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Babylonian star catalogues
Babylonian astronomy collated earlier observations and divinations into sets of Babylonian star catalogues, during and after the Kassite rule over Babylonia. These star catalogues, written in cuneiform script, contained lists of constellations, individual stars, and planets. The constellations were probably collected from various other sources, the earliest catalogue, Three Stars Each mentions stars of Akkad, of Amurru, of Elam and others.
Various sources have theorized a Sumerian origin for these Babylonian constellations, but an Elamite origin has also been proposed. A connection to the star symbology of Kassite kudurru border stones has also been claimed, but whether such kudurrus really represented constellations and astronomical information aside for the use of the symbols remains unclear.
Star catalogues after Three Stars Each include the MUL.APIN list named after the first Babylonian constellation MULAPIN, "the Plough", which is the current Triangulum constellation plus Gamma Andromedae. It lists, among others, 17 or 18 constellations in the zodiac. Later catalogues reduces the zodiacal set of constellations to 12, which were borrowed by the Egyptians and the Greeks, still surviving among the modern constellations.
Three Stars Each
The first formal compendia of star lists are the Three Stars Each texts appearing from about the 12th century BC. They represent a tripartite division of the heavens: the northern hemisphere belonged to Enlil, the equator belonged to Anu, and the southern hemisphere belonged to Enki. The boundaries were at 17 degrees North and South, so that the Sun spent exactly three consecutive months in each third. The enumeration of stars in the Three Stars Each catalogues includes 36 stars, three for each month. The determiner glyph for "constellation" or "star" in these lists is MUL (𒀯, in origin a pictograph of three stars, as it were a triplet of AN signs (the Pleiades are referred to as a "star cluster" or "star of stars" in the lists, written as MUL.MUL, or MULMUL, 𒀯𒀯).
The second formal compendium of stars in Babylonian astronomy is the MUL.APIN, a pair of tablets named for their incipit, corresponding to the first constellation of the year, MULAPIN "The Plough", identified with Triangulum plus Gamma Andromedae. The list is a direct descendent of the Three Stars Each list, reworked around 1000 BC on the basis of more accurate observations. They include more constellations, including most circumpolar ones, and more of the zodiacal ones.
The Babylonian star catalogues entered Greek astronomy in the 4th century BC, via Eudoxus of Cnidus and others. A few of the constellation names in use in modern astronomy can be traced to Babylonian sources via Greek astronomy. Among the most ancient constellations are those that marked the four cardinal points of the year in the Middle Bronze Age, i.e.
- Taurus "The Bull", from GU4.AN.NA "The Steer of Heaven", marking vernal equinox
- Leo "The Lion", from UR.GU.LA "The Lion", marking summer solstice
- Scorpius "The Scorpion", from GIR.TAB "The Scorpion", marking autumn equinox
- Capricornus "Goat-Horned", from SUḪUR.MAŠ "The Goat-Fish", marking winter solstice. It is a mythological hybrid depicted on boundary stones from before 2000 BC as a symbol of Ea.
There are other constellation names which can be traced to Bronze Age origins, including Gemini "The Twins", from MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL "The Great Twins", Cancer "The Crab", from AL.LUL "The Crayfish", among others.
The MUL.APIN gives
- a catalogue of 71 stars and constellations of the "Three Ways" of the Three Stars Each tradition. The star names (prefixed with MUL 𒀯) are listed with the associated deity (prefix DINGIR 𒀭) and often some other brief epithet.
- dates of heliacal risings
- pairs of constellations which rise and set simultaneously
- time-intervals between dates of heliacal risings
- pairs of constellations which are simultaneously at the zenith and at the horizon
- the path of the moon and planets.
- a solar calendar
- the planets and the durations of their solar conjunctions
- stellar risings and planetary positions for predicting weather and for adjusting the calendar
- telling time by length of the gnomon shadow
- length of night watches during the year
- omens connected with the appearance of stars planets, MUL.U.RI.RI (comets?) and winds.
The path of the Moon as given in MUL.APIN consists of 17 or 18 stations, recognizable as the direct predecessor of the twelve-sign zodiac. Note that the beginning of the list with MUL.MUL "Pleiades" corresponds to the situation in the Early to Middle Bronze Age when the Sun at vernal equinox was close to the Pleiades in Taurus (closest in the 23rd century BC), and not yet in Aries.
- MUL.MUL "The Star Cluster" or "Star of Stars" (Pleiades)
- GU4.AN.NA "The Steer of Heaven" (Taurus)
- SIPA.ZI.AN.NA "The Loyal Shepherd of Heaven" (Orion)
- ŠU.GI "The Old One" (Perseus)
- ZUBI "The Scimitar" (Auriga)
- MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL "The Great Twins" (Gemini)
- AL.LUL "The Crayfish" (Cancer)
- UR.GU.LA "The Lion" (Leo)
- AB.SIN "The Seed-Furrow" (Virgo)
- ZIB.BA.AN.NA/zi-ba-ni-tum "The Scales" (Libra)
- GIR.TAB "The Scorpion" (Scorpius)
- PA.BIL.SAG (Sagittarius)
- SUḪUR.MAŠ.KU6 "The Goat-Fish" (Capricorn)
- GU.LA "The Great One" (Aquarius)
- KUN.MEŠ "The tails" (Pisces)
- SIM.MAḪ "The Great Swallow" (SW Pisces and Epsilon Pegasi)
- A.NU.NI.TUM/A-nu-ni-tum (Andromeda)
- LU.ḪUŊ.GA "The Agrarian Worker" (Aries)
The "Tail of the Swallow" (Pisces) has also been read as two constellations, "The Tail" and "The Swallow", whence the uncertainty whether the "zodiac" consists of 17 or 18 constellations. All constellations of the Iron Age twelve-sign zodiac are present among them, most of them with names that clearly identify them, while some ("Furrow" for Virgo, Pabilsag for Sagittarius, "Great One" for Aquarius, "Swallow Tail" for Pisces and "Agrarian Worker" for Aries) reached Greek astronomy with altered names.
For Virgo, and for her main star Spica, Babylonian precedents are present. The MUL.APIN associates Absin "The Furrow" with "the goddess Shala's ear of corn", and Shala is conventionally depicted as holding an ear of corn on boundary stones of the Kassite era. Regarding Sagittarius, Pabilsag is a comparatively obscure Sumerian god, later identified with Ninurta. Another name for the constellation was Nebu "The Soldier". Aquarius "The Water-Pourer" represents Ea himself, dubbed "The Great One" in the MUL.APIN. It contained the winter solstice in the Early Bronze Age. In the Greek tradition, he became represented as simply a single vase from which a stream poured down to Piscis Austrinus. The name in the Hindu zodiac is likewise kumbha "water-pitcher", showing that the zodiac reached India via Greek intermediaries. The current definition of Pisces is the youngest of the zodiacal constellations. The "Swallow" of Babylonian astronomy was larger, including parts of Pegasus. Late Babylonian sources mention DU.NU.NU "The Fish-Cord". It is unclear how the "Agrarian Worker" of the MUL.APIN became Aries "The Ram" of Greek tradition, possibly via association with Dumuzi the Shepherd.
- History of the constellations
- Babylonian calendar
- Babylonian astrology
- Enuma anu enlil
- Triple deity
- Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa
- .History of the Constellations and Star Names — D.4: Sumerian constellations and star names?, by Gary D. Thompson
- History of the Constellations and Star Names — D.5: Elamite lion-bull iconography as constellations?, by Gary D. Thompson
- The Origin Of The Zodiac by Gary D. Thompson.
- John H. Rogers, "Origins of the ancient contellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 108 (1998) 9–28
- Verderame, Lorenzo, "The Primeval Zodiac: Its Social, Religious, and Mythological Background", in J.A. Rubiño-Martín et al., Cosmology Across Cultures, ASP Conference Series 409, San Francisco, 2009, 151-156. | <urn:uuid:e1fcf462-af3f-4e9d-a634-a96996783d94> | {
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‘Passports’ Let Particles into Bloodstream
Macrophages — literally, “big eaters” — are a main part of this response. These cells find and engulf invaders, or form a wall around the foreign object. Unfortunately, macrophages also eat helpful foreigners, including nanoparticles that deliver drugs or help image tumors.
Along with members of his lab, Dennis Discher, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, has developed a “passport” that could be attached to therapeutic particles and devices, tricking macrophages into leaving them alone.
The immune system’s macrophages act like border guards, binding to objects as they pass through the bloodstream and inspecting them to see if they belong there or not. One way a body’s own cells identify themselves is via a protein on their membranes.
“We simulated and synthesized the simplest functional version of that membrane protein, and then stuck this ‘minimal peptide’ on the exterior of some plastic nanoparticles,” Discher says. “We then tested whether they would fool the immune system into thinking they were part of the body.”
Giving therapeutic nanoparticles more time before they are eaten by macrophages could be a major boon for treatments. Some nanoparticles might need to get through the macrophage-heavy spleen and liver to find their targets, but shouldn’t stay in the body indefinitely. Other combinations might be appropriate for more permanent devices, such as pacemaker leads.
While more research is necessary before such applications become a reality, the relative simplicity of this passport molecule makes it a more attractive component for future therapeutics. “It can be made cleanly in a machine,” Discher says, “and easily modified during synthesis in order to attach to all sorts of implanted and injected things, with the goal of fooling the body into accepting these things as ‘self.’” | <urn:uuid:5662e42d-5303-4e83-9fb9-9763d3612844> | {
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The Tulip Crash
What better time than spring to talk about the tulip bulb? However, let’s look less at its beauty and more at its influence as an economic influence. The tulip may be one of the world’s most recognizable flowers but it is also at the center of one of the world’s most notorious financial crashes – The Tulip Crash of 1637.
The tulip bulb originated in Turkey. In 1593, Dutch traders imported the first bulbs to Holland. They were unique, beautiful, exotic and therefore, expensive. The growing conditions in Holland caused the bulbs to be susceptible to a mosaic virus that caused color striations in the petals known as ‘flames’. These flames created attractive markings that actually added to the tulip’s mystique and value. They became highly prized and thus even more expensive.
The flowers mysterious beauty, coupled with limited supplies lead to a tulip buying frenzy. And, of course, as with all financial frenzies people looked for more and more ways to profit. This led to speculation in tulip markets where buyers could invest in future contracts for the delivery of the bulbs. Not unlike the stock markets of today, bulbs were traded at market exchanges and as the frenzy increased buyers started trading on margins or future profits. This practice was especially risky and an overconfident atmosphere prevailed. Traders believed there would always be a market for tulips, especially to foreigners. Seeing no end to their wealth potential, traders cashed in all sorts of assets including their homes, cattle, and savings to invest in tulip bulbs. This period is seen by some as the beginning of the futures and commodities trading practices of today.
As demand grew tulip growers worked to increase their supply. Prices soared to more than 20 times the cost of bulbs and some individual bulbs could sell for as much as 10 times the yearly income of a skilled craftsperson. As prices skyrocketed investors began to cash in their wealth. This slowed down the soaring prices and eventually fear started to enter the market as more and more traders cashed in their investments. The crash ushered in one of the world’s most devastating recessions that lasted for many years. The Dutch government decided to bail out investors by paying them 10% of their investment. The bail out added to the loss of confidence and contributed to a deeper plunge in the market. Does any of this sound familiar?
To be clear, there is limited economic data from the 1630s and some researchers are skeptical of the actually scope of the bubble. Nevertheless, the effects of this over inflated little bulb understandably left the Dutch very cautious of speculation for many years. | <urn:uuid:872d50d3-9fee-4b23-83d5-caa143989c67> | {
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The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Vandergrift
VANDERGRIFT, văn-dėr-grĭft, Pa., borough in Westmoreland County, on the Kiskiminetas River, and on the western Pennsylvania division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, 25 miles east of Pittsburgh. It is situated in a beautiful valley and is noted for its manufacture of sheet steel, the Apollo Iron and Steel Company, now absorbed by the United States Steel Corporation, being situated here, and is one of the largest steel plants in the world, having eight open hearth furnaces, a gigantic continuous bar mill, 29 complete sheet mills and a large plant for galvanizing the sheets. Natural gas is used as fuel. The mills have an output of 45 carloads of finished steel a day. The town has graded schools and a high school established in 1900; a public library and eight churches. There are two newspapers and good banking facilities. Vandergrift was founded by the Apollo Iron and Steel Company on 650 acres of land, upon which they erected their works in 1896 and 1897. The value of the works is estimated at $5,500,000. The town is very remarkable as a successful demonstration of the economic principles and is known in the iron world as the “workingman's paradise.” The town was laid out and sewered, and water, electric light and gas plants built, streets paved, trees planted, etc., before a single lot was sold to the employees. Nearly all the homes in the town are owned by those who live in them, and every lot of land was sold with a stipulation in the deed that no liquors should be sold on any of them for 99 years. The mills have never closed down since they were started, except at intervals for repairs. The workmen are well paid and of unusual intelligence, and belong to no labor union, and the town has never had any labor disturbances. A borough was formed in 1915, taking in most of the town and known as Vandergrift Heights. Pop. 3,876. | <urn:uuid:5addb83d-6336-426e-a4a0-4df007fa93e5> | {
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This condition results from an inadequate flow of blood through the arteries. It can develop from a variety of causes, and it may affect many different parts of the body.
One of the most common causes of arterial insufficiency is atherosclerosis, a thickening and hardening of the arterial walls that can severely restrict blood flow. Arterial insufficiency can also result from damaged or weak vessels, an aneurysm, or smoking.
Symptoms of arterial insufficiency vary depending on what part of the body is affected. In many cases the legs are affected. The legs may feel painful, and they may cramp and tingle. They may become pale and feel cold. The person may lose the hair on the legs. These symptoms worsen with activity and improve with rest.
Arterial insufficiency can also impact major organs. If the vessels of the heart are affected, the patient may have a heart attack. If the vessels of the head are affected, the patient may have a stroke.
Treatment options vary depending on the patient’s need. Options may include medication and a healthier lifestyle. Insufficiency may also be treated with angioplasty or stenting to widen a restricted blood vessel, or with a surgical bypass to route blood flow around a blocked blood vessel. | <urn:uuid:9990e3f4-f617-48e7-a649-e5d3e97dc092> | {
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Query: ISSN: "00240672"
|Authors||S. Turner, G.C. Cadée|
|Title||Dr Margaretha Brongersma-Sanders (1905-1996), Dutch scientist: an annotated bibliography of her work to celebrate 100 years since her birth|
|Keywords||history; biography; bibliography; M. Brongersma-Sanders; mass mortality research; upwelling; Shell|
|Abstract||Dr Margaretha Brongersma-Sanders, palaeontologist, pioneer geochemist, geobiologist and oceanographer, Officer of the Order of Oranje Nassau was born 100 years ago (February 20th, 1905) in Kampen in The Netherlands. The fields of research that she covered during her lifetime include taxonomy of recent and fossil, principally freshwater fish; “fish kills” and mass mortality in the sea (especially of fish); taphonomy and preservation of fish; upwelling; anoxic conditions, linked to fish mortality and the origin of bituminous black shales and oil; red tides and harmful algal blooms; trace metal enrichment in recent and fossil sediments, especially the Kupferschiefer; the origin of evaporites; algal mats and stromatolites. She was the first to categorise fish mass mortality, emphasizing algal blooms (red tides) and their importance in forming fish-bonebeds and noting their input to oil production especially in open sea upwelling sites. On this basis she spent a decade or more in the 1950s and 60s as a consultant to Shell and became a member of the Dutch Academy of Science Commission on Sea Research. Her major 1957 review is a famous classic in this field. She managed to keep her scientific interests and intellectual life alive at a time when being married and having children and conducting scientific research were not the norm; she even maintained a reasonable scientific career of sorts for the next 50 years, even after official retirement publishing her last scientific paper in 1992. Despite these achievements, which she did on her own terms, when Brongersma-Sanders died in 1996 the fact was hardly mentioned in the scientific press or to the worldwide community.|
|Classification||01.30 ; 42.81|
|Download paper|| http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/41261 | | <urn:uuid:a35650f6-faea-4e12-9912-0cbf5b50b6ee> | {
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Abraham Cunard was a descendant of Thones Kunders, a German Quaker who immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1683. Abraham Cunard enjoyed youthful success as a timber merchant and shipowner, but his entire fleet was confiscated by rebels in the American Revolution and Cunard came to Halifax with the Loyalist migration in 1783. He worked as a foreman carpenter with the British Army. In 1799 he was appointed master carpenter of the Royal Engineers at the Halifax garrison by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the commander-in-chief in British North America. Cunard held his post until he retired in 1822. Cunard also pursued a private business career, building and buying wharves, warehouses and considerable land holdings. In July 1812, he founded the firm of A. Cunard and Sons to enter the timber and West Indian trade. Cunard acquired valuable timber holdings in Nova Scotia’s Cumberland County and later in Hants County where one of his employees was Jacob Hall, father of William Hall, the Victoria Cross winner. Cunard provided timber to the Royal Navy's Halifax Naval Yard and to export markets in Britain and the West Indies. He also owned ships and traded to the West Indies as well as acting as an agent for other shipowners. In the War of 1812, Cunard prospered, purchasing captured ships and cargoes and supplying British forces with risky but rewarding wartime trading. One of his ships, the schooner Margaret was captured by American privateers in 1814 but recaptured and returned to Cunard. In 1783, Abraham Cunard married Margaret Murphy (1758-1821), another Loyalist whose family had immigrated to South Carolina from Ireland in 1773. They had had nine children, two girls and seven boys. His sons, William, Samuel, Edward, Joseph, John, Thomas and Henry followed into the family firm as well as founding their own ventures. Abraham's son Joseph Cunard became a major timber merchant and politician in New Brunswick. However it was Abraham's second son Samuel Cunard who emerged as the leader in the family firm. Using his father’s company as a base, Samuel Cunard launched his own shipping empire after his father’s death which eventually became the famous Cunard Line. Abraham Cunard retired in 1822 and moved to the family’s country home at Rawdon, Nova Scotia in East Hants County. His wife Margaret died in 1821. Abraham died in 1824. His is buried with his wife at the St. Paul’s Church graveyard at Rawdon.
- Smy, W.A. “Loyalist Cunards”, ‘’Loyalist Gazette’’, Fall 1997.
- States, David W. "William Hall VC of Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia Nineteenth Century Naval Hero", Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Vol. 44 (1996), p. 71
- Blakeley, Phyllis R. “Samuel Cunard”, Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- “Samuel and Susan” Part 4, ‘’Blue Pete.Com’’ | <urn:uuid:c8a0d27f-cd33-4ff2-8d71-fecfa3103f1f> | {
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Hazing has become a serious issue among today's educational institutions and it is our responsibility to take preventive action. Instead of reacting to possible hazing incidents, we should educate our campus community about the subject and its alternatives. Here you will find definitions, policies, events, additional websites and alternatives to hazing rituals. This page serves as a resource for the Pace community to utilize.
Please click on the links below for more information
- Any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule. Such activities may include but are not limited to the following: use of alcohol; paddling in any form; creation of excessive fatigue; physical and psychological shocks; quests, treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, road trips or any other such activities carried on outside or inside of the confines of the chapter house; wearing of public apparel which is conspicuous and not normally in good taste; engaging in public stunts and buffoonery; morally degrading or humiliating games and activities; and any other activities which are not consistent with fraternal law, ritual or policy or the regulations and policies of the educational institution." - Fraternal Insurance Puchasing Group (FIPG)
- Physical Hazing: is any activity which is physically harmful to the individual such as paddling, infliction of pain, lack of sleep, consumption of alcohol, etc.
- Psychological Hazing: is any act that comprises the personal dignity of an individual, causing personal embarrassment or shame, causing the individual to be the object of malicious amusement or ridicule. Also includes anything which compels another to participate in any activity which is illegal.
120.16 Hazing in the first degree.
- A person is guilty of hazing in the first degree when, in the course of another person's initiation into or affiliation with any organization, he intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a third person and thereby causes such injury. Hazing in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor. Up to one year of jail time.
120.17 Hazing in the second degree.
- A person is guilty of hazing in the second degree when, in the course of another person's initiation or affiliation with any organization, they intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a third person. Hazing in the second degree is a violation.
- Pace University has a zero-tolerance policy regarding hazing that is consistent with New York state law. Hazing includes any activity that subjects members to harassment, ridicule, intimidation, physical exhaustion, abuse, or mental distress. Hazing is contrary to the purposes of the Pace Community. Hazing is not tolerated.
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/PacePleasantvilleGreekLife/ - Greek Life at Pace University Facebook Group
- http://www.pace.edu/student-development-plv/greek-life-whats-new - Whats new in Greek Life at Pace University
- http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=55903 - Alternatives to Hazing. Provided by Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- http://www.iup.edu/page.aspx?id=55919 - Actions Individuals and Organizations can do about Hazing. Provided by Indiana University of Pennsylvania | <urn:uuid:477a0d6f-1d49-40dd-a963-40aece43db5d> | {
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offline(1) Not connected. For example, all printers have a switch that allows you to turn them offline. While the printer is offline, you can perform certain commands like advancing the paper (form feed), but you cannot print documents sent from the computer. The opposite of offline is online.
(2) Aside from its technical meaning, offline is used frequently in a more general sense to describe events that occur outside of a standard procedure. For example, if somebody at a meeting says "let's continue this discussion offline," it means "let's discuss it informally at another time."
The term is alternatively spelled as off-line.
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- Watch Datamation's editor James Maguire moderate roundtable discussions with tech experts from companies such as Accenture, Dell, Blue Jeans Network, Microsoft and more » | <urn:uuid:03acb367-0d6b-4bca-ade8-5881302e0ac3> | {
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When Daniel Bogre Udell turned 13, the small world he knew in the Poconos expanded into a much larger one in the kitchen of a local restaurant.
It was the first time Bogre Udell, now 27, heard people speaking to one another in Spanish. That job as a busboy in Monroe County, Pa., sparked a passion that has led him on a mission to record and curate all the world's languages.
"I definitely had a fairly homogeneous cultural experience," Bogre Udell said of his youth in Poconos Pines, Pa.
Today, Bogre Udell lives in Brooklyn and New York, he said, is the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Wikitongues, the nonprofit he co-founded, has researched even further, thanks to a network of hundreds of volunteers who've recorded themselves and others speaking, so far, more than 400 of the world's 7,097 languages.
Bogre Udell said Wiki-tongues has recorded languages from the Brazilian rain forest that sound like "birds chirping," along with the clicking consonants of Bantu spoken in central and South Africa, and Pennsylvania Dutch, the unique, small language spoken by the Amish in his own backyard.
"There's about 500 languages that are seriously at risk," he said.
Bogre Udell, who has a bachelor's degree in fine arts and a master's in historical studies from the Parsons New School in New York, recalled seeing Mayan languages at ruins on trips to the Yucatan with family and said he first learned about the politics of language in the Catalonian region of Spain while studying abroad. The region has long sought independence and speaking Catalan was once banned under the dictator Francisco Franco. One of the goals of Wikitongues, he said, is to give activists a platform to revitalize languages rather than fully assimilate them into larger ones.
"We're like a front door to the broader process. Minority languages. Things have changed. Politics have changed," he said.
The Wikitongues YouTube channel has close to 41,000 subscribers. The most popular video is a combination of English and Gullah, a distinctive Creole language spoken by blacks along the coast and on the islands off South Carolina and Georgia. Another popular video shows a woman speaking Shetlandic, from the Shetland Islands north of Scotland.
The story of languages, Bogre Udell said, includes war, massacres and genocides and remoteness. Every two weeks, he said, a language dies. Sometimes existing languages are spoken by only a handful of people and can only be recorded, not revitalized. One that survived conquest was Basque, spoken in northern Spain and southwestern France.
"Basque was spoken there when the Romans showed up," he said. "You're listening to the voice of a people that has withstood conquest and invasion."
Bogre Udell started Wikitongues as a project while studying at the New School but kept it going forward with co-founder Frederico Andrade. Many of Wikitongues' volunteers are listed on its website, and the site's work has been recognized by National Geographic. Borge Udell earns an income by working as a freelance web developer but said 70 percent of his life is dedicated to Wikitongues. The site runs through donations, and he said there are plans to work with the Library of Congress soon and, ideally, more universities and government agencies aimed at preserving culture.
"The European Union (EU) is one of the best places in the world for reviving and revitalizing unique languages," he said.
Some of those languages include Greenlandic and Cornish, a revived language that was common in Cornwall in Southwest England up until the 18th century.
Not all languages have ancient traditions, like Klingon, inspired by the Klingons in, yes, Star Trek. Those languages are called constructed languages, or "conlangs," and their popularity waxes and wanes with the times.
"Klingon is far less learned today," he said. "Today, Dothraki from Game of Thrones is more popular."
The largest constructed language is Esperanto, created in 1887 by L.L. Zamenhof with the goal of uniting humanity. It is estimated that 2 million people can speak it.
"We certainly couldn't turn down Esperanto," Bogre Udell said. "It borrows from all the major languages in Europe."
High Profile on 02/03/2019
Print Headline: Man records rare languages to save them | <urn:uuid:d1cb3a95-ffb0-475e-ab71-212801aeb50b> | {
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A Closer Look at
The Microbiology & Molecular Genetics MajorsOffered by: CALS Microbiology & Molecular Genetics Department
Fascinating developments in contemporary medicine and science begin with molecular events that underlie the routine functions of cells and organisms. Scientists in the field of microbiology study microbes essential to medicine, industry, ecology, and basic science. Molecular genetics, in turn, provides the means to investigate, at the molecular level, the chemical and biological principles that underlie all living processes.
The Microbiology and Molecular Genetics Department is unique at UVM because it exists within two colleges, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Medicine. From this position, it draws on expertise from such departments as botany and agricultural biochemistry, pathology, biology, and pharmacology.
What Will I Study?
You can choose a major in Microbiology with a concentration in clinical, applied or general microbiology, or in Molecular Genetics.
All students must finish the basic distribution requirements for a bachelor of science degree from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Microbiology or Molecular Genetics majors also take a foundation of biological and physical science courses, plus upper-level microbiology and molecular genetics and biological sciences courses to complete their major requirements.
The program is flexible enough to allow you to minor in a scientific discipline such as medical technology, nutrition, or biological science -- or a field that's altogether different. Students have graduated with minors in French, business, and statistics, allowing them to put together a career plan that spans a wide range of opportunities.
Exciting Field and Research Experience
Small classes and a strong commitment to advising give you plenty of chance to interact with the faculty, who frequently involve undergraduates in cutting-edge research. Laboratories offer broad opportunities to do research along with coursework in such areas as DNA repair, fungal genetics, environmental microbiology, developmental genetics, infectious diseases, and other fields.
Looking to the Future
An undergraduate in microbiology or molecular genetics prepares you to go on to study for an advanced degree in medicine, biotechnology, microbiology, biochemistry, or something as divergent as the law, where changes in the patent industry, as well as questions of ethics related to bioengineering or genetics counseling have companies and regulatory agencies clamoring for graduates with a science background to complement legal expertise.
You'll be ready to work in virtually any type of laboratory in the biological sciences -- research, clinical, or applied sciences, such as forensics or toxicology. Within these careers -- whether in industry or an academic setting -- you might teach, run experiments, lead a research team, or any combination. Industries like food processing and pharmaceuticals offer many openings, but graduates have also chosen to start their own businesses.
Advanced Level Courses
Faculty and Area of Expertise
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Metric Vernier Caliper Electronic Digital Calipers for measuring
od,id and depth
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How to use a caliper??
A caliper has two jaws, one fixed, the other sliding. Move the
sliding jaw by pressing your thumb on the bump on the bottom. Many
calipers also have a knurled wheel that makes moving the jaw
easier. An electronic digital caliper has some buttons on the
readout. One of them turns the caliper on; one sets the caliper to
zero; and one switches from inches to millimeters. The precise
location of each button and how it is labeled varies from model to
model. Yours might have additional buttons.
The First Step
Before you take a reading—and I mean before you take every
reading—close the caliper and make sure the reading is 0.000. If
not, do this:
1. Open the jaws about three quarters of an inch. Then use the
thumb of your free hand to wipe off the mating surfaces of the
2. Close the caliper again. On an electronic digital caliper, if
the reading is not 0.000, press the zero button so that it does
read 0.000. To zero a dial caliper, rotate the bezel so that the
needle points to 0.
Four Basic Readings
Your caliper can take four kinds of readings: outside, inside,
depth, and step. Any caliper, whether it is a vernier caliper, dial
caliper, or electronic digital caliper, can take these
measurements. Let’s take a look at how you take each of those
Outside measurements are the most basic you can do with a caliper.
Slide the jaws open, place the caliper over the object to be
measured, and slide the jaws until they contact the workpiece. Read
It’s easy, but if you don’t do it correctly the measurement will
not be accurate. If the calipers are not straight (that is,
perpendicular to the workpiece) the measurement will not be
accurate. Likewise, if there is dirt on the jaws or the workpiece
the measurement will not be accurate.
The smaller jaws on the top of the caliper are used for inside
measurements. Slide the caliper closed, place the inside-measuring
jaws into the space to be measured, and slide the jaws apart as far
as they will go. Read the measurement.
It’s a little harder to keep things lined up correctly when you are
taking an inside measurement. Be sure that the calipers are not
cocked, or you will not get an accurate measurement.
As you open the caliper the depth blade extends out of the far end.
Use this blade to take depth measurements. Press the machined end
of the caliper against top of the hole you want to measure. Open
the caliper until the depth blade contacts the bottom of the hole.
Read the measurement. It can be tricky keeping the caliper straight
over the hole, especially if only one side of the caliper is
resting on the workpiece.
Step measurement is the hidden use of a caliper. Many instructions
skip this important use. But once you know about it, you will find
many uses for step measurement.
Open the caliper slightly. Place the sliding jaw on the upper step
of the workpiece , then open the caliper until the fixed jaw
contacts the lower step. Read the measurement.
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Contact person:Vicky Wang
Welcome to talk with me directly! | <urn:uuid:9f682e97-0343-4d2b-bf72-516313e55b1d> | {
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The CPSC and the FDA came together yesterday to issue a warning to parents and caregivers to stop using infant sleep positioners immediately as two recent deaths underscore concerns about suffocation.
You may remember the recent recall of the Nap Nanny. Well, now the CPSC is issuing a general warning with regard to sleep positioners after reviewing reports of 12 known infant deaths associated with the products which have occurred over the past 13 years. Most of the infants suffocated after rolling from a side to a stomach position. In addition to the 12 reported deaths, the CPSC has received dozens of reports of infants who were placed on their backs or sides in sleep positioners, only to be found later in potentially hazardous positions within or next to the sleep positioners.
The most common types of sleep positioners are:
- sleeping bolsters, usually a flat or inclined mat with round or triangular cushions on each side of a baby (see Figure 1) and
- wedge-style positioners, which elevate a baby’s head higher than its body, sometimes by placing the infant in an attached, diaper-like sling (see Figure 2).
With bolster-style positioners, if a baby is placed on its stomach or if a baby rolls from its side to its stomach, his or her mouth and nose can become pressed against a bolster or other parts of the device. Even if placed on its back, a baby may move upward or downward in the positioner, entrapping its face against a bolster or becoming trapped between the positioner and the crib side or bassinet.
A baby placed on a wedge-style positioner can scoot upward so that its head falls off and hangs over the high edge of the positioner, or the baby may scoot or roll down the wedge so that its mouth and nose are pressed into the positioner. The baby’s movement may also cause the positioner to flip on top of the baby, trapping the baby underneath the positioner or between the positioner and the side of the crib.
Many of these devices have been marketed with medical claims that they reduce the risk of SIDS by keeping a child on their back, help with food digestion and reflux (GERD), ease colic, and/or prevent flat head syndrome. However, the FDA and the CPSC have stated that there is currently no scientific evidence supporting these claims and they believe that any benefit from using these devices is outweighed by the risk of suffocation.
The FDA, which has jurisdiction over products making medical claims, is now contacting all manufacturers of infant sleep positioners, including those it had previously cleared with medical claims, and requesting that they stop marketing them until they submit scientific data showing that the benefits of their products outweigh the risk of suffocation or other serious harm. The FDA has also indicated it will be contacting retailers to ask them to stop selling the devices.
The FDA and CPSC warn parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to take this warning seriously and follow these recommendations:
(1) STOP using infant sleep positioners. Using a device to hold an infant in a particular position is dangerous and unnecessary.
(2) NEVER put pillows, infant sleep positioners, comforters, or quilts under the baby or in the crib.
(3) ALWAYS place an infant to sleep on his/her back, and not their sides, at night and during nap time.
FDA pediatric expert Susan Cummins, M.D., M.P.H., says, “The safest crib is a bare crib,” and summarizes the above recommendations with the “ABCs of safe sleep—Alone on the Back in a Bare Crib.”
If you enjoy reading PureBebe, please tell your friends and click on “Sign me up!” under “Email Subscription” on the right rail of the screen. By subscribing to our emails, you are telling us that you dig our site and want to read more of our healthy baby news and topics!
Other recent recalls:
Similac Baby Formula Recalled
Nap Nanny® Recall: What you Should Know
CPSC Vote to Issue Safety Standards that will Eliminate Drop-Side Cribs
Massive Crib Recall Announced: What You Should Know
Double Check your Children’s Medicine
To subscribe to recall announcements and product safety alerts from the CPSC, click here. | <urn:uuid:ec808387-cd20-4f8b-8cff-dfbd8c01036d> | {
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DESIGNING A PHONO PREAMPLIFIER
Part IV: RIAA
In the concept development phase we explained our reasons to go with passive RIAA compensation. We are talking about passive filter circuit with a carefully tailored output characteristic. There is almost an infinite number of R, L and C combinations that can give us the required response. Two most common (and simplest) configurations are shown below.
Even though both circuits will perform well, there are some minute differences. Circuit "A" will have capacitors C1 and C2 working in series at the high end of the frequency bandwidth. That means that their parasitic inductances and resistances will add up. Everything else being equal, circuit "B" does not have that drawback, having only C1 connected directly across the filter's output and C2 in series with R2, making C2 parasitics negligible in comparison the required high value for R2. So, we will go with circuit "B".
The filter circuit is really simple, indeed. Filter response is relatively easy to mathematically derive, however, equations in their closed form are pretty long (unlike those defining gain of the op-amp circuits). Luckily, should you decide to experiment with your own design, there are few good online calculators that work with pretty good.
Again, there is a large number of possible combinations (and online calculators make it easy to try many of them), but final choice will depend on circuits that are being connected at the input and output of the RIAA filter. Ideally, signals brough to the input should come from a source with a very low impedance. The filter's output should, ideally, be connected to an infinite impedance. Inevitable realities of practical circuits (non-zero input and non-infinity output impedance) will modify filter's response, it is our challenge to minimize the effects (or to qualify and compensate for them).
In our case, the filter will see very low impedance the op-amp output (few ohms) and filter output will be connected to the op-amp input (few hundred million, or even a billion ohms). Selecting R1 value to be about thousand times higher than op-amp's output impedance is a good compromise between filter accuracy and noise (high resistor values would help accuracy, but they will also have higher thermal noise, so it is on designer to pick his poison.... or how he mixes them).
Other than that, we need to be aware that calculations will give us results to few decimal points. Component vendors need to be more practical, though, so they make components with standardized values. We need to select and calculate values that are close to what is available on the market, or close to a combination of standard values (by adding components in series or parallel) and, if still not perfect, to understand and qualify effects.
Examining these effects, along with effects of component tolerances are the next steps we need to take.
Starting with assumptions outlined above, we ended up with the following ideal filter:
Voltage source V10 is an ideal source with zero output resistance and RL2 is our load, which is going to be very high.
Resistor R10 and C20 came out right on the standard values, but R20 and C10 were a bit different. Let's see how practical considerations affect this circuit:
Our voltage source is less than perfect, with 50 ohm output impedance (by proper selection of op-amp we can go lower than that, for now let's play safe). R20 got replaced with two standard resistors connected in series and C10 became C1 with standard value of 220nF (0.22uF).
Now seems to be the right time to fire up the circuit simulation software and speed up our analysis.
Perfect RIAA has a perfect response, which is our reference (the pictures below may not be great, so I'll provide links for PDF versions and clicking on the pictures will have the same effect):
We are examining very wide frequency range (10Hz-100kHz) just to make sure there are no surprises once we start looking at real-world imperfections.
Considering that we had to use standard component values instead of mathematically correct ones, we can expect that there will be deviation in the RIAA response. We expect (hope?) differences to be very small. The picture below shows deviation of the practical circuit from the ideal RIAA curve (link to PDF):
Assuming standardized component values, maximum deviation from the perfect RIAA curve will be 0.07dB at about 200Hz. Looks pretty good, doesn't it? Our wish list had the accuracy within 0.2dB, looks like our wishes are coming true!!!!
Well.....not so fast..... I don't feel like exercising my marketing skills at this time, there is more work to be done....
Designed, assembled and tested in the U.S.A.
|© 2000-2009, ENG Vista, Inc.| | <urn:uuid:f06191fb-41f2-4512-b385-a2988f8b59c4> | {
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Ted Simons: History can be viewed in different ways by different people. That certainly is the case With the American Indian history. In a new book "call for Change: The medicine way of American Indian history, Ethos, and Reality," ASU professor Donald Fixico argues that the current discipline of native American history is insensitive to and inconsistent with how American Indians view their past experiences. Here with us now to talk about his new book and a new class he will teach this fall is Donald Fixico. Good to have you here. Thank you for joining us.
Donald Fixico: Nice to be here.
Ted Simons: Time to rethink American Indian history. What are we talk being here?
Donald Fixico: The operative word -- from the outside, about Indian people. Here is the chance to get inside the communities of native people and inside of their minds and explain how they're cultural different, decisions different, values different, they come up with different world views. But that is also saying that there is Comanche logic -- let's look at history that way.
Ted Simons: Current discipline insensitive to Indian views of history. Tell us about that.
Donald Fixico: The books written by -- the -- saying here are the facts. Here is what happened. And then that is what happened. And that really kind of disregards how that native people think and their point of view and how they see history.
Ted Simons: Do you think that some of these historians basically misunderstand American Indians.
Donald Fixico: Very much so. I can read a history book about American Indians. In the first few pages you can determine that. You can at the same time read the same few pages of a different book and you can tell that scholar spent a lot of time with that native group.
Ted Simons: Give us an example of a misunderstanding that you have seen out there.
Donald Fixico: Misunderstanding? Much of the history written probably before the late 1960s. Historians have written books about native people -- the book about the American west, he said in reading the introduction, he says read the introduction facing east. When you face east, you can see the miners coming towards you, the railroads, soldiers, settlers and everything like that.
Ted Simons: Basically it is Indian views and values mixed with what actually happened.
Donald Fixico: Yes.
Ted Simons: When you teach a class, when you wrote the book, who are you writing this for? Who are you teaching to?
Donald Fixico: I'm writing it for everyone because we need to kind of learn to think different ways. And we need to -- if we take on the most difficult questions and problems, well, how do you approach things differently? Because if we don't, we will limit our thinking and not be able to tackle the difficult questions.
Ted Simons: In the book you write about -- I want to get to the medicine way in a second. But first something natural democracy. How do you define natural democracy in the context of this book and in the context of what you are talking about?
Donald Fixico: Natural democracy, a term I used in 1982 when I was talking about the Iroquois and how they dealt with democracy and decision making. I remember giving that lecture way back then. Natural democracy the way I apply it, mutual respect for everything and not just human beings, but respect for rivers, mountains, flora, fauna, that they're in all of this because all of our relations, to look at history and to look at society in general and to only look at it in terms of human relations is only looking at a piece of the pie. And so we need to look at the entire society of life.
Ted Simons: So, looking at -- saying that everything should be mutually respected. You then move on to the medicine way of looking at history. Talk to us about that.
Donald Fixico: Okay. The medicine way is something that I grew up with and native people are close to their traditions. I think even indigenous people in different parts of the world would agree. If you are close to you are -- what you see is almost everything has a potential energy. Everything, water, rock, a wind storm, all of that has potential energy but we refer to that as the medicine way or the medicine power. Medicine power equals energy and how that is released. If you don't respect the water, then the water will come in terms of the flood. Or a raging river or something like that. In the medicine way, it is a way of paying the respect for everything that has potential power. And that's what we do. We respect that.
Ted Simons: How would you then work natural democracy in the medicine way?
Donald Fixico: Well, if we -- if everything has power, then we respect everything that is within the totality. And the totality has to be respected or else both cause their own doom like global warming. If we had respected the northern parts of this -- respected the northern parts of the planet and handled the natural resources in a better way, we would not be in this forth coming kind of doom that is going to happen with global warming.
Ted Simons: Medicine way, the way you approach everything, how does that work its way into the history of American Indians?
Donald Fixico: Medicine way has always been there. It is the medicine way that Comanche people, Seminoles in Florida, myself growing up in Oklahoma. It is introducing this to the larger mainstream and the rest of the world. I found that in doing that, I had to construct theoretically a cultural bridge. Cultural bridge -- if they can understand what the medicine way is they can cross this bridge and -- the way of native thinking, cross that bridge back.
Ted Simons: When you talk again about the ethos and the reality of Native Americans, again, I want to get back to the context of history. How does that change the way that I would look or someone else would look at the history of any aspect of American Indian history, how would that change or make me see this differently or literally change the reality of that history?
Donald Fixico: It would change a lot. If we can look back into the history -- it is almost like looking at a different book all together. Looking at a different way of life. A good example is maybe World War II or even World War I. If you go to World War I or II and look at the way the German people fought about that, rather than the western approach -- you don't get the German perspective. In this situation, you get the American Indian perspective and how each of the individual nations dealt with history. And it is like how did that happen? Why did that happen? How come did I miss that? And so this new perspective, that is what I'm trying to suggest in this book.
Ted Simons: And you talk about Iroquois logic and other tribal logic and how they can be different. How do you incorporate that into a general understanding of American Indian history. I can imagine between tribes there are great differences.
Donald Fixico: There are 566 federally recognized tribes today. There has to be at least 566 different points of view, if you add in the gender factor, men and women, that is twice that amount. This is to get on the other side of the equation, and once you are on the side of the equation, facing east, looking at the frontier, it opens up. As it opens up, then you see these different relationships. Take one group, any tribe, like in a circle, relationships with the white world, with the Cherokees, but also with the animals, plants, metaphysical and it becomes more than just a two dimensional approach it becomes more spherical.
Ted Simons: How do you find common ground? Are those the circles involved there as well?
Donald Fixico: Really only looking at the -- a native group or -- with the American mainstream. And so that is binary. If you take that same theoretical model of two relationships and turn that around, then you see the creeks with the -- with the Seminoles and any tribe can be in the middle, but we can't forget the relationship with the plant world, metaphysical world, French and Spanish.
Ted Simons: When folks look at history they want to know what happened and why it happened. Some want to make sure that it doesn't happen again. But for the most part, a curiosity as to what may have happened before they may have been around. How does this particular approach alter what happened, why it happened?
Donald Fixico: Well, I hope, and this is my goal from the book, is to really make people think really hard about history and in particular, American Indian history and indigenous history all around different parts of the world. Indigenous point of view, New Zealand, Australia, or in the Siberia of Russia, there is a different story, a different interpretation. History is a matter of interpretations. With the western approach, we tend to negate, nullify, forget the other kinds of history by not writing about how those people think. We use a large paint brush and paint a way of history and that is how it happens.
Ted Simons: You will be teaching a new class this fall at ASU.
Donald Fixico: Yes, using the basic structure of it. This new class, American Indian studies, 191, a substitute for Arizona State University's 101. It will be using two different biographies. These individuals, tribal chairperson and president, the first Navajo female surgeon, graduate of Stanford medical school and also Charles Alexander Eastman, Dr. Eastman, became a physician in 1890. So, how did these individuals thinking in the medicine way, how do they survive going to medical school when they came from a different set of ideas and backgrounds and values?
Ted Simons: Well, it's interesting stuff. I mean, it is an interesting read and it certainly is a different way of looking at things. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate your time.
Donald Fixico: It was a pleasure. | <urn:uuid:2a62412a-1b95-4bb0-b0b5-44184c705654> | {
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Principal Proposed Uses
There are two main ways to use vitamins and mineral supplements: "megadose" and nutritional therapy.
The megadose approach involves taking supplements at doses far above nutritional needs in hopes of producing a specific medical benefit. This technique essentially uses nutrients as natural drugs. The individual supplement articles in this encyclopedia explain what is known about the potential risks and benefits of megadose therapy.
This article addresses the second approach: taking nutrients at the level of nutritional needs. We discuss general issues regarding such "nutritional insurance" and indicate which nutrients you should consider taking on a daily basis.
There is no doubt that it's important to get enough of all necessary nutrients. However, the process of determining proper daily intake levels for vitamins and minerals is far from an exact science and the recommendations issued by experts in various countries often disagree to a certain extent.
In general, while it is fairly easy to determine the minimum nutrient intakes that are necessary to avoid frank malnutrition, there's no straightforward way to determine optimum intake levels. Furthermore, individual needs undoubtedly vary based on numerous factors, including age, genetics, lifestyle, other foods in the diet, and many additional environmental influences; no schedule of official recommendations could possibly take all these factors into account, even if all the necessary data existed (which it doesn't).
Thus, all recommendations for daily nutrient intake must be regarded as approximate. The individual supplement articles in this encyclopedia summarize the current US recommendations.
Common Nutritional Deficiencies
While few people are so deficient in these nutrients to show symptoms of outright malnutrition, subtle deficiencies may increase the risk of a number of diseases. For example, insufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D may increase your chances of developing osteoporosis, and inadequate folate and vitamin B 6 may speed the development of heart disease.
Thus, taking supplements to supply these important vitamins and minerals as a form of insurance may be a good idea. For standard dosage recommendations as well as safety issues, follow the links above to the full articles.
Women may develop iron deficiency, but men hardly ever do. Even in women, iron supplements are not beneficial in the absence of true deficiency. We recommend avoiding iron supplements unless tests show that you really need them.
The simplest way to support your nutrition is to take a general multivitamin and mineral supplement providing a broad range of nutrients at standard nutritional levels. However, there are a few caveats to keep in mind.
- Some supplements include very high doses of certain nutrients, such as antioxidants. As described above, when you take nutrients in this fashion, you are using them as drugs rather than nutrients; you are no longer in the world of nutritional supplementation and have passed into the riskier world of megadose treatment.
- We recommend that you use an iron-free multivitamin and mineral supplement unless you have been tested and found to be deficient in iron.
- The minerals calcium and magnesium are very bulky, and few multivitamin/mineral supplements provide the daily requirement. These minerals generally must be taken in the form of additional pills. Note: It isn't possible for your body to absorb a day's worth of calcium in a single dose. At least two doses are necessary.
- Finally, note that food may contain many nonessential substances, such as carotenoids and bioflavonoids, that nonetheless enhance health. For this reason, no nutrient supplement should be regarded as a substitute for a healthy and varied diet.
Taking Individual Supplements
One problem with multivitamin/mineral supplements is that some nutrients may interfere with the absorption of others. For this reason, there may be advantages to taking supplements separately. (The hassle factor is a strong disadvantage!) In addition, this method allows one to avoid taking vitamins and minerals one doesn't need.
If you do use this approach, keep in mind the following:
- Minerals come in many different chemical forms, technically called "salts." For example, you can purchase calcium as calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, calcium orotate, and in half a dozen or more other forms. In some cases, certain salts of minerals are known to be better absorbed than others. This is particularly the case with calcium , as described in the full article.
- When you take zinc , you should balance it with copper .
- There may be advantages to taking certain nutrients at levels a bit higher than the standard recommendations, but each nutrient presents its own issues. More is not necessarily better. See each individual nutrient article for details.
Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamins
Many people wonder whether "natural" vitamins are better than "synthetic" ones. This question, however, is a bit of a red herring. Ultimately, no vitamin or mineral supplement is "natural." Purified vitamins and minerals are refined, processed products analogous to white sugar or artificial fertilizer. It doesn't much matter whether they are extracted from foods or manufactured in a laboratory: the result is the same. For example, vitamin C made from rose hips is chemically identical to vitamin C synthesized from scratch. Both are ascorbic acid.
Rose hips themselves, however, supply many nutrients along with vitamin C. If you truly wish to get your vitamins naturally, you might consider taking them as freeze-dried or condensed whole food supplements rather than as purified vitamins. This might offer a specific advantage over purified vitamins: as we noted above, fruits and vegetables may provide substances that are not actually essential but that promote better health.
Under certain conditions, the need for many nutrients may increase. These include illnesses such as diabetes , Crohn's disease , HIV , and ulcerative colitis . Furthermore, individuals who smoke cigarettes or overuse alcohol may need additional nutrients. Follow the links to the individual articles for more information.
Medications may increase the need for certain nutrients; if you look up your own medications in the Drug Interaction section of this encyclopedia, you will find what is known about these so-called nutrient depletions.
Other potential uses of multivitamins generally lack strong support.
blood pressurefertility in womengeneral well-beingenhance sports performanceminor wounds,osteoarthritispregnancy-related nauseadecrease risk of numerous birth defectsmenopausal hot flashespremenstrual stress syndrome (PMS)stressreduce risk of prostate cancerprevent cataracts
Standard multivitamin/multimineral tablets contain nutrients at levels believed to be safe for the majority of healthy people, as indicated by amounts at or below the recommended daily allowance. However, even these supplements could be harmful for people with certain diseases, such as kidney or liver disease, or for people taking certain medications, such as warfarin .
There are other multivitamin/multimineral tablets that contain high levels of certain nutrients far above nutritional needs. These could conceivably present risks for healthy people, particularly if they are taken in combination with additional specific supplements. Almost any mineral can be toxic if taken to excess, and there are also risks with excessive intake of vitamins A, B 6 , and D.
- Reviewer: EBSCO CAM Review Board
- Review Date: 07/2012 -
- Update Date: 07/25/2012 - | <urn:uuid:f348953f-1fd1-4631-87cc-f49baa40caa8> | {
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Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública
Print version ISSN 1020-4989
CASTILLO-SOLORZANO, Carlos and QUADROS, Ciro A. de. Accelerated rubella control and the prevention of congenital rubella syndrome. Rev Panam Salud Publica [online]. 2002, vol.11, n.4, pp. 273-276. ISSN 1020-4989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1020-49892002000400017.
Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality and with high costs. Today, as a result of improved vaccination and epidemiological surveillance efforts directed at eradicating measles from the Western Hemisphere, there has been a notable increase in the ability to detect, prevent, and control rubella and CRS. The importance of these measures is undeniable, and this piece examines the components that are essential in moving ahead to reduce these major public health problems in Latin America and the Caribbean. One step in that direction would be to integrate the surveillance of measles with that of rubella and CRS.
Keywords : rubéola; síndrome de rubéola congénita; Américas. | <urn:uuid:07a2c099-08c3-4e27-b141-ab920c6f03eb> | {
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With temperatures set to soar this summer, some cities may experience heatwaves.
A heat wave is referred to as a prolonged period of excessively hot weather which is often accompanied by high humidity. Severe heat waves have eradicated crops, caused widespread power outages and killed thousands from hyperthermia.
NSW Health Medical Adviser in Environmental Health Dr Richard Broome says while Australians consider themselves to be quite resilient, they have to remember to take heat-related injuries seriously. NSW Health reports that a 2011 heatwave in Sydney caused almost 600 emergency department visits and 96 deaths.
Some groups are particularly vulnerable to high temperatures including the elderly, children and people with chronic medical conditions.
St Johns Ambulance Training Officer Lisa Martin says the best way to protect yourself from heat injuries is to stay out of the sun and at least between 11am and 5pm.
"To protect ourselves from heat stress and other stress related illness, it's best to really stay out of the sun as much as possible when the temperature gets to that extreme," says Ms Martin.
When the mercury rises, it's also advised to keep your hydration levels up by drinking water or drinks with electrolytes in them. Ms Martin says beverages like coffee and alcohol act as a diuretic and can often make you more dehydrated.
To keep the house cool, shut windows and doors during the day and keep blinds and curtains closed for most of the day. Wearing light and loose clothing will help and, if you have to go outside remember to wear sunscreen.
Ms Martin says the most important thing is to ensure you are aware of what your body is doing.
"At the start we have heat exhaustion… you feel very lethargic; a headache starts; you're very tired; there's nausea and you will be starting to sweat profusely, so if you don't monitor yourself and stop what you're doing… that can lead to heat-stroke." | <urn:uuid:772e89c3-f4e7-4225-a35b-21b439274b5d> | {
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Public 'lacks awareness' of hepatitis B
By Louise Ho
Updated: 2007-12-11 07:23
HONG KONG: Despite being aware that hepatitis B can lead to liver cancer, many carriers of the disease have not been properly screened for the virus nor do they know how to manage their condition, a survey by the Chinese University of Hong Kong has revealed.
Between May and July, medical researchers at the university's Center for Liver Health interviewed 3,318 people aged 15 to 64. Based on their findings, which were published yesterday, they estimated that as many as 58 percent of people have never taken a hepatitis B virus test.
They also suggested that 5 percent of the population were related to someone with hepatitis B, placing them at a high risk of becoming infected themselves.
Of those in the high-risk group, 63 percent had not been screened for hepatitis B, the research said.
Follow-up interviews with about 300 hepatitis B carriers showed that although 68 percent knew the disease could cause liver cancer, more than 90 percent were unaware that a DNA test could help assess their risk of contracting it.
Most carriers said they had been diagnosed following a blood test or liver enzyme test.
Vincent Wong, assistant professor of medicine and therapeutics at the university, said clinical studies had suggested that DNA testing was effective in assessing the condition of hepatitis B carriers.
It can also predict the risk of developing liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, he said.
However, he said the survey showed that many carriers were unaware of new assessments like the DNA test.
"Without a DNA test a patient's risk level cannot be assessed, nor can it be determined if they need treatment," he said.
He urged everyone, especially those in the high-risk group, to be screened for hepatitis B, and added carriers should take the test to help with their treatment and reduce complications.
Henry Chan, director of the Center for Liver Health said there is now a global drive to reduce the number of people infected with hepatitis B.
However, he said it was possible that people were not taking DNA tests because they were not provided free in hospitals. The government should take the lead in increasing public awareness of the disease, he said.
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Rockhounding New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a good state for rockhounding. The state is known as the ‘Granite State’ in part because of its many granite formations and quarries. In fact, the state’s official emblem is the ‘Old Man of the Mountain’ – a legacy formation on a mountain formed of Jurassic Conway granite. New Hampshire’s pegmatite occurrences provide great opportunities for recreational rockhounders.
State Rocks, Gemstones, Minerals, Fossils, & Dinosaurs
Rockhounding Tip: Knowing state rocks, gemstones, minerals, fossils, and dinosaurs often can be very useful information for rockhounders. Ordinarily, states with significant mineral deposits, valuable gemstones, fossils, or unusual or significant rock occurrences will designate an official state mineral, rock/stone, gemstone, fossil, or dinosaur to promote interest in the state’s natural resources, history, tourism, etc. Accordingly, such state symbols often are a valuable clue as to potential worthwhile rockhounding opportunities.
State Rock: Granite (1985)
New Hampshire designated granite as its official state rock in 1985. New Hampshire’s iconic ‘Old Man of the Mountain’ was composed of Jurassic Conway granite. On May 3, 2003, however, the forces of erosion overcame the mountain and the Old Man collapsed.
Smoky Quartz (1985)
New Hampshire designated smoky quartz as its official state gem in 1985. Smoky (or smokey) Quartz is a brown to black variety of quartz and is found in many types of rocks, including granite. In New Hampshire, the White Mountain National Forest includes a famous smoky quartz site. Cairngorm is a variety of smoky quartz found in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland and often has a yellow-brown color.
Mineral: Beryl (1985)
New Hampshire designated beryl as its official state mineral in 1985. Beryl is a gemstone commonly found in the granite rocks abundant in New Hampshire. Beryl refers to a family of minerals that includes emerald (green), aquamarine (aquamarine blue), morganite (pink), heliodore (yellow-green), golden beryl (yellow) and goshenite (colorless). The word beryl is from the Greek word beryllos, which means "precious blue-green stone" and was originally applied to green gemstones. Beryl, when not used as a gemstone, is the major ore of beryllium, which greatly enhances the strength, and hardness of copper when alloyed together.
State-specific rockhounding books (including the books listed here as well as other books), regional rockhounding site guides, and other helpful rockhounding resources are identified - by category - in the Books & Gear section of Gator Girl Rocks with a link to the Gator Girl Rocks Amazon Store where you may easily browse selected resources and securely place an order. Your order will benefit Charity Rocks!
U.S. Forest Service
White Mountain National Forest
The White Mountain National Forest includes several historic rock collecting sites. The Forest Service regulates recreational (and other) rockhounding within the White Mountain National Forest.
- Bradford B. Van Diver, Roadside Geology of Vermont & New Hampshire (1987).
- Allan W. Eckert, Earth Treasures Vol.- Northeastern Quadrant (1985; reprint in 2000).
- James Martin Monaco & Jeannette Hathway Monaco, Fee Mining & Mineral Adventures in the Eastern U.S. (2d ed. 2010).
- Kathy J. Rygle & Stephen F. Pedersen, Northeast Treasure Hunter's Gem & Mineral Guide (4th ed. 2008).
Museums of Interest to Rockhounders
Woodman Institute Museum
Dover, New Hampshire
The museum claims to have the largest American rock and mineral collection north of Boston.
The Little Nature Museum at Gould Hill Farm
Contoocook, New Hampshire
The museum exhibits rocks, minerals, and fossils.
Places to Visit - Interesting Sites To See
Franconia Notch State Park
Franconia Notch State Park is home to the granite rock formation that was known as The Old Man of the Mountain. In 2003, the formation collapsed.
Madison Boulder Natural Area
Madison, New Hampshire
Madison Boulder Natural Area is home to the largest known erratic in New England, and among the largest in the world. Madison Boulder is a huge granite rock measuring 83 feet in length, 23 feet in height above the ground, 37 feet in width, and weighs upwards of 5,000 tons. In 1970 Madison Boulder was designated a National Natural Landmark because the enormous erratic, "is an outstanding illustration of the power of an ice sheet to pluck out very large blocks of fractured bedrock and move them substantial distances."
Rockhounding Sites for Children & Families
White Mountain National Forest – North of Conway, New Hampshire
The Moat Mountain Smokey Quartz Collecting Area, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, is a famous rockhounding site. Small smoky quartz crystals are embedded in the Conway granite. The collecting site is subject to applicable federal laws.
White Mountain National Forest
The Deer Hill Mineral Collecting Area, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, is a famous rockhounding site. This location has produced a large amount of amethyst (purple quartz) along with many other minerals, including feldspars of many varieties, beryl, garnet, columbite, pyrite, and muscovite. The collecting site is subject to applicable federal laws.
White Mountain National Forest
The Lord Hill Mineral Collecting Area, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, is a famous rockhounding site. Lord Hill is a pegmatite that is not very different from the Deer Hill pegmatite, except the bulk composition is different and contains many more rare elements that lead to forming rare minerals. There are many rare minerals found at Lord Hill including Triplite, Uraninite, Vivianite, Zircon, Gahnite, Fluorapatite, Bertrandite, and the list goes on. The more common minerals that are found there are varieties of feldspar, quartz, topaz, phenakite, and garnet. The collecting site is subject to applicable federal laws.
Grafton, New Hampshire
Commercial (fee access) business. Although it is famous for its mica deposits, a variety of minerals occur at the Ruggles Mine. Historically, it operated as a commercial mine. Today, visitors can purchase access to collect specimens. | <urn:uuid:1d97bdce-8a44-49d5-ae9b-ac6036eb016b> | {
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Main Article Content
In every sector of the world today energy is essential. Energy has many forms such as electricity, transportation fuel and so on. A large amount of energy is produced from crude oil, which is used to produce petroleum and petroleum to produce daily usable plastics. The solution to the above mentioned problems can be solved through the utilization of the new develop technology. This new developed technology will remove these hazardous waste plastics from the environment and convert them into eco friendly liquid fuel. The process is used to convert these waste plastics into liquid fuel creates no harmful emissions and can be produced at a very little overall cost. The thermal process utilized to break down the hydrocarbon chains of the polymers and convert them into liquid fuel. A Steel reactor with temperature range from 100 ºC to 400 ºC is utilized for the plastic thermal degradation process. The process yield about 80-90% liquid product. The experiment is conducted under a fume hood and open air system, no vacuum process is applied in this particular thermal cracking process. | <urn:uuid:76713974-351b-41c4-8e9e-777553e7e5b8> | {
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Java Application Programming Development Company India Java Developer Team.
Java is a platform independent programming language. Java applications are typically compiled to byte code that can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture.
Java refers to a number of computer software products and specifications that together provide a system for developing application software and deploying it in a cross-platform environment. Java is used in a wide variety of computing platforms spanning from embedded devices and mobile phones on the low end to enterprise servers and supercomputers on the high end. Java is nearly ubiquitous in mobile phones, Web servers and enterprise applications, and while less common on desktop computers; Java applets are often used to provide improved functionality while browsing the World Wide Web.
The heart of the Java Platform is the concept of a “virtual machine” that executes Java bytecode programs. This bytecode is the same no matter what hardware or operating system the program is running under. There is a JIT compiler within the Java Virtual Machine, or JVM. The JIT compiler translates the Java bytecode into native processor instructions at run-time and caches the native code in memory during execution.
The use of bytecode as an intermediate language permits Java programs to run on any platform that has a virtual machine available. The use of a JIT compiler means that Java applications, after a short delay during loading and once they have “warmed up” by being all or mostly JIT-compiled, tend to run about as fast as native programs. Since JRE version 1.2, Sun’s JVM implementation has included a just-in-time compiler instead of an interpreter.
Although Java programs are platform independent, the code of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that executes these programs is not: Every supported operating platform has its own JVM.
The word Java, by itself, usually refers to the Java programming language which was designed for use with the Java Platform. Programming languages are typically outside of the scope of the phrase “platform”, although the Java programming language is listed as a core part of the Java platform. The language and runtime are therefore commonly considered a single unit.
Open Source Content Management Systems (CMS) in Java:
1. Apache Lenya is a Java-based Open-Source Content Management System. It is based on open standards such as XML and XSLT.
2. DSpace is a groundbreaking digital library system that captures, stores, indexes, preserves and redistributes the intellectual output of an organization’s researchers in digital formats. DSpace is now freely available to organizations worldwide as an open source system that can be customized and extended. DSpace is an open source software system that enables institutions to: – Capture and describe digital works using a custom workflow process – Distribute an institution’s digital works over the web, so users can search and retrieve items in the collection – Preserve digital works over the long term To collect, distribute, and preserve research materials in increasingly complex digital formats is a time-consuming and expensive chore for individual faculty and their departments, labs, and centers to manage themselves. The DSpace system provides a way to manage these research materials and publications in a professionally maintained repository to give them greater visibility and accessibility over time.
3. The Slide project main module is a content repository, which can be seen as a low-level content management framework. Conceptually, it provides a hierarchical organization of binary content which can be stored into arbitrary, heterogeneous, distributed data stores. In addition, Slide integrates security, locking, versioning, as well as many other services. It can integrate and manage data stored within external repositories, requiring only small abstraction layers to be written for each repository. That way, Slide can integrate the data from various physical locations in a hierarchical and unified way. Slide uses can range from managing intranet application content to using it as a file server. Slide also offers a WebDAV access module (implemented as a servlet). WebDAV is an IETF standard endorsed by companies like Microsoft, IBM, Novell, Adobe and many others. It makes Slide an ideal choice for web-based content management. All the data managed by Slide can be accessed through WebDAV, and enable remote administration and manipulation of the data managed by Slide using standard third party tools, along with the custom ones provided in the Slide distribution as additional tools.
4. Magnolia is the first open-source content-management-system (CMS) which has been built from scratch to support the upcoming standard API for java content repositories (JCR).
5. InfoGlue is an advanced, scalable and robust content management / Portal platform written in 100% Java. It is suitable for a wide range of applications and organizations. Typical uses include public websites, portal solutions, intranets and extranets. The platform is released under the GPL-license and it can be run on almost any platform and most known databases.
6. Jahia is a mid-range Content Management and Corporate Portal Framework. It integrates in one single package a full web application platform suite.
7. MMBase is a Web Content Management System with strong multimedia features. MMBase has a large installed base in The Netherlands, and is used by major Dutch broadcasters, publishers, and educational institutes, national and local governments. MMBase is written in Java, it is Open Source Software (MPL) and all standards used are as ‘open’ as possible.
8. Open Harmonise is a metadata, taxonomy and content management system written in Java and based upon the WebDAV standard. Unlike traditional CMSs it focuses on metadata management and integrates that with content management and publishing.
9. Daisy is a comprehensive content management application framework, consisting of a standalone repository server accessible through HTTP/XML and/or a high-level (remote) Java API, and an extensive browsing and editing DaisyWiki application running inside Apache Cocoon. Daisy is licensed under the commercially-friendly Apache License 2.0.
10. Nuxeo ECM 5 is an innovative, standards-based, open source platform for ECM (Enterprise Content Management) applications. It addresses applications domains like: document management, collaboration, records management, document-centric business process management, web content management, compliance… It offers a coherent and comprehensive family of components to create, process, manage, publish and archive all your content. It enables organizations to improve business process efficiency, leverage team work and collaboration, and ensure compliance to current regulations. Its component-based and service-oriented architecture makes it easy to customize and extend, making developers more efficient. It has two parts: – Nuxeo EP (Enterprise Platform): it is based on Java EE 5 and provides a coherent set of components addressing the whole ECM scope, managing content through its whole lifecycle. It uses modern Java technologies, including Jackrabbit, Lucene, JSF, Seam, jBPM, JRules, etc. – Nuxeo RCP (Rich Client Platform): for rich client applications. Is is based on Eclipse RCP.
11. Hippo CMS is open source information centered content management system. It’s targeted at medium to large organizations managing content for multi-channel distribution like websites and intranets. It facilitates an open and flexible way of using your information by following international accepted open standards. Hippo CMS is user friendly has an open architecture and is designed for interoperability with existing environments. Hippo CMS is built to integrate external sources of content into one. Therefore, it uses all relevant open standards to allow this integration. For many existing sources, connectors are available in the codebase. The open architecture of Hippo CMS has the following advantages:
- Availability in the open source
- Works with open standards
- Reuse of content
- Separation of content, design, logic and the CMS system itself.
- User friendly user interface
- Native XML, 100 % JAVA
- No vendor lock-in The Hippo CMS project was initiated and is maintained by Hippo.nl. Hippo CMS is based on several proven open source projects, mainly from the Apache Software foundation.
12. OpenCms is a professional level Open Source Website Content Management System. OpenCms helps to create and manage complex websites easily without knowledge of html. An integrated WYSIWYG editor with a user interface similar to well known office applications helps the user creating the contents, while a sophisticated template engine enforces a site-wide corporate layout. As true Open Source software, OpenCms is completely free of licensing costs.
13. Alfresco is an open source enterprise content management repository and portlets (CMS) built by a team that includes the co-founder of Documentum. Its modular architecture uses the latest open src Java technologies: Spring, Hibernate, Lucene and JSF.
14. MeshCMS is an online editing system written in Java. It provides a set of features usually included in a CMS, but it uses a more traditional approach: pages are stored in regular HTML files and all additional features are file-based. It has been thought as a quick tool to edit pages online, without many of the features that most CMSes offer. MeshCMS simply helps you to edit pages, manage files and create some common components like menus, breadcrumbs, mail forms, and image galleries and so on. There is no database, no content approval and no versioning. Not all people need those features and those giant-sized products that require too much time to be learned and too much system resources to run. MeshCMS is essential and requires few resources: the default 64MB heap is enough to host a handful of sites. Main features are: file-based, easy to install, cross-browser, wysiwyg editor integrated, file manager, themes, modules, tag library, page caching, hotlinking prevention.
15. Blandware AtLeap is a multilingual free Java CMS (Content Management System) with full-text search engine. Blandware AtLeap is also a framework which allows you to rapidly start your own Web application. Blandware AtLeap is destined to creating both content-based sites and web applications with complicated business logic.
Blandware AtLeap has the following features:
- Simplicity of using. You can navigate on your site and choose editable areas by double mouse click or context menu.
- Rich text formatting possibilities using WYSIWYG editor.
- Multilingual content. There is an ability to store content on several languages simultaneously in UTF-8 encoding. 100% of content are stored in the database. You can edit any data using web interface.
- AtLeap allows all available pages to be indexed on all languages by external search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc).
- Full text search engine. The embedded engine provides ability to search on several languages taking into account inflexions and stop words. Indexing the following document formats: RTF, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, XHTML, XML, TXT.
- Individualization. AtLeap?s CMS ideology does not restrict creative graphical design of the site. The customer does not want template, banal routine graphical design. Blandware AtLeap allows creating individual, unique, exceptional solution. However nowadays the site has a lot except of content. The site can have complicated business logic.
So Blandware AtLeap is:
- Lightweight. It does not require (but can be run on) heavy and/or expensive EJB (Enterprise Java Bean) application server to run.
- Independent from: Hardware platform, OS, DBMS, Servlet-container and Browser.
- Multi-user work, implemented using application transactions (optimistic concurrency control). As for big texts you can even merge simultaneously edited content.
- Database transactions: rollbacks and pessimistic locking.
- The big texts are still saved even the HTTP session is invalidated.
- The input forms are validated at server and client side.
- Transparently saves state information and repopulates forms when they are redisplayed.
- Prevents of double form submission (client and server side).
- Bidirectional relationships between links and resources in order to prevent creating broken links and deleting used resources.
- There is ability to replace almost all dependent links during changing URL of Content Page or Resource.
- Based on modern open source technologies: Hibernate, Spring, XDoclet, Struts, FCKEditor, Lucene, Quartz, Acegi, TinyMCE etc.
16. dotCMS is an open source, enterprise class content management system that integrates the best features of content management with built in personalization, eCommerce and CRM tools. It allows you to create data structures for various things and create relationships between them for easy database creation of dynamically generated form data with built in validation using standard perl regex that you can modify on the fly. It allows you to create containers that are included in templates that generate pages. You can use Velocity Macros in your template that supports Ajax through XML-RPC, pagination, searching, and built in mp3 player, slideshow, and gallery functions. For content it has a really pretty WYSIWYG editor for standardized input. Macros available in the dotCMS system:
- Pulling and Displaying Contents
- Pulling and Displaying Contents in a paginated fashion
- Pulling and Displaying Related Content (Relationships)
- Photo Gallery
- Streaming MP3 Player
- MP3 Player Button
- MP3 Player Extended
- Events Listings
- Navigation Menu Builder
- Crumb trails
- File Repository
- List files on the File System
- Title Generator
- Displaying Resized Images
- Executing a SQL Query
- Add a generic Comments component
- Add a site map to a page from a specified folder to a specific depth
- Add a site map to a page from the root of the site
- Get Content Rating
- Print the average rating of a content
- Print the number of votes on a content
- Video Player
- Add Permanent Link to a file, page or content let
- Add RDF trackback to a file, page or content let
- Display file, page or content let trackback history
- Tag Cloud
- Mailing List
- Build RSS From Content
- Build RSS
- Content Ticker
17. jLibrary is a DMS (Document Management System), oriented for personal and enterprise use. This double approach make from jLibrary a unique product. With jLibrary, you can classify your documents, videos, or any other media type. You can export those contents to static web pages based on templates, search on those content, add comments, categorize it, etc. Companies can find in jLibrary all the features present in most modern content management systems, including team work support, version management, offline document edition, document locking, security constraints based on roles, users and groups, easy web access, etc. jLibrary is multiplatform, so you can run the client and the server in both Windows and Linux. jLibrary is based on web services so it boosts interoperability between platform and languages, being an ideal solution for heterogeneous environments.
18. Contelligent is a component-based Web Content Management solution. The most important features incorporated into Contelligent are:
- Full J2EE compliance.
- Sophisticated content management and maintenance.
- Easy and scalable content integration.
- Dynamic personalization based on user, roles and preferences.
- Integration of third party (legacy) application.
- Guided separation of Content, Layout and Business Logic.
- High performance caching and dynamic page rendering.
19. Current CMS is a multi-user Content Management System with workflow, versioning and publishing capabilities built on Java Enterprise technology. It provides a highly configurable framework for developing, deploying and maintaining content managed web applications.
20. JAPS is an open source J2EE portal/CMS framework with administration interface. JAPS is designed for rapidly creating multi-lingual portals and for ease of integration with existing services. It has been used extensively within Public Administration portals, public sites and large company intranets.
21. Cofax is a web-based text and multimedia publication system. It was designed to simplify the presentation of newspapers on the Web and to expedite real-time Web publication.
22. Web Editor is born with the intention to become a helpful tool for the web content management.
23. Open Edit includes online editing, dynamic layouts, spell check, user manager, file manager, version control and notification tools. Ecommerce tools include online catalog manager, shopping cart, electronic payments, presentation tools and advanced product search with no database required. Blog includes online administration, comments, registration and RSS/Atom engine.
24. xinco [eXtensibe INformation COre] is a powerful Web-Service based Information and Document Management System (DMS) for files, text, URLs and contacts, featuring ACLs, version control, full text search and an FTP-like client. (easy install, J2EE+MySQL)
25. Riot is content management system based on the Spring framework. Its non-invasive design allows you to add CMS features to existing applications. Content can be edited directly within the page using an intuitive AJAX interface. Additionally Riot can be used to edit/manage POJOs no matter how they are persisted (Hibernate, JPA, custom DAO).
26. The ion project is an effort to provide a very simple but powerful content management system based on the most recent technologies. Ion is 100% compliant with J2EE standards, uses XML to define contents structures, XSL to provide rendered contents in many format (HTML, XML, PDF, TXT,), and JSP with JSTL as a template system.
27. GeiNuke is CMS written in Java, it supports HSQLDB and MySQL, it is stable simple and scalable. Its configuration is very easy, it uses iBatis for the persistence layer and Spring + Caucho Hessian for Scalability features. For MVC layer it uses Velocity, at this time he has 5 themes.
28. Corinis CCM is a Java-based, open-source content and community management system. It combines all the power of a professional content management solution (WYSIWIG editing, versioning, role-based QA, and more) with the flexibility and ease of use of a web community framework. The system’s modular design encourages the development of reusable extensions (like the included forum, voting or photo album modules), while the carefully designed framework, the Java codebase and the extensive use of XML for data formats guarantee interoperability. Building your Intra- or Internet presence with Corinis CCM will reduce costs, required skill levels and time to market while giving you the confidence of having chosen a dependable and open development platform.
29. TransferCM: A design-friendly web content management system. Features include an inline WYSIWYG editor, file management, multi-site support and automated navigations.
30. Webman is a professional content management or website production system.
31. Contineo is a web based document management system. It supports its users by managing documents in most popular formats. Contineo aims to fulfill all phases of document lifecycle. You can create and develop documents by using office software. With contineo itself, you can publish, search, and manage the versions of documents. Further, you can communicate with some other users directly or via e-mail.
32. eAdmin/OWX: Java JSP based Site Editor, CMS, list generator software. It Includes: Modules, XML config, Struts, own API, Components, WYSIWYG, Multilanguage, multiuser, web based manager.
Send us an Inquiry for more information and quick quote: [email protected] | <urn:uuid:572f6495-a32f-49d3-afb4-2987a19d1e61> | {
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Cause and effect essay on world war ii
World war ii psychology every action begins another cause and effect relationship in the world we live in in the essay i will discuss the causes of car. Cause and effect: the outbreak of world war ii question what were the causes of the second world war in their attempts to explore cause and effect. World war ii cause and effect essay essayer de comprendre les autres bande how to write an essay in high school wiseman iaponiae insvlae descriptive essay how to. Transcript of causes and effects of world war ii: causes and effects of ideas for creating and maintaining peace in the wake of world war one.
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Cause and effect essay on world war ii
Wwii the causes and effects the course of history in the world was forever changed by world war ii as the causes and effects are reviewed, one can’t help but. World war ii abuse slavery essays related to cause and effect essay 1 throughout males' essay he uses cause/effect. Find essay examples did the treaty of versailles cause world war ii - essay this had the effect of making the germans give total support to any radical. Causes of world war i essay 1819 words | 8 pages and had gone to war twice in the 19th century, allied with one another for protection against the alliance between. Essay: causes of world war 2 these did not directly cause world war ii but world war i was a big cause of world war ii most of the causes of world war ii.
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Effects of world war 2 essay social effects did not cause as large of a magnitude because its in what ways did world war ii end the problems of world war i. An essay or paper on the six major causes of world war ii out of all the wars that the world has gone through, none has been more devastating as world war ii but. Bibliographical essay world war ii caused greater destruction the oxford companion to the second world war one of the most shameful. Free essay: in 1940 italy declared war on france and britain, the first air raids took place, and many countries were invaded and alliances were formed the. Read world war ii - effects free essay and over 87,000 other research documents world war ii - effects regeneration world war i was fought on the battlegrounds of. | <urn:uuid:190bf854-da71-4627-8e98-7f1c9b76fe1d> | {
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Archaeologists are to begin excavations which it is hoped will
uncover a 700-year-old fortress built to keep control of Scotland
against William Wallace and Robert the Bruce.
Historic Scotland teams will start work in the grounds of
Linlithgow Palace on Monday.
They are hoping to find the remains of the fort built by Edward
I in 1302 and destroyed by Robert the Bruce after the battle of
The fort was the scene of Scotland's own "Trojan Horse"
incident, when a small number of Scots - inspired by Bruce - leapt
out from a cart of hay and slaughtered the English garrison.
Nick Bridgeland of Historic Scotland said it was hoped that the
dig in the park surrounding the palace would uncover artefacts and
timber fortifications built by the English monarch.
He said: "We know that Edward I built a massive fortification at
Linlithgow in 1302 in the midst of the Scottish Wars of
"It was a huge mound, making full use of the natural geology of
the site, and cutting a giant ditch between himself and the town to
protect himself from attack.
"It was seen as a good place from which to control Scotland. It
was simple military tactics."
Any visible ruins of the fortress were destroyed by James I -
who rebuilt the existing Linlithgow Palace after it was destroyed by
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Solve Proportion Word Problem
Friday, February 20, 2015
7th Grade Math - Word Problem for Proportions
In this video you will learn how to solve a proportion through word problems. You will be able to learn how to setup a proportion and also solve for a missing value, or a variable. Proportions are equations that say two ratios are equivalent. | <urn:uuid:900848bd-c2ff-497f-a414-ab761f7c5b9f> | {
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- Founded by Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski of Poland in honours of Polish (and his own) Patron Saint - Stanislas. Born in Crakow in 1030, Stanislas was a Roman Catholic Prelate, and a Bishop of Crakow. in 1079, he denounced his King (who then was Boleslav) for misdeeds and excommunicated him.i After being murdered for this feat of valour, Stanislav was later canonized (1253), and since then was considered a Patron Saint of Poland.
- The Order had 3 classes at first, but in 1815 a Fourth Class was added. This change was reversed back in 1839, and the Fourth Class was abolished.
- After 1831, the Order was joined together with other Russian Orders, undergoing just a slight change in design: center monogram became 'SS' (standing for Sanctus Stanislaus), converted from 'SAR' (standing for Stanislaus Augustus Rex).
- Insignia of the Order was awarded for distinguished civil and military services, as well as for excellence in preserving Christian virtues. Military type insignia came with swords, and, in some exceptional cases, might also have the swords surmounted.
- Only First Class of the Order carried hereditary nobility, as of 1845 Statues. Before the 1845, all Classes had equal hereditary rights.
- Non-Christian version of the Order had 'SS' in a center replaced with the Imperial Eagle.
- The annual feast day of the Order was celebrated on April 25th of each year. | <urn:uuid:1d705586-51b4-4846-8958-c637ef6ccd2f> | {
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Snow, the solid form of water that crystallizes in the atmosphere and, falling to the Earth, covers, permanently or temporarily, about 23 percent of the Earth’s surface.
A brief treatment of snow follows. For full treatment, see climate: Snow and sleet.
Snow falls at sea level poleward of latitude 35° N and 35° S, though on the west coast of continents it generally falls only at higher latitudes. Close to the equator, snowfall occurs exclusively in mountain regions—at elevations of about 4,900 metres (16,000 feet) or higher.
Snow cover has a significant effect on climate and on plant, animal, and human life. By increasing the reflection of solar radiation and interfering with the conduction of heat from the ground, it induces a cold climate. The low heat conduction protects small plants from the effects of the lowest winter temperatures; on the other hand, the late disappearance of snow in the spring delays the growth of plants. When snow melts in the spring, the resulting runoff feeds rivers and supplies water for irrigation and other human enterprises. Heavy snowfalls can severely hinder transporation in variable moderate climates but provides a firm surface for travel in remote Arctic, Antarctic, and mountainous areas, using traditional dogsleds or snowshoes or modern snowmobiles.
Read More on This Topic
climate (meteorology): Snow and sleet
Snow in the atmosphere can be subdivided into ice crystals and snowflakes. Ice crystals generally form on ice nuclei at temperatures appreciably below the freezing point. Below −40 °C (−40 °F) water vapour can solidify without the presence of a nucleus. Snowflakes are aggregates of ice crystals that appear in an infinite variety of shapes, mainly at temperatures near the...
Snowflakes are formed by crystals of ice that generally have a hexagonal pattern, often beautifully intricate. The size and shape of the crystals depend mainly on the temperature and the amount of water vapour available as they develop. At temperatures above about −40 °C (−40 °F), ice crystals form around minute particles of dust or chemical substances that float in the air; at lower temperatures, crystals form directly from water vapour. If the air is humid, the crystals tend to grow rapidly, develop branches, and clump together to form snowflakes. In colder and drier air, the particles remain small and compact. Frozen precipitation has been classified into seven forms of snow crystals and three types of particles—graupel (granular snow pellets, also called soft hail), sleet (partly frozen ice pellets), and hail (hard spheres of ice).
The texture and density of fallen snow undergo constant change. Snow on the ground tends to become increasingly dense, and, where it survives spring and summer melting for years, it may turn into ice and form a glacier. On hillsides when temperature changes reduce the coherence of snow particles in the snow cover, gravity and viscosity may overcome friction, causing snow slides and avalanches. | <urn:uuid:adfb7c13-6ec7-4555-aeef-b757cd687425> | {
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According to a new study, many Boston-area military veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced flashbacks, unwanted memories and other psychological effects as a result of the Boston Marathon Bombing in April 2013. The study raises awareness of the effects that tragic events such as terror attacks and mass shootings have not only those directly affected but also on those with PTSD and other preexisting psychological conditions. The researchers urge healthcare systems to be prepared in the future to treat individuals who were either directly or indirectly affected by such tragedies.
Led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs National Center for PTSD in Boston, this study is published online in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder defined by serious changes in cognitive, emotional, behavioral and psychological functioning that can occur in response to a psychologically traumatic event. Previous studies have estimated that approximately eight percent of the U.S. population will develop PTSD in their lifetime. That number is significantly greater among combat veterans where as many as one out of five suffer symptoms of the disorder.
Using data from an ongoing study of Boston area veterans diagnosed with PTSD, the researchers conducted 71 telephone interviews within one week of the bombing. Because the researchers had symptom data from participants approximately two months before the bombing, they were able to compare those levels with results from the interview one-week after the bombing.
Of those interviewed, 38 percent reported that they were emotionally distressed by the bombing and the subsequent lockdown of Boston and other communities. A majority of those participants said that the bombing caused them to experience flashbacks and the re-emergence of unwanted memories relating to their own past traumas.
"The effects felt by the veterans were likely due to thematic similarities between the Marathon explosions and the veterans' own traumatic combat experiences, especially for those deployed to recent conflicts characterized by attacks involving improvised explosive devices," said Mark Miller, PhD, associate professor at BUSM and a clinical research psychologist in the National Center for PTSD at the VA Boston Healthcare System who served as the study's principal investigator.
There was not a significant change of symptoms between the pre and post-event data across the sample as a whole. However, for those who reported being personally affected, there was a strong correlation between distress at the time of the bombing and change in the severity of PTSD symptoms. According to the researchers, this change was primarily attributable to increases in intrusion and avoidance symptoms.
"This study highlights the fact that tragic local and national events of this type can have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of individuals already suffering with PTSD," said Miller. "It is crucial that relevant healthcare organizations understand this phenomenon and be prepared in the wake of tragedy to care not only for those who are directly impacted, but also for those with preexisting psychological conditions, including our nation's veterans with PTSD."
Explore further: Scientists discover dissociative subtype of post-traumatic stress disorder | <urn:uuid:7215beca-86bb-400d-81d6-e1af4e170c7a> | {
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- A person who goes door-to-door selling vacuums is an example of a solicitor.
- An English lawyer is an example of a solicitor.
- a person who solicits; esp., one who seeks trade, asks for contributions, etc.
- in England, a member of the legal profession who is not a barrister: solicitors are not members of the bar and may not plead cases in superior courts
- ⌂ in the U.S., a lawyer serving as official law officer for a city, department, etc.
Origin of solicitorMiddle English solycitour ; from Middle French solliciteur
- One that solicits, especially one that seeks trade or contributions.
- An attorney holding a public office that handles cases involving a city, state, or other jurisdiction.
- Chiefly British An attorney who advises clients on legal matters, represents clients in certain lower courts, and prepares cases for barristers to present in the higher courts.
- Canadian A barrister and solicitor; a lawyer.
- In many common law jurisdictions, a type of lawyer whose traditional role is to offer legal services to clients apart from acting as their advocate in court. A solicitor instructs a barrister to act as an advocate for their client in court, although rights of audience for solicitors vary according to jurisdiction.
- In English Canada and in parts of Australia, a type of lawyer who historically held the same role as above, but whose role has in modern times been merged with that of a barrister.
- In parts of the U.S., the chief legal officer of a city, town or other jurisdiction.
- (North America) A person soliciting sales, especially door to door.
- Jurisdictions using the common-law definition include England and Wales, Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
solicitor - Legal Definition | <urn:uuid:23363777-9edc-4521-8f23-903d9beabfdb> | {
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
Completed in 1851 atop the ruins of an earlier structure that had been destroyed by fire, the beautiful old structure was built in the Greek Revival style. Its remarkable interior spiral staircase was designed by Horace King, a former slave who had been given full freedom by Act of the Alabama State Legislature in recognition of his accomplishments as an engineer and builder.
When the Cotton States began to leave the Union in December of 1860 and January of 1861, Montgomery was selected as a central location for a meeting of delegates to decide on a common future. The convention started on February 4, 1861, in the Senate Chambers and the delegates quickly declared themselves to be the provisional legislature of the Confederate States of America.
Inside the historic building, the Confederate legislators drafted a constitution and undertook the work of establishing a new national government for the Southern states.
The Alabama State Capitol was occupied by Union troops at the end of the war, but like the nearby First White House of the Confederacy, somehow escaped the destruction visited on many other key Southern structures of the War Between the States.
During the 20th century, the building became a focal point of the Civil Rights Movement and was the backdrop for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s noted "How Long, Not Long" speech.
To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/montgomerycapitol1.
Monday, April 26, 2010
As bloody as the fighting was at places like Manassas and Pea Ridge during the first year of the Civil War, a battle that developed along the Tennessee River during the final days before the first anniversary of the bombardment of Fort Sumter stunned the nation with horror that surpassed anything ever seen on the North American continent.
It was called the Battle of Shiloh, the name taken from a small log church on the battleground, and by the time the guns went silent, nearly 25,000 men had been killed, wounded or were missing. As the stunning news spread North and South from Tennessee, it was difficult for many to believe. Until, that is, the casualty lists began to appear in the newspapers. The lists of names went on and on and on.
Shiloh came just one month after the bloody battle at Pea Ridge in Northwest Arkansas and the news was just as bad for the Confederacy. Moving north from Corinth, Mississippi, the Confederate army of General Albert Sidney Johnston struck the Union army of General Ulysses S. Grant. The Federals were camped around Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing and Johnston knew that their nearest reinforcements were at least a day away.
In the end, the butcher's bill was more than 23,476 in dead, wounded and missing. Nothing like it had been seen before, but more was to come. To learn more about the Battle of Shiloh and see photos of Shiloh National Military Park, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/shiloh1.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter prompted President Abraham Lincoln to call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the "rebellion in the cotton states." Lincoln's move, in turn, infuriated the people of Southern states that had not yet left the Union and they quickly joined forces with the other states already forming the Confederate States of America. Among these was the Commonwealth of Virginia, where leaders expressed outrage and alarm that Lincoln's new army might try to march across Virginia soil for an attack on her sister Southern states.
The decision of Virignia to join the Southern Confederacy caused many of her native sons to make difficult decisions about their own futures. Not least among these was Colonel Robert E. Lee, a U.S. Army officer who watched events unfold from his home at Arlington House, a beautiful mansion that overlooked the city of Washington, D.C. from the heights on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.
Lee had been married at Arlington in 1831 and he knew that any war between North and South would likely turn his own yard into a battlefield. His decision became truly significant, because he was offered command of the army that Lincoln was raising to destroy the Confederacy. Like many Southerners, however, Lee believed that his home state was part of a voluntary Union and felt that the founding fathers, of whom his own father was one, had intended for the states to remain strongly independent of the central government.
Forced with making a decision that could have made him a hero across the North, he chose instead to remain loyal to his home state and declined the offer to command Lincoln's army. When Virginia left the Union, he offered his services to his home state and was quickly named commander in chief of Virginia's military. He eventually became the Confederacy's most famed general, but in 1861 he was but one of many Southern officers who volunteered to defend their home states.
The war cost Lee his own home, as Arlington House was quickly occupied by Union troops. The grounds today make up Arlington National Cemetery. To learn more about this remarkable historic site, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/arlington.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Early on the morning of April 12, 1861, a mortar shell rose high into the air over Charleston Harbor in South Carolina and exploded above Fort Sumter. It was the signal for the beginning of a bombardment that would tear America in two.
South Carolina, along with a number of other Southern states, had seceeded from the Union, but 127 U.S. soldiers commanded by Major Robert Anderson, a Southerner himself, clung tenaciously to their tiny island in Charleston Harbor. As they watched Confederate troops mount cannon in batteries that ringed the harbor, they worked feverishly to do the same in Fort Sumter. They were running low on food and other supplies, but the supply ship Star of the West had been driven away by cannon fire. The critical hour had come. A delegation of officers from General P.G.T. Beauregard demanded the surrender of the fort, but Anderson refused. At the same time, however, he noted that he and his men were almost out of food and would soon have to yield the fort or starve.
The Confederacy was willing to wait no longer. A telegraph had come from Montgomery, Alabama, then the capital of the Southern nation, authorizing the reduction of the fort.
For 34 straight hours, Confederate cannon battered the walls of Fort Sumter. The woodwork of the brick barracks inside the fort caught fire, filling the masonry fortification with suffocating smoke and threatening to ignite its powder.
Anderson would surrender the next day, but the war ignited by the firing on Fort Sumter would lost for four more years and claim the lives of more than 600,000 men. For most of that time, the fort in Charleston Harbor became a symbol of Confederate defiance. Battered to pieces by Union cannon, the fort held out. Even after all of its guns were dismounted by cannon fire, the fort refused to surrender. In fact, it was not until Sherman began his march into the Carolinas that the Southern troops gave up Fort Sumter. Even then they did not surrender, but simply evacuated the ruins by boat and then marched away.
To learn more about Fort Sumter, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortsumter.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
It might require a little rewriting of history, but the first hostile shots of the War Between the States were fired by U.S. troops in Florida, not by Confederate troops in South Carolina.
On January 6, 1861, sentries at Fort Barrancas, an important post protecting Pensacola Bay and the Pensacola Navy Yard, observed shadowy figures approaching the main gate of the fort through the darkness. Barrancas was then the only one of the harbor fortifications at Pensacola occupied by the U.S. Army in any strength at all. The nearby posts of Fort Pickens and Fort McRee were held only by caretakers and the Advanced Redoubt, a subsidiary work to Fort Barrancas, was not occupied at all.
The men occupying Fort Barrancas that night normally occupied more comfortable quarters in the nearby Barrancas Barracks, but Lt. Adam J. Slemmer had moved them into the main fort after hearing rumors that state militia troops planned to seize the fort. According to a report filed just three days earlier, Barrancas was heavily armed. The Ordnance Department in Washington had reported on January 3rd that the fort contained 44 seacoast and garrison cannon and 20,244 pounds of gunpowder.
It was later disclosed that the figures on the drawbridge had been volunteer soldiers from Alabama who approached the fort after hearing a rumor that it had been evacuated by the Federals. Instead they found themselves facing the firing end of the muskets of Slemmer's sentries and scrambled for cover. No one was injured in the incident, which happened before the firing on the Union ship Star of the West by cadets from The Citadel a short time later and more than three months before the bombardment of Fort Sumter.
To learn more about Fort Barrancas, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortbarrancas1.
Monday, April 19, 2010
In Virginia, for example, Governor Bob McDonnell ignited a firestorm of debate when he signed a proclamation declaring that Virginia would once again observe Confederate History Month. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour chimed in that the controversy was much ado about nothing, but it continues to rage just the same.
To many of us born and raised in the South, this is a tragedy. There is much that should be remembered about our Confederate ancestors and the struggles they faced during the most turbulent time in American history. Many were not firebrand secessionsits and the vast majority neither owned slaves nor aspired ever to do so. The causes of the War Between the States have been debated since the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter in 1861 and the discussion will not end with anything said here or anywhere else this year.
It seems to me, though, that we should all be able to find room in our hearts to remember the sacrifices made by tens of thousands of Southern soldiers and their families between 1861 and 1865. So many people today seem to have forgotten, if they ever knew, that regardless of the cause of the war, the vast majority of Confederate soldiers fought for reasons far removed from today's debates of political correctness.
Dozens of my own ancestors fought for the Confederacy (and a few for the Union). Only a few of them owned slaves. Most served because they felt it was the right thing to do. Their state was under attack and their families and homes were in danger. Loyalty in the Deep South in those days was much more focused on local communities and home states rather than a government far away in either Richmond or Washington, D.C. It was a time when kin mattered more that almost anything in the world except God.
My great-great grandfather Joseph B. Cox, for example, was a farmer. He supported ten children and a few other miscellaneous relatives through the labors of his own hands. He owned no slaves and there is no indication that he took much more than passing interest in the war at all before 1864. That was when he, like tens of thousands of other Southern men, was conscripted (drafted) into the army. Ordered to report to a conscription camp at Marianna, Florida, he received rudimentary training, a uniform and a musket. In May of 1864 he was mustered into the service as a private in Captain Wilson W. Poe's Battalion (Company C) of the First Florida Infantry Reserves. He went on to fight at the Battle of Marianna and was standing guard duty in 1865 when the war came to an end.
These men from my own family are good examples of the average men and boys who went to war in defense of the South. They cared little about slavery, states rights or any of the other great issues of the day. They wanted only to do their duty so they could return home to their farms. They fought when their home county was attacked, not only because it was the right thing to do, but because their neighbors and relatives also turned out to fight. The went to war knowing that their families at home would suffer because the men would not be there to tend the fields or care for the animals and buildings. Many families of Southern soldiers went hungry during the four long years that the war lasted.
To me, these have always been the people that Confederate History Month memorializes. The war to them was not about race, it was about home and family. They deserve to be remembered, just as do the men and boys in blue who turned out to fight for the cause in which they believed. They all risked their lives for reasons dear to them. They fought for family and home, for their states and for their country. They came from all races and all walks of life. And more than 600,000 of them died. Whether they wore gray or whether they wore blue, they should never be forgotten . Yet we as a nation seem determined to wipe their memories from the pages of history.
Perhaps Americans of all points of view should take a few minutes to remember that it is wrong to judge people of another generation by the standards and political correctness of our own. Perhaps we should remember that things are never as cut and dry as we might wish them to be. Perhaps we should realize the value of honoring all of our ancestors and celebrating their lives. Surely we can put aside political divisiveness to look back and realize that those who became before us were human beings who made their choices and did their best to do their duty to home, family, state, country and God as they saw it.
In honor of Confederate History Month, I will devote my postings for the rest of this month to historic sites dating from the War Between the States. Until my next post, you can earn more about many of these places by visiting the main site directory at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge was built in the 1840s by famed bridge builder Horace King. Born a slave of African American and Catawba Indian descent, King was either freed or purchased his freedom from John Godwin. A contractor who had relocated to Girard, Alabama, (today's Phenix City) across the river from Columbus, Georgia, Godwin recognized King's abilities as an engineer early in his life and mentored him in the development of his remarkable skills. After King secured his freedom, the Alabama State Legislature passed a special act guaranteeing him of full rights so that he could travel freely, own property and otherwise pursue his career as an engineer and bridge builder.
Including its planked approaches, the Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge is the longest wooden bridge in Georgia. Built in the Town Lattice Truce style, its main span is also the longest unsupported span in the state.
A beautiful survivor of the antebellum past when such bridges were common in the South, the Red Oak Creek bridge is in remarkably good condition despite its exposure to 170 years of weather, floods and aging.
To learn more about this beautiful old covered bridge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/redoak.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Known locally as Castle Morgan, apparently in honor of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan, the prison was established by the Confederate military in 1863 to house Union prisoners of war, many of whom were taken by the troops of General Nathan Bedford Forrest in his operations in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Making use of an uncompleted cotton warehouse on a bluff overlooking the Alabama River, the Confederates established the prison they thought would contain 400 or so prisoners.
Unfortunately, Confederate prisoner of war camps overflowed in 1864 and 1865 due to the decision by President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant to end all prisoner exchanges with the South. As a result of this decision, thousands of Union soldiers remained confined in prisoner of war camps across the South and as the number of prisoners taken grew, the rough prisons overflowed with inmates.
At Cahaba, for example, a facility with only 432 bunks overflowed with more than 3,000 prisoners by 1865. The stockade surrounding the facility measured only 125 by 200 feet and with so many men confined inside, there was only 8 square feet of space per soldier.
It is generally thought that around 147 men died while confined at Castle Morgan. They are memorialized in a special area adjacent to Old Capital Cemetery in Old Cahawba.
The prisoners were released when the war came to an end in 1865 and today little more than an open space of grass and the low rectangular mound of earth and rubble remain to remind visitors that the prison ever existed. Interpretive markers ring the site and the memory of Castle Morgan is an important part of the Old Cahawba Archaeological Site. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/oldcahawbaprison.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Growing from a settlement that was established as early as 1814 following the Creek War of 1813-1814, Lownesboro is located in one of the most historic areas of Alabama. The Battle of Holy Ground, where the Creek leader WilliamWeatherford made his fabled horseback leap into the Alabama River, took place just ten miles north of town. A skirmish was fought in the streets of Lowndesboro during the closing days of the Civil War, but spooked by false rumors of a small pox outbreak, Union soldiers moved on quickly sparing the town the severe destruction suffered by many Southern communities.
Lowndesboro will host its annual Heritage Celebration on May 1st. It is a great time to visit the town and experience the hospitality of this beautiful Alabama town. Events planned for the day include tours, a living history encampment, demonstrations of historical weaponry and more.
To learn more about historic Lowndesboro, please visit our new page at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/lowndesboro.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Usually the blooms at places like Honor Heights Park, home of the Muskogee Azalea Festival in Oklahoma, and Callaway Gardens in Georgia would have been in full bloom a week ago, but they are just now beginning to come out. Garden experts indicate that this should mean two things for this year's display. First, the blooms should be quite spectacular over the next week or so. Second, the blooms may not remain at their height as long as normal this year.
Elsewhere across the South, you can expect about the same conditions at gardens from about the midpoints of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and north. Along the coastal plain, everything looks really nice. Here in Northwest Florida, the azaleas are just spectacular.
Here are links to some of our garden pages at ExploreSouthernHistory.com:
- Muskogee Azalea Festival - Muskogee, Oklahoma
- Callaway Gardens - Pine Mountain, Georgia
- Dothan Area Botanical Gardens - Dothan, Alabama
- Eden Gardens State Park - Point Washington, Florida
- Rainbow Springs State Park - Dunnellon, Florida
- Garvan Woodland Gardens - Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Maclay Gardens State Park - Tallahassee, Florida
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The warm weather is bringing the blooms out and they should be out nicely by the weekend, so if you are planning to visit the festival this year, the time is here! Because of the cold winter, the gardners are not sure how long the azaleas will stay in bloom, but they should be quite pretty by this weekend and will stay that way for at least the coming week.
The main day of the festival this year will be Saturday, April 10th, and will include a parade and a variety of other activities. Honor Heights Park will be alive with activity all day, including carriage rides, food, activities for children and, of course, the beautiful flowers.
To learn more and see a full schedule of event, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/okmuskogeeazalea.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Although it seems far removed from the large Mississippian era mound groups of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia and the other Deep South states, Spiro played a critical part in the development of the Native American culture that spread across much of the Southeast and Midwest between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1540. The town maintained vast trading networks and archaeologists have found artifacts at the site that originated as far away as the Great Lakes and Florida.
Spiro Mounds also seems to have played a major role in the development of the ceremonial or religious beliefs of the Mississippian people, a culture that received its name because it is thought to have spread from the Mississippi River throughout the Southeast in around A.D. 900. Spiro is believed to have been occupied as early as A.D. 850 and research there has revealed a dramatic quantity of high quality ceremonial artifacts and artwork.
Research at the site has also revealed that the extensive complex of mounds was designed to coincide with key celestial events. The inhabitants of Spiro could mark the changing seasons by the way the sun and stars aligned with their mounds on key days of the year.
Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center is a major park owned and preserved by the Oklahoma Historical Society. It is open to the public five days each week and features a museum, walking paths, interpretive exhibits and more. To read moer about Spiro, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/SpiroMounds1.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
This beautiful little tree explodes in white blossoms each spring and is one of the favorite blooming trees. It grows across the South and is popular as a yard tree, but also grows wild in the woods across the region.
The legend holds that the tree was once very large and because its wood was strong and sturdy, it provided building material for a variety of purposes. According to the story, it was the dogwood tree that provided the wood used to build the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Because of its role in the crucifixion, it is said that God both cursed and blessed the tree. It was cursed to forever be small, so that it would never grow large enough again for its wood to be used as a cross for a crucifixion. At the same time, however, the tree was blessed so that it would produce beautiful flowers each spring, just in time for Easter.
The most unique part of the legend is that the petals of the dogwood actually form the shape of a cross. Upon close examination, it can be seen that the blooms of the tree always have four petals. And the tips of each of the petals are indented, as if they bear a nailprint. There are even colors in the petals that bring to mind the drops of blood that spilled during the crucifixion.
To learn more about this unique legend, please visit our sister site on the historic community of Two Egg, Florida, at www.twoeggfla.com/dogwood and click the link for "Dogwood Tree Legend is a Two Egg Favorite." Here are links to some great places in the South to see dogwood trees in bloom:
- Muskogee Azalea Festival - Muskogee, Oklahoma
- Dogwood Canyon Nature Park - near Branson, Missouri
- Garvan Woodland Gardens - Hot Springs, Missouri
- Natchez Trace Parkway - Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee
- Dothan Area Botanical Gardens - Dothan, Alabama
- Maclay Gardens State Park - Tallahassee, Florida
- Callaway Gardens - Pine Mountain, Georgia
Friday, April 2, 2010
That was in the days before the completion of the interstate highway system diverted traffic from roads such as U.S. Highway 41, steering would be visitors away from attractions like Rainbow Springs and on their way to newer and larger destinations in such places as Orlando. The fall off in traffic proved devastating to many well known Florida attractions and they were eventually forced to close their doors. Rainbow Springs was among them.
Located just three miles north of downtown Dunnellon on U.S. Highway 41, Rainbow Springs State Park preserves over 1,400 acres surrounding the head spring and much of the short but strikingly beautiful Rainbow River. There are no more "submarine boats" or monorails, but visitors can enjoy the crystal clear waters of the spring and walk the paths in the now preserved gardens of the original amusement park. There are striking waterfalls and beautiful flowers.
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Major Blood Vessels
Normal function of the brain’s control centers is dependent upon adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients through a dense network of blood vessels.
Blood is supplied to the brain, face, and scalp via two major sets of vessels: the right and left common carotid arteries and the right and left vertebral arteries.
The common carotid arteries have two divisions. The external carotid arteries supply the face and scalp with blood. The internal carotid arteries supply blood to most of the anterior portion of the cerebrum. The vertebrobasilar arteries supply the posterior two-fifths of the cerebrum, part of the cerebellum, and the brain stem.
Any decrease in the flow of blood through one of the internal carotid arteries brings about some impairment in the function of the frontal lobes. This impairment may result in numbness, weakness, or paralysis on the side of the body opposite to the obstruction of the artery.
Occlusion of one of the vertebral arteries can cause many serious consequences, ranging from blindness to paralysis.
Circle of Willis
At the base of the brain, the carotid and vertebrobasilar arteries form a circle of communicating arteries known as the Circle of Willis. From this circle, other arteries—the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), the middle cerebral artery (MCA), the posterior cerebral artery (PCA)—arise and travel to all parts of the brain. Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Arteries (PICA), which branch from the vertebral arteries, are not shown.
Because the carotid and vertebrobasilar arteries form a circle, if one of the main arteries is occluded, the distal smaller arteries that it supplies can receive blood from the other arteries (collateral circulation).
Anterior Cerebral Artery
The anterior cerebral artery extends upward and forward from the internal carotid artery. It supplies the frontal lobes, the parts of the brain that control logical thought, personality, and voluntary movement, especially of the legs. Stroke in the anterior cerebral artery results in opposite leg weakness. If both anterior cerebral territories are affected, profound mental symptoms may result (akinetic mutism).
Middle Cerebral Artery
The middle cerebral artery is the largest branch of the internal carotid. The artery supplies a portion of the frontal lobe and the lateral surface of the temporal and parietal lobes, including the primary motor and sensory areas of the face, throat, hand and arm, and in the dominant hemisphere, the areas for speech.
The middle cerebral artery is the artery most often occluded in stroke.
Posterior Cerebral Artery
The posterior cerebral arteries stem in most individuals from the basilar artery but sometimes originate from the ipsilateral internal carotid artery [Garcia JH et al., In Barnett HJM at al (eds) Stroke Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management New York Churchill Livingstone 1992 125]. The posterior arteries supply the temporal and occipital lobes of the left cerebral hemisphere and the right hemisphere. When infarction occurs in the territory of the posterior cerebral artery, it is usually secondary to embolism from lower segments of the vertebral basilar system or heart.
Clinical symptoms associated with occlusion of the posterior cerebral artery depend on the location of the occlusion and may include thalamic syndrome, thalamic perforate syndrome, Weber’s syndrome, contralateral hemplegia, hemianopsia and a variety of other symptoms, including including color blindness, failure to see to-and-fro movements, verbal dyslexia, and hallucinations. The most common finding is occipital lobe infarction leading to an opposite visual field defect.
Small, deep penetrating arteries known as the lenticulostriate arteries branch from the middle cerebral artery Occlusions of these vessels or penetrating branches of the Circle of Willis or vertebral or basilar arteries are referred to as lacunar strokes. About 20% of all stokes are lacunar [Stoke/Brain Attack reporter’s Handbook. Englewood, Colo: National Stroke Association, 1995] and have a high incidence in patients with chronic hypertension.
In the elderly, CT scanning shows signs of infarction in only approximately half of the most of the common form of lacunar stroke (pure motor stroke), but MRI has increased the yield: the probability that CT or MRI will be positive is generally a function of the severity of the deficit [Mohr JP and Sacco RL, 1992]. The cells distal to the occlusion die, but since these areas are very small often only minor deficits are seen. When the infarction is critically located, however, more severe manifestations may develop, including paralysis and sensory loss.
Within a few months of the infarction, the necrotic brains cells are reabsorbed by macrophage activity, leaving a very small cavity referred to as a lake (or lacune in French).
Acute Ischemic Stroke: New Concepts of Care
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To diagnose primary progressive aphasia, your doctor will review your symptoms and order several tests. Because there is no specific test to diagnose primary progressive aphasia, your doctor will need to order tests to diagnose your condition and rule out other possible causes of your symptoms.
Doctors may conduct a neurological examination as well as a speech-language evaluation and a neuropsychological evaluation. Tests will be conducted to measure your speech, language comprehension and skills, recognition and naming of objects, recall, and other factors.
Doctors may order blood tests to check for infections, measure medication levels or test for other medical conditions. You may also have genetic tests to determine if you have genetic mutations associated with primary progressive aphasia or other neurological conditions.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can help diagnose primary progressive aphasia, detect shrinking of certain areas of the brain and show which area of the brain may be affected. MRI scans can also detect strokes, tumors or other conditions that may affect brain function.
Single-photon emission computerized tomography or PET scans can show blood flow or glucose metabolism abnormalities in areas of your brain.
Jan. 16, 2013
- Ropper AH, et al. Adams & Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=54. Accessed Oct. 12, 2012.
- Gorno-Tempini ML, et al. Classification of primary progressive aphasia and its variants. Neurology. 2011;76:1006.
- Harciarek M, et al. Primary progressive aphasias and their contribution to the contemporary knowledge about the brain-language relationship. Neuropsychology Review. 2011;21:271.
- NINDS frontotemporal dementia information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/picks/picks.htm. Accessed Oct. 12, 2012.
- Rogalski E, et al. Increased frequency of learning disability in patients with primary progressive aphasia and their first-degree relatives. Archives of Neurology. 2008;65:244.
- Approach to the patient with aphasia. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 12, 2012.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed Oct. 24, 2012.
- Aphasia. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/pages/aphasia.aspx. Accessed Oct. 29, 2012.
- Communicating with people who have aphasia. The National Aphasia Association. http://www.aphasia.org/Aphasia%20Facts/communicating_with_people_who_have_aphasia.html. Accessed Oct. 29, 2012.
- Caring for a person with a frontotemporal disorder. National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/frontotemporal-disorders-information-patients-families-and-caregivers/caring. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
- Treatment and management. National Institute on Aging. http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/frontotemporal-disorders-information-patients-families-and-caregivers-0. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
- Boeve BF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 20, 2012.
- Duffy JR (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 26, 2012.
You Are ... The Campaign for Mayo Clinic
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Kathy Rogers, Ed Tech, has obtained a grant and is leading a new Therapeutic Horseback Riding program for several students, here at Weatherbee School.
Therapeutic horseback riding means much more than sitting on a horse. It helps with improving social interaction, self esteem, respect, character building, concentration, and conceptual skills.
Horseback riding activities encourage stretching and strengthening of underused or underdeveloped muscles, improves posture and coordination, helps develop gross and fine motor skills, increase the rider’s awareness of their body in space, and improve their range of motion. In addition, riders increase their self esteem and self confidence, learn problem solving skills, and increase their ability to focus and stay on task. All of this while having fun!
Thank you Kathy for your dedication to enrich our students with this wonderful program. | <urn:uuid:38d35ca4-7b66-46d6-a167-3015b3ee72f3> | {
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“Early scribes from Mesopotamia were able to leave behind history’s first-known preserved accounts of war.”
WARFARE IS AS OLD AS CIVILIZATION ITSELF. In fact, experts believe that the first armed conflicts were fought more than 10,000 years ago by prehistoric city-states in present day Syria, Jordan and Iraq. These early contests were likely waged over resources or land. Yet, since such events predate the advent of writing by at least 7,000 years, we have scant knowledge of these first fights, save for what archaeologists have been able to glean from the smallest fragments of information. That said, here’s what we do know.
The earliest evidence of prehistoric warfare comes to us from ancient Jericho. Considered the first true ‘city’ in history, the settlement was established roughly 9000 BCE by the Natufians near the present day West Bank. In fact, its very existence suggests that the first human societies organized themselves with defence in mind.
Made up of roughly 70 igloo-shaped mud brick dwellings that together housed up to 1,000 people, the city itself was surrounded by a 15-foot high stone wall nearly four feet thick at its base. While some speculate that this barrier might have been erected to keep the community safe from raiders, others believe it was used to protect the town from floodwaters. Despite the purpose of these fortifications, Jericho was ultimately abandoned following what archeologists believe was an invasion of some sort, presumably by an army of nomads or perhaps warriors from another city somewhere beyond the horizon.
First Known Battle
The earliest physical evidence of an actual battle comes several thousand years later from the ancient city of Hamoukar. Sometime between 4000 BCE and 3500 BCE, the region surrounding the fledgling city state, which was located in what is now north-eastern Syria, was invaded and colonized the by the expanding realm of the Uruks of southern Mesopotamia. Historians believe that the Uruks migrated north along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers out of what is now Iraq into Syria on a campaign of expansion and colonization. It’s possible that the residents of Hamoukar bristled at the prospect of becoming vassals of these strange foreigners and took up arms to defend themselves. The evidence suggests that a battle ensued.
A 2005 dig by archeologists from the University of Chicago uncovered remnants of city walls at Hamoukar that seem to be riddled with pock marks from inch-wide stones, likely hurled at the defenders by Uruks armed with slings. Larger clay shot was also uncovered. Fragments from of as many as 1,200 of these projectiles were recovered from the dig pointing to an epic battle, at least by ancient standards. Remnants of collapsed buildings containing the charred remains of Hamoukar possessions were also uncovered. This coupled with Uruk artifacts found on top of the original settlement shows that the invaders likely slaughtered, enslaved or scattered the original inhabitants, demolished the city and built one of their own atop of the ruins.
First Recorded War
Following the advent of writing by the Sumerian civilization (circa 3200 BCE), early scribes from Mesopotamia were able to leave behind history’s first-known preserved accounts of war.
The conflict was fought by the Sumerians and inhabitants of the region of Elam in the area around modern Basra, Iraq.
According to Richard A. Gabriel and Karen Metz, authors of the 1992 work A Short History of War, the Sumerian ruler Sargon the Great united a series of settlements throughout the region into a rudimentary empire using history’s first first professional army. But when the Sumerians tried to subdue the Elamites, the latter resisted. The resulting war occurred sometime around 2700 BCE or 2600 BCE. According to accounts from ancient Sumer, which were physically carved onto stone tablets, the army of the empire eventually rolled over the Elamites and “carried away as spoil the weapons” of their enemies.
A more detailed account of another war, this time between competing Sumerian factions from the cities Lagash and Umma, circa 2525 BCE, was immortalized pictorially in a stone tablet. It supposedly shows the slain enemies of the Lagash ruler Eannatum being torn to pieces by vultures and lions.The carving, known as the Stele of Vultures, stands as the first recorded likenesses of ancient soldiers – helmeted and armoured spearmen arranged in tight formations being led by a figure in a chariot. According to Gabriel and Metz, the illustration suggests that the Sumerians maintained a standing army of some size. Other tablets from the era indicate that the Sumerian army around this period was at one point between 600 and 700 strong. It was equipped, provisioned and maintained by the rulers of the empire. This was something of a novel approach considering that other pre-Bronze Age “armies” were only marshalled in emergencies and armed with whatever weapons were available and then dispersed at war’s end.
First Account of a Battle
The first detailed account of an actual clash of arms comes to use from the ancient Egyptians. The Battle of Megiddo, fought in present day Israel, took place in the spring of 1457 BCE when a series of Egyptian controlled fiefdoms in present day Syria and Israel rose up against their masters. The account of the battle, which was fought between the forces of Pharaoh Thutmose III and the rebellious ruler of Kadesh along with his Canaanite allies includes details on the date of the battle, the size of the opposing forces, the casualties inflected, and even the weapons used. Thanks to the ancient Egyptian historian Tjaneni who committed details of the clash to the walls of the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak, we know that the Egyptian army was between 10,000 and 20,000 strong, while Kadesh and company had between 10,000 and 15,000 combatants on the field. We also know that the pharaoh’s enemies suffered about 83 deaths and 340 of them were taken prisoner. The Egyptians carried the day after out-maneuvering the divided enemy forces using a mix of infantry and mounted archers. The victors would go on to besiege the city of Megiddo for seven months. The king of Kadesh would surrender the city then escape afterwards. The city’s inhabitants were spared.
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According to the Nordic sagas, Oslo was founded by King Harald Hadrade in 1048. It has been the country's capital since King Hakon V (1299-1319) took permanent residence in the city and started the construction of the fortress. The year 1624 was marked by a disastrous fire after which the city was rebuilt at a new site and called Christiania (only in 1925 was the original name of Oslo restored). Christiania gradually developed as a commercial and cultural center. The Royal Palace, the Parliament and the University were built in the 19th Century. Oslo was the home of playwright Henrik Ibsen, artist Edvard Munch and Nobel prize winners Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset.
Arkeshus Fortress was erected by King Hakon V to protect the city. It resisted successfully a series of sieges, and was actually never captured by an enemy. In the 17th Century, King Christian IV had it reconstructed as a Renaissance castle. In 1940 the fortress surrendered to Nazi Germany as the Norwegian government decided to evacuate the capital. Today the castle houses the Museum of the Armed Forces and the Museum of the Norwegian Resistance. The Royal Mausoleum is the burial place of King Haakon VII, Queen Maud, King Olav V and Crown Princess Martha.
The Royal Palace was built in the 19th Century and is used as the official residence of the Norwegian monarch. It was designed by the Danish architect Hans Ditlev. The palace is open for organized tours.
The Parliament building also dates back to the 19th Century and was designed by Emil Victor Langlet.
The Vigeland Sculpture Park is probably the best known park in Norway, the work of the sculptor Gustav Vigeland. A famous sculpture is the Monolith, a 14 metre-tall column carved from a single block of stone.
A must-see in Oslo is the Munch Museum whose collection contains about a half of all works by Edvard Munch (about 1100 paintings), about 15,000 prints, plates, books and other items. A version of his famous painting 'The Scream' can be seen at the National Gallery.
Oslo is proud of the heritage of the great Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. In 1947, he embarked on an expedition designed to prove that people of South America may have reached and settled in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. He built a wooden raft using native South American materials and drawings made by the Spanish conquistadores, called it Kon-Tiki after the Inca sun god, and sailed with a crew of five men 4,300 miles across the Pacific to Tuamotu Islands to prove his hypothesis. The subsequent book Kon-Tiki, describing the expedition, became a best-seller. The original raft can now be seen at the Kon-Tiki Museum.
The Viking Ship Museum is a unique exposition featuring ships from Tune, Oseberg and Gokstad, as well as finds from a Viking cemetery. The Vikings were strong and fearless warriors and great seafarers, and their long slender ships would sail all the way to the Mediterranean and Byzantium, striking unexpectedly and filling their enemies' hearts with terror.
The Museum of Cultural History has a large open-air exhibition containing 155 buildings from different parts of the country.
Oslo was the host of the 1952 Winter Olympics, and continues to offer excellent facilities for winter sports: eight alpine runs, hundreds of kilometers of cross-country runs, biathlon facilities and the legendary Holmenkollen ski jump. | <urn:uuid:e5af5102-90d7-486b-a80b-50c565c2eec2> | {
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One in six cats without clinical symptoms could have Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM is the most common heart disease among cats, but very rare in dogs. HCM is a primary heart muscle disease where the muscular walls of the ventricles become abnormally thickened. The name hypertrophic cardiomyopathy means “thick heart muscle disease”. Hypertrophy of the heart muscle affects the ability of the left ventricle to relax properly, and therefore, function properly. Like the similar disease in humans, HCM is often inherited through family.
Maine Coon and Ragdoll cats have been identified with mutations in the same gene (Myosin-binding protein C) as a cause of HCM. A genetic test has been developed to test these breeds for the mutation. While many pure bred cats are pre-disposed to this disease, the domestic short hair is the type most commonly diagnosed with HCM. The disease can be diagnosed at any age but cats are usually middle-aged to older. However, pure bred cats are often less than 5 years old when diagnosed with HCM. In some cats, the thickening of the muscular walls can lead to arrhythmias and can result in sudden death.
The clinical signs of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are variable. To some extent, the clinical signs depend on the severity of the disease. Cats are masters of masking problems until they become severe, so cats with HCM may appear normal or may have subtle signs that often go unnoticed. Your veterinarian can pick up on signs when he listens to your cat’s chest during a physical exam. An increased heart rate, heart murmur, and/or a gallop rhythm may be recognized as the disease advances.
CardioPet ProBNP provides a quantitative assessment of the protein released by cardiac muscles in response to stretch and stress. It is a highly accurate and minimally invasive test which enhances patient care and provides early detection. For us to be able to run this test, we collect a small amount of blood and send it to a laboratory for evaluation. This test is highly recommended for cats that are at a higher risk of developing HCM such as Maine Coon, Ragdoll, American shorthair, oriental breeds and Persian. It is recommended for all cats that are undergoing any surgical procedure to have this test done, even if the cat is not showing any clinical signs.
Even though HCM is not common in dogs, it is recommended after a heart murmur is heard to have this test done to establish a baseline for monitoring.
Please call us if you have any questions about adding this test to your pet’s blood work before any surgical procedure. | <urn:uuid:525897fa-ac0b-45ea-8ce5-d70dfa10b421> | {
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This was an idea I came up with while listening to the Chris Moyles breakfast show on Radio 1. Radio shows are great ways to pick up on fun game ideas for revision. On the show, they play the tedious link game where one of the presenters, Dave, must introduce a track by making a series of links from a given start point. (Have a listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8wwO_M6pw4.)
So I adapted this idea for plot revision. I show a chain of pictures related to the text and students must explain the links from the first image to the last. As well as serving as a useful revision tools, it prompts students to think about the deeper links between characters, events and themes. For example, the Of Mice and Men tedious link below encourages students to comment on how the dead mouse in Chapter 1 foreshadows the death of other animals and ultimately Curley’s Wife.
- This task can be made more challenging by only having a start and end point so students have to create the chain of connections.
- You can introduce keywords for students to use in their explanation. | <urn:uuid:8540f074-3324-4f77-af97-f23021c5d849> | {
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Talking About Science
October 27, 2013
A dozen teenagers from Greenland, Denmark, and the U.S. are twirling across the rolling tundra on the edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet laughing, looking as though they're just fooling around. But Dartmouth graduate students Julia Bradley-Cook and Ruth Heindel are leading them in a "carbon cycle dance" as a way to understand photosynthesis and other biological processes important to global warming.
Julia and Ruth are two of 24 Dartmouth doctoral students in earth sciences, ecology and evolutionary biology, and engineering who are fellows in the Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The Dartmouth IGERT, run by the Institute of Arctic Studies at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth, is a program in polar environmental change. While it is fundamentally an interdisciplinary curriculum in science, engineering, and the human dimensions of changing climate it also emphasizes science communication. What Julia and Ruth are doing with their students on the tundra may look silly, but their intent is serious—they are practicing one of the primary goals of the Dartmouth IGERT: to make science understandable, even fun, to yet another challenging audience.
"While dancing we talk about the added complexities of permafrost, a warming climate, and human consumption of fossil fuels," Ruth explains. "We also want to give the students a feeling for the work that we do each day in the field."
People often pick up science information from the media, not from the researchers who study the issues. But increasingly, scientists and engineers are being called upon to share their knowledge directly with policymakers and the public. Effective science communication is important to increasing the public's understanding of critical issues such as climate change, biodiversity, and energy policy.
For the past four years IGERT graduate students have been communicating with all sorts of unlikely audiences explaining properties of snow and ice, changes to the Greenland Ice Sheet, the composition of ice cores, the history of the earth's climate, threats to coastal communities from melting ice, and complex Arctic policy issues as well basic science concepts, in the hope that science, engineering, environmental change, and the research process will be more understandable. | <urn:uuid:56e68f70-bebf-4267-b9df-6dbc3d4b5f65> | {
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History, Facts and Information about Roman Navy
The content of this article provides interesting history, facts and information about Roman Navy including details and descriptions of the warships such as the Triremes, Quinqueremes and the Dromons.
History of the Roman Navy
The Romans in the earlier period of their history never conceived the idea of increasing their power by the formation of a Roman navy and fleet. The time when they first appear to have become aware of the importance of a fleet, was during the second Samnite war, in the year B.C. 311 when they looked to building a Roman Navy. At this time the Romans resolved to build their first fleet. The idea of founding a Roman navy was probably connected with the establishment of a colony in the Pontian islands, as the Romans at this time must have felt that they ought not to be defenceless at sea. The ships which the Romans first built were undoubtedly Triremes, which were then very common among the Greeks of Italy.
Roman Navy - The Triremes
The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars on each side, manned with one man per oar. These war-ships (naves longae) rarely had more than a single sail and were propelled mainly by means of oars. The speed of the warship was dependent on how fast the rowers could work and they kept time according to the speed of the beat of a drum. The sail and mast had to be lowered during combat. The triremes, used by the early Roman navy, were made of softwoods such as pine and fir. Larch and plane were used for the ship's interior parts. The light woods allowed emphasis on manoeuvrability and speed. The ship's primary propulsion came from the 170 oars arranged in three rows, with one man per oar. The triremes required 170 rowers and 10-15 sailors and 10-20 marines who fought during boarding actions. The Roman navy relied on two methods of combat: ramming and boarding. Rams (embolon) were fitted to the prows of the Roman triremes. Although their boarding methods were effective this type of attack was limited due to the small number of marines that there was room for on the triremes of the early Roman Navy.
Roman Navy - The Quinqueremes
The Roman Navy with its small fleet of Triremes were totally ineffective when the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) erupted between Carthage and the Roman Republic. The time had come for a powerful Roman Navy but they had only a small number of triremes, galleys with three banks of oars, and were quite unable to cope with the quinqueremes, or large vessels with five banks of oars, of which the Carthaginian navy consisted. The Senate, with characteristic energy, determined to build Roman Navy with a fleet of these larger vessels. A Carthaginian quinquereme, which had been wrecked upon the coast of Italy, served as a model; and in the short space of sixty days from the time the trees were felled, 130 ships were launched. While the ships were building, the rowers were trained on scaffolds placed upon the land like benches of ships at sea.
Roman Navy - Boarding Techniques
The Romans believed that they could defeat the Carthage by their man to man fighting techniques and to take their ships by boarding. For this purpose, every ship was provided with a boarding-bridge 36 feet in length, which was pulled up by a rope and fastened to a mast in the fore part of the ship. As soon as an enemy's ship came near enough, the rope was loosened, the bridge fell down, and became fastened by means of an iron spike in its under side. Grappling-hooks were provided, by which the opposing ship might also be seized. The boarders then poured down the bridge into the enemy's ship. The Carthaginians ships were rapidly seized by the boarding-bridges, and when it came to a close fight their crews were no match for the veteran soldiers of Rome.
The Roman Navy rules the Mediterranean Sea
The wealth of Rome enabled the growth of the Roman Navy and their biggest fleet of quinquiremes temporarily ruled the Mediterranean. By the time of Julius Caesar the Roman Navy had added other types of ships to the Roman Navy. The Snaves actuariae were small, fast and light ships ideal for reconnaissance missions to assess the strengths of harbors and enemy forces. Broader and slower Transport ships called 'onerariae naves' were used to transport troops, escorted by warships of the Roman Navy.
The Roman Navy fight the Liburnian Pirates
During the civil wars after Caesar's death naval warfare erupted with the Liburnians. The Liburnians were renowned seafarers and pirates, notorious for their raids in the Adriatic Sea, which they conducted in their fast, light galleys called 'liburna' which were perfect for their pirate raids. The liburnian design was adopted by the Romans and became a key part of Ancient Roman navy in their naval combats with the pirates.
Roman Navy of the Eastern Roman Empire - The Dromons
By Imperial times the Roman Navy was small and used for controlling the grain supply to Rome and fighting pirates. In 285 the Roman Empire was split in half by Diocletian. The Western Roman Empire and the other half became known as the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire. The Western Empire fell in 474AD following defeat by the Visigoths. The Roman navy of the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire adopted the 'Dromons' as their favored battle ships. The largest dromons had a crew of 200: 50 on the lower bank and 100 on the upper bank in two files, together with 50 marines.
The content of this Roman Navy category on the weapons used by soldiers and gladiators in Ancient Rome provides free educational details, facts and information for reference and research for schools, colleges and homework. Refer to the Colosseum Sitemap for a comprehensive search on interesting different categories containing the history, facts and information about Ancient Rome. Just like the subject of Roman Navy there is hardly a page of Roman history and the Roman weapons that is not, on some way, connected to the Roman Colosseum which became a symbol of Rome, its society, culture and life. | <urn:uuid:2aa721a1-096b-47c8-9070-fa7c8104b296> | {
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On the hot and humid Florida Keys, aerial spraying plays a vital role in controlling the mosquito population. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District uses advanced computer modeling and sophisticated technology to attack breeding grounds for these airborne pests.
District activities are divided into two functions: spraying for existing mosquitoes, and spotting and eliminating larva sites in the water.
Both tasks rely on helicopter flights and a sophisticated spray management system that guides the pilot to the right areas and records the concentration of pesticide being released.
Flight and spray patterns are determined at the district office and saved onto a memory card, which is uploaded to the helicopter’s onboard system. For larva sites, inspectors note locations by hand, and that data is placed on digital maps.
While in flight, an automated system consisting of two GPS antennae and a wind measurement probe records data and monitors the wind speed and aircraft direction. Spraying goes on and off automatically to ensure the cloud drifts over the appropriate area.
“The pilot just has to go to the spray area, activate the unit, and it’ll set up the first line,” said Stephen Bradshaw, the district’s aerial operations supervisor. “It’ll show the pilot where to go so the product will drift across the spray area and be more effective.”
The district also plans to upgrade its land-based technology. Instead of having inspectors report larva site findings manually, the agency is seeking a tablet or smartphone system to enter the information digitally. This way, data is directly entered on the map pilots will use to direct their spraying. | <urn:uuid:788f1262-9746-4a20-bc7d-e5624ccede07> | {
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Fact Sheet 2014–3066
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, and recreation. For the State of North Carolina, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, forest resources management, and other business uses. Today, high-density light detection and ranging (lidar) data are the primary sources for deriving elevation models and other datasets. Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies work in partnership to (1) replace data that are older and of lower quality and (2) provide coverage where publicly accessible data do not exist. A joint goal of State and Federal partners is to acquire consistent, statewide coverage to support existing and emerging applications enabled by lidar data.
The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (NEEA; Dewberry, 2011) evaluated multiple elevation data acquisition options to determine the optimal data quality and data replacement cycle relative to cost to meet the identified requirements of the use community. The evaluation demonstrated that lidar acquisition at quality level 2 for the conterminous United States and quality level 5 interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ifsar) data for Alaska with a 6- to 10-year acquisition cycle provided the highest benefit/cost ratios. The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative selected an 8-year acquisition cycle for the respective quality levels. 3DEP, managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Office of Management and Budget Circular A–16 lead agency for terrestrial elevation data, responds to the growing need for high-quality topographic data and a wide range of other 3D representations of the Nation’s natural and constructed features.
First posted July 23, 2014
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Carswell, W.J., Jr., 2014, The 3D Elevation Program—Summary for North Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2014–3066, 2 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20143066.
ISSN 2327-6932 (online) | <urn:uuid:34da2ef9-d085-4a1b-a2fe-393902a5f4ad> | {
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- OIL & GAS
When you think of disruptive behavior that occurs in a health care setting, you might think of patients or their family members. However, disruptive behavior among healthcare workers has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, to the point where the Joint Commission that accredits health care organizations now charges institutions who are seeking certification with the responsibility for addressing undesirable behaviors.
“Disruptive behaviors among healthcare workers threaten the safety and well being of both patients and staff,” according to a 2010 study published in the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, Combating Disruptive Behaviors: Strategies to Promote a Healthy Work Environment.
The study notes that the problem has often gone unchecked, or even worse, has been accepted as part of the system. “By not addressing these behaviors, organizations silently supported and reinforced them.”
Those behaviors prevent the collaboration among health care providers that is considered vital to establishing and sustaining a healthy work environment. That’s not the only consequence. Individuals on the receiving end may experience stress, frustration and physical and psychological disorders. Nurses have cited disruptive behaviors as a reason for leaving a particular place of employment – which stresses hospital resources and can further compromise care.
Verbal abuse such as making threats, making demeaning, humiliating or intimidating comments or facial expressions or sending nasty emails often comes from other nurses. Physically disruptive behaviors are also a problem.
Causes and consequences
Displaced frustration and unresolved conflicts were cited in the study as frequent causes of disruptive behaviors cause a breakdown in communication and collaboration among healthcare personnel, thereby threatening patient and staff well being. Patients may suffer from adverse events like medication errors. Healthcare providers can suffer a range of physical effects, such as tiredness, headaches, gastro-intestinal complaints and feelings of sadness. Home life may also be negatively impacted.
Reluctance to report
“One of the reason that disruptive behaviors have been allowed to flourish is that often employees are reluctant to report these behaviors,” according to the study. “Reasons for this reluctance include concern for their job, fear, lack of confidentiality around the report, lack of managerial follow-through on complaints.”
What healthcare facilities should do
The study’s authors recommend, as a first step, taking a zero-tolerance stance towards disruptive behaviors.
That must be followed up by implementation of a policy that:
- applies to all employees
- defines unacceptable behaviors
- describes a process for dealing with unacceptable behaviors
Corrective action may include referrals to:
- employee assistance programs or anger management classes
- individual executive coaching/mentoring
- mental health professionals (if the underlying problem is stress or substance abuse)
If the disruptive behavior is the result of conflict, that conflict must be addressed – possibly through mediation, where a neutral third party guides two parties to a an agreement to resolve a particular issue.
A new book from the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE), Taming Disruptive Behavior, is intended to help physician leaders deal with the problem. In it, therapists Phillip Hemphill, PhD, and William "Marty" Martin, PsyD cover:
- The impact, costs and risks of disruptive behavior
- Addressing disruptive behavior from an organizational perspective
- What are the special considerations when working with physicians?
- How to deal with nurses and other members of the care team
- Dealing with sexual misconduct at work
- What is the role of human resources, the legal department, quality management and medical staff? | <urn:uuid:bcb48a46-b949-41a5-a345-0b66a733dbbe> | {
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What is Biomass heating?
Biomass heating is the burning of organic material, usually wood, (logs, wood-chip or wood pellets), to provide heating and/or hot water.
This fuel can be burned in stoves, cookers, and boilers to heat single rooms,…
How GU Can help you with solar panels
Increase Awareness - develop case studies with businesses that have benefitted from the scheme and work with the trade associations to disseminate the case studies to other potential customers. Streamline the application process – one of the most common problems with applications has apparently been the quality of the schematic drawings showing the location of heat meters. OFGEM could develop standard schematic layouts, which applicants could select from, rather than commissioning their own drawings. OFGEM could develop standard schematic layouts, which applicants could. | <urn:uuid:1619bec0-dfef-48a7-952f-1fad9223b100> | {
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31,000 scientists say "no convincing evidence".
While polls of scientists actively working in the filed of climate science indicate strong general agreement that Earth is warming and human activity is a significant factor, 31,000 scientists say there is "no convincing evidence" that humans can or will cause "catastrophic" heating of the atmosphere.
We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.
There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.
To participate in the petition one only needs to mark a check box to show that one has a Ph.D., M.S., or B.S. degree, and then fill in the fields. Unfortunately, that means that anyone can sign the petition, whether they have a degree or not.
Since the results are not verifiable, there is no way to know how many signers have actually earned a degree.
Do '31,000 scientists say global warming is not real'? Maybe. But more importantly what is the significance of these signatures? The majority of signatures are engineers (10,102). 3,046 are in medicine. 2,965 are in biology, biochemistry and agriculture. 4,822 in chemistry and chemical engineering.
Without formal training in climate science the level of understanding remains unknown among those that signed the petition. A key question is not how many of those that signed the petition know climate exists, but rather how many of those that signed work directly in the field of climate science.
Only 12% of those who signed...
According to the data on the petition site, only 12% of those who signed the petition are indicated to have affiliation with atmosphere, earth, and environmental science. But there is no indication how many work in the field of climate science?
WHAT DO SCIENTISTS REALLY THINK?
What is notable is that the polls indicate there is a perspective difference between working climate scientists and scientists not working in the field of climate. When one examines the experts in the field, one sees a significant divergence from the general view. So the more important question for us is, what do 'expert' climate scientists think?
2009 - Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
1. When compared with pre-1800s levels, do you think that mean global temperatures have generally risen, fallen, or remained relatively constant?
2. Do you think human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures?
- 90% of participants answered “risen” to question 1.
- 82% answered 'yes' to question 2.
Of those with expertise in climate science:
- 96.2% (76 of 79) answered “risen” to question 1.
- 97.4% (75 of 77) answered yes to question 2.
2009 Pew Research Center Poll
- 84% of scientists say the earth is warming because of human activity.
Asked if they regarded global warming as a very serious problem?
- Scientists - 70%
- Public - 47%
Source: Pew Research Center
Scientists agree that humans cause global warming?
- 97% of the climate scientists surveyed believe “global average temperatures have increased” during the past century.
- 84% percent say they personally believe human-induced warming is occurring.
- 74% agree that “currently available scientific evidence” substantiates its occurrence.
- 5% believe that that human activity does not contribute to greenhouse warming; the rest are unsure.
Climate scientists are skeptical of the media
- 1% of climate scientists rate either broadcast or cable television news about climate change as “very reliable.”
Changing scientific opinion
In 1991 the Gallup organization conducted a telephone survey on global climate change among 400 scientists drawn from membership lists of the American Meteorological Association and the American Geophysical Union.
We repeated several of their questions verbatim, in order to measure changes in scientific opinion over time. On a variety of questions, opinion has consistently shifted toward increased belief in and concern about global warming. Among the changes:
- In 1991 only 60% of climate scientists believed that average global temperatures were up, compared to 97% today.
- In 1991 only a minority (41%) of climate scientists agreed that then-current scientific evidence “substantiates the occurrence of human-induced warming,” compared to three out of four (74%) today.
Source: George Mason University | <urn:uuid:c0f421fd-d30e-4c05-91b3-6ec5d2bc9135> | {
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Placement of Backhand Attack: Attack the Forehand and Middle More
Many players automatically attack with their backhand crosscourt. When attacking with the forehand, these same players don’t hesitate to move their attacks around probably because they figure they have more power on the forehand, and so can get away with attacking an opponent’s normally stronger forehand side.
These players forget that their backhand attacks are usually quicker than their forehand attacks and that this very quickness gives opponent’s trouble counter-attacking with their forehands. Even when backhand looping, the swing on the backhand is normally shorter, and so harder to read where it is going.
When a player attacks with his backhand to an opponent’s backhand, he is probably using the worst possible placement. An opponent’s backhand is the very shot that is probably quick enough to handle a quick backhand attack!
Instead, attack the backhand at the opponent’s slower forehand side, or into the opponent’s middle (the transition point between forehand backhand). Going down the line to an opponent’s forehand means the opponent not only has to react to a quicker backhand, but to the shorter down-the-line distance. Going to the middle means the opponent has to decide whether to use a forehand or backhand while being rushed. Either way puts you in the driver’s seat!
Webmaster Note: Larry has an outstanding daily blog worth visiting regularly and bookmarking. | <urn:uuid:c6469f4b-bb3b-4d08-bd52-4c5b9e19c9fa> | {
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Last week I presented the findings (results) of a psychology experiment in which women from healthier countries preferred men with a more feminine look, while women from less healthy countries preferred more masculine-looking, “manlier” men. Now I will give you the researchers’ explanations or theories on why this is the case.
The key to (solution, main point of) this finding can be found in evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary refers to the process by which life forms (such as animals and humans) on earth change or “evolve” slowly over time, a theory proposed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century. Part of the theory of evolution says that organisms (life forms) that are better adapted (better matched, more suited) to their environment are better able to survive and therefore to have descendents (children, offspring). Over many thousands (and perhaps millions) of years, organisms that have the characteristics and qualities that are the best “fit” for their environment will be the ones that survive. Evolutionary psychology tries to explain the way people act today by looking at the characteristics of those actions which might have contributed (helped) in the past to the survival of the human race (human beings).
There can be no future for any organism that does not reproduce — that is, have children. But men and women have significant differences when it comes to (related to) reproduction. A man can have several sexual partners each year, and with each partner (woman, in this case) have a child. In other words, he can have as many children as he has sexual partners. A woman, however, can only have one child (excluding twins for the moment) every nine months, regardless of how many sexual partners she has had. A woman therefore has a strong motivation (a good reason) to be much more selective, much more careful about choosing her sexual partners if she wants the father of her children to help support and protect her and her offspring. It is in a woman’s best interest (beneficial or advantageous to her) to find a high-quality sexual partner who will be a good father to her children. While modern society has attempted to separate the sexual act from procreation (having children), evolutionary psychology shows that women (and men) are still guided today by these basic instincts or tendencies that we have inherited from our ancestors (our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.).
So what does the health of a society have to do with all of this? The answer is found in the hormone (certain chemicals that regulate your body’s activities) testosterone. More masculine-looking men tend to have more testosterone, and are often in better physical shape, look more healthy, are more fertile (able to produce more children), and are perceived as being “stronger” than men with less testosterone. If you are woman living in a society where illness and disease are common (that is, a less healthy society), physical health is an important part of your survival. You will want to find a man who you believe is himself very physically healthy, who won’t easily get sick, and who will thus (therefore) be able to protect you and your children.
High levels of testosterone can have some negative effects as well, however. Men with high levels of testosterone are more likely to be aggressive and unfaithful (have sex with someone other than his or her husband/wife/partner). The more “manly” man is more likely to get divorced, have problems in his marriage, be less interested in parenting (taking care of the children), and be physically abusive to (hit or harm) his wife. (Of course, these are just generalizations, and it does not mean that all men with high testosterone are unfaithful and hit their wives.) In healthier societies, where physical health is not as important for survival, women are more likely to be attracted to the more feminine-looking men, who are generally kinder, more faithful, and more interested in being a father. These women thereby (by doing that) avoid the negative aspects that come with being with men who have high testosterone levels.
Countries that are considered to be on average the healthiest by the World Health Organization, such as Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria, are more likely to have women who will choose the more feminine-looking men for a husband or partner. The United States is one of the least healthy countries, and women here tend to prefer the more masculine-looking men. Based on this information, we can presume (guess, assume to be true) that if Obama’s healthcare plan is successful in making Americans healthier, women will start preferring more feminine-looking men — that is, girlie men!
One potential problem in this study is that some countries have a wide disparity (difference) in their population when it comes to how healthy the environments are in which people live. The United States has some very rich areas, but it also has many very poor areas. It is possible, then, that the “average” level of healthiness is not a very good indication of what a “typical” American woman might prefer in a man. It may be, for example, that women from richer, healthier places in the U.S. prefer more feminine-looking men, and those in the poorer, less healthy areas prefer more masculine-looking men. The study did not look at this issue. | <urn:uuid:7a5ce167-c878-4598-a055-5ea401b50b2c> | {
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What's in a Name?
The importance of maintaining the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael is highlighted by something which Jews throughout the world will hear this week as the Torah portion regarding the division of the Holy Land among the tribes is read in the synagogue.
Two of the cities in the portion granted to the tribe of Reuven had names that their original inhabitants had given them to honor the idols they worshipped. When the Torah relates that Nevo and Ba'al Meon were developed by the Reuvenites, it mentions that they changed the names of their cities in order to avoid any mention of idolatry.
This should serve as a lesson to our own generation to avoid introducing any element of pagan culture into our Holy Land. Only by steadfastly preserving the unique holiness of our people and our Land can we secure Israel forever. | <urn:uuid:df8ee9bd-0e76-42c0-88d7-d7fb562c9ae4> | {
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AV Block Physiology
Normally, electrical impulses in the heart stimulate the atria and ventricles to contract in a coordinated pattern. This allows the atria to contract first, forcing blood into the ventricles, and then the ventricles contract, pumping blood to the lungs and body.
Electrical impulses originate in the sinoatrial node (SA node), located within the right atrium. The SA node is the heart's pacemaker. The SA node sends an electrical impulse that is conducted to the ventricles by way of the atrioventricular node and a network of electrical pathways. These pathways are called the Bundle of HIS.
- Agarwala B, Sheikh Z, Cibils LA. Congenital complete heart block. J Natl Med Assoc. 1996 Nov;88(11):725-9.
- Batra AS, Epstein D, Silka MJ. The clinical course of acquired complete heart block in children with acute myocarditis. Pediatr Cardiol. 2003 Sep-Oct;24(5):495-7.
- Huang M, Krahn AD, Yee R, Klein GJ, Skanes AC. Optimal pacing for symptomatic AV block: a comparison of VDD and DDD pacing. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2004 Jan;27(1):19-23.
- MacKenzie R. Second-degree AV block. J Insur Med. 2004;36(4):327-32.
- Ozdemir K, Altunkeser BB, Korkut B, Tokac M, Gok H. Effect of left bundle branch block on systolic and diastolic function of left ventricle in heart failure. Angiology. 2004 Jan-Feb;55(1):63-71. | <urn:uuid:56a2c753-9683-4409-9589-8822b647d8c8> | {
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dup - duplicate an open file descriptor
int dup(int fildes);
fildes is a file descriptor obtained from a creat(), open(), dup(),
fcntl(), or pipe() system call. dup() returns a new file descriptor
having the following in common with the original:
+ Same open file (or pipe).
+ Same file pointer (i.e., both file descriptors share one file
+ Same access mode (read, write or read/write).
+ Same file status flags (see fcntl(2), F_DUPFD).
The new file descriptor is set to remain open across exec() system
calls. See fcntl(2).
The file descriptor returned is the lowest one available.
Upon successful completion, the file descriptor is returned as a non-
negative integer. Otherwise, a value of -1 is returned and errno is
set to indicate the error.
dup() fails if one or more of the following is true:
[EBADF] fildes is not a valid open file descriptor.
[EMFILE] Request violates the maximum number of open
dup() was developed by AT&T and HP.
close(2), creat(2), dup2(2), exec(2), fcntl(2), open(2), pipe(2).
dup(): AES, SVID2, SVID3, XPG2, XPG3, XPG4, FIPS 151-2, POSIX.1
Hewlett-Packard Company - 1 - HP-UX Release 11i: November 2000 | <urn:uuid:3672abfb-7667-448c-b306-0ef4fbc43e09> | {
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Antiretroviral medications - reverse transcriptase inhibitors
Reverse transcriptase inhibitors include:
- Ribavirin (Copegus and Rebetol)
- Zidovudine (Retrovir)
- Didanosine (Videx)
- Zalcitabine (Hivid)
- Stavudine (Zerit)
- Lamivudine (Epivir)
It is rare to be deficient in copper. Symptoms of a long-term deficiency include:
- Slow growth
- Joint problems
- Trouble breathing
- Skin problems
- Irregular heartbeat
- Being more vulnerable to infection
Signs and symptoms of zinc deficiency include:
- Loss of appetite or sense of taste
- Growth retardation
- Skin changes
- Increased susceptibility to infection
The information presented here covers some of the nutrients that may be affected when you take certain medications. If you have the signs and symptoms listed, it does not always mean you have low levels of these nutrients. Many things affect the level of nutrients, including your:
- Medical history
As well as how long you have been taking the medication. Please talk with your health care provider. They can best address your health care needs and determine whether you are at risk for low levels of any nutrients.
Ames BN. Micronutrient deficiencies: A major cause of DNA damage. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2000;889:87-106.
Araya M, Pizarro F, Olivares M, Arredondo M, González M, Méndez M. Understanding copper homeostasis in humans and copper effects on health. Biol Res. 2006;39(1):183-7.
Donnelly PS, Xiao Z, Wedd AG.Copper and Alzheimer's disease. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2007 Apr;11(2):128-33.
Hambidge M. Human zinc deficiency. J Nutr. 2000;130(5S Suppl):1344S-1349S.
Maret W, Sandstead HH. Zinc requirements and the risks and benefits of zinc supplementation. J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2006;20(1):3-18.
Pelton R, LaValle J, Hawkins EB, et al. Drug Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook. Hudson, OH: LexiComp, Inc.;2001:429-430.
Powell SR. The antioxidant properties of zinc. J Nutr. 2000;130(5S Suppl):1447S-54S.
Tubek S, Grzanka P, Tubek I. Role of Zinc in Hemostasis: A Review. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2007; [Epub ahead of print].
- Last reviewed on 9/30/2014
- Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD, Solutions Acupuncture, a private practice specializing in complementary and alternative medicine, Phoenix, AZ. Review provided by VeriMed HealthCare Network. Also reviewed by the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997- 2013 A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. | <urn:uuid:f94ca7eb-6f6f-403c-9656-d8bca7fc779f> | {
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Posts Tagged: Pamela Ronald
Even though it's been about 1 billion years since plants and animals parted ways from their common ancestor, scientists have learned that over the eons they developed similar mechanisms for detecting microbial invasions and resisting disease, according to a study published in the journal Science.
The article, written by UC Davis plant pathologist Pamela Ronald and Scripps Research Institute mammal geneticist Bruce Beutler, describes how researchers used common approaches to tease apart the secrets of immunity in species ranging from fruit flies to rice. It also forecasts where future research will lead, said a UC Davis news release.
News about the scientific discovery was picked up widely by medical and scientific websites and blogs, including
“We now know that plants and animals respond to microbial signature molecules using analogous regulatory modules, which likely came about as a consequence of convergent evolution,” Technology Today quotes Ronald.
Medical Daily noted that the discovery will likely help future researchers find new drug targets to control deadly bacteria for which there are currently no effective treatments.
The paper in Science is dedicated to Julius Rothstein (1830-1899) and his wife, Fanny Rothstein née Frank (1834-1911), the great, great grandparents and last common ancestors of the authors.
The lineages of humans and mice diverged 60-120 million years ago.
With the world facing serious challenges - like global warming, diminishing fresh water supplies and population growth - there is a critical need for people to get beyond biases against the use of agricultural biotechnology, according to a group of prestigious scientists that includes UC Davis plant pathologist Pamela Ronald.
This admonition was part of a perspective piece published in the Feb. 12 issue of the journal Science. The authors also said there is an increasing need for development of farming systems that use saline water and integrate nutrient flows.
In the Science article, the researchers noted that crop reductions related to global climate change are already apparent. For example, a 2003 heat wave in Europe, which caused a 3.5-degree rise in the average summer temperature, killed 30,000 to 50,000 people and resulted in a 20 to 36 percent decrease in the yields of grains and fruit that summer."That dramatic drop in yield is just a foreshadowing of the challenges that lie ahead for agriculture during the 21st century, as temperatures rise and another 3 billion people are added to the global population," Ronald was quoted in a UC Davis news release about the journal article.
Ronald believes global warming will change the pattern of plant diseases and cause intense, periodic flooding.
"The good news is that we have the ability, through conventional breeding and genetic engineering, to generate new varieties of our existing food crops that can better adapt to these environmental changes," Ronald was quoted. | <urn:uuid:49d1229d-928d-40c7-aa87-1a147fbea987> | {
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Flare stacks or gas flares are large diameter, tall vertical vent pipes used in petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, chemical plants and natural gas processing plants for burning off flammable gas released by pressure safety relief valves during unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment.
However, a great deal of flaring has nothing to do with protection against the dangers of over-pressuring industrial plant equipment. When petroleum crude oil is extracted and produced from oil wells, raw natural gas associated with the oil is produced to the surface as well. In areas of the world lacking pipelines and other gas transportation infrastructure, vast amounts of such associated gas are commonly flared as waste or unusable gas.
The flaring of associated gas may occur at the top of a vertical flare stack (as in the adjacent photograph) or it may occur in a ground-level flare in an earthen pit.
The purpose of industrial plant flare stacks
In industrial plants such as petroleum refineries, petrochemical or other chemical plants, and natural gas processing plants, the main purpose of a flare stack is that of safety by protecting pressure vessels or pipes from over-pressuring due to unplanned operational upsets.
Whenever any plant equipment items are over-pressured, pressure safety relief valves automatically release gas and sometimes liquids as well. The released gases and/or liquids are routed to a flare stack and burned as they exit the flare stack.
How industrial plant flare stacks work
Whenever plant equipment items are over-pressured, the pressure relief valves provided as essential safety devices on the equipment automatically release gases and sometimes liquids as well. Those pressure relief valves are required by industrial design codes and standards as well as by law.
The released gases and liquids are routed through large piping systems called flare headers to a flare stack. The released gases are burned as they exit the flare stacks. The size and brightness of the resulting flame depends upon the flammable material's flow rate in terms of joules per hour (or British thermal units per hour).
Most industrial plant flares have a vapor-liquid separator upstream of the flare to remove any large amounts of liquid that may accompany the relieved gases.
Steam is very often injected into the flame to reduce the formation of black smoke. In order to keep the flare system functional, a small amount of gas is continuously burned, like a pilot light, so that the system is always ready for its primary purpose as an over-pressure safety system.
Environmental impacts of flaring associated gas from oil drilling sites
As of the end of 2011, 150 × 109 cubic meters (5.3 × 1012 cubic feet) of associated gas are flared annually. That is equivalent to about 25% of the annual natural gas consumption in the United States or about 30% of the annual gas consumption in the European Union.
That amount of flaring and burning of associated gas from oil drilling sites is a significant source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Some 400 × 106 tons of carbon dioxide are emitted annually in this way and it amounts to about 1.2% of the worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide. That may seem to be insignificant, but in perspective it is more than half of the Certified Emissions Reductions (a type of carbon credits) that have been issued under the rules and mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol as of June 2011.
Satellite data on global gas flaring show that the current efforts to reduce gas flaring are paying off. From 2005 to 2010, the global estimate for gas flaring decreased by about 20%.
- John J McKetta, Editor (1985). Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design, Marcel Dekker, page 144, ISBN 0-8247-2491-7.
- Milton R. Beychok (2005). Fundamentals of Stack Gas Dispersion, Fourth edition, self-published, ISBN 0-9644588-0-2. See Chapter 11, Flare Stack Plume Rise.
- A Proposed Comprehensive Model for Elevated Flare Flames and Plumes. David Shore, , Flaregas Corporation, AIChE 40th Loss Prevention Symposium, April 2006.
- Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR), World Bank. October 2011 Brochure.
- Global Gas Flaring Reduction. From the website of the World Bank.
- Estimation of Gas Flaring Volumes Using NASA MODIS Fire Detection Products. NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) annual report, February 2011. | <urn:uuid:9a23ac0c-1772-42a8-abe1-d80ddc9fc89d> | {
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Did Thomas Edison achieve the smallest handwriting in the world?by Frank DeFreitas
25 SEPT 2018 -- It is almost as if the "Wizard of Menlo Park" suddenly has some explaining to do.
A well-worn slip of paper containing the micro script handwriting and signature of Thomas Edison has been examined and certified authentic by handwriting experts. It contains the opening line from the Holy Bible's rendition of the Lord's Prayer in all lower-case lettering: "our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name". This line is then followed by a signature of "Thos a Edison" ... the world famous American scientist and inventor. The handwriting is so small that it cannot be read with the unaided eye. A strong magnifying glass or microscope is needed to read it.
It is extraordinary that one of the greatest minds of the 19th and 20th century would choose the opening line of the Lord's Prayer for a micro handwriting sample. Edison's inventions, along with his improvements of others' inventions, changed the entire world ... including our world of the 21st century. Its rarity, the minute size of the handwriting, along with the chosen content, work together to make all other of Edison's more common, historical documents pale in comparison.
It is, word-for-word, one of the highest prices ever paid for a Thomas Edison exemplar.
(above photo): Micro script Lord's Prayer (enlarged) hand written by Thomas Edison, and shown next to a U.S. dime for size comparison.
As a representative from the auction house stated: "Some items come into the building and just stun us. This offering is one of those ultra-unique items ... The motivation as to why Edison chose this quote to write is unknown, but the fact that he writes something of this nature with religious overtures is interesting ... Whatever the motivation was in creating this piece, it sure makes for one heck of a cool piece of memorabilia!"
The Microscopic Craze of the 19th Century.
The period from the late 1800's to the first few decades of the twentieth century was a time of extraordinary advancements in the arts, sciences and communication technologies. Like many of the great minds of the era, Edison was riding the crest of this revolutionary wave. One of the advancements was miniaturization. Of everything. The most prominent method of exhibiting achievement in miniaturization was the recording of the Lord's Prayer: smaller and smaller.
For over 150 years, the Lord's Prayer has been considered, and practiced, as the reference standard for demonstrating all advancements in miniaturization. Several methods were commonly used: micro script handwriting; microphotographs; micro etchings and engravings; micro printing, and those done by the famous pantograph machines. Later in the 21st century, examples continued (and advanced) via vapor deposition, electron bombardment, and the first nano scale Lord's Prayer recorded as a laser hologram.
(above photo): Microscript Lord's Prayer (enlarged) hand written by Thomas Edison, authenticated, certified, and encapsulated for life.
With all that Edison invented to his credit (1,093 patents), he did not, however, invent the micro craze of the 1800’s and early 1900’s. That credit must go to a microscope manufacturer in Great Britain by the name of John Benjamin Dancer. Dancer was the inventor of many optical devices, including the first 3-D camera. He also invented what was to become known as microphotography. Microphotography took what was life size, and reduced it down to a photograph with a diameter of a millimeter or so. Famous paintings, manuscripts, and even places of interest throughout the world (such as Niagara Falls), were captured as microphotographs. It was a brilliant move, as Dancer’s microphotographs helped him sell more microscopes. One of his very first microphotographs was of the Lord’s Prayer. Others -- 150+ years of others -- quickly followed suit via a variety of methods.
The Wizard of Menlo Park Writes a Micro Lord's Prayer
To see this piece in person is to observe a thing of historical and natural beauty. I might add technical beauty to that description as well. Thomas Edison is well known for his penmanship: practicing scripts and inventing typographical fonts for the printing press (Edison ran a printing press when in his youth). When one views the writing sample, one sees a line of something, but it is difficult to make out what that line is (other than a line). But view that line under a magnifying glass or microscope, and it enlarges into an astonishing line of the tiniest handwriting: "our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name" ... then signed underneath by Thomas Edison, in a micro script signature that very well may be the smallest autograph in the world. Ever.
(above photo): A photo collage of Thomas Edison's Lord's Prayer. Click or tap on the photo to see it in HiRes and/or print out your own copies as standard 4 x 6 photos. There is no limit to the number of copies you may print. Courtesy of Frank and Debi DeFreitas at Wonders of the Bible.
Another aspect that makes this piece unique is the incredibly small handwriting that Edison utilized to execute the quote and autograph. Edison, being a constant learner who challenged himself on virtually all fronts of life, apparently learned the art of micro scripting -- writing at a near minuscule size -- simply for the challenge of it.
Which begs us to ask and to answer one question: "*WHY* did Thomas Edison write the Lord’s Prayer in micro script handwriting?".
An Unusual Choice of Content
For some, the thought of Thomas Edison choosing to use the opening line of the Lord's Prayer for a micro handwriting exemplar would seem a bit outlandish. While never disrespectful, the late, great inventor / scientist / titan of industry was well known to harbor a bit of disdain for religion, in all forms, and was not reluctant to express it either vocally or in print. For the curious, a simple query of any search engine will bring up scores of quotes of Edison and his thoughts on religion in general.
On the one hand, it could be said that Edison chose the Lord's Prayer solely to dip his toe in the micro miniaturization waters. Since it was the de facto exemplar used by so many others, it was the one he chose as well. The practice itself was more a competition between scientists and technicians than in the entertainment of a general populace. Each trying to “out small” the other.
Was Edison's Micro Lord's Prayer Divine Intervention?
On the other hand, perhaps there had been Divine providence at work behind his decision and his pen: that a scarcely-known (until present), single handwriting exemplar would follow his historical name far into the future. After all, something drove him to write it in the first place. It wasn't for mass reproduction or for monetary income generation -- there is only one known example. Taking his quotes on the subject (religion) into consideration, it doesn't seem as if he would write something -- and sign it -- that he felt so strongly against (providing that is the case in the first place). The Lord does indeed work in mysterious ways.
(above photo): Bringing it back home? Is this the desk where Edison wrote his micro script? I am standing in Thomas Edison's research library with his famous desk in the background. Thomas Edison National Historical Park, West Orange, New Jersey. Or was it written in Menlo Park?
Thomas Edison's Bible on Display at Glenmont Estate
As an interesting side-note, upon our recent visit to Edison's National Park laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, we decided to take the additional house tour of the Edison mansion named Glenmont (no indoor photography permitted). One of the displays on the upper floor contained the Edison family Bibles. Edison had his name embossed on his Bible in what appeared to be faded gold leaf: Thomas A. Edison. The best way that I could describe his personal Bible is that it looked to have been heavily used over a long period of time.
Now, let's place Edison's micro script Lord's Prayer under magnifying optics and take a look at the individual words of Thomas Edison's line of micro-script. It certainly will not quell the debate on the subject of his religious beliefs, but it will give us a look into what Edison wrote and what he signed his name to. Keep in mind, when viewing the greatly magnified handwritten text, never lose awareness of just how minuscule the writing actually is:
Indicating that God is the Father of everyone, not just one individual or group of individuals. The use of "OUR" Father would include himself. The "Father of all" ... OUR Father.
"who art in heaven"
Edison has stated that he did not believe in an afterlife, although he did believe in a higher intelligence. This phrase indicates where he believes his Father resides: in heaven. The word "who", rather than the more common "which", originates from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and later the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. The King James Bible has always used "which". Although I am not a Bible scholar. Any correction, if needed on this, is appreciated.
"hallowed be thy name"
Merriam-Webster puts it this way: Definition of Hallowed: Holy, Consecrated; the church stands on hallowed ground. Hallowed is the past participle of the verb hallow, a term that descends from the Middle English halowen. That word can in turn be traced back to hālig, Old English for "holy." The "Hallowed be thy Name" phrase is the first of the seven petitions in the prayer. Let us now turn to Matthew Henry's Commentary for the following: "Hallowed be thy name. It is the same word that in other places is translated sanctified. But here the old word hallowed is retained, only because people were used to it in the Lord's prayer. In these words, (1.) We give glory to God; it may be taken not as a petition, but as an adoration; as that, the Lord be magnified, or glorified, for God's holiness is the greatness and glory of all his perfections. We must begin our prayers with praising God, and it is very fit he should be first served, and that we should give glory to God, before we expect to receive mercy and grace from him. Let him have praise of his perfections, and then let us have the benefit of them."
"Thos a Edison"
Now, keep in mind, that Thomas Edison not only wrote the opening to the Lord's Prayer (as above), but did what many others before him did not do: he signed his name to it in his own hand (It is well known that Edison was very particular about his signature, and "redesigned" it several times throughout different times of his life). Many others, such as the early microphotographer John Benjamin Dancer did include their name. But it was part of the art work content of the slide photographic image, and also part of the label on the slide (in many cases, just initials, such as J.B.D., etc.). In this case of Thomas Edison, it may very well be the smallest signature autograph in the world.
A Thrilling Discovery from America's Preeminent Scientist and Inventor
Perhaps the most exciting part of this piece of history is the fact that Thomas Edison held it in his own hands, and wrote onto it using his own pen at his own desk. In real life. As an avid collector, I would love to hold it for a moment in my own hands. But that will not happen. It was hermetically sealed and encapsulated in a tamper-evident slab of acrylic, right after it was authenticated. It is kept in remote storage, so I don't even have it here to look at. It will only be taken out of storage for exhibition. The only time I'll see it is when other people see it.
As to why he chose to execute his sample with handwriting rather than mechanically (or even photographically), I do not know. Certainly no other person alive at the time had access to a grander research laboratory, and all of its associated resources, than Edison.
In closing, when taking everything into consideration, one thing is certain: when Edison set out to do something, he did it with gusto. And that gusto is how we have the world's smallest handwritten micro script of the Lord's Prayer today. Brought to you by the hand and pen of Thomas Edison.
Inspected, authenticated and officially certified (#83790641) through PSA/DNA, it is currently the only known Edison example of its kind in the world today.
OUTREACH: We can visit your group, organization, home school group or church. Exhibition available beginning April 2019. Book today by calling (484) 387-5320, or email to: [email protected] (PA, NJ, NY, OH, MD, DE).
-- Frank DeFreitas is the founder of Wonders of the Bible, a collector of micro / nano Biblical scripture and art, and owner of the Thomas Edison micro script Lord’s Prayer.
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World's Smallest Lord's Prayer
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The Hologram Bible
The Bible of the future will rely on the Nobel prize-winning achievements of lasers and holographic data storage. This hologram contains the entire King James Bible -- 1,245 individual pages, and 773,746 words in the area the size of a snowflake.
* Header Photograph: Thomas Edison, full-length portrait, seated, facing front, with phonograph, 1 negative: glass, wet collodion, 1878, Mathew Brady, Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-98128, No known restrictions on publication. | <urn:uuid:d89663a8-1b46-4082-a55b-e09fd81d2225> | {
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Voltage programmable optics: Liquid dielectrophoresis
When liquid travels from one material to another it usually changes direction. Lenses use this principle, but are usually made from glass or plastic. Solids do not easily change shape and so the strength of these optical devices are fixed by their manufacture.
Our experiments use liquids and shape their surfaces using a voltage to create liquid optical elements. These can be lenses using a droplet of oil or more complex diffractive devices to beam steer using a film of oil with a wrinkled surface or .
Developing interface localized liquid dielectrophoresis for optical applications,
Proc. SPIEE 8557 (2012) art. 855703. View reprint pdf
Voltage-programmable liquid optical interface,
Nature Photonics 3 (7) (2009) 403-405. View postprint pdf (also see the Editor's interview) | <urn:uuid:569217e4-94f8-48ee-ae61-1fc2a4c8414b> | {
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Old folks may very well remember the first incarnation of the telephone networks, where an operator sitting at a desk would physically connect different wires to transmit a phone call from one house to another house. The days however when an operator at a desk could handle all the volume and all the possibilities of the telephone network are over. Now, automated systems connect wires together to transmit calls from one side of the country to another almost instantly.
What is Circuit-Switching?Edit
Circuit switching is a mechanism of assigning a predefined path from source node to destination node during the entire period of connection. Plain old telephone system (POTS) is a well known example of analogue circuit switching..
Strowger Switch is the first automatic switch used in circuit switching. Prior to that all switching was done manually by operators working at various exchanges. It is named after its inventor Almon Brown Strowger.
This is a telephone thing
Rotary vs Touch-ToneEdit
Cellular Network IntroductionEdit
- We will go into more details of the telephone network in a later chapter, Communication Networks/Analog and Digital Telephony. | <urn:uuid:559998db-4284-4f94-99f5-a33d57aeebe6> | {
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Print, Share, or View Spanish version of this article
Most infections are caused by germs called viruses and bacteria. While you may be able to keep germs from spreading, you can’t always keep your child from getting sick. It is important for parents to know how to keep their children healthy and what to do when they get sick. Read on to learn more from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) about common childhood infections—signs and symptoms, treatments, and when to call your child’s doctor.
How to tell if your baby has an infection
How to prevent germs from spreading
How to help your child feel better
About other medicines
Common childhood infections
Urinary tract infection
Vomiting and diarrhea
Bacterial infections can be very dangerous, especially in babies younger than 3 months. Call the doctor right away if your baby has any of the following symptoms:
Not breathing easily
More fussy than usual
Sleeping more than usual
Vomiting or diarrhea
Not eating well
The following are tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to keep germs from spreading.
Before, during, and after preparing food
Before eating food
Before and after caring for someone who is sick
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After using the toilet
After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After touching an animal or animal waste
After handling pet food or pet treats
After touching garbage
Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and apply soap. (Note: If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Put enough on your hands to make them all wet, then rub them together until dry. Sanitizer does not work well on dirt that you can see.)
Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
Rinse your hands well under running water.
Dry your hands using a clean towel or air-dry them.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue away in the garbage. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
Avoid sharing eating utensils, drinking cups, toothbrushes, washclothes, or towels
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Stay home when you are sick, if possible.
Your child’s doctor may recommend the following ways to soothe a sick child:
Use saline (saltwater) nose drops to thin nasal discharge. Ask your child’s doctor about which ones to use. Place a few drops of the saline into each nostril followed by gentle bulb suction. This works best for babies younger than 3 months.
During the illness, use a cool-mist humidifier or vaporizer in your child’s room. This helps moisten the air and may help clear your child’s nasal passages. Be sure to clean the humidifier or vaporizer often, as recommended by the manufacturer.
Chest physical therapy can loosen mucus and may help infants and young children cough it out. Lay your child across your knees, face down; cup your hand; and gently tap your child’s back. Or sit your child on your lap, lean her body forward about 30 degrees, cup your hand, and gently tap her back.
During the illness, use a cool-mist humidifier or vaporizer in your child’s room. This helps moisten the air and may help clear your child’s congestion. Be sure to clean the humidifier or vaporizer often, as recommended by the manufacturer.
Try half a teaspoon of honey for children aged 2 to 5 years, 1 teaspoon for children aged 6 to 11 years, and 2 teaspoons for children 12 years and older. If honey is given at bedtime, make sure you brush your child’s teeth afterward. Remember, it’s not safe to give honey to babies younger than 1 year.
For a child aged 4 years and older, cough drops or lozenges may help soothe the throat. Remember not to give cough drops or lozenges to a child younger than 4 years because he could choke on them. Also do not give your child more cough drops than directed on the package.
Give acetaminophen to a baby 6 months or younger. Check with your doctor if your baby is younger than 3 months. Give either acetaminophen or ibuprofen to a child older than 6 months. Ask your child’s doctor for the right dosage for your child’s age and size. Do not give aspirin to your child because it has been associated with Reye syndrome, a rare but very serious illness that affects the liver and the brain.
The following are some of the more common childhood infections, including signs and symptoms, treatments, and when to call the doctor.
Bronchiolitis is caused by several viruses that bring about blockage of the small breathing tubes of the lungs, making it hard to breathe. It occurs most often in infants because their airways are smaller and more easily blocked.
Wheezing (a whistling sound) or difficult, fast breathing
Congested cough that gets worse at night
See “How to help your child feel better.”
Call your child’s doctor if your child stops taking fluids or has a hard time breathing. She may need to go to the hospital for oxygen, fluids, or medicine to help her breathe.
Colds are caused by viruses. Most children have 8 to 10 colds in their first 2 years of life. Most colds come and go and rarely lead to anything worse. They usually last about a week. Antibiotics do not help colds.
Stuffy or runny nose and sneezing
Call your child’s doctor if your child
Has blue lips or nails
Has a fever that lasts for more than 2 to 3 days
Has symptoms that get worse after a week
Has a hard time drinking or breathing
Has ear pain
Is more sleepy or cranky than usual
Croup is caused by several viruses that affect the voice box and the airways, making it hard for a child to breathe. It’s most common in toddlers but can affect children between 6 months and 5 years of age.
A cough that gets worse and starts to sound like a seal’s bark
Noisy or difficult breathing
Steam treatment can be helpful. Simply fill your bathroom with steam from the tub or shower. Bring your child into the bathroom and let him breathe in the steam for a few minutes. Keep a close eye on your child so that he doesn’t get too warm or burn himself with the hot water. Another thing that might help is dressing your child warmly and going outside to inhale the cool night air.
Call your child’s doctor right away if your child
Has a bluish color of the lips, mouth, or fingernails
Makes a harsh rasping or hoarse sound when breathing (this is called stridor) that gets louder with each breath
Seems to struggle to get a breath or cannot speak because of lack of breath
Drools or has trouble swallowing
Has a fever that will not go away even after he has been given medicine
Has symptoms that return and are worse
Cough and cold medicine. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends that over-the-counter cough and cold medications not be given to infants and children younger than 2 years because of the risk of life-threatening side effects. Also, several studies show that cold and cough products don't work in children younger than 6 years and can have potentially serious side effects.
Antibiotics. Your child's doctor may prescribe an antibiotic to treat a bacterial infection. For viral infections the body needs to fight the virus on its own because antibiotics won't work. However, in some cases, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral medicine for influenza.
Occasionally fluid can build up in the middle ear due to a cold, allergies, or an infection of the nose or throat. If bacteria or a virus infects this fluid, it can cause swelling and pressure on the eardrum and an earache. This type of ear infection, called acute otitis media, often clears up on its own. However, if the infection does not clear up, your child’s doctor may recommend treatment with an antibiotic. If fluid stays in the ear even after other symptoms have cleared, it can develop into another ear condition called otitis media with effusion. This condition usually needs no treatment unless the fluid is still there after 3 months.
Ear drainage that is yellow or white, possibly tinged with blood
Not sleeping well
Give your child acetaminophen or ibuprofen to treat the pain. There are also ear drops that may help ease the pain for a short time. There’s no need to use over-the-counter cold medicines (decongestants and antihistamines). Your child’s doctor may wish to examine your child to see if an antibiotic is necessary. If so, be sure your child finishes all of the medicine to improve the chances of it being cured.
Call your child’s doctor if you suspect an ear infection and your child
Has drainage from the ear
Has a fever
Seems to be in a lot of pain
Is unable to sleep
The flu is caused by a virus and usually occurs in the winter months. Your child usually will feel the worst during the first 2 or 3 days.
Stuffy, runny nose
Lack of energy
Body aches and pain
Vomiting and belly pain
Most children with the flu need nothing more than bed rest, a lot of fluids, and fever medicine. Just as most colds go away on their own, so do most cases of the flu. In children who already have major health problems, doctors sometimes recommend antiviral drugs, but generally the medicine works best when taken within the first 48 hours after symptoms begin. Antibiotics will not help against the flu.
There are safe and effective vaccines to protect against the flu. The 2 types of influenza vaccine used for children and adults are
Inactivated influenza vaccine for children 6 months and older
Live, attenuated influenza vaccine (also called FluMist) for children 2 years and older without a history of wheezing and asthma
Inactivated influenza vaccine is given by shot and FluMist is sprayed into the nose (nasal spray).
Call your child’s doctor if your child is younger than 3 months and has a fever. For a child older than 3 months who has been exposed to the flu or shows signs of the flu, call your child’s doctor within 48 hours. Also, call your child’s doctor or seek medical care if your child experiences any of the following:
A hard time breathing
Blue lips or nails
A cough that worsens or will not go away after 1 week
Pain in the ear
Fever that does not go away or comes back after 3 to 4 days
Impetigo is a skin infection that can spread quickly. This infection is caused by bacteria. It’s most common in warm weather and often appears on the face, but may be found anywhere on the body. Germs can enter through an opening in the skin, such as a cut, insect bite, or burn.
Small sores that become oozing, yellow, and crusty
Raw areas or breakdown of the skin
Most cases of impetigo can be treated with an antibiotic. The antibiotic is taken by mouth or put on the skin in ointment form. Be sure to use the medicine for as long as recommended by your child’s doctor to keep the infection from coming back.
Call your child’s doctor if
The skin around the sores turns red or has red streaks.
The sores spread to other parts of the body.
Your child develops a fever or boil.
Your child’s urine looks red or brown.
Pinkeye is a reddening of the white part of one or both eyes. There are different kinds, including bacterial, viral, allergic, or chemical (usually caused by chlorine in a swimming pool). Viral and bacterial pinkeye are contagious and can spread easily in school or child care.
Watery, itchy, or burning eyes
Redness of the eye
White, yellow, or green discharge coming from the eye
Crusting in the eye that lasts all day
If it’s bacterial pinkeye, your child’s doctor will prescribe antibiotic drops or ointment. Be sure to use the medicine for as long as recommended by your child’s doctor to cure the infection. If it’s viral pinkeye, antibiotics are not helpful. A warm, wet washcloth may help get rid of crusts around the eyes and may also help the eyes feel better. Wash hands often, especially after touching the eyes, and do not share washcloths.
Has swelling and redness in the eyelids and around the eye that gets worse
Seems more sleepy than usual
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. It often occurs a few days after the start of a cold. Most cases of pneumonia are mild. Pneumonia is caused most often by viruses or bacteria.
Cough with shortness of breath
Less energy than usual
More severe case
Difficult or fast breathing
Your child’s doctor may need to perform an x-ray to see if pneumonia is the cause of the symptoms.
Pneumonia caused by bacteria is treated with antibiotics. Be sure to use all of the medicine to keep the infection from coming back. Antibiotics are not helpful if it’s pneumonia caused by a virus.
Call your child’s doctor if your child’s symptoms are severe or if your child is younger than 3 months. She may need to go to the hospital if she is not better after several days of antibiotics at home.
Sinusitis is an inflammation of the lining of the nose and sinuses. Inflammation inside the nose usually accompanies a cold. Allergic sinusitis may accompany allergies such as hay fever. Bacterial sinusitis is a secondary infection caused by bacteria trapped in the sinuses.
Cold symptoms (nasal discharge, daytime cough, or both) for more than 10 days without improving
Thick, yellow nasal discharge and a fever for at least 3 or 4 days in a row
Pain or tenderness around the eyes, cheekbones, or upper teeth (This happens sometimes in older children or teens.)
Persistent bad breath along with the cold symptoms (However, this also could be from a sore throat or if your child is not brushing his teeth.)
A runny nose caused by a virus usually goes away by itself (see “How to help your child feel better”). When caused by bacteria, antibiotics may be needed. Be sure to use all of the medicine to keep the infection from coming back.
Call your child’s doctor if your child
Does not feel better after 3 to 4 days of treatment
Has severe head or face pain
Has a sudden high fever
Strep throat is an infection of the throat caused by strep bacteria and is very common in children and teens.
Pain in the throat, especially when swallowing
Red or white patches in the throat
Swollen, tender glands in the neck
Most sore throats in children are not strep. But because many viruses have the same symptoms as strep, your child’s doctor may do a test to see if strep is present.
Sore throats caused by viruses usually go away on their own in 5 to 7 days and antibiotics are not helpful. Because strep throat is caused by bacteria, it is treated with antibiotics. After 24 hours of antibiotic treatment, your child is no longer contagious and should start to feel better. Be sure to use all of the medicine to keep the infection from coming back.
Has a fever that keeps coming back
Has swelling of the glands in the neck that gets worse
Has a hard time breathing
A sty is a painful, red bump on the eyelid caused by an infected oil or sweat gland. Sties are not very contagious. However, once your child gets a sty, she is more likely to get one again.
Red, tender bump on the eyelid
Tenderness around the eye
Swelling around the eye
Redness on the eyelid
To ease the pain and discomfort of a sty, place a warm cloth on the eyelid 3 to 4 times a day until signs of the infection are gone. Antibiotics are generally not helpful with a sty.
Call your child’s doctor if the warm cloth treatments don’t work. In some cases, you may be referred to an eye doctor who can drain the sty surgically.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) occur when bacteria infect the urinary tract. The urinary tract includes the kidneys, the tubes that join the kidneys and bladder (ureters), and the bladder. A UTI can be found in children from infancy through the teen years and into adulthood. Your child’s doctor will ask for a urine sample to test for a UTI before recommending antibiotic treatment.
Painful, burning, and frequent urination
Urinary tract infections are treated with antibiotics. Be sure to use all of the medicine to keep the infection from coming back.
Has urine that is pink, red, or brown
Has a temperature above 101°F (38.3°C)
Has severe back pain
Is not better after 2 days of antibiotic therapy
Vomiting and diarrhea are usually caused by viruses that infect the intestines but are sometimes caused by bacteria. They usually last about a day or two but can last up to a week.
Frequent and uncontrollable loose, watery stools
Belly pain, cramps
If your child is throwing up, your child’s doctor may tell you to not give food until it stops. However, to keep your child from getting dehydrated, you may be told to give your child electrolyte drinks. Electrolyte drinks are special drinks that you can buy from a store. For school-aged children, your child’s doctor may also suggest caffeine-free sport drinks that are low in sugar. Children younger than 2 years should not be given medicine for diarrhea unless your child’s doctor tells you it’s OK. If your child has a bacterial infection that is causing the vomiting or diarrhea, antibiotics sometimes may be needed.
Call your child’s doctor if your child has any of the following signs of dehydration:
Blood or mucus in the stool
Dry diaper or no urination for 6 hours
Dry mouth, skin, or lips
Not as alert as usual
Sunken soft spot on head (for infants)
Most cases of mild dehydration can be treated by giving your child fluids. However, if dehydration is severe, your child may need to be given fluids through an IV (a tube inserted into a vein). To lower the chance of dehydration, call your child’s doctor early if your child has vomiting or diarrhea that won’t go away.
Products are mentioned for informational purposes only and do not imply an endorsement by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The information contained in this publication should not be used as a substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician. There may be variations in treatment that your pediatrician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances. | <urn:uuid:7f9dec1e-5c01-4e91-9757-888e8376175a> | {
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5 The Founding of the Friends of Labor
- The beginning of the Japanese labor movement -
A book that chaged his life
After a colorful start to a business which folded in just six months, Fusatarô's departure from San Francisco was almost in the manner of a sudden flight. To remain in a city where there were many Japanese and visitors from Japan and to have fingers pointed at him as a failure was unbearable for the proud young fellow. But to simply return to Japan was unthinkable. He would have to stay in the United States to work in order to pay off the various debts he had accumulated. It was at this time that he headed for Point Arena. With its memories of the happy summer spent there two years previously with the Brayton boys, it must have seemed a nostalgic place for him, which, with its giant redwoods around the beach and old friends, warmly greeted the forlorn youngster. At that time in Point Arena, Fusatarô came across a book which was to change his life. He wrote about this in a letter to Samuel Gompers dated Dec.17, 1897.
It was in the year of 1889 while I was working at saw mill in California when fortune favored me to receive a book entitled "Labor movement the problem of to-day." Perusal of the book aroused my interest to the movement and sharpened my sense to the wrongs that are endured by Japanese workers.
One could say that Fusatarô's failure in the world of commerce led him to the labor union movement. His guide was that book edited by George E. McNeill, The Labor Movement - The Problem of Today (A. M. Bridgman & Co.; the M. W. Hazen Co., 1887, Boston, New York).
George E. McNeill was born in Amesbury, Mass., August 4, 1836; he was a labor leader in New England and was a member of the grand Eight-hour League, and founded the Workingmen's Institute; he was appointed first Deputy of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor, under General H. K. Oliver, serving until May, 1873; for eight years. Later he joined Knights of Labor and was appointed Treasurer of District 30, in 1884 and was subsequently made District Secretary -Treasurer until 1886.
The Labor Movement - The Problem of Today had been published in 1887. It was a solid compendium of the American labor movement at the time, consisting of more than 600 pages in 25 chapters and appendices. The book deals with the various labor and social problems America was facing in that period, with a focus on the workers' movement, and mostly written by contemporary labor leaders. There seems little reason to doubt that Fusatarô gained a comprehensive understanding of the labor movement from this book. Incidentally the Internet Archives has made the full-text of the book available online.
Nevertheless, the Takano's statement cannot be accepted merely as it stands, because it was the kind of book that only someone with a prior interest in the labor movement would have had access to a copy. It was neither an easy-to-read piece of fiction nor a work like the Bible that many people referred to. Yet this was a book that Fusatarô himself personally acquired. The price is unknown, but from the cloth hardback cover, and the title on the spine, which, like the cover illustration of a blacksmith, was engraved in gold leaf, it was clearly a high quality publication and certainly not cheap. One cannot help but conclude that Fusatarô must have already had an interest in the labor movement before purchasing such a book. When and where did he get to know of the labor movement, and how did this interest arise? These questions, which obviously relate to how and why Takano Fusatarô would become Japan's first labor union organizer, go to the heart of the theme of this book; they call for a chapter to themselves.
Takano's interest in the labor movement and his experience of poverty
Before that, however, there is one question that needs consideration. This is the view which maintains that Takano Fusatarô became interested in the labor movement because he had lived a life of poverty in his youth and had experienced hardship as a foreign worker in America. This view is argued by Stephen E. Marsland in his book The Birth of the Japanese Labor Movement - Takano Fusatarō and the Rōdō Kumiai Kiseikai. In fact, a similar view was strongly held by none other than Takano's brother, Iwasaburô. In his article Ani Takano Fusatarô wo kataru (My Brother Takano Fusatarô) and Torawareta minshû (An Imprisoned People) , he emphasized that Fusatarô had led "a hard life as a youngster", that his participation in the labor movement was "behavior based on his own experience as a worker", and that Takano Fusatarô was not a born labor unionist; but on the contrary, his destiny led him to the movement from his early childhood onwards. This testimony from his closest relative cannot be ignored.
However, the claims of both Marsland and Takano Iwasaburô do not match the historical facts. According to Iwasaburô's memoirs, on completing higher elementary school, Fusatarô was sent to live with his uncle, where he was made to work like a servant. Reading this, it would seem that Fusatarô's "hard life as a youngster" was an indisputable fact. But that would be to see things from the perspective of today's social criterion of high academic achievement. Those who graduated higher elementary school in the 1870s and 1880s were considerably fewer in number than university graduates today. If the Takano family had really been poor, then Fusatarô would not have been able to go overseas nor would Iwasaburô have been able to go on to do post-graduate studies at the Imperial University. Take a look at the photograph here. From the age of the two boys, it is supposed that this was taken at the time of Fusatarô's higher elementary school graduation, that is, just after the time when, according to Iwasaburô's memoirs, the Nagasakiya was burned down in the great fire, and the family were "cast out naked into the street." And yet, this picture shows that the Takanos were well-off, because the boys are well dressed in costly western clothes and even shoes. This picture alone illustrates that claims of "hard life as a youngster" are difficult to credit.
Iwasaburô's emphasis on the poverty of the Takano family is not exactly without foundation. There was his own experience of poverty during his student years. Seen in relation to Japanese society as a whole, the Takanos were certainly not poor, but compared to that of his friends, Iwasaburô's student life was indeed poor; everything had to come from the money his mother made running a boarding house and from his brother's remittances. He could not afford to buy books freely and was constantly short of pocket money. It could not have been easy for him to socialize on an equal terms with his friends, such as Onozuka Kiheiji, who later became the President of the Tokyo Imperial University and was the son of a wealthy landowner.
In America, Fusatarô was also saddled with debts and hard-pressed to remit money home, his life was certainly not an easy one. Yet the reason why Fusatarô became interested in labor unions was not due to the experience of being a poor migrant worker. In his first report on the American Federationist, The Labor Movement in Japan, he wrote the aims of the labor movement as follows.
Really, I do not argue for the necessity of a labor movement because the condition of laborers is pitiful and their environment is intensely inimical to their interests, nor because of humane sentiment. But I do argue for it because the future prosperity of the nation does demand it and future achievement of civilization does necessitate it.
All written statements on labor issues by Fusatarô argue the need for labor unions entirely from the standpoint of an intellectual who is concerned with the prosperity of his mother country. The nationalist Takano focused primarily on the need to build the wealth and strength of the State of Japan. To that end, he argued, Japanese workers' wages, which were too low, needed to be improved, and this inevitably required the existence of labor unions. In my judgment, until his death, not once did Takano Fusatarô ever regard himself as 'a worker'. His sense of himself was consistently that of a 'student' and an 'intellectual'.
Meeting the trade union
Let us consider in more depth the theme raised in the previous paragraphs - why Takano was drawn to the labor movement. He himself explained it in his first letter to Samuel Gompers, dated March 6, 1894:
Having been attracted by the well doings of American Workingmen since my arrival in this country a few years ago, my thought has been turned upon Japanese laborers whose condition viewed from social and material standpoint is most pitiful and has caused me to determine to try to better their condition upon my return home. In order to do so, I intend to study as much as I can of American Labor movement while I live in this country.
He says that the reason why he became interested in the labor movement was because he had noticed that American workers enjoyed a better standard of living than their counterparts in Japan. He was amazed by the high level of mechanical culture in America, symbolized by elevators and cable cars and by the rows of villas and the luxurious lifestyles of the wealthy, but what made the strongest impression upon him was the high standard of living of the common people. Working at the Garcia Sawmill in Point Arena, he became aware of the huge gulf between the daily life of the mass of people in Japan and that of ordinary Americans. Why was this gulf so great? For Fusatarô, with his yearning for Japan to become a wealthy nation, this became a vital question.
But there is still something problematic about Fusatarô's own explanation here. Would he really have moved in his thinking so readily from an awareness of the high standard of living of American workers to the existence of labor unions? Without any particular knowledge of labor unions, he was surely unlikely to have made the connection between the two. So when, where and how did Fusatarô get to know of labor unions? My own supposition as to when Fusatarô first noticed the existence of labor unions is that it was when he was in San Francisco in the autumn of 1888, because it was at this time that he first met the man who was to be his lifelong friend and comrade, the shoemaker Jô Tsunetarô. Jô had taken part in the shoemakers' labor movement in Japan before going to America and, wanting to carve out a new path for Japanese shoemakers, he made his way to San Francisco in the autumn of 1888 to work and learn. His first job in America was washing dishes at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. At that time Takano was working for the hotel as a 'pulling guests', so Jô must have found the job by Takano's introduction. They were both from Kyûshû and had both lived in Nagasaki so they soon hit it off.
It was just at that time that the anti-Chinese migrant movement was at its height on the west coast, and at the forefront of the movement were the labor unions. A leading role in the effort to exclude Chinese migrants was played by the 'Boot and Shoemakers White Labor League'. They were known for their tactic of sticking a 'union label' on shoes that had been made by white shoemakers and calling for boycotts of products made by non-union [i.e. non-white] labor. Such unions would certainly have been a topic of conversation between the shoemaker Jô and Takano. Proof exists in fact that more than anything, it was the American shoemakers' campaign to exclude Chinese labor that first made Takano aware of the power of labor unions. His first report about the American labor movement, titled 'Hokubei gasshûkoku no rôeki-shakai no arisama wo josu' (A View on Labor Societies in the United States of America) begins as follows:
When we look at the political history of the United States, we become aware that workers exert a great influence on the politics of this country. The Chinese Exclusion Act came about as a result of this powerful influence of the workers.
Takano did have some direct contact with union members at Point Arena, and it is thought that he got to know of McNeill's book The Labor Movement - The Problem of Today through them. The population of Point Arena was only 500; it was not a place with a bookshop that would sell such a book. However, it did have a branch of the Knights of Labor, an organization in which McNeill was a leading official. One can only imagine that Fusatarô was told about the book by a member of the Point Arena branch of the Knights, who happened to have a copy.
The Knights of Labor were a workers' association typical of the American scene in the 1880s. Formed in 1869 as a secret society, it 'went public' in 1882, rapidly expanding thereafter to a membership of 700,000 by 1886. It aimed to become the broadest organization of workers irrespective of race, gender, or skill level. Women, blacks, unskilled workers, and even employers were all free to join. Its leaders emphasized good labor-management relations and opposed strikes, but strikes nevertheless were organized by lower level groups and branches of the Knights. The movement promoted social reform in terms of demands for the reduction of working hours, the abolition of child labor, and cooperative unions. In the 1890s craft unions within the Knights' organization formed the American Federation of Labor and asserted their independence from the Knights, which entered into a period of rapid decline. But in Mendocino County, California, where Point Arena was located, the Knights remained active.
In burnt-out streets - Seattle
Fusatarô's second stay in Point Arena was not long. By the autumn of 1889 at the latest, he had moved up to Seattle - the site of the First General Strike in America of 1914 and the stage of the 'Battle in Seattle' in 1999. For the management side, Microsoft has its headquarters near here, and from Seattle the Boeing Company, Amazon.com and Starbucks have spread their activities worldwide. It is still today a city of venture capitalism full of pioneering spirits.
But when Fusatarô arrived in town, there were blackened timbers everywhere, the smell of smoke filled the air. The town had recently been hit by a great fire.
At 2:40 pm on June 6, 1889, in the basement workshop of James McGough's furniture-making and paint retail shop, someone had been heating up some glue with a gasoline light, when the pan boiled over, and the fire spread within seconds. From the first floor it passed to the second and then to the neighboring bar, where whisky barrels exploded. In just 20 minutes from the start of the fire, a whole block, from Madison Avenue as far as Marion Street was aflame. The city's luck was out, and so was the tide, which made it impossible to draw water from the sea. The fire raged, fanned by a strong north-northeast wind, while the water pressure in the water system was low due to seasonal water shortages. 25 blocks of the city - about 500,000 ㎡ (123.5 acres) - were completely burnt out, including the commercial quarter and the Opera House, of which Seattle residents had been so proud. As the fire occurred in broad daylight, there were no casualties, the only blessing amidst disaster, but in no more than 11 hours downtown Seattle was reduced to ruins.
However, the fire had only a very temporary negative effect on the city's economy. After the disaster, wooden houses in Seattle were replaced by brick ones, improvements were introduced all over the city including higher pressure in the water system, and in a short period the city was rebuilt. At that time, the Pacific coast still had something of the characteristics of the frontier. Although well inset from the ocean, Seattle in particular, on account of its excellent deepwater harbor in Puget Sound, was growing rapidly as a lading port for lumber and coal. Export destinations included San Francisco and all regions of the USA as well as Japan, China and other countries around the Pacific. In 1880 Seattle had a population of just 3,533; by the time of the fire it had swollen to 31,000. The fire robbed 500 people of their jobs, but the rapid rebuilding of the city required many hands, and according to the national survey of 1890, the year after the great fire, Seattle's population had risen to 42,837.
During this period, most of those drawn to Seattle were white people, but among minority groups, those who stood out were Japanese, reflecting the fact that in that region the campaign to exclude Chinese migrants was especially vigorous. Throughout the latter half of the 19th century anti-Chinese feeling spread throughout the United States. The Chinese habits of keeping their distinctive pigtail hairstyle and their own easily recognizable Chinese dress, as well their tendency to congregate in their own areas and avoid mixing with others became bones of contention. Chinese laborers had from early on been brought in to work under harsh conditions on transcontinental railroad construction sites and in mines in the mid-West, where they had borne up the American economy at its lowest levels. However, for white workers, Chinese labor meant lower the wage levels and the loss of jobs. This accounted for the widespread movement to exclude Chinese migrant workers, from the East Coast to all areas of the West Coast.
Quite a number of labor organizations within the American labor movement were founded with the specific aim of excluding Chinese immigrants. The most zealous such organizations were to found in State of Washington. Their activities were symbolized above all by the 'Seattle anti-Chinese riots'. Late in the evening on Saturday, February 2, 1886, gangs of white blue collar workers, including many members of the Knights of Labor, rampaged through Chinatown, dragged Chinese out of buildings and herded them down to the docks and forced them onto ships bound for San Francisco. Federal troops had to be called out to suppress the rioting. Japanese then moved to Seattle to fill the gap left vacant by the Chinese who had been forced out through this application of sheer violence. In the year following the riot some 200 Japanese arrived in Seattle, and the numbers steadily increased. Takano Fusatarô was one of them. Due to the shortage of labor in Seattle, wage levels among the Japanese in Seattle were considerably higher than in the San Francisco area. In a letter to Takano Fusatarô from Albert Brayton at Point Arena, we read:
I am glad to hear that you got work. $45 is good wages and you had better stay with it. I could to work now for a $1 a day.
Takano must have moved to Seattle on hearing of the boom going on there. From the address of the letter, the job referred to must have been restaurant work. Fusatarô writes in a letter to his brother Iwasaburô that the cook's English was poor, so he himself with his good English most likely worked as a waiter. But he did not stay long there either. Soon after the New Year, he moved to Tacoma. He was certainly a young man with itchy feet.
A Tacoma Chophouse
In the spring of 1890, Fusatarô arrived in Tacoma, about 80 km south of Seattle. It was a port town with splendid views of the majestic form of the nearby Mt Rainier (4392 m), which Japanese-Americans call 'Tacoma-Fuji'. There is a colorful little essay that describes summer in Tacoma and gives us an impression of what the town of Tacoma was like at that time. As it was written in the year before Fusatarô moved to Tacoma, it presents us with a picture of the town that he saw.
This is a red town. The buildings are built of limestone and redbrick and the roofs are also colored red. The green of the trees which one sees everywhere further vivifies this redness. The town is sited on a hill. The blue sea spreads out below one's gaze, while behind, dense forests of green dominate the landscape. The town of Tacoma rises above this gloomy primitive forest like a tower with red gunholes. The blue of sea and sky, the green of the trees, the red houses - wherever one went, the smell of fresh paint met one's nostrils along with the aroma of sawdust from newly cut timber.
[abridged from A History of Tacoma and Pierce County]
We know of Takano's move to Tacoma from the fact that his report for the Yomiuri Shimbun titled "A View on Labor Societies in the United States of America" was prefaced with the words 'from Tacoma, Washington State, April 30', 1890. The envelope of a letter to Iwasaburô of August 8 that year bears the address : 'Tacoma Chophouse, 1122 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, Washington'. The last part of the letter contained the following lines:
I started a new business over a month ago, which is gradually making progress. Recently, I have been making about $100 a day, but due to having to pay the wages of the 10 staff and the rent of $200 and refurbishment costs incurred in starting the business, it looks like it will be a while before it turns a profit.
He writes "I started a new business" but in fact this was not a shop but a restaurant. The term 'chop house' comes from cutting pork and lamb chops and usually referred to restaurants that mainly served meat dishes. From the fact that he writes not about wages but about running costs and profit, it can be surmised that he was no mere employee there but had some responsibility for the management. But he was not the main manager. The Tacoma Town Register records: "Saito Shukichi, restaurant. 1122 Pacific Avenue, domicile same address". The two probably shared the managerial responsibilities - Saitô was probably the owner and chef, while Fusatarô would have been in charge of such things as purchasing and dealing with customers. Pacific Avenue was Tacoma's only main thoroughfare; photographs of the period show a row of three-story stone buildings with tramcars running along the street. With a rent of $200 and 10 staff, it would have been a large restaurant.
At the time Tacoma's rate of expansion was almost outpacing that of Seattle. Because it became the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, in the competition with Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Like Seattle, Tacoma faced onto Puget Sound and was also equipped with an international port capable of coping with big ships. It had the advantage that ships from Asia arrived here two days earlier than at San Francisco. Being a hub for the two principal modes of transport of the age, railroad and shipping, Tacoma developed as an important focal point for transport linking the American continent and all destinations across the Pacific.
Although the American economy was suffering in the slump of the late 1880s and early 90s, Tacoma was riding the crest of a boom. New railroad workshops joined the earlier sawmills, and iron foundries and engineering yards sprang up to service the new industry. Tacoma also outstripped Portland, which had been the leading exporter of cereals until that time. Grain warehouses and milling plants appeared here and there in the town, enabling wheat and wheat flour to be exported from Tacoma all over the world alongside lumber and coal. The population rose rapidly from 9,907 in 1886, 10,508 in 1887 to 12,500 in 1888. By the time Fusatarô moved there in 1890 it had trebled to 36,000 in just two years. The Tacoma chophouse opened for business in the very middle of this boom.
Aiming to become an entrepreneur
At the end of September 1890 Fusatarô moved again, just six months after relocating to Tacoma. He left the city on September 30 and arrived back in San Francisco on October 3. At a time when transcontinental trip of 5,600 km from San Francisco to New York, it took only five and a half days, on the West Coast between Tacoma and San Francisco, just over 1,200 km, he took all of four days. It seems Fusatarô really enjoyed traveling. But what was he thinking of in returning to San Francisco? He had helped open a restaurant in Tacoma's boom time in a prime location in the city, and business had gone well, yet after only three months there he quit - at first glance, his actions are not easy to fathom.
In fact, Fusatarô gives us a detailed explanation of his movements.
Until now the story has many times been hampered by a lack of source documents, but from here onwards the situation changes. 26 letters and postcards addressed to his brother survive from the period of just over two years from August 1890 to September 1892, and they inform us in quite some detail as to his situation: not only what he did and when, but also what he was thinking in those situations and what hopes and desires he was harboring. Generally speaking, Fusatarô's writings in Japanese tend not to reveal his feelings, but this particular batch of correspondence is rather different in this respect; it includes some very direct expressions of what he was feeling. Thus far, I have avoided lengthy quotations from source documents, but this correspondence requires rather more detailed citation because it reveals to us something of the man's heart and soul. First, a letter of October 9, 1890:
I left Tacoma on September 30 and arrived here in San Francisco on October 3. I daresay you think this is odd behavior, but actually, I am thinking of returning to Japan for a time at the end of next year, when I would like to look seriously into the possibility of setting up a lumbering business, something I have had on my mind for some time. After serious reflection on various issues in this connection, I left Tacoma and moved here.
Among those of my friends who have returned to Japan, not a single person is running the business he wanted. I have wondered why it is that when everyone went back to Japan, things turned out as they did, but I have not been able to identify a particular reason. How businesses are set up in Japan may be one reason which makes it difficult for pioneers to start enterprises, if so, then I am afraid that when I return to Japan next year, I will encounter the same difficulties and be unable to achieve my goals. So I have come to feel that in order to prepare for such a situation, I must study as much as possible while I am here in America.
Of course, I do not imagine that I shall be able to engage in any specialist studies at a high level, but I would like to study at a level which would enable me, on my return to Japan to be able to avoid the charge that I have lived in America yet cannot converse with foreigners. There was no such school in Tacoma that could help me in this respect, which is why I have returned to San Francisco.
Once I have found employment, I intend to study at the San Francisco Commercial High School (which has no monthly fees). If I study there for four or five months, my English conversation ability will have greatly improved and I should be able to travel anywhere and engage in conversation without impediment. When I got here from Tacoma, I had various outlays so I now have some $25 left. I shall add to that the money I will make every month as a 'school boy' and while attending the school, I shall remit some money to you. If this does not work out and the money set aside runs out, I shall quit the school. At the moment, I think I shall need to study for four or five months. It may be that I have to quit after two or three months; at present, I can only hope it will be longer. Among the jobs that we Japanese can do here, cooks make the most money, but I have no skill as a cook nor have I worked as a cook. I shall therefore have to use the opportunity of working as a 'school boy' to study American cooking so as to be able to earn more money. I have not found a job yet so I have not much to report, but I wanted to explain simply the reasons why I have come to San Francisco.
It had been only two years since the failure of his Japanese goods store and its subsequent debts, and he had not yet finished paying off those debts, still he was thinking of starting a lumbering business in Japan. He probably got this idea from his working experience at the Garcia Sawmill in Point Arena. As usual, he was still chasing his dreams, the letter shows that he was nevertheless imagining an enterprise for the future and was laying the groundwork of preparation necessary to achieve his goal. A lumbering business was not something that could be realized easily, so before embarking on it, he intended to return to Japan to make a thorough research of what the venture required. He also gave some thought how to avoid the charge that he have lived in America yet cannot converse with foreigners, he decided to embark on a formal study of English.
Fusatarô's letter shocked his family and relatives back home. At that time, the Takano family was under great financial pressure. Not only had Fusatarô's business failed despite the family money he had used up, Iwasaburô's education was also costly. The family had had to ask around to acquaintances for loans to get through their present difficulties and had had to endure the hardship of relocating to cheaper accommodation. Fusatarô's remittances obviously provided a lifeline. But now he had left his well-paid job in Tacoma and was talking of studying at a school in San Francisco. And on top of that, what really unsettled them was that he was planning an incredible scheme to set up a lumbering enterprise. His Japanese goods store had nearly ruined the Takano family, but it was obvious that a lumbering business would be a large-scale undertaking far beyond the family's financial resources. On hearing of Fusatarô's plans, his brother-in-law Iyama Kentarô soon sent him a critical letter.
But Fusatarô stressed that his plan was the result of some serious thought and sought to secure his brother Iwasaburô's cooperation. He set down his thinking in a letter of Dec. 11th 1890:
I'm sorry to trouble you at this time of the year but would you mind looking into something for me? I've been thinking for some time of setting up a lumbering business after I return to Japan. Recently, I've been doing nothing but checking out the prices of the machinery necessary for such a venture. Naturally enough, while I'm here in America I can't draw up any clear plans, but after thinking a lot about it, I've decided that once I've got my travel fare, I'm going to return to Japan and travel round the country to see whether my plan is practicable or not, and if it is, then I'll set up a company, but if it isn't, then after I have confirmed all that is necessary to realize my plan, I shall return to America and look for ways to get together the necessary capital......
What I want to ask you to do for me is no small thing, and there may be some things that are not immediately clear, but if you can, please look into things for me and write back as soon as possible. The first four points can be checked in a statistical yearbook. To do this, please borrow the latest yearbook from the library.
Also, as there are various other things that I would like to check, it would be excellent if you could buy a copy of the yearbook and send it to me. I'll send the money for it together with my next remittance.
1. The holdings of state-owned mountain and forest land in Japan - their location, area and value.
2. The location and value of land where lumbering is possible in privately-owned mountain and forest land in Japan.
3. The total annual demand for lumber in Japan and its average value.
4. The average income of loggers.
5. The costs of a trip from Tokyo along the San'in and San'yô highways to Kyûshû and Shikoku and back and of a trip around the Kantô region.....
Fusatarô's 'Cry from the Heart'
This letter crossed the ocean at the same time as one from Iwasaburô that was critical of the plans of a 'lumbering business'. When Fusatarô read this, he became agitated and penned a long reply putting the counter-argument and asking for his brother's understanding. For a man who normally did not give expression to his feelings in writings, this one letter really showed how he felt. For an understanding of what kind of person Takano Fusatarô was, this is a most important and revealing document, so despite the length, I shall cite the main section in its entirety.
Thank you very much indeed for all your views with regard to my return to Japan. I have given them much thought. I suspect that your view as to the reasons for the failures of those who have returned from America is probably quite right. However, although I have taken account of your opinion, it has not influenced my understanding of the matter. Earlier, in my letter which I asked you to forward to Iyama Kentarô, I explained my reasons for my return and my situation upon that return and you must have read that. I think you will be aware that I have really taken your concerns into consideration.
I think that the business that I have in mind will require a capital outlay of about 10,000 yen. It is obvious that someone with my meagre resources will find it hard to turn such a business into reality. Still, within the limits of what I have seen and heard - at least in the states of California and Washington - I am confident that such a business has real prospects. I therefore judge that although it might not be easy to bring about, the chances of success are not hopeless, and this is why I have decided to return home. I mentioned in my last letter that the prospects for my plan will not become clear without my returning to Japan to investigate the situation on the ground. I am not therefore vainly and conceitedly overestimating my own ideas or thinking that I will easily and assuredly succeed.
If I may express myself frankly, there is not a huge difference in terms of advantages and disadvantages between the two alternatives of returning to Japan to set up in business and not succeeding, and remaining in America and simply seeing many years go by. From the outset, Japanese have had too many expectations of people who return from America. If the Japanese had looked on those who go to America as they do on country folk who move to Tokyo, then the circumstances of those who go to America would not have become as pitiable as they have today. Because the Japanese have had such great expectations of those returning from America, the latter have found it difficult to return home and end up just aimlessly idling away many years abroad. They steadily lose touch with the situation back home, and because the circumstances that would satisfy their will to set up in business do not exist in the place in which they are living, the end result is that they do nothing and just wile away the years. "I can't go back to Japan and I have no prospect of starting my own business in America even if I stay here, aah, what on earth shall I do?" I have often heard such sentiments from people who have been in this country for five or six years. It's no surprise that those who return to Japan oppressed by such feelings find it hard to prosper once they are back. Nevertheless, I feel it's better for such people to return and bear their shame for a while. In the future, what they have observed in this country can be of use. Their observations will be of use in Japan but not of much use elsewhere, so rather than remaining here for years to no avail, it is more worthwhile for them to return and put their experience to good use.....
In short, I don't have any great expectations of returnees. I hope people in Japan would not have any such great expectations for those who have come to America. I am sure you must be wondering why I am giving vent to such an eccentric opinion. Please allow me to explain something. From the outset, it was a mistake for Japanese to think that they could set up in business in America. The scale of that mistake is much greater than if they were to fail in business in Japan. For example, look at the cases where Japanese have started businesses in America. Not one has achieved good results. Not even people who have been living here for 10 or 20 years have been successful. The cases of Japanese capitalists who come to this country to start businesses normally end in failure. Why on earth is this? If they are failing despite having lived here for 10 or 20 years it can't be because there is something dark about the situation here. And when one looks at cases where such capitalists have failed, it's not because they have insufficient capital. So could it be, as is frequently said by Japanese living here, because Americans look upon Japanese as they do on Chinese and exclude them? That is certainly not the case.
As I see it, the real reason is something more desperate. It is the difference between the national character of the Japanese and the Americans. When the Japanese start in business, the sense of honor and decency that belongs to their national character is always present in the way they do things. Their way of starting a business is characterized by the broadmindedness of their planning and the small scale of their operations. If this is contrasted with the American way of starting a business, the difference is obvious. For Japanese to come to this country with these national traits and seek to confront the ferocious competition in this country should be described not as difficult but rather as impossible. Much more than Japanese, the Jews and Chinese here are subjected to great discrimination by Americans, and yet the Jews and Chinese all succeed in establishing themselves in business. If they did not display their national character in their business as much as the Americans, they would not be as successful as they are. So if Japanese are to succeed in starting up in business in this country, they must become familiar with the American national character. To do this, they need to have a wide range of contacts with Americans and they need to be prepared to suppress their original Japanese national character. If they suppress these Japanese characteristics, then they have a chance of success in business....
Reading this, one soon realizes that Fusatarô was keenly aware of how he was regarded by those around him. He points to the fact that the Japanese in America felt the pressure of the expectations of those back home and that resulted in people who wanted to return but felt that they could not. He avoided saying it directly, but in fact Fusatarô was obliquely criticizing the expectations which his own mother, his sister and her husband had of himself. He explains the difficulties of starting a business in America and speaks of the failure of returnees to profit from their experience in America by success in business back home. "I can't go back to Japan and I have no prospect of starting my own business in America even if I stay here, aah, what on earth shall I do?" - This was nothing other than the cry of Fusatarô's own heart.
And yet he is still only 21 years old; his is not a pessimistic character and he is earnestly seeking out the way to success in the world of business. In thinking about that, his research habits reappear, and he gives some serious thought to the reasons why Japanese in America are unable to achieve success in the American business world. He gives examples of Japanese who have lived in America for a long time or of wealthy Japanese capitalists who have all failed in business; he considers Jews and Chinese who succeed while yet being subjected to heavy discrimination; he contrasts these cases and seeks out the reasons why success eludes the Japanese. He then comes up with the answer - national character. The Japanese are affected by their values of honor and decency even in business, and these prove to be an obstacle to business. He concludes that to do business in America, Japanese have to give up being Japanese and become Americans.
He also criticizes the fact that Japanese business plans are bold but their actual scale is small. This observation is also rooted in his own failure. This is why, although he knows he does not have the financial resources, he conceives of a large plan and as part of his preparations decides on a trip to make a thorough investigation of mountain forest regions in Japan. Going into things in depth, gathering information and drawing up new plans on the basis of a thorough investigation of the situation before him - this is Fusatarô's way. These are excellent traits for a researcher but would they make a good businessman?
What emerges clearly from this letter is that at this time Fusatarô still saw success in business as his great aim in life. Academic studies of Takano Fusatarô have usually begun from the point where he became the pioneer of the Japanese labor union movement and have tended to relate his experiences in America to his connection with the labor movement. Certainly, by this time, in the year 1890, Takano had already become aware of the important role played by labor unions and had written a long article about the American labor movement for the Yomiruri Shimbun Newspaper. Just over six months later, he was to be at the center of the process that would lead to the founding of the Friends of Labor (Shokkô Giyuukai) but in the period before that, he was still tenaciously focused on his launch into a successful business career.
Another point that should not be overlooked is his insistence that "Japanese who have been abroad must make the most of what they have observed abroad after their return to Japan." They have had the chance to travel to an advanced country and see and hear what most Japanese had little chance to experience. They should therefore share what they have learned and experienced with their compatriots and put it to good use; otherwise, traveling abroad has no meaning. Fusatarô informed his compatriots of what he had learned of America's labor movement, and his becoming a labor leader himself was based precisely on these ideas of his.
Fusatarô the Swell
Fusatarô had returned to San Francisco to save money by learning the skills that would enable him to be a cook with good employment prospects, but at the same time, it was preparation just in case his business would fail. He intended to study English so that he would not be one about whom it would be said that "he's back from America yet he can't speak to foreigners" and judged that San Francisco, where there were schools that required no fees, would be a good place to study. One sees how far he was thinking ahead but at the same time, one cannot but get the impression that he was rather too conscious of what others thought of him. From various other episodes too it is clear that Takano Fusatarô was something of a show-off. This was not just his own character, but a common tendency among the people of his hometown of Nagasaki. Yoshimura Kunio, the Nagasaki local historian, has written that "there were many in Nagasaki who were elegant, magnanimous, not obstinate and were show-offs." and this description also fits Takano Fusatarô to a tee. But this concern for reputation was what provided him with the motive and the resolve to learn English, and he was prepared to endure poverty to do so. One should not overlook the fact that such a concern for one's reputation can also have its plus side.
Arriving back in San Francisco driven by this impulse, Fusatarô repeatedly tried to assure his family in letters "not to worry because I'm acting only after careful investigation and serious thought", but he made an uncharacteristic mistake: the Commercial High School did not accept mid-term enrolments. He would not be able to go to school until January and would have to work for three months. But unlike Tacoma, there were no good jobs to be had, and he ended up asking his former employers, the Brayton family, for work.
A week after he began his studies, Fusatarô wrote to his brother in the evening of January 9, 1891 to tell him about his experience studying at school in America. It was a postcard, but the writing was very small, so the contents are quite detailed.
I've been fine since I last wrote so please don't worry about me. On the 2nd I quit working for my former family and on the 4th started classes. But there aren't enough schoolboy jobs, and I'm already having real difficulties. I haven't been working for a week, so from the money I made working for the family, I sent $10 to you at home and spent $11 on books, which has left me with just $6 or 7, which will be used up today or tomorrow. But tomorrow and the day after, there is no school, so I'll be able to work for my former employers and elsewhere and make about $2. Once I've established where I'll be working, I'll ask my friends in Tacoma for a loan and send you a remittance.
The subjects at school are quite difficult. Book-keeping, commercial law, commercial geography, civics, calligraphy, "The Lady of the Lake", arithmetic, composition, business letter writing, Spanish - they all require homework and I do about 3 or 4 hours after school every day...
The San Francisco Commercial High School was a secondary school-level institute run by the city and took no tuition fees. It had a three year full-time course and a one year limited course; Fusatarô enrolled in the latter. There were 400 students in total in both courses and a gender ratio of two men to one woman. There were 16 teachers including the principal, of whom 8 were women. Fusatarô's aim in enrolling was to learn English properly and to be able to express himself freely in conversation with foreigners. Surrounded by classmates who did not understand Japanese and with all his lessons conducted only in English, Fusatarô's listening and speaking skills must have improved considerably.
In the important English lessons the focus was Walter Scott's epic poem The Lady of the Lake. This had been the basis for songs by Schubert and an opera by Rossini, so at the time it was a work that was widely read around the world. Apart from the book-keeping class, all classes and the homework for them - which lasted just as long - were compulsory.
Two months after starting his classes at the Commercial High School, Fusatarô wrote as follows in a letter of March 10, 1891:
I got the date of the last mail-boat wrong so I missed the post. The enclosed postal order is the remittance for last month. I'm very sorry it's late. I think I'll manage to send this month's remittance before the end of the month. I'm going to school every day. I've already received two monthly report cards, and the results have been fairly good. Report cards are handed out at the end of every month at schools here to inform students' parents of their results in all subjects. Students have to show this to their parents, get their signature and return the report to the school. None of the subjects are especially difficult, but I find the grammar and interpretation of The Lady of the Lake really hard. These days everything's going just fine. On evenings when it doesn't interfere with my studies, I work as a waiter in a newly opened Japanese restaurant from 7 until 12. Unlike when I was a schoolboy, even after I've taken out of my wages the money to send back home to you, there's still some left over. But I don't know how secure this job is. Recently, when I was unemployed for a month, in a boarding house run by a Japanese I was studying in poor light and my eyesight suffered, so I couldn't do the shorthand class. After I started working at a restaurant in the evenings, my eyesight got better, but when you have time, could you buy two or three bottles of seikisui and send it to me? It's to help me make sure I don't mess up again and damage my eyesight.....
As this letter makes clear, Fusatarô was not putting all his energies into his studies at the Commercial High School. On top of having to support himself, he was obliged to send money home. He was unemployed for a month, worked as a school boy, as a waiter in a Japanese restaurant and as an interpreter at an immigration office - he was doing one job after another. His worsening eyesight was one more bitter pill to swallow in addition to the daily poverty of his hard life.
The seikisui referred to was an eye medicine produced and sold by Kishida Ginko. The formula of the medicine was the idea of James Hepburn, famous for devising a method of romanizing Japanese and Chinese. Ginko had worked for Hepburn in compiling Japanese-English Dictionary (Wa-Eigo rin shusei) and had secured the rights from Hepburn to produce the medicine. A painter Kishida Ryûsei, well-known for his Portrait of Reiko was Ginko's fourth son.
Let us turn to another letter which describes Fusatarô's hard life in America as well as that of his mother and brother in Tokyo, who were struggling with financial problems and a burden of debt.
I enclose a postal order for $12. I had wanted to send a bit more for father's memorial service but I am under quite some pressure at present, so please accept this amount together with my sincere apologies. As far as my interpreting job at the immigration office goes, last month a manager was made redundant, so I was laid off. I have been casting about since then looking for work, but nothing suitable has come up, and I'm in some difficulties. At the moment, I'm working here at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The job is quite simple: three times a month I have to go to the harbor when the passenger boats arrive from Japan and bring the passengers for the hotel here. Meals and accommodation are provided but no wages. But I have a friend of mine eat here instead of me and he gives me $10 a month, which I send to you. I eat elsewhere, which costs just over $7.
I have to earn that amount somehow and until today I've been managing on what was left of the money I made interpreting at the immigration office. I've used all that up now, and I'm looking for another suitable job, but I haven't found anything as yet. Incidentally (this is only for you, brother, so please say nothing of this to mother; she would only worry) for the last three months I felt my eyesight was getting worse and on the 13th, after I got back from the country, the pain got much worse, so I consulted a doctor, and since then I've been going to the hospital every day. I have to go for another week. As a result, there is now a large imbalance between my income and my expenditure. I've asked a friend in Tacoma to lend me some money, and if this just works out then I should be able to pay for the medicines, and then I think all will turn out well. The worst of it is that the doctor has forbidden me to read at night, but he said I could go to school during the day, so I'm still going. My eyes have got much better in the last one or two days. In three or four more days I'm sure I'll be back to normal again, so please don't worry yourself. But somehow I have to pay the doctor's bill.
So, until my next letter, I would ask you to defer the monthly payments to Sakanaya in Naniwachô. I'm sure it'll work out with the loan from my friend, but it may be that next month's remittance will be affected by these circumstances. I hope I'll be able to clear everything up in my next letter, but until then, please defer the payment. And please do not worry yourself about my eyesight problem. I am doing well at school and I will be allowed to move up to the next level along with my classmates, of whom there are over 10. I will finally graduate in December, so don't worry yourself.
Please figure out, and let me know, how much you need to pay back the present loan in monthly instalments until December and how much of the loan will be outstanding by the end of the year. I will need to know this as it will affect prospects for the future.
Surrounded by these difficulties, Fusatarô continued to apply himself earnestly to his studies and achieved very good results. His letter of October 20, 1891 included copies of his school report cards from July to September. In arithmetic, commercial law, English business letter writing his grade was 'excellent'; in accounting and Spanish - good; in English and type-writing, it was satisfactory. His grades for 'conduct' are noteworthy: in the five areas, which included deportment, good order, and observance of school regulations, his grades were all 'excellent'. He was regarded as a diligent and hard-working student.
The riddle of the founding year of the Friends of Labor
The period Fusatarô spent at the San Francisco Commercial High School was one in which he was very hard-pressed in terms of both time and money. His time was taken up not only by his studies at school but by the preparation and homework he had to do at home. He had to work until late at night to make the money he needed to remit to his family and at weekends he had to do side jobs. Yet it was during this extremely trying period that the event occurred which was to be the turning point in his life: the founding of the Friends of Labor (Shokkô Giyûkai). This group gave birth to what in later years was Japan's first modern labor movement organization, Rôdô kumiai kiseikai (the Association for Encouragement and Formation of Trades Unions). More accurately, the members of The Friends of Labor returned to Japan and reformed the group in Tokyo, where it became the central focus of what then organized itself as the Society for the Formation of Labor Unions. In other words, the Friends of Labor in San Francisco were the original source of the group that then originated Japan's labor union movement: this was Takano Fusataro's starting point as a labor movement activist.
In fact, the date given for the founding of the Friends of Labor in San Francisco has been mistaken for a long time, and this is why some scholars have insisted that Takano Fusatarô was not present at the founding meeting of the Friends of Labor and was not a key member of the group. Evidence for this was held to be the Rôdô kumiai kiseikai seiritsu oyobi hattatsu no reikishi (The founding and development of the Association for Encouragement and Formation of Trades Unions), a series of articles in Rôdô Sekai (Labor World). The relevant passage is the following - or rather, what follows is an account of the Friends of Labor in San Francisco.
At the time of chûka (midsummer) in 1890, a group then living in San Francisco, USA, which consisted of Jô Tsunetarô, Sawada Han'nosuke, Hirano Eitaroo, Takano Fusatarô and two or three others, assembled and founded the Friends of Labor. Their aim was to study the current situation obtaining in Europe and America with regard to labor issues and apply what they had learned to the interpretation of labor issues in Japan.
This passage is cited word for word in Nihon no rôdô undô (The Japanese Labor Movement), a classic work of the Japanese labor movement by Katayama Sen and Nishikawa Mitsujirô. If the Friends of Labor was founded in San Francisco in the summer of 1890, then Fusatarô was in Tacoma, so Takano could not have been present at the founding meeting. Then, Takano Fusatarô must have joined in only after the founding and could not therefore have been a key member. Those supposition was insisted by Sumiya Mikio, a notable labor economist and historian, and people believed it for years.
I doubted this argument. If one reads the actual extant historical documents, then it is clear that Takano was present at the founding meeting. Furthermore, among Japanese at that time, Takano was the first to show a real interest in the labor movement and had the deepest knowledge of it. There was something wrong with the argument that he had not been present at the founding and that he was not a key member. I felt there must be a mistake in the sources.
After carrying out various researches, I discovered that, assuming that the date of summer 1890 is correct, Sawada Han'nosuke had not yet traveled to America. I found it from the record of issuing passport of Sawada Han'nosuke that he could only have traveled to America after the end of 1890.
Meanwhile, it has been overlooked that there is another source that mentions the founding of the Friends of Labor. The Keisei Shinpô (Governing Nation News), published in Tokyo October 16, 1891, carried an article titled 'Beikoku sôkô ni waga rôdô giyûkai okoru' (Founding of the Japanese Friends of Labor in San Francisco, America).
Resident in San Francisco, USA for some time and currently working in the city as shoemakers, Jô Tsunetarô and Hirano Eitarô, not in the least daunted by the parlous state of labor associations in Japan, and seeing the situation getting ever worse, having gathered a number of opinions, sent word to a number of friends at home to persuade them of the advantages in establishing labor unions, to set up groups of craftsmen's unions in different regions, establish a central office to administer the groups nationwide as well as regional offices and in order to overcome the obstacles which have obstructed labor unions heretofore, to increase their advantages and by this means to further mutual aid and alleviate the situation of labor associations in Japan. The two men have therefore stepped forward at 1108 Mission Street, San Francisco with the aim of improving the state of labor associations and have appealed to Japanese living in San Francisco to share their joys and sorrows. Members meet every first and third Saturday in the month. Their numbers are currently increasing rapidly and have earned the respect of the local population.
From this article the Friends of Labor can be seen to have had the practical aim of getting friends to work towards the formation of labor unions.
The problem is the date of the founding. That a newspaper would print news of an event that had happened over a year earlier about "the two men stepping forward" with no apology or further comment suggests that the report regarded the founding date of 1891 as a fact. So which date is one to trust: the 1890 date given in "The Founding and Development of the Society for the Formation of Labor Unions", or the 1891 date in this newspaper report? "The Founding and Development" was written by the people involved and based on contemporary records but was actually penned seven or eight years after the event. By contrast, the newspaper report in Keisei Shinpô appeared at the time of the event. Clearly, the newspaper report would seem to have more credibility as a record of the date of the founding.
On the other hand, while no name was appended to "The Founding and Development" articles, the author was in fact Takano Fusatarô. One sees no-one else who would have been able to record the period of the movement from Shokkô Giyûkai to Kiseikai, and when one runs through the lists of names, the name Takano Fusatarô always appears last - this would seem to the most tangible evidence.
However, from other sources, it is clear that Takano was not good at calculating dates (distinguishing the western and Japanese calendars). To give an example, in one of his English language articles, he gives the date of the 1891 (Meiji 24) stonemasons' strike in Tokyo as 1890. A similar error must have occurred when he gave the date of the founding of the Shokkô Giyûkai as 1890 (Meiji 23). Instead of rendering 1891 as Meiji 24, as he should have done, he mistakenly rendered it as Meiji 23. With this in mind, we are for the first time able to make the previously cited passage conform to the historical facts.
If it was 1891, then 'chûka' (midsummer) would have been the period from June 7 to July 5; because the word 'chûka' meant 'fifth month in the lunar calendar'. Then the school was on summer holiday - from May 22 to July 21-, so even Fusatarô, who had been harassed by his studies and side jobs, would have had time free to devote to the founding of the Shokkô Giyûkai. In the summer of 1891 Sawada Han'nosuke had already arrived in America and so would have had no problem attending the founding meeting. On the basis of these various points, we can safely state that the founding of Shokkô Giyûkai (The Friends of Labor) in San Francisco occurred in 1891. The season was early summer, and as the Giyûkai meetings took place on the first and third Saturdays of the month, we can assume that the founding meeting must have been held on either June 20 or July 4, 1891. I would suppose that the day was the latter, because it was the Independence Day.
The Friends of Labor Threesome
We shall now look a little more closely at the two other key founding members of the Friends of Labor in San Francisco - Jô Tsunetarô and Sawada Han'nosuke.
Jô Tsunetarô was born in Kumamoto on April 21, 1863 and was five years older than Takano. He had a difficult childhood: his father died when he was very young, his family was caught up in the Seinan War in 1877, his home was burnt out and the family split up. While working at the Kumamoto branch of the Yorita Nishimura gumi as an office boy, he was discovered by Nishimura Katsuzô, who had come to inspect the branch and he became a pupil at Ise-katsu shoemaking workshop in Kôbe. Having learned the craft of making shoes, he opened his own shop in Nagasaki. He got to know from a short report in the Kokumin no tomo (The Nation's Friend) Magazine of the summer of 1888 that there were many Chinese shoemakers working in San Francisco, and in order to plough a new furrow for Japanese shoemakers, that same year he headed off alone to America. Jô's mentor, Nishimura Katsuzô, a major figure in Japanese shoemaking, admired his pioneering spirit and achievement so much that he had a monument erected in Jô's honor and composed the text for it himself. It includes following passage:
Jô Tsunetarô was quiet and hardly moved by natre, was intelligent and quick-thinking, deplored the situation in which Japanese shoemakers found themselves and worked earnestly to improve it. In August 1888, using his own savings, he sailed to San Francisco where, after first working at a hotel, he rented a basement room and opened a shoemaker's shop.
After returning to Japan, Jô, together with Takano and Sawada, reorganized the Friends of Labor in Tokyo and promoted it from his own home, which he provided as the office for the organization. He damaged his health and had to step back from the frontline of the movement's activities, but his relationship with Takano continued. When Takano went to China in the summer of 1900, Jô intended to go with him and set up an enterprise there together, but his wife was pregnant, so Jô delayed his departure. When he arrived in Tianjin, Takano had already left the area. Jô then set about creating a lemonade making business there, which is said to have been a success, but after a few years entrusted it to his brother and returned to Japan. He soon came down again with chronic tuberculosis and just over a year after the death of Takano, died on July 26, 1905 in Ôsaka at the age of 42.
Sawada Han'nosuke was born in September 1869, the same year as Takano, in Sukagawa, Iwase County, Fukushima Prefecture. The Japanese language newspaper reporter Washizu Shakuma, appended to his book Zaibei nihonjin shikan (A History of Japanese in America) a section on 'The Pioneers of various Japanese trades in America' and cites Sawada as the founder of Japanese tailoring businesses there. The full text on his part is as follows:
Sawada traveled to America in 1890 and the following year moved into Jô's shoe repair shop at the corner of Mission St and 7th St., where he started his own tailoring business. This was to become the pioneering tailoring business run by Japanese in the United States. It is noteworthy that unlike today, tailors' shops of western-style clothes and shoe repairers' shops were often very poverty-stricken, and the shop at which Jô and Sawada shared the $15 rent was at a location where there were few passers-by. There they plied their trades as tailor and shoe repairer, but their situation was a miserable one. At that time the almost all Japanese in America were bachelors; they would sleep on self-made beds at the back of shops. The Jô and Sawada's shop were also one room, and it served not only as a shop, but also kitchen, bedroom, parlor and dining room. Their meals consisted of bread, coffee and wheat flour dumpling soup. But when they had few customers, they barely eat, often no more than one meal a day.
Sawada's 'tailoring' business amounted to little more than the name, as most of the work available was in laundering and repairing, rather than actual tailoring. In the early days of the business he had no new tailoring orders. There were five to six thousand Japanese in San Francisco at that time, but most of them were of 'schoolboy' status; they earned no more than 50 cents to $1 a week, so were in no position to place orders for new clothes. Most of them were given cast-offs by their employers, and if they really had to buy new clothes, they would have to make do with going to the second-hand shop on Howard Street and buying a suit for $3 or a pair of second-hand shoes for 50 cents.
The shop jointly rented by Jô and Sawada at Mission Street was the office of the Shokkô Giyûkai. An advertisement for the Sawada Saihôjo (tailoring shop) placed in San Francisco's Japanese language newspaper Ensei (Expedition), gave 1108 Mission Street as the address, the exactly the same address in The Keisei Shinpô's article on the Rôdô Giyûkai.
On his return to Japan, Sawada Han'nosuke also took part in the reconstructing of Shokkô Giyûkai, and along with Takano and Katayama Sen, was chosen as an official of the Society for the Formation of Labor Unions and spoke at many public lecture meetings. He started a tailoring business on Ginza's Owarichô, and after the collapse of the Kiseikai, he left the labor movement, participated in the establishment of a uniform-making factory at Ôi for the Ministry of Railways, set up the Beiyû Kyôkai (Japan-America Friendship Society) with Kaneko Kentarô, promoted the erection of a commemorative monument to Townshend Harris in Kurihama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and became a major figure in the tailoring business and in promoting Japanese-American relations. Of the three founders of the Shokkô Giyûkai, he was the one who achieved worldly success. He died on June 17, 1934, aged 65.
This is the English translation of the book Rôdô wa shinsei nari ketsugô wa seiryoku nari; Takano Fusatarô to sono jidai,(Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 2008.), Chapter 5 Shokkô giyûkai wo soritsu | <urn:uuid:f43dc1c5-9fe5-4cd8-8a8d-5e63666534f0> | {
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We typically go to mountains to get away from it all, especially other humans. I'd always wanted to investigate the relationship between population density and elevation. Surprise! Such a relationship exists. The higher you go, the lower the density; in fact the relationship is even stronger than exponential. Even more interesting than that is understanding why. But first: figure below is from Cohen and Small 1998:
Note the bump at 2,300 m and again at 4,000+. 2,300 is mostly people on the Mexican Plateau, and 4,000 is Tibet + the Andes.
I plugged in data just for ~250 cities in the state of Utah, and got a worse R^2 than I saw for Cohen and Small's data (0.25 vs >0.9 for theirs), but this isnt' that granular; when I tried to do the same thing using mean elevations and population densities for the 50 states it was a mess. I think it would work a lot better at the county level.
So why is this? You might be tempted to speculate that it has to do with the limits of human physiology. That is to say, the higher you go, the more uncomfortable people are (thin air, cold) and the less adaptable, right? It's hard to imagine (for example) that Las Vegas at 665 meters would be a more comfortable place at a lower elevation. And physiologically, as it turns out, in the second half of the twentieth century medical anthropologists studied people in Tibet and the Andes extensively for their physiological adaptations to altitude - the underlying mutations for which have now been characterized (and in the Tibetan case have all occurred in the last 3,000 years!). But the idea that a few hundred meters of elevation will start impacting physiology and population growth falls apart both in terms of common sense and as a direct implication of other work. Any decrease in fertility caused by altitude would cut right at population growth - but this turns out not to be a big concern even for Himalayans living much higher.
You could also argue that the world's large cities tend to be seaports, which are at low elevation, so it's ease of transportation that gives us this bias toward lower elevations; but this is more true for New World that got settled by the sea than the Old World that got settled by land, and people must be pretty lazy if what's keeping them at sea level is their ancestors having gotten off a boat there a few centuries ago.
Terrace farming in the Himalayas.
I bet they would rather just have flat fields.
Beyond some historical accidents, the answer is likely to be mostly "agriculture". The overall population distribution we see in the world today basically reflects how early people in a certain part of the world adopted agriculture and how effective it was, given the crop and the climate, and escaped the Malthusian cycle; hence the highest densities being in a band running from east, southeast, and south Asia. The Middle East started early and although the marginal environment was also a driver for state formation, it was still marginal, and the Fertile Crescent just can't compete with the Ganges or the Pearl River. (So it can be accurately said that on average, humans are Asian; hence this map). So the relationship between elevation and population is really about where agriculture is better, and it's better at lower elevations for many reasons. Otherwise it's hard to understand the Mexican bump at 2300 meters, where (guess what) agriculture was first invented in the New World.
So, if someone ever thinks of a way to do agriculture as easily in the mountains as on flat lands, the days of undeveloped remote mountains are over.
Cohen JE and Small C. Hypsographic demography: The distribution of human population by altitude. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 95, pp. 14009–14014, November 1998.
Goldstein MC, Tsarong P, Beall CM. High Altitude Hypoxia, Culture, and Human Fecundity/Fertility: A Comparative Study. American Anthropologist 85(1), March 1983. | <urn:uuid:9507c07f-1186-48ed-94e2-5a4177680333> | {
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About: I picked up a few 24LC256 eeproms to get some more external memory for future projects. These eeproms hold around 32Kbytes which is more than enough for a basic data-logger or for storing specific values. You can hookup 4 of these chips together to get a whopping total of 128Kbytes of external memory. These chips are great not only for the memory but also because they are I2C. Don’t let this scare you, there are many libraries for I2C eeprom chips. I2C is also great because it only uses 2 analog pins of your arduino. The I2C pins on the arduino are analog pin 4 and analog pin 5. For this tutorial I followed Hkhijhe example and his functions.
Objective: To connect a I2C eeprom to the Arduino Uno.
Instructions: For the breadboard schematic below for how to connect the 24LC256 to the Arduino. Continue Reading | <urn:uuid:fcee2b12-6179-4296-8c38-ae51823f0af2> | {
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There's a reason that kids don't come with a manual. Kids are like snowflakes. No two are alike. So when it comes to discipline, you can't treat them all the same.
Even siblings can have vastly different personalities that may make certain discipline strategies more effective with one than the other. Give one kid a stern look and perhaps she tears up. Ground the other one for a week and she acts like she doesn't care.
Parents often decide on a few discipline techniques they'll use. And that might be successful much of the time. However, it's likely there will be times that those strategies just don't seem to work.
Some parents have kids who just don't respond well to traditional discipline strategies. These kids require a little outside-the-box thinking.
Other kids may respond well to discipline strategies the majority of the time but they may have one area or one behavioral issue that just doesn't seem to change. It can make parents want to pull their hair out.
But before you risk going bald, there are some things you can do to determine what you can do to make discipline more effective. Ask yourself these 10 questions about your discipline strategies to identify changes that you can make to increase the effectiveness of your discipline strategies. | <urn:uuid:9bdd4043-f6fd-4ba4-b17d-ab9a9f141256> | {
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With June being Scoliosis Awareness Month, there really is no better time to become educated on this disorder.
Wondering what the symptoms of scoliosis are, as well as what treatments are available? Read on to learn more!
Symptoms of Scoliosis
Characterized by an S- or C-shaped spine, scoliosis can appear at any age, with children between the ages of 10 and 12 years being most susceptible.
Due to the curvature of their spine, people with scoliosis often have trouble moving in a certain direction. Other signs and symptoms include having uneven shoulders, an uneven waist and/or hips and one shoulder blade that appears more prominent than the other.
When infants develop scoliosis, a bulge can appear on their chest, and the baby may lie curved to one side.
What Causes Scoliosis?
Most often, scoliosis appears during a major growth spurt just prior to puberty. Females have a higher risk of getting scoliosis.
Although the cause is mostly unknown, scoliosis can be caused by certain neuromuscular conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, birth defects affecting spine development and spinal injuries. In addition, the disorder can involve hereditary factors.
Often noticed by parents, teachers, friends and sports teammates first, scoliosis should be assessed by a doctor as soon as possible when symptoms appear. During their physical examination, the doctor will check out the spine, ribs, hips and shoulders and measure the degree of scoliosis.
To help further assess the curvature of the spine, imaging scans including x-rays and MRIs are normally completed. Depending on the severity, a referral may be given to an orthopedic specialist.
Fortunately, most cases of scoliosis do not require treatment as the spine corrects itself as the child grows. Other cases can be helped with physical therapy, Pilates and yoga, bracing and in a small number of cases, surgery.
Various complications can occur from scoliosis including chronic pain, lung and heart damage, decreased exercise capacity and noticeable changes in physical appearance.
Types of Scoliosis
Scoliosis can range in type from mild to severe. In its most mild form, scoliosis occurs where the curvature of the spine is less than 20 degrees. Mild scoliosis usually does not cause pain and is difficult to notice since the curvature changes slowly. It is best treated with exercise.
Moderate scoliosis develops when the spine curvature is between 40 and 45 degrees. Besides exercise, a medically prescribed brace is sometimes recommended to prevent scoliosis from worsening. Braces are worn around the clock and do not normally restrict what the child can do. Although it prevents further curvature, braces cannot reverse the condition already present. Once the bones stop growing, braces are no longer used.
If severe scoliosis develops, scoliosis surgery or spinal fusion is typically needed to reduce the spine’s curvature and to prevent it from worsening.
Ask the Professionals!
Want more information about scoliosis? Stop by to speak to the friendly team at Brant Arts IDA Pharmacy today! | <urn:uuid:bbf478a3-6b27-41fc-93e7-4d09c857c61e> | {
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Differences between neo and paleo
Hellenic Paganism still has some followers even though it is an ancient religion.
- However most of the people who follow hellenic paganism as a path have adopted some different traditions by later religions. (Neo)
- There are very few that follow this path (Paleo) and have the exact same beliefs with the ancient pagans.
- The original religion of Ancient Greece was polytheistic. Ancient Greeks believed in 12 Gods. However even though these 12 Gods were the center of their worship, Ancient Greeks believed in many other "lower" Gods dietiesand nymphs.
- In the paleo paganism there we often rituals and sucrifices to please the Gods.
- In this form of hellenistic paganism Gods were more feared than worshiped. Described by stories and myths that survived through the years (e.g Odessey) they had a rather selfish behavior and in that way they lost the wisdom aspect of the God (*) keeping theaspect of power . For people at the time Gods were humans undistructable, immortal with great powers.
(*) like in christianity
- Many people would believe that the Gods take many forms and shapes and visit the human world constantly. In general in the Paleo path Gods are in a way humanised.
- In the Paleo path the appearence of lower deieties is very often. There are numerous of them but not all of equal importance still all of them are believed to have great powers. (eg Primordial dieties, sea dieties, air dieties, nymphs, personified concepts etc) SO paleo pagans also believe in the existence of all dieties not only the Gods.
The Neo path is quite diferent. It is based in a more philosophical concept of this religion. It looks through the deeper meaning, the metaphore if you d like of every God.
- In the neo path they believe in the same Gods but see them more as a representation of something they consider divine like: Aphrodite for love.
- In the neo path they mostly use rituals and prayers that do not contain sucrifices
- In the neo path the human element is absent from the Gods characters. They see them wiser and they don't necceserly belive they can interfere with their lives in a high level. Other dieties can be admired but not commonly worshiped. They mostly see other dieties in a more philosophical than spiritual point of view.
- Also neo pagans often adopt traditions from later religions
Sortly those are the very basic differences.
Thank you all | <urn:uuid:579e2ef8-baf4-40f8-805b-ed8000fdca1b> | {
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- Feature one idea per paragraph.
- Start with the conclusion (inverted pyramid).
- Use half the word count (or less) than conventional writing.
- Headings: 3–8 words
- Subheads: 1–5 words
- Sentences: 1–20 words
- Paragraphs: 1–5 sentences
- Documents: Get your message across as efficiently as possible, with 250-750 words per page when possible.
Tip: Every page is unique. 500 words is a good average-length page, but do not spread your content across multiple pages to cut your word count if it works better as a single resource. | <urn:uuid:6ab8a109-91e4-487c-bb2f-c412d642abc0> | {
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Health Department Encourages Dog Bite Prevention
(May 23, 2013) –National Dog Bite Prevention Week 2013 runs from May 19th - 25th. The Saint Louis County Department of Health is using the opportunity to remind residents about basic dog bite prevention tips to decrease the number of incidents in our community.
“Last year, there were 1,019 incidents of dog bites reported to the Saint Louis County Department of Health,” said Rebecca Smail, Program Manager of Vector Control and Veterinary Services. “We’d like to see that number decrease as much as possible.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, and one in five dog bites results in injuries that require medical attention.
There are many things a person can do to avoid dog bites, ranging from properly training and socializing a pet to educating children on how – or if – they should approach a dog. Information and education are the best solutions for this public health problem.
Before you bring a dog into your household, you should:
Consult with a professional (e.g., veterinarian, animal behaviorist, or responsible breeder) to learn what breeds of dogs are the best fit for your household.
Be aware that dogs with a history of aggression are not suitable for households with children.
Be sensitive to cues that a child is fearful or apprehensive about a dog. If a child seems frightened by dogs, you should wait before bringing a dog into your household.
Spend time with a dog before buying or adopting it.
Use caution when bringing a dog into a household with an infant or toddler.
If you decide to bring a dog into your home, you should:
Spay or neuter your dog because this often reduces aggressive tendencies.
Never leave infants or young children alone with a dog.
Never play aggressive games with your dog (e.g., wrestling).
Properly socialize and train any dog entering your household. Teach the dog submissive behaviors (e.g., rolling over to expose the abdomen and giving up food without growling).
Immediately seek professional advice (e.g., from veterinarians, animal behaviorists, or responsible breeders) if the dog develops aggressive or undesirable behaviors.
To help prevent children from being bitten by dogs, residents should teach the following basic safety tips to children and review them regularly:
Do not approach an unfamiliar dog.
Do not run from a dog or scream at a dog.
Remain motionless (e.g., "be still like a tree") when approached by an unfamiliar dog.
If knocked over by a dog, roll into a ball, clench your fists, and lie still (e.g., "be still like a log").
Do not play with a dog unless supervised by an adult.
Immediately report any stray dogs or dogs displaying unusual behavior to an adult.
Avoid direct eye contact with a dog.
Do not disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies.
Do not pet a dog without its owner’s permission or before allowing it to see and sniff you first.
If bitten, immediately report the bite to an adult.
Smail added that if you are bitten by a dog or witness someone else being bitten, and no immediate medical treatment is needed, you should call the health department to report the incident. During regular business hours (9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday), call 314-615-0650. After regular business hours, you should call the police non-emergency line at 314-889-2341.
For more information about preventing dog bites, visit
For more information about pets and pet vaccination requirements, visit | <urn:uuid:51e1d245-81a4-4591-a75f-69953f4875c2> | {
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[antlr-interest] What do . (period) and Tokens mean in tree grammars?
Harald M. Müller
harald_m_mueller at gmx.de
Sat Dec 29 14:16:13 PST 2007
Sorry that I ask - but I did not find it on the Wiki and not in the ANTLR
book: What do . and Tokens mean in tree grammars?
AFAIK, . means "any complete subtree." - although this seems not to work in
some current builds, if I understood some email of yesterday correctly?
Question number two:
Does a single Token also match a complete tree with this token at the root,
or only a "childless tree" (i.e. the token as a tree node alone)?
Question number three:
What sort of lookahead is used over . ? For example, would the following
work - assume here that the subtrees can be arbitrarily large subconditions
(as is usual in expression trees):
condition : ^(AND . ^(NOT .)) -> ...rewrite1...
| ^(AND . .) -> ...rewrite2...
The intention of this is to rewrite an AND tree which has as second child a
tree with a NOT root to rewrite1; whereas all other trees are supposed to be
rewritten as rewrite2.
If ANTLR tree parsing works the way I assume it - namely the whole tree is
flattened to a node sequence, on which "one-dimensional" parsing techniques
(even LL(*)) are applied, then the NOT will be "too far" away even for an
LL(*) analysis, because there will be recursively nested expressions on the
way between the AND and the NOT. However, if ANTLR goes for real
"two-dimensional" parsing, or does some lookahead over arbitrarily large
subtrees (to the readily available "later" children!) - which I would call
"1.5-dimensional lookahead computation/parsing", then the above two patterns
could be disambiguated.
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When building machines and robots with Lego, dimension specifications for the standard bricks are handy. This will help designing models, and interfacing Lego with other materials.
Brick Height to Stud Width: 6/5 Brick Height to Plate Height: 3/1
If you want to put Lego bricks into another cad system(ie ProEngineer/SolidWorks) - you will find the following helpful along with the formula table below:
|Description||Short name||Size in mm|
|Spacing of stud centers||sSt||8|
|Diameter of studs||dSt||5|
|Height of block||hB||9.6 (48/5 mm )|
|Height of studs||hSt||1.7|
|Plate Height||hP||3.2mm (16/5 mm)|
|Thickness of brick walls||thB||1.5|
|Outer diameter of cylinders (found on underside of bricks)||odCyl||6.31|
|Thickness of cylinder walls||thCyl||0.657|
When you are constraining and defining - you may find these formulae using the above symbols useful:
|Symbol||Calculation to derive from others|
|hB||sSt * 6 / 5|
|thB||(sSt - dSt) / 2|
|hSt||hB / 3 - thB|
|odCyl||sqrt(2) * sSt - dSt|
|thCyl||(odCyl - dSt) / 2|
Although studs are the standard unit of Lego measure- to interface with other systems, and for some more complex models, it is important to understand the dimensions. The goal is to represent brick heights and plate heights in millimeters. We will refer to gears using the number of teeth(ie 24t) - although the diameter of the holes, wheels and studs could also be of significance.
According to Steve Baker the distance between 2 Studs is 8mm wide. This is verified as Stud pitch = 7.985 on Lugnet - although 8mm is commonly used.
Plate height(according to Lugnet) is 3.194 mm, although 3.2 mm or 16/5 mm are commonly used.
Brick height is 9.582 mm, and 9.6 mm or 48/5 mm are commonly used.
The ratio of the height of standard beams, to the width of studs is 5:6 - which can make for some trickiness when doing perpendicular mounts.
Calculating: 8:48/5 (take the 5 over) = 58:48 (factor 8 from 48) = 58:6*8 (canceling) = 5:6.
Plates(thin bricks) are 1/3 standard bricks.
Calculating: 16/5:48/5 == 16:48 == 116:316 = 1:3.
Therefore 5 plates thick is the width of 2 studs. In LDU (LDraw units), the measurements are: Brick height = 24 Plate height = 8 Stud pitch = 20
In the Lego system, Technic gears have a ratio that the number of teeth are 8 times the diameter, or 16 times the radius in stud pitch. Conveniently - the number of studs, and Diameter in Millimeters seem to be the same.
More info on mounting these can be found at The Brick Bakery.
Most Lego bricks use high quality ABS plastic - which is slightly elastic.
|Specific Gravity/Density||1.05 g/cm^3|
|Tensile Strength||44 MPa|
|Elongation At Break||23-25 %| | <urn:uuid:6ffca978-aea8-495d-8e22-315e98e6cfd9> | {
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A big moment for Africa: Why the MeerKAT and astronomy matter
Astronomy in Africa will take a giant leap forward with the unveiling of the 64-dish MeerKAT array in South Africa on July 13. The MeerKAT will be the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the southern hemisphere until the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is completed.
Why is this such a big deal? After all, Africa has many challenges more pressing than exploring the universe.
But, as my colleagues and I recently argued in an article for Nature Astronomy, astronomy occupies a special place among the many efforts to address development challenges.
It has a unique ability to stimulate thoughts of “what is possible” in the minds of marginalised communities, women and children.
Astronomy connects philosophical, cultural and inspirational elements with the cutting edge of science and technology. This affords the discipline a unique advantage to foster socioeconomic development. For instance, astronomy has been used in Sierra Leone to improve middle school pupils’ literacy. It worked because they loved what they were learning.
The International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Development uses astronomy to drive positive developmental change. It has ten regional and language centres. Three are in Africa, in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Zambia. The global coordinating office is situated in South Africa.
Our challenge as astronomers is not only to grow the discipline in Africa. We also need to ensure that this growth is accompanied by the educational, technology transfer and societal engagement initiatives that can drive the continent’s development priorities.
The funding we disburse has been used to run a number of programmes aimed at developing skills among school and university students.
One of these was the Madagascar Astronomy Python Workshop in 2017. It focused on practical coding in the Python programming language for university students and lecturers. The aim was to build on astronomy tools that participants can develop for their own research and teaching, not necessarily in the field of astronomy.
At school level the Girls Astronomy Camp was held in Abuja, Nigeria earlier this year. This not only dealt with education. It also tackled the large gender disparity in science, technology, engineering and maths fields, which can be a complex, socio-cultural issue in many regions.
It’s crucial for educational interventions to address the fact that astronomy students often find employment outside the field. Students must learn science in a way that allows them to build their repertoire of transferable skills.
So the Office of Astronomy for Development has funded a number of Joint Exchange Development Initiative workshops in Namibia, Mozambique and Mauritius. These workshops focus on direct transfer of specific skills in an informal but intense learning environment. They’re also excellent for data science skills, which are particularly important for economic growth and jobs in emerging markets.
To support this need and bridge the data science and astronomy communities, the Office of Astronomy for Development hosts a repository for data science resources and code examples.
Beyond disciplinary boundaries
Astronomy can also be put to use in perhaps surprising ways to boost development.
One of our projects, Accessible Citizen Science for the Developing World, has married health issues with astronomy skills through running a proof-of-concept type intervention. Retinal defects are common, but curable. Peek Vision, a social enterprise that works to bring better vision and health to everyone, developed a retinal imaging device that can be easily used, even in rural Kenya, with an Android phone.
But there weren’t enough qualified ophthalmologists at hand to use the app to diagnose retinal problems. So Peek Vision teamed up with astronomers at a citizen science portal called the Zooniverse. In the same way that the citizen scientists had previously worked to classify thousands of galaxies, they were called on to learn how to identify retinal problems on the Zooniverse portal.
Such partnerships are quintessential examples of working together across disciplinary boundaries to achieve development outcomes.
There are numerous other initiatives that contribute to development through astronomy. Large astronomical infrastructure investments like MeerKAT aim to stimulate the technology industry and advance the development of technical skills.
International aid initiatives with a science focus like Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) and its sister project, DARA Big Data, are using the momentum generated through the SKA programme to develop skills and train more astronomy students for the continent.
Of course, the few examples illustrated in this article hardly begin to address the myriad challenges facing Africa and the world. Technology and science can only do so much: these challenges have solutions that are, at least in part, driven by human values.
That’s why conversations that span natural and social sciences are key to making development progress on the continent. The Office of Astronomy for Development is one of the spaces hosting these conversations. We’re challenging astronomers and other scientists to reach across the disciplinary boundaries to explore how their skills can help Africa meet its development goals.
Author’s note: the article on which this piece is based first appeared in Nature and was co-authored by Ramasamy Venugopal, Munira Hoosain, Tawanda Chingozha & Kevin Govender. | <urn:uuid:940d538b-168f-4a77-9bb0-1fb58d3959c9> | {
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The Keough-Naughon Institute for Irish Studies has produced a documentary film, narrated by Liam Neeson, and titled “1916 The Irish Rebellion,” which presents the Easter Rising in Dublin a century ago as a pivotal event not only in Irish but in world history.
The documentary, which was written by Briona Nic Dhiarmada, Thomas J. & Kathleen M. O'Donnell Chair of Irish Language and Literature, and co-produced by her and Christopher Fox, Professor of English and director of the Keough-Naughton Institute, is the first documentary series to give a comprehensive account of the events of the Rising in Dublin and to situate them in an international context. Drawing upon a wider range of sources than has been previously available to filmmakers and researchers, “1916” concerns the first week of the rebellion as well as its aftermath, when the British response, including the imposition of martial law and the executions of many of the Rising’s leaders, effectively transformed a military defeat into a moral victory for the rebels.
The Irish government has made the film a centerpiece of its global centenary commemoration of the Easter Rising. The feature-film version will premiere at Notre Dame on March 3, 2016 and in Dublin on March 16, when it will be carried live by satellite link to 24 Irish embassies and consulates worldwide as part of the Irish government’s outreach to the 70 million people of the Irish diaspora. In March and April, PBS stations nationwide, as well as Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), will broadcast the three-part documentary. In June, the film will be a centerpiece of the Irish Government’s Kennedy Center celebration.
In this Saturday Scholars event, Profesor Nic Dhiarmada will show a short clip of the film, and then provide commentary on both the events of 1916 and their worldwide reverberations as well as behind-the-scenes glimpses of the making of this landmark documentary. | <urn:uuid:0ecaafcf-1e63-4f1e-bf83-00e22d1b2d42> | {
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How and why awareness and acceptance are essential to personal growth and professional development
What is mindfulness? Opinions vary. Here is one that is generally accepted: It is “the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment”, which can be trained by meditational practices derived from Buddhist anapanasati. Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. It also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.
I share all this by way of an introduction to Stephen McKenzie’s latest book in which he provides a wealth of information, insights, and counsel with regard to how to avoid stress, achieve more, and meanwhile enjoy life. As he explains, “Practicing mindfulness actually often involves, especially at first, simply being more frequently mindful of our mindlessness, more aware of our lack of awareness, and more accepting of our non-acceptance, and less frequently judging our judging. If we can even occasionally be conscious of our unconsciousness, then we are making huge progress on our journey to greater happiness and usefulness.”
Oscar Wilde once advised, “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” To a significant extent, the goal of mindfulness is to accept who you are — warts and all — so that you can be more accepting of others. Greater appreciation of who and others are is a direct benefit of an acceptance of who we and they aren’t. With all due respect to Wilde’s insight, McKenzie would hasten to add, Acceptance of who we are now does not preclude becoming a happier, healthier, more fully developed person. Awareness and acceptance of one’s imperfections by no means condones them but there can be no improvement without them. That is why mindfulness is essential to that immensely difficult process.
He offers and discusses in-depth seven general mindfulness working principles, each accompanied by an appropriate quotation:
1. Self-knowledge: “This above all: to thine own self be true/And it must follow, as the night the day/Thou canst not then be false to any man,” Polonius in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet.
2. Utility: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” John Donne
3. Truth: “In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” Albert Einstein
4. Awareness: “Do not dwell on the past. Do not dream of the future. Concentrate the mind on the present moment” Gautama the Buddha
5. Service: “Would you like anything else?” The (hypothetical) General Sales Manual
Note: I found McKenzie’s selection of the quotation and subsequent comments about service on Pages 29-30 (at best) mediocre.
6. Reason: “Reason is the ability to discern the transient from the eternal, the changing from the unchanging.” Shankara
7. Wonder: “From wonder into wonder, existence opens.” Lao Tzu
“These general mindfulness working principles can help us do everything in our lives more peacefully, happily, and productively — even our work. If we put these principles into practical practice, then we can better understand whether our working situation is the best expression of who really are and, if it isn’t, how to improve it.” Or replace it.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out these: Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life?, Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture, Ken Robinson’s The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, and Alan Watts’s The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are.Tags: "Be yourself [period] Everyone else is taken", Alan Watts, Albert Einstein, Career Press, Clayton Christensen, Gautama the Buddha, Hamlet, How and why awareness and acceptance are essential to personal growth and professional development, How Will You Measure Your Life?, Ken Robinson, Lao-Tzu, Mindfulness at Work: How to Avoid Stress [comma] Achieve More [comma] and Enjoy Life!, Oscar Wilde, Randy Pausch, Shankara, Stephen McKenzie, The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, The Last Lecture, William Shakespeare | <urn:uuid:29e2a02c-c46f-4501-b7e9-894a459470be> | {
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In principle, measuring the distance of a nearby star is fairly simple. It uses a method known as parallax. It is the same method we use to have depth perception every day. If you cover one eye and hold your thumb in front of a distant object, when you switch eyes your thumb will appear to shift against the background. This shift is known as a parallax shift, and it is due to a shift in your point of view. The bigger the parallax, the closer an object is.
In astronomy we can use the Earth’s changing position in its orbit to shift our point of view. We can observe a star relative to more distant stars over the course of a year, and measure its parallax. Some simple trigonometry then allows us to determine its distance. Parallax is actually the origin of the word “parsec”, which is short for parallax arc second. If a star has a parallax of one arc second (or 1/ 3,600 of a degree), then it is one parsec away (about 3.26 light years).
For more distant stars, however, this can get a bit tricky. It is particularly difficult for large stars such as red and blue supergiants. Take for example the star Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant with an apparent size of about 45 milliarcseconds. However its parallax is only about 5 - 10 milliarcseconds. As a result, the distance to Betelgeuse has been relatively uncertain.
This is problematic because without an accurate measure of distance we can’t be sure about other properties. We know the star’s apparent diameter, and its apparent motion, but without a precise distance we can’t be sure of its actual diameter and motion. Knowing those would be useful to determine the age and origin of Betelgeuse.
Recently a team used radio interferometry to make a precise measurement of the parallax of Betelgeuse.1 Radio interferometry allows you to combine signals from multiple radio telescopes to create an image as if they were all one huge telescope. This means you can make much more precise measurements than possible with a single telescope. They determined that Betelgeuse is 197 parsecs away (about 640 light years).
With an accurate distance the team could then use Betelgeuse’s apparent motion to determine its actual motion through the galaxy. You can see this in the figure (where Betelgeuse is labeled as α Ori). One thing clear from the figure is that the motion of Betelgeuse is very different from the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), so it is not likely that Betelgeuse originated in the Orion Nebula. Instead it seems Betelgeuse originated from the Ori OB1 cluster.
- Harper, Graham M., Alexander Brown, and Edward F. Guinan. “A new VLA-Hipparcos distance to Betelgeuse and its implications.” The Astronomical Journal 135.4 (2008): 1430. [return] | <urn:uuid:82d0debc-7551-45d7-8c99-c84369d3ad24> | {
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- Residential Market
- Light Commercial Market
- Commercial Market
- Indoor Air Quality
- Components & Accessories
- Residential Controls
- Commercial Controls
- Testing, Monitoring, Tools
- Services, Apps & Software
- Standards & Legislation
- EXTRA EDITION
Class instructor Dr. Mani Skaria is a plant pathologist at the Texas A&M-Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco and an expert in mycology, or the study of mold.
"This class is unique in a couple of ways," Skaria said. "It is likely the first class ever that will link the disciplines of biology and engineering, disciplines not normally associated with each other. And the course will be offered in a virtual classroom at a Web site so that any student anywhere in the world can take this course."
Molds play an important role in the environment, Skaria said, breaking down dead organic matter such as dead leaves and trees. Invisible to the naked eye, mold spores float through the air, reproducing when they land on wet surfaces. Indoor mold, he said, can damage the plant-derived building materials on which they grow, including lumber, sheetrock, and ceiling tiles. Human health can be affected by the allergens indoor molds release.
"While mold-related property insurance claims may finally be declining, molds and the harm they cause continue to cost us millions of dollars annually," Skaria said. "But with the proper knowledge, both about the biology of molds and the construction of buildings, it is possible to implement practical solutions to greatly reduce these losses and the health problems molds cause."
A free, condensed version of the class with practical mold management guidelines will be made available to the general public later this year on the Web site of the American Phytopathological Society, Skaria said.
In addition to the biology of molds and plants, the course will cover various facets of building construction associated with molds, including condensation, air conditioning units, water intrusions, exterior mold growth, mold inspections, and control strategies. Mold case studies in various types of buildings, including homes, schools, apartments, nursing homes, and jails, will be discussed. Guest lecturers from the health and construction fields also will present materials.
"This course has been designed so that engineering students will not need an in-depth biology background, nor will biology students need an engineering background to successfully complete this course," said Skaria.
Those wishing to take the three credit-hour, semester-long course, titled "Mold, Plants, Buildings and Public Health," must register with Texas A&M University-Kingsville by contacting Skaria via e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 956-968-2132.
Publication date: 09/06/2004 | <urn:uuid:8e2231b2-e06c-44e7-baae-0cbfc113c3f5> | {
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Claims vitamin B prevents Alzheimer's are unproven
‘Should you be taking vitamin B to protect against Alzheimer’s?,’ asks the Daily Mail.
Its question is prompted by new research into whether a daily dose of vitamin B could reduce the loss of brain tissue in people with mild cognitive impairment. Mild cognitive impairment is thought to be a risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers were particularly interested in the effects of B vitamins on ‘grey matter’ – brain tissue. Grey matter consists of a complex mixture of nerve cells and is found in regions of the brain associated with higher cognitive functions, such as memory and reasoning. Previous studies have found that in people with Alzheimer’s disease, certain regions of grey matter begin to shrink, and this may contribute towards the symptoms of the disease.
This research clearly shows that grey-matter loss in certain regions of the brain was reduced with B vitamin treatment – and the results were particularly striking in patients with high levels of an amino acid called homocysteine.
However, whether the reduction in grey matter shrinkage caused by the vitamin B treatment reduced the likelihood of participants developing Alzheimer’s disease, is unknown.
Until further trials have confirmed the benefits of B vitamin supplements and found that they outweigh any potential harms, the best way to keep healthy in mind and body is to eat a balanced diet, control your weight and blood pressure, and to take some exercise.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Oxford, the University of Warwick, and the University of Oslo, Norway. It was funded by a wide range of charitable organisations and research institutes.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
The researchers hold patents on the use of B vitamins to treat Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment, meaning they could benefit financially if vitamin B treatments were licensed for this use.
This story was widely reported in the media. The Daily Express went with the headline “The daily vitamin B pill that halts the ravages of dementia” and The Daily Telegraph with “Vitamin B could stave off Alzheimer’s”. Unfortunately, these headlines are a little optimistic, as although the study found that vitamin B reduced loss of grey matter in certain parts of the brain, especially in older people with high levels of the amino acid homocysteine, the effects this reduction had on an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease were not assessed.
What kind of research was this?
This was a randomised controlled trial that aimed to determine whether B vitamins are effective in preventing the shrinkage of grey matter in areas of the brain known to be vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease, especially those regions linked to mental processes.
This was a secondary analysis of data collected in a previous study which found that B vitamins reduce whole volume brain shrinkage.
A randomised controlled trial is the best type of study design to address this question.
What did the research involve?
The researchers randomised 156 elderly volunteers with memory complaints who fulfilled criteria for mild cognitive impairment to receive B vitamin treatment (folic acid 0.8mg/day, vitamin B12 0.5mg/day, vitamin B6 20mg/day) or placebo for 24 months.
Images of the participants’ brains were taken at the start and end of the study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The researchers compared the images to see whether B vitamins prevented shrinkage of grey matter in areas of the brain affected by the Alzheimer’s disease, especially those regions linked to mental processes.
What were the basic results?
Grey matter volumes were similar at the start of the study in both groups. Over the course of the study, areas of grey matter shrunk in both the placebo and B vitamin groups. However, participants who received B vitamins had less shrinkage of certain areas of grey matter than participants who received placebo.
The researchers report that significant reductions in grey matter loss were seen in some of the regions most affected in Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers drew on the results of previous research, which has found that levels of an amino acid called homocysteine may play a role in cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
They found that participants with higher homocysteine levels had smaller brain volume, and a faster reduction in brain size.
B vitamin treatment had no effect in participants who had homocysteine levels below the median (average), but significantly reduced grey matter loss in participants with homocysteine levels above the median.
The researchers also monitored changes in participants’ scores on a variety of neuropsychological scales. They found that scores were correlated with grey matter loss in certain regions, some of which shrunk less with vitamin-B treatment than placebo in participants with high homocysteine levels.
Based on these findings, the researchers suggest that changes in vitamin B12 levels that occur with B vitamin treatment leads to a reduction in homocysteine levels. This decreases the rate of grey matter loss. This in turn affects neuropsychological functioning.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers conclude that, “our results show that B-vitamin supplementation can slow the atrophy [shrinkage] of specific brain regions that are a key component of the Alzheimer’s disease process and that are associated with cognitive decline.”
They go on to suggest that “further B vitamin supplementation trials focusing on elderly subjects with high homocysteine levels are warranted to see if progression to dementia can be prevented.”
This two-year long randomised controlled trial found that B vitamin treatment significantly reduces loss of grey matter in certain regions of the brain in elderly volunteers with mild cognitive impairment. The researchers report that these regions are specifically vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease. B vitamin treatment was beneficial for the subgroup of participants who had higher than average levels of an amino acid called homocysteine.
This research clearly shows that grey matter loss in certain regions of the brain was reduced with B vitamin treatment. This follows on from the researchers’ previous findings that B vitamin treatment slows brain shrinkage.
However, it is less clear whether the reduction in grey matter actually had any real health impact on individual people. Although the researchers report that loss of grey matter was linked to declining neuropsychological scores, they do not specifically report that participants who received the B vitamins improved their brain function scores. Whether the B vitamin treatment actually prevented Alzheimer’s disease is also unknown.
B vitamins are a recurring focus of Alzheimer’s disease research, and they have been studied in both the prevention and treatment of the disease. This may partly be because vitamin B deficiency can have an effect on brain function.
For more background information about vitamin B, Alzheimer’s, and how it has been reported in the news, read the Behind the Headlines special report on ‘Alzheimer’s in the news’ | <urn:uuid:277a2c29-b743-4dde-8d25-eaa16fb876fc> | {
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In the year 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led an expedition across the recently discovered New World, conquering multiple indigenous polities along the way. To his surprise, he came across an extremely complex society hidden deep within the lowlands of Mesoamerica. Cortés discovered what we now know as the Aztec Empire and became fascinated with the society’s structure, culture, and people. The king of the Aztecs, Moctezuma II, recognized the threat that Cortés posed to his empire and formed a court of officials and other influential members of the empire to convene in the capital of Tenochtitlan. As members of this court, delegates will have to work together to solve immediate crises within the empire such as civil unrest and famine. In addition to these internal crises, the court will also have the ultimate goal of dealing with the Spaniards closing in on the capital day by day. | <urn:uuid:3ad98070-c90e-470b-85c9-44d368bfd254> | {
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How do you think the new GigE standards will influence the machine vision industry?
Respond or ask your question now!
Light, being a transverse electromagnetic wave, has intensity, wavelength (color), phase and polarization attributes. Imaging-system engineers generally concentrate most of their efforts on capturing intensity information, and, less often, on utilizing color information. They often, however, forget that polarization can be either a useful ally or a dangerous enemy.
If controlled, polarization effects can provide important information about the object under inspection that may not be detected any other way. If uncontrolled, they can wipe out the very information your imaging system is meant to capture.
Figure 1 shows the phenomenon called “linear polarization,” which is the simplest of polarization effects. It arises when an object passes light polarized along one direction and blocks light polarized at right angles to that direction. The exiting beam then predominantly contains light polarized parallel to the selected direction.
There are a number of ways to create this polarization-filter effect. Certain anisotropic materials, for example, naturally polarize light passing through them. Linear polarization also appears when light strikes a specularly reflective non-metallic surface at an angle. When that happens, photons polarized parallel to the surface are preferentially reflected. The reflected beam thus picks up some “horizontal” polarization.
For inspection applications, we want to view the underlying material, so the specularly reflected light can be in the way. Since it is partially polarized, you can, as Figure 2 shows, eliminate it by covering the camera lens with a polarizing filter oriented to block the specularly reflected light. | <urn:uuid:2ca41e24-d890-4e74-9143-9c4e7d126007> | {
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The World Does Need a Red Line – On Climate Change
Activists agree we must fight the Keystone XL pipeline in the US, but also chip away at the political power of the fossil fuel industry
In a few weeks, a new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, prepared by 2,000 climate scientists from around the world, will be released. Leaked early drafts reveal some frightening predictions for the next century, including a high likelihood that the globe's average temperature will rocket past the 2C target, the reddest of red lines for human existence on the planet.
Two degrees doesn't seem like much, but it takes only a few Google searches to connect the dots between the one degree of warming that has already set in, and catastrophic events like Hurricane Sandy, unprecedented wildfires in the American west and record flooding in places like the Philippines and Pakistan. Some have even pointed to extended climate-induced drought in Syria as a key driver of the conflict there. It doesn't take much sleuthing, either, to find out that humans have loaded so much carbon into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests and engaging in poor agricultural practices, that the IPCC says it's now 95% certain that we're responsible for most of the warming that has happened since the industrial revolution.
Despite decades of science showing human impact on the atmosphere, and the availability of renewable energy options, from cheap solar to wind to geothermal, political will to deal with climate change in the world's richest countries has flatlined. Last year, members of US Congress received more than $34m from oil, gas and coal companies – money to ensure they do nothing on climate change – and President Obama has so far taken baby steps compared to the enormity of the climate challenge. Despite historic investments in in clean energy, moves to raise auto fuel efficiency and regulate dirty coal plants, and hopeful signs that he's ready to engage obstructionists, President Obama has not taken the United States far enough, fast enough.
In a recent address on climate change – his first since he came into office five years ago – President Obama set a high bar for the construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, an export pipeline that would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast. He said he would approve construction only if it "does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution". A recent independent analysis of Keystone XL (pdf) calculates that the pipeline would dump the equivalent of 51 coal power plants, or 37m cars worth of CO2 into the atmosphere per year. That's a lot of carbon. If President Obama spoke in good faith, then there is only one decision he can make: reject the pipeline.
President Obama's decision on the Keystone XL pipeline is critically important, not just because it would prevent millions of tons of carbon from spewing into the atmosphere. It would also show that he's taken responsibility for the future, taken away the right of a handful of oil, gas and coal companies to decide the destiny of our planet. It would represent a significant precedent for industrial projects; judging their worthiness on climate grounds and telling the CEOs of Exxon and Chevron and Peabody saying,
We won't be pushed around by you anymore: we're taking the future into our own hands.
And, in fact, people across the country are taking the future into their own hands, from indigenous groups stopping tar sands pipelines in Minnesota, to farmers fighting hydrofracking in Pennsylvania to communities in New Mexico shutting down coal-fired power plants. In just a few weeks, on 21 September, in hundreds of cities across the US, people will come together to physically "Draw the Line", connecting the dots between extreme weather and extreme energy projects like the Keystone XL pipeline: In New Orleans, a brass band will walk the levees that waters overtopped during Hurricane Katrina, in New York volunteers will use tape and chalk to show future water levels on buildings in lower Manhattan, and in Nebraska, a group of farmers and ranchers will erect a solar and wind powered barn in the path of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Climate movement activists throughout the world agree that we must fight the Keystone XL pipeline fight, but that we can't only fight bad energy projects one by one. We must also chip away at the political power of the fossil fuel industry, and revoke their social license to operate.
That's what tens of thousands of university students, pension fund managers, religious leaders and others have been doing the past year through fossil fuel divestment. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, divestment campaigns have popped up on more than 300 campuses, calling on presidents and trustees to divest from oil, gas and coal companies. These corporations hold billions of tons of CO2 underground in fossil fuel reserves – enough to cook the earth many times over. All of us, as investors and beneficiaries of pension funds and endowments, own a part of those reserves, too.
A handful of institutions like Hampshire College, San Francisco State University and Unity College have already committed to divest their endowments from fossil fuels, joining cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Madison, religious institutions like the United Church of Christ, and large pension funds like Norway's Storebrand. The fossil fuel divestment movement is growing quickly, spreading to globally to countries like Australia, England and the Netherlands.
It's easy to fall into despair reading the recent science on climate change – atmospheric limits are hard and fast, not like the dark, ever-shifting waters of political will. But there is a glimmer of hope in the shape of this large, growing movement of ordinary citizens who, with numbers, creativity and sheer will, may just be able to turn this around before it's too late.
© 2013 Guardian News and Media | <urn:uuid:ec6fb28c-bd8b-45c6-ac4a-dba371e4f7c0> | {
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FEDERAL WAY, Wash., February 4, 2014 — The composites manufacturing courses at Todd Beamer High School are quickly gaining popularity among students, according to Larry DuFresne, the school’s composite manufacturing instructor.
“There’s quite a bit of buzz in the building about it, I have students coming up to me all the time and talking about it,” DuFresne said during the Federal Way Public Schools board of directors meeting January 28.
It’s easy to see why students would be interested, as students can earn a “living wage” directly out of high school with the completion of the necessary education for composite materials manufacturing, DuFresne noted.
“Students entering Boeing as a grade four composite fabricator start off at $16 per hour. After six years, they can make $35 per hour, and with average overtime, first-year employees could make $40-$60,000 per year,” he said. “After six years, they can make $70,000 before overtime is calculated.”
DuFresne noted that this field is fast growing, and that those opportunities with Boeing will only continue to increase, with Boeing’s current attrition rate sitting at 24 percent. Outside of Boeing, AIM Aerospace and Angles Composite Technology Inc. are two larger local employers heavily involved in the composite manufacturing business.
Outside of those major local businesses, composite materials are beginning to spread to diverse industries, DuFresne noted.
Other employment options in composite manufacturing include automotive and marine companies, which are starting to use carbon fiber in the production of vehicles; sporting equipment manufacturers; and medical devices, such as prosthetics, are now becoming more mainstream and widely available in composites, DuFresne said.
“And wind farms. Wind farm generator cells and blades are made from carbon fiber kevlar,” he added. “This is starting to take off. Nowadays, you see many wind farms on the eastern side of the Cascades. Our hope is to get our students in at the ground level of these growing fields.”
Board member Claire Wilson asked DuFresne how many classes he’s currently teaching for composite materials manufacturing. He said he has two classes currently, with approximately 30 students in each. If a third class period was available, he thinks it would likely fill up to about the same numbers.
Composite materials manufacturing is part of the district’s overarching Career and Technical Education program. To learn more about that program, visit fwps.org/academics/cte.
Source: federalwaymirror.com, © 2013 Sound Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.
If you have questions about the press release or need additional information, please contact SME Public Relations at [email protected]. | <urn:uuid:6106790c-5277-4bc0-b081-2acf255e06cb> | {
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10 Amazing Olympic Facts You Might Not Know
With the Olympics coming to London this summer, we thought we’d take a look at some amazing facts and traditions that make up part of this celebrated global event.
The first Olympics, which got started in ancient Greece, only allowed men to take part. These days, men and women from across the planet compete for Olympic gold. Athletic records have been set, heroes have been made, rivalries formed and even a few tragedies have occurred. Nations have gone at it every four years (with a few exceptions) in both team and individual events for more than a century now. Athletes compete for pride, fame and Olympic glory, and the desire to be the best. Here are a few stories surrounding the history of the Olympics.
This Is London’s Record Third Olympics
2012 is not the first time London has hosted an Olympic Games, nor is it even the second. In fact, London will become the first city to ever host a modern Olympics three times. In addition to that record, London also has the honor of being the first city to host the Paralympics, which took place in 1948 for wounded war veterans.
The World’s Youngest Olympian
Dimitrios Loundras was a Greek gymnast who took part in the Athens Olympics held in 1896. Young Dimitrios won a bronze medal for his efforts, and to this day he still remains the youngest Olympic competitor and medalist on record. Even more amazing, he was 10 years and 218 days old when he won his medal. That’s a lot of pressure for a kid, but Dimitrios did just fine. Later in life he became an admiral in the Greek Navy. Perhaps he held onto his medal when he was out to sea, for good luck.
The Barefoot Marathoner
Running a marathon is hard work. Shoe companies market like crazy to all types of runners, but their advertisements would have been wasted on Abebe Bikila. Abebe, who hailed from Ethiopia, won the gold medal for the marathon in the 1960 Rome Olympics. He was the first African to win a gold, and he did so barefoot. That just goes to show you expensive footwear doesn’t always make the difference.
The Oldest Olympian Ever
Oscar Swahn, a Swedish shooting expert, won his first Olympic medal in 1908, when he was a spry 60-year-olds. Apparently he got a taste for winning, even if it came later in life than most people. (He would go on to compete in two more Olympic Games.) After WWI, Swahn attended the Antwerp Games (his last) and won a silver medal. He was 72 at the time. It seemed his marksmanship hadn’t faltered in the slightest, despite his advancing age.
An American Won The First ‘Modern’ Olympic Medal
The American James Connolly won the fist medal given out (of the modern era) at the inaugural Athens Games, staged in 1896. In order to do so, he had to take a break from his studies at Harvard University and make his way to and through Europe. Luckily, his efforts paid off. Connolly competed in the triple jump and emerged victorious, becoming the first Olympic champion since the last Olympics were held, about 1,500 years prior. Instead of a gold medal, the top prize at the time was a silver medal and an olive leaf.
The First Olympics Ever Broadcast on Television
The 1936 Berlin Olympics (also known as the ‘Nazi’ Olympics) were the first Olympic Games to ever be televised. Before the advent of television, sports fans had to make due with radio commentary, and before radios were ubiquitous, you could only read about the results of the events in the newspaper.
These days, giant screens and HD televisions let fans live vicariously through their favorite athletes. Every glistening pore and bead of sweat can now be captured on camera. Back in 1936, you could only get a fuzzy black-and-white image, but that beat radio hands down if you happened to own a television and live in Germany (there was no global television then). Worldwide Olympic television broadcasts only became possible in the 1960s.
Gold Medals Aren’t Pure Gold
Names can be deceptive. Even though the top athlete in his or her field wins the ‘gold,’ the medals aren’t really made out of solid gold. In fact, they haven’t been pure gold for around 100 years.
The gold medals awarded now are actually silver, with gold plating. That probably doesn’t matter to the athletes who have dedicated their lives to winning one, as long as they aren’t planning on melting the medal down and pawning it off.
London Hosted the First Opening Ceremonies
The opening ceremonies of the Olympics are a pretty big deal nowadays. The city, and the nation chosen for the event invest a lot of money and resources into creating a big fanfare and a huge spectacle. (If you had the chance to see the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, you know what we’re talking about.) Well, the first few Olympics of the modern era didn’t even have an opening ceremony. That only came into style with the 1908 games, held in London. Cities have been trying to outdo one another with elaborate ceremonies ever since.
The Modern Olympics Have Been Canceled Three Times
The Olympics are traditionally held every four years. The summer and winter games took place during the same year up until 1994, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that the seasonal games should be staggered, and held two years apart.
In the past, the modern games were only canceled three times, always on account of war. The 1916 Summer Olympics in Berlin were canceled because of WWI. The 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, as well as the 1944 Summer Olympics in London were canceled because of WWII. When people are fighting for basic survival, global athletic events tend to hold a lot less meaning.
The Ancient Greeks Competed in the Nude
In ancient Greece, athletes didn’t have to worry about endorsements on their jerseys or shorts, because they weren’t wearing any. That’s right, competitors back in the day had to strut around in the buff, and only men were allowed to compete.
Competitors often oiled themselves up for looks, and as a tribute to the Gods. (The word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnos,” which means “naked.”) Those unabashed Greeks even worked out in the nude. Image the anxiety and preening that would cause in a modern gym. At least you’d save some money on your workout clothes. But where would you clip your iPod? | <urn:uuid:18f38e05-84fb-498a-aaab-a9e95cd66ac2> | {
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She enjoyed modest success with her singing career.
He earns a modest income.
We live on a modest budget.
New cars are now available at relatively modest prices.
He has only a modest amount of knowledge on the subject.
It is a book of only modest importance.
She's very modest about her achievements.
Don't be so modest. Your performance was wonderful!
“I'm not a hero. I was just doing my job,” he said in his characteristically modest way.
The foundry work was grueling, but for a little longer Brierfield afforded these African Americans a way station of modest freedom and a residue of authentic independence that was fast disappearing for most rural blacks. —Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name, 2008
… these remnants he lacked the will to discard, depressed him, deepening the low fever of depression in which even as modest a task as removing a blue doorknob loomed like a mountain almost impossible to climb. —John Updike, Harper's, October 2004
You're the hero, so then you have to behave in a certain way—there is a prescription for it. You have to be modest, you have to be forbearing, you have to be deferential, you have to be understanding. —Philip Roth, American Pastoral, 1997 | <urn:uuid:30fb7698-43d1-4f46-ace6-bf547b7ba35e> | {
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Ranked #1 Children's Hospital by U.S. News & World Report
MyPatients provides referring primary care providers with secure access to their patients’ information.
Boston Children's has launched the world's 1st program dedicated to offering hand transplants to children who qualify.
Innovation insider is a semi-monthly e-newsletter analyzes innovations at Boston Children’s, other academic medical centers and from industry.
Read the latest blog by a Boston Children's doctor, clinician or staff member.
Support the hospital with a donation that helps kids get the care they need.
Epilepsy is a brain condition that makes a child susceptible to seizures. Seizures result from abnormal electrical activity in the brain: Some parts of the brain get over-excited and fire off too many electrical signals.
Epilepsy affects about 1 percent of children and is the third most common brain disorder. It is sometimes caused by an underlying disease, injury or brain development disorder, but it often seems to appear out of nowhere. A child may have epilepsy if he or she has had two or more unprovoked seizures, meaning there is no detectable immediate cause of the seizures such as a high fever.
Epilepsy can involve many different types of seizures: Some are easy to recognize, as when your child’s body shakes, and he becomes temporarily less aware. Other seizures don’t have any obvious outward signs at all.
Epilepsy can have a profound effect on a child’s life. Some children may fall or get injured during a seizure, and the episode can leave your child exhausted. The abnormal brain activity that happens during a seizure can sometimes cause damage to the brain. So seizures and epilepsy are a special concern in children, because children’s brains are busy growing and changing.
Epilepsy sometimes can cause changes in behavior and personality or lead to other neurological problems, learning difficulties or depression and anxiety. Identifying these sorts of problems and intervening early are important aspects of caring for a child with epilepsy. Some doctors are starting to use the term “epilepsy spectrum disorder” to reflect how complex epilepsy can be.
Most children with epilepsy can achieve good seizure control with treatment, and some can live seizure-free. Treatments for epilepsy have expanded greatly in recent years to include many new medications, specialized diets and a wide range of surgical strategies. A new technique, noninvasive brain stimulation, is also being studied. Finding a treatment approach that works for your child can involve some trial and error.
Click the tabs at left to learn more about epilepsy. For more information about seizures, visit the seizures page.
The future of pediatrics will be forged by thinking differently, breaking paradigms and joining together in a shared vision of tackling the toughest challenges before us.” | <urn:uuid:7babe009-e179-4a57-a77f-d20ae52ec2ba> | {
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What is Wikimedia Commons?Edit
The aim of Wikimedia Commons is to provide a media file repository "that makes available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content to all, and that acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation."
Wikimedia Commons is a multilingual project. The default language is English, but registered users can customize their interface to any other available user interface translations. Many pages have also been translated into various languages. Users are encouraged to help with translations.
Central media repositoryEdit
Formerly each of the many Wikimedia projects—every single Wikipedia and Wiktionary, as well as Wikibooks, Wikisource, Wikinews, Wikiversity, and Wikiquote—used their own image namespace. There was no reliable way to reference images on other projects. Many good, free uploads on one wiki could go unnoticed on another. Thus, there was needless duplication of intellectual and creative work as well as unnecessary redundancy and increased maintenance.
For the home page of this project, please see commons.wikimedia.org for more details. | <urn:uuid:3f8e353a-fab0-4a3e-88a7-d981a453e23f> | {
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The objective of this experiment is to verify the Snellís law of refraction by tracking a laser ray crossing the interface between two transparent media.
A computer with internet connection, a calculator (The built-in calculator of the computer may be used.), a clear protractor, a few sheets of paper, and a pencil
Refraction is the abrupt change in the direction of light as it changes medium suddenly. The reason is the change in the speed of light. The speed of light in vacuum is 300,000 km/s, in water 225,000 km/s, and in glass 200,000 km/s. Different transparent media pose different light transmission properties. It is the change in the speed of light that makes light bend as it enters a different medium.
A good analogy to this optical phenomenon is when a car enters a gravel road from asphalt. If the gravel-asphalt borderline is straight and perpendicular (┴) to the road edge as shown in Fig. 1, the car will continue straight but at a reduced speed due to more friction offered by gravel. If the gravel-asphalt borderline is slanted as shown in Fig. 2, then the car pulls to the side that offers more friction to the tire on that side.
| Fig. 1:
Front tires face equal frictional forces.
Car slows down but travels straight.
|Fig. 2 : Front tires face unequal frictional forces. Car slows down and pulls to the right. One of the front tires is on gravel, the other still on asphalt.|
Light behaves in a similar manner. When a ray of light is incident perpendicularly on the interface between two transparent media, it enters the new medium without bending; however at a different speed. Fig. 3.
When light crosses the interface of two media in a slanted way, bending (breaking) of light or refraction occurs. Fig. 4.
Fig.3 Fig. 4
In physics and engineering, normal line means perpendicular line. For practical reasons, angles of incidence ( i ) and refraction ( r ) are measured with respect to the normal line ( N ). This is clearly shown in Fig.4. Both ( i ) and ( r ) are measured with respect to line NN, the normal to the interface.
The refraction index, n, of a transparent medium is defined as the ratio of speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in that medium. The formula is
where the speed of light c = 300,000 km/s and v is the speed of light in the desired medium. The refraction indices for water and glass are therefore,
Based on this definition, the refraction index of vacuum is 1 because
This is a constant by definition and may be used to any desired number of significant figures.
Air at normal atmospheric pressure is very dilute and has a refraction index of 1.00 very close to that of vacuum.
n air = 1.00
Snellís Law of Refraction:
The Snellís law simply relates angles i and r to the refraction indices of the two media n1 and n2. It is easy to show that
n1 sin ( i ) = n2 sin ( r )
Example: A ray of light that is making a 42.0˚ angle with water surface enters water from air.
Find the angle of refraction. That means the angle it makes with the normal line in water.
Also find the angle of deviation ( D ).
n1 = 1.00, n2 = 1.33,
i = 90.0˚ - 42.0˚ = 48.0˚ , r = ?
Using Snellís law results in: n1sin i = n2 sin r,
1.00 sin (48.0˚) = 1.33 sin(r) ; sin(r) = sin (48.0˚) / 1.33
r = 34.0˚ ; D = i - r = 48.0 - 34.0 = 14.0˚.
Click on the following applet: http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/refraction.htm . The applet shows a ray of light (Laser-like) coming from the top left corner. At the point of incidence on the interface it is partially reflected and partially refracted. Both the top medium and the bottom medium can be selected from the dropdown windows The angles of incidence (black), reflection (blue), and refraction (red) are determined by their colors. Holding the top left of the incident ray with the mouse, it allows you to move it and change the angle of incidence. As you change the angle of incidence, the angles of reflection and refraction change as well and their values appear on the right in respective colors. You are expected to calculate these angles, and record the results to 5 decimal places in Table 1 below.
Part 1: Air-Water Interface
Select air (n1 = 1.00) as Medium 1, and water ( n2 = 1.33) as Medium 2. Set the angle of incidence at 15˚ with respect to the normal line by holding the mouse on the incident ray. Measure it with a protractor and see if it is correct. Measure the angles of reflection and refraction (also with respect to the normal line) with the protractor and record all angles in Table 1. These must be recorded under the measured values.
The accepted value for the angle of reflection is of course, the same, 15˚. Calculate the accepted value for the angle of refraction from the Snell's formula and record the result in Table 1 (5 decimal places).
Repeat the above steps for angles of incidence 30˚, 45˚, 60˚, and 90˚. Each time the angle of refraction must be recorded to 5 decimal places.
Part 2: Air-(Flint Glass SF2) Interface
Select air (n1 = 1.00) as Medium 1, and flint glass SF2 ( n2 = 1.65) as Medium 2.
Follow the exact procedure as in Part 1.
Part 3: Benzol-Water Interface
Select Benzol (n1 = 1.50) as Medium 1, and water ( n2 = 1.33) as Medium 2. Note: This time n2 < n1
Follow the exact procedure as in Part 1 and also determine the maximum angle of incidence for which refraction occurs. Record that angle in Table 1.
Make an explanation to this effect in your conclusion.
Data: Given and Measured:
|Trial||Measured||Accepted (Calculated)||% Error|
|Incidence Angle ( ˚ )||Reflection Angle ( ˚ )||Refraction Angle ( ˚ )||Reflection Angle ( ˚ )||Refraction Angle ( ˚ )|
|5||( ˚ )|
Calculations: Apply the Snellís formula to find the accepted values for angles of refraction (5 decimal places), in each case.
Comparison of the Results: Calculate a %error on the angle of refraction in each trial.
Conclusion: To be explained by students
Discussion: To be explained by students | <urn:uuid:90769778-eac0-4a14-8315-92908a928a85> | {
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Pumpkins, those ubiquitous orange orbs left over from Halloween celebrations, are everywhere right now. Luckily, they are great additions to healthy eating plans, serving as a fiber-full way to enhance anything from pasta dishes to dessert recipes.
On this momentous Election Day, what better way to celebrate than with a member of the Cucurbitaceae family? After all, they are native to the Americas and include pumpkins and gourds, although I wouldn't suggest eating those. Gourds are better off used as our Native American precursors used them, as natural water canteens and purses for carrying tools and seeds.
The first pumpkins showed up around 7000 to 5000 B.C. in Mexico, according to Wikipedia. Peoples in those areas relied heavily on a diet of squash, beans and corn to supply them with staple nutritional needs. They play a starring role in our annual Thanksgiving dinner menu as a dessert these days, but it may surprise you to learn that in the original Thanksgiving dinner in 1621, they were used not as a sweet, but as a vegetable side dish.
Pumpkin pie, although delicious, is not always the healthiest way to eat pumpkin. I find substituting egg whites for the eggs, using nonfat evaporated milk and cutting a little sugar out of the recipe will make a darn good pie, and no one at the Thanksgiving dinner table need be any wiser about the lower calorie counts. Just be sure top your slice with a little fat-free whipped cream and enjoy.
Pie is good, no doubt, but pumpkin can be enjoyed in other dessert recipes. In fact, canned pure pumpkin makes a great substitute for oil in many recipes, cutting down on fat and pumping up the fiber content in any boxed brownie or cake mix you may wish to prepare.
But the pumpkin shouldn't be limited to the dessert table, as I have enjoyed delicious low-calorie, high fiber and, most importantly, flavorful pumpkin soup, using a can of pure pumpkin, a few cups of vegetable or chicken broth and some spices such as curry powder or cinnamon.
I vote we move pumpkin from the last course to the first! And you can even include roasted pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, in salads, topping soups or adding crunch to vegetable side dishes.
Preliminary research on lab rats has shown some evidence that phytochemicals in pumpkin may lower insulin and glucose levels, and two compounds taken out of pumpkin paste and fed to diabetic rats caused lower blood glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol, good news for furry mammals and, perhaps in the near future, humans.
Why wait for Turkey Day to enjoy the possible health benefits of pumpkins? Grab a can of pure pumpkin, or if you're more industrious, a pie pumpkin from the produce section, and give thanks for an orange orb or two in advance. | <urn:uuid:1110327f-5906-44a1-8d61-cfbb47abb704> | {
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Drop by and use your imagination to build whatever your mind can dream up. Creative play with building blocks fosters problem solving, enhances spatial skills, encourages imagination, and plus—they’re FUN.
What concepts do children learn by playing with building blocks?
- math skills
- understanding fractions
- color identification | <urn:uuid:0d53bdf1-0778-4a47-800b-5bec5cdb3dd8> | {
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Clay Minerals in Nature - Their Characterization, Modification and Application
Clay is an abundant raw material which has a variety of uses and properties depending on their structure and composition. Clay minerals are inexpensive and environmentally friendly naturally occurring nanomaterials, thanks to their 1 nm thick silicate layers, in all types of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The book chapters have been classified according to their characteristics in topics and applications. Therefore, in the first section five chapters is dedicated to the characterization and utilization of clay minerals in deposits. The second section includes four chapters about the significance of clay minerals in soils. Third section is devoted to different aspects of clay minerals research, especially to the characterization of structure and modifications for their application. | <urn:uuid:6ac5ff9a-f4b1-4e58-99e7-c125c5e804fe> | {
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Department of Orthopaedic Surgery - University Stellenbosch
|Rotational deformities: Lower limb|
Internal Rotational Deformities of the Lower Limb
by Jason Crane
Most rotational variations in young children, such as in-toeing, out-toeing, and torticollis, are benign and resolve spontaneously. Understanding the normal variations in otherwise healthy children is vital to identifying true structural abnormalities that require intervention. A deliberate assessment of the rotational profile is necessary when evaluating children who in-toe or out-toe. In-toeing is usually attributable to metatarsus adductus in the infant, internal tibial torsion in the toddler, and femoral anteversion in children younger than 10 years.
Rotational profiles vary widely among normal children. Differences in appearance during walking or running are most often just that, differences and not pathological conditions. In toeing is described by the direction of the foot, relative to the body’s line of progression during the gait cycle. This is referred to as internal torsion. It is produced by the summation of factors that include version of the bones, capsular laxity or tightness and muscle control.
Limb buds appear in the fifth week in utero. The great toes develop in a preaxial position, rotating medially in the seventh week to bring the hallux to midline. Subsequent intrauterine molding causes external rotation at the hip, internal rotation of the tibia, and variable positioning of the foot. Thus, many infants are born with an internal tibial torsion axis, an external contracture at the hip, or flexible foot deformities.
The external hip contracture initially masks the high degree of femoral anteversion also characteristic of normal infants at birth. Postnatally, the lower extremities continue to rotate externally until adult values are reached (between ages 8 and 10 years). During this period of rapid growth, the tibia typically externally rotates 15° (-50 at birth to10o at maturity) while femoral anteversion decreases an average of 25° (400 at birth to 15o at maturity). Normal rotational profiles in childhood therefore are variable and age-dependent.
Femoral anteversion progression with age Tibial rotation progression with age
Normal variability in young children must be differentiated from more serious structural problems. The clinical history should delineate the onset and duration of a structural problem and any evidence of progression. Whereas the typical natural history of benign rotational conditions would suggest improvement over time, a progressive deformity suggests a possible pathologic developmental or neurologic disorder.
Relevant birth history should be noted, including gestational age, length of labor, complications, Apgar scores, birth weight, and number of days in the hospital. These details may heighten the suspicion for possibility of cerebral palsy. The family
history should include a careful assessment of rotational disorders in other family members and the presence of hereditary disorders (eg, vitamin D–resistant rickets, mucopolysaccharidoses, achondroplasia, epiphyseal or metaphyseal dysplasia) that may affect the rotational profile.
The child's rotational profile, as described by Staheli, should be recorded.
The five components in this profile are:
Internal and external hip rotation.
Hip rotation is most easily measured with the patient in the prone position. Infants have an average of 40° of internal rotation (range, 10° to 60°. The range is limited by the tight posterior capsule even though they have increased femoral anteversion and should potentially have a larger internal rotation arc.) and 70° of external rotation (range, 45° to 90°). By age 10 years, internal hip rotation averages 50° (range, 25° to 65°) and external rotation, 45° (range, 25° to 65°). Internal rotation measuring 70°, 80°, or 90° is evidence respectively of a mild, moderate, or severe increase in femoral torsion. Increased femoral torsion may be evident during gait, with medially facing patellar alignment.
Is best examined with the child in the prone position and the knee flexed 90°. This angle consists of the rotation of the tibia and hindfoot in relation to the longitudinal axis of the thigh and indicates the amount of tibial torsion present. In infants, the thigh-foot angle averages 5° internal (range, 30° to +20°). Excessive internal tibial torsion spontaneously resolves by age 3 or 4 years in most children. By age 8 years, the thigh-foot axis averages 10° external (range, 5° to +30°) and usually changes very little after that.
Aids in determining the amount of tibial torsion present. This axis is the angle formed at the intersection of an imaginary line from the lateral to the medial malleolus, and a second line from the lateral to the medial femoral condyles. At gestational age 5 months, the fetus has approximately 20° of internal tibial torsion. The tibia then rotates externally, and most newborns have an average of 4° of internal tibial torsion. As a child grows, the tibia continues to rotate externally. Adults have an average of 23° of external tibial torsion (range, 0° to 40°).
The heel-bisector angle
This is the line drawn through the midline axis of the hindfoot and the forefoot. It is helpful in evaluating forefoot adduction and abduction. In a neutral foot, the heel-bisector line passes through the second web space.
Foot progression angle
The foot progression angle is the angle of the foot relative to an imaginary straight line in the patient’s path. Patients who in-toe are assigned a negative angular value; patients who out-toe are given a positive value. This value represents the sum total
effect of the child’s structural alignment (i.e., femoral torsion, tibial torsion, foot contour) as well as any dynamic torsion forces resulting from muscle forces
In-toeing usually is caused by benign conditions such as metatarsus adductus, excessive internal tibial torsion, and excessive femoral torsion. Less frequently, patients have pathologic conditions such as clubfoot, skewfoot, hip disorders, and neuromuscular diseases. Metatarsus adductus, with or without internal tibial torsion, is the most common cause of in-toeing from birth to 1 year. In toddlers, internal tibial torsion causes most in-toeing. After age 3 years, in-toeing usually is caused by increased femoral anteversion. More severe in-toeing suggests a combination of deformities, such as internal tibial torsion and excessive femoral anteversion.
Out-toeing typically is caused by external rotation contracture of the hip, external tibial torsion, or external femoral torsion. External rotation contracture of the hip capsule is a common finding during infancy, whereas external tibial or femoral torsion is more commonly seen in older children and adolescents who outtoe. Severe pes planovalgus also has been associated with out-toeing. More serious conditions, such as a slipped capital femoral epiphysis, hip dysplasia, or coxa vara, are less common but should be considered. Severe Cerebral palsy children may develop femoral internal rotation and tibilal external rotation, called miserable alignment syndrome.
Active treatment of childhood rotational disorders is unnecessary in most cases. Treatment consists of reassurance and education about the natural history of the condition. Bracing and shoe modifications are unnecessary and should be actively discouraged for these normal children.
Described by Henke in 1863, metatarsus adductus is the most common pediatric foot problem referred to orthopaedic surgeons. It consists of medial deviation of the forefoot on the hindfoot with a neutral or slightly valgus heel.
Occurs in 1:5,000 live births and in 1:20 siblings of patients with metatarsus adductus. The rate of metatarsus adductus is higher in males, twin births, and preterm babies.
Although the exact cause of metatarsus adductus is unknown, numerous theories exist. One is that in utero positioning causes the deformity. Earlier studies suggested a relationship between metatarsus adductus and hip dysplasia, but recent studies indicate no such correlation.
Metatarsus adductus usually is seen in the first year of life and occurs more frequently on the left side. Presenting complaints include cosmesis, an in-toeing gait, or excessive shoe wear. On physical examination, the foot appears C-shaped, with a concave medial border and a convex lateral border. The hindfoot will be neutral or in valgus, but never in varus. Range of motion of the ankle and subtalar joint will be normal.
Depending on the heel-bisector angle metatarsus adductus has been classified by Smith et al as mild, moderate, or severe. A later classification system described by Bleck designated a flexible forefoot as one that could be abducted beyond the midline heel bisector angle, a partially flexible forefoot as one that could be abducted to midline, and a rigid forefoot as one that could not be abducted to midline.
The usefulness of radiographs before age 4 years is limited by the lack of sufficient ossification in the bones of the foot. In older children, forefoot adduction, excessive medial deviation at the tarsal-metatarsal joint, and a neutral or valgus heel will be evident on a standing radiograph.
Most cases of flexible metatarsus adductus resolve spontaneously and do not require use of splinting, braces, or special shoes. In a series of 21 patients (31 feet) with partly flexible or inflexible metatarsus adductus treated with serial casting, 20 patients (95% [29 feet]) had painless normal feet as adults Most evidence indicates that flexible metatarsus adductus commonly resolves without treatment and that even when it does not, it rarely leads to pain in adulthood. Patients with rigid metatarsus adductus deformities should undergo early casting.
Uncommonly, resistant cases of inflexible metatarsus adductus that do not reduce with serial casting may require surgery because of painful shoe wear. Surgery is planned between three and seven years of age (As the midtarsal bones only ossify after 3 years of age). Surgical options include release of the abductor hallucis tendon, medial midfoot capsulotomy, tarsometatarsal joint capsulotomy and release of the intermetatarsal ligaments, or osteotomy at the metatarsal bases and cuneiforms. An opening wedge osteotomy of the medial cuneiform, combined with a closing wedge osteotomy of the cuboid or osteotomies at the base of the second through fourth metatarsals, has been shown to be safe and effective. Thus, this appears to be the most effective surgical option in patients older than 3 years with persistent rigid metatarsus adductus deformities.
Metatarsus Primus Varus
Metatarsus primus varus is an isolated adducted first metatarsal. In contrast with simple metatarsus adductus, in metatarsus primus varus the lateral border of the foot has a normal alignment, and there is often a deepened vertical skin crease on the medial border of the foot at the tarsometatarsal joint. In general, metatarsus primus varus is a more rigid deformity than simple metatarsus adductus, and early casting is recommended. Persistent deformity in childhood is associated with progressive hallux valgus. Opening medial cuneiform osteotomy has been described for selective use in children with a severe deformity.
Dynamic Hallucis Abductus
Dynamic hallux abductus, otherwise known as the wandering or atavistic toe, also can cause in-toeing. The great toe deviates medially during ambulation while the remainder of the forefoot remains straight. Dynamic hallucis abductus usually presents after a child begins walking and is thought to be caused by an imbalance of the great toe abductor and adductor muscles. Dynamic hallux abductus usually resolves with age and subsequent fine motor coordination development.
Skewfoot, also called congenital metatarsus varus or serpentine metatarsus adductus, is characterized by adducted metatarsals combined with a valgus deformity of the heel and plantarflexion of the talus. Little is known of the pathogenesis of this disorder. Improper casting of metatarsus adductus or clubfoot deformities may result in a skewfoot because of failure to support the hindfoot while abducting the forefoot in
the cast. However, most cases are thought to be idiopathic. The amount of hindfoot valgus necessary to classify a foot as a true skewfoot rather than as the more common metatarsus adductus is not strictly defined.
Standing radiographs confirm the presence of an adducted forefoot and a valgus hindfoot. The natural history of this deformity is unclear. Although some feet undergo spontaneous correction, others clearly continue to have pain, callosities, and problems with shoe wear. Surgery is indicated for children with a persistently symptomatic foot deformity.
Children are treated after age 6 years with an opening wedge osteotomy of the calcaneus and a medial cuneiform opening osteotomy.
Skewfoot: An AP radiograph reveals the significant varus deformity of the forefoot creating a negatively valued talo-first metatarsal angle. Delayed ossification of the navicular prevents radiographic documentation of the lateral talonavicular subluxation. The hindfoot valgus is portrayed by the increased talocalcaneal angle (the upper limits of normal as shown).
Internal tibial torsion is the most common cause of in-toeing from ages 1 to 3 years. In two thirds of affected children, the increased torsion is bilateral.
When unilateral, internal tibial torsion usually affects the left side.
Most cases are thought to be caused
by intrauterine positioning.
Accurate clinical recognition relies on measurement of the thigh-foot and transmalleolar axes. Parents of children with increased internal tibial torsion often report that the child is clumsy and trips frequently.
Treatment with splinting, shoe modifications, exercises, and braces has proven to be ineffective. Because the natural history of internal tibial torsion strongly favors spontaneous resolution by age 4 years, expectant observation is recommended instead. Disability from persistent residual internal tibial torsion is rare, and it has been found not to be a risk factor for degenerative joint disease. Some have even suggested that in-toeing improves sprinting ability.
Surgical treatment of tibial torsion is rarely indicated and should be re- served for children older than 8 years with marked functional or cosmetic deformity and a thigh-foot angle greater than 15°. Both proximal and supramalleolar tibial derotational osteotomies have been used to manage tibial torsion. However, most surgeons prefer the supramalleolar osteotomy because of its lower complication rate. In the skeletally mature adolescent, derotational osteotomy with intramedullary fixation is also an option.
Femoral torsion is the angular difference between the femoral neck axis and the transcondylar axis of the knee.
At birth, neonates have an average of 40° of femoral anteversion. By age 8 years, average anteversion decreases to the typical adult value of 15°.
Most cases of femoral torsion are idiopathic, although a familial association is identified in some patients. No association between increased femoral anteversion and degenerative joint disease has been proved; however, some association with knee pain has been suggested. Knee pain may be particularly prevalent in children with concomitantly increased femoral anteversion and external tibial torsion (so-called miserable malalignment syndrome).
Increased femoral anteversion is the most common cause of in-toeing in early childhood, tends to occur in females, and is symmetrical.
Children with excessive femoral anteversion characteristically sit with their legs in the W position and run with an eggbeater-type motion (because of internal rotation of the thighs during swing phase). In-toeing from excessive femoral anteversion usually increases until age 5 years and then resolves by age 8.
On physical examination, internal hip rotation is increased and external hip rotation decreased (>700 internal rotation is classified as abnormal). Using Craig’s test; Patient lies prone with knee flexed 900 and examiner palpates posterior aspect of greater trochanter. Hip is then passively rotated internally and externally until greater trochanter is parallel with examining table or reaches its most lateral prominent position. The degree of anteversion can then be estimated, based on the lower leg's angle with the vertical.
Previously plain X-rays using the Magillian method (complicated set of graphs and tables) were utilized to calculate the femoral anteversion. Fluoroscopic methods using a goniometer intra procedure have also been described. These methods have been largely replaced by CT-Scan. Cuts are made through the femoral neck and the femoral condyles with the patient in a static position this gives an accurate representation of the femoral anteversion.
Femoral anteversion is usually self-limiting, and if persistent causes no long term pathological changes in the associated joints. No treatment is necessary for most cases of femoral torsion.
Surgical intervention may be indicated in a child older than 8 years with a marked cosmetic or functional deformity, anteversion >50°, and internal hip rotation >80°. Surgeries to correct femoral torsion include proximal femoral, distal femoral osteotomies and intra medullary nails. Todd etal suggested a proximal femoral osteotomy may be considered if the patient has a concomitant varus or valgus deformity. Otherwise, a distal femoral osteotomy through a lateral approach is the preferred treatment. A small compression plate may be used to treat skeletally immature patients and a blade plate for skeletally mature patients. This is controversial as many authors believe you should correct proximally at the cora of the deformity. They also believe that a distal rotational osteotomy will result in patella maltracking and patellar femoral pain, while others maintain that you are correcting the deformity to its normal anatomical profile and there for no maltracking should occur.
Benign rotational variations are seen in many healthy children. Although the physical appearance of these conditions may initially be alarming, spontaneous resolution occurs in most cases. A thorough understanding of the normal rotational variations that may occur in children younger than 10 years is essential to properly reassure and educate families, as well as to identify more serious underlying structural problems that might exist. | <urn:uuid:850bc630-f009-45b4-826f-b858c82532d4> | {
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Current technology is single-level cell (SLC) PCM, which only stores one bit per cell with limited capacity. For example, Samsung produces a 512Mb PCM chip for its GT-E2550 GSM mobile phone. Micron's Numonyx division makes a 128Mb PCM chip and is shipping product to several customers who use it in networking equipment, medical monitoring devices, and security cameras. .
PCM uses electrical charges to change areas on a glassy material from crystalline to random or amorphous. The technique uses far less power than NAND flash to store data and it has data write rates up to 100 times faster because it does not first require existing data to be marked for deletion.
PCM leverages the resistance change that occurs in the material -- an alloy of various elements -- when it changes its phase from crystalline - featuring low resistance - to amorphous - featuring high resistance - to store data bits. In a PCM cell, where a phase-change material is deposited between a top and a bottom electrode, phase change can controllably be induced by applying voltage or current pulses of different strengths. These heat up the material, and when distinct temperature thresholds are reached cause the material to change from crystalline to amorphous or vice versa.
IBM scientists said they were able to address the bit error problem associated with MLC PCM memory by using an advanced modulation coding technique, which addresses the problem of short-term drift. Short-term drift is analogous to a problem in NAND flash memory where electrons leak through the thin walls of cells and create data read errors.
In NAND flash, the problem is addressed through the use of error correction code (ECC) in controller chips. But in PCM, data errors are not corrected, but avoided through the use of specialized code.
"With modulation codes you try to avoid the most probable errors. Modulation codes appear today in hard disk drives as well as optical drives such as Blu-ray discs," Pozidis said. "We apply a voltage pulse based on the deviation from the desired level and then measure the resistance. If the desired level of resistance is not achieved, we apply another voltage pulse and measure again - until we achieve the exact level."
IBM scientists achieved a worst-case write latency of about 10 microseconds, which represents a 100x performance increase over even the most advanced flash memory on the market today.
Pozidis said IBM is currently using PCM circuitry that is 90 nanometers in size, or about twice the width of today's densest SLC PCM products. But that too will shrink over time.
IBM is not planning to produce consumer grade products out of PCM, Pozidis said. The main target for the technology is to license it to memory manufacturers, such as Toshiba and Samsung, and help them accelerate the production of the memory chips for enterprise applications.
Other researchers have been combining carbon nanotube technology with PCM to create chips that sip electricity and could extend the battery life of mobile devices to weeks.
Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian, or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed. His email address is [email protected].
Read more about storage in Computerworld's Storage Topic Center. | <urn:uuid:0c697a05-8b9c-4c41-80a3-ea54f58f1a76> | {
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February 10, 2010
Stars form from giant gas clouds in galaxies — the star-formation rate, however, has changed over cosmic timescales. In the young universe, many more stars were born. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, together with an international team of astronomers, have found a plausible explanation: A few billion years after the Big Bang normal star-forming galaxies contained five to ten times more cold gas than today, providing more "food" to fuel the star-formation process.
"We have been able, for the first time, to detect and image the cold molecular gas in normal star-forming galaxies that are representative of the typical massive galaxy populations shortly after the Big Bang," said Linda Tacconi from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.
The challenging observations yield the first glimpse of how galaxies, or more precisely the cold gas in these galaxies, looked a mere 3 to 5 billion years after the Big Bang. At this epoch, galaxies seem to have formed stars more or less continuously with at least ten times the rate seen in similar mass systems in the local universe.
The fundamental question is whether these large star-formation rates were caused by larger reservoirs of cold molecular gas (which represents the 'food' for newly formed stars) or whether star formation in the young universe was more efficient than it is today.
Over the past decade, astronomers have established a global framework of how galaxies formed and evolved when the universe was only a few billion years old. Gas cooled and collected in concentrations of the mysterious dark matter (so-called dark-matter halos). Over cosmological timescales, gas accreting from these halos onto the proto-galaxies, and collisions and mergers of galaxies, subsequently led to the hierarchical build-up of galaxy mass.
Detailed observations of the cold gas and its distribution and dynamics hold a key role in disentangling the complex mechanisms responsible for turning the first proto-galaxies into modern galaxies such as the Milky Way.
A major study of distant, luminous star-forming galaxies at the Plateau de Bure millimeter interferometer, in the French Alps, has resulted in a breakthrough by having a direct look at the star-formation "food". The study took advantage of major recent advances in the sensitivity of the radiometers at the observatory to make the first systematic survey of cold gas properties of normal massive galaxies when the universe was 40% and 24% of its current age. Previous observations were largely restricted to rare, luminous objects, including galaxy mergers and quasars. The new study instead traces massive star-forming galaxies representative of the normal, average galaxy population in this mass and redshift range.
"When we started the program about a year ago, we could not be sure that we would even detect anything," said Tacconi. "But the observations were successful beyond our most optimistic hopes. We have been able to demonstrate that massive normal galaxies had five to ten times more gas than what we see in the local universe. Given that these galaxies were forming gas at a high rate over long periods of time, this means that gas must have been continuously replenished by accretion from the dark-matter halos, in excellent agreement with recent theoretical work."
Another important result of these observations is the first spatially resolved images of the cold gas distribution and motions in several of the galaxies. "This survey has opened the door for an entirely new avenue of studying the evolution of galaxies," said Pierre Cox, director of the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) in Grenoble, France. "This is really exciting, and there is much more to come."
"These fascinating findings provide us with important clues and constraints for next-generation theoretical models that we will use to study the early phases of galaxy development in more detail," said Andreas Burkert, specialist for star formation and the evolution of galaxies at the Excellence Cluster Universe, in Garching, Germany. "Eventually these results will help us understand the origin and the development of our Milky Way." | <urn:uuid:91f14624-b243-4ab2-aab1-c8cc412a1382> | {
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‘Green economy’ has become the new global buzzword. To environmentalists the green economy is about greening and making more sustainable our production and supply chains, as well as our consumption patterns. To many politicians, however, green economy is synonymous with the competition for green jobs – the desire to keep whatever new jobs it generates within territorial boundaries and, once they come about, to protect these jobs as much as possible.
Given these radically different goals, confusion can emerge over industrial policy and environmental policy associated with green jobs. Nowhere is this confusion more visible than in the area of renewable energy.
Production is global
Much of the competition over green jobs ignores the fact that production chains have gone global. We no longer live in a world in which Product A is entirely manufactured in Country A and then sold to Country B. Most Product As are produced in multiple locations around the globe and, if these products are ‘green’, then the ‘green jobs’ associated with production are equally spread out.
Take American silicon modules for solar panels, labelled as ‘Made in the US’. Much of the material used in their production are sourced from China, Europe or Japan. The same is true of Chinese photovoltaic cells labelled as ‘Made in China’. Much of the equipment used in their manufacture is imported from Germany, Switzerland or the US.
Politicians who hope to boost jobs by forcing local producers to buy local equipment and components, or by penalising the entry of competing green goods into their territory, are trying to roll back the clock on the increased levels of efficiency and specialisation already attained on a global scale.
In a world of global supply chains, an average country imports roughly 40 per cent of its own exports. Shooting down imports, therefore, amounts to shooting one’s own foot. The desire to monopolise green jobs runs counter to the rising tide of global value chains.
Politicians also wrongly focus only on manufacture, neglecting the many jobs associated with the green services that are an equally vital part of the green economy, including installation and maintenance.
The World Resources Institute has run a wide array of calculations on the jobs generated in the renewable energy economy and their distribution.
In the US, 25 per cent of the 1,00,000 full-time workers estimated to be employed in the solar power industry are in manufacture. The rest are involved in R&D, solar panel installation, project development, finance, sales and distribution.
In the American wind sector, 33,000 jobs lie in manufacture but 39,000 others are in installation, operation and maintenance. The same proportions hold in many other countries.
Here lies a vital message for policy-makers: The best way to create green jobs is to set environmental targets and then let markets do their job. In the renewable energy sector, more jobs are created in the actual deployment of clean energy – jobs which by definition can only be local – than are created in manufacture.
While a better understanding of the functioning of global value chains certainly helps demystify the quest for green jobs, it helps with another issue as well.
Made in the world
China-bashing has now become a popular sport, both in the West and in other Asian countries. It is not uncommon to hear in the press that China has conquered global solar power production at the expense of countries such as Germany and the US – in short, that it’s stolen green energy jobs from those countries.
The reality, however, is that China is a mere assembly point for various imported components.
As the World Resources Institute puts it, few jobs in China have been created in the production of polycrystalline silicon materials because most of the raw materials are imported, and more than 90 per cent of photovoltaic products are exported to foreign markets. China has not, by any stretch of the imagination, monopolised green solar-energy jobs.
These findings also apply to the solar energy trade balance between China and the rest of the world, once we realise that what is ‘Made in China’ is actually ‘Made in the World’.
The message is simple: In today’s highly interconnected world, protectionism simply does not protect. If today’s price of a solar panel has fallen to a fraction of what it used to be – and it halved in 2011 – the response should not be to search for ways to keep foreign solar panels out of domestic markets and thereby raise prices once again. Rather we should be trying to boost demand for solar power so that it matches panel supply.
The best way to do that is through stable, well-designed renewable energy deployment policies. Environmental targets, not job targets or trade protectionism, should be the way forward. | <urn:uuid:ad972671-f214-4887-8a07-0fa09925e20a> | {
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Selecting a real Christmas tree over an artificial tree is an environmentally friendly decision because of the renewable nature of real trees.
But what should families do with the Christmas tree after the holidays have passed? If the tree is taken to a landfill for disposal, the environmental benefits end there.
Virginia Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources agent Adam Downing has some creative suggestions for getting the most out of your tree after the holidays.
Use the tree as a cover for birds in your yard.
“A bird feeder in the wide open is not as attractive to birds as one closer to cover where they can rest and hide. A simple way to enhance the cover near your bird feeders is to put your Christmas tree a few feet away from it,” Downing said. Drive a stake into the ground near your bird feeder and tie the tree to it. Evergreen trees — like the pines and firs we often use for Christmas trees — are great for birds because they will keep the birds warm in addition to protecting them from predators.
Build a brush pile.
Use your Christmas tree, along with any other brush you have or can collect, to build a brush pile in your yard. Small animals like rabbits will appreciate the safe, warm spot they can use to hide or live in. As the trees and brush decompose, they will return nutrients to the soil.
If you have a large leaf mulcher, you can turn the tree into natural mulch. “Any acid-loving plants, such as azaleas, rhododendrons, and mountain laurel in particular, will benefit from this type of natural mulch,” Downing said.
Use it as firewood.
Cut the branches off the tree, cut up the trunk, and leave it to dry for next year. “Pine is not recommended for regular use as firewood because the higher soot buildup in the chimney can make for a dangerous situation over the long run. But a few branches once a year should be all right,” Downing said. | <urn:uuid:842085e3-b5ed-44d4-af3c-114e1d051207> | {
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Stevenson Square and its building today
The Stevenson square conservation area represents a significant portion of the city centre in which the majority of Victorian buildings remain intact. Many are listed by the Department of the Environment as being of special architectural or historic interest. Very few buildings from the 18th century are still standing in the conservation area. The earliest include a few groups of houses and two public houses.
Numbers 69-77 Lever Street form a row of five three-storey merchants' houses with Tuscan pilaster door cases and sash windows with single glazing bars.
At the time of construction in 1787, the residences were also places of work. Skilled artisans lived in the three-room (one up, one down, and basement) 'back houses' which were built in the back yards and fronted on to Bradley Street. These dwellings were large by comparison with other, poorer houses built later in the vicinity. This group of houses is unique in the world, as they are the only example of their type still standing.
Numbers 8-14 Lever Street also form a group of Georgian houses, larger and more elaborate than 69-77, with two having acanthus leaf capitals and fluted entablature on the Tuscan pilaster door cases.
Numbers 50-62 Port Street are small, three-storey Georgian houses which were also used for business purposes. In this case, shop fronts were added in the mid-19th century. Just one of this group, no. 54, has a typical fustian weavers' horizontal, sliding-sash window at eaves level.
Numbers 24-28 Dale Street form a small group of Georgian houses, two of which have been converted to a public house.
The Brunswick Hotel on Piccadilly is an early-19th century three-storey building which has been extended to include nos. 2 and 4 Paton Street. They are finished in stucco and have Tuscan pilaster door-cases.
The majority of buildings of architectural or historic interest in the conservation area are Victorian or early-20th century. Most are related to the cotton industry, often warehouses, showrooms or workshops. These buildings are taller than the earlier examples and create a varied matrix of building mass, divided by largely dark, narrow streets. Wealth produced by the cotton industry can be seen reflected in the buildings, either stone or brick with stone dressings, many of which are elaborately decorated. Towards the end of this period terracotta became popular and was extensively used either in conjunction with brick or on its own.
The most significant street redeveloped for textile uses during the Victorian and Edwardian periods is Dale Street. It changes direction at the junction of Newton Street and Port Street, increasing the importance of the buildings at this point.
Number 35 Dale Street is a particularly fine example constructed in buff terracotta and orange-red brick, with numerous pinnacles and pediments forming an interesting skyline.Numbers 69-75 Piccadilly form a symmetrical five-storey stone building in Victorian Gothic style, with grouped windows in the centre bays, built around 1850.
Numbers 77-83 Piccadilly were designed by Clegg and Knowles and dated 1877. A four-storey stone building with attic floor in Victorian eclectic style, which is richly decorated with stone carvings inspired by several sources.
107 Piccadilly is a Jacobean-Baroque style warehouse and showroom with offices, designed for a cotton manufacturer. Constructed in 1899 of red sandstone and red brick, it is a typical, lively design by local architect Charles Heathcote, who developed his own, inimitable style.
No. 50 Newton Street is an early-20th century five-storey building with attic dormers. The three middle floors are linked by giant arcade windows with buff terracotta quoins contrasting with smooth red brick.
The older streets would originally have been muddy tracks. The most important of these were later cobbled. With the increased transportation demands of commerce in the world's first industrial city, the Victorians paved the streets with durable gritstone setts. In some smaller streets these are still visible, together with cast-iron kerbs which were resistant to damage otherwise caused by the iron rims of cart wheels. | <urn:uuid:f8ece3da-06dc-481f-bfe5-25cd8092a9b3> | {
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Paris in the 1890s was the centre of the modern world. In 1889 the city had staged the Exposition universelle, a world’s fair organised to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution and to boost the national economy and culture — to mark the event, engineer Gustave Eiffel built his 300-metre tower.
Early work, the Nabis
A number of still lifes, portraits, domestic interiors and street scenes from the 1890s reveal Bonnard’s early talent as a painter who translated his observations of the life around him into highly subjective compositions. Eager to capture striking phenomena for his art, his eyes were continuously moving, literally hunting for new images, transposing into his work the vibrant, irregular rhythm and cultural momentum of Paris.
Bonnard, who had begun to study law in 1887, also attended art classes at the Académie Julian in Paris. With a number of other young art students, he was co-founder of a group called the Nabis (from the Hebrew word for prophets), who sought to foster a new aesthetic — a poetic transposition of form and colour. They particularly admired Paul Gauguin’s expressive use of colour. The Nabis included Paul Sérusier, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Edouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, Aristide Maillol and Félix Vallotton.
The cosmopolitan spirit and new lifestyle of the city is reflected in work produced at the time by Bonnard and his Nabi friends. They introduced decorative pictorial motifs borrowed from contemporary design; they responded to the bold flat colours of the currently popular Japanese woodblock prints; they were inclined to move between subjects, ranging from images of their fast-moving urban surroundings to quieter scenes of leisure at home or in country retreats. For them, art embraced all areas of human life, including the cultural pursuits of an urban society — literature, theatre, music, dance, photography, applied art, interior design and fashion design.
In 1854 Japan’s two centuries of isolation from the rest of the world came to an end, and the West discovered a completely new aesthetic with the influx of Japanese art and traditional objects. In 1890 in Paris, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, an exhibition of the history of Japanese woodblock prints featured more than 700 prints from private collections in Paris. The exhibition inspired in Bonnard what would be a life-long interest — he came to be known by his friends as le nabi très japonard (the very Japanese Nabi).
Much later Bonnard recalled the impact of the exhibition:
I realized that colour could express everything, as it did in this exhibition, with no need for relief or texture. I understood that it was possible to translate light, shapes and character by colour alone, without the need for values.
The inspiration of Japanese woodblock prints is apparent in the flat, bold colours and the delineation of forms in Bonnard’s early work, with his cropping of forms a lasting characteristic.
From 1893 onwards the linear style of Bonnard’s early Nabi paintings gradually gave way to a more painterly visual approach. His figures are no longer brought to life with an undulating line; instead their contours have become diffused and sketchy, merging into their surroundings. The broken and fragmented silhouette has become a vehicle for Bonnard to express in a very different way the corporeality and movement of his figures.
This manner of painting is particularly evident in Bonnard’s images of children — a favourite subject since becoming uncle to the children of his sister Andrée and her husband, the composer Claude Terrasse. Drawings and paintings vividly capture movement and sometimes humorous body language. Bonnard’s approach here owes much to the Japanese master Ando (Utagawa) Hiroshige, who explored in his prints the ever-changing poses of people going about their daily lives.
|Introduction | Gallery | Literature | Chronology | Glossary | Education Kit|
The Pierre Bonnard works on this page are reproduced with the permission of|
ADAGP, Paris and VISCOPY Ltd, Sydney 2003. | <urn:uuid:fee3d280-3354-4da5-9e6f-1d00071b5a1e> | {
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As the saying goes, your trash is someone else’s treasure. And in this case, your discarded food waste is the vital ingredient needed by scientists to make bioplastic (plastic made from renewable biological sources).
Scientists from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have figured out a way to turn chitosan (the second most common organic material found on the planet and a component of shrimp shells) into bioplastic.
The idea of bioplastic isn’t new; there are already types made out of wood, corn, potato, wheat, tapioca and rice. But there’s a big downside to bioplastic: It’s costly and energy intensive to produce, and it doesn’t easily degrade in landfills. The new chitosan-based bioplastic, however, uses an already-abundant waste resource (discarded shrimp shells), plus a waste product from wood remnants. This “miracle material” also breaks down into useful components for soil in about two weeks, TreeHugger reports.
What’s neat about this stuff is that it can be injection molded or cast into any shape, whether it be toys, cell phones, or Tupperware. Plus, it is fully biodegradable.
“There is an urgent need in many industries for sustainable materials that can be mass produced,” said Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of bioengineering at Harvard. “Our scalable manufacturing method shows that chitosan, which is readily available and inexpensive, can serve as a viable bioplastic that could potentially be used instead of conventional plastics for numerous industrial applications.”
Let’s give a jumbo thanks to the lowly shrimp. | <urn:uuid:76b6ce5c-0934-41ce-9ab9-df41ad2c51bd> | {
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Back to Medical FAQ List
Aches and Pains
>I made two dives about a month ago. The first was to 90 feet/27 meters for 20 minutes, and the second was to 36 feet/11 meters for 35 minutes. I was well within my computer guidelines, we did not do a safety stop, and I may have had one slightly fast ascent. I was OK until about four days after the dive, when I noticed a sharp pain in my elbow. If I'm not using my arm, I don' t notice any pain at all. But if I rotate my forearm or bend my elbow, I still get a dull ache. Is there any way this could be related to my dives?
>If you were symptom-free for four full days, then it is unlikely that subsequent symptoms are related to decompression illness and your dive. The nitrogen you absorbed during your dives has to follow the physiology of basic gas laws - it cannot stay in the body tissues once the partial pressure of nitrogen in the ambient air we breathe drops down to sea-level pressures.
>Although nitrogen leaves the body in a much slower fashion than we take it on, it still must leave. After diving, you should be equilibrated to ambient nitrogen in 24 hours. If the pain can be produced with movement of the affected joint only, then it is more than likely a musculoskeletal strain or injury. The pain generally associated with decompression illness is not affected by movement or lack of movement and usually remains fairly constant.
>The ability to reproduce the symptom with movement indicates a stress or repetitive movement injury. If you have not seen your personal physician it would be wise to do so. Any symptom of injury that persists for a month is a health concern. Appropriate therapy is indicated to prevent permanent injuries. | <urn:uuid:cb99a4e5-c16f-445a-98a8-c26056ae02f2> | {
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With the recent passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now has the authority to regulate tobacco sales, marketing, and use. Though this law is a beneficial step, some gaps remain. There are significant merits to state and local governments enacting local laws to fill these gaps. State and local governments can also effectively partner with the Food and Drug Administration in enforcing various provisions of the law. There are a great deal of local policy options available to state and local governments. This Article provides both recommendations and questions about how to effectively enforce Food and Drug Administration law.
The recent passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (the “FDA law”) has given the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to limit tobacco sales, marketing, and use in a variety of ways.[i] The law leaves significant gaps, however, which state and local governments can fill by enacting local laws.[ii] State and local governments also can be an effective partner with the FDA in enforcing various provisions of the law.
This article discusses why adopting a state or local tobacco control law is beneficial, offering examples of local policy options a community might consider and describing how legal technical assistance can help with local policy development and adoption. It also provides both recommendations and questions about how to effectively enforce FDA law.
II. Advantages of a State or Local Tobacco Control Law
Adopting a tobacco control law at the state or local level offers numerous advantages, such as by enabling the state or local government to act sooner to protect its citizens and to directly enforce any law adopted on the state or local level. The FDA law explicitly grants state and local governments the right to enact measures that are more restrictive than those in the federal law, specifically stating that the federal law does not preempt any “measure relating to or prohibiting the sale, distribution, possession, exposure to, access to, advertising and promotion of, or use of tobacco products by individuals of any age.”[iii]
One of the greatest advantages to adopting a state or local measure is that the state or local government does not have to wait until the FDA law is implemented in order to benefit from the public health protections contained in the federal law. The FDA law’s numerous provisions are scheduled to take effect at different times, ranging from the date of enactment (June 2009) to up to three years later.[iv] Many of the key policy provisions will not take effect until June of 2010, including the regulation of self-service displays, restrictions on free tobacco samples, advertising restrictions, and limits on tobacco sponsorship of events.[v]
Additionally, at the time this essay was written, several tobacco companies have challenged the FDA law in federal district court in Kentucky, claiming that the law (1) violates the First Amendment; (2) is an unconstitutional taking; and (3) violates their due process rights.[vi] If the plaintiffs are successful in winning an injunction, implementation of part of the FDA law could be further delayed.
A second advantage to state or local action on tobacco control policy issues is that such a law can be broader than the FDA law and can be customized to meet the specific needs of the jurisdiction. For example, the FDA law prohibits self-service tobacco displays but includes an exception for adult-only facilities.[vii] Many jurisdictions in California have already adopted laws that completely ban the self-service display of tobacco products.[viii] California state law is also more restrictive than the FDA law with regard to self-service displays, authorizing such displays only in tobacco retailer stores (and vending machines in adult-only facilities).[ix]
Another advantage to adopting a state or local law is that it provides a means to directly enforce local violations, rather than waiting for the federal government to enforce violations of the FDA law.[x]
Finally, a state or local law can be less susceptible to political lobbying and influence than a federal law and therefore may be able to include stronger public health protections.[xi]
III. Examples of Local Policy Options
State or local governments can enact tobacco control laws in a number of areas not preempted by the FDA law.[xii] For example, a state or local government could:
- Prohibit the sale of certain tobacco products, such as bidis,[xiii] snus,[xiv] or menthol-flavored cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products.
- Prohibit the sale of non-tobacco products, such as candy designed to look like cigarettes and “e-cigarettes” (electronic cigarettes).
- Prohibit the sale of tobacco in pharmacies.
- Expand the definition of “tobacco product” in laws limiting exposure to secondhand smoke, for example by prohibiting the smoking of e-cigarettes in places where secondhand smoke exposure is limited.
- Completely eliminate the distribution of free tobacco products or coupons for free tobacco products (a practice known as “sampling”).
- Require a retailer to obtain a license to sell tobacco products, and allow the government to suspend the tobacco license for a violation of any local, state, or federal law including the new FDA law.
Some communities in California have already begun adopting policies in these areas.[xv] More than ninety cities and counties in California have passed laws requiring a local license to sell tobacco products.[xvi] San Francisco, city and county, passed a law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products in most pharmacies.[xvii] The cities of Chico and San Francisco have adopted strong local ordinances to prohibit the distribution of free tobacco samples.[xviii]
Eliminating sampling—the distribution of free or low-cost tobacco products—is a policy option many communities are considering in light of the new FDA law. For years tobacco companies have been providing free tobacco product samples or coupons or rebates for free or low-cost tobacco products, particularly targeting young people in an effort to lure new customers. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the amount of money cigarette companies spent on sampling increased from $17.2 million in 2005 to $29.43 million in 2006.[xix] Spending on sampling by smokeless tobacco companies is even higher, increasing from $28.2 million in 2005 to $42.0 million in 2006.[xx]
The FDA law created new restrictions on sampling, but it does not completely eliminate sampling of smokeless tobacco.[xxi] State or local governments can supplement the FDA law with more restrictive policies that completely ban the free or low-cost distribution of all tobacco products in their communities, depending on the law in their state.[xxii]
In California, the distribution of free tobacco products is already prohibited in many public places by California law,[xxiii] the Master Settlement Agreement,[xxiv] and the Smokeless Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement[xxv]—but those restrictions include exceptions for some adult-only locations, such as bars and tents at tobacco-sponsored events on private property such as rodeos. The new FDA law is stricter. If the law goes into effect as planned, as of June 22, 2010, free samples of cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, and hookah accessories that contain tobacco will be completely banned, and free samples of smokeless tobacco products will be limited.[xxvi]
Specifically, the FDA law completely bans free sampling of cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, and hookah accessories that contain tobacco;[xxvii] limits free sampling of smokeless tobacco products;[xxviii] and prohibits free sampling of smokeless tobacco at certain sporting events (i.e., football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and hockey events).[xxix]
However, the law contains a number of loopholes. For instance, it continues to allow the following activities:
- The distribution of coupons, promotional offers, discounts or rebates for cigarettes or other tobacco products.
- The distribution of nominal- or low-cost cigarette products (e.g., a tobacco company could give away cigarette packs for a penny).
- The free distribution of smokeless tobacco in a “qualified adult-only facility.”[xxx]
- Sampling at sports such as rodeos, bull riding, and auto racing.
Because the FDA law grants state and local governments the right to enact more restrictive measures,[xxxi] local governments can ban sampling completely, anywhere in their jurisdictions, including at locations that are exempt from the federal law.[xxxii]
IV. The Role of Legal Technical Assistance
For state and local governments looking to enact tobacco control policies that complement or supplement the FDA law, the California Tobacco Control Program provides a strong model of coordinated support. In 1997, the California Tobacco Control Program established the Technical Assistance Legal Center (“TALC”) as a legal resource for the tobacco control movement in California. TALC does not represent clients or file lawsuits. Instead, TALC provides legal technical assistance to community organizations, local and state health department employees, government attorneys, elected officials and their staff, and others working to denormalize tobacco use through state and local legislation. TALC has been a resource for California communities that want to want to change their social environment by adopting local policies to reduce the availability of tobacco products, protect the public from exposure to secondhand smoke, and to minimize the visibility of tobacco advertising in communities.
TALC developed a legal technical assistance model that it has tested and refined for more than a decade. This model breaks down into five related parts: conducting legal research and writing, developing model ordinances and policies, creating user-friendly publications and trainings for advocates and other non-legal audiences to help demystify legal concepts, and offering one-on-one legal technical assistance.[xxxiii] For more information on the mission, vision, and structure of TALC, the California Department of Health Services wrote a monograph describing the organization as it existed in 2002.[xxxiv]
TALC’s model ordinances have been widely used and adapted by California communities. For example, an analysis by TALC’s external evaluator showed that of the twenty six local tobacco retailer licensing ordinances adopted in California while the first version of TALC’s model ordinance was in effect, twenty three of these ordinances contained four of the five key provisions of the TALC model ordinance. These data suggest that the TALC model ordinance had a substantial influence on the structure and wording of local ordinances.[xxxv]
A handful of other states have established centers to help provide legal technical assistance on tobacco control.[xxxvi] These centers are based mostly in a university/law school setting. Additionally, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium is a national network that grew out of collaboration among existing legal programs serving five states.[xxxvii] Based at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Consortium provides legal technical assistance to support the creation of new tobacco control legal programs and to help communities with urgent legal needs. Consortium technical assistance services may include help with legislative drafting, legal research, legal analysis and strategy, training and presentations, preparation of friend-of-the-court legal briefs and litigation support.
While the FDA Law greatly advances the cause of tobacco control nationwide, the effectiveness of any policy—local, statewide, or federal—depends on how well it is enforced.
The Department of Health and Human Services is the agency with primary authority to directly enforce the restrictions established in the FDA law.[xxxviii] Given the enormity of this task on a national level, and since it is still not clear whether the User Fees[xxxix] paid by tobacco manufacturers and importers will generate sufficient revenues for a comprehensive enforcement effort, it remains to be seen how vigorously this law will be enforced.
State governments will likely play a role in enforcing the regulations through contracts with the federal government. Moreover, local governments in California can also “enforce” the FDA law through local tobacco retailer licensing ordinances. Both of these issues are described in more detail in this section.
A. Collaboration Between Federal Government and States
The FDA law imposes several substantive restrictions on the way retailers advertise, promote, and distribute tobacco products.[xl] Among other things, retailers may not sell tobacco products to consumers under 18 years of age,[xli] must check the ID of all tobacco purchasers under the age of 27,[xlii] may not sell individual cigarettes or any cigarettes in packs of fewer than 20,[xliii] may not have self-service displays except in adult-only facilities,[xliv] must comply with the FDA law’s advertising and labeling requirements,[xlv] and may not offer promotional items in conjunction with a tobacco product purchase.[xlvi] All of these requirements are set to take effect on June 22, 2010.[xlvii] Several of these provisions duplicate existing state law and numerous local laws throughout the United States.
To enforce all of these restrictions, inspectors will need to physically evaluate retailers’ premises and sales techniques. Historically the FDA has not conducted tobacco retailer inspections or undercover youth decoy operations, but many states (and local communities) have been doing so for years to enforce similar state and local laws.
The FDA law provides an important opportunity for state agencies to collaborate with the federal government to enforce these retailer restrictions. The FDA law amends § 702 of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to provide:
For a tobacco product, to the extent feasible, the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] shall contract with the States in accordance with this paragraph to carry out inspections of retailers within the State in connection with the enforcement of this Act.[xlviii]
Since the law directs the Secretary to “contract” with the States, this provision will likely provide a source of funding for state tobacco control enforcement.
In addition, the FDA law directs the Secretary to “coordinate with the States in enforcing the provisions of this Act [the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act].”[xlix] It remains to be seen how this collaboration will take shape, and how much control over state enforcement efforts the FDA will attempt to exert. However, for states that are already enforcing various retailer laws, this is a tremendous opportunity for the FDA to fund state enforcement techniques that are effective and to import some of those proven techniques to other states.
Importantly, the FDA law only specifically authorizes the Secretary to contract with States to help enforce the FDA law itself, not to enforce state tobacco control laws that may be stronger in many cases. The FDA law contains its own civil monetary penalties for retailer violations,[l] and provides:
The Secretary . . . for purposes of mitigating a civil penalty to be applied for a violation by a retailer of any restriction promulgated under section 906(d) [which includes the violations listed above in this section], shall consider the amount of any penalties paid by the retailer to a State for the same violation.[li]
This provision implies that a retailer will not be penalized under both state law and the FDA law for the same violation. This will create a dilemma for states that have stronger penalties than those provided in the FDA law itself. If a state has passed a strong law prohibiting certain conduct, should a state fund its own enforcement efforts and impose its own penalties (i.e., enforce state law) or use FDA funds to enforce the weaker penalties contained in the FDA law?[lii] Will it be possible for a state to use funds from an FDA contract to enforce state law rather than the FDA law?
There are even more unanswered questions. For example, what happens when a retailer is penalized under a local ordinance rather than state law? In California, more than 90 cities and counties have adopted local tobacco retailer licensing ordinances, and many have active enforcement programs and penalize retailers for violation of any federal, state or local tobacco control law (see section IV.B). These penalties often include suspension of the retailer’s license, prohibiting the retailer from selling tobacco products during the suspension period. If a retailer has been penalized through suspension of its tobacco retailer license rather than imposition of a monetary fine, how will this be considered by the Secretary in imposing fines under the FDA law?
These are all questions that must be resolved before a coordinated enforcement effort between states and the federal government can be implemented. Despite these uncertainties, however, the contracting and coordination requirements present tremendous opportunities for both the states and the federal government.
Finally, it is also possible that city and county governments may benefit from the state-federal collaboration. There is nothing in the FDA law that prevents a state from subcontracting with any of its political subdivisions for enforcement, so it is theoretically possible that some cities and counties could take advantage of federal funds for their local enforcement efforts.
B. Tobacco Retailer Licensing as an Enforcement Tool
As noted earlier, in California, more than ninety cities and counties have adopted local ordinances requiring tobacco retailers to obtain a local license for the privilege of selling tobacco products. A majority of these ordinances require retailers to comply with all federal, state, and local tobacco control laws, and authorize suspension of the retailer’s license for failure to do so.
These local licensing ordinances are primarily aimed at preventing illegal sales of tobacco to minors, which is prohibited by two California state laws: Penal Code § 308 and the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act.[liii] Instead of directly enforcing these state laws, local tobacco retailer licensing ordinances impose conditions on retailers: that they comply with all tobacco control laws. If a retailer is found to have sold tobacco to a minor (i.e., conduct that is a violation of state law), the authorized penalty is suspension of the retailer’s license for failure to abide by the conditions of the license (in lieu of, or in addition to, the relative minor monetary fines contained in state law.)
There are numerous advantages to a local tobacco retailer licensing ordinance, most notably a very strong penalty that provides an effective deterrent against violations of tobacco control laws. In addition, since it is a local ordinance that is actually being enforced (based on an underlying violation of another law), communities have greater control over enforcement. That is, even state or federal laws that local governments are not authorized to enforce directly are still conditions of a local license and can still be the basis for suspension.
Since the FDA law is a federal tobacco control law, it is already incorporated into these local tobacco retailer licensing ordinances. Although local governments are not authorized to directly enforce the FDA law, they can still conduct compliance checks for violations of the FDA law and if they find such violations, take action against a local license.
The passage of the FDA law marks a historic step for tobacco control policy nationwide. The FDA law explicitly does not preempt stricter state or local regulation in certain areas, and state or local governments may wish to enact laws that complement or supplement the FDA law for a number of reasons, including that such laws may be tailored for their community and may be directly enforced by the jurisdiction. To help communities develop and implement strong local laws, organizations like California’s Technical Assistance Legal Center can provide tools such as model ordinances, training, and one-on-one consultation.
The FDA law offers a valuable opportunity for state agencies to contract with the federal government to enforce restrictions on tobacco sales. State or local governments also may be able to use tobacco retailer licensing laws as a way to enforce provisions of the FDA law. Full and comprehensive enforcement is critical to ensuring that the public health protections of the new FDA law are truly achieved.
[i]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, 123 Stat. 1776 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 5 U.S.C., 15 U.S.C., and 21 U.S.C.).
[ii]. The following analysis is based on California law. Please consult an attorney in your state to determine what laws exist and what policies are legal to pursue.
[iii]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act § 916(a)(1) (codified as 21 U.S.C. § 387p).
[iv]. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Effective Dates of FDA Tobacco Law (2009), http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/fda/effective_dates.shtml (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[v]. Id. at 1–2.
[vi]. Complaint for Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief at 5, Commonwealth Brands, Inc. v. United States, No. 1:2009cv00117 (W.D. Ky. filed Aug. 31, 2009), available at http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/pdfs/complaint.pdf.
[vii]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act § 102 (incorporating by reference 61. Fed. Reg. 44615-44618).
[viii]. See Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC), Public Health Law and Policy, ANRF List of Communities with Licensing and Self-Service Display Ordinances (2009), available at http://www.phlpnet.org/tobacco-control/products/anrf-list-communities-licensing-and-self-service-display-ordinances (follow “ANRF List of Communities with Licensing and Self-Service Display Ordinances” hyperlink under “Attachment) (listing California communities with a local ordinance restricting self-service tobacco displays) (last visited Oct. 23, 2009). TALC has developed a model ordinance to prohibit self-service tobacco displays. Technical Assistance Legal Center, Public Health Law and Policy, Model California Ordinance Prohibiting Self-Service Display of Tobacco Products (2002), available at http://www.phlpnet.org/sites/phlpnet.org/files/A_SelfServiceDisplay
Ordinance_3_02.doc (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[ix]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act § 102; Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 22962 (West 2009).
[x]. See infra Section IV, for more information about this issue.
[xi]. See Bruce Samuels & Stanton A. Glantz, The Politics of Local Tobacco Control, 266 J. Am. Med. Ass’n 2110 (1991), available at http://tobaccoscam.ucsf.edu/pdf/9.4-Samuels-PoliticsofLocalTobaccoControl.pdf.
[xii]. The following laws are legal in California. An analysis of state law is required before embarking on any of these policies in another state. See also Federal Regulation of Tobacco: Impact on State and Local Authority, (Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, St. Paul, Minnesota) available at http://www.tclconline.
org/FDA-fact-sheets.html (last visited October 30, 2009).
[xiii]. Bidis are hand-rolled filterless cigarettes that are imported primarily from India and some Southeast Asian countries.
[xiv]. Snus are a form of snuff that is consumed by placing it under the lip and typically does not result in the need for spitting.
[xv]. Note that this article does not address policy options to restrict tobacco marketing or advertising because the law in this area is unsettled. See supra note 5.
[xvi]. Technical Assistance Legal Center, Public Health Law and Policy, ANRF List of Communities with Licensing and Self-Service Display Ordinances, available at http://www.phlpnet.org/tobacco-control/products/anrf-list-communities-licensing-and-self-service-display-ordinances (follow “ANRF List of Communities with Licensing and Self-Service Display Ordinances” hyperlink under “Attachment) (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[xvii]. S.F., Cal., Health & Safety art. 19J, SS 1009.91-1009.99 (2008). The ordinance has been challenged by Philip Morris USA, Inc. and Walgreen Co. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Philip Morris’ request for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction on September 9, 2009. Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco, No. 08-17649 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2009) (order denying temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction). Philip Morris subsequently dropped the lawsuit on October 15, 2009. Stipulation of Dismissal; Order, No. C-08-4482-CW (N.D.Cal. October 15, 2009). The Walgreen Co. challenge has yet to be resolved as of the date of this publication.
[xviii]. See Buck Tobacco Sponsorship, Policy Materials, http://www.bucktobacco.org/
policy/index.html (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[xix]. Fed. Trade Comm’n, Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2006, at 49-50 (2009), available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/08/090812cigarettereport.pdf.
[xx]. Fed. Trade Comm’n, Federal Trade Commission Smokeless Tobacco Report for the Year 2006, at 4 (2009), available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/08/
[xxi]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 102, 123 Stat. 1776 (codified as 21 U.S.C. § 387a-1).
[xxii]. This analysis applies to communities in California. For information on local policies in other states, consult an attorney who is familiar with the laws of that state.
[xxiii]. Cal. Health & Safety Code § 118950 (West 2009); Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17537.3 (West 2009).
[xxiv]. Master Settlement Agreement, Section III(g) (1998), available at http://ag.ca.gov/tobacco/pdf/1msa.pdf.
[xxv]. Smokeless Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, Section III(g) (1998), http://ag.ca.gov/tobacco/pdf/1stmsa.pdf.
[xxvi]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 102, 123 Stat. 1776 (codified as 21 U.S.C. § 387a-1).
[xxvii]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 102(a)(2)(G), 123 Stat. 1776 (codified as 21 U.S.C. § 387a-1(a)(2)(G)).
[xxx]. A “qualified adult-only facility” must meet the following criteria:
- A temporary structure creating an enclosed area for the purpose of distributing free samples of smokeless tobacco. The structure should prevent people from easily seeing inside. It may not be made of a see-through material except for entrances and exits. Also, some open space for ventilation at the ground level is permitted.
- No tobacco advertising on the exterior, except that a brand name can be used to identify the facility. This means signs saying, for instance, “Copenhagen Territory” are still allowed.
- The facility must not sell, serve, or distribute alcohol. This means that bars cannot distribute free smokeless tobacco unless they set up a temporary enclosed area outdoors where no alcohol is served. However, bars can still distribute coupons for free cigarettes or smokeless tobacco.
- A law enforcement officer or licensed security guard must check a government-issued ID to ensure that anyone who enters is at least 18 years old.
There is a limit to how many samples of smokeless tobacco an adult consumer can bring out of a “qualified adult-only facility”: one package per adult per day. However, there is no limit on the use of tobacco products inside the facility. Id.
[xxxi]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 101, 123 Stat. 1776 (codified as 21 U.S.C. § 387p).
[xxxii]. The Technical Assistance Legal Center (“TALC”) has a model California ordinance to prohibit tobacco product sampling. Technical Assistance Legal Center, Public Health Law and Policy, Sampling Ordinance, available at http://www.phlpnet.org/tobacco-control/products/model-california-ordinance-regulating- cigarette-and-tobacco-product-samplin (last visited Oct. 23, 2009). TALC also has developed a checklist to accompany the ordinance outlining the range of policy choices communities should consider when designing their own sampling ordinance.. Technical Assistance Legal Center, Public Health Law and Policy, Sampling Ordinance: CHECKLIST, available at http://www.phlpnet.org/tobacco-control/products/prohibiting-tobacco-sampling-checklist (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[xxxiii]. Samantha Graff & Jacob Ackerman, A Special Role for Lawyers in a Social Norm Change Movement: From Tobacco Control to Childhood Obesity Prevention, 6 Prev. Chronic Dis. 3 (2009), available at http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jul/08_0262.htm (last visited October 25, 2009).
[xxxiv]. TALC, Public Health Law and Policy, Legal Technical Assistance on Tobacco Control Policy (A Guide for Other States) (2002), http://www.phlpnet.org/tobacco-control/products/legal-technical-assistance-tobacco-control-policy-guide-other-states (follow “Legal Technical Assistance on Tobacco Control Policy (A Guide for Other States)” hyperlink under “Attachment) (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[xxxv]. Carol D’Onofrio & Leslie Zellers, TALC written materials, July 1, 2007–June 30, 2009: Evaluation report, (2009) (on file with TALC).
[xxxvi]. See, e.g. Maryland’s Legal Resource Center for Tobacco Regulation, Litigation & Advocacy http://www.law.umaryland.edu/programs/tobacco/index.html (last visited October 23, 2009); Massachusetts’ Tobacco Products Liability Project http://www.tobacco.neu.edu/ (last visited October 23, 2009); Michigan’s Smokefree Environments Law Project http://www.tcsg.org/sfelp/home.htm (last visited October 23, 2009); Minnesota’s Tobacco Law Center http://www.wmitchell.edu/tobaccolaw/default.asp (last visited October 23, 2009); Ohio’s Tobacco Public Policy Center www.law.capital.edu/tobacco (last visited October 23, 2009). See also TALC, Public Health Law and Policy, Directory of State Legal Resources for Tobacco Control, http://www.phlpnet.org/tobacco-control/products/legalresourcesdirectory (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[xxxvii]. The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, http://tclconline.org/Tclc.asp (last visited Oct. 23, 2009).
[xxxviii]. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C.A. § 372 (2009), see also generally Chapter VII.
[xxxix]. Most of the administration and enforcement of the FDA Law is intended to be funded by tobacco manufacturers and importers through the imposition of “User Fees” on these businesses, which are mandated in the law. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 919, 123 Stat. 1776.
[xl]. Many of the retailer-specific restrictions are contained in the “1996 Rule” (21 CFR sections 987.1 – 8978.34), originally promulgated in 1996 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services but overturned by the United Sates Supreme Court in [Food and Drug Admin. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 529 U.S. 120 (2000)], because the Court found that the FDA had acted outside the scope of its authority in promulgating the regulations. In Section 102 of the FDA law [Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, S 102, 123 Stat. 1776], Congress gave the Secretary specific authority to promulgate regulations and directed the Secretary to republish the 1996 Rule as a final rule, with certain amendments specified in the FDA Law.
[xli]. 21 C.F.R. § 897.14 (1999).
[xliv]. Id.; 21 C.F.R. § 897.16 (1996).
[xlv]. 21 C.F.R. §§ 897.30-.31 (1996).
[xlvi]. 21 C.F.R. § 897.34 (1996).
[xlvii]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, S 102(a)(2), 123 Stat. 1776; At the time this article was written, some of these requirements are subject to legal challenge as part of the tobacco industry lawsuit. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Effective Dates of FDA Tobacco Law, supra note 2.
[xlviii]. 21 U.S.C.A. § 372 (West 2009).
[xlix]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, S 103(q)(2)(C), 123 Stat. 1776
[l]. See Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, Pub. L. No. 111-31, § 103(q)(2)(A), 123 Stat. 1776 (emphasis added).
[li]. Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act § 103(q)(2)(C).
[lii]. The FDA Law specifically does not preempt more stringent state laws in many areas. See Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act § 916(a)(2).
[liii]. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 22950-22963 (West 2009). | <urn:uuid:012f653c-07d0-4613-930a-484d2ba125a9> | {
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The Arctic Convoys to the Soviet Union (USSR) were vital to both sides involved in World War Two. Men on the Arctic Convoys had to endure “the worst journey in the world” (Winston Churchill) but the journey to the Soviet Arctic ports of Murmansk and Archangel kept the Red Army supplied with vital military equipment and food to fight the Germans on the Eastern Front. The first Arctic Convoy took place in August 1941 and continued until the end of World War Two in the West. In total, there were 78 convoys.
Ships in an Arctic convoy had to sail 1,600 miles from ports in Scotland or Iceland to their Soviet destination. The journey was fraught with danger. U-boats patrolled the route and were a real menace while surface raiders from the Kriegsmarine added to the danger. The ships also faced a threat from the air. Along with these man-made threats came natural dangers. The seas during the journey could become very rough during bad weather and 40 feet waves were not uncommon. However, poor weather was also a blessing for the sailors as it meant that the German surface fleet had to operate in the same conditions while a heavy swell made it difficult for a U-boat to rise near to the sea’s surface to fire torpedoes.
It is difficult to underestimate the importance of the Arctic convoys. The Allies needed the Red Army to be at its most robust on the Eastern Front. At any given time after Operation Barbarossa in 1941, it is thought that about two-thirds of the Wehrmacht was tied up on the Eastern Front. If D-Day was going to be a success, this had to be maintained. D-Day planners knew that a successful landing – and therefore a second front – depended on facing as little opposition as was possible in occupied France.
In the immediate aftermath of Operation Barbarossa, the Red Army not only lost men but also vast amounts of equipment. The very large Soviet population meant that manpower was less of an issue but lack of equipment was. The large part of the Soviet factory-system had been overrun by the speed of the German attack and these were the days before the factories had been rebuilt behind the Ural Mountains. Therefore the USSR was desperate for equipment and this is part of what the Arctic Convoys supplied. Before the factories turned out large numbers of T-34 tanks, the Red Army used British mechanised vehicles and Soviet pilots flew Hawker Hurricanes into battle. Whatever could be spared was sent to Murmansk and Archangel to ensure that the Eastern Front survived. Food was also sent and was used by the citizens of Leningrad during the very long siege endured by that city. Some 3.9 million tons of goods were shipped to the USSR by the Arctic convoys with 93% arriving and 7% being lost at sea. The importance of this aid was such that Stalin insisted on convoys continuing to the Soviet Union even after the war had turned on the Eastern Front and when the USSR could supply itself. Stalin believed that the psychological importance of the convoys to the people of the USSR was such that they had to be continued – and they were.
The dangers that faced the men in the convoys were great. Over 3000 men were killed on the Arctic Convoys with 87 merchant ships and 18 Royal Navy ships lost. Convoy PQ17 suffered the worst casualties out of all the Arctic convoys. PQ17 was made up of 35 merchant ships with their naval escorts. Only 11 of these merchant ships arrived in the Soviet Union. A misunderstanding of intelligence led to PQ17 being ordered to scatter at sea. The convoy would have sailed in a pre-determined pattern to ensure that its escort ships gave it the best possible protection. However, it was incorrectly believed that a battle fleet led by the ‘Tirpitz’ was homing in on the convoy – hence the order to scatter. Once this had occurred, U-boats would have found it much easier to pick off individual targets.
“The thing I remember most is the bitter cold. We had three lookouts above the ship keeping an eye out for German planes and battleships, even in the worst of weathers. Once we went out to relieve them and they were dead – frozen solid.” George Shreeve (HMS Shropshire and HMS Kent, both RN cruisers)
“It was unforgettable because of the terrible weather and the huge waves. The cold went right through you.” Ralph Beckett (HMS Rhododendron, RN corvette)
“The thing that frightened me the most was the size of the seas. The waves were as high as houses and they would swamp the smaller boats.” John Jacob (HMS Diadem, RN light cruiser)
“I went to sea thinking it was a big adventure but after you’d been at seas a few days, chopping thick ice off the deck and the guns, it did not seem such a lot of fun. One of the lookouts came off his shift and took off his duffel coat and it just stood up, frozen solid.” Fred Reynolds (HMS Anson, RN battleship)
“The worst thing was knowing that somewhere underneath you the U-boats lurked. Once I was moving across the deck and there was a huge explosion. I saw a column of smoke and fire and one of the ships started to sink. The poor blighters on that ship didn’t stand a chance.” Eric Alley (HMS Inglefield; RN destroyer)
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Cinco de Mayo—or the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the French-Mexican War (1861-1867). Today is often mistaken as Mexico’s Independence Day, but Mexico’s independence was declared nearly 50 years before the Battle of Puebla on September 16, 1810.
In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is primarily observed in the state of Puebla. However, in the United States, fiestas are celebrated throughout the country and revelers mark the occasion with parades, mariachi music, and traditional foods. I look at Cinco de Mayo as a celebration of the past. A true opportunity to reflect on where one’s roots started, the struggles to get where they are, and a celebration of victory against overwhelming odds.
As we approach our 5-year anniversary at Maven it forces us to look back on the challenges, struggles, and successes we have had over the past 5 years. We are beyond excited to celebrate the daily victories, but we will always reflect on where we have come from and the fight required to get here. On this day, we celebrate the perseverance and strength shown at the Battle of Puebla as well as at Maven. | <urn:uuid:d57c9b31-7d70-41ba-a34b-52bb7885aa6e> | {
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There are a variety of methods for treating periodontal (gum) disease depending on its severity — from routine office cleanings to periodontal surgery. But the goal behind all of them remains the same: remove bacterial plaque and calculus (tartar), the root cause for gum disease, from all tooth and gum surfaces.
The traditional method for doing this is called scaling in which we use special hand instruments (scalers) to mechanically remove plaque and calculus. Scaling and a similar procedure called root planing (the root surfaces are “planed” smooth of plaque to aid tissue reattachment) require quite a bit of skill and experience. They're also time-consuming: full treatment can take several sessions, depending on how extensive the infection has spread.
In recent years, we've also seen a new method emerge for removing plaque: lasers. Commonly used in other aspects of healthcare, lasers utilize a focused beam of light to destroy and remove diseased or unhealthy tissue while, according to studies and firsthand accounts, minimizing healthy tissue destruction to a better degree than traditional techniques. Procedure and healing times are likewise reduced.
Because of these beneficial characteristics, we are seeing their use in gum disease treatment, especially for removing diseased and inflamed tissues below the gum line and decreasing sub-gingival (“below the gums”) bacteria.
Dentists who have used lasers in this way do report less tissue damage, bleeding and post-treatment discomfort than traditional treatments. But because research is just beginning, there's not enough evidence to say laser treatment is preferably better than conventional treatment for gum disease.
At this point, lasers can be an effective addition to conventional gum disease treatment for certain people, especially those in the early stages of the disease. As we continue to study this technology, though, the day may come when lasers are the preferred way to stop gum disease from ruining your dental health.
If you would like more information on treating gum disease, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Lasers Versus Traditional Cleanings for Treating Gum Disease.” | <urn:uuid:1f4aa0d6-4adb-46a8-9637-957e4eb85ec5> | {
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There is no one “industry standard” definition of civic tech, but at Omidyar Network we define it broadly as technologies that are deployed to enhance the relationship between people and government, by giving people more of a voice to participate in public decision making and/or to improve the delivery of services (usually by gov’t) to people. These technologies can be developed by either non-profit organizations or for-profit companies, or even by government itself.
For example, Code for America (a non-profit), has created a web application called that enables residents of California to quickly assess their eligibility and enroll easily to receive food assistance, via computer or smart phone.
(a for-profit company) has developed a web and mobile app reporting platform for residents to report neighborhood concerns (such as graffiti, potholes, light outages) to their municipal governments, who can then use the software to track progress in resolving the issue and communicate back to residents. SCF has enabled the reporting and resolution of over 3 million issues to date in hundreds of cities across the US.
At the Federal government level, the and are examples of programs that have been developed over the past few years to bring 21st century digital technologies and processes into US Federal government.
It should be noted that while the above examples are all US-focused, civic tech is absolutely a global phenomenon — our civic tech portfolio at Omidyar Network includes organizations or funds operating in more than 20 countries. The global nature of the civic tech sector is evidenced by the recent held recently in Taiwan, organized by the pioneering UK civic tech organization .
This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: | <urn:uuid:4e1e180b-3584-4f3f-beac-42f1d9cb0f16> | {
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- An example of di is the officer that teaches new soldiers about the military.
- An example of di is the length of a line down the center of a circle.
- An example of di is the symbol for a metallic mixture.
Di is defined as an abbreviation for drill instructor or diameter, or the symbol for didymium.
- twice, double, twofold: dichroism, dicotyledon
- Chem. having two atoms, molecules, radicals, etc.: diacid
Origin of di-Classical Greek di- ; from dis-, twice ; from Indo-European an unverified form dwis (from source Classical Latin bis, Middle High German zwis) ; from base an unverified form dwo, two
dis-: used before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, or v
- diagnostic imaging
- donor insemination
- drill instructor
- Two; twice; double: dichromatic.
- Containing two atoms, radicals, or groups: dichloride.
Origin of di-Greek; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.
Variant of dia–.
- plural form of deus | <urn:uuid:7331362a-31e6-4ed6-af77-86d78b7eeaf7> | {
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Simply stated, credit is financial trustworthiness. In essence, your credit score is your spending and borrowing history and it shows lenders how dependable you are to pay back a loan. Lenders will often access your credit history and use your credit rating to determine your credit worthiness.
Establishing credit is an important step for many of your current and future financial pursuits. Whether you’re thinking about purchasing your first car, renting an apartment, buying a house or applying for a loan, your credit score plays a crucial role in determining the loan amount available and interest rate. One of the most common ways to begin to build strong credit is to open a credit card and use it wisely.
Learn important credit card information to build a strong credit score. There are a number of easy-to-manage solutions to building and maintaining the credit score you want. Avoid common pitfalls with the help of the following credit card tips:
1. Make on time credit card payments – Late credit card payments are a surefire way to lower your credit score. By making credit card payments on time, or even early each month, you will guard against unwanted increases in your Annuals Percentage Rate (APR) and the possibility of negatively impacting your credit rating.
2. Pay more than your minimum payment due each month – If you’re not able to pay off your credit card balance in full each month, make sure that you are paying more than your minimum payment. Potential lenders like to see you can afford more than the minimum payments when making decisions about your credit worthiness and future loan activity.
3. Try not to spend up to your credit limit – Creditors also like to see that while you may have a large spending limit, you are not using the entire available balance. When calculating your score, creditors often take your current debt to income ratio into account, so be cognizant that you’re not spending to your limit.
4. Follow the 20/10 rule – Avoid borrowing more than 20 percent of your annual net income and keep your non-mortgage loan payments less than 10 percent of your monthly net income. Following the 20/10 rule will help you avoid borrowing more than you can comfortably repay.
5. Don’t open too many credit cards too quickly – While building your credit does involve opening a line of credit, be cautious of opening too many cards in too short a time period. The best way to build credit is to build it gradually and naturally over time, so while having a few lines of credit can help you in the long run, be aware that having too many credit cards open at once can also hurt your credit rating because lenders see that you already have the potential to borrow more than you may be able to comfortably afford.
6. Review your credit report regularly – Many people believe that checking your annual credit report impacts your credit score, which isn’t true. There is no negative impact on your credit score when you make an annual request for a copy of your credit report from any of the three major credit bureaus. However, when banks check your credit to evaluate a loan application or line of credit, it is called a credit inquiry and too many of these inquiries can actually lower your score. So be mindful of the amount of inquiries being made and aware of when/if your credit score fluctuates because of them or various other reasons (late payments, unresolved billing issues, etc.) in order to remedy the issues as soon as possible.
By following these helpful credit card tips, you can build good credit all while improving your financial trustworthiness and make smarter decisions with your money. These same tips can be applied to Canadian credit cards, or credit cards from any country, for that matter.
This is a guest post contributed by Micah Moon. | <urn:uuid:0837e91e-a94b-4a77-91a6-42800ccc1957> | {
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"language_score": 0.9616895318031311,
"score": 2.53125,
"token_count": 774,
"url": "http://sweatingthebigstuff.com/credit-card-tips/"
} |
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