perhaps nothing; perhaps everything.”
There are things in this narrative that suggest this incident has nothing to do with Jesus, save he was an invited guest and that he performed a miracle. However, there are other things suggesting otherwise. Let’s look into it a little bit further.
Regarding Mary: All the narrative says is that “the mother of Jesus was there.” It doesn’t say in what capacity, although later it seems she was in some sort of authoritative capacity, apparently in charge of the wine. Why this would be so, if she were merely a guest, that is the mystery. Would a guest be in charge of the wine, let alone the servants she ordered around?
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible notes that it “is not improbable that [Mary] was a relative of the family where the marriage took place.”
People’s New Testament and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary agree with Barnes in this.
This is likely true, given her rule over the wine situation. But which relative was getting married?
Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible posits, “Some of the ancients have thought that this was the marriage of John the evangelist, who is supposed to have been a near relative of our Lord.”
While this may or may not be true, there is no evidence to support this. Even so, if it were John the evangelist, exactly which John is this referring to? John the Baptist or John the disciple or apostle?
The Baptist was certainly a relative, while the apostle was likely not. Both were evangelists. And, again, if it were either of the John’s wedding, why would Mary be in charge of the wine?
More than likely, the Mary’s relative who was getting married was someone in her family. Jesus wasn’t the only child of the family; yet, it was Jesus to whom Mary came to complain about the wine situation. If it were some other child of Mary, don’t you think she would have come to him and complained about the wine?
Think about it. When one normally discusses this first miracle, no one really goes into the intimate details of what really went on. And if Jesus had never performed a miracle before this, as this scripture points out, what exactly would she expect Jesus to do? Go out and buy more wine?
No, instead, she instructs the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do, without any apparent by-your-leave or choice given to Jesus. And without the servants bucking at this “guest” telling them what to do.
As to the matter of the “governor of the feast,” who exactly was he?
According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1984), “governor of the feast” was translated from the Greek “architriklinðs,” which would be later translated as “ruler of the feast” in this narrative.
According to Strong, “architriklinðs” means “director of the entertainment.” We might liken this to the modern emcee, perhaps, with the added responsibility of being in charge of the wine.
Other translations of the Bible rendered this as “steward” (Revised Standard Version, New Engllish Bible, Jerusalem Bible), “head waiter” (New American Standard Bible), and “master” (New International Version).
But I like “director of the entertainment.” If it’s good enough for Strong, it’s good enough for me; so that’s what we’re going with. I tend to lean on Strong’s quite a bit in matters such as these.
Then there’s the matter of the servants at the wedding celebration. Who exactly were they? And were they really servants or something else? Again we turn to Strong’s.
The Greek rendering of “servants” is “diakðnðs,” which means “an attendant, i.e. (generally) a waiter (at a table or other menial duties.)” It is also used to indicate a Christian teacher and pastor, technically a deacon or deaconess, according to Strong.
We can rule out the latter, as these were non-existent at the time, in particular, the deaconess, as to my knowledge, the Bible makes no references to such an office. That leaves us with “an attendant” or “waiter,” or, as we might say in modern parlance, a server.
This shines an entirely new light on the “political” make-up of the marriage at Cana. Instead of a governor or ruler of the feast, we have a “director of entertainment,” emcee, or even “head waiter.” Instead of servants, which one might expect a governor to have, we have attendants, waiters, or servers. To me, this sounds more like one might come to expect at a wedding celebration, does it not?
Although this has nothing to do with the subject at hand—i.e., whether or not this celebration was, in fact, the marriage of Jesus—as a matter of clarification, I give you various translations of “And when they wanted wine” (KJV):
- ”When the wine gave out” (RSV, NASB)
- ”The wine gave out” (NEB)
- ”When they ran out of wine” (JB)
- ”When the wine was gone” (NIV)
Here’s the thing: If Mary were merely “present” at the marriage in Cana, presumably as a guest, why on earth would she be concerned that they had ran out of wine? That’s the question, isn’t it, that is never answered? Her subsequent behavior would seem very inappropriate if she were merely an invited guest.
It would seem to me that the one who ought to be concerned about the wine running out would be the master of ceremonies or “director of entertainment”—and certainly the head of the household of the groom. However, in this case, it appears that the “director of entertainment” was unaware that the wine had given out, but, significantly, Mary was not!
And why would Mary, if she were merely a guest, go panic-stricken to Jesus with this problem? Even more interesting than this was Jesus’ mysterious response to her:
- ”What have I to do with thee?” (KJV)
- ”What have you to do with me?” (RSV)
- ”Your concern . . . is not mine” (NEB)
- ”Why turn to me?” (JB)
- ”What do I have to do with you?” (NASB)
- ”Why do you involve me?” (NIV)
Jesus wanted no part of this business. And why should he, especially if he, like his mother, were merely invited guests? But, if it were Jesus who was being married, the wine was indeed no concern of his, but was, as pointed out, the concern of the “director of entertainment.”
The last thing I’ll touch upon is in regards to verse 2: “And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.”
This could be the result of a deliberate mistranslation, due to the translators’ and Church’s bias against Jesus being married, or a misunderstanding of the word “kalĕō” (Greek), which was translated “called.”
Strong says that “kalĕō” is “akin to the base of 2753,” which we’ll cover in a minute. We also find: “to ‘call’ (properly aloud, but used in a variety of applications, directly or otherwise).” The word has been variously translated as “bid”, “call”, “call forth”, “whose name was called”, and “whose surname was called.”
The reference to 2753 indicates the Greek word “kĕlĕvō”, which means, according to Strong, “(to urge on); “hail”; “to incite by word; i.e., order.” This relative of “kalĕō” was variously translated as “bid”, “at command(ment)” and “give command(ment).”
The fact is, that given so many uses of the word “kalĕō” and the related “kĕlĕvō”, it is difficult to determine, from the context, which of these meanings might be in order.
It could be merely as it is rendered in the King James Version, meaning they were bidden (i.e., invited) to come the wedding. Or it could mean their names were called at as they entered the house, as we’ve all seen in so many old movies, although I don’t know if that was a custom in early Hebrew weddings. I’m not an expert in that area.
Given all this, I can’t conclusively say that the marriage at Cana was that of Jesus, but neither can I say with assurance that it was not. However, as you have seen, I believe that the marriage at Cana was the marriage of Jesus, but that’s my bias, given my research into the matter.
The question might be asked: “Was this marriage important enough to find its way into the Bible, simply because it was Jesus’ supposed first miracle? Or was it because Jesus was, in fact, getting married?
Tradition says the former; I believe the latter because, as I have pointed out, there are too many oddities to dismiss the idea either out of hand or because of traditional bias.
This bias has been passed down through the millennia by the Church, as well as all those sects that broke off from the Church. Even those Christian Churches which did not break off from the main Church have picked up on the idea and have a bias against Jesus being married.
Yet, as I have mentioned in previous posts, I have no problem with Jesus being married, particularly if he was to keep all of the commandments, one of which was “to multiply and replenish the earth.”
This is my stand. I encourage the reader to do his own research and come to his own conclusion. I would love to hear from you. | <urn:uuid:45aa4642-f326-47a8-b0a7-e381a262a005> | {
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Mental illness is widely misunderstood by the general public. People who suffer from mental disorders can find that many myths surround their condition. These misconceptions contribute to stigma, making it more difficult to seek treatment and manage disorders. We’d like to dispel some of these fictions.
1. People Can Use Willpower to Recover
While there is no definite cure-all for mental illness, it definitely can’t be treated by willpower alone. People can’t just “snap out of it.” If only managing a condition were that easy! Conversely, treatment such as medication, psychotherapy, and Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) actually works. Scientists are frequently discovering new advances in treatment, and with them, sufferers of mental illness can manage their disorders and lead healthy, productive lives.
2. Mentally Ill People Can’t Work
Nope, this is bogus as well. People with mental disorders can and do contribute to the workplace and home. Most of the time, the mentally ill are excellent at “covering” for their illnesses, which basically means that they can successfully pretend that all is well. They can be so good at covering, friends and family don’t even recognize that the disordered are mentally ill.
3. It’s Just Bad Parenting
No, no, no. The causes of mental illness are varied, including genetics, physiological changes, and environmental stressors. Neglect and unusual stress in the home tend to exacerbate underlying conditions which have biological causes. It’s not the parent’s fault that a child develops mental illnesses. Which leads us into our next point…
4. Children Can’t Be Mentally Ill
Children make up a great percentage of the mentally ill. More than half of all mental illnesses show up before a child turns fourteen, and three-quarters of them appear before the age of twenty-four. Even very young children can demonstrate symptoms of mental disorders.
5. Mentally Ill People Are Violent
Dead wrong. Suffers of mental illness make up a meager 3-5% of the incidences of violent acts in society. Hollywood has a terrible habit of stereotyping the mentally ill as violent, from Norman Bates in Psycho to Jim Carrey’s character in Me, Myself, and Irene. In fact, disordered people are ten times more likely to experience violence than the general population.
6. Mental Illnesses are Uncommon
This is absolutely not the case. One in five adult Americans endure mental illnesses each year. Roughly six percent of the population suffers from a debilitating disorder. You’re not alone if you have a mental health problem.
7. Most Mentally Ill People are White
Actually, most mentally ill people are minorities. African Americans are the most at-risk group, vulnerable to mental disorders such as depression due to increased stress from economic disadvantages.
8. People Can Recover With Drugs Alone
Medications and ECT are only part of the equation. The rest is talk therapy, which most people prefer to use rather than drugs, and peer support groups. These latter strategies try to lessen the effect of environmental stressors, which can trigger or exacerbate underlying conditions.
These myths are damaging to the mentally ill. By educating yourself about mental disorders, and spreading the truth about them, you can help combat dangerous misconceptions which stigmatize sufferers of mental health issues. | <urn:uuid:d38a8fe9-c6d7-45a3-adb5-dccdc728f5af> | {
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Remember how you felt after your last trip to the Mexican restaurant? If your first thought is of an upset stomach, consider taking digestive enzymes. Because your body's enzyme production drops off after you hit age 30, foods high in fat and carbohydrates become more difficult to digest — potentially leaving you with bloating, constipation, or diarrhea. Taking enzyme supplements regularly (or eating enzyme-rich foods like pineapple) helps break down foods so that nutrients can be absorbed. They can also help ease symptoms of lactose or gluten intolerance. Never take enzymes, though, if you have open stomach ulcers — the results can be painful. When buying supplements for digestion, look for plant-based products that combine several enzymes — they are more likely to work across the gastrointestinal tracts' broad range of pH levels. And be sure to take the pills with food; try them with two meals a day for at least three months; after that, you may be able to go with your gut and cut back.
|Cellulase||→ Cellulose from plant foods|
|Lactase||→ Lactose in dairy|
|Phytase||→ Grains and legumes|
|Protease (bromelain)||→ Protein|
|Sucrase and maltase||→ Complex sugars| | <urn:uuid:16c90356-5a67-41a1-a988-f56aa4eee69d> | {
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|Increase in Chicken Consumption and Industry Growth
The broiler industry grew dramatically from 1960 until now. In 1960, the U.S. produced less than 10 billion pounds of chicken. That grew to over 50 billion pounds in 2007. That equals 1.53 billion birds slaughtered in 1960 and 8.84 billion birds in 2006. While the number of birds killed increased, so did the size of each bird. An average broiler weighed 3.4 lbs in 1960 and 5.5 lbs in 2006.
The periods with the highest industry growth were 1965-1970, 1980, and the first half of the 1990's. However, growth began slowing after about 1995, particularly after the year 2000.
Some of this industry growth came from increased exports (mostly in the 1990s), some came from increases in U.S. population, and some came from increases in per capita chicken consumption. The most significant periods of increasing per capita consumption were 1960-70 and 1980-90 although per capita consumption has grown throughout the entire period of 1960-now.
In 1960, the average American ate 28 lbs of chicken, 60 lbs of pork, and 65 lbs of beef. In 2006, the average person ate 87 lbs of chicken. Chicken consumption surpassed pork consumption around 1985 (per capita pork consumption slightly declined over time). Meanwhile, beef consumption rose from 1960 until the late 1970's, peaking around 95 lbs per person (a statistic I find totally disgusting). Beef consumption fell since then until about 1990 and stayed more or less stable since then, around 65 lbs per person in 2006 - same as it was in 1960. Chicken consumption surpassed beef consumption in the first half of the 1990's.
The Role of the Integrator
The companies you think of as chicken producers (Tyson, Pilgrim's Pride, Perdue) are known as integrators. Here's what they do:
"Integrators usually own hatcheries, feed mills, slaughter plants, and further processing plants-that is, they may be vertically integrated into all stages except for broiler production, where they rely on networks of growers assembled through production contracts. Integrators also contract with, or own, primary breeder companies that develop poultry breeding stock, and they contract with other farm operations to produce broiler eggs for hatcheries."
The Role of the Grower
The integrators do just about everything except for raise the chickens. That job falls to the growers. While the integrators do quite well financially, the growers often get screwed.
"Broiler production is organized in a distinctive manner. Most farms are linked to an integrator through a production contract, under which the integrator provides chicks, feed, veterinary services, and other inputs to the farmer, who grows the birds to market weight. Besides providing their own labor, farmers invest in specialized poultry housing (along with associated equipment), pay for any hired labor, and bear some or all of the cost of utilities. Because broiler housing is specialized and long-lived, the decision to produce broilers is a long-term commitment, and most producers have worked with their integrator for at least 10 years."
In a survey done by the USDA, over 98% of broiler operations were set up in the way I've just described. And 45% of growers reported that their production contracts only spanned the length of time the current flock was in their houses (5-10 weeks). About a quarter (23%) have contracts that last 1-3 years. In other words, a new grower entering the business is taking an enormous risk to build new houses or buy existing ones when the contracts are short and they have little certainty that they will receive more contracts long enough into the future to pay off their debt.
Investing in Broiler Houses
The broiler houses built today can be over 30,000 square feet apiece and they cost $300,000. Most growers have more than one (70% have between 1 and 4 houses). However, the average house is closer to 17,000 square feet because 2/3 of all houses were built between 1986-2000 when houses were built smaller. The median farm in 2006 produced over 400,000 birds.
"Once a contract has expired, growers may have to retrofit their houses with new capital equipment in order to gain a contract extension. These expenditures can be substantial. Between 2004 and 2006, farms spent a total of $650 million on capital improvements to their broiler enterprises, an average of $38,000 per farm."
How Growers Get Paid
Broiler contracts pays growers based on their performance compared to other growers. You are compared based on any other producer who delivers broilers to the integrator within the same week. The more meat you deliver, the more money you get. The idea is that this shields growers from factors like weather. If a lot of your chicks died, you get paid less; if your chicks are very "feed efficient" (I assume this means your chicks grew to be large, efficiently converting chicken feed into meat) you get paid more. Average price paid per bird? Twenty eight cents - about four cents per pound.
Geographic Concentration and Lack of Competition
Growers tend to locate in clusters, near to processing plants, hatcheries, feed mills, etc. It makes for reduced transportation costs. But it also makes for reduced competition - a grower is usually near only one integrator, and certainly no more than three. There's also increased competition at disposing of chicken litter. 17 states produced 95% of all broilers in 2006.
"Litter is bedding material, such as wood shavings, sawdust, or straw, that is spread on the floors of broiler houses. When it is removed, it consists mostly of poultry manure, along with the original bedding, feathers, and spilled feed."
So what happens to the litter after the chickens are no more? In 2006, growers spread 40% of it on their own fields. 22% was sold. About 12.5% was given away for free. To get rid of the rest (about a quarter of all chicken litter), they had to pay (cash or exchanged services) to have it removed. I assume that most of the litter was used for fertilizer, but it might also be fed to cattle (I'm not sure if that's still legal but it certainly was at one point).
Who Are the Growers?
The growers seem to be a surprisingly homogenous bunch. Less than 10 percent are under 40. Less than 10 percent are women. Over 95 percent are white. About half say that high school is their highest level of education. Only 12% graduated college.
How Much Do Growers Make?
The USDA divided growers into 3 categories - small, medium, and large. The "medium" group represents the middle 50%. Just a note before you look at the numbers - the average net incomes are misleading because 25% of growers actually LOSE money.
A small grower has 1-3 broiler houses and produces about 850,000 lbs of chicken per year (that's live chicken, not meat). This group is the oldest in age (average age of 60) and also has the oldest houses (average age 24). On average, they make $44,476 per year gross from their production contracts. With other farm income (crops, other livestock, subsidies, etc), they averaged $63,530 in gross farm income and $18,722 in net farm income. Not much of a living.
The middle 50% of growers have 2-5 broiler houses and produce over 2.2 million lbs of chicken each year. They average $112,693 per year from production contracts (gross), $139,900 in gross farm income and $42,260 in net farm income. It's enough to live on but it's certainly not luxurious.
The largest growers have 4-8 houses and produce 3.8 million lbs of chicken per year on average. They average $191,688 gross from production contracts and $220,246 in gross farm income. Net farm income is $70,862, which is actually a decent income.
Needless to say, it's sad that farms need to get so big to make a decent living. Maybe the implication here is that chicken shouldn't be as cheap as it is and that the integrator-grower model of producing chicken may be economical for the integrators but if we're going to have reasonably sized chicken operations it's not a good idea. | <urn:uuid:4f4e3e1d-aff3-4a3f-80c0-a010e45c35cf> | {
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William Othello Wilson
|William Othello Wilson|
September 16, 1867|
|Died||January 1928 (aged 60–61)|
|Allegiance||United States of America|
|Service/branch||United States Army|
|Unit||Company I, 9th U.S. Cavalry|
|Awards||Medal of Honor|
Wilson joined the Army from Saint Paul, Minnesota in August 1889. He earned the Medal of Honor on December 30, 1891 for "Bravery" voluntarily, for successfully carrying a message to the battalion commander at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency in South Dakota.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company I, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Sioux Campaign, 1890. Entered service at: St. Paul, Minn. Birth: Hagerstown, Md. Date of issue: September 17, 1891.
A more detailed citation was published in General Order 100, on December 17, 1891:
December 30, 1890. Private (then Corporal) William O. Wilson, Troop I, 9th Cavalry: For gallantry in carrying a message for assistance through country occupied by the enemy, when the wagon train under escort of Captain Loud was attacked by hostile Sioux Indians, near the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota.
- List of Medal of Honor recipients
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars
- William Wilson (soldier), a two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor, with the same first and last name.
- "homeofheroes.com: Wilson, William O.". Retrieved October 5, 2010.
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International Journal of Computer Applications
A Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork (MANET) is a collection of mobile nodes that is said to be connected through a wireless medium forming rapidly changing topologies. MANETs are infrastructure less in nature and can be set up anytime, anywhere. In this paper, a survey has been conducted of protocol properties of various MANET routing algorithms and analyzed them. The routing algorithms considered in the paper are said to be classified into two categories proactive (table driven) and reactive (on demand). The algorithms considered in this paper are AODV, DSDV and DSR. The comparison among these routing protocols is based on the various protocol property and category parameters. | <urn:uuid:0e05e8a2-e130-48ef-b7aa-8450912141aa> | {
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A loan is an arrangement in which a lender, most of the time a bank, gives money to a borrower which is returned at a certain time in the future along with interest. The lender gives the borrower a single immediate payment, which the borrower is expected to pay back in smaller payments each month, until the agreed period is completed.
Loans are the main source of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises. These enterprises in turn offer goods and services that affect the economics of a particular region. The loans come from individuals, governments, corporations and financial institutions. They help in the growth of money supply in an economy, the introduction of new products, the opening up of competition and the expanding of business operations. Loans are a major source of revenue for many financial institutions due to credit facilities. The economy of a country will grow as a result of the provision of loans for commercial and industrial purposes. This growth comes from the employment opportunities available, as well as the production of goods and provision of services. The loans can be given to individuals for use in professional, commercial and industrial purposes.
When the loans become non-performing as a result of nonpayment by the borrowers, there will be a stagnation in the economy. Likewise, in an economy that is not doing well, the borrowers may be unable to repay the loans. These non-performing loans will erode the profitability of the banks and lending institutions, and cause a stagnation of economic resources which include labor and capital. A business that has excessive debt will have a reduction in investments, and this affects the economy negatively.
To access loans, a good credit rating is required. This is because the good credit rating confirms the ability of the borrower to pay back the loan. Loan repayments are important as the overall money supply in an economy is increased. The increase in money supply impacts the economy positively as it can be used for further lending.
Investment decisions are made every day, that deal with what to consume and how to invest. The investment decisions made range from taking loans to buy a home, using a credit card to make purchases and even taking a personal loan. The decisions to take loans are always influenced by movements in the interest rates. These rates are in turn affected by the movements in the economy. The higher the interest rates, the less money is borrowed. The ease with which loans are assessed can have a negative impact on the economy, instead of alleviating economic hardships. These loans can lead to increased difficulty in paying rent, mortgage and utilities bills. This is due to a debt service burden imposed by borrowing, which can inhibit the ability to pay important bills. | <urn:uuid:ce1cf5fb-6aa5-4057-80fe-de6c5feae31a> | {
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How big is that thing? Seals let their whiskers do the calculatin'.
Robyn Grant of University of Rostock in Germany wanted to know how seals can judge the size of an object using their whiskers, but first she had to figure out how to put eyemasks and headphones on seals to restrict their other senses:
[Grant] explained that these whiskers acted as a "higher-resolution sampling space", meaning that the seals could gather lots of information from one spot without moving all of their whiskers.
"They can press [their muzzle] on [the object] and by the number of whiskers it contacts, they can work out whether it's a bigger or smaller thing."
This brushing technique allows the seals to gauge their prey in water where visibility is often poor.
Ella Davies of BBC Nature has the post: Link
We hope you like this article!
Please help us grow by sharing: | <urn:uuid:2efc814d-f677-46fb-a9be-cb16da14210d> | {
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Hot Water Source – A lot of hot water is needed to make beer. 170 degree water is much hotter than what comes out of your home hot water heater and requires special considerations to be used safely. The water can be heated via electrical heating elements in small to medium systems but steam or occasionally direct flame is needed for larger volumes of water.
Hot Liquor Tank – A tank to hold and heat water is common for brewhouses. It allows the brewer to prepare and hold significant amounts of hot water. It is useful to have the hot water tank that holds twice as much water as the batch size when brews are made in quick succession and it also enables recovery of the hot cooling water created during the wort cooling step.
On-demand Water Heater – These are very useful for small amounts of water, to boost the temperature of water for purposes such as sparging, or in place of the hot liquor tank in a small to medium size system. They can be quite energy efficient as a large mass of water is not maintained hot all of the time. On demand heaters are available in larger capacities and can be used to create lots of hot water if they have a sufficient source of steam, natural gas/propane, or a very large heating element. They can be also be used in conjunction with a hot water tank, serving to boost the water temperature as needed. For example the hot liquor tank could be kept at 154 degrees, with the on demand water heater boosting the heat of the water used for sparging to 170. The downside to using an on demand water heater in place of a hot liquor tank is that you cannot recover the water and heat that comes out of the wort chiller. It also makes water treatments more challenging.
Other Heat Options – Solar energy can be incorporated, and there are many methods for heat recovery available to save on energy costs. A turnkey brewery system will generally have a hot liquor tank. Adding complexity to the system or requiring the supplier to do things that are outside of their normal procedure will add cost to the system and may greatly extend the delivery time.
* Boilers are not always supplied! The supplier will have recommendations regarding the steam output requirements but the purchase and especially the installation of the boiler is almost always the responsibility of the prospective brewer.
Mash Tun – A vessel used to hold a mixture of milled malt and hot water to enable the enzymatic conversion of the starch to fermentable sugars. While many breweries just combine malt and hot water and get by with a single temperature infusion mash, it is highly preferable to have the ability to heat the mash to 170 degrees in the mash tun. A mixing arrangement is needed to prevent temperature variations. The infamous canoe paddle is typically only used with smaller systems. (Note – canoe paddles have been successfully used on 20+ bbl systems).
Lauter Tun – A vessel used to separate the sugary wort from the non-soluble portions of the malt, the spent grain. It usually has a false bottom with slots in it. The arrangements for mixing, kniving the grain bed, and spent grain removal vary greatly in sophistication and cost. Your brewer will greatly appreciate a high quality kniving and grain removal apparatus on a larger system.
Mash/Lauter Tun – The mash tun and lauter tun are combined into one vessel. This works well and lowers the initial system cost. The main drawbacks are in the lower heating efficiency of the mash tun and in the longer brew cycle if scheduling successive brews is needed. If you do not start out with separate mash and lauter tuns, you could reserve space in your brew house and add the mash tun later (using the mash/lauter tun as a dedicated lauter tun at that time).
Brew Kettle – A vessel dedicated to the boiling of wort. It often has a whirlpool feature built in to aid in the removal of trub and hop residue prior to the cooling step. Considerations need to be made for the use of pelletized versus whole hops and how they will be separated from the boiled wort.
Whirlpool Tank – The addition of a separate whirlpool tank speeds up the brewhouse when brewing two or more batches per day. It enables the brewer to fill the kettle with runoff from the lauter while whirlpooling and cooling the wort from the prior brew. The brew kettle and whirlpool kettle are commonly combined into a single vessel.
Heat Exchangers – A heat exchanger, also known as a wort chiller, is used to quickly and efficiently cool the wort after boiling down to the desired fermentation temperature. It is important for the wort chiller to be able to achieve the results promised by the supplier. The full kettle of wort represents a large mass of BTUs. It takes a lot of cooling power to take a brew from 200+ degrees down to lager fermentation temperature and you will want it to be achieved in under an hour. The ease of properly cleaning and sterilizing the wort chiller is also a critical consideration.
One Stage Heat Exchanger – A single stage heat exchanger uses a single media to cool the wort. This can be fresh incoming water, cold water from a cold water tank, glycol from the cooling system or, more rarely, refrigerants such as Freon or ammonia. Water is generally saved to the hot liquor tank to reuse the heat recovered from the wort. It is unusual to use glycol or refrigerant on a one stage heat exchanger due to the high energy costs and extraordinarily large refrigeration systems required.
Two Stage Heat Exchanger – Two stage heat exchangers relieve the cooling load on the system. The first stage is usually incoming cold tap water that is directed into the hot liquor tank as it comes out of the heat exchanger, now quite hot. The second stage cooling medium will be cold water or glycol. The first stage will do the lion’s share of the cooling, with the second stage bringing it down the final 10 degrees or so. A common problem can be that the cooling step puts such a large load on the glycol system that the cooling to the fermenters and brite tanks is affected. It is important to size the glycol system to support the wort chilling. It is common to temporarily cut off glycol flow to the fermentation and brite tanks during knock-out.
Wort Grant – This is a system that collects the wort from several areas under the lauter tun. It allows for a finer control of the runoff to the kettle, which helps prevent compaction of the grain bed in the mash tun.
Hop Back – This is a setup to infuse big hop flavor and aroma into your wort as it leaves the kettle after the boil. This prevents the leafy material from clogging the heat exchanger used to cool the wort on its way to the fermenter.
Control Systems – Automation can be wonderful when it’s done right and works well. Each step of the brewing process can be automated and interconnected. Human error and variation can almost be removed from the equation. The degree of automated control desired is a definite choice. The control of the time and temperature profile of the mash is relatively simple. The complexity and costs increase greatly when you automate the lautering, spent grain removal and boiling steps. Make sure you have supplier support available for the installation and operation of any control system. | <urn:uuid:eb22bce7-a338-4bb8-831f-7f780869e957> | {
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This is just one of example of a natural phenomenon that led the ancients to make up superstitious explanations for something they did not understand.
Explanation: Sometimes the unknown is beautiful. In 2000 February near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, two amateur photographers noticed an unusual red column of light rise mysteriously from a setting sun. During the next few minutes, they were able to capture the pillar and a photogenic sunset on film. Pictured above, the red column is seen above a serene Lake Tahoe and snow-capped mountains across from Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park. The mysterious column, they learned later, is a Sun Pillar, a phenomenon where sunlight reflects off of distant falling ice crystals.
NASA: ASTRONOMY PHOTO OF THE DAY | <urn:uuid:d159b024-02fb-4802-838b-863e2413f951> | {
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Antibiotics have been used for a long time in order to counter even the least harmful diseases. Now, the negative effects of such an excessive use of antibiotics are starting to take their toll. Natural News reports that this unlimited use of antibiotics are now paving the way for the rise of superbugs that are impossible to control and contain with the application of existing drugs. In fact, according to Archives of Internal Medicine, these superbugs have already started to kill 48,000 U.S. citizens every year on average. The number is almost the same as the total number of American soldiers killed during the Vietnam War.
The unrestricted use of antibiotics has impacted the world in a way that was never anticipated. It gave the bacterial strains a chance to get accustomed to the antibiotics and thus become more and more resistant to the medicines. Though it is impossible to kill these antibiotic-resistant bacteria through conventional treatments, colloidal silver can prove to be effective in this regard. But the medical industry hardly accepts the effectiveness of colloidal silver and never recommends its use.
Amid this situation, a pharmaceutical company in California has decided to flood the market with antibiotics. They claim that this is a philanthropic step as they want each and every person in the U.S. to be healthy. But it is quite evident that this act is going to give rise to more and more antibiotic-resistant superbugs. In a statement made by the company, it has been indicated that their products can help people stay healthy, especially in the winter months when there is a prevalence of the flu. But the irony is that antibiotics are useless against the flu because they only work on bacteria and not on viruses and the flu is undoubtedly a viral infection, reports Natural News. | <urn:uuid:89deebbb-4c49-4536-b1a7-485073180b03> | {
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Bohr was the second of three children born into an upper middle-class Copenhagen family. His mother, Ellen (née Adler), was the daughter of a prominent Jewish banker. His father, Christian, became a professor of physiology at the University of Copenhagen and was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize.
Enrolling at the University of Copenhagen in 1903, Bohr was never in doubt that he would study physics. Research and teaching in this field took place in cramped quarters at the Polytechnic Institute, leased to the University for the purpose. Bohr obtained his doctorate in 1911 with a dissertation on the electron theory of metals.
On Aug. 1, 1912, Bohr married Margrethe Nørlund, and the marriage proved a particularly happy one. Throughout his life, Margrethe was his most trusted adviser. They had six sons, the fourth of whom, Aage N. Bohr, shared a third of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Physics in recognition of the collective model of the atomic nucleus proposed in the early 1950s. | <urn:uuid:a9382c4d-eeee-43a0-b249-25d77029de89> | {
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Distributed in Peninsular Malaysia where deforestation and conversion of forests to rubber plantations are the main threats
Malaysia: Peninsular Malaysia. The population is thought to be decreasing.
Habitat and Ecology
Podocarpus ridleyi is localized on several mountain summits and ridges in somewhat stunted rain forest; it may attain greater size when it occurs in forest on slopes below these summits. Its altitudinal range is from 480 to 1500m (possibly to 2100m). It grows in impoverished soils derived from sandstone or granite (Mt. Ophir) and can be the dominant tree in these localities
Rapid change in land use involving the conversion of rainforest into rubber tree plantations have had an impact on the trees that occurred on the lower slopes of at least the southern subpopulations, restricting them to the higher summit areas. This must have reduced the area of occupancy as well as the habitat and numbers of mature trees. On this basis it is assessed as Vulnerable under the B2 criteria.
Deforestation, logging (to a lesser extent), conversion of forests to plantations of rubber trees.
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The first Storm King, Durran, lived during the Age of Heroes and belonged to the First Men ethnic group. When the Andals invaded Westeros, they conquered the Stormlands but the title of "Storm King" remained.
During the War of Conquest the last Storm King of the Durrandon dynasty, Argilac the Arrogant, was killed by Aegon I Targaryen's bastard half-brother Orys Baratheon, who went on to claim Argilac's seat at the castle Storm's End, his sigil, his words, and his daughter, founding House Baratheon.
Known Storm Kings
- Durran, known as Durran Godsgrief, the first Storm King and founder of Storm's End.
- Argilac Durrandon, known as Argilac the Arrogant. Killed in battle by Orys Baratheon. | <urn:uuid:2764970b-298c-4a69-8d80-8bb110893983> | {
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